Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1147
"To pursue the best is every creature's instinct. It was also the case for the extraterrestrial devils. Compared to the barren, desolate land of the Flying Star Sector, the Imperium of True Human Beings was certainly the best paradise with the most enjoyable landscape.
"What was even more amazing was that Xiao Tianbao, the star child, was originally planning to establish a space gate for the communication of the Imperium and the Flying Star Sector. The extraterrestrial devils did not need to manipulate him at all. All they needed to do was guide his thinking and give him a hand when necessary!
"The Grand Illusionary Soldier Plan and the super crystal processor 'star brain' were mostly come up with by the extraterrestrial devils. Otherwise, how could Xiao Tianbao have grasped such advanced technology in crystal processors and remote control when he was only supposed to be a member of the special forces of the Imperium?"
Li Yao was slightly dazed. It was quite true. The star child was merely a scout that the Imperium of True Human Beings sent out. How could a common soldier have the knowledge of so much cutting-edge technology?
At first, he had thought that every soldier of the Imperium was as tough as that. He had even been deeply awed by the enemy once. However, after meeting the authentic natives of the Imperium including Su Changfa, he had begun to realize that those people also had only two nostrils and one mouth. There was nothing too special about them except that their average level might be slightly higher!
It was not until today when the silver ball revealed the answer that Li Yao finally understood everything. So, everything had actually been done by the extraterrestrial devils who specialized in crystal processor technology. It made much more sense now!
"The whole plan went smoothly at the beginning. Before long, the Flying Star Sector would be conquered by the Imperium, and the extraterrestrial devils would find their way into a greater hunting ground. However—"
The silver ball finally released what appeared to be a human emotion. Pausing for a moment, it calmed itself down. "You know what happened next. The hundred-year plan was disrupted. The star child was swallowed. Even the 'star brain', in which the extraterrestrial devil was lurking, was devoured by Professor Mo Xuan. As a result, the extraterrestrial devil entered Professor Mo Xuan's body just like that!
"It was the worst living environment like the extraterrestrial devil had never seen before. It had abundant experience in infiltrating human brains and crystal processors, but Professor Mo Xuan's life form was neither a regular human being nor a common crystal processor, but something in between. His liquid metal shell was almost flawless!
"Besides, after swallowing the star brain, Professor Mo Xuan's computational ability soared. He was a determined, unwavering man. Should he discover the existence of the extraterrestrial devil, he would certainly have compiled a set of pertinent antivirus telepathic thoughts to wipe it out completely!
"Therefore, the extraterrestrial devil could only hold back and lurk in the deepest part of Professor Mo Xuan's soul. Like all the viruses that were mired in a harsh environment, and like what you are doing right now, it hibernated and prowled around!"
Li Yao bulged his eyes. The bloody stripes had already passed his left shoulder and climbed to his cheek along his neck. Some of them had even crawled into his left eye, making creepy crimson beam out of the eyeball.
But he seemed to have sensed none of it. Waving his hands in agitation, he demanded, "What are you talking about exactly?"
Ripples of excitement spread out on the surface of the silver ball. "The extraterrestrial devil waited for decades. In the meantime, it slowly released the information of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus that it had accumulated for thousands of years into Professor Mo Xuan's memory database without him knowing it. In the end, Professor Mo Xuan indeed grew interested in the 'Grand-Unified Spiritual Nexus' and 'virtual life'. Eventually, the 'Virtual Spirits Sector Project' was born.
"To be honest, the collapse of the Virtual Spirits Sector was an accident. Even the extraterrestrial devils were incapable of creating such a huge crash.
"But once the accident had already happened, and since the souls of Professor Mo Xuan, Su Changfa, and Lu Qingchen were already battered, the extraterrestrial devil certainly wouldn't let go of such a rare opportunity.
"No. It was not swallowing but merely pushing forward the mutual melding.
"Besides, given the circumstances, without first aid, Professor Mo Xuan, Su Changfa, and the extraterrestrial devil itself might've been trapped in the collapsing Virtual Spirits Sector and completely obliterated!
