Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“After you entered the ‘Spiriters’ Realm’, I chatted with Wei Qingqing for a long time,” Long Yangjun said. “I also examined some of the Professor Mo Xuan’s papers on the Spiriters and videos during the academic seminars. Your professor did not lie. It is true that he released his thoughts to the public decades ago. At least, there were small-scale discussions in every university and research institute back then.

“Besides, from a pure theoretical point of view, I don’t think that his ideas have any major shortcomings. As crystal processor technology and the Spiritual Nexus develop, the virtual world will feel more and more real. So, it is inevitable that more and more ghosts and people who suffer too much pressure in reality will choose to live in the virtual world.

“Even now, a lot of people often spend a few months at their home in the company of the crystal processors. Aren’t they the prototypes and backup army of the ‘Spiriters’?

“This is a trend that cannot be stopped. You may feel uncomfortable about it, but there is simply no stopping it, unless you ban the crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus from upgrading, or issue harsh laws that dictate a daily quota of online time for every person in the federation, who will have to receive mandated therapy or even be sentenced to prison if they surpass the limit. But is it possible?

Pondering, Li Yao slowly shook his head.

“That’s right. Professor Mo Xuan wasn’t wrong at all,” Long Yangjun said. “The birth of a brand-new virtual life and the virtualization of human beings are unstoppable!

“Perhaps not everybody is glad to witness such a change. But if one percent of the people volunteer to live in the virtual world, or if the lack of resources and the harsh environment force people to hide in the virtual world and build a tiny paradise there, is there any reason other people should change and even destroy the lifestyle they have chosen?

“Professor Mo Xuan does not need to play any tricks and ploys at all. The Spiriters will eventually be born. It is only a matter of when and how many.

“Since the Spiriters will inevitably be born, as an important member of the academic field of the federation and the ‘human-shaped crystal processor’ with the highest computational ability nationwide, Professor Mo Xuan has begun explorations and studies on the ‘Spiriters’ with everyone’s future in mind. What’s wrong with that?

“Even if you do treat the Spiriters as a certain ‘disease’ of the civilization of mankind, you cannot just ignore it because you don’t like it. All the more reason you should analyze and study it carefully in order to find a cure. Isn’t this what Professor Mo Xuan is doing right now?”

Li Yao nodded quickly. “I understand all the logic, but I still feel quite weird.”

Long Yangjun laughed. “Are you worried that Professor Mo Xuan is actually a supervillain who is pretending to be a good guy and that a great scheme has been hidden below the ‘Tinder Plan’, say, to make the Spiriters rule over the world and conquer all human beings?

“But I don’t think it is plausible.

“I don’t know much about Professor Mo Xuan. So, I don’t know whether he is good or bad. However, he is the man with the highest computational ability in the federation after all, which is higher even than what is expected of the Divinity Transformation Stage. He is known as the ‘super human-shaped crystal processor’!

“The thing about the crystal processor is that it is absolutely rational and calm. It will analyze everything carefully and will not consider short-term gains and losses. It is not as emotional as human beings!

“First of all, virtual life does not need the resources necessary for regular people at all. Professor Mo Xuan was right. There was no reason for them to fight humans and demons.

“Secondly, even if Professor Mo Xuan is a great supervillain whose ambition is to make the Spiriters to conquer mankind, with his computational ability above the Divinity Transformation Stage, it should be more than easy to figure out that the crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus in the federation today are still too underdeveloped. Even the reproduction problem of the ‘Spiriters’ was not resolved yet. They are babies in the cradle right now. It is certainly not a good time to declare war on the ‘old human beings’.

“Even if he does have a scheme, he should develop regularly first for hundreds more years until the technology is advanced enough and the population of the Spiriters soars. That’s the only way to get a promising rate of success, right?

“In short, as long as he bears the fundamental interests of the ‘Spiriters’ in mind, he definitely won’t activate his scheme, if he has one, at this point. It is too rash and hasty. Is it Professor Mo Xuan’s style?”

“No. I found it quite odd, too.” Li Yao frowned. “My professor is not such an unwise and reckless man. Even if he has other hopes for the future of the Spiriters, he should know that the rise of the Spiriters will not take place in the next hundreds of years!

“He said exactly the same things just now. I don’t think that he was lying. Besides, I do not feel that professor was a super villain, either. Even in his most aggressive moment just now, I only felt that he was a bit mad, but I didn’t feel any selfishness and evilness from him.

“How should I put it? I’ve met a few bad guys who pretend to be good guys before, such as Yan Xibei, Xiao Xuance, or Lu Zui. But professor is different from them. Professor is a good guy. I have no doubt in that!”

Long Yangjun changed the topic and suddenly asked, “If we are talking about suspicious points, I’m more curious about one thing. Why did Professor Mo Xuan talk so much with Lin Jiu, the captain of Team Red Lotus?

