Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Li Yao finally understood.

He could not help but want to laugh.

In the era when the ‘Solar Defense Line Plan’ was thrown out and implemented, the Primeval Lord of Heaven had been a bunch of shameless guys who had no bottom line for their own survival. Maybe they had declared that they were going to preserve the tinder of their civilization and the hope of the next generation. But it never occurred to them that the blood descendants thirty thousand years later would resent their actions.

The older generation went on a rampage under the banner of ‘it’s all for your own good’, but the new generation didn’t appreciate their kindness at all and was even completely against them. From ancient times to now, were such incidents not rare?

Besides, the new generation of the Primeval Beings had been wandering in the dark sea of stars and living a miserable life like stray dogs. Such a miserable life indeed gave them reason to hate their ancestors.

Li Yao was well aware that a lone starship drifting in the sea of stars had nowhere to go and that there were pursuers behind it. Its resources were running dry, and there was no hope at all. ‘Firefly’, the last flagship of the Star Ocean Imperium, had drifted for a thousand years and almost perished. It was not redeemed until it encountered the Star Glory Federation.

After wandering for only a thousand years, Firefly had almost completed the transformation from a ‘Cultivator’ to an ‘Immortal Cultivator’ on its own. After the remnants of the Primeval Civilization destroyed their home, they went into exile for thirty thousand years under the pressure of the flood. The journey was even longer than their ancestors’ escape from Earth.

What had happened to their starships in the process? What had the ‘cockroaches and maggots’ who had killed their compatriots, destroyed their homes, and cut off all their hope turned themselves into?

It wouldn’t feel good to be a cockroach or a maggot, would it?

“With the surging tide, the escape of our ancestors was very hasty. Even if we reduce the population and fill the resources, it is not enough for everybody to sail for thirty thousand years.

The ghost of the female captain said sadly, “Besides, don’t forget that an earthshaking civil war took place in the various sub-universes before the flood. The wounds of the war are not so easy to heal.

“In an environment where you have lost your fighting spirit and all your morals, where you don’t know where you are going, where you don’t know when your pursuers are coming, and where your resources are quickly running out, all the things that you can think of and can’t imagine... despicable, evil, cruel, insidious, sleazy, dirty, and dark, scheming, overt and covert, and killing each other, are all a piece of cake. Every second is a play. Every starship is a small, barbaric tribe. We have become each other’s most dangerous enemy. Even every person on every starship is sharpening their blades, hiding their claws and teeth, and piercing their evil and vigilant eyes at everyone around them, including their so-called ‘family’.

“In some starships with particularly harsh environments, swallowing the dead bodies of their own kind was even a natural custom. The starships robbed their compatriots for a living and lived through ten thousand years of darkness.

“As a result, as you said, our ancestors turned themselves into cockroaches in space, maggots in the sea of stars, and monsters beyond recognition!

“Uncomfortable. Such a life is too uncomfortable. In the near-eternal mutation and torment, part of the Primeval Beings had a total mental breakdown. They laughed weirdly and adjusted their route, only to turn around 180 degrees and fall into the arms of the tides. They abandoned their rationality and free will and became muddleheaded cells.

“Some of the starships mutinied. The sailors and crew members who rebelled had nothing else to ask for. When they took control of the bridge, they would activate the ‘self-detonation procedures’ of the starships and end their shame with brilliant and scorching fireworks.

“Only a few crew members and passengers on the starships were able to endure the humiliation and suffering. But they started reflecting on what their ancestors had done and the true meaning of ‘civilization’.

“It doesn’t matter if you say that we can’t stand such a humiliating, dark, and meaningless life anymore. In short, it’s time to put an end to everything.

“At the beginning of the test, you’ve seen a picture. Countless members of the Primeval Race were lined up neatly and fell into the engine furnace one after another. Such a scene is not fiction. But our state of mind might be different from what you imagined. We did not turn ourselves into the fuel to push the civilization forward with the tragic mindset of ‘sacrificing for the civilization’. Instead, we were burdened with billions of tons of shame and guilt. We felt ashamed to face all our compatriots who had been killed by our ancestors in the past. We were ashamed to face the past and future of the glorious Primeval Civilization. We could not find a way to make up for it or change it. It was because of such desperation that we decided to end everything.

“Ah...”

Li Yao had been curious. According to the style of the Primeval Civilization, it should not have been so righteous and full of sacrifice.

