Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Li Yao immediately understood Lu Qingchen’s determination to face death calmly. The determination was like a burning flame that made his soul boil. He tried to grab Lu Qingchen with all his soul power, but all he could do was watch Lu Qingchen’s light threads slip out of his telepathic thoughts.
“Don’t do that. Think of something else. Let’s think of something together!”
Li Yao shouted from the bottom of his heart, “There must be a way, Lu Qingchen. Don’t give up. I swear that I will bring you back to the federation. We will keep our souls intact and return to the hometown that you’ve been dreaming about day and night!”
“Hehe. Forget it. Don’t make it sound like we are close.
Lu Qingchen smiled bitterly. “It can’t be helped. I’ve thought of all the plans and possibilities. As long as there is a slim chance of survival and I can frame you in exchange for my life, I will try it without any hesitation.
“However, there is really no other way.
“A few days ago, on ‘Eternal Brightness’, I spent a lot of my soul power and faked the self-detonation of my soul power. Together with the imprisonment and torture over the past few days, I’m really… running out of resources.
“In the meantime, the power of the Fuxi invaded my soul deeply and hooked my internal organs and veins like sharp hooks.
“I can’t. Even if you can, I can’t.
“Therefore, stop being so soft-hearted and annoying. Show me the courage and power that you showed me that day and smash the abnormal freak who calls himself ‘Fuxi’ into pieces!
[hate to say it, but… the federation is counting on you, Li Yao!”
Lu Qingchen retracted his threads of light. The light spots condensed by his soul were even more compressed by the power of the Fuxis. They were like insignificant dust struggling in the tornadoes, emitting the most dazzling brilliance.
“Lu Qingchen…”
Li Yao was greatly shocked, not knowing what to say.
“Haha. Hahahaha!”
But from the glittering dust burst out laughter that was even louder than the tornadoes and the raging tides. “Fuxi, you haven’t been trying everything you can to swallow me, have you? Then let’s see whether or not you have such a good appetite! This is all the memories, emotions, and will of Lu
Qingchen of the Star Glory Federation. Come and take it if you want it so badly. Hahahaha!”
In Lu Qingchen’s crazy laughter, the brightness of the dust was even more dazzling, Even the light clusters of the Fuxis seemed to have lost their color, as if they were greatly shocked.
The light clusters of the Fuxis shrank rapidly. They seemed to have sensed Lu Qingchen’s determination and quickly constructed a defense line.
However, it was too late.
Ina moment, the dust that had been compressed to the minimum exploded like specks of dust.
BOOM! CRACK!
All the data of Lu Qingchen’s life in the short span of a hundred years were gathered in the fiercest, most furious, most passionate, and most splendid posture into a surging torrent, a storm that swept everything, a tide that crushed the stars, and the mainframe crystal processor of ‘Ultimate Rescue’.
Data. A lot of data. A crazy amount of data. It constituted a swirl and sprayed billions of memory pieces, allowing Li Yao to ‘see’ Lu Qingchen’s life in person.
Firstly, his childhood.
Ina trance, Li Yao saw that Lu Qingchen, who was young and vigorous, and many other kids of his age were sitting in a yard and listening to their grandpa Lu Zui and the other tough soldiers such as Zhou Hengdao telling them all kinds of thrilling and blood-boiling battle stories. Gradually, their love for
the federation was shaped.
Lu Zui, the director of the Department of Mysteries and the leader of the patriots, had adopted almost a hundred foster children who were the offspring of war orphans and martyrs, including Lu Qingchen’s father.
Different from other families that were related by blood, their special family was closely connected by their love for their motherland. The federation was their home, their real home.
Therefore, Lu Qingchen in his childhood had a natural trust and admiration for the heroes who were fighting on the front lines such as Lu Zui and Zhou Hengdao. He never doubted that his grandfather and Zhou Hengdao were the embodiment of justice and the first and last defense line of the federation.
If necessary, Lu Qingchen was willing to die for the federation without any hesitation. All his brothers, sisters, friends, and uncles thought the same.
It was not hard to imagine that, when Lu Zui’s scheme was exposed and he was killed, Lu Qingchen, who thought that he was absolutely righteous, was on the verge of collapse because of the heavy blow that he had suffered.
The entire world was twisted and divided in front of his black and shining eyes, until he saw a letter left by Lu Zui.
He was the smartest, the most sensitive, and the one that Lu Zui liked most.
“Little Chen, if you can read this letter, it means that Grandpa is dead, and he died in a… very dishonorable ending.
“You are also plagued by suspicion, hatred, anger, and confusion. You don’t know what is going on at all.
