Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

For the first time ever, Li Yao felt that he was not able to deal with a little girl.

Ling Xiaole, however, suddenly changed the topic and said with a smile, “I’m being such a chatterbox. Please don’t be bored by me. Let’s walk while we talk!”

While the other members of the delegation and the twelve experts of the Ancient Sages Sector went to visit separately, Li Yao had a small tail behind him—Heiye Lan, the elite warrior of the Imperium, who was now the Secretary to the Special Representative of the Speaker’s Office.

Back in the Ancient Sages Sector, Li Yao had been watching over Heiye Lan the whole time.

Now that Li Yao was the commander of Team Red Lotus and the Speaker’s special representative, it was only reasonable that he had a secretary.

A few days back, when the Immortal Cultivators rebelled on Firefly and they had just learned the news about the covetous Black Wind Fleet, Heiye Lan had been rather cocky and relieved. She had wasted no time trying to convince the experts of the Ancient Sages Sector that the invincible army of the Imperium was arriving and that it was the best opportunity for them to make great accomplishments!

However, as they went deeper into the federation, and especially after she viewed the magnificence of the federal fleet in the Uranian Ring Sector, Heiye Lan became grave again.

It was obvious that the weight and capability of the ‘prey’ this time far exceeded her expectations.

At the exit of the Uranian Ring War Museum, she had been even more puzzled by Ding Lingdang’s statue that was full of sadness and pity and the light beam where the names of all the victims in the war were carved.

There was no doubt that even if such a war museum to demonstrate a similar feat was established in the Imperium of True Human Beings, the names of the victims on the enemy’s side could not have been recorded.

Right now, Ling Xiaole’s unconventional opening lines further baffled her. Could conquering a new world be discussed so openly and lightheartedly?

The elite female warrior of the Imperium widened her big eyes, trying to understand everything.

The three of them boarded a round, seemingly plain shuttle and moved toward the circular world within the Uranian Ring quietly.

Because the caliber of the Uranian Ring was too huge, the place had been divided into more than ten independent floors, each of which had been paved with soil and planted with grass and flowers. The domes had been connected by enormous light beams that displayed the virtual blue sky and white clouds. Together with the artificial gravity field that had been carefully adjusted, life there was no different from life on the ground. If the visitors did not constantly remind themselves, it would be hard for them to realize that they were in the middle of a circular city above the atmosphere.

Only when one looked far over the horizon could they see that the ‘sky’ and the city far away seemed to bend downward into an infinite abyss.

Life a hundred years later did not seem very different from a hundred years ago. There were high-speed crystal trains and shuttles within the Uranian Ring, but all the trains were running stably and quietly without any noise, not even causing any wind when they were rushing by, which made it possible for them to be built in the downtown area and even around the coruscating skyscrapers. The shuttles, on the other hand, were faster and even more dense. They travelled so quickly and fluently in the city that it was almost like a breathtaking acrobatic performance. It appeared that autopilot technology had developed much in recent years, allowing ordinary people to use similar computational and driving abilities as the Cultivators when they drove the shuttles.

Other than that, Li Yao also noticed something in the sky of the city that was between an extreme sport and a vehicle.

They were pieces of magical equipment that could both be either soft or hard and looked like metal fins. They were similar to the air plugins on the strengthening extensions for the crystal suits, except that they were directly equipped to human beings. After putting on a dozen ‘fins’, even an ordinary person could fly in midair like a bird or a dolphin.

Many people, especially the young ones in school uniforms, were swimming agilely and playing with each other in midair wearing the glittering ‘fins’, which reminded Li Yao of the time when he went home together with his best friends after school.

“That is ‘flying fin’, the latest single vehicle developed in the federation,” Ling Xiaole said. “The flying fin is carved with more than fifty gravity adjustment rune arrays and magnetism reception rune arrays, allowing it to capture the ubiquitous magnetic waves in the world of the Uranian Ring Sector and be pushed forward by the tides of spiritual energy like the dolphins pushed by the sea’s waves.

“Through the main control chip of the ‘flying fin’, even ordinary people can fly like Cultivators! The ‘flying fin games’ are often held in the Uranian Ring Sector. The moves that some ordinary people execute are even more impressive than the Cultivators’!”

Looking at the young people who were playing with each other carefreely in the middle of the blue sky and the white clouds below the man-made dome, Li Yao sincerely complimented, “Very beautiful.”

Heiye Lan, however, could not help but ask, “You make… ordinary people the same as Cultivators?”

“Of course!” Ling Xiaole blinked and replied matter-of-factly, “To make ordinary people the same as Cultivators is exactly the goal that countless citizens of the federation fight for!”

