Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Mo Xuan, the star spirit, a new-generation spectral Cultivator who resides in liquid metal, and a firm advocate for the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus?”

Long Yangjun pondered for a moment and said, “Wait. You are not still considering the threat of the ‘virtual life’, are you? Let’s focus on the more imminent issue here. With the current level of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus in the federation, it will be tens of thousands of years before a virtual life is truly born, but the threat of the expedition army of the Imperium is real and devastating!”

“No. At first, I was thinking about looking into Lu Qingchen.”

After finishing his noodles and drinking up the last drop of the soup, Li Yao tapped the table with the fork and said, “I feel that something is greatly wrong with Lu Qingchen. His whole theory about ‘Immortal Cultivator 2.0’ makes me stunned and creeped out! I met him when he was still a teenager. He was much more sophisticated than his age and definitely not someone who was willing to work below anybody else. I’m scared that Jin Xinyue may not be able to control him or even be swallowed by him.

“Therefore, I studied his life when I was free, especially the collapse of the ‘Virtual Spirits Sector’, an event that caused him to completely degenerate into an Immortal Cultivator.

“As it turned out, few articles on ‘the collapse of the Virtual Spirits Sector’ could be found on the Spiritual Nexus. Even the so-called ‘in-depth reports’ mostly lacked a main focus and did not explain the causes and consequences of the event well.

“But then, it does make sense. The ‘grand-unified Spiritual Nexus’ that covered multiple Sectors was being constructed at that time. If the news of experimenters being killed by the Spiritual Nexus had spread, people would inevitable have become suspicious of the safety of the Spiritual Nexus. Besides, the victim Su Changfa was an Immortal Cultivator from the Imperium, who was in an awkward position in the federation in the first place. Therefore, the thing simply passed and got forgotten by everyone together with the ‘Virtual Spirits Sector’.

“But I felt that something was not right. Despite the deep bond that Lu Qingchen might’ve had with Su Changfa, his master’s death was an accident. It was far from enough for him to loathe the federation and surrender to the Imperium, wasn’t it?

“What exactly happened in the ‘Virtual Spirits Sector’ at that time? Why was Su Changfa killed? Why did Lu Qingchen change? Why did Professor Mo Xuan abandon the studies on ‘virtual life’?

“My professor is one of the most resolute people I’ve seen. Even when he was transformed into a ‘Phantom Entity’ because of the great explosion years ago and lived half-dead for years, he never gave up on his dream of refining after he was brought back to life. The greater a failure is, the braver and more unwavering he will be!

“It doesn’t make sense. Nothing makes sense!

“After further investigation, I discovered that the ‘experiments on the Virtual Spirits Sector’ were conducted in the Hundred Flowers Space Zone years ago.

“At that time, Hundred Flowers City had just begun construction. All the super crystal processors had been shipped from the Heaven’s Origin Sector, the Flying Star Sector, the Uranian Ring Sector, and Kunlun to this place to be assembled and debugged again. According to the public reports, it was because something went wrong with the debugging of the computation center next to the laboratory that Professor Mo Xuan, Su Changfa, Lu Changfa, and the mainframe crystal processor in the laboratory were affected. In the end, the collapse of the ‘Virtual Spirits Sector’ was caused.

“Today, the relics of the ‘Virtual Spirits Sector’ must be hidden somewhere below the computation center of Hundred Flowers City, right? The development and control center of ‘Civilization’ is here, too. As for my professor, although he has left the research team of ‘Civilization’ and abandoned the Virtual Spirits Sector, he is still currently living in Hundred Flowers City supervising other research projects.”

Long Yangjun understood it. “So, you want to find Professor Mo Xuan to learn the truth about ‘the collapse of the Virtual Spirits Sector’ in the past, in order to decide if something is wrong with Lu Qingchen?”

“That was my original plan,” Li Yao said. “However, after careful studies, I discovered a new lead. As it turned out, not just Lu Qingchen, even my professor was not right!”

Long Yangjun was slightly dazed. She lowered her voice subconsciously and asked, “What was not right?”

Li Yao narrowed his eyes and said, one word after another, “He got divorced!”

“…” Long Yangjun.

Li Yao slapped the table hard and said, “He got divorced, and only because he got caught by his wife, Professor Yuan Manqiu, who is another teacher of mine, when he was cheating on her!”

“Forgive me,” Long Yangjun said. “It suddenly occurred to me that there’s something I need to do. Why don’t I leave you to enjoy your noodles?”

“Wait, listen to my explanation,” Li Yao urged. “Professor Mo Xuan and Professor Yuan Manqiu used to love each other and supported each other for more than a hundred years. That couldn’t have been easy. Why on earth did Professor Mo Xuan cheat on her and then get divorced?”

“It’s freedom of marriage and none of your concern. I only have limited patience, and it ran out when you had your third bowl of noodles!”

“No. Trust me and think about it. The whole thing happened soon after the collapse of the ‘Virtual Spirits Sector’. Do you not feel that it was a weird accident?”

Long Yangjun took a deep breath, only to smell nothing but the spicy flavor of the noodle residue. She waved at her nose in disgust and managed to think for a while. Then, she nodded and said, “Now that you put it that way, it is indeed a bit weird. Isn’t your professor a spectral Cultivator? How could he cheat on his wife?”

