Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Li Yao was relieved to see the brand-new settlements growing into scale, wondering if there was indeed such a thing called ‘fate’ that was guiding them to find the best path.

If he had refused Di Feiwen’s proposal a few months ago, or if the commander of the fleet near the brown dwarf had not been a ‘merchant’ like Di Feiwen who was open to compromises and negotiations but another relentless ‘soldier’ like Heiye Ming, the federation and the Black Wind Fleet would have been vastly different.

The immigrant starships before his eyes, as well as the civilians on them and the knowledge and technology in their minds to reshape the new world, would have been reduced to dust in the war. While the Black Wind Fleet’s doom was certain, the federation’s pace of development would have greatly slowed. It would have been impossible to resist the invasion of a second or a third army from the Imperium. Eventually, it would end up in the abyss of destruction together with the Black Wind Fleet.

Now, even if the homeland of the Imperium had learned of their existence, there was still a chance to deal with the problem!

While combining the Black Wind Fleet and Firefly, the federation would pay most of its attention to the Ancient Sages Sector.

More precisely, their focus would be the intact warship as well as the base of the Pangu Clan that was covered by the Nuwa warship in the Land of Eternal Night in the Ancient Sages Sector.

The technology of the Nuwa Clan and the Pangu Clan would make up for the missing parts of the technology on Kunlun effectively. By analyzing and completing the puzzles, the federation would eventually develop a better ability to defend themselves in local wars against the wild tides from the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance.

The Ancient Sages Sector was now at the last phase of a dynamical cycle, too. The barren land could not afford such a huge population. A lot of homeless peasants and rebels had risen up, leading to countless massacres and tragedies.

Naturally, the federation would not turn a blind eye on it. Very soon, a large batch of the population would be moved to Boneyard after preliminary modification and start their new life.

In Li Yao’s design, Boneyard would be built into a ‘special district of reform’.

The federation was too small, and the Imperium was too huge. It was impossible for the federation to conquer every world at the center of the cosmos or kill all the Immortal Cultivators.

It might or might not be technically possible, but such a choice was difficult to make from the moralistic point of view.

The Immortal Cultivators were two-faceted creatures. They were cold, heartless tyrants, but when faced with the Alliance of the Holy Covenant and the extraterrestrial devils, which were even more inhumane, they were also the most resolute defenders of the civilization of mankind.

From what Li Yao had learned in the last six months, the Immortal Cultivators often refused to surrender even if they were the last soldiers standing in the battles against the Covenant Alliance.

If the Immortal Cultivators of the Imperium were fighting the puppets of the Covenant Alliance bloodily on the frontline, it would be hard for the Cultivators of the federation to stab them in the back.

How the Cultivators and the Immortal Cultivators could live in peace; how the Immortal Cultivators should be educated and transformed; how the obedient, ignorant ‘hominoids’ could be changed into modern citizens with vision, ambition, and the ability to realize their will… All the questions would be tested in the ‘special district’ to find out the answer.

Standing atop a fold that had an altitude difference of several thousand meters and observing the heated, obstreperous site of construction below him, Li Yao considered such questions with great curiosity.

In a place slightly lower on the fold, Di Feiwen, the leader of the Immortal Cultivators, and Cui Lingfeng, the Speaker of the government-in-exile of the Star Ocean Republic, were negotiating with their saliva dashing out.

For a long time in the future, the two highly incompatible forces would be forced to live on the same planet, fight the cruel nature side by side, and develop their shared home. Naturally, the two leaders had all the words in the world, or rather, all the profanities, that they would like to pour on each other.

Seeing that the faces of the two sophisticated leaders were both pale, Li Yao could not help but feel amused.

It occurred to him that the two guys were indeed quite similar.

Di Feiwen regarded himself as an insignificant businessman and claimed that he was an impious Immortal Cultivator. Cui Lingfeng, on the other hand, did everything possible for the survival of Firefly and called himself a ‘bad Cultivator’.

What was the difference between an ‘impious Immortal Cultivator’ and a ‘bad Cultivator’?

Very soon, the two of them ended their argument and crawled up the mountaintop.

Di Feiwen was the first to reach the summit. His eyes stopped on Li Yao’s eye-catching red vest and especially the few words ‘Red Star Voluntary Service’ on the back of it for a long time, while he took a long, long breath, not sure how he should comment on Li Yao’s style.

“How about it, General Di? Did you have a pleasant talk with Speaker Cui? It’s fine if you have some minor conflicts. You can always communicate with Jin Xinyue later. She is quite friendly. I’ve already talked to her. Whatever your problems might be, she will try to help you solve them.”

Li Yao grinned. Pointing at the heated construction site below, he said, “In any case, the Black Wind Fleet has finally taken the first step toward its rebirth. I prefer the Black Wind Fleet in front of my eyes right now to the one raging in space.

“Before, I was not very confident. But after seeing this scene before me, I suddenly became certain that the Immortal Cultivators could really change into Cultivators. What do you think?”

