Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

The queen’s astonishing conclusion stunned Li Yao for a long time. He finally shook his head and said, “I fear that you cannot draw the comparison so simply. Even though the strength of one ordinary person is weak, like a…’skinny monkey’, the ordinary people take up most of the population after all. Do they not have the greatest value to be exploited when considering them as a whole?”

“Theoretically, yes, but you have overlooked one point, which is that even ‘exploitation’ comes with a cost.”

Li Linghai said, “When the cost of management far exceeds the value that can possibly be exploited, such exploitation will not be a fair deal. It is like human beings are capable of building skinny monkeys into muscular and ferocious biochemical beasts through various kinds of secret techniques, but no mines or armies in reality would ever do that because it is simply too cost-ineffective.”

Li Yao said, “Human beings are no monkeys after all. The gap between the so-called ‘hominoids’ and ‘true human beings’ is smaller than you think. I’m aware that the Imperium has countless most cruel techniques, which can transform humans into abnormal, ugly appearances, or even replace their organs with artificial ones, just in order to change the ordinary people into a form that is more suitable for exploitation. Do you want to deny it, Your Grace?”

Li Linghai said casually, “Do you think that it is really ‘exploitation’?”

Li Yao asked back, “Is it not?”

Li Linghai replied, “Even if it is, that is for the sake of the hominoids. You should know that the Imperium’s spiritual puppet industry is already highly developed, making it possible to produce various sorts of puppets in a large bulk at a reasonable cost. If the hominoids do not transform them into hideous but highly-efficient shapes, they will only lose the cruel competitions and starve to death in the end—not just themselves, but their families too.

“Such examples are not rare in the history of the Imperium. Some mine owners were too kind to perform modifications on the hominoid miners in their mines, which kept the cost of mining at a high level. Unable to be used in the cruel commercial competition, the mines went bankrupt and were merged by other people as a whole.

“Then, after such mines were merged, a large batch of spiritual puppets would often be sent over in replacement of the human miners. How do you think the human miners who were replaced by machines would end?

“So, it was exactly for the survival of the bottom-level hominoids that the specialists and scholars of the Imperium came up with all kinds of body-building and mechanical modification technologies with all the wisdom, granting hominoids the ability to compete with spiritual puppets with unique abilities that the spiritual puppets did not have. Today, most of the hominoids have managed to keep their jobs and live on.

“In many cases, moral code and a kind heart will not solve any actual problem. Increasing the minimum wage and the working environment recklessly with no consideration of reality will only worsen the living conditions of the folks at the bottom level. I don’t believe that you do not understand such a simple logic as someone in the Divinity Transformation Stage.”

“Of course I do.”

Li Yao gnashed his teeth. “But that does not justify your decision to transform a living human into an iron spider. Anything has a line, and the Imperium’s action in pushing all the bottom-level people into cruel competitions irresponsibly has certainly crossed the line!”

The queen’s eyes flashed, and she took a step back. “Perhaps you are right. The Imperium is indeed greatly responsible for the bottom-level people. But things can only be changed on one prerequisite—a powerful central government that is capable of influencing the policies of every Sector, every resource plant, every family, and every sect directly. If the policies are only effective in the capital, nothing can be changed however you preach on your ideas and hopes.

“All in all, this is not the key of our discussion today. The key is that, compared to the bottom-level Immortal Cultivators, hominoids are just skinny monkeys in the eyes of the high-level Immortal Cultivators, who are not very interested in directly exploiting them.

“On the other hand, the Imperium of True Human Beings has governed the universe for a thousand years, and the true path of immortality has entered everyone’s heart. Even the hominoids also worship the theory of ‘survival of the fittest’ and consider the true path of immortality a law of nature.

“In such a state, the hominoids in fact do not have many complaints about their fate. Who else can they blame for their weakness? After they are used to their weakness, they will not have too many hopes. Most of the hominoids have submitted to their fate.

“The happiness of mankind depends on not materials but the mind most of the time. Believe it or not, many highly-developed Sectors in the Imperium have very mature and stable rules for the operation of society. The sample investigation on the hominoids there suggested that their happiness index was not low at all.

“Most of the hominoids felt that they should be content with their lives, which were much better than during the age of the ancient Cultivators, the Great Dark Age when the demons reigned, or the miseries when they were under the governance of the Alliance of the Holy Covenant. That is why Starlight never raised much trouble after stirring for hundreds of years.

“Of course, you may think that it is a result of the Imperium’s long-term brainwashing. I do not want to argue with you but only am telling you a fact.

