Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Di Feiwen was still silent, but he did not disguise the objection and disdain in his eyes at all.

Li Yao said with a smile, “Do you think that the ideas of the Cultivators are a bit childish?”

“Yes,” Di Feiwen replied. “It’s the most childish thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Indeed. The Immortal Cultivators’ ideas are perhaps more ‘mature’, more ‘rational’, and better adapted to the cruel universe. But I do not like it no matter what and would rather stay foolish and naïve forever,” Li Yao said. “Has it never occurred to you why the Cultivators and the Immortal Cultivators call the most important phase of training ‘Nascent Soul’ and consider it a great accomplishment of training to condense a Nascent Soul? Then, why is it a ‘nascent’ soul that the essence of our training condenses, instead of a muscular adult or a sophisticated senior?

“Perhaps, by training, we are actually building up the pure heart that we are born with, and we can only finish what we started by sticking to what we believed in at the beginning, right?

“What’s wrong about being childish? We are young and vigorous at least. For the Immortal Cultivators, who are ‘grown-ups’ that have memorized all the laws of the dark universe by heart and fused them deep into your bones and blood, you look indeed ‘mature’, but you are not far from decrepit.

“It’s been only a hundred thousand years since the civilization of mankind was born. We are still a very young ‘adolescent civilization’. It is not appropriate for us to believe ‘it is the world, not us, that is wrong’. Let’s make something big to stun all the civilizations of the universe. Don’t be so lethargic and unmotivated at such an early phase!”

While speaking, Li Yao opened his fingers and patted on Di Feiwen’s shoulder hard.

Di Feiwen grimaced under the patting. Amused, he said, “Commander, I really don’t get whether you are really innocent, childish, reckless, and stupid, or you are a great sage who pretends to be an idiot.”

“Of course, I am a great sage who pretends to be an idiot,” Li Yao said. “Isn’t it universally known?”

Looking at Li Yao’s matter-of-fact face, Di Feiwen took a deep breath and was unable to say anything.

Behind them, Speaker Cui Lingfeng of the government-in-exile of the Star Ocean Republic finally could not help but chuckle.

“Speaker Cui, you’ve come at the perfect time.” Li Yao waved hands at him. “What do you have to enlighten me regarding my discussion with General Di?”

“I dare not say that it is enlightenment, but I do have some opinions.”

Hesitating for a moment, Cui Lingfeng squatted next to Li Yao, too. He remarked while looking at the busy construction site below the mountain, “The disagreement between you and General Di is really not a simple right-or-wrong thing. There are not many things that are absolutely correct or absolutely wrong. I can only say that in extreme cases, the two different choices can both work, but they can both fail, too.

“You know that as the highest leader on Firefly, I am responsible for the lives of almost a hundred million people.

“In the thousand years of history of Firefly’s escape, quite a few extreme crises did take place, forcing me and my predecessors to be interrogated by humanity and conscience time and time ago when we made cruel, heartless choices.

“We were on the verge of the abyss of darkness countless times, or we might’ve sunk into the darkness without knowing it. We understand deeply the helplessness of certain choices and the inevitability of depravity.

“Although I consider myself a ‘bad Cultivator’, if some righteous Cultivators berate me for what I did and regard me as an ‘Immortal Cultivator’, I’ll have nothing to say for myself. After all, Cultivator or Immortal Cultivator is not a tattoo carved on our forehead. It only takes the blink of an eye to switch between them.

“Therefore, I understand everything that General Di said very well. I am not qualified to comment whether or not their theories are correct, either, because when faced with enough pressure, anybody can become an Immortal Cultivator. Nobody knows it more clearly than I do.

“What I am saying is that, while your theory and General Di’s can be both correct, if there are two worlds that are supported by your theories respectively, I would prefer to live in the world of Cultivators instead of General Di’s world of Immortal Cultivators. Moreover, I would like to work hard and make any sacrifice to develop the world of Cultivators into a stronger, more beautiful place!

“As you said just now, everybody dies. In many cases, eventual destruction is unavoidable. But whether or not we can face death with rationality and dignity marks the difference between ‘civilization’ and ‘savageness’.

“We have seen many kinds of deaths on Firefly. Some people resisted meteoroids with their crystal suits and filled the cracks in the shell of the starship with their bodies, eventually fusing with it, in order to protect the civilians. Some murdered ordinary people when there was a shortage of food and stole the victims’ food rations, sometimes even cutting and hiding the victims’ bodies.

“But despite all the schemes and evil deeds, how much longer can they survive when a real great catastrophe comes? Even if they catch their breath for another decade while soaking in the poison of darkness, will life be comfortable when they are troubled by their conscience day and night?

