Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“I assume what you are really interested in, Fellow Cultivator Li, is the relationship between the true human beings and the hominoids, especially the interaction between those who have the same bloodline, in the Imperium of True Human Beings, right?” Su Changfa asked comfortingly.

Li Yao hurried to nod.

“You are not wrong to say that the true human beings and the hominoids are two different species,” Su Changfa explained. “According to the precise categorization of biology, technically speaking, they are two different genera in kingdom Animalia, branch Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Primates, suborder Anthropoidea, species Hominidae. Although the two genera have no reproductive isolation, and they are even free to communicate and transform between each other, they are essentially different.

“However, although the hominoids are deemed a special, high-level animal and a ‘proximity of blood’ to ours, and the slavery system is still operating in the Imperium, the system has been perfected after a thousand years of development. It is certainly not as bloody and chaotic as you imagine.

“The hominoids are the providers of our genes and the incubators. They are much more agile, sturdy, and automatic than any kind of artificial puppets. They are perfect, indispensable tools to build the civilization of mankind. Therefore, the hominoids boast a higher position in the Imperium than regular animals. Legally speaking, they are also equal to the rare animals that are about to go extinct!

“The rare animals that are about to be extinct are protected by the Rare Animals Protection Act. As for the hominoids, their essential benefits are protected by the Hominoids Protection Act, too.

“See? We don’t entirely refute the protection of animals. What we object to is just the obsessive, extreme methods! Protecting animals is protecting ourselves. How can we not understand such simple logic?

“All in all, although the hominoids cannot become citizens of the Imperium, as long as they demonstrate talents in a certain aspect or their value to the Imperium, they can also live a relatively comfortable life. Even if they are slaves, they will be the property of their owner and be protected from the scourge of the alien species and the natural disasters in the universe. Their survival rate and average longevity are much higher than in the chaotic world outside of the Imperium!

“As for the hominoids who have blood relationships with the Immortal Cultivators, such as the Immortal Cultivators’ parents and children, their days will be even better.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Although bloodline is highly valued in the Imperium, military credit matter even more. It is highlighted to prove the excellence of your genes with your weapons and fists! Most Immortal Cultivators wouldn’t deny such blood relationships. They will even arrange better jobs for their hominoid relatives, such as the management of the slaves.

“Other Immortal Cultivators will not trouble such hominoids, either.

“After all, as long as one Immortal Cultivator is born into the house, it means that the bloodline of the house entails genes of a relatively higher level. Even if all the descendants of one particular generation are hominoids, odds are still higher that there will be Immortal Cultivators in their offspring! From that point of view, treating them well is beneficial for the future of the civilization of mankind.

“Let’s say that some of your family members are hominoids who are absolutely good for nothing. You can always keep them as pets. At the very least, they can satisfy the emotional needs of the Immortal Cultivators by amusing us. We are definitely not detached monsters!”

“Regard my hominoid relatives as… pets?” Li Yao found it difficult to agree on.

“Do you feel that your morals have been overturned?” Su Changfa asked, not in the least bothered.

After thinking for a moment, Li Yao nodded dutifully.

Even for the role that he had fabricated, such a groundbreaking theory was still too much to be accepted so quickly.

As he expected, Su Changfa did not burst into fury. He simply smiled and said, “The so-called morals are simply tools to adjust the relationships in a society. They are a set of man-made rules and regulations. When the social relations change drastically, the morals will undergo paradigm-shifting transformations.

“There are no eternal morals from the ancient times to the present day. Mankind is evolving. The world is evolving. Naturally, the morals are evolving, too!

“Let me give you the simplest example. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, when the fire of the civilization of mankind had just been lit, it was still a matriarchal society where everybody only knew their mother but not their father. Then, honoring their mother would be the highest moral. Not knowing and not supporting their father would not be ‘immoral’ at all.

“About a hundred thousand years ago, when mankind just entered the slave society, it was a matter-of-fact practice to regard slaves as sacrificial items. There was even a whole set of serious, extensive rituals that was developed on the basis of the burial system. Can we accuse the ancient people at that time of being immoral?

“In the time of the ancient Cultivators, when the civilization was underdeveloped, teenagers twelve to thirteen years old were already getting married and having children. It was decided due to objective factors such as the short average longevity and the high death rate of infants. What is immoral about that?

“What’s absolutely unacceptable in our eyes is fitting for the corresponding society. At their time, that was all necessary for the development of the civilization.

“On the other hand, while we cannot judge the ancient people with the morals of the present day, can the ancient people impose their morals upon us?

