Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“It doesn’t matter whether or not somebody took advantage of the war, what the demon race became after seizing the highest power, and whether they were ‘righteous’ or ‘evil’,” Jin Tuyi said unhurriedly.

“What really matters is that the war forty thousand years ago was not one between ‘demons’ and ‘Cultivators’, but the counterattack launched toward the high and mighty ancient Cultivators by the ordinary people who had been savaged and suppressed by the ancient Cultivators until they could not hold it anymore!

“Of course, you can say that the war was manipulated by the Ultimate One Demons, but how could the Ultimate One Demons have manipulated so many ordinary people in the three thousand Sectors? Why could they turn ordinary people into strange demons willingly? Just with lies and threats?

“No, of course not. It was because the ancient Cultivators had destroyed the entire world and the home of the ordinary people to such an extent that even the humblest, most obedient ordinary people burst into fury, wasn’t it?

“It was an era when the technology of the ordinary people was highly underdeveloped. Compared to the Cultivators’ flying swords, the ordinary people’s blades were thousands of years behind them. Moreover, they could not even find such a blade easily. Most of the time, the ordinary people had to whittle bamboo into spears. How could they fight against the Cultivators?

“This is the greatest advantage of the demon race and the foundation for the existence of demons.

“No sabers? I will grow claws and tusks! No flying swords? I will grow wings! No shields? I will grow solid shells! It doesn’t matter how appallingly ugly I am as long as I can gain the strength for revenge!

“Maybe ordinary people after mutation were still no match for Cultivators. But at the very least, they boasted certain strength to fight back now. If one was not enough, ten would go up. If ten were not, a hundred. A hundred demons who used to be the destitute were definitely enough to drag a magnificent ‘Lord Cultivator’ die with them, right?

“The demons broke the Cultivators’ technological blockade in such a way. It was also the biggest reason for the demon race becoming an independent race!”

Jin Tuyi smiled bitterly when he got to this part. “But right now, the foundation has collapsed, and the reason is gone.”

Li Yao thought of something and vaguely understood what Jin Tuyi meant.

But still, he held himself back and did not interrupt.

He suddenly had a weird feeling that Jin Tuyi was really a senior who was teaching his disciple valuable life experience.

“Thirty thousand years of suppression prompted the Cultivators to reflect. When the modern Cultivators emerged on the stage of history again, they were completely different from the past. They considered the ordinary people to be at the same level as them and believed that they were all equal members of the ‘human civilization’.

“One might say that the modern Cultivators and the ancient Cultivators are two opposite concepts. Perhaps, the Immortal Cultivators in the Imperium of True Human Beings are more like the orthodoxic heirs of the ancient Cultivators in their worldview.

“Influenced by the new ideology, the great revolution and outbreak in the training techniques were a matter of course.

“In the past ten thousand years, Cultivation has entered the homes of ordinary people from the splendid palace in the clouds. It has leaked into every capillary vessel in the civilization of human beings.

“Today, an ordinary person who doesn’t have the strength to catch a chicken can drive a shuttle and fly in the sky free even without wings. They can swim at the bottom of the ocean with the help of the scuba sabs. They can protect their home and family with chainswords, vibration sabers, and high-heat axes instead of sharp tusks and claws!

“As a result, the wings, tusks, claws on the demons… Is it necessary to keep those bizarre-looking redundancies?”

Li Yao was rendered speechless. He was of a mind to ask, Senior Jin, which side are you on exactly? Are you really not a spy sent to the Blood Demon Sector by the federation ?

“Civilization. What is a civilization? The ability to use tools, to make tools, and to invent more advanced tools is the sign of a civilization!” Jin Tuyi flapped his wings and smiled. “The pair of wings you utilized in the Eye of Blood Demon was quite vivid and finely-made. It is more than enough to replace the wings of a normal member of the Feather Clan.

“In the past, because of the technological blockade of the ancient Cultivators, ordinary people had no access to more advanced productivity and fighting tools. Therefore, we were forced to grow wings, claws, and shells as replacements.

“Right now, at least in the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector, Cultivators and ordinary people have completely integrated. Ordinary people can also make use of all kinds of powerful magical equipment. Artificial wings are already good enough to take the place of natural wings. Then, isn’t it a sign that our wings, claws, and shells have finished their mission and should take a bow?”

Li Yao found it hard to believe. “Are you going to just accept that?”

