Vague brilliance flashed in Xu Zhicheng's eyes as he said coldly, "Of course, our operation is not as simple as killing Li Minghui. However, there is no need to tell other people our deeper purpose."
"But I already know it."
Li Yao said, "You want to activate the 'super brainwave magnifier' and instill the 'Serenity Arts' into countless people's heads by force, transforming them into heartless Nepenthe believers, right?"
Xu Zhicheng was slightly stunned. He turned his eyes to Long Yangjun, and every wrinkle on his face was shivering. There was no telling whether it was because he was awed by Long Yangjun's strength or because he was bound by the doctrines.
"Yes, it was indeed me who told him."
Long Yangjun opened her hands and said helplessly, "However, you must trust me, Grand Guardian Xu. The man's danger and formidability are beyond your imagination. For such a scheme, even if I don't tell him voluntarily, he will unveil and stop it through all kinds of uncanny approaches. So, it's better that I tell him voluntarily."
"Exactly!"
Since the "Serenity Seraph" was so straightforward, it was naturally impossible for Xu Zhicheng to lie anymore. He simply continued indifferently and mechanically, "As long as we occupy the geothermal factories, we will be able to activate the functions of the 'super brainwave magnifier' to the maximum. Everybody in the thousands of square kilometers nearby will perceive the mysteries of the 'Serenity Arts' and be relieved of all their pain and fear!
"By then, even if we are all killed, and even if Li Minghui is not killed, it will no longer matter, because our beliefs will have been disseminated. Nobody can stop the diffusion and rebirth of Nepenthe below the ground!"
"You can't do that!"
Li Yao raised his voice. "Even if you are willing to abandon everything yourself, you cannot force other people to annihilate their feelings and desires!"
"This is not coercion but help. Help them forget all their fear and pain and gain the strength to fight the Immortal Cultivators!"
Xu Zhicheng also raised his voice and said, "Look around us. Look at our life. For hundreds of years, we have been living such a miserable life. Everybody considers us weeds and ants. Nobody has ever cared about us, helped us, or fought for us! Now, we finally have the ability to fight for ourselves. Do we have to give it up in vain and not pass it on to others? "
"Someone will fight for you, in a better way!"
Li Yao did not know how to convince the wounded, stubborn man. He could only say, "Trust me. I am willing to fight for you. The Cultivators are willing to fight for you! However, we still need to plan for the long term. We need to accumulate strength and wait for a better opportunity so that the unavoidable sacrifice will have greater value! "
"Cultivators … are fighting for us?"
Xu Zhicheng was slightly dazed, but he soon regained the emotionless, iron face. He said coldly, "It's impossible. Nobody has ever fought for us. Nobody has ever fought for us, not in the past, and certainly not in the future. Cultivators and Immortal Cultivators are all jackals of the same tribe. They are the guys who do whatever they want, bully the weak, and destroy everything with their own desires when they control the enormous strength!
"I remember now. Aren't the Immortal Cultivators of today the Cultivators of the past? Is there any difference except for a different name? Even in the age of the Star Ocean Republic when the Cultivators reigned, the lives of the underground locals were not much better than right now!
"All in all, Nepenthe does not need the help of the Cultivators. We will fight for ourselves. We will fight for all the people below the ground who suffer as much as we do. We will completely change the world and eliminate feelings and desires, the sources of all evils and injustices!
"Don't waste your energy trying to convince me. It's useless. Why don't you just kill me? I can feel that you're far more powerful than me. Killing me is as easy as crushing a bug for you. Hehe, in the eyes of powerhouses like you, we, the underground residents, are just a bunch of insignificant bugs, right?
"But let me tell you, even if you kill me, thousands of people like me will step forward. The final victory will belong to us!"
Xu Zhicheng stepped forward and stood right in front of Li Yao. He even raised his head, revealing the veins on his neck that were bouncing crazily.
Li Yao did not intend to make the situation so intense in the beginning. He had intended to take things slowly and peacefully.
He did not expect that Xu Zhicheng would be such a tough and stubborn man who would push the topic to a dead end.
With everything coming to this point, there was nothing Li Yao could do. He could only draw the sharpest wire from his messy head.
"I won't hurt you, Grand Guardian Xu. As I said just now, I will only fight for all of you and kill those who have pushed you to this point."
Li Yao took a deep breath and calmed down immediately. "However, if you really want to spread the Serenity Arts to the entire underground world through the 'super brainwave magnifier', you should at least confirm the effectiveness of the Serenity Arts first, shouldn't you?
