Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Alright. Let’s just say that he is still a ‘patrio
Li Yao made a concession. “But it doesn’t mean that he can purify and twist the most beautiful emotions of human beings and use them as evil weapons to create terrifying monsters such as ‘ghouls’. In that regard, he is on the opposite end of the spectrum from the greatest master of the Sanctuary.
Neither of them are good people.
“Then, if the puppet king is Lu Qingchen, what are you going to do?”
The mental devil asked, “Can we cooperate to a certain extent under the premise that we love the federation and human beings are paramount?”
Li Yao pondered for a long time.
“think it will be difficult.”
He rejected the idea of cooperating with Lu Qingchen.
Although their ideologies overlapped to a certain extent, their methods and the bottom line that they could cross unscrupulously were too different.
As far as Lu Qingchen was concerned, his idea was to virtualize all human beings so that they could get rid of the shackles of their bodies and live in the Spiritual Nexus and crystal processors.
In the world of the Nexus, as long as one consumed a tiny bit of energy, everyone would be able to live a splendid life with endless emotions and desires, which were the source of the extraterrestrial devils’ strength.
Li Yao could not say that Lu Qingchen’s dream was wrong. For example, Li Yao had just gotten rid of the shackles of his body and was now in the form of… an information life form. He had indeed received a completely different kind of pleasure and an unprecedented understanding.
But as the saying goes, evolution is not something that can be achieved overnight. The Spiritual Nexus of all human beings was such a huge project. It would take at least ten thousand years of trial and error.
If he wanted to finish the process in one shot and complete the ten-thousand-year evolution in a short span of a hundred years, he would only be digging his own grave.
More haste, less speed. Lu Qingchen was well aware of the principle. But his soul had been completely hijacked by the extraterrestrial devils, and he had fallen into an uncontrollable darkness. He had abandoned the bottom line of Cultivators and created the Disillusionment Virus, the Glory Virus, the
Taotie Virus, and the Love Virus without any psychological burden… In order to achieve his purpose, he would do whatever it took. The emotions of human beings could be manipulated however he wanted, and the sacrifices of thousands of people had become stepping stones for his future.
It was impossible for Li Yao to cooperate with Lu Qingchen.
Li Yao had never forgotten how cunning and terrifying Lu Qingchen was in the battle of the Black Wind Fleet’s assault on the Star Glory Federation. Many people had been killed by him directly or indirectly.
“Twill not forgive him!”
Li Yao pondered for a moment and said, “However, we cannot stand by and watch him fall into the hands of Master Zhi Shan. He has too many secrets about the federation and us. If those secrets are swallowed by Master Zhi Shan, I’m afraid that the five guys will be even more difficult to deal with!”
“Then let’s play it by ear. At the very least, we should capture him first.”
“Don’t be careless,” the mental devil said. “You must be careful. Although Lu Qingchen is a generation younger than you, he is not as simple as he appears to be. He has absorbed the strength of the star child, Su Changfa, Professor Mo Xuan, the Spiritual Nexus, and you. He has learned a lot from you. Right
now, his skills in the Spiritual Nexus and the human brain might be even better than ours combined!
“It is quite odd, too.
Li Yao thought for a moment and said, “Lu Qingchen hasn’t been in the Star Glory Federation for much longer than we have. Three to five years at most. But I feel that his capability has improved a lot compared to three to five years ago. At that time, he could only control a fleet of the Black Wind Fleet and
was no match for us who were in the superlative height of the Nascent Soul Stage. But right now, his strength is enough to corrupt the entire Star Glory Federation. Even the experts on the level of the Divinity Transformation Stage have been fooled by him. Even Master Zhi Shan, whose capability is
immeasurable, failed to catch his tail.
“Isn’t his advancement too fast?”
“What’s so strange about that?”
“Didn’t you jump from the Nascent Soul Stage to the Divinity Transformation Stage in only several years after you jumped to the center of the sea of stars?”
“This is different.”
Li Yao coughed and said, “Alright. I admit that luck played a part in my rapid advancement. At first, I was hit by intense radiation in the Venomous Scorpion Star Cluster and broke through the threshold of the Divinity Transformation Stage. Then, the empress of the Star Ocean Imperium, Li Linghai,
provided me with a lot of precious resources from the tomb of the Supreme Emperor, including ultimate treasures such as the ‘Emperor Flame Pear!’ for my training. In the end, part of the soul of Black Star Emperor Wu Yingqi, a great man of his generation, became his legacy and was given to me as well
as a unique training room such as the ‘Gold Crystal Tower.
“With so many coincidences and the enhancement of the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and the natural paradises, it is safe to say that half of the imperium is helping me in my training, That’s why I’m improving so fast.
