Passing through the noisy slums that looked like a chaotic swirl, as well as the underground hominoids who covered themselves tightly with cloaks and whose mouths, noses, eyes, and ears were carefully protected by shields and earplugs, Li Yao sensed the scent of a coming storm from the seemingly peaceful street.
The air was filled with abnormal high-frequency brainwave vibrations. In the secret darkness deep inside the shabby streets, people were sitting cross-legged on the ground everywhere. They must've entered the "telepathy" state and were sending secret signals for the riot tomorrow, making the final preparations.
It was like a volcano that was about to erupt magma. Intense smoke had gathered at the crater, and nothing could stop its roar anymore.
It was exactly in such intense brainwave reverberation that Li Yao and Long Yangjun reached the home of Xu Zhicheng, the Grand Guardian of Nepenthe.
As a model worker and the manager of the living area of Great Iron City, Xu Zhicheng owned a rather spacious cave that was the center of Nepenthe's activities in secret.
Because Li Minghui and most of the Immortal Cultivators were not in the Great Iron Plants, and the riot was going to happen tomorrow, the Nepenthe believers no longer concealed their actions. A lot of strong, tall, and indifferent Nepenthe believers walked in and out of Xu Zhicheng's cave, carrying his orders to the central posts in other living areas and even the factories.
Seeing that Long Yangjun had arrived, all the Nepenthe believers bowed to her deeply. Even Xu Zhicheng came out to greet her. He arranged for the rest of the people to go somewhere else and only asked Long Yangjun and Li Yao to come in and talk.
Li Yao followed Long Yangjun and closed the gate that was installed at the entrance of the cave. His senses immediately expanded to the entire cave. The cave was about a hundred square meters in size, which was rather extravagant in the underground world where space was limited. It was divided into three rooms. The inner one was Xu Zhicheng's bedroom, and the outer one was his living room and the place where he dealt with his "affairs". Except for a long table made of iron, there was not much furniture in the room, which made it look rather refreshing.
Inside the space that was connected horizontally, however, was a bunk bed made of iron. A lot of toys made of wires, screws, and components were placed on the table on the other side. Perhaps they were the favorite items of the owner of the place, who played with them day and night until they were shiny.
This wall was even densely covered with awards and medals. The awards were carefully protected with glass frames, hanging meticulously and in an orderly manner.
This should be the place where Xu Zhicheng's two sons used to live, right?
Li Yao noticed a detail.
Great Iron City was seriously polluted. The air was filled with dust and sticky pollutants. It was often possible that a thin layer of stains would be left on the table after only half a day, and it was very difficult to clean them.
In order to cover his tracks, Li Yao did not activate his spirit energy when he snuck in. In just half an hour, his cloak was covered in sticky powder, and he could not shake it off no matter how hard he tried.
On his way over, he saw that the workers' huts were also covered in dust and darkness.
Xu Zhicheng's home was the same. The living room outside, his bedroom, the wall, the floor, and even the bed were all covered in a thin layer of blackness. Five fingerprints would be left behind when he wiped them with his hand. The people here were probably used to such an environment and did not consider the dust and pollutants to be a big deal.
However, the room where the bunk bed was placed was clean and tidy without the slightest dust.
The toys made of scrap iron on the table and the awards on the wall were so clean that they seemed to be shining.
Someone must have been wiping it carefully every few hours to maintain such a bright and new state.
Did Xu Zhicheng wipe them himself?
Did the awards and the toys belong to his two sons?
Did Xu Zhicheng assemble the clumsy toys made of scrap iron one screw after another for his sons a long, long time ago?
With those questions in mind, Li Yao looked at Xu Zhicheng, the actual leader of Nepenthe and the Grand Guardian.
Xu Zhicheng was a name that could not have been more common. It did not sound intimidating at all, nor did it have the slightest elegance or mystery.
Just like his name, he was an old worker with gray hair, wrinkles, and scars all over his face.
Even though he was going to lead thousands of people to launch the resistance against the Immortal Cultivators tomorrow, he was still wearing the overalls that had been sewn, mended, and washed until they were bleached. He did not look like a leader of an uprising army at all, nor did he look like a sorcerer of a cult. The gap between him and the "zealous believer of the Path of Ultimate Benevolence" in Li Yao's imagination was too huge.
Long Yangjun told Li Yao that triggering thousands of people's brainwaves to resonate with telepathy techniques was essentially a training for the brain. It was very beneficial for the people at the center of the resonance to awaken their spiritual root. After years of training, Xu Zhicheng's spiritual root had been unbelievably awakened, and he was about … in the Refinement Stage!
