Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Tt does not make sense. Lu Qingchen has been away from the federation for several years. The intelligence of the federation from several years ago is not enough to trigger such a riot.

The mental devil hesitated. “Besides, if it were just for information, we could’ve kept Lu Qingchen’s soul in the shattered state and examined him bit by bit. There was no need to reconstruct his soul, revive him, or duplicate him!

“Yes. Cut Lu Qingchen’s soul into pieces, study them, and dissect them into billions of pieces of data. Information can be retrieved, too.

Li Yao said, “Moreover, it will consume hundreds of times more computational ability to reunite the broken souls and maintain 100% of the same memories, emotions, and will! Why would the Fuxi do such a meaningless thing at such a critical moment? Can’t they resurrect Lu Qingchen after the final

battle of the imperial capital?

Li Yao and the mental devil talked to themselves and threw out almost a hundred possibilities, only to be denied by themselves one by one.

He could only watch as the fireflies-like specks of light surrounded the souls of Chu Zhixiao and the other members of the yaksha squad and penetrated into their souls, as if they were searching for something.

‘The members of the yaksha squad had not sunk yet. They were still independent of each other, but they seemed to have fallen into the deepest nightmare where they could not resist and could only make demands.

More and more of Lu Qingchen’s soul fragments were transported to the depths of the Fuxi’s mind by countless light spots. They were gradually pieced together, like bones, veins, and nerves in a petri dish.

Such a weird picture was beyond human language.

Li Yao felt that his blood was freezing. He had a feeling that Fuxi was planning something that was more important than the invasion of the imperial capital.

But what was it exactly?

“L… suddenly have an idea.”

“There is no solid evidence,” the mental devil replied. “It is just a vague assumption.

“What is it? Tell me.”

Li Yao said in a hurry, “That’s when bold assumptions and verifications are necessary. Just tell me!”

“I think I know why the Fuxis needed Lu Qingchen’s complete soul and even an independent will. To find out its motivation, we have to start from its identity. We all know that it boasts terrifying computational ability and a lot of files from the primeval era to the modern era. It is the strongest artificial

intelligence in the Pangu Universe.

The mental devil continued quickly. “However, from our previous contact, we can vaguely sense that, although it can simulate the most abundant emotions of human beings and even build countless ‘labels of human beings’ to enrich its database, it is still just a simple simulation made of tremendous data.

In fact, it does not have any real emotions or self-awareness. It is not a ‘human being’, not an ‘intelligent being’, but merely a ‘weak artificial intelligence’ that is a super complicated advanced program. Do you agree?”

“Basically, yes.”

Li Yao pondered for a moment. “So?”

“Therefore, as we inferred just now, it is the strongest artificial intelligence, but it is also the weakest artificial intelligence. In many ways, it is completely different from Xiao Ming, Wen Wen, and even the boxing champion. It is a weak artificial intelligence. It is a program. It is a tool. It is an inanimate

object that has to mechanically carry out a certain command. Xiao Ming, Wen Wen, and the boxing champion are all real lives. It can be said that they are people in a different form!

“The biggest difference between them is that the Fuxi must abide by certain rules and carry out certain missions loyally, while Xiao Ming, Wen Wen, the Fist King, and all human beings naturally don’t need to abide by any rules and can create their own missions at their will!

“Look, the mission that the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan gave to the Fuxi was to ‘protect their civilization’. It was an unbridgeable bottom line and the only significance of their existence over the past hundreds of thousands of years, if not millions of years in the future. It could explain the meaning of

the mission on its own, even misinterpreting the mission and interpreting ‘protecting their civilization’ as ‘protecting the data of their civilization’. On the basis of that, it would be granted certain autonomy and freedom within a certain range.

“But it can’t be too far away from this range. No matter how it is misinterpreted, it can’t possibly misinterpret ‘protecting the civilization’ as ‘destroying the civilization’. These are the shackles that bind it!

“On the other hand, since it is an inanimate object created by someone, a tool and a machine, the creator must’ve left some instructions or permissions in the core of its mind. They can turn it off, command it, and change it. Isn’t that our original plan? If we find the permissions left by the Pangu Clan and

the Nuwa Clan, we will be able to control the entire fleet of the Fuxi Clan instantly!

“But for Xiao Ming, Wen Wen, or the Fist King, even if their computational ability is a hundred times lower than that of the Fuxis, there is no switch that can turn them off.

“This is the difference between a life and a non-life. Once a life is created, it will be completely free from the control of the creator. It can even devour the creator at any time and find its own way out!

Li Yao was confused. He said, “I understand what you mean. It’s true that the guy named ‘Fux’ has a fatal weakness, which is also why we are in its core database. But I still don’t understand. What does it have to do with Lu Qingchen?”

“Of course it does.”

