Xu Zhicheng meant to argue, but he was unable to say anything when he looked at Li Yao’s eyes that were as shiny as the edge of a saber.

“No feelings, no determination, no battle plans, and just want to die in a great riot. What is flight if this is not?”

Li Yao, on the other hand, did not let go of Xu Zhicheng but continued stabbing at the wounds in the deepest part of his heart. “If you truly want to avenge your sons, just raise your blades in the most furious gesture with the deepest love for them and deepest hatred against the Immortal Cultivators. That will be a real fight!”

“It’s useless.”

After a brief silence, Xu Zhicheng shook his head softly. “We are no match for the Immortal Cultivators in any case. Fight or flight, the result will be the same.

“You say that everybody dies twice. It is probably right, but even if you don’t practice the Serenity Arts, we will be exploited to death by the Immortal Cultivators, and nobody will remember us after we die. We won’t even have a gravestone that has our names on it. Aren’t we not going to slip into the complete oblivion that you mentioned?”

“Don’t give up yet. You still have a chance!”

Li Yao grabbed Xu Zhicheng’s shoulders hard and refreshed the devastated father with the sharp pain. “Listen to me, Grand Guardian Xu, I’m not here to berate you or to watch you humiliate yourselves condescendingly. We, the Cultivators, truly mean to help you win this war and fight by your side. I’ve come with my own solution too!”

Light of hope beamed out of Xu Zhicheng’s eyes. The weird strength that he suddenly grew out of nowhere made him get rid of Li Yao’s hands and grab Li Yao’s shoulders instead. He asked, “What is the solution? Master Li, can you help us win the battle?”

Li Yao coughed and said, “Don’t call me ‘Master’, just call me ‘Fellow Cultivator’. This battle is too hasty, and the Cultivators are not in the best situation. Therefore, it is impossible to win the battle at all. However, if Nepenthe is patient enough to wait for a while longer, things will perhaps be very different.

“Don’t think that this is just an excuse to stall you. I mean it.

“After I heard the things of Nepenthe, I’d been thinking about how we should communicate and negotiate while on my way to the Great Iron Plants.

“Right now, Nepenthe is spreading deep below the ground under Grand Guardian Xu’s leadership, which is a very good start.

“I have a lot of plans, graphs, and procedures about the production of fundamental magical equipment that I can teach to you. Some of the magical equipment does not even need to be powered by crystals. Even ordinary people can use them freely. Naturally, such weapons are not very powerful, but when there are too many of them, it will be enough to deal with the lone, low-level Immortal Cultivators, who will consider it a dangerous trip to go to the underground worlds.

“Also, the methods of telepathy that you’ve been practicing are based on the reverberation of brainwaves, which is very similar to the way of training of a unique profession in my memory that is known as ‘qi-trainer’. Through the soul resonation, the qi-trainers can condense the fighting will of thousands of people and unleash overwhelming strength although they are only in the Refinement Stage!

“Of course, the qi-trainers’ techniques and yours are not exactly the same. At the very least, the qi-trainers have all awakened their spiritual roots. In order to transplant their techniques, a lot of modifications and experiments are certainly required, but it is definitely an approach worth trying!

“Also, while I’m all by myself, ‘Starlight’ still lives on stubbornly at the edge of the Imperium. Countless Cultivators are developing and thriving by taking advantage of the internal strife of the Immortal Cultivators, and they will definitely march toward the Empyreal Terminus Sector one day!

“It is needless to say that beyond Starlight, we have an… even more enormous and thorough organization, which is capable of competing with the Immortal Cultivators in a head-on clash!”

Greatly surprised, Xu Zhicheng looked at Long Yangjun in suspicion.

Long Yangjun nodded her head and said, “Grand Guardian Xu, I can assure you that Li Yao is not lying to you about that. The strength of the Cultivators is far greater than what you and the highest authorities of the Imperium imagine. Also, in terms of both behavior and fighting will, they are much better than the Cultivators in the last years of the Star Ocean Republic.”

“Also, the reason why you should lay low for a while longer is that the capital planet will witness great turmoil soon!”

Li Yao declared resolutely. Faced with the unstoppable rise of Blackstar the Great, the four Kurfürst families would certainly not idle by, not to mention that there was still the main fleet of the Covenant Alliance that had been lurking in secret the whole time. In the next year and a half, the Imperium would certainly be very lively. “If you truly want to accomplish something, your uprising will have much better results if you start it when the capital planet is in chaos!

“Think about it, Grand Guardian Xu, if you can’t hold it back and start a fuss tomorrow, the best result you can expect is to destroy the Great Iron Plants and kill one Li Minghui. It will not raise any influence on the capital planet, much less in the entire Imperium.