“Besides, leveling up so fast is not without side effects. Look, my words and actions are getting more and more innocent and natural. I don’t want to do that!
“As for Lu Qingchen, after he was almost beaten to death and his soul was seriously damaged, he fled to the Sanctuary Alliance alone with a few remaining souls. It was impossible for him to receive any help.
“But on one hand, he is organizing the ‘God’s Heart Association’ to deal with the entire Holy Alliance, and on the other hand, he is training crazily. His capability is soaring faster than ours? Don’t you think that’s too much?”
“You, on the other hand, have nothing to hide.”
The mental devil replied, “Can’t he be a talented, smart, and rarely-seen Cultivation genius who has gathered billions of fortune in the Pangu Universe? It’s perfectly normal that his Cultivation speed is a little bit higher than yours, the virus of the universe!”
No. How can there be monsters whose Cultivation speed is higher than mine in the Pangu Universe? First, it was Li Jialing, and now it’s Lu Qingchen. How can the juniors nowadays be so lawless?”
Li Yao said, “If Lu Qingchen were really so awesome, he wouldn’t have been killed by us when he was in the federation! Compared to the so-called ‘geniuses of training who are as rare as phoenix feathers and as lucky as the heavens’, I would rather believe that his remaining soul had a fortuitous
encounter when he was wandering in the sea of stars and received the help of some sort of power. Maybe it was the legacy of a senior expert.”
“That’s a problem.”
“Think about it,” the mental devil said. “Right now, the strongest forces in the center of the sea of stars are none other than the Star Glory Federation and the imperium. You know the situation of the imperium very well, and Lu Qingchen is the one who declared that he was going to destroy the Star Glory
Federation. Why would a third force show up and help him? Is the so-called ‘senior expert’ from heaven?”
Li Yao could not figure out the question yet.
However, although the mental devil was mocking him, it had to admit that Lu Qingchen’s advancement was indeed suspicious. Li Yao and the mental devil were very clear about his capability in the past. There was no way that he could be so much stronger after only several years!
Therefore, there must be something else behind Lu Qingchen.
Maybe, after they figured out the reason why Lu Qingchen suddenly became stronger, the series of puzzles would be solved easily.
“Let’s turn our attention back to this guy, the guy who was talking to Gao Huan.”
The mental devil replied, “It is very clear now. The guy is not Lu Qingchen, but he is at least a puppet or a minion remotely controlled by Lu Qingchen.
“That’s right.”
Li Yao agreed. “Is there any way to see his face clearly or analyze his voice?”
“Very difficult.”
The mental devil said, “Lu Qingchen has erased most of the traces that he left in the Spiritual Nexus. It is already our limit to recover the broken data. It is impossible for us to see the face of the man.
“As for his voice, I believe that his voice must’ve been altered and disguised. He might’ve even simulated other people’s words on purpose to mislead the investigation. Therefore, there is no need to waste too much computational ability on that.
“That’s true.”
Li Yao said, “Is there no way to lock onto the guy’s identity?”
“Not necessarily.”
“Let’s think about it in a different way,” the mental devil said. “Gao Huan, who failed to erase his memories and self-awareness after three brainwashing sessions, must be very rare. He must’ve left a lot of data in the system and attracted the attention of the staff and the high priests, mustn’t he?
“Correct,” Li Yao replied.
“Then, a worker or a high priest will check his status and purify him in person.
“As for other irrelevant people, there shouldn’t be many opportunities to approach him, should there?”
Li Yao’s eyes suddenly shone. “Are you suggesting that the person talking to Gao Huan is a staff member or a high priest?”
“Of course, the other evidence is that we didn’t find any information about ‘Gao Huan’ in the system. After all, he didn’t yield after three brainwashing sessions. How could there be no record of him?
“Gao Huan’s record must’ve been erased,” the mental devil said. “There can’t be too many people who are authorized to erase the record.”
“This way, the scope of the investigation will be minimized.
Li Yao said, “But there seem to be seven high priests. Together with other workers, there should be twenty to thirty of them. How are we going to confirm one of them?”
“Here is the approximate time of communication between this person and Gao Huan.
The mental devil said, “Although we don’t know his identity directly, we can confirm the names of all the high priests and workers at the post at the same time. Then, we will search the surveillance videos and see what they are doing, If they are not Lu Qingchen’s puppets, they must be doing other work
right now and will be captured by the crystal cameras.
“If someone should be on duty but can’t be found in any of the surveillance videos, what does that mean?”
“It means that the videos about him have been deleted and crushed!”
Li Yao’s soul suddenly blinked.. “It means that he is Lu Qingchen’s puppet!”