Blackstar the Great was silent for a moment. Instead of denying it, he simply said, “I will certainly extinguish the savaging fire of the Covenant Alliance that has been on a rampage for a thousand years and save the Imperium and our civilization.”

Li Yao raised his voice and said, “What if you fail? What if your calculation is wrong? It doesn’t matter if you are burned by the fire that you started, but everybody else will die with you too!”

“No ‘what if’!”

Blackstar the Great roared, “Without me, the Imperium would still rot and decline gradually, and there would be no future for our civilization either! With that in mind, it is better to play a wild gamble! If you are sincerely considering the civilization of mankind, you should stand by my side!”

Holding back his humming eardrums, Li Yao gnashed his teeth. “Just because the Covenant Alliance and the four Kurfürst families aren’t anything decent does not mean that you are a savior of mankind! Old fart, I will never bend to a scumbag like you! You’ve been completely deranged!”

Blackstar the Great burst into laughter. “I am not deranged; I am going to lead the civilization of mankind to stomp on all the deities and devils in the entire universe!”

“In your dream.”

Li Yao said brutally, “You already failed once a thousand years ago. Now, a thousand years have passed. Even if you can be splendid for a while, your enterprise will immediately fall apart after you kick the bucket one day. Your reign is consolidated purely through lies, violence, and schemes, which will only be destroyed by lies, violence, and schemes that are twice greater someday!”

With a mysterious smile, Blackstar the Great extended his tentacles at Li Yao. “I already have a perfect solution to solve the problem of insubordination in the local areas once and forever. The Imperium will only be stronger and stronger even ten thousand years later. Come on, join the side of the Immortal Cultivators, and I’ll certainly tell you my ‘ultimate plan’!”

Solemnly, Li Yao turned it down on the spot. “Wuying Qi, just give it up. Those of different beliefs can never cooperate. I will not take your side ever. Just leave now. I don’t want to see you again!”

Blackstar the Great was slightly dazed before he burst into fury and snapped, “You don’t know what you are doing. After a thousand years, you Cultivators are still as idiotic as before!”

“Hehe. Hahahahaha!”

Li Yao finally tore off all the camouflages and burst into wild laughter. “It is you who are really idiotic, old fart. It used to be ‘Vulture Li Yao’ who was deceived and stalled by the enemy in the past. Finally, it is my turn to buy myself enough time with empty talks!”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Hardly had he concluded his sentence when the bright gold flames around his Colossus became a hundred times more dazzling. It was almost bursting out nonstop like gold fireworks, illuminating the dark and thick water into a splendid palace!

In the most stunning view, the Gold Vulture’s feathers were erecting like unsheathed sabers and colliding with each other into the most complicated and gorgeous patterns, as if countless eyes had been opened on the broad wings.

The saber that had already ripped apart countless crystal warships, enshrouded in the gold brilliance, seemed to have expanded by ten times all of a sudden. It was even more eye-catching than the Colossus itself!

Li Yao’s soul power was also increasing like a serial explosion.

All of Blackstar the Great’s tentacles were straightened while he shrieked, “What exactly did you do?”

“Nothing important.”

With a miserable smile, Li Yao said casually, “I just swallowed more than three hundred dosages of strengthening drugs, almost draining the goods that Li Linghai offered to me. Then, with the strengthening drugs as catalysts, I… completely unleashed my vitality and my soul power.

“It did take me some time to digest and absorb the three hundred dosages of strengthening drugs. That was why I talked to you for such a long time just now. Please do forgive me. Right now, I have been boosted in the unprecedented, strongest form. Let’s fight!”

“You—”

Blackstar the Great said sullenly, “Swallowing more than three hundred strengthening drugs of the highest purity equals to completely burning up your soul. After the battle, you will be crippled if not killed immediately. Are you not scared?”

“Haha. Hahahaha. What’s scary about death? Does the so-called death not mean the reunion with my family and friends who perished on Firefly?”

Li Yao laughed in the despondent way but also with some eagerness. “After the Star Ocean Republic was destroyed in the internal strife on Firefly, my family and my friends were all killed in the catastrophe in the most ghastly way. Even I did something that I terribly regretted and could barely think about later!

“Escaping from the remains of Firefly and wandering in the sea of stars like a zombie, I did not know why I was still alive. I asked myself ten thousand times why I did not die together with my family and friends, and why I did… that thing like an animal!”

While he was talking, Li Yao was choked by his sobs, as if he could not go on anymore. With the relief that almost sounded like “everything is finally over now”, he chuckled and went on, “After I drifted to the Imperium and found Li Linghai, I fulfilled my last mission, and my life was no longer of any significance. But Li Linghai promised me that I could be given a world that ran according to the rules of the Cultivators. It would be a small civilization of Cultivators.

“I was thinking of living for that purpose. It would also be repentance for what I did in the past.

“However, your appearance has completely shattered my final hope again!