“However, if you keep laying low for a while longer, I’ll be able to teach the techniques that are suitable for you and the ways to produce the low-level magical equipment to you. Since you are the best workers, I’m sure that you can build the simple and preliminary components, can’t you? I can further simplify the production procedures of the magical equipment of ‘grassroots’ so that you can craft it in secret.

“Then, you will contact the other resistant forces below the ground and try to win them over. Even if they do not join your side, you can at least communicate and cooperate.

“In the meantime, I will go to the edge of the cosmos to contact the main force of Starlight. I have a big brother with the surname Bai who values brotherhood more than anything else. He has raised a strong team at the edge of the cosmos. I’ll certainly be able to persuade him to join our cause with our hundred years of friendship.

“By then, you will be much stronger on your side, and you will have the powerful support of the Cultivators on the outside. If the Immortal Cultivators happen to be fighting each other most intensely, wouldn’t that be a much better moment of uprising than right now?

“My visions will be fulfilled in a year and a half at most. You’ve been trapped in the darkness for thousands of years. Can you not wait for a while longer?”

Xu Zhicheng was deep in thought. His face was obviously not as tight as before.

He looked at Long Yangjun in inquiry again. Long Yangjun frowned for a long time and said, “Well, while this guy is not to be entirely believed, he is basically correct. Perhaps, the situation will be more in your favor if you postpone the uprising for a year and a half.”

Xu Zhicheng lowered his head again and touched his knees with his sweaty hands as he mumbled, “The arrow has been set on the bow and must be released. We have done all the preparations. Also, if Nepenthe continues to spread, Li Minghui will certainly discover it!”

“We can discuss and work out those technical details one by one!”

Li Yao gritted his teeth and said, “How about this? If Grand Guardian Xu changes your mind, I’ll help you kill Li Minghui!

“Taking down Li Minghui is of course not enough to dissect the whole Black Iron Group or solve your fundamental problem, but it will cast the corporation into chaos for a while, and someone new will replace Li Minghui.

“Once the new guy is appointed, what he is most concerned with is certainly to stabilize his position and to eliminate Li Minghui’s loyal supporters. There will be a lot of internal conflicts among themselves. He will certainly not lay his hands on the bottom-level workers at the beginning. Chances are that he will even appease you by offering you more benefits first.

“In such a way, you will have a precious moment of rest, and you can take it slowly according to my plan.

“Also, you don’t need to worry that you will be found out in the investigation. Such a treacherous man as Li Minghui must have tremendous nemeses. This is a sensitive moment when the Dongfang family is collapsing. I can totally pretend to be someone from the Dongfang family who has come to execute the ‘traitor’. He is in the Nascent Soul Stage and certainly not someone that any random person can kill. Nobody will suspect you!”

Xu Zhicheng widened his eyes and almost couldn’t believe what he just heard. His voice shivering, he asked, “Are… Are you serious? Li Minghui is an Immortal Cultivator in the Nascent Soul Stage, protected by a bunch of the most ferocious lackeys. He has also introduced thousands of battle puppets of the latest models. You want to kill him on your own? That’s too dangerous!”

“If that’s what it takes for Grand Guardian Xu and all the Nepenthe believers to change your mind, the risk is certainly worth it!”

Staring at Xu Zhicheng, Li Yao asked, “An honorable man always keeps his promise. How about it, Grand Guardian Xu?”

Caught in a dilemma, Xu Zhicheng asked for Long Yangjun’s advice again.

Long Yangjun, however, claimed that she was neutral and would never interfere with any decision of the Nepenthe believers. She only guaranteed that Li Yao could certainly fulfill his promise and help them kill Li Minghui.

Xu Zhicheng wiped the sweat off his forehead, only to smear his face. Taking many deep breaths, he finally made up his mind.

“Fine, we…”

Before he concluded his sentence, the ceiling above his head suddenly shook violently, and dense dust was sprinkling.

Almost at the same time, a deafening explosion echoed, and the soundwaves blasted the door of the cave like tides, making it fall apart.

In the next second, earsplitting alarms were echoing around the entire Great Iron Plants.

“Not good. The mining caves had an explosion!”

Xu Zhicheng’s face changed. Having no time to care about Li Yao or Long Yangjun, he rushed to the entrance of the cave. Hardly had he opened the door when a second explosion that was even more intense came over. The soundwaves almost knocked him over like a wild wind.

Li Yao and Long Yangjun looked at each other. They had both sensed that the explosions were of a high intensity and mixed with extremely chaotic spiritual energy.

In the mother lodes below the ground, apart from the rocks and the minerals, countless chambers of poisonous gas with a high temperature and pressure were also hidden. If the chambers were accidentally dug through and the inflammable gas leaked out, explosions were anything but unusual.

However, the normal gas explosions would not contain such powerful spiritual waves. Also, the raw crystals that included a lot of impurities were not something that could be detonated so easily.

Something was greatly wrong!