“Lin Jiu is not an important big shot, even with war between the federation and the Black Wind Fleet drawing close. You are just here for a visit. I think a brief small talk would’ve sufficed. Was it necessary for him to ignore all the celebrities of the federal army and the Secret Sword Bureau and talk so much to you?

“You spent two hours in the virtual cabin. He must’ve been quite eloquent!”

Long Yangjun was deep in thought. “Perhaps he was buying time for himself, but it still doesn’t make sense. There was no reason to waste so much time on a second-rate person like captain of Team Red Lotus! You are at the beginning level of the Nascent Soul Stage at best. There are more than a thousand Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators in the federation. Even if a scheme was prepared, you couldn’t have been qualified to be its target!”

Was I being too sensitive? Li Yao took a deep breath. “In any case, I’m thinking of leaving the Hundred Flowers Space Zone in advance and jumping to the Heaven’s Origin Sector to find Ding Lingdang and Jin Xinyue sooner. After I find the two of them, I won’t worry about the scheme that there may or may not be at all!”

Soon, the shuttle returned to the space port where the carrier was docked.

Since they were the special delegation, their starship had the privilege of being maintained and filled with fuel in advance. After a while, preparations for the jump were done.

Li Yao had planned to publicize his identity in the Hundred Flowers Space Zone, but he was in a hurry for the space jump. There would certainly be a lot of fuss if Yan Liren heard that he was actually ‘Monster Li’.

Therefore, he might as well wait until he reached the Heaven’s Origin Sector. Li Yao only wanted to get away from the Hundred Flowers Space Zone sooner.

“All passengers, please be prepared. The space jump will be performed in one minute.”

In the launch area of the space port, the starship that accommodated the delegation from the Star Ocean Republic was gradually enshrouded in a cluster of gentle brightness. Shivering, it was about to go to the Heaven’s Origin Sector.

At this point, there were thirteen hours, twenty-two minutes, and thirty-five seconds to go before the Black Wind Fleet arrived at the central space zone of the Heaven’s Origin Sector.

When the cover of Li Yao’s cabin was about to the closed, Long Yangjun, who was lying in the protective cabin next to him, struggled to sit up and grabbed the cover, hinting for him to sit up, too.

“I suddenly thought of a motivation for a scheme.” Long Yangjun frowned. “If it can be called a motivation at all.”

“Oh?” Li Yao was refreshed. Having no time to think about the space jump that would begin soon, he said, “Do tell me.”

“I gave it a lot of thought just now. The more I pictured your professor being a vicious schemer, the more I believed that our conclusion was right,” Long Yangjun said. “If he is really a vicious scheme whose purpose is to make the Spiriters dominate the universe, there will be absolutely no reason he should do anything right now. He should lurk for another few hundred years for the best opportunity.

“However, what if you are not wrong? Your professor is not a vicious schemer, but a good one, a noble man, a bright guy who has dedicated himself to the civilization of mankind instead of considering his selfish benefits!”

Li Yao was confused. “So what?”

“If so,” Long Yangjun said, “even if he regards himself as a Spiriter, he will not consider the interests of himself and the Spiriters as the top priority; he will place the overall interests of mankind on the top that is far more important than the Spiriters!

“In other words, if something is highly beneficial for mankind, even if it jeopardizes the interests of the Spiriters and may cause the death of the Spiriters, your professor will still do it as a ‘good guy’, won’t he?”

Li Yao blinked and replied, “Maybe. But I don’t quite follow you. What do you mean by ‘something highly beneficial for mankind’?”

“Absolute peace,” Long Yangjun said coldly. “I thought about Professor Mo Xuan’s words that you repeated to me many times and discovered a very unpleasant phrase. ‘Absolute peace’! He wants all the races of mankind to support and help each other in ‘absolute peace’, to grow, blossom, and prosper together.”

Li Yao grimaced. “What’s wrong with that? I hope for the same!”

“Peace is not wrong. ‘Absolute peace’, on the other hand, is quite intriguing,” Long Yangjun said. “Let me ask you. What kind of country or social form can realize ‘absolute peace’?

“Even if the federation defeats the Black Wind Fleet this time, will it be given ‘absolute peace’? Will it no longer need to fight the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance in the future?

“Even if, one day, Monster Li goes on a rampage and leads the federation to completely demolish the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance, then what? The federation will be stable and united in absolute peace, and a war will never happen again?”

“Of course not,” Li Yao mumbled. “There is only unity where there is division. Peace cannot last forever. Wars large and small will break out sooner or later.”

“Exactly,” Long Yangjun said quickly. “As long as humans continue to exist in their current form, their infinite desires and the finite resources will always be irreconcilably contradictory to each other. Wars are eternal. ‘Absolute peace’ is never going to happen!

“But what if most people are ‘virtualized’? Will it greatly reduce the consumption on the external resources? Even if wars cannot be ended for good, will the frequency and intensity of wars be greatly lowered than right now? Or rather, won’t wars become some sort of virtual game, where one can be revived immediately after they are killed?

“Isn’t this some kind of ‘absolute peace’?”