Forty Millenniums of Cultivation Chapter 2: Hologram Projector

Five hours later, nightfall had descended.

“Morning Sun Village” was located next to Special Waste Treatment Plant No. 23.

Despite the pleasant name, Morning Sun Village was actually the most dilapidated and cheapest residential rental area in Floating Spear City.

Being situated right next to the Artifact Graveyard meant the local climate was absolutely vile. An acrid odor permeated the air year-round. Even when the main city enjoyed blue skies and white clouds, a sheet of gray overcast hung over this place. Out of Floating Spear City’s nineteen residential districts, this one offered the lowest quality of life. Naturally, the rent was the lowest as well.

No matter how affordable the rent was, few people cared to live next to a waste treatment plant. Several residential buildings stood completely empty. Due to years of neglect and a lack of maintenance, both the exterior and interior walls were covered in cracks. Corridors were draped in cobwebs. For all intents and purposes, it was a ghost town.

And Li Yao was a long-term resident of this “Ghost Town.”

He appreciated the quiet atmosphere here. Repairing and modding his artifacts at home wouldn't disturb anyone. Its proximity to the Artifact Graveyard and the cheap rent served a multitude of benefits.

His home spanned roughly fifty square meters, divided into an outer and an inner room. While the outer room was used for eating, drinking, and entertainment, the inner bedroom had been remodeled into an artifact workshop.

Upon entering the house, the first eye-catching sight would be the hundreds of crystal processors hanging from ropes, resembling a collection of skeletal skulls.

Most of these crystal processor units were relics from several centuries ago, having long since lost their computing abilities. Picked up by Li Yao, they had become part of his collection. He was a fanatic for crystal processors, obsessed with artifacts capable of processing a myriad of telepathic thoughts like the brains of cultivators.

Piles of paper books, a rarity in this era, filled the tiny living room. The stacks revealed titles such as <A General Guide to Repairing Artifacts>, <A Beginner’s Textbook on Crafting Flying Swords>, <An Artificer Prepares>, <Black-Mountain Elder-Devil Class Crystal Battleship Maintenance Manual>, and <99 Ways to Detonate a Planet>. Many were ancient texts from hundreds of years ago, appearing gray, yellow, flakey, and mushy.

Surrounded by these books and crystal processors was a somewhat-old, used straw mattress. This served as Li Yao’s table, chair, and bed.

Inside the inner room’s artifact workshop were piles of precious treasures Li Yao had salvaged from the waste treatment plant. Shimmering flying swords, talismans drawn with mystical calligraphy, and elixirs with extremely pleasant scents were scattered about...

Even more artifacts had been dismantled into their most elementary components, piled absentmindedly in the corner like miniature garbage mountains.

At this moment, Li Yao held a silvery-white, cube-shaped artifact. His eyes glistened with a shine like a big bad wolf eyeing a small bunny. A line of saliva nearly trickled from the corner of his mouth.

The long, black-winged flying sword extended from his back, peering around like a curious, plump snake.

“I can't believe it's the Thousand Illusion Guild’s newest generation ‘3D Hologram Projector,’ which has a market price of over 20,000 bucks! If I can repair this, I might get up to 10,000 for it! Small Black, we’ve struck it big this time!” Li Yao couldn't resist letting out a long whistle.

The black flying sword emitted squeaking noises. Its two wing-sheets fluttered up and down as if dancing in merriment, unexpectedly displaying the same hint of “greed” as its master.

Li Yao’s hands flared, and seven or eight oddly-shaped maintenance tools appeared between his fingers. Some looked like screwdrivers, others like tiny pliers. There were also thin silver needles and hooked, unnamable tools.

“Small Black, guess the number of seconds?”

The Black Flying Sword let out two sneering squeaks, flying through the air to draw a “50” with its pointed tip.

“50 seconds? You’re totally underestimating me!”

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and remained tranquil for three seconds. When he opened them, the greed and excitement had vanished. Like an unmoving ancient well, all that remained was a cold, clear, and overflowing confidence.

Li Yao’s hands suddenly mobilized. His ten fingers became ten paths of flowing light, completely enveloping the silvery-white artifact. At first, a close look might reveal the vague movement of his fingertips. Soon, however, only a cloud of dazzling fluorescence remained. Within that glow came the sound of rustling.

Half a minute later, the fluorescence shook and the rustling faded. Hundreds of shadows retreated to their origin. Li Yao’s eyes remained fixed on their original position, without the slightest movement.

As for the silvery-white artifact, the “3D Hologram Projector” had already been dismantled by Li Yao into 425 elementary parts.

“39 seconds, and done!”

Li Yao let out a victory cry, winking proudly at the black flying sword. Then, he began to study the components with full concentration.

