Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Your idea might be correct, but it is too idealistic and impossible to realize.

The voice said casually, “The Third World War caused great pain to our civilization. Even a hundred years later, the wounds will only be scabs. There are still pus and sores inside that haven’t been fully healed yet. Maybe they will never be.

“Human beings were barely united under the threat of extinction. How could they turn into noble, pure, and selfless people with a few decades of ‘death education’ and give the hope of survival to the children of their enemies?

“On the other hand, the fat-headed, high and mighty nobles will only ask the civilians to die for their interests in the name of justice. Is it possible to do the opposite?

“The rich and powerful believed that all the immigration starships and the sea of stars were developed by them. There was no way that they would give the living space of the immigration starships to the ‘dirty’ civilians.

“You said that people were qualified to escape according to their age, but the social order at that time was far less stable than it was a hundred years ago. The Earth Council’s control was relatively weak, and it was impossible to conduct a large-scale census. Could it be that the age was determined by appearance?

“Even the bone age test has a lot of room for manipulation. The rich and powerful can always come up with all kinds of methods. Between an 18-year-old child of a noble family and a 16-year-old child of a commoner, who do you think is more likely to board an immigration starship?

“Besides, even if everything is pushed forward according to the most idealized expectations and a batch of ignorant children and teenagers are selected to board the immigration starships as the new hope of our civilization, do you think that they will be able to create a new era of ‘justice, kindness, and brightness’? “You’ve underestimated the cruelty hidden in the genes of us, or rather, all the carbon-based intelligent creatures.

“In the history of our literature, there was once a book called ‘Lord of Flies’, which told the story of a group of six to twelve-year-olds who were stranded on an island because of a plane crash. At first, they got along harmoniously, but soon, the extreme evil of human nature broke out. They killed each other and completely destroyed each other. There was even no need for such a story. Just by looking at the ignorant child who could smile and tear apart the wings of a dragonfly and roast a living ant with a magnifying glass, one could tell how terrifying natural evil was.

“If your idea comes true, you will only turn the migrating starships into bloody lone islands that kill each other and raise ‘fly kings’ that hover in the sea of stars.

Li Yao was not convinced. He was about to argue when he continued, “Yes. I know what you are trying to say. You are trying to say that there are a lot of women and fully-automatic self-disciplined education robots on the immigration starship, which are enough to take care of their offspring.

“However, I have to tell you that a lot of studies and experiments were conducted by the sociologists and psychologists at that time. In such an enclosed and unknown environment, the performance of the women was not much better than that of the children. Stimulated by the estrogen and the hormones, they even turned into the more terrifying females.

“As for the so-called ‘automatic self-discipline education robot’, which is similar to artificial intelligence, if we impose heavy restraints on it so that it absolutely cannot harm the children and can only impose ‘punishment’ that is neither painful nor ticklish, then the children will soon see through its bottom line, and they will ignore its earnest teachings. If we allow the artificial intelligence to do anything to the children, there is no way to prevent it from turning the children into its slaves, allowing the artificial intelligence to take over the nest and become the core of our civilization.

“All in all, we’ve considered your ideas very carefully and thoroughly. The outcome of our countless deductions is still not feasible. Pondering for a moment, Li Yao said, “Then, what about drawing lots? Everything depends on luck and is completely random. Didn’t you say that ‘luck’ is the most critical factor in the birth and rise of a civilization? Let the lucky ones continue the ‘fortune’ of the civilization!”

“You still don’t understand.” His voice was deep and heavy as he said, “It is impossible for any selection method that is made public in advance, from the bottom to the top, to work, because it is absolutely impossible for the losers to calmly accept their own doom. Even if a saint with a kind heart, a high moral quality, and a great personality can resolutely sacrifice himself, what about his child? What about his child’s child? What about his daughter who has learned to speak? What about his infant son? Can he personally extinguish the hope of his children’s survival?”

“There are always shady deals, and there are always frauds. There are always people who escape the selection in various ways and board the ‘vip’ channel leading to the immigration starships. The war, radiation, and plague over the past hundred years have completely divided the class of the nobles and the civilians. However ‘fair, open, and fair’ the nobles claim to be, it is impossible for them to win the trust of the civilians. As a result, the day after the ‘Escape List’ is announced, the entire Earth will be caught in endless riots.

