"Are you really alright?"
Li Yao felt that Li Jialing's soul state right now was like a shaking skyscraper that was about to collapse, and countless crystal bombs could be detonated at any moment inside the skyscraper. Sweating hard, he continued comforting him considerately, "I know that it must be difficult for you to accept such a cliché ethical conflict of familial ties for the time being. Why don't I stall your uncle while you bash your chest and cry hysterically?"
"… That will be unnecessary."
Li Jialing took a deep, deep, deep breath.
Li Yao seemed to be able to hear the sound of every muscle and nerve inside the young man's body being tightened to the point that even his bones were about to be minced, before they were gradually relaxed.
The young man calmed down.
It was a very weird, if not horrifying, feeling.
It was as if, in only a few seconds, the young man had turned into a completely different person. Outside of his deepest self, he was covered in a thick, cold armor that was embedded with tusks.
Or maybe …
He had stripped off the armor of a "normal young man" that he pretended to be and finally revealed his cold, heartless, and dark self!
"I'm fine, really."
Li Jialing said softly, "Brother Yao is right. As an Immortal Cultivator, and born in the swirl of power that is the Li family, familial ties are nothing but a joke. It's perfectly normal for such things to happen!"
"Well said!"
Li Lingfeng burst into laughter. "Of course you should be fine. My indoctrination in the past ten years will not be in vain. During those years, I taught you so many schemes and betrayals, killings and deals, double-dealing and scheming, and a heart of stone and selfishness, all because I wanted you to be as calm and rational as you were when this moment came!
"Even the ancient people knew that if you were born in a royal family, you would never be able to enjoy the happiness and familial ties among the ordinary people. That is the price of power! Under the suppression of absolute power, familial ties will be gone for good!
"The Li family controls so many Sectors, and we are a hundred times more powerful than the ancient emperors. Also, your mother is an out-and-out empress of the Imperium. With such an identity, what kind of affection do you expect from a mother and a son? Wouldn't that be too silly? "
"Uncle is right."
Li Jialing replied calmly. His voice that was as cold as an iceberg even made Li Yao shudder. The young man was more and more into his role in less than twenty seconds. He sneered, "However, why should we trust you 100%? Even if Li Linghai is really the gene provider of my bloodline, does she have to be here to kill me? Could it be that you're at the end of your rope, and you're making things up on purpose? "
Li Yao swallowed his saliva and whispered, "Hey, are you really okay?"
Li Jialing said indifferently, "I'm fine. In fact, I feel better than ever. At the very least, I finally know who I am and where I come from, don't I?"
Li Yao was slightly startled, not knowing how to respond to this frighteningly calm young man.
"With everything coming to this point, is there any need for me to lie to you? If you think about it carefully, how could Li Linghai have come so fast if it wasn't premeditated?
"It hasn't been more than twenty-four hours since the mysterious man next to you sabotaged my 'Dying Light Mission' and blew up 'Manjusaka, the City in the Sky'. Even the reinforcements of the Li family were not summoned from the frontline, gathered, reorganized, and jumped to the Martial Meritocrats Sector so quickly. How did Li Linghai come so fast?
"Also, this matter has nothing to do with her at all. As the queen of the Imperium, she naturally has more important things to take care of. How is she qualified and free to meddle in my business?
"There can only be one answer. She has been here for a long time!
"She is not here for the mysterious man next to you at all. She does not even know the existence of the mysterious man. Since the very beginning, her target has been very clear, which is you!
"I estimate that she has long learned the secret that I have been hiding you in secret, but she has been holding back and pretending that she did not know anything about it while she plotted in secret how to completely 'destroy' you.
"This time, I left the territory directly under the Li family's direct control and came to the Martial Meritocrats Sector to carry out the 'Dying Light Mission'. This is her best opportunity. Her secret assault fleet must've been lurking in the depths of the vast space at the edge of the Martial Meritocrats Sector and monitoring my operation on this side.
"Perhaps, if the mysterious man had not interfered, she would've suddenly marched out at the most intense and chaotic moment of the 'Dying Light Mission' and cut my throat!"
"Since it is a secret fleet, there can't be a lot of them," Li Jialing said. "How could they have broken into 'Manjusaka, the City in the Sky'?"
"Do you still not understand?"
