Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Wait, wait!”

Stunned for a moment, Li Yao raised his hand to stop Long Yangjun from going on. “If my ears did not deceive me just now, you said that you would offer some ‘consolation’, didn’t you? What kind of ‘consolation’ is this? Are you implying that the whole civilization of mankind is superfluous?”

“Don’t be hasty. Just hear me out first!”

Seated comfortably on the chair that Li Minghui and Yue Wushuang once sat on, Long Yangjun put her long legs on the desk and crossed her hands on her chest before she said casually, “Although the Pangu civilization paid such a ghastly price through self-castration to prevent the information life from being born, it did not stop their—our destruction.

“Although human beings are the perfect ‘tools’ that were created after absorbing the essence of the thirteen primeval species, they cannot get rid of the restriction of carbon-based lives, either. The deficiencies in the many clans of the Pangu civilization are reflected in human beings, too.

“The average computational ability of human beings is far lower than that of crystal processors. Only a few experts could wield the computational ability equal to super crystal processors. However, super crystal processors can be manufactured, whereas the top experts emerge by accident.

“On the other hand, the information interaction abilities of human beings are also very weak. It is barely possible to conduct instant information and data transmission across Sectors without the assistance of the Spiritual Nexus.

“In the eyes of the leaders of the Pangu civilization, those ‘deficiencies’ were perhaps ‘advantages’, because such human beings were bound to be loose sand and obedient tools. The cataclysms such as ‘Spiritual Nexus going out of control’ were highly unlikely to happen.

“But from another perspective, the self-castrating Pangu civilization, after adopting ‘human beings’, a very similar tool to themselves, had completely abandoned their ambitions and their future.

“Human beings could help the Pangu civilization to control the three thousand Sectors well, but it was destined that they could break the wall and reach the boundless space beyond the three thousand Sectors. In the end, the Pangu civilization was trapped in the tiny cage and squeezed by population boom and resource shortage, before a total civil war broke out with the competition of ‘spiritual energy’ and ‘tenebrum energy’ as the fuse.

“Since a war broke out, the modifications, upgrades, and equipment of human beings were inevitable. Toward the end of the civil war, human beings, who used to seem obedient and would never defect, truly awakened powerful self-consciousness and betrayed their dominators!

“Therefore, my consolation for you is that a lot of things are inevitable, which can be seen from the example of the Pangu civilization’s self destruction. Even though the Pangu civilization castrated and blocked themselves to such a point that their technologies in crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus retrograded for thousands of years, they still failed to escape from the eventual doom.

“On the other hand, we could totally release our minds and think without restriction. If the knowledgeable scholars and specialists of the Pangu civilization, when realizing that information lives would inevitably be born, did not suppress it or castrate their relevant technologies in dread, but pushed it forward passionately, would it have been possible that they built super starships that could break out of the three thousand Sectors with the highly advanced crystal processors and Spiritual Nexus technologies, thereby reaching a living space that was more vast and fertile after the shocking leap?

“In that case, the civil war of the Pangu civilization might not have broken out at all, and the thirteen primeval clans would have coexisted in peace and prosperity to this day, right?”

“Exactly! Exactly! I think so, too!”

Li Yao jumped to his feet. “Human beings will only meet the same ending if they repeat what the Pangu civilization did in the past! If to survive means that we have to castrate ourselves, abandon the crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus, and even return to the primitive life of farming and hunting, does such ‘survival’ have any significance, and could it last? We are going to die whether we do something or don’t do anything. If the civilization of mankind is really doomed, I would rather have a desperate attempt before death, wagering on the possibility that we can win the gamble and reach a new land!”

“If so, I would have to reconsider my remark on you now.”

Long Yangjun stared at Li Yao carefully for a long time before she took a long breath and mumbled in complicated feelings, “I finally understand why your level has been improved so quickly. It is not only because the virtual lives fully upgraded and strengthened your soul, but also because you’ve found a new belief.

“Heroes and villains are perhaps two indispensable motives that facilitate the evolution of a civilization. It is not easy to be a hero, but it is even more difficult to be a villain. It seems that you’ve made up your mind to walk on an even tougher path that is completely different from the past?”

“… Yes.”

After a brief silence, Li Yao said, one word after another, “Do you know? To this day, I cannot forget the eyes of Xiao Xuance, Lu Zui, Extraterrestrial Devil Mo Xuan, and other great men of the time when they were defamed and killed. Their eyes that were full of regrets, desperation, and pain haunt and question me all the time—Li Yao, you said that we were wrong, but what is right? You said that our path was not going to work out, but what path can lead to the future of mankind?