"Once everybody's soul was broken and unable to be recovered, with the help of the extraterrestrial devil, the fragments of everybody's soul were jumbled into a new existence!"
Li Yao was dumbfounded. "The fragments of everybody's soul were jumbled?"
"Don't be so surprised. If limbs and organs can be transplanted, why can't the soul?" the silver ball said. "I have never lied to you. I am indeed Mo Xuan, except that my soul was so heavily wounded that I was forced to transplant… certain things that originally belonged to the star child and Su Changfa into it.
"There are many ridiculous theories about what the soul actually was in ancient times, but in my opinion, it refers to your memories, belief, character, emotions, thinking patterns, and everything else in your mind.
"At that time, Professor Mo Xuan was the least wounded one, and the extraterrestrial devil had been living inside my body for decades. Naturally, my soul took charge.
"Su Changfa's soul was dying, and the star child was already as dead as anyone could ever possibly be. So, the fragments of their souls were perfect to be recycled.
"In the end, this is the me right now, Mo Xuan 2.0 that has finished a generation update. I still kept the memories and beliefs of Professor Mo Xuan, but I also boasted Su Changfa's thinking pattern, the star child's personality, and the fully activated strength of the extraterrestrial devil!"
Chapter 1776: Parasite Attack, Begin! |
The bloody stripes inside Li Yao's eyes were almost exploding. He finally understood everything!
Professor Mo Xuan in the past was a firm, rational man and a pure technician. Other than refining, he had not extensively studied other academic fields.
Even if such an insane idea that all human beings should be migrated into the virtual world did occur to Professor Mo Xuan at that time, he would not do anything about it because his rationality would get the better of him and tell him the dire consequences if he really put the idea into practice.
Everybody might have a lot of crazy and even unpardonable thoughts on a daily basis. However, most people could tell the difference between illusion and reality. Fantasy was not a crime. Many people might have imagined themselves robbing a bank or kidnapping a beautiful girl, but it did not mean that they were criminals!
Professor Mo Xuan mentioned earlier that it might take millions of years before his vision became reality and that upgrading the civilization of mankind too early when the conditions were immature would be like pulling up seedlings to help them grow, which would only bring disaster.
From what Li Yao had seen just now, he was not lying at that time. It was the last reflection of the 'self-control' of Professor Mo Xuan of the past!
Besides, a scholar could never launch a rebellion even if he prepared for three years. For a technician like Professor Mo Xuan, even if he was insane enough to call for a giant leap, hoping to achieve the comprehensive virtualization of mankind within a hundred years ago, he could not have accomplished that goal. Everybody had their specialty. Asking such a simple magical equipment specialist to concoct such a great scheme was no different from asking a chef to sew clothes.
However, Mo Xuan 2.0 was different.
In the disaster that caused the collapse of the Virtual Spirits Sector, Professor Mo Xuan had maintained his firm belief and his insane vision but lost the self-control to restrain the ideas. His gentle, mild personality vanished, replaced by Su Changfa and the star child's thinking pattern, the classic character of Immortal Cultivators that was cruel, ruthless, and pigheaded!
Su Changfa was a sociologist of the Imperium of True Human Beings. He had studied the social stratification and the operation of the Imperium. He was both one of the initial producers of the game 'Civilization' and an experienced 'brainwashing expert'.
There was no need to mention the star child, who was an out-and-out schemer. The Grand Illusionary Soldier Plan was his lifelong effort. Xiao Xuance, the old supervillain of the Flying Star Sector, had merely been a puppet that he pushed to the front of the stage!
Professor Mo Xuan's idea of 'overall virtualization of mankind' and computational ability that was as vast as the ocean, Su Changfa's brainwashing ability and understanding in sociology, the star child's scheming and planning abilities, and the extraterrestrial devil's ability to hack the Spiritual Nexus that had been sealed for ten thousand years but was finally unlocked… All that combined, the nightmare-like existence, Mo Xuan 2.0, was created!