“Such a reality is just a hell for me, in which I am more miserable than being dead. Now that my last hope has been broken, I only want to die a hero’s death like a real Cultivator!

“Haha, speaking of which, I am truly fortunate. What befits a hero’s death more than fighting against Blackstar the Great and causing him heavy wounds?”

Blackstar the Great said coldly, “How little do you know yourself and me that makes you think you can cause me heavy wounds?”

“Cut the crap!”

Li Yao laughed aloud. “Don’t think that I can’t tell it. Despite the performance parameters of your Colossus and the astonishing forging work, it has just been through a fierce battle, and all the magical equipment units are seriously worn out. In order to disguise it, you have covered yourself with so much ink like an octopus, turning the environment murky and creepy. But you can never fool my eyes!

“As for yourself, you are nowhere near as strong as you were in your prime days. I must’ve overestimated you when I said that you recovered thirty percent of your strength!

“Also, controlling Li Linghai’s body as a remaining soul comes with a price, doesn’t it? A fierce battle in such a state must’ve caused severe damage to your remaining soul, possibly even resulting in sequela, right?

“Otherwise, how could you have tolerated me talking nonsense for such a long time without cutting me into pieces? Not just you, if I were in your shoes, I would’ve cut myself into pieces!

“Therefore, your camouflage has been seen through, Blackstar the Great. I will let you pay the greatest price even if I must die today. Your ambitions and your schemes will all be dragged into hell together with me, to be gone with the last Cultivator!”

Li Yao’s voices were like undercurrents below the ocean. They were even triggering thousands of dense bubbles in the dark gold water!

The indestructible saber inside the hands of his Colossus could not take in the explosive energy flowing in from Li Yao incessantly anymore. Thousands of cracks appeared on the surface, and it exploded entirely!

A shocking scene took place. After exploding into hundreds of thousands of gold scraps, the saber was gathered again under the envelopment of Li Yao’s vitality field and smashed at “Hellstar” overwhelmingly in a gold torrent!

Blackstar the Great sniffed. The hundred metal tentacles on “Hellstar” interwoven into an arc-shaped net that completely stopped the gold torrent made of Li Yao’s broken saber!

Even if some of the scraps did penetrate through the metal net, they were still devoured by the dark spiritual shield surrounding “Hellstar”!

The attack did not cause any damage to “Hellstar”.

Li Yao did not even blink, because he had seen it coming. If Blackstar the Great could be killed so easily, he wouldn’t have been qualified to be the ancestor of all Immortal Cultivators. The only reason he broke his saber to launch the attack was to buy him more time so that he could prepare for the tougher move.

When the gold aftermath of the attack gradually dispersed in the black water, all the feathers on the two wings of the Gold Vulture that had been fully stretched out dashed out in gold brilliance. Drawing mysterious and uncanny curves, they condensed into swords and sabers in different shapes in the middle of the water.

Despite the pressure of the water that weighed billions of tons, all the swords and sabers were still roaring astoundingly. Li Yao also cried out, “Old fart, don’t ever forget my name. I am—Cultivator Li Yao!”

In the wild laughter, he launched the final attack with the determination of a moth darting at a fire.

The mainframe crystal processor of “Hellstar” shrieked crazily, and Blackstar the Great’s eyes were also completely occupied by the furiously burning gold brilliance.

“… Unreasonable Cultivators.”

Mumbling, he frowned and slightly retreated.

The Cultivators a thousand years ago and those a thousand years later were no different. They were all fond of proving themselves with death. While Li Yao’s final attack that was exchanged with his life and soul was vehement, it was not aimed at the target accurately. There was no need for Blackstar the Great to have a head-on clash with such a man who was seeking death.

It was not until the hundred gold swords and sabers brushed past him that he vaguely sensed the differences between the hundred torrents and real attacks. His pupils were constricted to the minimum.

Wait. Why was the enemy’s attack which was earned with his life not half as powerful as it looked? Not good!

When Blackstar the Great’s sharp eyes tore apart the gold water before him, he immediately saw that, under the disguise of the so-called “final attack”, Li Yao was fleeing as fast as he could inside the Gold Vulture!

It was rather incredible. Li Yao’s escape was as smooth and seamless as the flowing mercury on the ground, and his routes were utterly random and unpredictable. The moment the hundred swords and sabers were launched, he had already dashed to more than ten kilometers away in the heavy water. His fluent movements were truly enjoyable and impressive!

“Cultivator Li Yao!”

Blackstar the Great was dumbfounded at first, but he soon burst into fury and shouted at Li Yao with his telepathic thoughts, “Were you not going to die a hero’s death? But you are—running!”

“Who says that I’m running?”

Rushing at the highest speed, Li Yao threw back a telepathic thought without turning around. “I am clearly going to ambush you from your back after I circle the whole planet at a lightning-like speed. This is actually my ultimate skill. Just stand there and wait if you are a real man!”