Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
BOOM!
A thousand crystal cannons suddenly emerged in the giant hand formed by the star brain. The balls of lightning were raining, and the electric arcs were pouring down. All seven Cultivators lost their sense of direction and were drowned in the ocean of flames!
Swoosh! Swoosh!
When the crystal cannons finally ceased fire, ten thousand iron chains darted out of the palm of the giant hand and pierced into the seven Cultivators' crystal suits brutally. They were bound up by the thorn-like chains and were unable to move at all.
"Open your eyes and see the universe!"
Together with the star child's roar, countless shadows appeared in various corners of space, as if all the deities and devils in the entire universe had arrived at the same time.
They were as magnificent as mountains and as boundless as oceans. The seven Cultivators were completely overpowered in front of them.
The billions of shadows formed billions of crazily growing trees, which constituted a dark, cold forest that occupied the entire universe.
"Do you see it? The cold universe is a dark forest. If you want to survive, you must abide by the cruelest rules!
"The strong prey on the weak, and only the fittest survive. In order to be stronger, leniency, moral, pity… Everything can be abandoned. Everything must be abandoned!
"This is evolution, just like the fish changing into amphibians by abandoning their bladders and fins after they climbed onto land!
"Evolution, evolution, evolution! Evolution is everything! You evolve, you survive; you don't evolve, you die!"
Shua!
The thorns that pierced deep into the seven Cultivators' bodies suddenly turned into black vipers that injected the venom into the depths of their souls incessantly.
The souls of the seven of them had all been suppressed, and they did not have the strength to struggle. The black venom even flowed out through their mouths, noses, eyes, and ears, forming a thin seal on the surface of their bodies.
Li Yao felt the fire of his soul becoming weaker and weaker, and his computational ability plummeted because of the corruption of the black venom. He even found himself agreeing with the star child's principle from the bottom of his heart.
He does seem to have a point. We've been living in the remote area of the universe and never been through much trouble. That's why we believe in protecting the weak.
If we had been living in a cruel world of bloody battles for ten thousand years, what would we have chosen in order to protect the civilization of mankind?
Li Yao suddenly shuddered coldly, realizing that he almost lost control over his mind.
No! No! No! A civilization where the majority of the people are sacrificed for the benefits of the strongest few is absolutely not the real civilization of mankind!
Li Yao wanted to shout, but the black venom filled his throat, and he could not say anything even after coughing for a long time.
"Do you see? I can easily suppress the souls of the seven of you with my strength and turn you into my obedient slaves!"
The star child suddenly stopped torturing them and said coldly, "Without you, I can still control the entire Flying Star Sector with the Grand Illusionary Soldiers. But if that is what I must do, a prolonged war will definitely be raised. The Flying Star Sector will be crippled, and billions of people might be killed.
"In order to maintain the full functionality of the Flying Star Sector, so that it can provide soldiers and resources for the imperium dutifully, I am not willing to do that.
"Also, I believe that you are not willing to see the Flying Star Sector plagued by warfare, either.
"So, I'm going to give you one final chance.
"The seven of you all boast tremendous influence in the Flying Star Sector. With your power and prestige, and together with the Grand Illusionary Soldiers, the Flying Star Sector should be able to be conquered with no blood shed. You can run the world in the way that the imperium does.
"I know that you are too pigheaded, and you are absolutely not scared of death. However, you might want to consider the ordinary people even if you are not considering for yourselves.
"If you don't resist and surrender nicely, the Flying Star Sector will retain part of its independency. In the future, when you become the real controllers of the Flying Star Sector, as long as you provide a certain number of soldiers and resources, the imperium will not meddle in the internal affairs of the Flying Star Sector. You will be able to shelter many people.
"By then, you can establish certain 'reserves' on some planets and migrate some of the ordinary people to those places where they will continue living their peaceful lives, if you think your hypocrisy and vanity can be satisfied in such a way.
"This is the greatest concession that the imperium can make!
"If you are determined to resist and refuse the generosity of the imperium, you will be considered enemies of the Imperium of True Human Beings and traitors of the civilization of mankind!
"The imperium has never shown mercy to the traitors of mankind!
"When the expedition army of the imperium arrives, the Flying Star Sector will be crushed. Not only will all the Cultivators be wiped out, the ordinary people will also be punished in the harshest of ways. They will be refined into the lowliest slaves and sent into the roughest resource planets in the edge of the imperium. They and their posterity will be forever doomed!
"Is that the future that you want?
"Is that the price you are willing to pay for your stubbornness?"
Luo Xingzi and the other Cultivators were all dumbfounded, unable to come up with any response.
