Hijacking the Timeline

Glancing back at Suction Cup, who was now locked in a fierce battle with little black, Feng Qi turned and headed straight toward the Star City Shelter without looking back.

He didn’t know how long Suction Cup, having partially healed her injuries, could hold little black off. Every second she bought him was precious, and he couldn’t let her sacrifice be in vain.

He had to make every moment count, using his time wisely.

He~tui!

Feng Qi: ...

After running for about ten minutes, he reached the entrance to the underground shelter and strode inside.

He followed the straight, downward-sloping metal tunnel for some distance until he emerged into a vast underground plaza.

The large screen at the center of the plaza was still lit, and the lights on the control console flickered intermittently, indicating that the system was still running.

Approaching the console, Feng Qi’s gaze fell upon the screen.

It displayed Mo Fei’s email messages.

Due to the sheer volume of content, he had only scrolled through the messages to the point where Mo Fei had photographed Suction Cup’s encounter with Wei Wei before little black’s arrival forced him to leave abruptly.

Now he decided to continue browsing through his email messages, searching for any crucial clues that might be hidden in the subsequent messages.

He chose to skip over any trivial or meaningless details.

Mo Fei’s message:

”I had a sudden thought. You once told me about your special ability to read other people’s memories—what was it called again? Nightmare, right? I don’t think you’ve fully developed or utilized this ability.”

”Here’s what I’m thinking: every time you travel to the Dream Realm, you can only learn what happened and what your future self experienced through email messages. The information you get is clearly incomplete, and you’re likely missing many important details.”

”More importantly, this method of communication has serious risks. You’re using an anonymous dark web email account, and the address changes every six months by adding the last four digits of your ID number. It seems like no one but you and I can find this address, but there’s still a tiny chance it could be exposed.”

”For example, if you enter the Dream Realm and your original timeline self is mind-controlled, your secrets will be completely exposed. At that point, your email account will become a tool for malevolent forces to manipulate you, with devastating consequences.”

”If the Nightmare ability is truly as powerful as you claim, then this problem can actually be solved at its root.”

”Now, let me explain the solution I’ve devised, inspired by the ’Brain in a Vat’ thought experiment. The core principle is to extract your brain after death, place it in a nutrient-rich solution to keep it alive, and then, when you travel to the future 1,500 years from now, use the Nightmare ability to access your own memories. This would allow you to relive your future self’s experiences firsthand, revealing whether they were mind-controlled or where exactly things went wrong.”

Feng Qi froze, stunned.

Your brother is too damn wild! This is a truly brilliant idea—preserving your brain so you can directly access your future self’s memories and witness their experiences firsthand. This is far more sophisticated than simply checking your email.

”Won’t this make my future self suffer terribly? It’ll be worse than death.”

Just kowtow to your future self a few times each time you enter the Dream Realm to apologize. It’s not a big deal; your future self will forgive you.

Feng Qi: ...

Continuing to read through the email, Mo Fei began to explain the feasibility of the plan.

”If your Nightmare ability is as powerful as you claim, the plan is definitely feasible, but it won’t be easy to execute. If we can’t solve two critical problems, the Brain in a Vat Project will fail.”

”The first problem is how to keep your brain alive for 1,500 years after it’s removed from your body. We’ll also need a sophisticated device to store your brain, protecting it from external factors like earthquakes and other natural disasters.”

”I suspect the answer to this lies in the future database. Current technology certainly can’t meet these requirements. If you can bring back detailed specifications, I can help you create the brain-sustaining elixir and the precision storage device.”

”The second problem is how to get this precision instrument into the Star City Underground Shelter so you can find it after traveling 1,500 years into the future. After all, we’ll all be dead by the time the shelter is built. Solving this won’t be easy. You’ll need a trustworthy successor to help you accomplish this. Your successor could also help you obtain the authorization account you mentioned.”

”If we can resolve these two issues, the rest is simple. Once you travel to the future, head straight to the Star City Shelter. Find the precision instrument containing your brain behind the iron door you described, then use your Nightmare ability to read the memories stored within.”

”After that, everything your future self experiences will be laid bare before you. Even if your future self is controlled by an evil force, you needn’t worry. In fact, you can use your controlled future self to gain deep insights into the nature of this evil force, since they’ll have no defenses against you, believing you’re completely under their control.”

”Of course, this plan is just a contingency. The chances of your email being compromised are still extremely low. Ultimately, the decision rests with you.”

”If you acquire the Photographic Memory ability, remember to bring back data on technological advancements. Fleshly suffering and Mechanical Ascension—devoting oneself solely to cultivation studies might not be the best path. Technological growth holds equally immense potential.”

”Mechs, warp-drive starships, automated production armies... You cultivation dogs will never understand. Machinery is the true romance of a man.”

