"The future of the Li family" made Li Jialing's head dizzy again, as if he were mired in an immeasurable maze.
Looking at the man before him who could influence the situation of the entire Imperium of True Human Beings, the young man hesitated. "Can … Can I trust you?"
"Why not?"
Li Lingfeng smiled. "After so many inhumane, wretched refinements, you should know very well that if I wanted to interfere with or even manipulate your mind to carry out a slaughter, it would've been as easy as blowing dust for you. You wouldn't have been able to resist at all.
"But I didn't do that. For so many years, I merely modified your fleshly body, triggered the potentials of your brain, strengthened your soul, and nurtured the terrible monster deep inside your heart. I … never interfered with your free will.
"If you were just a common 'test subject', why would I go through all the trouble to raise you in such a way?
"Come on. Come to a place with me to meet someone."
Li Lingfeng led Li Jialing to a simple, elegant secret chamber next to the hall.
There was nobody in the secret chamber, except for a one-way, transparent floor mirror that allowed them to see all kinds of people in the hall.
There were also light beams that were more advanced and detailed than the ones in the hall, allowing them to grasp every detail of the Land of Sins.
This was the VIP room of the highest level in "Manjusaka, the City in the Sky". Only the big shots such as Li Lingfeng were qualified to enjoy it.
Through the one-way, transparent floor mirror, Li Jialing looked at the ignorant and suspicious young people of the Li family in the hall.
Just like them, he was as perplexed as they were.
"Look at that man."
Li Lingfeng pointed at a middle-aged man who was as immaculate as a marble statue at the front of the hall. The man was talking to a few big shots in the military and politics, brimming with the confidence that everything was under his control. "Do you know him?"
"I do."
Li Jialing said dutifully, "He is Wuying Lan, the owner of this place. He is also the one who has provided you with all kinds of technologies and secret arts to refine me over the years."
"Yes. I have been deeply cooperating with him since decades ago and received tremendous cutting-edge technology from him. Most of the abilities inside your body originated from his laboratory."
Li Lingfeng smiled. "From that point of view, you are an out-and-out 'Son of Manjusaka'. This is your real home!"
Li Jialing shuddered again and said in a low voice, "I understand it now. You have come to Manjusaka in person not for the trial mission of the new generation of the Li family but for me. You want me to receive the refinement in the next phase here."
"You're really smart, but that's just one of my goals."
"Right now, I want to talk to you about the story of this Wuying Lan. He is truly very similar to you."
Li Jialing was slightly dazed. He listened to Li Lingfeng in silence.
"Although Wuying Lan is a member of the royal family, he was born in a collateral family just like you," Li Lingfeng said unhurriedly.
"Also, you should be well aware of the awkward position of the royal family in the Imperium. Everybody was intimidated by the dominance of Blackstar the Great years ago. Since Wuying Qi's death, they have been working together to limit the royal power. Right now, even the high and mighty emperor himself, despite not being anybody's puppet, is at least constrained and cannot do whatever he wants. A collateral family such as Wuying Lan is nothing at all. He is even worse than the offspring of the four Kurfürst families.
"Besides, the man was congenitally deficient. He was an abnormal midget when he was just born."
"What?"
Li Jialing immediately bulged his eyes.
"His current appearance was modified through countless painful procedures with the cutting-edge technology of 'Manjusaka' after he came here."
Li Lingfeng smiled. "You didn't see it coming, did you? Such an abnormal bastard who should've been strangled to death the moment he was born survived stubbornly. There was no telling what methods he used, but he killed countless competitors in a row and became the governor of the Martial Meritocrats Sector!
"However, when he was just appointed, the Martial Meritocrats Sector was just one of the dozens of large test bases of magical equipment and techniques in the Imperium.
"Also, because of the excessive experiments in the past hundreds of years, the place had been turned into a mess. The few sinners here were all cockroaches and rats who were struggling to survive. Those ants could not test the quality of the cutting-edge magical equipment and techniques of the Imperium at all.
"Therefore, everybody thought that the test base of magical equipment and techniques would be closed and abandoned very soon. The arrival of Wuying Lan, the 'midget governor', was the best proof.
"But little did they know that Wuying Lan was truly capable of changing the world. At first, he came up with the idea of 'slaughter stream', which attracted the depressed hominoids at the bottom level of the Imperium with the most bloody and thrilling 3D videos. From the billions of hominoids, he excavated the first bucket of gold.
"Then, he dedicated the first bucket of gold to the modification of the Land of Sins, transforming the place into a top-tier trial base with complete facilities and thrills. With a price that was so low that it was almost free, the major families, academies, sects, and groups of the Imperium were attracted to come for trials.