“In the past, I was unqualified and incapable of answering their questions, but although it’s been more than a hundred years, I never forget that I still owe them an answer.

“I have to try my best to answer their question. I’ve walked too far on the journey to find my path to step back anymore!”

“Is this some sort of fate?”

Long Yangjun said, “Before, I only called you ‘Monster Li’ as a joke. Little did I know that it would come true one day, and you are finally entering the forbidden areas that none have ever visited.

“I was not wrong. The battles in the Imperium today are different from any of your battles in the past. This time, the ‘supervillain’ that you need to defeat is not Dongfang Wang, not Li Linghai, not Lei Chenghu, and not even Blackstar the Great, but the boundless universe itself. Or rather, you need to defeat yourself who have taken the wild gamble to defeat the boundless universe!”

“Then—”

Staring at Long Yangjun, Li Yao said, “Will you support me and embark on the road that none has ever walked with me?”

Long Yangjun looked at Li Yao and then at the seemingly innocent kids. Nodding her head slowly, she said, “… Maybe. It has nothing to do with whether or not we are friends. I’m just curious about what the path that the Pangu civilization castrated and blocked voluntarily hundreds of thousands of years ago looked like, and if it works at all.”

“Thank you!”

Li Yao took a long breath and smiled in great relief. “It means a lot that you can understand and approve of me!”

“Don’t be happy too soon. It isn’t as if the information lives will sprout and grow vigorously without meeting any obstacles!”

Long Yangjun said, “The birth of any life is difficult and lucky, let alone a ‘civilization’ condensed by countless lives. The two kids are still very young right now. They are ‘monads’ that have just been born at best. Who knows how long they can survive the harsh, universal wars?

“Yue Wushuang has escaped to the surface of the planet with our information. Chances are that she will bring a new army back and crumble us into smithereens in fury, right? If the magnetic interferential bombs of the highest level are used to bombard the place, the two kids won’t be able to survive however agile they are, will they? In that case, wouldn’t what we are discussing and distressed about be a joke?

“So, let’s just forget the impractical philosophies and the sophisticated dilemmas. We should hurry up and loot the assets of this place and ship them away. It still won’t be late if we address the troublesome problems after we escape and find Boss Bai’s fleet at the edge of the Imperium!”

“Fair enough.”

Li Yao nodded his head and said, “I’ll go find Grand Guardian Xu and check his progress.”

“Right, speaking of Xu Zhicheng—”

Long Yangjun said, “If you are interested in human beings’ attitude toward information lives, I feel it is better to ask Xu Zhicheng than to ask me.”

Li Yao was slightly dazed. “Huh?”

Long Yangjun smiled. “Isn’t Xu Zhicheng the most typical representative of the ordinary people that you have been trying to protect and rescue? If information lives do grow in a human society and form a ‘symbiosis’ with the civilization of mankind, they are bound to bring tremendous, inestimable changes to the ordinary people like Xu Zhicheng, both the good ones and the bad ones.

“Then, isn’t it only natural to ask their opinions and suggestions on the matter?

“If you only care about the opinions of the ‘experts’ like me or Boss Bai but disregard the ideas of the ordinary people like Xu Zhicheng, what is the difference between you and the villains such as Xiao Xuance, Lu Zui, and Extraterrestrial Devil Mo Xuan?

“Or maybe, are you vaguely worried that the ‘ignorant ordinary people’ cannot understand such a sophisticated life form or envision such a groundless future? That does not seem to be the style of the Cultivators. Don’t you always trust and rely on the ordinary people most? If you are certain that the things you are going to do are in their favor, they will certainly believe in you and support you, won’t they?”

“Of course!”

Li Yao patted his head and exclaimed in enlightenment, “Asking Grand Guardian Xu for advice is indeed more appropriate than asking for yours. I’m going to find him right now!”

“Wait.”

Long Yangjun waved her hands at the two kids, smiling so brilliantly like a huge man-eating flower. “I haven’t chatted enough with the two lovely kids. What… perfect creatures they are! Why don’t you go and talk to Xu Zhicheng first while I babysit them for you? ‘Aunt Long’ has a lot of interesting stories and life lessons that I want to tell them. Let me bond with them more!”

“… No!”

Li Yao felt that the strands of hair on his back were all rising. He wasted no time dragging the two kids and running away.