The silver ball trembled for a while, melting and reshaping again into the appearance of Professor Mo Xuan.
He put on the sunniest smile, yet there was the vague shadow of Su Changfa in it. "Don't be so nervous. I began my story from ten thousand years ago. The narrative must've made you feel that everything was part of the extraterrestrial devils' plan, but things are not necessarily so from a different perspective.
"You can totally consider everything as a fortuitous incident. I encountered a serious accident during an experiment in the Virtual Spirits Sector. By accident, I was able to swallow Su Changfa's personality, Xiao Tianbao's sophistication, and the extraterrestrial devils' techniques and survived. Nothing more.
"A patient who accepted an organ donation and lived with somebody else's heart is still themself. It is exactly the same for me.
"A minor change in personality is not a big deal. Many people have a great shift of personality after a serious accident, but it doesn't mean that they become somebody else!
"Yes. Some memories, ideas, and other messy stuff have been inserted into my head, but that is just a side effect of a fortuitous incident. A lot of people share similar experiences. In the world of Cultivators, there's also the secret technique of 'spiritual seed transmission', through which the experts of the older generation can pour their battle memories into young people. Isn't it the same logic?
"You must've experienced similar fortuitous incidents before, mustn't you? Then, why are you staring at me in such a way as if I am an unreasonable monster?
"I am still Mo Xuan!"
He suddenly opened his arms. His silver face seemed like a broken mirror that reflected the hideous expression that belonged to the star child. He bellowed, "A stronger, firmer, and more perfect Mo Xuan!
"After the update was completed, I examined my old self, only to discover that I was so indecisive, hesitant, and hopeless back then!
"I had found the ultimate solution to save mankind, but I refused to put it into practice because of all the ridiculous concerns, fantasizing that a perfect new world would just arrive automatically in millions of years' time. So absurd, so weak, so… foul!
"Millions of years is too long; we must seize every second! I cannot watch my compatriots being tortured and killed in ceaseless wars while doing nothing, not even for one second! Even if the odds of success are one in ten thousand, I will give my everything, sweep everything in my way, and struggle to the end of my path despite all the obstacles!
"Hahaha. I didn't know that even luck was on my side. You have been delivered to me! It seems that my path is the correct one. Virtual life is the ultimate form of evolution for mankind! Come on. Wake up now. Join my side, and let's build the era of mankind 2.0 together!"
Such a mad invitation naturally could not move anyone.
Li Yao spat on the ground and sniffed. "Whether you are Mo Xuan, Su Changfa, or the star child, you aren't so crazy as to think that you can persuade me with some illogical trash talk at such a crucial moment, are you?"
The broken silver face put on a scornful smile. "I'm sorry, but you are flattering yourself, Li Yao! I never intended to persuade you. In fact, I don't even want to waste any drop of saliva on you. What I am trying to convince is 'it'. I have told you everything frankly, including my origins, for 'it'!"
"It?" Li Yao's pupils constricted abruptly. His blood red left eyes even seemed to be on fire.
"Exactly." Professor Mo Xuan smiled. "I know you are there. You couldn't have been obliterated so easily. This is the best opportunity ever. Are you still not showing up, my own kind?"
"What!" Li Yao's eyeballs, one red and the other black, were completely frozen. He took a few steps back rigidly. Then, his left arm suddenly heaved, as if it had gone out of control. It could clearly be seen that deep, bloody stripes had interweaved and enveloped the arm. Those bloody stripes had invaded Li Yao's heart and skull at some point and then pierced out of the skin as eccentric thorns!
"Argh!" Li Yao cried miserably and fell to one of his knees because of the pain. "What—what kind of force is this? It's tearing apart my soul!"
Half of his body was seawater, while the other half was fire. The right side of the body seemed unusual, but tiny blood stripes were crawling out of every pore on the left side of the body. Those blood stripes were spreading upward and interconnecting like vines, constituting the fuzzy, bloody shape of a human.
