Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“The third guy is ‘Han Baling’, the regent of Ghost Qin in the north.

“The guy’s expertise in military and fighting can already be seen in the battle to annihilate the three hundred thousand soldiers of the Great Qian Dynasty last year with his Dark Cloud Ghost Knights.

“What is even more dreadful is that he is also a great politician and scholar.

“Ghost Qin was the collective name for the hundreds of scattered groups in the northern prairie. But they have been integrated with an iron fist by him into an intact, coherent army. He has also introduced many scholars who are not appreciated in the Great Qian Dynasty and modified the groups with the culture of Great Qian. He even changed his surname from ‘Poliuhan’ to ‘Han’ and his name from ‘Poliuhan Baling’ to ‘Han Baling’, to show everyone that he is not a foreign group but a rightful competitor of the throne.

“According to the standard of the modern Cultivators, the guy is definitely a standard ‘hybrid-type Cultivator’ who has shocking talents in both battle and administration!

“Although it is hard to gauge the specific capabilities of the three super experts based on hearsay, they are certain to be between the high level of the Nascent Soul Stage and the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage.

“Right. When the army led by Han Baling marched to the capital city, and when the incumbent emperor died abruptly, it was only because of the young emperor right now who distinguished himself in the troubled times that the dynasty was saved.

“It is said that the young emperor is born as dictated by fate and has concentrated the Great Qian Dynasty’s thousand years of luck. After he assumed the throne, he has accomplished quite a few noteworthy tasks. The dynasty seems to be thriving again.

“Whether it is the dying glow of the Great Qian Dynasty or it is a new start, the young emperor’s personal abilities cannot be underestimated. With a lineage of a thousand years and the enhancement of infinite treasures, it is also very possible that he is above the high level of the Nascent Soul Stage, too!”

The four of them were the candidates that could most likely be the ‘strategic partners’ of the Star Glory Federation.

Although he had executed a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator easily half a month ago, he did not dare to underestimate the four of them.

Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were different.

It had been pointed out to Li Yao that the Southland of Sorcerers was the most remote and poor area of the Great Qian Dynasty in the first place. The number and the quality of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators here were the lowest. The arts and the magical equipment in their possession were little to none, too.

To quote the ancient Cultivators, they were like ‘clowns’ who did not deserve much respect.

The central plateaus and the Dark Cloud land in the north were the places where the top Cultivators of the Ancient Sages Sector gathered.

Such places boasted abundant spiritual energy and many talents. The major sects often had a history of more than a thousand years. The relics and the treasures of the dynasties in history were not rare, too. The Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators who trained in such an environment were certainly different from the barbarians like ‘Master Spiritual Vulture’ who had to figure everything out on their own and who were overjoyed when they discovered a cave.

It was needless to say the Cultivators with the supreme power such as Han Baling, the regent of Ghost Qin and the emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty, who had almost infinite secret arts and resources.

‘Mother White Lotus’ Wan Mingzhu and ‘Heaven Battering King’ Qi Changsheng, despite being rebellions, had broken into the headquarters of quite a few Cultivation sects while they were on a rampage.

After every Cultivation sect was occupied, they would plunder the magical equipment and the secret arts. Their team was snowballing, too.

Right now, the leaders of the two rebellion forces perhaps had more techniques and magical equipment under their control than many leaders of notable sects did!

If Li Yao mistook the ‘super Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators’ such as Han Baling, the emperor, Mother White Lotus and the Heaven Battering King for ‘third-rate Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators’ such as Master Spiritual Vulture, he wouldn’t even have the chance to cry.

“Let me just observe and consider for now. If the local affairs are too messed up for me to intervene, I’ll have to figure out how to hire some of the local Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators as mercenaries.

“When the dynasty is changed, many Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators of the previous dynasty will certainly lost their home. I don’t think that they will turn down the offer of the citizenship of the Star Glory Federation.

“Right. If the Great Qian Dynasty is truly falling apart, will it be more convenient for me be to hire more Cultivators if I bring someone of royal blood and many Cultivators who are loyal to the royal family back to the Star Glory Federation? For what it’s worth, we can make a deal with them to deal with the Imperium of True Human Beings together, before we help them restore their dynasty by providing money, guns, and food for them!”

Li Yao began to think wildly.

The future plans could still wait. After the two parties were officially in contact, the specialists in the think tanks of the federation would certainly come up with better solutions than his ill-considered ideas.

“I heard something interesting when I eavesdropped the barbarian Cultivators.

“The greatest trouble of the Great Qian Dynasty right now is the ‘Ghost Qin’ soldiers on the Dark Cloud Prairie in the north.

“But ‘Ghost Qin’ is actually a contemptuous term used by the Great Qian Dynasty. They actually call themselves ‘Cloud Qin’.

“The so-called ‘Cloud Qin’ refers to the ‘Cloud Qin Dynasty’, the very first empire that unified the Ancient Sages Sector a hundred thousand years ago. The northern ethnic minorities led by Han Baling are in fact considering themselves as the descendants of the most ancient dynasty in order to justify their fight for the throne.