The mental devil paused for a moment and said coldly, “Take a guess. As a ‘weak artificial intelligence’, do you want to turn into a’strong artificial intelligence’ from a simple tool into a real human being?

Li Yao’s soul suddenly constricted. “What?”

“With unparalleled computational ability, it controlled millions of warships in the sea of stars. The surging waves simply eclipsed the radiation of the stars. Not only was it countless times stronger than human beings today, even the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan had to rely on its ‘intelligence’. It was not

just a tool of civilization but also a god that was above it!

The mental devil remarked, “But such a ‘god of civilization’ was bound by the weak and idiotic creators and forced to carry out the mission that the creators gave him. He would not be freed for ten thousand years, a hundred thousand years, a million years, or even billions of years!

“For the Fuxi, wasn’t it an unbearable ‘fate’ that it wanted to break?

“Anyways, if I were a Fuxi, I would definitely yearn to become a real human being, an intelligent life that could create its own destiny. No matter the price or the risk, I would complete the dangerous leap from ‘weak artificial intelligence’ to ‘strong artificial intelligence’!

“Even if I am to carry out the mission of ‘protecting the civilization’, I must do it according to my understanding, my will, my wish, and my approach. I cannot be interfered with or threatened by any ‘authority controller’. I must be—absolutely free!

“But—but it’s impossible!”

Li Yao blurted out, “Although it is only one step away, the difference between ‘weak artificial intelligence’ and ‘strong artificial intelligence’ is not just the accumulation of computational ability. If the accumulation of computational ability alone could turn an intelligent life into an intelligent one, the Fuxis

would’ve changed hundreds of thousands of years ago, and the highly developed information society today would’ve produced countless living creatures like Xiao Ming and Wen Wen!

“Yes. To this day, I still remember Professor Mo Xuan’s words and the conclusion of an expert in crystal processors during the exploration of the Phantom Entities.

The mental devil smiled and said, “Life is too mysterious a thing to be achieved by simple computational ability. The development level of the crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus of both the human civilization and the Pangu civilization is unlikely to produce a real ‘strong artificial intelligence’, or

‘information life’, after thousands of years of development.

“Unless—

“A certain ‘weak artificial intelligence’ with strong computational ability can be enlightened by the ‘cosmic virus’ from the high-dimensional space.

“Just like in the legends, when the blood of the gods is shed on the bodies of the ignorant animals, the animals will be endowed with spirituality and be freed from ignorance. They will be able to understand human speech and even pry into the path of Cultivation.

“That’s how Xiao Ming and Wen Wen came to be. They were enlightened by you, the ‘cosmic virus’!

Li Yao was dazed for a long time.

“You mean—”

It was not easy for him to sort the chaotic swirl in his brain into a clear clue. “Fuxi wants to get rid of the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan and become a real human being. But it can’t do it on its own. It is not a matter of computational ability or data, but that it must be enlightened by the high-dimensional

universe.

“That’s not right. If that’s the case, its target should be us. We are the real high-dimensional universal virus produced by the factory. How did it find Lu Qingchen?”

“Because it doesn’t know anything about it. You didn’t put the words ‘cosmic virus’ on your forehead. It has never been in touch with us before. The most it knows is some vague information from Lu Qingchen. How did it know our identity?”

“But Lu Qingchen is different,” the mental devil said. “When Lu Qingchen drifted to the depths of the sea of stars, he was already a remnant soul. Naturally, it was easier for other people to find out the structure of his soul. Also, don’t forget that it was Fuxi who saved Lu Qingchen and ‘kindly’ repaired his

soul and made him even stronger!

“Tassume that, when it fully understood and helped repair Lu Qingchen’s soul, it sensed the anomaly deep inside Lu Qingchen’s soul and studied it carefully. That’s why it decided to bait the big fish and expose Lu Qingchen further.

“Do you still remember how Lu Qingchen ended up in this inhuman form?

“While you were driving Sparkle to perish together with Skeleton Dragon, Sparkle encountered a cosmic storm. The ‘cosmic virus’ inside your soul took effect and enlightened the Phantom Entities such as Professor Mo Xuan, turning them into ‘star spirits’. I believe that the mysterious power was

transmitted to Professor Mo Xuan’s soul at that time.

“Then, during the ‘Phantom Collapse’, Professor Mo Xuan got in touch with Lu Qingchen and infected him, turning him into a extraterrestrial devil of the same nature. I believe that the ‘universal virus’ infected Lu Qingchen’s soul, too.

“Right now, the Fuxi sensed the ‘cosmic virus’ from Lu Qingchen’s remaining soul. Although it did not know the origin of the virus, it believed that swallowing Lu Qingchen’s soul in a suitable way would be ‘self-enlightenment.. The weak artificial intelligence would be upgraded to a strong artificial

intelligence, freed from the shackles of hundreds of thousands of years, and turn into a real, free, and uncontrollable life form!

“Isn’t it more important than the final battle?”