Staring at the valley, Di Feiwen casually said, “I don’t want to ruin your fun, so I think I should keep my mouth shut.”

“Oh?” Li Yao found it surprising. “What will ruin my fun? You can say whatever you are thinking.”

“The scene before us is indeed happy and harmonious, but it is based on highly abundant materials,” Di Feiwen observed. “It’s only because of the support of countless resources from the seven Sectors of the Star Glory Federation, and since this endeavor is of demonstrational significance, that the landing and the unfolding could be so easy and… unprofessional.

“If we did not have the support of the Star Glory Federation but only counted on our own resources, naturally, we would have to make thorough plans and follow every procedure strictly. Everybody would be used as a screw or a brick. When necessary, iron sticks, electric whips, and even bullets must be made use of in order to increase the odds of survival as much as possible.

“You may say that the system to separate families and keep useless people hibernating for decades or even abandon them is inhumane, but isn’t it also the greatest humanity?

“Only when your family is wealthy will you understand manners, and only when you have enough clothes and food will you understand honor and shame. Getting to the bottom of it, there is no fundamental difference between Cultivators and Immortal Cultivators. They are just the different optimal choices that the experts make under different circumstances.

“With sufficient resources, and when they are not pushed to desperation, Immortal Cultivators can certainly become Cultivators who understand ‘manners’ and ‘honor’.

“It is a pity that ‘sufficient resources’ is a special case from the perspectives of both space and history. What you are seeing right now, however splendid and glamorous it is, is nothing more than a dream that cannot last.

“In rare cases, the Immortal Cultivators will be transformed into Cultivators, but with time, the Cultivators will turn into Immortal Cultivators, which is in fact the regularity of a civilization.”

Li Yao was slightly dazed. He could not help but feel amused. “And you said you were an impious Immortal Cultivator. Why do I feel that you are a rather devout one?”

Di Feiwen smiled and shook his head. “I am a businessman who is not fond of the true path of immortality. I meant what I said, but ninety-nine percent of the things and laws of the universe do not depend on my fondness.

“Where do you think the Immortal Cultivators come from, commander? Are we born without the feelings of mankind in your eyes? Are we born to hate ‘kindness’, ‘sympathy’, ‘mercy’, and all other beautiful things? Are we all monsters who can only satisfy ourselves through tortures and slaughters?

“No. Perhaps some perverted Immortal Cultivators are so, but most people are not like that.”

Li Yao turned solemn. “I’d like to hear more.”

Di Feiwen pointed at the valley. “Let’s take the picture here for example. Assuming that a kindhearted expert who considers it his responsibility to protect everyone is right there to build the home with the ordinary people, spending decades to develop the barren Boneyard into a prosperous planet, he will be a Cultivator at this point, won’t he?

“But then, an irresistible enemy comes at them. Perhaps an expedition army from the Imperium of True Human Beings, an inhuman army of the Covenant Alliance, or a horde of bizarre, alien animals led by the extraterrestrial devils.

“The vulnerable defense of Boneyard cannot last for long. They must be evacuated immediately, but there are only limited starships for evacuation. Only one tenth of the people can be taken away.

“At this point, Boneyard is a mess and has lost all forms of order before the enemy breaks into the atmosphere. Driven by their survival instinct, everybody is crowding around the starships. Which one tenth of the people should the expert as the commander select to be survivors?”

Li Yao was silent.

Di Feiwen smiled and went on. “Perhaps you will say that the choice should not be made according to ability or identity. A random one-tenth should be chosen or the one-tenth that is closest to the space port and easiest to get on-board.

“Then, how will the expert prevent the remaining nine tenths from boarding the starships?

“It must be noted that everybody has gone mad. For even a chance of one millionth to get aboard, they will try anything. After they lose all the hope, they will even shoot at the starships that are slowly taking off, trying to make everybody die together with them.

“Do not think that I’m exaggerating. It’s really happened in the history of the Black Wind Fleet before that the escaping starships were shot down by the chaotic mobs after they took off.

“In many cases, due to the emergency and chaos, for as many people as possible to survive, the expert has to suppress with violence and even execute the mobs in advance to guarantee the safety of the escaping starships. The only result of petty kindness will be everybody dying together!

“While people are generally equal and should not be classified into different levels, let’s assume that the expert happens upon such a situation. He has a starship that has enough space and food for one last civilian, but the starship’s power system is faulty.

“Right then, he discovers a power rune array specialist and a cute, pitiful child.

“Should he rescue the power rune array specialist or the poor little girl?

“Hehe. The wars at the center of the cosmos are magnitudes gorier than at the edge of the cosmos. Such cruel choices happen all the time. All Immortal Cultivators have been faced with them.

“If the kindhearted, sympathetic expert ‘has to’ kill the crazy mobs and save the power rune array specialist in ten tough choices, what will he become after the ten choices, a Cultivator or an Immortal Cultivator?”