Li Lingfeng raised his voice. "If she wanted to save someone, it would've been necessary for her to break into 'Manjusaka, the City in the Sky'. But if her purpose from the very beginning was to kill you to keep your mouth shut, there would've been no need for her to attack my main-force fleet and the space fortress at all. All she needed to do was to suddenly march out of nowhere after determining your coordinates, completely obliterating the area you were in, and escape without a sound. She could've even blamed 'Starlight' for the mess.
"If everything went well, she would've returned to the 'Empyreal Terminus Sector', the capital of the Imperium, in three days. By then, even if I had abundant indirect evidence in my hands, what could I do?
"That must've been her plan all along. The starships and the Crystal Suit that she brought this time did not have any emblems or coats of arms. They must've been a secret troop that she created in person. But the starships had also been modified raggedly with a lot of garbage attached to them. They were very similar to the mobsters of Starlight. Wasn't that enough to explain the problem?
"Of course, nobody expected that the mysterious friend would suddenly show up and disrupt everything. She ruined my decades of hard work and completely disrupted Li Linghai's rhythm, forcing her to chase him to this place at the risk of her life!"
Li Yao rubbed his nose. "Well, you're welcome. It was my duty.
Li Lingfeng glared at Li Yao. The brutality deep inside his eyes was even brighter than the lightning in the sky.
Tilting his head and thinking for a moment, Li Jialing said slowly, "Even if what you said is true, it doesn't prove that she did not intend to rescue him. Chances are that her secret fleet was lurking at the edge of the Martial Meritocrats Sector, ready to come out and snatch him at the most critical moment."
"Haha. Hahahaha. Do you still have some sort of expectation for your gene provider, or your 'birth mother'? I suggest that you abandon such a childish and hilarious idea, or you will only be more miserable!"
Li Lingfeng grinned hideously. "Do you think that I am cruel and sordid? Then, let me tell you something. Compared to your mother, who pretends to be innocent and straightforward on the surface but is in fact as scheming as an ocean and has almost deceived the entire Li family and even the entire Imperium, your biological uncle is almost an immaculate Cultivator!
"There's one thing, don't you think it's strange? Since you are Li Linghai's biological son, why did you fall into my hands and be raised by me in secret?
"Also, I knew the relationship between you and Li Linghai. Why did I invest so many resources on you without caring about the cost, turning you into a secret weapon to deal with Li Linghai? Generally speaking, isn't it natural that a mother and her son are connected? Was I not scared that you would join Li Linghai's side after learning the truth, only to end up worse off? "
Li Jialing was slightly dazed. "Perhaps, you were too arrogant to think that I would learn the truth?"
"Hehe. If you think that way, you are underestimating your uncle and your birth mother too much," Li Lingfeng said.
"Your uncle is an expert in the Divinity Transformation Stage. Your mother's Cultivation is even higher than mine. As long as the two of us get close to each other, how can she not recognize that you are her biological son?
"By then, it would be highly probable that you and your mother would join hands and deal with me on the same side. Wouldn't I be digging my own grave by doing that? Wouldn't I be raising a gravedigger for myself?"
Li Yao and Li Jialing both frowned and were deep in thought.
It was indeed rather unjustifiable. However arrogant and conceited Li Lingfeng was, there was no reason for him to leave such a major loophole!
"The reason why I was bold enough to do that, because I was confident that you would take my side even if you knew the whole truth, is very simple."
With a smile, Li Lingfeng revealed the answer unhurriedly. "Because this is not the first time that Li Linghai has tried to kill you to keep your mouth shut, but it is the second time!
"Decades ago, she killed you once. To be more exact, she 'destroyed' you when you were in the fetus state. At that time, she thought that she had completely 'destroyed' you, the redundant fetus, but out of her expectation, you survived the disaster and were even rescued by me in the end.
"At that time, Li Linghai did not have the immense power and terrifying strength that she has today. I could still find a way to cover your existence for decades and eventually find someone to give birth to you and raise you in secret!
"Now, do you understand it? Although Li Linghai is your biological mother, she has always despised you for being a nuisance and tried to kill you without caring about anything. Also, she has already killed you once!
"As for me, I am just your uncle. I did not save you out of any kinship but because I considered you a bargaining chip and intended to build you into a secret weapon.
"But objectively speaking, it was indeed me who saved you, raised you up, and protected you at the most critical moment. I even raised you with all the resources within my authority!"
Li Jialing's body shivered, and his voice was even colder than before. "Then, should I say 'thank you' to you, uncle?"
"Hehe. I never thought that you would thank me. I know that you hate my guts, and I don't care about your gratitude or hatred at all!"
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