Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

The Spiriters! The Spiriters’ Realms!

Every hair on Li Yao’s body was standing up. He observed the surroundings subconsciously, fearing that a hundred Spiriter assassins were lurking nearby and would lunge out at him when Professor Mo Xuan gave them a signal!

It could not be helped. His occupational disease got the better of him. It seemed a routine now that plots and schemes happened wherever he went.

“Is everything alright, Representative Lin?” Professor Mo Xuan asked.

“Yes, of course,” Li Yao said. “Is the federal government aware of the Spiriters thing?”

Professor Mo Xuan was slightly dazed and amused. “Of course. Like I said just now, we are trying to raise a motion in parliament to regulate our legal name. How can the government be unaware of the issue?

“In fact, not only does the government know it, many people in the leadership are also incredibly supportive.

“A hundred years ago in the Star Glory Federation, the birth rate of ghosts was quite low. They took up only one thousandth of the whole population. It was not a big deal that they were addressed as ‘ghosts’, the conventional name.

“However, as the technology on souls developed, more and more people have become able to survive for a while longer in the form of souls after their physical bodies perish. The participation of the Nether World Sector has brought us countless ghosts, too. The population of ghosts is now over one billion and has long surpassed one percent of the whole population. Naturally, we have our own living environment, social form, and customs.

“Besides, a lot of Spiriters are war heroes who made great contributions to the federation and sacrificed themselves. They spent their entire life serving the country, and yet they are called ‘ghosts’ after they unfortunately lost their bodies. Do you think that’s fair?”

Li Yao thought carefully for a moment and replied, “It does seem inappropriate.”

“Yes. There are also the young and innocent children who unfortunately passed away early,” Professor Mo Xuan said solemnly. “They will have to spend the rest of their life being called ‘ghosts’ and feel visible and invisible prejudice everywhere. It is highly unsuitable, too!

“That’s why we are legalizing our life form. We are not ghosts but Spiriters. We are proud members of the federation, like humans and demons. We serve the people as much as they do, don’t we?”

Li Yao was rendered speechless. “Well, that sounds reasonable!”

“Moreover,” Professor Mo Xuan continued, “in the past, ghosts often lived in the outside world with artificial bodies like regular humans. However, as you must also know, Representative Lin, artificial bodies are not made of flesh and blood, and their protection for the soul is not as high. Souls are highly vulnerable, too. Intense spiritual waves, solar radiation, and ionic storms will all damage, if not destroy, them.

“Therefore, ghosts in the past could barely live a quality life even if they survived. Also, their longevity wasn’t long. It was already impressive if they could live decades.

“For ghosts, we are essentially a cluster of unsubstantial souls. The best solution is to melt our soul into the silicon chips and then bury the silicon chips deep underground, where all radiation and waves are blocked. That’s the only way to sustain a long life for them.

“In the past, such a lifestyle that is no different from being imprisoned was definitely an unfavorable choice. However, as the technology of the Spiritual Nexus developed, we are now able to construct illusionary but vivid worlds and even connect them to the vast universe that is the ‘grand-unified Spiritual Nexus’. Ghosts do not need to be prone to natural influences in their artificial bodies in the outside world anymore. They can satisfy all their social, work, and emotional needs on the Spiritual Nexus.

“As a result, many ghosts do not need artificial bodies. They only need a tiny chip that stores their soul. After such chips are stored in underground warehouses and connected to the Spiritual Nexus, they will be able to live in the Spiritual Nexus for a long time.

“Think about it. The ghosts spend almost all their time on the Spiritual Nexus. Cyber communities are their everything and their real life. Isn’t it preposterous to call it a ‘virtual world’? What does ‘virtual’ mean? Is their life not real but false, illusionary, and simulated?

“Therefore, the cyberspace that the ghosts, or the Spiriters, live in is fundamentally different from the game worlds of regular players. We treat our new home very seriously. This is not a virtual world but the Spiriters’ Realm. It is a new territory of the Star Glory Federation and will be a boundless new world for all humanity!”

Li Yao had learned a few days back that, because the technology of the Spiritual Nexus was quite advanced, not just the ghosts, even a lot of living people spent days and nights on the Spiritual Nexus. The Spiritual Nexus meant everything to those people. Therefore, the Spiriters’ Realm might truly become a vast world itself.

Professor Mo Xuan went on. “The trickiest problem during our implementation of the Tinder Plan is how to lower the size and weight of the ‘super-strong silicon chip’. Please take a look, Representative Lin. This time, we have adopted a brand-new element named Silicon 41. Although all the shortcomings of regular silicon elements have been overcome, and it can keep stable for more than a hundred million years theoretically, we find it difficult to continue compressing the crystalloid structure. This is the minimal size we can get.

“Wouldn’t it be too wasteful to store the soul of one Spiriter in such a large block of a rare element? One individual alone, however smart they are, will be unable to pass on the knowledge of the entire civilization.

