Forty Millenniums of Cultivation
chapter-28

Five minutes later, doctors from the school infirmary came bustling through the ninth gym’s entrance.

Zhao Liang’s pair of legs were in an extremely critical condition. There was no way to carry him to the infirmary, so the doctors directly came on-site for treatment.

For the medics who had mastered the latest cultivation technology in the Federation, fixing a shattered bone fracture would be a trivial matter with an expected recovery within a few days. At most, there would be a little bit of… pain in the process.

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!” Zhao Liang’s miserable shrieks echoed throughout the gymnasium in large waves and waves. All those who heard the shrieks had their scalps turned numb. The stabbing pain in his knee was incomparably painful.

And Li Yao, together with his bro for life Meng Jiang, squatted by the flowers and shrubs outside of the gym. An incorporeal air seemed to have curled around both of their bodies, causing all the other students of the Common Class to avoid them and keep their distance. They did not dare to get close to Li Yao and Meng Jiang.

Meng Jiang’s face was knotted in a state of loss. He wanted to say something, but he was hesitating.

Li Yao glanced at his bro for life. “What do you want to know? Come on, ask. Ask before a teacher takes me away!”

Meng Jiang spat out a dirty air. With a bitter laugh. he said, “My mind is a chaotic mess right now. I still haven’t processed all this yet. You little devilish monster. When did you become so strong?”

Li Yao thought for a bit and said, “I was on the breach of a breakthrough in a cultivation technique. Before practicing this technique, my strength was weak and feeble, just like that of the average person. But as soon as I succeeded in my training, my strength exploded into sky soaring heights! The reason why I didn’t come to school yesterday was because I was at a critical point in my training yesterday. Right now, I have already succeeded with the first step of this technique!”

“So it’s that amazing!” Meng Jiang’s eyes brightened and he did not inquire any further.

The Federation had an unwritten rule. It was the greatest taboo to investigate the roots of the combat skills and technique origins of other people. Even cultivators with power overflowing the heavens could not ask other people of their secret family techniques.

Without this rule, the consequences could be dire... Today, a cultivator might randomly interrogate the weak for the source of their combat skills. Tomorrow, the Federation could call up an army of millions to encircle a cultivation guild’s base and force them to give up their deepest secret extermination miracle techniques.

In every world, there was the most basic of rules — to protect the weak from the tyranny of the strong. People have fought for the basic right of not being taken advantage of.

It was because there were these rules that society was able to be established, that the strong and the weak could be united!

The Star Glory Federation relied on precisely these sets of rules to reach unity between cultivators and the common folk, to face-off jointly against the Fiend Beasts and those that walk the Demonic path. The Federation would have long perished if these rules weren’t in place. Cultivators and commoners would be hostile enemies towards each other, and the state of the Federation would sink into volatility, like a sheet of scattered sand. How could they possibly hope to fight against the Demon Beasts and Demonic Cultivators if this were the case?

And so, Li Yao thought of this pretext to explain his own sudden increase in strength. He wasn’t worried about being exposed by others. Even if people discovered that he was lying, his secrets would not be exposed… In the world of cultivation, who doesn’t have a few hidden secrets?

Meng Jiang nodded his head as he accepted the fact that his bro for life had suddenly increased his strength. However, he wrinkled his brow as he asked, “But, is there a need for you to be this excessively vicious? You had already sent Zhao Liang to the ground, yet you still pulverized his left knee. Isn’t that too extreme? You don’t know how scary you looked when you lifted that barbell up. You basically looked like… a blood-thirsty monster!”

“I had to do it,” Li Yao explained, “You told me this morning the enormous power Helian Lie holds in this school and how he has many henchmen. Since I’ve already offended him, his underlings will certainly come searching for trouble. Zhao Liang is only the first of them!”

He paused for a moment, before continuing, “Zhao Liang is the lowest ranked student of the Important Class; he’s in last place. If I only knock him to the ground, do you think other people would be scared? Wouldn’t they continue coming one after another to cause me trouble? No matter how I fight, I would fall before a revolving wheel of war! But now, when Helian Lie’s gang sees Zhao Liang’s pair of knees and hear his painful shrieks, they would reconsider a little bit before looking for me. The vast majority of them might even shrink back.”

