Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

The name ‘Xiao Xuance’ was like an eruption of thunder that broke out inside Li Yao’s brain.

It was also like a bolt of lightning that connected all the pieces together!

When Li Yao and Professor Mo Xuan had discussed whether or not there could be something wrong with the Grand Illusionary Soldier Project, they had met an unanswered question, which was Xiao Xuance’s motive.

Logically, as the crownless king of the Flying Star Sector and the leader of all Cultivators, Xiao Xuance did not seem to have any motivation to overturn the Flying Star Sector.

The theory that he was trying to change from the ‘crownless king’ into the ‘crowned king’ did not seem very satisfactory.

However, if Xiao Xuance had been baptized by the ‘dark forest’ more than a hundred years ago and killed countless innocent fellow Cultivators and ordinary people for his own survival, then…

Li Yao was instantly soaked in cold sweat. Everything was explainable now!

Bai Xinghe took his long silence for suspicion and smiled bitterly. “You don’t believe it, do you? That’s right. Nobody is going to believe it! Although Xiao Xuance hadn’t advanced into the Nascent Soul Stage a hundred years ago, he was an expert in the Core Formation Stage, the elder of the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood, a man worthy of respect in the world of Cultivators. He punished the outlaws and helped the weak, like any noble man would do!

“When he first rescued our starship, he might not have been vicious at all. He thought that reinforcements were coming very soon. He even offered the resources on his starship to us for free.

“Several of the wounded crew members on our starships were treated on his starship. Some of them were even treated by him in person at the cost of his own spiritual energy.

“At that time, my parents couldn’t stop complimenting him. Cultivators from the six major sects of Heavenly Saints City were truly different. That was exactly what an elder of a great sect looked like!

“Hehe. Maybe that was partly why my parents hesitated later.

“It never occurred to them that, however great the sect a person hails from is and however chivalrous they are, they do not have a second option when they are trapped in the dark forest.

“Out of two, one will live. If I don’t kill him, he will kill me. The logic is very simple. Since my parents could think of it, Xiao Xuance definitely could, too.”

Li Yao took a long breath and asked, “Are you sure it was Xiao Xuance?”

Bai Xinghe laughed bitterly. “I was already seven at that time, and I admired the celebrities in the world of Cultivators. When my parents told me that he was an expert from the six sects of Heavenly Saints City, naturally, I bore his name in mind. How could I be mistaken?

“When I was sold to Spider Den, inside the dark fortress that was full of traps, there was not one moment when I stopped reciting the name ‘Xiao Xuance’ in my mind!

“Revenge! Revenge for my parents!

“Seeking revenge from Xiao Xuance was the only motivation to keep me alive in the darkness underground!

“It was a pity that I chose a wrong path.

“If I wanted revenge, I had to be stronger. However, there was only one way if I wanted to be stronger, which was to be a space pirate—the strongest, the cruelest, and the most brutal space pirate!

“When I became a space pirate, I had to kill people, a lot of innocent people. I had to pour the blood of the innocent on my unpardonable, inhuman soul!

“After repetitive plundering, slaughtering, and betraying, I became stronger and stronger, but I also became more and more desperate.

“You see, I found that the gap between me and Xiao Xuance was too huge. It was impossible for me to become stronger than him no matter how hard I tried!

“When I became a well-known brutal bandit on Spider Den, Xiao Xuance became the leader of the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood.

“When I established the Abyss Pirate Gang and rose to power on Spider Den, Xiao Xuance became the CEO of the Grand Illusionary Group and controlled most of the Spiritual Nexus!

“When the Abyss Pirate Gang became the most powerful organization on Spider Den and I became the Pirate Potentate, Xiao Xuance became the crownless king of the entire Flying Star Sector and the leader of all Cultivators!

“Haha. Hahahaha. The Pirate Potentate. Sounds cool and awesome, doesn’t it? But it is just insignificant crap in front of Xiao Xuance. When I leave Spider Den, I am a rat that everyone spits and stomps on. How am I qualified to fight against Xiao Xuance?”

“Why didn’t you state the truth?”

“Who would believe it?” Bai Xinghe responded. “When I sorted through the truth and my voice was loud enough, I had already become an infamous space pirate. Who would believe my story when I didn’t have the slightest proof?

“Nobody would believe the truth that I told, but Xiao Xuance would certainly notice it and realize that I was the only survivor of the disaster decades ago!

“He would certain try everything he could to deal with me!

“As the CEO of the Grand Illusionary Group, he had more than half of the Spiritual Nexus under his control. It would be more than easy for him to delete, add, or forge information!”

Li Yao was silent.

It was also why he had never proposed his assumptions on the Spiritual Nexus.

He was afraid that, wherever he posted a thread of the ‘truth’, it would be deleted instantly, and Xiao Xuance would trace it back to him without any trouble!

“Now, do you understand why I would rather die before I become an Immortal Cultivator?” Bai Xinghe sighed. “Yes. I firmly believe in the Dark Forest Theory, but my parents died because of the Dark Forest Theory. I cannot regard the Dark Forest Theory as the ultimate Dao for me!