“That’s actually not a problem,” Li Yao said. “He is a piece of erratic liquid metal. Technically speaking, he can totally make what he needs by himself, and even more than one of them if he wants. Also, even for the regular spectral Cultivators, thanks to the developed artificial limb industry in the federation nowadays, special limbs have been devised for them. How should I put it delicately? It’s like the so-called ‘Mister Horn’, ‘Doctor Rod’, or ‘Lady Oyster’ in the Ancient Sages Sector. You are a eunuch, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you be most familiar with that kind of stuff?”

“Who’s a eunuch?” Long Yangjun bashed the table hard, leaving a deep dent on the table. “Since it is not a technical problem, isn’t it perfectly normal? Star spirit or spectral Cultivator, he is a human being after all. Every human being has their feelings and needs. The two of them have spent seventy years together. It is only natural that they grew tired of each other.

“Think about it. Professor Mo Xuan was responsible for part of the development of the game ‘Civilization’ and supervising the project of the ‘Virtual Spirits Sector’ in the Hundred Flowers Space Zone, while Professor Yuan Manqiu worked as the dean in the Refining Department in the Grand Desolate War Institution in the Heaven’s Origin Sector. The two of them must’ve been more often separated than united!

“In the past, they were both focused on the studies of crystal suits, and they could support each other and communicate better. But after Professor Mo Xuan turned into a star spirit and had a soaring computational ability, he changed his focus to the studies of the Spiritual Nexus. Then, would they still have any common language?

“At this point, the project of the ‘Virtual Spirits Sector’, to which Professor Mo Xuan devoted his life, failed and even caused the death of a researcher. I don’t need to remind you how regretful, frustrated, and depressed he must’ve been.

“If a charming nymph, or a female researcher who also focused on the studies of the Spiritual Nexus and crystal processors, approached him while he was vulnerable and healed his wounded heart with her gentleness, is it strange at all that something happened between them?”

Li Yao scratched his chin hard. “Now that you mentioned it, it is exactly what happened. According to the gossip I read, my professor’s mistress seemed to be a female researcher of the ‘Grand-Unified Spiritual Nexus Computation Center’. She was also some sort of experienced algorithm specialist.”

“Then, what is your problem?”

Li Yao shook his head hard. “No. I have to figure the whole thing out. It won’t take much time anyway. I’ll simply pay a visit to Professor Mo Xuan while our starship is being repaired and refilled with fuel. If everything is alright with my professor, I’ll send the message that I’m back to Ding Lingdang and Jin Xinyue through him. I don’t trust anybody else right now.”

Long Yangjun pondered for a moment and said, “That’s very reasonable. It’s true that we should contact Ding Lingdang and Jin Xinyue, the two ‘giants’, now, in case of any misunderstanding in the future.

“Then, what is the project that your professor is responsible for in the Hundred Flowers Space Zone? Where can we find him?”

Li Yao opened a light beam. “Here. The Tinder Plan, originated from the Monument Plan proposed by Gui Suishou, the oldest demon emperor of the Blood Demon Sector, a hundred years ago for the purpose of passing on our civilization. After that, the Glorious Sunlight Group, the Double Dragons Union, and some other sects in the federation all invested in the project to put it into practice. Because ‘monument’ sounded too ominous, it was renamed as the Tinder Plan.

“After the collapse of the Virtual Spirits Sector, Professor Mo Xuan was frustrated and abandoned most of his previous work. He dedicated himself to the Tinder Plan and became its supervisor. With his help, the progress of the Tinder Plan was greatly accelerated. Right now, the first batch of ‘tinder’ has already been produced and is ready to be launched into space.

“In fact, because the Black Wind Fleet is drawing near, and nobody can tell when they will suddenly lunge out, the very first piece of ‘tinder’ will be launched tomorrow.

“I learned of the arrangement from the news. That’s why I specifically requested for our starship to arrive at the Hundred Flowers Space Zone and visit the project team of the Tinder Plan so that we could communicate more with Professor Mo Xuan on the succession of civilization. It has been approved by authorities. The trip will only take half a day. Our itinerary will not be affected.”

Long Yangjun narrowed her eyes and read the news fast. “The first deep-sky exploration starship that carries the tinder of the Star Glory Federation will be led by Wei Qingqing, a famous novelist and educator in the federation. Miss Wei is highly likely to be the first person in the history of the federation to hibernate for tens of thousands of years and to pass on our civilization in the distant future? Miss Wei… Wei Qingqing… Oh… I get it now!”

Li Yao blinked hard. “What did you get?”

Long Yangjun looked at him thoughtfully and said with a fake smile, “So, after all your garbage talk, it is not Professor Mo Xuan that you want to meet but your old lover!”

Li Yao’s face immediately turned pale. “What old lover? We are in my wife’s turf right now. You’d better watch your mouth!”

“Isn’t Wei Qingqing the girl in the Refinement Stage who sacrificed herself to save you on the train north to the Grand Desolate War Institution before your spiritual root awakened?” Long Yangjun chuckled. “It is said that her encouragement helped you set up the goal of being a Cultivator. For you, she is always some sort of… sacred and glorious big sister.

“Don’t glare at me. All your biographies say exactly the same!

“I totally understand it now! The big sister who saved your life and encouraged you to embark on the path of Cultivation is about to set off for a journey of ten thousand years tomorrow, and you will never see her again. Now that you have heard such a piece of astounding news, it is perfectly normal that you want to bid her farewell. It does not conflict with our business, either!

“I get it. I totally get it. Why didn’t you tell me more straightforwardly? It’s only natural that you want to see your life-savior who is in a ‘pure’ relationship with you for the last time. I support you and definitely won’t tell your wife. Just rest assured!”