"Since you are the Grand Guardian of Nepenthe, you must've grasped the Serenity Arts to the highest level, right? Please tell me, have you really found 'eternal peace' and forgotten all the pain? "
"Of course."
Without any hesitation, Xu Zhicheng said resolutely, "Under the enlightenment of the Serenity Seraph, I have forgotten all the pain and completely returned to eternal peace. Nothing dark and evil can corrupt my soul anymore."
"Then, what's with the spotless toys and mirror frames in the next room?"
Li Yao stared at Xu Zhicheng's eyes deeply, as if he were trying to see through the man's soul from his eyes. "The room outside is so dirty and dusty. You certainly don't have much time and energy to clean it when you are so busy with your academic affairs every day. But why is it so clean inside as if it has been cleaned many times a day?
"If my guess is correct, it is the bedroom of your two sons. Those things are your sons' belongings, aren't they?
"Tell me, why did you do that? Why did you have to clean the 'meaningless' and 'useless' things?"
Xu Zhicheng's pupils constricted violently.
For one second, indescribable grief and fury spurted out of the needles in the deepest part of his pupils like a raging flood.
But in the next second, this flood was forcibly frozen by his astonishing willpower.
"You … You were bold enough to peep into my room!"
Clenching his fists hard, he demanded in a hoarse voice.
"Yes, I did peep into your room rudely."
Li Yao observed Xu Zhicheng's every facial expression carefully. "So, you are very angry right now, and you want to beat me up brutally, right?"
"… No."
The wrinkles on Xu Zhicheng's face were cramping. He managed to shake his head and said, "I … I have forgotten the feeling of anger. If I were to fight, I would only fight for the real beliefs instead of venting my fury for such insignificant trivia."
"This is not insignificant trivia. If I ran into a shameless scoundrel who peeped into the bedroom of the person closest to me without my permission, I would certainly beat him up brutally!"
Li Yao said, "Look into my eyes and answer my question. Why do you clean your son's belongings time and time again every day? If you have truly abandoned your feelings, those things will be nothing more than scrap iron and paper that should be thrown into the garbage dump, shouldn't they?
"Or rather, even though you have grasped the 'Serenity Arts' to the highest level, and even though you can abandon almost all your feelings, you still cannot abandon your love for your son?
"Or rather, even if you recite the 'Serenity Arts' again and again, you cannot stop your longing for your son, and you can only clean those things endlessly and recall the most beautiful and happiest times in the past. However dark and painful life is, you still have very happy times when your family is together, right?
"Tell me, does the 'Serenity Arts' really work? Does it really make you forget all your pain? I don't think so. In my opinion, you have been pretending all the time. You have been deceiving yourself and paralyzing yourself!
"Love and pain are two sides of the same coin in the first place. The deeper the love, the deeper the pain. Since you cannot erase your love for your son, you cannot eliminate the pain of your son's death at all. You cannot eliminate it at all. It is useless no matter how many times you recite the 'Serenity Arts'!"
Xu Zhicheng was obviously breathing fast.
His previously tranquil eyes were all shattered by the stones, with chaotic ripples popping up. The ripples were like ten thousand sharp blades that were about to rip apart Li Yao brutally.
His veins and muscles were all expanding beyond his control. Spots of blood were gradually bursting out of his brown skin. Even his joints were cracking, as if two uncanny forces were clashing inside his body.
"Stop talking."
The iron mask on his face cracked one piece after another, squeezing out the most hideous face. He roared like a lone wolf in a desert, "I told you to stop talking!"
"Alright, I'll stop talking. I'll help you."
Li Yao pretended that he was about to walk into the room. "Your son's remains are your last obsession. Let me help you burn up your obsession. Then, you will have no more concerns and obstacles, and you will be able to truly grasp the ultimate level of the 'Serenity Arts'!"
"How dare you!"
Before his brain realized what was going on, Xu Zhicheng had already lunged at him like a ferocious animal. Grabbing Li Yao's collar with his left hand, he raised his right fist high like a hammer. His face was so hideous that flames of fury seemed to be spurting out of his facial orifices and pores. Even if he were not facing Li Yao but the embodiment of the gods, he would've been smashed into pieces by his punch!
However, the moment his fist was raised high, he realized what was going on. The hideous face a moment ago collapsed together with the broken mask.
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