“However, although I’m against the Immortal Cultivators, it is impossible for me to embrace the world of Cultivators.

“Hehe. Even Xiao Xuance, the leader of all Cultivators, could easily cross the line of the Cultivators and butcher the innocent when he was trapped in the dark forest.

“After everything he did, he could still keep it as a secret and rise to power in the world of Cultivators until he became the leader of it.

“Then, what is the difference between the Immortal Cultivators and the Cultivators?

“Maybe, righteous and evil, Cultivators and Immortal Cultivators, are just the same thing in the dark forest. The same thing…”

Bai Xinghe’s voice was intermittent, becoming weaker and weaker.

Because of the savaging flood and the serial explosions, the communication between the two parties was gradually cut off.

“No. Cultivators and Immortal Cultivators are absolutely different!” Li Yao clenched his fists hard, declaring in such a high voice that it even shocked himself. The fury that he had been suppressing in his mind after he heard the Dark Forest Theory from Bai Xinghe seven days ago fully burst out. “The so-called Dark Forest Theory is just Liu the Prier’s own invention after all!

“I don’t believe that such a simple theory can depict the truth of the entire universe!

“The universe cannot be so dark!

“Even if it is, are there really no opportunities to change it at all?

“Let me tell you, Boss Bai. Even if the odds are just one billionth, I, as well as all the real Cultivators, will set the dark forest into eternal flames!”

There was nothing but white noise in the communication channel. Bai Xinghe’s voice was gone for such a long time that Li Yao thought that the communication had been cut off.

But the Pirate Potentate last words came over in the end.

“I wish you luck. I truly do.”

…

In the depths of the underground fortress, inside an empty warehouse, wearing the Blood River Battlesuit, Bai Xinghe released the immense spiritual energy of the Nascent Soul Stage without any disguise.

Stimulated by the surging spiritual energy, the bloody stripes on the surface of the crystal suit seemed to come to life and emitted a boiling aura of blood in various directions.

In front of Bai Xinghe, Bai Wulei, Fengyu Zhong, Master Hidden Fog, the Black King, Eight Blades of Black Spider… Hundreds of experts among the space pirates and the Immortal Cultivators all focused their attention on the great enemy.

It was like a tiger being surrounded by a pack of wolves. The wolves knew that the tiger was dead for sure, but none of them had the courage to lunge at the tiger first.

Bai Xinghe glanced over the Immortal Cultivators on the spot and stopped at Bai Wulei, his true disciple. A deep voice came from his cold helmet, as he said, “Bai Wulei, things have gone too far between you and me. I only want to ask you one question.

“Was Meng Yue killed by you?”

Bai Wulei was silent for a moment. Then he laughed and sneered, “Yes. Your wife was killed by me!”

His tone absolutely unchanged, Bai Xinghe asked, “Why?

“I never wronged you after I recruited you as my disciple. Not only did I teach you countless techniques and secret arts, you were also promoted to a high position in the Abyss Pirate Gang despite your young age. I was treating you like my own son.

“Right now, the Temple of Immortals has showed its muscles, and you have your own supporters. It is not strange that you betray me.

“But decades ago, the Abyss Pirate Gang was like the unstoppable rising sun. Why did you kill my wife at that time?”

“Treated me like your own son? Do you really think I was a fool?” Bai Wulei replied coldly. “Look at your real own son Bai Wuxin. How did you treat him?

“You built a greenhouse below the surface when he was born and kept him insulated from the ugliness of the world of space pirates. I don’t think he had even killed a hen when he was fifteen, had he?

“What about me?

“It’s true that you taught me your techniques and secret arts, but you were merely treating me as a tool!

“You taught me how to kill people when I was six. You taught me how to disguise, how to plot, and how to betray when I was eleven!

“Hehe. Why didn’t you teach your own son any of that? Why didn’t you ask your own son to butcher one starship of people after another together with you? Why?

“Why did I kill your wife, you ask? It’s simple. I was jealous. I was jealous of everything that Bai Wuxin had. I envied that he could grow up innocently and carefreely in the garbage heap called Spider Den, as if he had been born in a f*cking noble family of Cultivators!

“Such a life was something I had never relished and would never have the opportunity to!

“What I could not get, Bai Wuxin could never get. I must destroy his everything. Simple as that.”

Bai Xinghe nodded. “Understood. For decades, I’ve always thought that my enemies killed Meng Yue because they were coveting the secrets inside the underground fortress. I was investigating the wrong line of thought all along. It never occurred to me that you were involved.

“But it is still not late to have learned the truth now.”

Bai Xinghe stepped forward in midair as if there were invisible stairs before him, approaching the hundreds of Immortal Cultivators.

The color of Bai Wulei’s face changed greatly as he shouted loudly, “Bai Xinghe, with everything reaching this point, just give up. You don’t stand a chance!”

Bai Xinghe smiled, before he suddenly vanished into thin air.

Then, a thunderous roar suddenly echoed in the void.

” Call me Boss Bai! ”