Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Why do the names of the ancient civilizations sound so familiar?”

Li Yao was dazed again. “Especially the ‘Chinese civilization’?”.

There was no time for him to think. The picture in his brain was moving forward at a speed of hundreds of years per second.

Glorious palaces rose and collapsed time and time again. The magnificent metropolises perished in the tide-like flames of war. In the east, people built majestic water system and Great Wall of China to resist the scourge of floods and ferocious beasts. In the west, people sailed across the ocean on narrow and simple boats.

Greece, Rome, Persia, the Five Tyrants of Spring and Autumn, the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period… More tribes, nationalities, and nations emerged, creating a civilization that was even more brilliant and resplendent. They continued to divide and unite. History spiraled upwards, zigzagged forward, and blossomed with vague brightness in the darkness.

The more Li Yao looked at it, the more familiar it seemed to him, and the more he felt that he had read similar history in a certain place—yes, in the bizarre, bizarre dreams, in the earth at the center of the flood!

Although some of the names and places of the Earth’s history that he had read in the dream were different, including the time of some important historical events, the general development was exactly the same, like different versions of the same Earth.

“What the hell is going on?”

Li Yao was dumbfounded. He didn’t know how many Earths and how many pieces of history there were. Or rather, there were countless Earths and countless reruns of history—the so-called ‘reincarnation’!

When the concept of ‘epoch’ appeared on the Earth in his brain, everything happened in the blink of an eye.

The ancient armor had been riddled with holes by the newly-arrived firearms. The darkness of the Middle Ages had been shattered by the Enlightenment Movement and the Renaissance. When the Eastern Continent was still sinking in the mud of the cycle of history, an unparalleled expert named Watt had already emerged in the Western World. He had condensed the technology and wisdom of his predecessors and modified the first generation of civilization’s ultimate treasure, the ‘steam engine’!

The appearance of the steam engine ushered the Primeval Civilization into the era of the first industrial revolution.

From this moment on, the Primeval Civilization was only one step away from the sea of stars.

However…

“Wait, wait!”

Li Yao suddenly discovered something very strange.

It seemed unreasonable, but he had overlooked it because it was right in front of his eyes. “Is this really the development process of the Primeval Civilization? Why don’t I see any traces of spiritual energy?” “Yes.”

The voice said, “Our mother planet is very lucky to be in a ‘spiritual energy bubble’ or ‘spiritless space’. It is true that we were not affected by the spiritual energy during our early evolution. At that time, we called the strongest force ‘technology’. “Very… lucky?”

Li Yao found it hard to understand. “You consider it a blessing to be born in a ‘spiritless space’. Why?”

“With your wisdom, you should be able to infer the answer yourself.

The voice said, “For any native civilization that has been developing from scratch, it is a great blessing to be born in a ‘spiritless space’. Only such a civilization will be able to grow into a real dominator of the sea of stars after they are able to fly out of their mother planet. For example, in the future, when the Primeval Civilization conquers the sea of stars, the mother planet of almost all the formidable enemies that we encounter will be in a spiritless space. On the other hand, the mother planets of the civilizations that have advanced to their peak smoothly in an environment with abundant spiritual energy, however strong they may be, will be too weak to withstand a single blow.

“Well…”

Li Yao was deep in thought.

Spiritual energy was the purest and most stable form of energy. Although it was not as powerful as tenebrum energy, its comprehensive utilization efficiency was definitely higher than that of spectral energy, and it had a wider range of applications. Why was it said that it was unfortunate to have spiritual energy and lucky to lack it?

Li Yao suddenly thought of something. He remembered that, in the test just now, he had turned into an ancient fungus and lived near an undersea volcano, surviving on the heat of the volcano and the chemical energy of the magma.

For a tiny fungus or even an entire blanket, the heat and chemical energy of magma were almost inexhaustible. If he was satisfied with the form of the fungus, he could live around the undersea volcano forever.

But what was the significance of such a life?

In the same way, Li Yao thought of the Earth in his memories, including the mother planet of the Primeval Civilization in front of him, which was surrounded by the equator and inhabited by many tropical species.

The species in the tropics were born to enjoy the fertile land and the endless crops. They were not bothered by the cold, nor were they threatened by the biting of ferocious beasts, nor were they short of food. It was safe to say that they had been sitting in the cornucopia all their life and could have whatever they wanted easily. They did not even need to extend their hands. All kinds of fruits rich in starch and nutrition would fall from the trees for them to enjoy. As a result, the wisdom of the species in the tropics was not developed at all. Instead, they indulged in the low-level entertainment and animalistic instincts that were never-ending. While their compatriots in the temperate zones and the cold zones overcame all obstacles and advanced forward in the struggles and the harsh eliminations, the civilization of the tropics remained at a very low level.