“Tsk tsk, this newest model from the Thousand Illusion Guild really is something. The composition is elaborate, and the balance of essence is like a work of nature. The most amazing part is this master crystal chip. It’s about the size of a fingernail, yet over three-hundred glyphs were engraved on it, all working in tandem to form over twenty glyph arrays—it’s simply a work of art!”

Holding a magnifying glass, Li Yao carefully observed the extracted master crystal chip. His face was filled with the intoxication of a pilgrim. The longer he observed, the more profound his expression became.

“That’s not right... There aren’t just three-hundred glyphs. This master crystal chip seems to utilize crystal folding technology, layering three crystal chips atop each other. Altogether, they contain over a thousand glyphs forming over a hundred three-dimensional glyph arrays. This is inconceivable!”

The more he studied, the deeper the complexity felt. Li Yao entered a state of complete engrossment, losing track of time as he studied meticulously for about three hours. He failed to fully comprehend even a single glyph array; instead, the observation caused him to become dizzy and lightheaded as his vision went black.

Right now, he held the rank of a “Junior Artifact Technician” at most. The gulf between his level and that of a “Thousand Illusion Guild” Master Artificer was simply too wide—far, far too wide.

If this “master crystal chip” had a problem, he would have no choice but to sell the 3D Hologram Projector as a defect.

Fortunately, after using an “essence reserve tool” to inject essence energy, Li Yao discovered that the flow within the master crystal chip was smooth. The essence circuits were clear, the glyph array was stable, and no anomalies were present.

After a careful inspection, he found the problem originated from a crystal conduit. An essence energy fluctuation anomaly had caused it to burn out.

Luckily for Li Yao, this crystal conduit was a standard component and very easy to replace. He quickly found a replacement from his household inventory.

Closing his eyes, he silently recalled the dismantling process. An image of the complete structural diagram surfaced in his mind. His hands moved automatically; a gust of wind swept by, and the 3D Hologram Projector was reassembled.

He used the essence reserve tool to inject a river of essence energy. The pure white exterior faintly emitted a blue fluorescence, like a lustrous transparent sapphire, appearing as if possessed by a living fairy.

When the blue glow swept over his forehead, dozens of control glyphs automatically appeared in the depths of Li Yao’s mind.

“Hologram Projector, power on!” Li Yao thought, and the control glyph in his mind flared.

The blue fluorescence converged into a single glyph shaped like “回”. The two rings spun rapidly like a vortex. From the center, a blue beam of light was emitted into the air, solidifying into a massive hologram. It displayed a middle-aged cultivator wearing an Eight Trigrams Dao Robe, rendered down to the finest hair and looking true to life.

Behind the esteemed cultivator was an even larger hologram. It showed interweaving red and green glyph-script, numbers, and arrows, all constantly pulsing and fluctuating.

The middle-aged cultivator’s face was expressionless. With a voice like an unmoving ancient well, he said, “Up next, news in the world of finance. Today’s top story is the ‘Traceless Sword Faction’s’ announcement regarding the release of their newest flying sword propulsion glyph array, ‘Violet Lightning.’ Reports indicate that with ‘Violet Lightning,’ maximum velocity can be increased by 9 percent, instantaneous destructive power by 11 percent, and essence consumption decreased by 5 percent. The composite performance increase for flying swords is obvious.”

“Receiving favorable reviews, the share price of the Traceless Sword Faction is rising. Starting before 10 AM, the price approached the market limit and remained there until closure.

“The rest of the Sword Cultivation Industry is feeling the ripple effects. This includes the Giant Sword Gate, Polar North Sword Sect, and the 22 schools within the Southern Sea Sword Faction. Stocks are hot and continued to rise until the market closed. The Sword Cultivation Industry as a whole rose by 5.42 percentage points.”

“On the flip side, the defense-focused ‘Gold Armor Sect’ saw its share price fall. Experts believe that with the ‘Violet Lightning’ glyph array, flying swords have made a revolutionary leap. Modern mainstream battle armor is fundamentally unable to guard against the newest offensive models. By market closure, Golden Armor Sect’s shares had tumbled 8%.”

“Following the market closure, the Golden Armor Sect called an impromptu news conference. Spokesman Elder Hei Yan announced a development in the newest generation of ‘Star Strike Shields’ due to an imminent breakthrough in battle armor research. A prototype will be available within the year and will absolutely be able to nullify all flying sword attacks.

“In the Federation’s northern Grasslands Region, the Black Roundworm Epidemic continues to spread, already proliferating into the cultivation bases of many Beast Taming Sects’ spirit beasts. Afflicted spirit beasts numbered over 500,000. This rare disaster drove beast industry stock prices down continuously. Several Beast Taming Sects’ share prices have tumbled to a three-year low.”