“The fact is that the hominoids are not the class that is most dissatisfied about the situation in the Imperium and wants to change their fate most. The people who truly suffer the heaviest oppression, who are aware of the fact that ‘we are being oppressed’, and who have enough wisdom, courage, and combat ability to change the current situation, are the middle- and low-level Immortal Cultivators in the Refinement Stage, the Building Foundation Stage, and partly in the Core Formation Stage!

“The logic is rather easy to understand, isn’t it?

“If you are a hominoid miner, the gravest ‘exploitation’ that you may encounter is lifelong work in the sunless mines. Unless you come across accidents such as mine explosions, you can always keep your life. Nobody will ask you to go to the battlefield unless it is absolutely necessary. Those ‘skinny monkeys’ will be burdens even if they are driven to the battlefield.

“Also, you are unlikely to have a chance to receive enough education that will make you recognize your fate and your pain clearly. In many cases, there will be no pain if you cannot recognize the pain, right?

“But the bottom-level Immortal Cultivators are different.

“The ‘exploitation’ that they bear can possibly be a fight against a monster that will not show up even in their nightmares in a certain world fragment. They may be swallowed by the monster at any moment and slowly digested by the acids in the stomach of the monster in a span of a year and a half before you finally die in the last month.

“Yes. Safety is quite a problem in many unconventional small mines in many remote worlds of the Imperium, and accidents happen all the time. But however high the death rate of the miners is, it will not be higher than the death rate of the bottom-level Immortal Cultivators on the battlefield.

“On the other hand, even the Immortal Cultivators at the bottommost level, who have just awakened their spiritual root and are at the first level of the Refinement Stage, have enough wisdom to think about the society they live in, their future, and the entire world!

“You know that ‘Immortal Cultivators’ are regarded as the highest dominators of the country and the civilization in the traditional education of the Imperium. All the middle- and low-level Immortal Cultivators have high hopes for themselves. They are full of hot blood and ambitions. Do you expect such Immortal Cultivators to take it casually after realizing that they are just tools being exploited?”

Li Yao was deeply attracted by what Li Linghai said.

He used to consider the Immortal Cultivators as a whole piece in the same interest group, and he had never examined the issue from such a perspective.

After thinking carefully for a moment, he still shook his head slowly and said, “That’s still not right. The hominoid miners work in the sunless mines until their death without any hope, but doesn’t the Imperium have a very advanced ‘contribution point’ system, which claims to honor all the experts regardless of their origins and ensures the smoothness of the channel of ascension?

“Every Immortal Cultivator has an opportunity of getting abundant ‘contribution points’ during their fights with the ferocious beasts in the world fragments. After exchanging the contribution points, they would be able to upgrade step by step and eventually grow into an unparalleled expert someday. As for those who die halfway, they can only blame themselves for not being lucky enough according to your theory.”

Li Linghai laughed. “The contribution point system that claims to be absolutely fair and ensures a smooth channel of ascension? Even I do not believe such propaganda, and you do?”

Li Yao blinked his eyes quickly. “Not really. But… please explain it to me, Your Grace.”

“Getting to the bottom of it, it is all about making the cake and dividing the cake. During the period of rise, the cake grows bigger and bigger. Naturally, it can be distributed in any way. However, once the cake reaches the limits or even begins to shrink, you will never be able to divide it evenly.”

Li Linghai sighed. “The thousand years of history of the Imperium of True Human Beings, in fact, can be divided into the first five hundred years and the second five hundred years.

“In the first five hundred years, the Imperium expanded to all directions based on the center of the cosmos. A new Sector was discovered almost every year with triumphs. New territories, new populations, and all kinds of resources were added every year. New legions and fleets were established incessantly too. Naturally, the territories, legions, and fleets were accompanied by a great deal of jobs and opportunities.

“At that time, the channel of ascension for the middle- and low-level Immortal Cultivators was indeed smooth and unhindered. As long as they were determined, with the slightest luck, they might turn into a celebrity when nobody knew their name yesterday. Under the boost of countless resources, they could also train themselves into dominating experts.

“It was the golden age of the Imperium. Vigorous, ambitious, and thriving. At that time, the interest groups had not been rigidified yet, and social mobility was still very high. What you described was very true. The middle- and low-level Immortal Cultivators were passionate about participating in all kinds of wars to earn contribution points. Even if they died in the most painful way during the fights, they would only blame themselves for not being capable enough, and they would certainly not decry the high-level Immortal Cultivators for ‘oppressing’ them.

“However…

“About five hundred years ago, the territory of the Imperium of True Human Beings already expanded to more than 90% of what it is today. Having reached the limits, and when the expansion of the ‘cake’ stopped, the situation in the next five hundred years was entirely different.”