“Is it the ‘Citizen Center’ of the Uranian Ring Sector up ahead?” Li Yao changed the topic. The place was the primary target of his inspection after he communicated with the authorities of the federation. “Since we are all expressing ourselves sincerely here, I’m not going to hold anything back. In principle, Speaker Cui does not object to the integration with the Star Glory Federation. But he is very concerned about the position and privileges of the billion or so people of Firefly in the federation. Therefore, he would like to know more about the citizenship system of the federation.

“We all know that the Imperium of True Human Beings has a citizenship system, too. To become a citizen of the Imperium, you have to be an Immortal Cultivator with certain strength. You even need to help the Imperium conquer new territory, enslave weaker peoples, and accumulate bloody military credits with the blood of the weak so that you can redeem the ‘contribution points’ for the citizenship of different levels.

“Of course, the federation is different from the Imperium. I’m told that your citizenship and your contribution points are deeply associated with a game called ‘Civilization’. It is a pity that we have no access to the official releases of ‘Civilization’ on Firefly and in the Dragon Snake Space Zone. What is it all about?”

“You will see it with your own eyes soon enough. Our ‘Citizen Center’ is also the ‘Civilization Game Center’. It is not just a simple game but also the bedrock on which the Star Glory Federation was founded and the best weapon for us to resist the Imperium of True Human Beings and the Alliance of the Holy Covenant!”

Ling Xiaole’s eyes were glittering, and her pride was flowing like a flood. The tip of her tail turned silver, too. “For the people beyond the federation, ‘Civilization’ may be only a simulation game, but for the people of the federation, it is not a game but a lifestyle. No. It is a way of living that concerns every one of us.

“We can even say that there are two Star Glory Federations. One of them exists in the universe for real with a material body, while the other one is a ‘virtual federation’ that exists in crystal processors and light circuits, which rages, dies, and rises again time and time again. When the real federation and the virtual federation overlap, that will be the ‘mega’ federation. Only the Star Glory Federation in such a state can expect to challenge the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance with only seven Sectors!”

Li Yao grew more and more interested. “We learned a thing or two about ‘Civilization’ on Firefly. It does not seem as magical as you claim.”

“How is it comparable?” Ling Xiaole said. “The key is not the game itself but the database that contains all the information of almost a hundred billion people in the seven Sectors of the Star Glory Federation and the corresponding links. The entire database and the links will never be open to outsiders. What the outside world can touch is merely a dull, monotonous game instead of an erratic and unbelievably real virtual world.

“Only the new worlds that are completely melded with the federation will be connected to the links of ‘Civilization’ and included in the database so that the entire virtual world will be open to the local people.

“If, one day, Firefly officially becomes part of the federation, the people onboard will naturally sense the magnificence of ‘Civilization’. Of course, Special Representative Lin, you have the privilege to enjoy it in advance now.”

Li Yao and Heiye Lan looked at each other. Heiye Lan asked in great confusion, “How can a game help you resist the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance?”

“As I said, it is more than a game; it is… a brand-new way of living and wisdom sharing for mankind,” Ling Xiaole said carefully. “Ever since the New Federation was founded a hundred years ago, the people of the federation have been thinking about one question. How can the potential of the ordinary people be best utilized so that the ordinary people’s numerical advantage can be transformed into a strong force on par with, if not above, the Cultivators?

“The Imperium of True Human Beings takes ordinary people as ‘hominoids’, nothing more than livestock and pets. The Alliance of the Holy Covenant regards all human beings as ‘tools’. Of course, the federation is different from them. Ordinary people are also the owners of the country and the masters of their own fate!

“But we are not purely idealists. In terms of physical strength, retention, computational ability, combat ability, and many other aspects, ordinary people cannot compete with Cultivators as individuals, which is a fact that we do not deny.

“Therefore, the core of the question, and the core of the Star Glory Federation’s competitiveness, is how to concentrate the ordinary people’s strength in the highest efficiency!

“The game ‘Civilization’ is the federation’s answer to that question.

“Display all the problems that the federation faces during its development, as well as the lessons of the rise and decline of other Sectors in the form of a game, and invite the majority of the hundred billion civilians to release the sparks of their mind. They are not required to give the right solution because even the most bizarre mistakes that they make in the game have their own value.

“As a result, through the special network that is ‘Civilization’, the brains of a hundred billion people are connected. The sparks of their thinking congregate into a brilliant ocean. The change in quantity leads to a change in quality. Eventually, the most optimal strategy is found. Also, both ordinary people and Cultivators can try to understand the philosophical concepts such as society, war, continuity of civilization, and so on. They can learn to understand the dilemmas and the idea that everyone is responsible for their country. In the end, they will grow into warriors who fight for themselves, for their patriots, and for the future of humanity!

“Although the federation has a population of a hundred billion, every individual matters, be they Cultivators or ordinary people. Everyone’s effort may change the federation and the future of mankind. This is what ‘Civilization’ tells us!”