“Now, let’s turn to famous market analyst, Tianxingzi, for a comment on today’s developments.”

“...”

Li Yao watched for a while. He confirmed the image was stable, the sound was clear, and there were no static or streaks. The 3D effect was exceptional, making the viewer feel immersed. The artifact appeared completely repaired.

After pondering for a moment, he thought deeply, “Switch to the entertainment channel.”

The blue glow flashed. The middle-aged cultivator and the red-green hologram faded away. In their place was a stadium buzzing with activity.

The stadium was packed with a hundred thousand people, their clamoring voices rumbling through the air. Under shining rainbow rays of light, a hundred thousand fired-up teenagers raised their hands high. Together, they cheered a single name:

“Lu Yinxi!”

“Lu Yinxi!”

“Lu Yinxi!”

Atop the three-story main stage towered a dozen jutted crystals shaped like canine teeth. When the cheers reached their peak, the thickest crystal suddenly burst. With an appearance like clear, cold snow yet an expression heated like lava, a young lady in white jumped out. Slanted at her waist was a zither seemingly formed from a stack of crystals. Her slender white hand swept the strings, and the magical clashing sounds of metal roared out like a powerful army.

“Within my heart, I have the dream to fly proudly. The opposing shore of the celestial river is our direction! This belongs to us. Cultivate! A! New! Era!”

Just like the other teenagers, Li Yao’s blood began to boil.

The girl, “Lu Yinxi,” radiated energy across the stage. She was an idol singer who had risen abruptly in the last two years. Debuting with an ice-cold figure and an explosive performance style, she attracted a massive following. Her song “Forty Millenniums of Cultivation” became popular nationwide within six months. Countless teenagers were motivated by it to walk the path of cultivation.

Li Yao was also a fan, but for a different reason than most. He liked Lu Yinxi because their pasts were identical.

They were both orphans.

Li Yao was born in Special Waste Treatment Plant No. 23. For as long as he could remember, the skies were always ashy and yellow.

He ate rotting meat from garbage heaps and drank contaminated, putrid water. Relying on primal instinct and a “secret” hidden deep in his memories, he struggled to survive. He had endured these ten or so years, transforming into the Artifact Graveyard’s most dangerous existence: the “Vulture.”

If the “Old Man” had never appeared, Li Yao probably would have remained a part of the garbage plant, becoming someone like “Fatty Leung” or a “Wild Wolf.”

But one day, six years ago, a garbage ship dumped the old man along with dozens of tons of refuse. Li Yao felt compassionate and dragged the scar-riddled old man back home.

From then on, his destiny changed completely.

The old man never spoke of his past. Li Yao only knew for certain that he was a tremendously skilled Expert Artifact Modder. In five short years, the old man taught Li Yao all sorts of fantastic and bizarre skills for modifying artifacts. He taught him fundamental academic subjects and paid for Li Yao to attend a private high school, allowing him to blend into normal society.

A year ago, an old injury flared up and the old man passed away. He left Li Yao a mysterious flying sword named “Black Wing.” The old man said Black Wing was a strange weapon he had studied for half a lifetime without success. In the end, he left Li Yao with these words:

“Little Yao, this old man has been to dozens of worlds. I have met thousands of Expert Artifact Modders and Master Artificers. But your natural talent is the highest I have ever seen!”

“With only the hands of an insignificant mortal, you can maintain low-level artifacts. You really are talented.”

“But natural talent alone is not enough! Relying only on talent, you will only ever be capable of maintaining low-level, civilian artifacts!”

“Promise this old man that you will study properly, fight to get accepted into a university, and become a cultivator! Only by becoming a cultivator will you have the chance to advance in artifact repair. So that one day in the future you...”

“Become a Master Artificer!”

When the old man spoke those words, his eyes were wide open, blossoming with radiance and boundless energy. That memory remained fresh in Li Yao’s mind.

A Master Artificer... A part of the circle of cultivators, one of the most prestigious professions.

He did not know if he would end up disappointing the old man.

The sword Black Wing silently accompanied him, listening to the young lady’s volcanic performance. Its two protective wings twisted fervently, dancing to the energetic song.

After a long time, the youth’s expression cleared. The corner of his mouth hooked into an unperturbed smile once again.

“What am I thinking so much for? Regardless of the consequences, I just have to stake it all!”

“Lu Yinxi was a small orphan and she became the federation’s most popular singer. Why can’t I, a small salvager, become a Master Artificer?”

The youth thought back to a time long ago and a place far away. He remembered hearing this sentence:

“One should always have dreams, for what if they come true someday?”