“Therefore, we recruited within the Association of Spectral Cultivators and vetted almost ten thousand volunteers. In the end, we picked out 122 Spiriters who covered all aspects of our society. Some of them are war heroes with incredible accomplishments. Some are famous mathematicians, psychologists, sociologists, and specialists of other disciplines in the academic world. Some are government officials who once ran big cities of millions of people. Some are romantic, liberal artists. Of course, some of them are just ordinary people who worked in ordinary posts.

“The 122 Spiriters have established a town in the tiny Spiriters’ Realm here. They will enter the ‘seal state’, which is a more stable way to preserve life than regular hibernation, together with Miss Wei Qingqing at the same time. Then, the ‘black cube’ will be launched by the most advanced tiny deep-sky exploration starship of the federation and embark on a journey of millions of years in search for a new life.

“Millions of years later, after new life is detected, the black cube will automatically be activated, and the town in the Spiriters’ Realm will be brought back to life and create a new tomorrow for mankind!”

Li Yao took a long breath. He did not know that the seemingly unattractive Tinder Plan had such a grandiose background.

“Ever since I joined the ‘Tinder Plan’,” Professor Mo Xuan said, “the project has always been entirely open to the government. Many officials in the government who are Spiriters have given us a lot of support, too. After all, for the prolonged exploration in space, the Spiriters are much more suitable candidates than regular humans!

“Right now, of the project team of the ‘Tinder Plan’, people from the federal government make up fifteen percent, specialists from the military take up another fifteen percent, and many scholars from the Secret Sword Bureau and several major universities in the federation are involved in the project, too. So, the progress and content of the project are purely open and upright.

“Did you notice the troops stationed outside and the grave-looking security here? Tomorrow, the Tinder Plan will have its very first launch. It is quite a big event of a very high level. The local garrison of the Hundred Flowers Space Zone and the heads of the Secret Sword Bureau are all here with their tough subordinates to monitor everything closely.

“Therefore, you do not need to worry about your safety at all, Representative Lin. This project is not open to the public because we do not want to cause unnecessary conflicts before the name ‘Spiriter’ is officially recognized. After all, too many spies from the Imperium are out there nowadays. It will be no good if they instigate trouble!

“After we defeat the expedition army of the Imperium, we will certainly release everything to the public exactly as it is. But right now, in case anything goes wrong, let’s just buy ‘insurance’ for the federation with the first ‘tinder’!”

Professor Mo Xuan burst into laughter.

Li Yao, however, felt as if his heart had been pierced by a needle. It felt weird.

Professor Mo Xuan in the old days had certainly not been as humorous as that.

Li Yao would not call him the one who was most familiar with Professor Mo Xuan, but if Professor Mo Xuan’s character had been slowly altered in a time span of a hundred years, even those closest to him might not be able to notice the slight change every day and accept the new Professor Mo Xuan without them knowing it.

After all, everybody could change. It was perfectly normal!

But for Li Yao, although he had hibernated for a hundred years, less than three years had really passed in his mind. He felt quite uncomfortable seeing such drastic changes in his professor, who was like a totally different person.

His professor was sharper, more radical, more passionate, and… more aggressive!

In the past, Professor Mo Xuan had been as warm and smooth as jade, but right now, Professor Mo Xuan was like a saber made of the most dazzling sunlight!

Was such a change good or bad?

“Come on, Representative Lin, Representative Long, and Miss Ling.” Pointing out the dense immersive virtual cabins not far away, Professor Mo Xuan invited them courteously. “Enter the ‘Carefree World’ with me and bid farewell to the small Spiriters’ Realm that will be on its way tomorrow!”

“Enter a Spiriters’ Realm?” Li Yao shuddered without reason.

“Yes. Aren’t you here to see the Tinder Plan?” Professor Mo Xuan was slightly dazed. He asked curiously, “What’s up? The heads of the local garrison and the local branch of the Secret Sword Bureau are all visiting the ‘Carefree World’ right now and saying goodbye to the 122 Spiriter volunteers. Is there a problem?”

Narrowing his eyes, Li Yao observed the immersive virtual cabins deep inside the lobby.

The silver virtual cabins were both like cocoons and coffins, emitting an air of coldness and death.

The virtual cabins were guarded by at least one elite squad from the federal army as well as more than ten Secret Sword Agents who looked rather strong. Li Yao felt more or less relieved after seeing that.

He was probably being paranoid. However…

Thinking quickly, Li Yao quickly looked at Long Yangjun and dropped her a hint. Then, having no time to consider whether or not Professor Mo Xuan would grow suspicious, he said, “No problem at all. But it’s better if I enter the ‘Spiriters’ Realm’ by myself. Our Representative Long accidentally hurt her head yesterday during training. According to the doctor’s instruction, she must stay away from immersive virtual cabins in case the recovery of his brain is affected.”

Professor Mo Xuan slightly frowned. Then he nodded and said, “Alright. Should we arrange a new visiting route for Representative Long so that she can take a look at the other departments of the ‘Tinder Plan’, say, the research institute of the ‘old grandpas’?”

“That will be unnecessary,” Long Yangjun said. “I’ll just wait for the captain next to his virtual cabin. I would appreciate it if you can give me some relevant files so I can kill the time. After all, the captain’s visit won’t be for too long. Our carrier is still waiting to jump to the Heaven’s Origin Sector!”