Forty Millenniums of Cultivation
chapter-625

"After we absorb the Blood Stripe Virus and grasp their techniques, naturally, we won't be scared that they will come to manipulate us in thousands of years' time!

"Besides, after assimilating the Blood Stripe Virus into our bodies, we will all evolve into newer, stronger human beings. It's very possible that we can march out of Iron Plateau and rule the entire Flying Star Sector!

"This is not only the only destiny of Iron Plateau but also the brightest future for the Flying Star Sector. It is even a brand-new path for mankind in general!"

The more Yan Xibei talked, the more excited and crazier he became. The blood stripes all over his body were glittering and fluctuating. Creepy noises were also echoing from the shell on his insect body like metal rubbing together.

"Bulls*it! This is bulls*it!"

Unable to stand on his feet, Yan Chihuo sat on the ground before Yan Xibei. His thighs were full of blood, and his face was pale, but he still shouted, "If you are really considering for the future of Iron Plateau, why didn't you put forward your proposal openly instead of cooperating with the Temple of Immortals and killing so many people?"

Yan Xibei sighed and replied, not without regret, "You think I never thought that?

"When I made up my mind, my very first thought was to share it with the public and ask everyone else to study the Blood Stripe Virus together with me in order to scrutinize and make the best use of it.

"However, three unresolvable problems immediately occurred to me.

"Firstly, look at me. Do you want to be like this?"

Yan Xibei pointed at the blood stripes on his body, which were twisting like vipers, vines, and veins and releasing eccentric redness, with a self-mocking smile.

"Or this?"

He then pointed at his extremely hideous body that was made up by multiple giant insects.

Not waiting for a reply, he shook his head and said, "It's impossible. You would definitely be unwilling to be changed into such appearances unless it was absolutely necessary. My plan would meet countless obstacles. I assumed that you would rather cooperate with the space residents than meld with the Blood Stripe Virus.

"No. You wouldn't agree to my plan. If anything, you would even think that I had been controlled by the Blood Stripe Virus, and that my soul and brain were no longer my own. Everything I did was actually the Blood Stripe Virus' will so that it could bloom and spread to every corner of Iron Plateau, if not the Flying Star Sector. You would think that way, right?"

"Correct!"

Xiong Wuji said coldly, "Master Yan, after listening to your theory, I have every reason to believe that the Blood Stripe Virus has conquered your brain. Or in other words, you've been possessed by the Blood Demon!"

Yan Xibei was not angry. He smiled and replied peacefully, "Yes! That is a very reasonable doubt! If I were you and I saw such an ugly monster showing up, I would naturally speculate that he was possessed by a demon and would never believe anything coming out of his mouth!

"I pondered for a long time, but I failed to find an undeniable method to prove that I was not possessed by the Blood Stripe Virus.

"Therefore, I could not tell the secret, because nobody was going to believe me even if I did.

"Like I said just now, you are like people who are born blind. You don't know what brightness is. Even if I tell you that I see the cliff ahead of us and a bright path beyond it, you will not believe me but simply think that I've been bewildered by a devil.

"But I am well aware that I am not controlled by the Blood Stripe Virus. My head is as clear and sharp as ever, and I am nothing but rational.

"Hahahaha. Since it is inexplicable, I might as well not explain it at all! The whole world may misunderstand me, but so what? Just allow me to save Iron Plateau on my own!

"However, since I was on my own, the next crucial issue immediately emerged, which was that I didn't have enough resources to study the Blood Stripe Virus and perform the necessary experiments!

"I'd been struggling against the Blood Stripe Virus for years and stopped taking care of the affairs of my tribe long ago. My younger brother, Yan Zhengdong, had become the chief.

"I was never a man fond of power. If I suddenly meddled in the tribe's affairs and demanded a lot of resources, I was bound to be suspected!

"Although I had a lot of connections in all of the six tribes, they could not be translated into the enormous resources that I was in dire need of.

"Even if many people in the six tribes were willing to listen to my command and provide the resources for me, they would inevitably know that I was preparing for a groundbreaking discovery!

"Thirdly, and lastly, let's say that I could collect resources and carry out my plan in secret. There was still a fatal problem that I could not bypass.

"The space residents!

"I had profound understanding about the capability gap between Iron Plateau natives and space residents. I was well aware that, after thousands of years of separation, the overall combat ability of Iron Plateau natives is much lower than that of space residents.

"At the moment, since we are all human beings, the ostensible peace is still maintained.

"However, if my plan is carried out on a large scale, and Iron Plateau natives start evolving into a whole new life form by absorbing the Blood Stripe Virus…

"… will space residents idle by and watch?

"They won't. When they discover Iron Plateau natives in our new forms, they will definitely regard us as terrible monsters and destroy us mercilessly!

"We do not have the ability to cruise in the universe and would only be able to take their blow. The war could never be won!

"If any of the three problems remained unresolved, my plan would be just an unreachable dream!

"However, Iron Plateau natives were not doomed.

"While I was troubled by the three problems, I accidentally discovered that a mysterious organization was active on Iron Plateau. They were looking for a 'cooperator', or rather, a puppet, on Iron Plateau!"

