Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

The super-large jellyfish below Gu Wuxin’s feet was emitting colorful ripples.

The sea of foam behind him was surging, too.

However, his tranquil face was not affected by Li Yao’s questioning at all.

“Excellent analysis.”

Gu Wuxin’s voice popped up in the minds of Li Yao and the other experts. Together with the voice, deep and ancient music echoed, as if it were a call from the universe. “I can tell from your analysis that your civilization is quite advanced and developed. You have learned a lot of preliminary information about the Universe Ocean and are qualified to return to the embrace of the main civilization. Starting from the resistance and the escape billions of years ago, the people who have been wandering in the periphery of the sea of stars have been away from the main civilization for too long. It’s time for you to return and join me in the sacred universe.

“In your dreams!”

Li Yao roared, “We would rather die than become the puppets and claws of the flood. We would rather fight to the death in the form of the proudest human beings than be the walking dead without a soul!

“You seem to have a misunderstanding about the so-called ‘flood’. It’s understandable. The Primeval Civilization must’ve instilled a lot of radical and false information into you during the ‘ultimate test’ and brainwashed you, twisting and tampering with the truth.

Gu Wuxin pointed at his temples and said casually, “What if I told you that everything the Primeval Civilization said was false and that I was not brainwashed but maintained an independent will and a clear mind? What if I made the decision to ‘return to the tide’ because I analyzed all the factors under the control of absolute rationality? What if the one who was truly brainwashed was not me but you? How would you determine whether or not it was true?

“It’s up to you whether you want to believe it or not. This is the truth. The so-called ‘flood’ is simply an insulting title that you made up yourself. Of course, there are also a lot of people—those who cling to their old ways and live in seclusion, those who dwell on the old ways, and even those who have fallen into darkness—who have come up with names that are even more evil and terrifying. They want to distort our true appearance and escape from our embrace, but no matter what you call us, our essence will not change.

“There is no such thing as a flood. We are the civilization of mankind—the real, orthodox civilization of mankind that originated from Earth.

“What?”

Li Yao was rendered speechless for a moment. He could barely believe his hearing cells. He stammered, “What did you say? You are the civilization of mankind? What about the Primeval Civilization?”

“I believe that you’ve learned the so-called ‘path of rise’ of the Primeval Civilization through the ‘ultimate test’, haven’t you? No matter how much the Primeval Race tried to disguise themselves, it was impossible for them to wash off the blood all over their bodies. Do you think that such a dark, decadent species is qualified to be called the civilization of mankind?”

Gu Wuxin smiled. “No. Since they abandoned 99% of their compatriots and evolved in the dark sea of stars, they are no longer worthy of the title ‘human civilization’. They are just a bunch of animals in human skin, a bunch of cockroaches who have learned how to build weapons and steer starships. They are not qualified to be the successors of the civilization of mankind in the past.

Li Yao quite agreed with Gu Wuxin’s point.

“However, luckily, although the guys who fled from Earth gradually changed, fell, and forgot the spirit and soul of the civilization of mankind, the civilization of mankind on Earth was never cut off. Instead, it was passed on in a brand-new form and continued to maintain the dignity, glory, and spirit of the orthodox civilization of mankind. It also learned the lessons of the Third World War and embarked on a new path of peace and communication, exploring and modifying the sea of the universe in entirely different ways.

Gu Wuxin replied, “No. We are not raging monsters, we are not soulless walking dead, and we are not the so-called ‘flood’. We are the ‘civilization of mankind’. If you must change the way you address us, you can call us the ‘unified super information entity of the universe’.

“A super body?”

Li Yao mumbled to himself and glanced at the four monsters around Gu Wuxin. Then he glanced at the surging ocean of foam below his feet and said, “Not a raging monster? Not a walking dead without a soul? Hey, hey, hey. Your words do not seem very convincing! What damn universe? What damn super information? What damn unification? No matter what you say, isn’t it still an upgraded version of the Swarm Civilization?”

“It will be a shame if you think of us only as a civilization of bees—the parasites that barely have free will.

Gu Wuxin repeated, “We are not bees. We are ‘supernaturals’.

“Then what exactly—”

Li Yao asked, “What is it?”

“A summer insect cannot talk about ice. I know it is difficult for you to understand with your current wisdom, but I will still try to explain it to you.

