Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

”It’s very simple. Although I haven’t come of age yet, I do know a thing or two about that.”

Tang Ka said, ”’Love’ and ’happiness’ are the temptations of the extraterrestrial devils that must be strictly forbidden, but producing enough human beings as servants and warriors for the gods’ cause is a different matter. It’s a sacred mission.

”When the resources are abundant and the environment is stable, the adults will carry out the reproduction mission regularly. The bottom-level farmers, workers, and soldiers are matched randomly with their numbers in a giant database.

”For the people of special classes, such as the Purgers, the Priests, the Lurkers, or the Commanders, because we have relatively abundant feelings and advanced thinking abilities, we naturally can’t be randomly matched. There is a group of specially trained staff who would analyze our genes, personality, and behaviors before they determine the most suitable matches and the best time of impregnation for us. All that we have to do is to go to a certain room at a certain time and adopt a certain posture. Then, we will produce the smartest, strongest, and most loyal offspring!”

”Well…”

Li Yao thought for a long time but did not know how to comment on that, particularly when it was said by a teenage boy so matter-of-factly..

After a long time, he could only say, ”So amazing?”

”Don’t you think that it’s the best way? Such a way of reproduction is the most trustworthy, clean, and effective way!”

Tang Ka said, ”We’re not idiots, and we know a thing or two about how it’s done in the Imperium. I was told that the Imperium people couldn’t be matched unless they have ’love’ for each other. Sometimes, they’re even addicted to it just for its ecstasy instead of reproduction.

”I was also told that countless Imperium people have been enslaved by this guilty pleasure. They can’t live without matching their genes with someone. Some even fight each other for gene targets that are utterly unsuitable for themselves, disrupting social order. Some have no health examinations or safety measures when they match their genes, only to contract all kinds of diseases. We’ve seen a lot of repulsive pictures that our mentors told us to be the marks left by extraterrestrial devils. It’s disgusting.

”Grandpa Yao, can you tell me if it’s true? Is reproduction really so… ugly, chaotic, and wasteful in the Imperium?”

”Well…”

Li Yao could only speak the truth. ”Fine. There are indeed plenty of such people.”

”They’re completely unreasonable.”

Tang Ka mumbled, ”How could they corrupt the bodies that the gods gave them and waste their precious lives like that?”

”You’re right. I agree with you in that regard. We should not indulge ourselves too much, and we should aim for something higher. If you have needs, you always have your hands!”

Li Yao said, ”Well, let’s change our topic. You are a product of gene matching too? Do you know who your parents are?”

”I do. My gene providers are the most loyal servants of the gods and the most valiant warriors.”

Tang Ka declared proudly, ”I’ve read their files. They fulfilled all their duties for the cause of the gods.”

As he talked, he realized that he shouldn’t be proud, and his soul emitted feeble ripples again.

”You’ve read their files?”

Li Yao asked, ”You’ve never seen them in person? You weren’t raised by them?”

”No, I’ve never seen them. Why do I have to? My life is given by the gods. They merely carried out the will of the gods and provided genes for my physical body. Apart from that, we’re brothers and sisters and the gods’ lambs, servants, and warriors. It’s really unnecessary to bother about things like ’parents’.”

Tang Ka said, ”I grew up in a nursery with thousands of peers. It could save more resources and help us awaken the talents that the gods gave us as soon as possible so that we could grow up to be the gods’ servants sooner.”

”What kind of place is this nursery?”

Li Yao asked again, ”Do you remember your childhood? What did you usually do?”

”There are different kinds of nurseries in the Covenant Alliance that are responsible for grooming different classes.”

Tang Ka said, ”When babies are born, there will be staff who will examine the babies’ health and potentials and distribute them to different nurseries according to their genetic features, which will decide whether they will turn into the low-level farmers and soldiers or the special classes and leaders.

”I was very lucky. The gods blessed me with sharp senses to detect feelings and abnormal brainwaves and a pair of nimble hands that allow me to dismantle and assemble complicated magic equipment. With those talents and the information on my gene providers, I was sent to a nursery that groomed Purgers.

”Of course, even if I went to the nursery, it was not guaranteed that I could go to the Holy Light Academy where the Purgers were taught. I had to train myself day after day to awaken more talents and pass more tests in order not to be eliminated and kicked back to the bottom of the starship.”

”The bottom of the starship?”

Li Yao asked, ”Is your nursery in a starship?”

”Yes. Blessed by the gods, the Covenant Alliance has much more advanced starships than the Imperium does. Most of us live and work on starships.”

Tang Ka said, ”From my earliest memories, I’ve been living on starships. All that I could see were silver cabin walls and the deep, dark pathways. We barely went to any planet, which was good. After all, planets are plagued by extraterrestrial devils and filled with darkness and evil.”

”So, even in your earlier memories, you’ve been staying in the nursery and trying to ’awaken your talents’?”

Pondering for a moment, Li Yao asked again, ”I know that training is different for your people. You attach more importance to ’awakening’ than you do to ’learning’. Can you tell me what ’awakening talents’ is about? How do your mentors know your talents or that you’re suitable to be a Purger?”

”Talents are the gifts of the gods that cannot be learned but can be awakened.”

Tang Ka frowned, and a ripple of pain spread out of his soul, which escaped his attention. He said quickly, ”There are many ways to awaken talents. Our mentors helped us see and hear the gods when we were very little.

”Sometimes, the mentors would stab thin and long needles into our acupoints and charge the needles, and then some of us would see the glory of the gods in the primeval age and awaken certain talents from the pictures we saw.

”Sometimes, more… radical approaches would be adopted. For example, we would be pushed into a tank of icy water with a cover on the top. Some of us received enlightenments during the meditation in the cold darkness.

”Sometimes, we were asked to fight ferocious beasts, try extreme pain, or bear being burned by fire. Many people, including myself, saw the gods and heard their voices.”

”… Is that so?”

Li Yao’s voice was even colder than the icy water. ”I don’t understand. You’re only fourteen right now. When you received such… awakening training, you couldn’t have been older than ten, right? Wouldn’t you and your peers be severely injured if your talents were not awakened?”

”It’s true that a lot of people were hurt.”

Tang Ka said casually, ”It means that they were unqualified to be Purgers. They could not bear the dual temptations of thinking ability and emotions, and they would be exiled to other nurseries at the bottom of the starships or other elementary work. But that’s not a big deal. Whatever they do, they’re serving the gods.”

”Did anybody die from the awakening training?”

After a long silence, Li Yao asked a question that he would rather not ask.

”Yes.”

Tang Ka said, ”It’s also the will of the gods. The gods gave them life at first and then took it back later. The gods have made arrangements for things as small as grains of dust and those as huge as stars. We need not worry about them.”

”… Got it.”

Taking a deep breath, Li Yao said, ”So, you passed all the tests and got admitted to this Holy Light Academy, and you only need to pass one final test to become a ’Purger’? Can you tell me more about the Purgers?”

Tang Ka told Li Yao everything about the Holy Light Academy and the Purgers.

In the end, he said, ”The work of the Purgers is of paramount importance because most people in the Covenant Alliance lack the ability to think or feel. On one hand, it helps them to be more devoted to the gods, but on the other hand, they’re so innocent that they might be allured and corrupted by the extraterrestrial devils without them realizing it.

”The Purger is a defense line between the ordinary Covenant Alliance people and the extraterrestrial devils. They’re the guardians of the majority!”