“Hehe. Don’t doubt Grandpa’s words, and don’t hate those who stopped Grandpa. Maybe we are all patriots, but… but.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand it now. You will understand it when you grow up. The world of adults is very complicated in the first place. There is never a black or white space. Everything is gray.
“Grandpa, Grandpa doesn’t know how to persuade you right now. I only hope that you can read more, read more, and think more. No matter what, life has to go on, and the federation still exists… As long as the federation exists, we will fight for it for a day. No matter who we are, what we look like, or
how the outside world misinterprets us, it will not affect our love for the federation and the responsibility on our shoulders, right?
“Maybe, maybe in the next few years, with the identity of ‘Descendant of Lu Zui’, your life will be very difficult, but isn’t it also a kind of test? Grandpa will watch you in the darkness and watch you pass the test and become a true patriot. Grandpa believes that no matter what kind of adversity you are in,
you will certainly be able to save the federation and help Grandpa… redeem his sins.”
So much for Lu Zui’s letter.
Then there were Lu Qingchen’s childhood memories.
To Li Yao’s surprise, the one who left the deepest impression on the young Lu Qingchen was… Vulture Li Yao!
Also, Li Yao sensed a few special ripples from Lu Qingchen’s memory pieces and emotions. They were… feelings of hatred and admiration.
“What’s going on? Did Lu Qingchen really worship me when he was young?”
Li Yao mumbled to himself.
Yes. As the ‘culprit’ of Lu Zui’s death, of course, Li Yao would be hated by the young Lu Qingchen.
However, after several years of consideration, especially after the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector melded and ushered in peace and development, the young Lu Qingchen had to admit that Li Yao’s approach was not wrong. The one who was wrong was indeed his grandfather, Lu Zui.
Besides, of all the ‘adults’, Li Yao was the one who had the best attitude toward him.
As the grandson of Lu Zui, the ‘big devil’, countless uncles and brothers had been sentenced to prison because of the ‘Patriot Incident’. Naturally, other people despised Lu Qingchen. Even if they didn’t say anything, it was not hard to imagine their attitude in secret.
Lu Qingchen, who was sensitive by nature, lived in vague discrimination and wariness almost every day.
In addition, he had an ugly appearance and a solitary personality. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, he was ostracized.
Until he met Li Yao.
Li Yao really did not care about his identity. He simply regarded him as an ordinary teenager of the federation. Li Yao could even accommodate Jin Tuyi, commander-in-chief of the Blood Demon Sector, much less Lu Qingchen.
This kind of equal and easy-going attitude, coupled with Li Yao’s aura of “Supreme of the Three Realms, Hero of the Federation”, was no wonder Lu Qingchen at that time considered Li Yao to be the greatest, uh, the second greatest hero in his heart. He was unwilling to use Li Yao’s image to fill the void in
his heart after Lu Zui collapsed.
“ant”
Li Yao watched with mixed feelings. He really wanted to smack his thigh.
Lu Qingchen’s life had a very good beginning. If Li Yao had not participated in the ‘Operation to Explore the Ancient Saint World’ a hundred years ago and stayed in the federation to give Lu Qingchen pointers from time to time, perhaps the young man’s future would have been completely different.
It was a pity that Li Yao had left the federation for a hundred years. During the hundred years, it was Su Changfa, an Immortal Cultivator, and Professor Mo Xuan, who had fallen to the devil’s path, who taught Lu Qingchen.
Then, Li Yao saw the memory pieces of the young Lu Qingchen who had received the enlightenment of Su Changfa and Professor Mo Xuan.
“On many occasions, good and evil and black and white are the definitions of human beings’ imagination. Cultivation and immortality are not opposites but dependent, supportive, and melding.
Immortal Cultivator Su Changfa said to the young man, Lu Qingchen, “Cultivators and Immortal Cultivators must do their duty. They are like different pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that have been pieced together into a magnificent picture of the civilization of mankind.
“There are always sacrifices in evolution. The blood of the pioneers is always needed.
Mo Xuan said to Lu Qingchen, “Maybe, the first fish to jump to the shore will die of thirst and thirst, or even the millionth fish. It is not until the millionth fish that the ability to survive on land is granted and the direction of evolution can be seen clearly.
“But that doesn’t mean that the mistakes and sacrifices of all the fish in the beginning are meaningless. Without the death of the first fish, how could the life of the 1,000,000th fish be born, and how could the thousands upon thousands of living creatures evolve like a big bang?
“Therefore, let’s make the first fish, the second fish… until the first million fish jump ashore! Maybe the conditions to activate the Phantom Plan right now are not mature enough, but if we don’t make mistakes, sacrifice ourselves, or die, how can the conditions mature automatically?