As it turned out, it was not sacrifice but shame and guilt.

It did make sense now that he thought about it. If he were a member of the escape fleet and had such... evil and sordid ancestors who lived a miserable, desperate life, he would have no other options except to die.

“However, before we decided to go there together, the discovery of the ‘Pangu Universe’ gave us a slim hope.

The ghost of the female captain smiled and said, “Our civilization is truly hopeless. The fixed mindset, the heavy burden of history, the pursuit and absorption of the flood tide... We’ve been homeless for thirty thousand years. We are too tired. Death is the best relief for us.

“But what if our civilization starts from scratch?

“If we can restart our civilization and let it be reborn in a brand-new, completely different appearance, will we have the opportunity to find a new way out and make some minor but crucial changes to wash away all the sins that we and our ancestors have committed? We might even be able to let the entire Universe Ocean get rid of the trauma caused by us and the flood?

“Therefore, there was the ‘black wall’, the ‘ancient relics’, and the ‘ultimate test’.

“Hehe. The correct answer to the ultimate test is simple. There is no correct answer at all.

“Because everything we do is wrong, and we don’t know what the right choice is at all. Then, who are we to judge or even manipulate your choice?

“Therefore, for the testers, it doesn’t matter what you choose or what you do, as long as you don’t make the same choice as us at the most critical juncture.

“Ah...”

Li Yao was dumbfounded at first. Then he realized what was going on. “So, that’s how it is!”

“Besides, we’ve given you three chances. If you make a choice that is completely against our will and make the opposite choice, you will pass the test.

The ghost of the female captain smiled and said, “It seems simple, doesn’t it? But for billions of years, none of the testers of a hundred generations of civilizations passed the test. In order to keep the test running on the surface, they listened to our suggestions and obeyed our will without any exception. In the end, they became our puppets, slaves, claws, teeth, and duplicates. How hilarious. If even we are no match for the Flood Tide, why do we need a bunch of puppets, slaves, claws, teeth, and duplicates?

“Now that I think about it, it does make sense. A seemingly simple test requires not only indestructible willpower but also fearless sacrifice, as well as absolute trust in our comrades and compatriots. All three of them are things that we are missing and that the hundred generations of testers did not have. But today, you have all of them.

“Is that so?”

If his soul had teeth, Li Yao would’ve been grinning from ear to ear.

“Yes. Therefore, you are the man we’ve been waiting for billions of years. You are destined to inherit the legacy of the Primeval Civilization.

The ghost of the female captain looked at Li Yao with scorching eyes. All the bright gold ghosts nearby were cheering for Li Yao. Dazzling sounds and effects were flying everywhere. Then, the catalogs and detailed files of countless ‘ancient secret treasures’ appeared in Li Yao’s brain and turned into glittering turbulences.

“This is the invincible fleet that we have docked in the ‘black wall’. It is tens of thousands of years more advanced than your active starships. This is our strengthened exoskeleton and super-large humanoid war machine. One of them is enough to fight against a hundred of your Giant Soldiers. This is our fully-automatic war factory. It can complete the entire procedure from the collection of resources to the refinement of war puppets. You don’t even need to command it. All you need to do is input a command remotely, and you can occupy or destroy a planet.

The female captain smiled. “Of course, you will also need the technology trees, techniques, and training systems from Earth to the Primeval Civilization. With them, your civilization will have a pair of wings that surpass the speed of light, which will save you at least a hundred thousand years.

“Come on. Everything is yours now. Take it away and become the master of the Universe Ocean to make up for our mistakes. Build the new glory of the Primeval Civilization and create a brilliant future that belongs to... the new generation of mankind!”

All the sound effects behind the female captain—the splendid technology trees, the colorful techniques and training systems, the awe-inspiring war machines, the countless secret treasures, the legacies, and the destructive forces—all turned into thousands of streaks of brightness and congregated in her palm, turning into a translucent, bright gold key.

The ghost of the female captain handed the gold key to Li Yao, her eyes full of eagerness.

Li Yao’s soul was deeply shocked by the thousands of techniques displayed by the female captain, the technology tree, and the war machine. He subconsciously reached out to grab them.

But the moment his fingertip was about to touch the gold key, he suddenly felt that something was wrong, as if a needle had pricked his fingertip.

“Wait!”

Li Yao’s soul suddenly shrank. His finger stopped less than one millimeter away from the gold key.

—