“Let’s imagine this. There’s a portal here that allows one to travel to the past or the future, and three ancient people from the matriarchal society, the slave society, and the world of ancient Cultivators respectively visit our world today. After witnessing that we are surnamed after our fathers, that children are forbidden from sexual intercourse, that even the most powerful monarchs no longer demand human sacrifices after their death, and all the other systems that we deem conscionable, they, however, pointed at our noses and cursed aloud, decrying our shameless and depraved society. Then, what will you think, Fellow Cultivator Li?”

Li Yao was lost for words.

Tapping his right temple softly, Su Changfa said, “The biggest problem for the Cultivators is that, while mankind has evolved to a new social form and begun to struggle for a life in an even broader universe, they turn a blind eye to our progress and simply cling to obsolete morals!

“To be honest, I have run into some ‘righteous’, ‘unwavering’ Cultivators. How virtuous they are! They were swearing even before they were executed, shouting that all Immortal Cultivators are barefaced, inhumane, unpardonable fiends! Fellow Cultivator Li, do you know what was on my mind every time I heard such declarations?”

Li Yao shook his head hard.

“I always felt that I saw a leader of a matriclan who had travelled to the modern day berating us for not worshipping the ‘morals’ that our ancestors left for us. To her, we were wicked enough to have surnames after our fathers instead of revering our mothers!

“Do you see what I am getting at?”

“I do.” Li Yao’s throat was extremely dry. His voice seemed to be echoing from a broken broadcast rune array. “What you are suggesting, senior, is that every era has its own morals. Right now, we are in the era of the grand universe. The morals of the Cultivators are as outdated as the morals of the matriarchal society!”

“You are truly smart!” Su Changfa’s smile was even brighter than before. “Although we are making use of you, frankly speaking, I’m thinking more and more highly of you right now. I believe that you will grow into an excellent Immortal Cultivator one day!”

Hearing the ‘compliment’, Li Yao felt so disgusting as if he had just devoured a mouthful of flies alive, and the flies were still humming inside his head.

The Imperium of True Human Beings was truly a traditional superpower that had developed a thousand years. It was hard to determine the country’s hard power, but the soft power of demagogism was truly impressive!

No wonder the Immortal Cultivators could have unwavering beliefs despite the abnormality of the beliefs, to the point that many Nascent Soul Stage Immortal Cultivators could be born.

Regarding Su Changfa and Tang Qianhe’s theories, Li Yao needed some time to digest them to come up with rebuttals.

In the meantime, he pretended to be the sincerest follower behind Tang Qianhe as if he were an elementary school student, while she blatantly described the Imperium of True Human Beings to be a well-deserved, unparalleled ‘last guardian of mankind’.

Soon, Flourishing Sun, the war base, was right in front of them.

Completely dwelling in the Immortal Cultivators’ dangerous theories, Li Yao walked in with the three Immortal Cultivators without having the time to study the appearance of Flourishing Sun.

The place that they had entered seemed to be a garage. Ivory brilliance was emanating from the wall. Every corner was in the most perfect arc. There was not the slightest gap in the entire room, leaving a flawless, futuristic feeling.

The garage was almost half the size of a sports field. It was empty, but a pool of green light was embedded to a corner of the room, from which Grand Illusionary Soldiers were popping out one after another before striding to another corner of the room mechanically, where they entered the hibernation state.

What advanced soundproof and heat-proof rune arrays! Li Yao thought to himself.

He knew that, after the three Immortal Cultivators changed their plan and decided to explore the depths of Kunlun, they must have altered the mode of the war base in order to produce new Grand Illusionary Soldiers for the perilous mission.

However, while large-scale production was being conducted not far away, he could barely perceive any noise, vibration, heat, or spiritual waves. It meant that the Imperium had technology generations ahead of the federation’s in the fields of sound, heat, and spiritual energy isolation.

The three Immortal Cultivators whispered for a moment. Then, Tang Qianhe and Kou Ruhuo entered a pathway enveloped in ivory brightness respectively. However, Su Changfa stayed with Li Yao and extended his hand with a smile. “This way, Fellow Cultivator Li!

“I am in fact not a person who likes to expound on theories. After all, everybody can have their own theories, and it eventually boils down to the size of their fists to decide who is right and who is wrong.

“I prefer to discuss the issues that are more concrete and substantial!

“Now that you have proved to be smart enough and do not reject the true path of immortality, we can communicate more freely now. So, I now invite you to take a look at the self-destruction of a few worlds of Cultivators whose guideline was to protect the ordinary people!”