Meng Jiang fixed into a blank stare. He did not think that far. He had only felt that Li Yao’s actions were too excessive.

Li Yao patted the shoulder of his bro for life and said seriously, “Small Jiang, you know my background. You know that since I was a kid, I lived and grew up in the trash heap. In the world I grew up in, people could get in blood feuds over even a half-rotten banana. One time, I even saw two groups of people have a brawl over half a bag of cold meat buns. In the end, two people died. Two people died over half a bag of meat buns! Trust me. I grew up in this kind of environment, so I know how to deal with threats and trouble!”

“But, but....” Meng Jiang’s mind was a huge mess. All this time, he had never witnessed this other face of his bro for life.

Perhaps, this was Li Yao’s most genuine face.

Li Yao said flatly, “The experience of a dozen years of life in the waste treatment facility had taught me…When it comes to facing the threats of other people, it’s not that thing’s can’t be reasoned and that a compromise can’t be found. It’s that first, the opposition must be beaten to such a state that even their parents would not recognize them, then negotiations and compromise can proceed. Otherwise, things can’t be reasoned out and compromises can’t be made. Instead, you place yourself in a pot for others boil or steam! As for what happened today… When Zhao Liang first arrived, he wanted me to kneel before him. And he wanted to break 10 of my bones. I was already determined not to kneel, and I also did not want to have 10 of my bones broken. What other choice did I have besides to fight him to the bloody end?

Meng Jiang had a blank expression for quite a while, “I heard you say before that you had a nickname in the garbage dump. The Vulture. When I heard that I had my doubts. I thought you were just talking big. I believe you now.”

With a laugh, Li Yao said, “Yea man~. The me back then was ten times more vicious and a hundred times more crazy than the me now. I had no choice. I was just a kid who couldn’t even hold a knife steady. If I weren’t a bit vicious and crazy, how could I have fought for food from the mouths of the grownups? Later, I met my Old Man. He taught me many things, including social standards and rules. When I assimilated into ordinary society, I lost a bit of my edge. Anyway, my Old Man is long dead. When I encounter this sort of situation, I can act only in accordance to the instincts of the ‘Vulture’ in order to settle things~.”

Meng Jiang let out a sigh, “I understand now after hearing you, Little Devil. You had no other option. But other than me, people would take you as a kid tooting his horn and that you are being too aggressive.”

“Aggressive? Of course, I have to be aggressive!” Li Yao’s nostrils flared. He spoke, objecting, “We who live in the Artifact Grave must work to eat as scavengers. We live in the now, not the future, for who knows what type of priceless treasure we may salvage in the next minute… only to have, the minute after, it’s spiritual energy explode so greatly that nothing remains! So for us scavengers, as soon we have power, we must immediately act with aggression. I won’t wait till the next second to be aggressive if I can be aggressive now. I won’t act with 90% aggression if I can act with 100% aggression! If I don’t be aggressive when I have this strength, if I continue laying low… What if I dropped dead in the next second? Wouldn’t it all have been a waste? It’s like winning 5 million credits in the lottery. Say you don’t spend it to live a life of luxury. You would rather stick it in the bank. What if right after you deposited your money, you get hit by a flying shuttle and die!? You’ve been wronged even as a ghost!”

Meng Jiang conceded saying, “Okay okay, since you’re this confident, you can act aggressively. But did the thought of Helian Lie using his family’s influence to make you quit school ever cross your mind? What will you do then?”

“I don’t have to remain here, there are other places I can be. Crimson Nimbus Second is not the only school under the skies. At worst, I will just switch schools. Even if I don’t go to school, the Federation still lets citizens enter privately in the university examinations. The procedure is just a little bit more troublesome! If Helian Lie applies pressure for me to quit school, I’ll just let him fulfill that wish. After all, why not? There’s a long future ahead. He and I will still have our beautiful youthfulness!” Li Yao’s eyes produced a vicious aura as he spoke nonchalantly.

While these two were talking, a short, thin, weak figure tottered towards them.

“It’s a teacher!” Meng Jiang said in light voice and pulled Li Yao to stand up, jumping off of a short wall by the bushes.

“Isn’t that Old Sun, the school’s warehouse logistics manager? What did he come here for?” Li Yao stared confused.