“General Di, the Immortal Cultivators’ theories may have their correct side, but I do not want to discuss if it is correct right now. I only want to ask you to give it a thought. Assuming that the ‘world of Cultivators’ that President Li just described has a one-millionth chance of being established, would you hope for your offspring to live in such a world or to live in a world of Immortal Cultivators like the Imperium of True Human Beings?”

Di Feiwen’s eyelids shivered for a long time. He struggled to shake his head and said, “No, you can’t succeed. The chance is too slim.”

“You will never know until you try. When we escaped from the Empyreal Terminus Sector, we never thought that Firefly could escape for a thousand years, travel through three thousand Sectors, and eventually get beyond the reach of the Imperium,” Cui Lingfeng said with a smile. “As the vice commander of the Black Wind Fleet, you must’ve been through the war between the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance. So, you should know that on the battlefield, those who are scared of death will certainly die, but the bold, fearless guys actually have a slim chance of survival, right? If the Immortal Cultivators consider yourselves as the strongest warriors of mankind, how can you be so hesitant and full of misgivings that even the Cultivators outperform you with their resolution and valor?

“Besides, even if we fail and die in the end, it will not be a big deal. Something will definitely be left behind—hope.

“Human beings are really strange creatures that are a combination of the most despicable things and the most honorable things. They may sink into the darkest abyss, but they can also emanate the light of hope in the filthy mud. Failure after failure, and fall after fall, only to rise and try again and again. Every time, they are stronger than the last time and closer to civilization and… wonderfulness.

“The Star Ocean Imperium, the Star Ocean Republic, the Imperium of True Human Beings, and the Star Glory Federation today have crashed into the wall, their head bleeding, again and again. But the seeds of hope have always been planted to allow them to be reborn one day!

“I believe in the vitality of the civilization of mankind. Even if the ‘naïve Cultivators’ of the Star Glory Federation fail this time, they will certainly leave something behind. Someone will inherit their last will one day and accomplish what they started.

“All in all, what we are doing right now is certainly not a pursuit of the impossible but an attempt that will affect billions of people and even the entire universe.

“Today, we are building a new home from scratch, transforming Boneyard into Ultimacy. Naturally, we considered if it would be occupied and even destroyed one day. But believe me, General Di, even if Ultimacy is truly occupied a long time in the future, it will not be the end of our civilization but the beginning of another great legend!”

Right then, a deafening explosion echoed in the continuous mountains opposite them.

The hills that were surrounded by mountains suddenly brightened. Everybody felt that their horizon was lengthened.

As it turned out, the constructors had performed the largest detonation so far, blowing up the folds that were dozens of kilometers long and paving a golden path inland.

Smoke was rising, and red flags were flapping. Countless constructors were waving their tools and hats, cheering and dancing in wild joy.

The scene was deeply etched into Di Feiwen’s eyes. He looked at Li Yao and then at Cui Lingfeng. In the end, he narrowed his eyes and observed the world that was getting clear behind the smoke waiting to be conquered and constructed by mankind, mumbling, “Then, let’s just wait and see.”

…

More and more new blood was joining the federation—the construction legions from the Black Wind Fleet, the millions of people from Firefly, and the ‘outcasts’ from the Dragon Snake Space Zone.

But some people of the federation were about to leave their home for their own beliefs and dreams.

Right when the new settlements on Boneyard, the Water Crystal Sector, and the Forest Ocean Sector were being constructed heatedly, another batch of people was about to set off on their expedition, one that had to be pushed forward and could never be aborted if everything went as planned.

For many reasons, the ‘expedition’ was kept rather low profile. It was not promoted on a large scale, but it was perhaps even more meaningful than the expedition that the federation would launch to the center of the cosmos one day, because it was an expedition of time for the civilization of mankind. It was a journey to the future universe in millions of years.

That was the ‘Tinder Plan’, a great project of the civilization of mankind to spray seeds across millions of years.

Although Professor Mo Xuan had regarded the ‘Tinder Plan’ as a disguise of his scheme, to deceive the leadership and the experts of the federation, the plan itself was not fake at all, and the completeness of the project was quite high.

The day that Professor Mo Xuan activated his scheme, the first launch of the ‘Tinder Plan’ could have been conducted smoothly.

Although Professor Mo Xuan was dead, Wei Qingqing and a large batch of Spiriters who had dedicated their lifelong efforts to the Tinder Plan were still pushing the project actively. They would accomplish their original goal and allow their souls to sail into the universe millions of years later.