“What can I do if I don’t?” Jin Tuyi sighed. “The disadvantages of demons are too obvious.

“If we consider tools as extensions of limbs, demons have fixed the tools onto their body.

“While we are given magnificent strength, we have also abandoned agility and the possibilities of rapid evolution.

“You see, I have broad wings, which look quite majestic and give me advantages in an air fight within the atmosphere.

“But what if the air fight takes place in a vacuum? What if I am fighting below the ground? What if my wings are broken? What if my wings become hindrances when I am planning to practice a new art?

“But you are different.

“If you are equipped with magical equipment in the shape of wings. Within the atmosphere, you can fly and fight with it. Once you enter space and go deep underground, you can abandon the redundancy immediately. If the magical equipment is broken in the fierce battle, it is very convenient for you to abandon, replace, or repair the tool.

“Most importantly of all, evolution!

“With the technology boom, it is very natural, and convenient, to upgrade a piece of magical equipment. Perhaps in several hundred years, the functions and power of the magical equipment will be multiplied.

“Do you believe that your artificial wings will be added with another dozen functions and techniques after a hundred years of technological development?

“But things are different with the wings, claws, and tusks of demons.

“The potentials of cells are limited after all, and they must not evolve randomly. Those who evolve by force without considering anything will be walking on Elder Nether Spring’s path, which is destined to fail.

“Therefore—”

Shua!

Jin Tuyi’s wings retreated into his body within a breath. He looked no different from a normal human being now!

“Our ancestors grasped a technique that allows us to turn into the appearance of human beings.

“The purpose of such a transformation is not for the convenience of sneaking into the world of human beings, not because we admire the culture of human beings, but because the shape of human beings is the handiest, the most well rounded, and the ‘all-match’ form.

“Human beings without arms are certainly no match for the sharp tusks and claws. However, in the shape of human beings, it will be most easy for someone to use and switch their magical equipment according to the complicated battle and production environments.

“It is safe to say that the shape of human beings is the most immaculate fundamental form. With the enhancement of powerful magical equipment, flaws in the shape of human beings can be overcome, but the advantages will be carried out to the largest extent!

“In the past, the technology was not advanced enough, and the magical equipment was not popularized yet. At that time, demons were still slightly advantageous with their claws and tusks. However, as soon as human beings began a technology boom and popularized magical equipment on a large scale, thereby resisting attacks of the demon race in their prime years, the ultimate victory of the battle would have no suspense.

“Take the Star Glory Federation for example. You have defeated many formidable enemies in only five hundred years and even occupied an entire world, competing with the Blood Demon Sector which has developed for thousands of years. What else have you been resorting to if not the technology boom?

“I have studied the history of your magical equipment carefully. Five hundred years ago, your technology in the refinement of magical equipment was still very primitive. However, every several decades, your technology would undergo an incredible leap. Today, your blades and cannons are as impressive as the claws and acid cannons of the demon race. Some of the specifications are even better!

“You are a magical equipment expert. You should know the logic better than I do.

“It’s true that an ordinary soldier of the federal army is still incomparable to an ordinary demon, but what will happen if you develop for another hundred years?

“I’m told that, in the Flying Star Sector, through the ‘skill cards’ and the ‘Grand Illusionary Battle Net’, even ordinary people can make use of all types of crystal suits. Does the Blood Demon Sector stand any chance at all if such technology spreads to the Heaven’s Origin Sector?”

Li Yao gnashed his teeth. “You can still attack before it is too late. Conquer the Heaven’s Origin Sector before the technology is introduced and promoted. Isn’t it the purpose of the original Red Tide Plan?”

“Don’t you understand, young man?” Jin Tuyi said calmly. “The Heaven’s Origin Sector might be conquered, and even the Flying Star Sector might be conquered, but so what? What I’ve been thinking about is not the war between two worlds but the war between two social forms and two systems!

“Even if we conquer the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector with our tusks and claws very quickly, in the not so distant future, a stronger civilization of Cultivators will come with more advanced magical equipment, more powerful crystal suits, and more terrifying crystal warships and crush all demons as if we are ants!

“The trend of the universe is unstoppable. If you go along with it, you thrive. If you go against it, you die! What I’m talking about is the trend of the universe that nobody can change. If we want to survive and realize the glory of the past again, we must change ourselves!”