Feng Qi sighed helplessly at Mo Fei’s final rant.

Even at his age, Mo Fei remained like an old child, stubbornly clinging to his belief that technology was the future.

”Narrator, which do you think would prevail in a clash between a purely technological civilization and a purely cultivation-based civilization?”

How would I know? There are plenty of supporters for both the technology faction and the cultivation system, but neither side can convince the other. After all, humans haven’t reached the pinnacle of either system yet. Our visions of future frameworks are all based on imagination. The technology faction proposes concepts like two-dimensional foils and Wormhole Warp Transmission Technology, while the cultivation faction counters with abilities like Word is Law and Undying and Indestructible.

Ultimately, no one has ever seen the true endpoint of either the growth system. When comparing them, we rely entirely on imagination to determine which would prevail. Yet both hypothetical futures share common ground: both can traverse the river of time and achieve eternal existence. One achieves mechanical immortality, while the other attains physical immortality, but both represent ways to secure eternal life. They also share the ability to manipulate space, among other capabilities.

When these debates erupt, imagination sets the upper limit. For example, if a technological civilization hurls a two-dimensional foil at a cultivation civilization, the latter might retaliate with a Creation of Heaven and Earth technique, transforming a singularity into a vast Great World. If anyone disagrees, then show me the damn proof!

The reverse is equally true. The technology faction can cite numerous technologies that counter the cultivation system, such as Causality Weapons, which ignore the flow of time and can manipulate events within the timeline, allowing them to eliminate cultivators before they’re even born.

Feng Qi: ...

After hearing the Narrator’s explanation, Feng Qi finally understood one thing:

Until both systems reach their ultimate apex, no one can truly know what their final forms will be, making meaningful comparisons impossible.

If there were to be a comparison, it would be about whose imagination was more fertile.

He no longer pondered which system, cultivation or technology, was superior, as no definitive conclusion could be reached.

For the time being, he decided to prioritize the development of the cultivation system.

Advancing the technology faction required accumulating vast amounts of knowledge. Even seemingly simple technologies often rested upon a massive foundation of underlying knowledge that needed to be understood.

Before acquiring his Photographic Memory ability, attempting to develop technology would have been sheer torture for his brain cells.

He couldn’t even memorize the code for the Savior program, let alone more complex technological knowledge.

In contrast, the knowledge required for the cultivation system was far easier to retain.

This wasn’t to say the cultivation system lacked complexity. In terms of sheer intricacy, it rivaled the technology faction.

However, the cultivation system’s complexity decreased with each successive stage.

When developing a cultivation technique, the most challenging step was always the initial creation phase.

This involved countless failures in exploring and experimenting with the human body. Even after the technique was perfected, it still required rigorous safety testing.

The human body is composed of approximately 50 trillion cells, each a complete individual. These cells combine to form the human body, a system far more complex than any existing technological instrument.

The development of cultivation studies has centered on exploring and harnessing the potential of the human body.

Therefore, the creation stage is by far the most challenging.

Subsequent stages become progressively simpler. Once a cultivation technique reaches the hands of learners, they merely need to follow the prescribed steps.

It’s like using a machine: the user simply presses a button to operate it, but the process of creating that machine is undeniably complex.

Feng Qi’s current task involves simply transcribing the operational steps of a cultivation technique—a relatively straightforward process.

The testing, refinement, and other preparatory stages of the technique have already been completed, requiring no further concern from him.

Copying homework is always faster than solving the problem yourself. Moreover, the difficulty of creating cultivation techniques decreases exponentially. He only needs the answer; he doesn’t need to understand the problem-solving logic before the equals sign.

If he were trying to advance technology, the situation would be entirely different.

The answer itself would be less important than the problem-solving logic and step-by-step process.

The difficulty of copying varied greatly depending on the mode.

One mode involved copying the answer after the equals sign, while the other required copying everything before it.

This was Feng Qi’s primary reason for temporarily refraining from developing technology.

Recording technological knowledge was mentally exhausting. Before acquiring the Photographic Memory Technique, he had no interest in it; attempting it would have been masochistic.

After closing Mo Fei’s email message, Feng Qi turned his attention to the iron gates surrounding the underground plaza.

Before committing to recording a cultivation technique, he wanted to open a few more gates. While searching for Mu Qing’s remains, he might also uncover new discoveries.

Oh ho! Time for another blind box opening? Last time’s haul was the Tadpole Hunter. Quick, guess what you’ll get this time!

”I’ll get the Forehead Flick Artifact,” Feng Qi retorted, rolling his eyes. ”Once I’m strong enough, I’ll drag you out of my body and flick your forehead a thousand times with it.”

(End of the Chapter)