Gu Wuxin sighed, as if he were feeling regretful. “In fact, the best way to understand what a ‘super entity’ is is to connect to the ‘super information network of the universe’ in person and sense the endless information from the endless universe. I guarantee that, if you connect to it for even one second, you will feel that your life has undergone tremendous changes. Even the definition of life and the universe itself will be broken. All the misunderstandings and barriers will be cleared instantly. There will be no reason for us to fight and be wary of each other. You and your compatriots will be willing to return to the universe and the main civilization.

“But I also knew that you wouldn’t understand or agree to it right now, just like I did before I was connected to the super body. My head was full of childish, hilarious ideas and cold, dark conspiracy theories. I didn’t want to believe that there were truly ‘kind intentions’ in the boundless universe without asking for anything in return.

“Even so, I’m still willing to do everything I can to explain it to you—because you are my last compatriots in the Pangu Universe. I chose to link myself to you in order to save the Pangu Universe and to quell the internal strife between my compatriots. How could I bear to destroy you myself?

“How can I explain the difference between ‘supernaturals’ and ‘swarm swarms’? Sigh. They are two vastly different concepts. The former is thousands of times more advanced than the latter.

“You should know that, in a typical civilization of bees, only individuals such as the ‘mastermind’ and the ‘queen’ boast the ability to think, analyze, and make decisions. They are known as ‘free will’. Thousands of soldiers, worker bees, and all kinds of bizarre mutations are merely extensions of the mastermind. They are super-large cells that cannot be regarded as real intelligent creatures at all.

“Take the Houyi Clan of the Pangu Civilization Alliance for example. The most fundamental individual of the Houyi Clan is a very low-level beetle. In the legal definition of the Pangu Alliance, there is no such thing as ‘human rights’. Only when the number of the beetles of the Houyi Clan exceeds a hundred will incredible changes take place and a high-level wisdom burst out. Even such a high-level wisdom has to obey the arrangement of the mainframe. Although it has the ability to make logical judgements, it lacks the initiative and the free will.

“Joining such a civilization of bees and turning into muddleheaded cells was a choice that no intelligent creature was willing to make. Even the members of the Houyi Clan were unwilling to be separated again after they gathered more than a hundred individuals and unleashed their wisdom and will.

“But look at me. Look at me carefully. Do I look like a muddle-headed ‘soldier bee’ or ‘worker bee’? Do I look like I’ve completely lost my emotions and will? Do I look like a puppet that obeys the commands of a certain ‘mastermind’ without any self-awareness?

“No. That is not the case at all. Although there is no proof, you will know that I cannot be controlled by the so-called mainframe after you think about it with the simplest logic.

“If such a ‘main brain’ does exist, it will not be able to lock onto the coordinates of the Pangu Universe, nor will it be able to control an intelligent creature in the Pangu Universe precisely. If it has such an ability, what are we waiting for? We will be able to command the magnificent army in the so-called ‘flood’ and swallow the entire Pangu Universe, won’t we?

“Therefore, look, I did not lie to you. I made the right judgement when I was absolutely rational, free, and clear-headed and chose the best path for the Pangu Universe and all the intelligent creatures living in it.

Li Yao was confused by Gu Wuxin’s long speech.

He felt that his head was full of stars, and all the stars were still exploding, blowing his brain cells into a mess.

“Wait, wait, wait. Let’s start over.”

Li Yao took a deep breath and said, “Are you suggesting that the so-called flood is the people who were stranded on Earth billions of years ago? But weren’t they burnt, melted, and obliterated by the meteoroid shower?”

“Life is the most incredible miracle in the universe. It should have the most splendid forms.

Gu Wuxin said, “Even if the apocalypse comes, life will still have the opportunity to find a new way out and even unleash greater strength.

“Just like the meteoroid shower that assaulted Earth and wiped out 90% of the species, including the dinosaurs, did not end the light of life on Earth. Instead, it promoted the rise of mammals and gave birth to a real civilization, the super spiritual meteoroid shower that almost destroyed the entire solar system did not destroy the civilization of mankind, either. Instead, it ushered in the most glamorous and brilliant new life for the civilization of mankind. In a way that was completely different from the Primeval Civilization, the civilization evolved from the ‘planet era’ to the ‘cosmic era’. The magnificent path of cosmic exploration and integration was opened.