"At that time, a lot of people did not understand it at all. You know that the cost of a 'trial' is extremely high. In terms of the consumption during the trial, the timely replenishment after the prey is slaughtered, and the security and surveillance issues, the incessant investment was astronomical. According to Wuying Lan's offer, it was basically a losing deal, and the first bucket of gold would be squandered very soon.
"At that time, nobody knew that Wuying Lan was not interested in money at all but connections!
"The trial teams that came to this place incessantly were all from the most powerful families, sects, and groups of the Imperium. Also, they were certainly led by the big shots of various places.
"Among the newcomers who participated in the trial, many of them were geniuses who would become the pillars of their families years later.
"Wuying Lan attracted all those people together and acted as the middleman. Naturally, he weaved an extremely vast and tenacious network of connections.
"With connections, you will have everything. Wuying Lan was appreciated by a lot of people, including me, who invested tremendous resources to help him revive the testing base of magical equipment and techniques that was on the verge of collapse. Then, it entered a virtuous cycle. The level of the trials was higher and higher, and more and more teams came for the trials. The laboratories also received the freshest materials and presented the most cutting-edge experiment results one after another. The influence of 'slaughter stream' grew day by day, and he established his own gambling group. Today, he has become a behemoth that spans media, gambling, cutting-edge studies, and other fields! In the past, no one thought highly of the dwarf, and no one even knew about him, but now, he has become a big shot in the imperial family. It can be said that 'there is no one in the world who does not know you'. Not simple, not simple at all!
After a brief silence, Li Jialing asked in confusion, "Why are you telling me that?"
Li Lingfeng smiled. "It's very simple. If Wuying Lan can achieve everything and build a great media empire with his bare hands, why can't you?"
Li Jialing opened his mouth, more and more interested in why Li Lingfeng treated him like that.
But he did not ask in the end, because the young man knew that the guy would not give him an answer even if he did.
He was just a chess piece the size of a grain of rice in the guy's hand. He was not qualified to know what was on the player's mind.
"There's more," Li Lingfeng said.
"I want you to know that most of the approaches that I've concocted you with were once used on Wuying Lan himself. It is even safe to say that, in terms of the body of flesh and blood, you are a 'strengthened and upgraded version' of Wuying Lan. As to exactly how much you have been strengthened, you will have to ask yourself.
"Therefore, I think that the two of you might as well get to know each other better. Maybe he can solve some of your problems."
Li Jialing's eyes bulged wider and wider. Looking at Wuying Lan not far away and then at his own pale, dry hands, he was completely caught in confusion.
Li Lingfeng smiled and raised his wrist crystal processor, ready to summon Wuying Lan over.
Deafening noises suddenly echoed inside the broadcast rune arrays. The terrifying picture where "Great Iron City" was floating with eight arms extended appeared on hundreds of light beams at the same time.
"A Boxing Champion" Lei Zonglie's astonishing aura was almost burning a hole in the light beams!
"Huh?"
Li Lingfeng was slightly surprised. "Wuying Lan does have unexpected moves all the time. I didn't know that he had concocted such a tough monster. This game is finally going to be interesting."
In the hall, "A Boxing Champion" Lei Zonglie's ultimate form attracted the attention of a lot of spectators.
Some were whispering to each other, some were amazed, and a lot of people who had bet on A Boxing Champion's side were beaming with joy.
Wuying Lan, the owner of "Manjusaka, the City in the Sky", smiled casually while holding a cup of wine. He did not even bat an eyelash, as if "A Boxing Champion" Lei Zonglie's every transformation was under his control and part of the game.
Even Li Lingfeng, the biggest supporter behind "Manjusaka, the City in the Sky", did not know what was going on in Wuying Lan's heart at this moment.
He continued to chat with the two VIPs for a while with a smile on his face, allowing everyone to enjoy the show to their heart's content. Only then did he leave the hall unhurriedly. He passed through a long and narrow corridor and arrived at the planning and control room for the entire trial mission.
This place was an ocean of crystal processors and light beams. The overwhelming pictures and data were a hundred times more complicated than those in the hall. Twelve super crystal processors and a thousand Immortal Cultivators with high computational abilities were analyzing and processing in a race against time in order to manage to monitor and maintain the most critical areas in the Land of Sins, including the Battle of Liberty City that was going on right now.
Right now, all the cameras were focused on "Great Iron City".
"A Boxing Champion" Lei Zonglie had revealed his original form and was on a killing spree. He had penetrated through the seven defense lines of Liberty City and blown up more than fifty players of the Immortal Cultivators. The control center of the City in the Sky was caught unprepared, too.
"What's going on?"
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