“Tester, tell me, in the long history of the new civilization of mankind, have none of the planets experienced natural disasters such as meteoroids and solar storms? Are all the planets able to retreat calmly and orderly when faced with natural disasters?

Li Yao was rendered speechless.

The voice was not wrong at all. The human civilization of the Pangu Universe had experienced a similar situation, too, which was the ‘Flying Star Sector’ when Li Yao had just left his hometown to explore the sea of stars.

The natives of the Flying Star Sector had been attacked by meteoroids five thousand years ago, too. As a result, not long after the meteoroids hit them, the Flying Star Sector was divided into homers and spacers. They attacked each other and even killed each other. The fracture that was caused five thousand years later still changed the appearance of the Flying Star Sector profoundly, to the point that human beings were extremely fragile. The extraterrestrial devils and the Immortal Cultivators were quite popular among the dark

stars.

It must be noted that, even five thousand years ago, the Flying Star Sector boasted a very mature spiritual energy industrial system and abundant crystal energy. There were even a lot of starships left by the Star Ocean Imperium. The technology to build such starships could’ve extended to the Pangu civilization, which meant that the space residents at that time boasted a high ability to cruise in the sea of stars. Their situation was much better than that of the ‘poor’ ancient Earthlings.

If space residents could not avoid the chaos before the apocalypse, how could the ancient earthlings be spared?

Therefore, the voice was right. Any public selection that was publicized in advance would not work. Instead, it would awaken the devil lurking in everyone’s heart. “Then—”

Li Yao felt that his voice was somewhat hoarse. “What should I do?”

“The bottom-up selection is never going to work. Only the top-down selection is likely to work.

The voice said, “That is to say, there is no ‘open, fair, and just’ selection at all. Instead, a highly centralized, iron-blooded man chooses the passengers who meet his standards according to his will and flees from Earth without most people knowing.

“What?”

Li Yao’s soul suddenly constricted. “How is that possible?”

“Why is it impossible?”

The voice said, “The technologies such as the refinement of starships, the sailing of the sea of stars, and the hibernation of the human body are all in the hands of the experts and scholars. Most of the resources are provided by the rich and powerful. Most of the citizens do not have the opportunity or the qualifications to know the progress of the entire project, nor do they know when the immigration starship will be completed and when it will set off. Therefore, as long as some of the people related to the ‘space migration project’ can board the starship, it will be fine.

“It is very fortunate that the experts, scholars, magnates, engineers, workers, and even soldiers who work day and night around the ‘Star Ocean Immigration Project’ are the smartest and strongest individuals of our civilization. They are most likely to carry on the civilization and flourish in the depths of the sea of stars.

“You can berate us for our coldness, mock us for our shamelessness, and feel sorry for the fate of the innocent people, but we have no other options. This is the only solution.

While he was talking, the thousands of options presented to Li Yao were either shattered or turned into lifeless greyness. There was only one option that was still emitting lackluster brilliance.

“Well—”

Li Yao gritted his teeth. His soul stirred anxiously and spread out ripples of uncertainty.

He was indeed not Jin Tuyi. He was even worse than Boss Bai and Li Jialing.

If it were Jin Tuyi—no, there was no need for Jin Tuyi-as long as it was Boss Bai, Li Jialing, Long Yangjun, and Li Linghai, they would not hesitate to choose the only ‘right answer’.

If Lu Qingchen and the mental devil had made it this far, they wouldn’t have made any mistakes. They would’ve chosen to hide the truth from the top and run away with a small group of the rich and powerful. But Li Yao was too frustrated to make a decision when faced with the ‘only choice’.

The voice was silent, waiting patiently for Li Yao’s choice.

What’s more, when Li Yao was caught in a dilemma when he entered the valley, he said, “Wait.”

Li Yao was dazed. “What’s wrong?”

“One of the testers failed.”

The voice said calmly, “We must get rid of him first.”

Before Li Yao realized what was going on, the left side of his vision turned translucent, and he saw ‘Obliteration’, the ultimate expert of the Pangu Clan who was floating not far away from him.

The commander of the remaining soldiers of the Pangu Clan at the end of the primeval war was one of the top experts in the Pangu Universe. His wisdom, determination, and combat ability were among the best. Even if Li Yao activated the full combat ability of the Dividing Soul Stage, he might not have been able to compete with him.

But right now, his miserable appearance could only make Li Yao think of one thing—”I am meat on a chopping block!”