They were definitely not scared of death, but if the Imperium of True Human Beings was really so strong, resistance would be meaningless. If anything, the ordinary people of the Flying Star Sector would only end in a more miserable situation.
It was definitely not the outcome that they were willing to accept.
The souls of Luo Xingzi and the rest of them shivered slightly. Gaps as thin as hairs appeared on them.
The black liquids took the opportunity to march deep into the souls of the six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, sabotaging and seizing control over them.
The six of them struggled helplessly as if they had been mired in a swamp.
Li Yao was the only one who gritted his teeth and managed to keep his head clear despite the corruption of the black venom.
He felt that something was off.
That's not right. If the star child's soul power is as strong as it appears to be, he could have suppressed us from the very beginning. Why did he waste so much time talking to us?
Or rather, if he is really so tough, there was no need for him to control Xiao Xuance to launch the so-called 'New Era Plan' at all. He could have found an excuse to concentrate all the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators in the control room of the star brain on Heavenly Phantom before he launched mental attacks and brainwashed everybody. Would that not have been much more straightforward?
Something is wrong. Something is definitely wrong!
By logic, since he knows that we are all the most hardcore Cultivators and that our beliefs to protect the ordinary people were not formed yesterday, he must know that we are not likely to be persuaded by a few words of his. Then, there is no reason why he should describe the brutality of the Imperium of True Human Beings so elaborately!
Unless…
Li Yao suddenly thought of something. Unless he has been bluffing in order to make us overwhelmed by anxiety and dismay!
Yes. Yes. Up until now, everything is just this damn kid's own story. The rise of the Imperium of True Human Beings, the control of the prosperous areas of the Star Ocean Imperium, countless Sectors bowing to the brilliance of the imperium… That's all bulls*it. All the claims are not supported by any proof!
Is he really so strong?
We have six Cultivators in the Nascent Soul Stage here. Together with my soul, it's seven versus one. Even though the soul of the star child used to be a Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivator, he might not be able to suppress all of us right now!
Don't forget that he has to spend a lot of computational ability controlling tens of thousands of Grand Illusionary Soldiers and fighting against the star spirits!
Right, the star spirits!
The five star spirits must be doing the best they can outside right now!
All things considered, the star child is definitely not as strong as he appears to be. That's why he has been exaggerating the invincibility and the horror of the Imperium of True Human Beings. He means to scare us and shake the stability of our souls!
In mental confrontations, the solidness of the souls was very important, but what mattered more was the determination and the fighting will!
The source of strong determination and fighting will was a firm belief!
When two Cultivators of a similar level were engaged in a mental battle, their beliefs could not be more important.
The Cultivator with a firmer belief was more likely to secure the final victory!
Whether a belief was firm or not in many cases depended on the 'facts' that the two parties believed in.
For example, if a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator launched a mental attack against a Refinement Stage Cultivator and forced him to believe that 'the sun is square', it would be quite an easy task.
But if the two parties were both in the Nascent Soul Stage, with one of them believing that 'the sun is round' while the other accepting 'the sun is square' to be true, the former would definitely secure the victory when their beliefs collided in a mental war.
Since the very beginning, the star child has been expounding on the 'opinion' that the Imperium of True Human Beings is invincible and that there is nothing we can do to stop it. He has turned the 'opinion' into a 'fact' without us knowing!
Disturbed by such false facts, our beliefs are being shaken. We do not have faith in ourselves anymore. How can we expect to defeat him?
The new discovery greatly refreshed Li Yao.
However, his beliefs were not getting any firmer because of the new discovery, because everything was just his speculation. He did not have any evidence to prove that the star child was lying.
No solid proof, no firm belief. And without a firm belief, he could not utilize the full strength of his soul!
What do I do? Li Yao was anxious.
The star child held the advantage. The palace of his mind was already indestructible. Unless he found solid evidence, Li Yao could not even completely convince himself, much less wake up the six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators to fight against the star child together!
"If you are still not willing to give up, I might just as well give you an even more desperate message."
Deep inside the body of debris, the soul of the star child slightly shivered, indicating that it was a bit unstable, too.
There was a hint of unpredictable earnestness in the indifferent voice, as the star child said, "The imperium has almost recovered all the Sectors habituated by human beings after a thousand years of expansion.
"Many Sectors were extremely harsh environments. The experts there had abandoned the idiotic ideology of protecting the weak a long time ago. When the army of the imperium appeared, they joined us without the slightest resistance.
"Those Sectors too foolish to shift from the path of the Cultivators have almost all been destroyed because they could not adapt themselves to the competition in the dark forest. The lucky survivors are merely breathing their last breath right now.
"You are the last Cultivators in the dark forest.
"Hehe. In the cold, boundless universe, you fools are fighting on your own."