The left side of the body continued absorbing strength from the right side of the body, becoming stronger, darker, and clearer. It gradually revealed its facial features, which were identical to Li Yao's, except that they were more evil, cunning, and full of wariness!
The right side of the body, which was gradually drained, withered at a visible rate. The skin was falling apart, and all the color had gone!
At first glance, a blood red person had crawled out of Li Yao's body and become a certain human-shaped tumor that lived on him, some sort of weird… stand-in!
Looking at the half-smiling blood red face that was filled with cruelty, Li Yao seemed to have completely lost his mind. He screamed, "It's you! It's actually you! You are not dead yet? It's impossible! I clearly killed you! You were completely dead!"
Before the bloody shadow could say anything, Professor Mo Xuan had already burst into laughter. "The devil rises from within. How can a devil be completely killed when your heart is still alive? You thought too poorly of the extraterrestrial devils, Li Yao!"
"Exactly." The bloody shadow smiled. It spoke in Li Yao's voice but with a much more elegant, soft, and eccentric tone that was full of chilling intoxication. "I lived for five thousand years on Iron Plateau. Before that, I hibernated in the dark universe for millions of years. Even the most violent natural disasters in the universe failed to wipe me out. How could you have killed me entirely with your petty tricks at the beginning? You didn't see this coming, did you? Hehehe. What a foolish, idiotic, overaged high-school student who thinks that he is righteous and hotblooded only to be smacked in the face brutally at every crucial moment…"
Li Yao's nostrils expanded because of fury. He gnashed his teeth. "Hey!"
Professor Mo Xuan observed the bloody shadow with great amazement. "What a perfect soul structure, with the waveform of the ancient energy life millions of years ago and the familiar scent from five thousand years ago! I knew that you were certainly not dead, my friend. How should I address you? Master of Blood Stripes or…?"
"You may call me the mental devil. I have absorbed quite a lot of good stuff from this idiot's soul, and I am not anything like the original Blood Stripe Virus. Or to quote your theory, I have updated myself, too."
The mental devil glanced at Professor Mo Xuan casually. The smile on its face was still evil and vigilant. "However, I don't think we are any sort of friends, are we? As carbon-based life forms, wolves feed on lambs, tigers kill wolves, and lions butcher tigers, too! As energy life forms, it is only natural for us to swallow each other. It is even the main means of evolution! Five thousand years ago, we lived in peace with each other, but right now, we seem to have been involved in the same turbulence. So, what do you want exactly by forcing me to show up through all your trouble?"
"Cooperation." Professor Mo Xuan opened his arms and earnestly replied, "I told you everything candidly in order to show my sincerity. Regardless of whether you consider yourself to be a human, the Blood Stripe Virus, or anything else, there will be great benefits and absolutely no harm if we cooperate with each other!"
"Cut the cr*p." The mental devil snorted. "Even if we are both energy life forms or 'extraterrestrial devils', you are an IT guy while my main focus is biotechnology. How can we cooperate with each other when there is such a vast difference between our trades?
"How do I know that you are seeking cooperation sincerely instead of looking for an opportunity to swallow me under the pretense of cooperation?"
Chapter 1777: Internet of Brains! |
"Swallow you?" Professor Mo Xuan bulged his eyes as if he were greatly insulted. The fire that was burning the village down behind him grew even more furious. He waved his hands and said, "This is our world. If I truly meant you any harm, I would've swallowed you with the power of the entire world. Why would I bother to tell you everything frankly in order to win your trust?"
"Hehehe. You really think that I'm so gullible, that you would just walk away if you had the opportunity to swallow me with the least effort?" The mental devil cackled. "You are now setting both the federation and the Black Wind Fleet up with your scheme, controlling the entire Spiritual Nexus, and constructing countless Spiriters' Realms to corrupt so many experts from the Ancient Sages Sector. You must've reached your limits, mustn't you? Maybe the fierce fight between you and me will be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Your entire plan will be disrupted if so. That is perhaps the only reason you are calming me down with your fancy delusion."