“But that is not important.

“What is important is, legends in this world have it that the Ancient Sages Sector was plagued by wars a hundred thousand years ago. The tribes and the small kingdoms had been fighting each other for thousands of years.

“Then, the Cloud Qin Dynasty was born. It gathered all the magical equipment in the world and forged the items into twelve ‘Cloud Qin Gold Statues’. Eventually, the world was unified with the help of the twelve ‘Cloud Qin Gold Statues.

“It is said that the twelve Cloud Qin Gold Statues were all almost a hundred meters tall and boasted infinite physical strength. They were the invincible beings who could raise storm and thunder by waving their arms!

“Even today, the footprints and the claw traces of the ‘Cloud Qin Gold Statues’ can still be found on the ancient battlegrounds.

“A hundred meters tall, made of metal, and able to summon lightning and thunder? They are doubtlessly the ‘Colossi’!

“It seems that some human beings in the Ancient Sages Sector discovered twelve intact Colossi and knew how to manipulate them in prehistoric times. With the twelve Colossi, they managed to unify the whole world.

“Traces of the Cloud Qin Gold Statues lingered on in the few dynasties after the Cloud Qin Dynasty. They even became a symbol of power. Whichever force had one Cloud Qin Gold Statue would be able to claim the world!

“However, the Cloud Qin Dynasty was established a hundred thousand years ago. Considering the average longevity of each dynasty to be three thousand years, there are still more than thirty changes of dynasties so far.

“In the passage of time, the twelve Cloud Qin Gold Statues were finally gone.

“The last time they appeared on the history books of this Sector was about ten thousand years ago, when a bunch of slaves discovered a one-eyed gold statue from a river while they were dredging the canal.

“The one-eyed Colossus alone resulted in the fall of the dynasty at that time. But the Colossus also disappeared in the chaos of the war. Perhaps, it was seriously damaged and ran out of spiritual energy and ammunition. Nobody knew how to maintain it and eventually it was buried again!”

The rumors about the twelve Cloud Qin Gold Statues made Li Yao respect the reserves of the Ancient Sages Sector even more. Right now, the information he had collected was too little after all. He might as well wait and see for now.”

Having finished the preliminary report, he stretched out his arms comfortably

His telepathic thoughts spread out again and immediately caught the laughter of many barbarian Cultivators.

A barbarian Cultivator with vipers all over his body, who had his face painted in various colors was whispering to another Cultivator who was as slim as skeleton. They were both grimacing.

The barbarian Cultivator with vipers chuckled in a low voice. “Gu Siduo, aren’t you always Huo Laoer’s dearest friend? Why have you joined the emperor’s army instead of helping him? Hehe.”

The Cultivator who looked like a zombie shrieked. “There are too many soldiers in the emperor’s army. How can the few people in my village expect to defeat them? As the people in the central plateaus say, ‘a wise man knows when to retreat’. Besides, the rewards that the Appeasing Ambassador are quite impressive. What’s not good in joining the emperor’s army?

“After al—”

Pausing for a moment, the zombie-like Cultivator ‘Gu Siduo’ smirked. “—We’ll take a few steps back after we go into the Fire Rude Village and watch the fight off the two bunches of northerners first. If the emperor’s army is winning, we will still help them. If the cute little girl’s head is cut off, we are naturally going to help Huo Laoer. Meng Duo, what do you say?”

The Cultivators with snakes named ‘Meng Duo’ chuckled and nodded his head. “Exactly. Exactly. How about this. Let’s later gather the warriors of our two villages together, so that we can look after each other. We can wait until they beat each other’s s*it out of their pants!”

Gu Siduo moved his eyes and faked a smile. “I am only planning this because I’m a close friend to Huo Laoer. But are you not the most trusted brother of Huo Laoda? Why are you so—disloyal?”

Meng Duo blinked his eyes and said, “Everybody knows that Meng Duo of the Black Mist Village is the most loyal one both to friends and to the court. It is impossible for me to betray the court!

“However, the court has truly crossed the line too much this time! Not only are they demanding the Southland of Sorcerers to submit so much food and livestock, they are also drafting fifty thousand soldiers to fight against the Ghost Qin soldiers in the north!

“We men of the south land are as free in the woods as fish are in the water. If we leave the woods for the north, we will be like a fish out of water. How can we expect to live faced with the Dark Cloud Ghost Knights?

“The order is clearly one that asks us to participate in a suicidal mission!

“Meng Duo is loyal to the court, but the court is not as loyal to Meng Duo. So, I’ll have to leave my loyalty aside and see what the trend is. Is there anything wrong about that?”

“No. No. Not at all!”

Gu Siduo nodded his head quickly and scorned. “The Appeasing Ambassador takes us for the rocks in the mountain and stupid dummies. He thinks that now is still three hundred years ago and that he can draft fifty thousand soldiers with a few empty words? Haha. Then let’s see first whether or not the court’s fist is as tough as before!”