Xiong Wuji narrowed his eyes and remarked coldly, "The Temple of Immortals?"

Yan Xibei nodded with a smile. "Yes. The Temple of Immortals!

"We all know the purpose of the Temple of Immortals. This organization of the so-called Immortal Cultivators has been conspiring against Cultivators and infiltrating them for many years. But they were in lack of ordinary soldiers, or cannon fodder, if you will.

"The tricks, plots, and harassment of space pirates were far from enough to overturn the world of Cultivators.

"Iron Plateau natives, who boast countless excellent warriors and have a long grudge with Cultivators, naturally caught their attention.

"Iron Plateau natives are too untamable to be directly commanded by them. So, they could only look for a puppet on Iron Plateau and raise a war between Iron Plateau natives and space residents through the puppet. That was the easiest choice.

"The puppet had to enjoy certain prestige in the six tribes and be familiar with their situation in order to supervise the plan of the Temple of Immortals.

"Also, the puppet could not be very strong. He had to be at their mercy and be able to be wiped out easily when necessary.

"Lastly, the puppet had to have a fatal weakness or a very urgent demand that they could lure him with.

"Haha. Hahahaha. Who else on the entire Iron Plateau could meet all the three conditions except for me?

"Therefore, a leader of the Temple of Immortals who called himself 'Lotus King' soon found me and tried to talk me into their plan.

"They threw out two baits.

"The first bait was that the cooperation between the Temple of Immortals and Iron Plateau natives was equal. When the plan succeeded, the Flying Star Sector would be evenly divided between us.

"As for the other hook, they claimed that they had methods to treat my legs and restore my capability. My longevity could also be lengthened so that I would be able to explore the summit of qi-training!

"In order to convince me and show their respect for Iron Plateau natives, they even invited me to be one of the four leaders of the Temple of Immortals. 'Four Kings of Immortality, Mountain Sea Black Lotus'!

"Ridiculous. It was too ridiculous. Those ugly, cowardly Immortal Cultivators who wouldn't hesitate to sell their mothers for their own benefits were too naïve and hilarious!

"What kind of person did they think I, Yan Xibei, was? Immortality? Recovery of capability? A useless title?

"Honor or disgrace, gains or losses, strong or weak, and even life or death were as meaningless as the clouds in the sky for me. They were not worth mentioning at all!

"Besides, I had just experienced a perilous battle against the Blood Stripe Virus and grasped the virus' knowledge. The struggles that I had passed were too harsh for me to be fooled by petty benefits!

"They thought that an empty title, Mountain King, was enough to buy me and ease my vigilance so that they would take advantage of me however they wanted. But they did not know that it was exactly the reason I became wary of them!

"'Four Kings of Immortality, Mountain Sea Black Lotus'. The Sea King, the Black King, and the Lotus King are all super experts above the Nascent Soul Stage!

"I appeared to be in the Building Foundation Stage even after I was partly recovered by the secret arts of the Temple of Immortals. What qualifications did I have to be on par with them?

"The higher they raised me, the clearer I was of their ill intentions.

"The Immortal Cultivators were trying to trade an empty title for the future of Iron Plateau!

"When all the cannon fodder ran out, they could do whatever they wanted to the 'Mountain King', who could not even defeat a Core Formation Stage Cultivator, couldn't they?

"Excellent plan. It was indeed an excellent plan!

"It's a pity that, if the Blood Stripe Virus had failed to transform me into its puppet, what made the Temple of Immortals think that they could manipulate me?

"On the surface, I pretended that I was fascinated by the Temple of Immortals' offer and joined the organization to become the 'Mountain King'.

"But under the table, I demanded a lot of resources, including the state-of-the-art research facilities and secret arts, from the Temple of Immortals under the pretext that I was making preparations for their plan.

"With the resources, I completed the Temple of Immortals' scheme while I conducted my own research. With the wildlings on the Dark Continent as experiment subjects, I tested the best methods to swallow the Blood Stripe Virus without being corrupted on them!

"In the meantime, I communicated with a meteorite with the foreign blood inside my body and turned it into my own egg of apocalypse!

"Don't think that you are in a random valley. This particular valley was carefully chosen after years of prospecting!

"Several rarely-seen mother lodes are buried deep below the ground of the valley where countless precious minerals were condensed. But they were too deeply concealed for Iron Plateau natives to explore and excavate.

"However, the eggs of apocalypse can absorb all of the underground resources!

"In short, this valley is my personal natural paradise!

"I planted an egg of apocalypse in the depths of the natural paradise. In the center of the egg of apocalypse, I grew the strongest calamity-level apocalyptic beast in history, which I carefully refined after gathering the essences of countless apocalyptic beasts!

"However, the calamity-level apocalyptic beast does not have a brain or thinking ability. It is just a body, an unfathomably strong 'apocalyptic body'!

"Hehe. The other three kings of The Temple of Immortals thought me an ignorant barbarian and an old fart that they could make use of as they saw fit. But they did not know that, once the apocalyptic body grew mature and I was fully melded with it through the blood stripes, I would be able to wield a terrifying combat ability far beyond that of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators!

"When that day comes, what can the Lotus King, the Sea King, and the Black King do with me?"