Even so, in terms of level, power, combat ability, big picture perspective, schemes, or any other ability, Xu Zhicheng was the weakest opponent that Li Yao had ever seen in his life. He was far from Xiao Xuance, Bai Xinghe, Jin Tuyi, Lu Zui, and Mo Xuan. He was not even qualified to be compared to them.
However, while Li Yao could face Xiao Xuance, Lu Zui, and even Jin Tuyi righteously and fight a bloody battle with them to the last moment, he somehow did not know how to deal with Xu Zhicheng, who was almost too weak to fight a chicken.
"Serenity Seraph, I'm told that not only have you activated a large batch of ancient weapons, you have also recruited a lot of wildlings from the underground world. That's great!"
Xu Zhicheng bowed deeply at Long Yangjun first and then said, "In such a case, we will be more confident in the battle tomorrow!"
Just like other Nepenthe believers, he seemed to be wearing a heavy mask. His wrinkles did not move at all when he talked, and even his eyeballs barely moved. There was neither the nervousness of a great battle nor the unbearable fury on his face. He was truly in "eternal tranquility" as the Nepenthe doctrine said.
It was not until it was necessary that he finally turned his eyes to Li Yao. "If I may ask, Serenity, who is this …"
Pondering for a moment, Li Yao introduced himself. "My name is Li Yao. I am a Cultivator."
"A Cultivator?"
Xu Zhicheng's eyes were frozen. Pondering carefully for a long time, he asked warily, "I've heard your names before. I'm told that you caused a great disturbance in the Martial Meritocrats Sector at the edge of the Imperium and slaughtered all the Immortal Cultivators! So, you are against the Immortal Cultivators, too. What are you doing here? "
"I'm here to persuade Grand Guardian Xu to stop your uprising."
Staring at Xu Zhicheng's eyes, Li Yao cut to the chase. "What you are doing is absolutely useless!"
Xu Zhicheng was slightly dazed. His pupils constricted, as if he were about to refute Li Yao angrily, but he held himself back. Instead, he turned his eyes to Long Yangjun rigidly and asked calmly, "If I may ask, Serenity, is this your idea, too?"
"Don't overthink, Grand Guardian Xu. This is not my idea."
Long Yangjun said casually, "On the very first day when I taught you the Serenity Arts, I promised you solemnly that I would only teach you two secret techniques, but I would not interfere with how you used them. Later, when you established Nepenthe and insisted on worshipping me as the Serenity Seraph, we also promised each other that I would not interfere with any of the affairs and practical operations of Nepenthe. Whatever you did, I would neither support nor object to it. If you came to me for help when you were in trouble, it would depend on my mood. I might not necessarily help you to the end.
"It will be the same today. You will be in charge of everything on your own. I have no intention of meddling in your affairs at all.
"However, my friend, who is a Cultivator, has different opinions about your operation. He insists on meeting you and having a good talk.
"Speaking of which, from the perspective of a bystander, I feel that his words are not entirely unreasonable. Your operation is so hasty, the enemy is so strong, and the environment is so dangerous. Nepenthe's operation is destined to fail. Not only will the entire Nepenthe be annihilated, even the Great Iron Plants and everybody living here may be faced with a catastrophe!"
"If we fail, we will die trying!"
Expressionlessly, Xu Zhicheng said, one word after another, "The Serenity Seraph and my friend have both seen our living environment and the oppression that we suffer day and night. Do you think that we are scared of death when we are living in such a living hell?
"We … should've been dead a long time ago! If the extraterrestrial devils did arrive that year and corrupted our abnormal bodies and violent souls with all the devils in the world, we would've congregated into an overwhelming tide of devils and swallowed Li Minghui and the other Immortal Cultivators!
"The extraterrestrial devils did not arrive, but you have granted us more advanced techniques and more clandestine ways of communication, freeing us from pain and fear! With that in mind, why should we hold back? As long as we can drag Li Minghui and the other Immortal Cultivators to die with us, we are willing to pay any price! "
"Grand Guardian Xu, listen to me —"
Li Yao tried to make his voice sound both harmless and sincere. "The Cultivators are against the Immortal Cultivators, too, and we support everybody to defend their dignity and glory with violence and even sacrifice their own lives when it is necessary. Therefore, I do not intend to stop you from sacrificing yourselves.
"However, the sacrifice must be worthwhile. Meaningless sacrifices cannot strike the Immortal Cultivators at all, much less destroy this wretched world.
"Li Minghui is just an insignificant member of the Immortal Cultivators. Even if you die together with him, you will not be able to change anything. Very soon, an Immortal Cultivator who is more greedy, despicable, and cruel than him will come and replace him.
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