Born in sorrow, die in peace. Li Yao had told himself that not long ago. How could he forget it so quickly?

“I understand now!”

Li Yao said loudly, “If a planet is located in a space zone where spiritual energy is abundant, the survival of the intelligent creatures there will be too easy and simple. They will not be able to develop extraordinary intelligence and complex social forms at all. In fact, they will lack the need to communicate effectively with their own kind. That is the foundation of a civilization!

“Worlds where spiritual energy is abundant are like the tropics where resources are abundant. Worlds where spiritual energy is scarce are like the temperate zones and cold zones where the environment is harsh. The former are not destined to raise a prosperous civilization, and the latter are the real breeding grounds for a great civilization!

“You’re right.”

The voice said, “The so-called ‘civilization’ is a result of the accumulation of history. It is beneficial for the adaptation and cognition of intelligent life to the objective world. It is in line with the spiritual pursuit of intelligent life. It can be recognized and accepted by the vast majority of people. It is the combination of invention and creation, as well as public order and good customs.

“Civilization is the amalgamation of all social and natural behaviors that lift the intelligent life out of the barbarous state. These amalgamations at least include the following elements: family ideologies, tools, language, words, beliefs, beliefs, religious ideologies, laws, city-states, and countries.

“In order to produce all the factors, there is a fundamental premise, which is the relative equality between people.

“Only monkeys and monkeys, or ants and ants, can communicate with each other and build a society, language, laws, beliefs, and so on. Eventually, a great civilization will be created, and there is no way to create a society, much less a civilization, between monkeys and ants.

“On the other hand, spiritual energy, an extremely special and precious energy, has the function of stimulating the cells, activating the individual’s strength, and greatly increasing the difference between individuals. In a world without spiritual energy, no matter how large the difference in individual carbon-based intelligent life is, there is still a limit. Even the overlord who had once conquered an entire continent, slaughtered a million enemy soldiers, and made an illustrious accomplishment in martial arts could still be beheaded by a beggar with a sharp blade in his hand. This is ‘relative equality’ or ‘relative unfairness’. When an ordinary person is angry, their blood will splatter five steps, they will be close at hand, and they will be enemies of a nation. This is the foundation to establish a great civilization.

“However, on the planets that were naturally endowed with abundant spiritual energy, the carbon-based creatures had learned a long time ago how to absorb the natural essence, absorb the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, and evolve and mutate crazily. Even if an intelligent species was born in the end, every individual in the species would be very different, to the point that the weak barely posed any threat to the strong.

“When a million weaklings gather together and are still unable to pose a threat to the strongest, such a society is bound to be abnormal. The civilization is bound to be weak. The strongest simply do not have the need and need to promote the advancement of the civilization. The weak are also unable to stimulate the desire to explore and create creativity. They would not be like the people of the Spiritless World, who are forced to find new technologies and establish new social rules. In this kind of world, the strong preying on the weak is the only law, and any technology or ideas that could weaken spiritual energy would be strangled in their infancy.

“On the path of the Primeval Civilization’s conquest of the sea of stars, we have encountered countless civilizations that developed from planets with abundant spiritual energy. None of the civilizations crossed their own galaxies. Some of them did not even set foot on their own planets. The individual combat ability of some of them was impressive, but the development level of their civilization was no higher than that of the medieval era on Earth. When the starships that we built with thousands of turrets tore apart their atmosphere, they were still waving the hilarious blades and using the shabby spiritual energy, trying to compete with us! “Moreover, in the most extreme spiritual energy civilization, the strongest expert absorbed the spiritual energy of an entire planet into his body, turning himself into an old monster who could live for tens of thousands of years, while his other companions turned into parasites on his body. They were completely unable to resist him. However, because there was absolutely nothing in the entire environment that could threaten him, his intelligence gradually declined, and he became an idiot that was even worse than a three-year-old. He was easily captured by us and treated as an exhibit in the zoo.

“We have slowly grasped our experience. Before we wage a war against an unknown civilization, we must first figure out the situation of the mother planet from which they originated. If it is a planet with abundant spiritual energy and resources, there is no need to worry. It will certainly be an unstoppable victory. But if the environment of the enemy’s mother planet is extremely harsh, the resources are scarce, and there is not even a tiny bit of spiritual energy, we must be extremely careful. It will certainly be a tough battle.