Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1505
"The Great Qian Dynasty was established by the ancient Cultivators, the Blood Demon Sector was governed by demons, the Star Ocean Republic was founded by Cultivators, and the Imperium of True Human Beings was created by Immortal Cultivators… Four forces of different eras and places, four entirely different systems and ideologies, but the results are all the same. Do you still not feel that it is an inborn disease of humanity, but only the ideas of 'true path of immortality' are wrong?"
Pondering for a moment, Li Yao said firmly, "That is not the case in the Star Glory Federation. I believe that the federation will certainly carry out the real path of the Cultivators to the end. The strong will protect the weak, and the weak will support the strong. When the whole civilization is united, it will certainly push forward to the land that none of the Great Qian Dynasty, the Demon Beast Empire, the Star Ocean Republic, and the Imperium of True Human Beings has ever reached!"
"Is that so?"
Long Yangjun asked, "If the Star Glory Federation is entirely different from the four countries above, may I ask what exactly was the 'magical equipment graveyard' where you were born in? Also, I'm told that there are also 'underground ghost cities' in the federation, and there are also countless people who live underneath the surface of the planet.
"Of course, I do not need your defense to know that most of the underground cities of the Star Glory Federation are shallow with environments not nearly as harsh as what their counterparts in the Imperium have. Also, the Star Glory Federation is trying to improve the situation on the ground. Places like 'magical equipment graveyards' are getting fewer and fewer.
"But in my opinion, the Star Glory Federation is just a stand-alone case that cannot represent general humanity.
"When the Star Glory Federation was born, it was already faced with the severe military threats of the Blood Demon Sector. Every day could've been its last day. So, the people could only stick together. The strong and the weak had to support each other and fight for each other.
"After the Star Glory Federation defeated the Blood Demon Sector, and the pressure for survival had just been mollified, two behemoths that were the Imperium of True Human Beings and the Alliance of the Holy Covenant showed up. Within the foreseeable future in the next several hundred years, it is hardly possible for you to defeat them. Naturally, the Star Glory Federation cannot give up 'unity'.
"Also, there have also been a series of fortuitous incidents and uncanny factors such as you. As a result, the Star Glory Federation discovered Boneyard, which has plenty of resources, and the Kunlun relic, which boasts tremendous primeval treasures, giving it an edge in resources and technologies. That's why the federation seems to be flourishing vigorously in the golden years today.
"I've been thinking about an interesting question. What if you weren't there? What if there were never a person named 'Vulture Li Yao' in the history of the federation? What would the federation have become? Would it have fallen to the bottomless abyss when it could not bear the gravity of humanity anymore, exactly like the Ancient Sages Sector, the Blood Demon Sector, the Star Ocean Republic, and the Imperium of True Human Beings?"
The more Long Yangjun talked, the softer her voice became, and the more mysterious her look became. In the end, she even blew at Li Yao.
"Cut that crap. Do you really think I'm an idiot? Such questions are purely hypothetic. No matter how I answer them, I will only step into your trap."
Li Yao said solemnly, "Perhaps humanity is truly decided by the environment, but since the Star Glory Federation today can bring out the bright side of humanity so brilliantly today, you cannot argue that humanity only has darkness and evil. In any case, whatever you say, I will not believe that humans are born evil. No matter how difficult it is, I will do my best and make the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance exactly like the federation!"
"Then, you have chosen the longest, hardest, and most twisting road."
Long Yangjun said gloomily, "As your best friend, it pains me to watch you hit obstacles, crying and bleeding, on the road that is destined to fail, only for you to surrender and give up in the end!"
"Stop!"
Li Yao furrowed his eyebrows. "You are such a horrible 'best friend'. I think we should just be regular friends!"
"Whatever you say."
Long Yangjun said with a casual smile, "Anyway, I've seen too much darkness of humanity from the Ancient Sages Sector to the federation and from the federation to the Imperium.
"The life in the Ancient Sages Sector was extremely cruel, and everybody would be starving after a famine. As a result, there were the primitive rebels such as 'Heaven Battering King Qi Changsheng' and 'Mother White Lotus Wan Mingzhu'. But at that time, I thought that it was only because the civilization was too underdeveloped.
"After I came to the Imperium of True Human Beings, which was ten thousand years more advanced than the Ancient Sages Sector, where the resources were highly abundant, the synthetic food could feed everybody, and more people were entitled to entertainments and convenient facilities that even the emperors in the ancient times never had the privilege to enjoy, I still see a lot of people who are living in pain.
"In the underground worlds tens of thousands of meters straight down, the five classes are like five universes. Everybody spends every second in extreme anxiety. On one hand, they're worried that they may fall to the deeper abyss; on the other hand, they try their best to crawl upward through whatever means possible. But even if they reach the world where the sunlight is and become Immortal Cultivators, so what? Will they ever be free from the incessant conspiracies and internal brutalization?
"Perhaps the pain of human beings boils down to not the insufficiency of resources but the expansion of desires. Or rather, it is exactly because of the insatiateness of everybody from top to down that the resources are highly insufficient.
"Desire is a thing that can never be satiated. The desires that can be satiated are not real desires at all. Human beings, on the other hand, are creatures who will find a way to spend up however many resources that are given to them, aren't they?
"Do you remember what I told you before I left the Star Glory Federation? Humans are devils, and devils are humans. Every human's brain is made of a devil, and when the devil wriggles, struggles, and screams, that will be the feelings of the human.
"The more humans feed the devils, the stronger and the more ravenous they will be. As the appetites of the devils grow larger, humans' desires will be stronger too. It is an endless vicious cycle.
"Hehe. What are the so-called 'extraterrestrial devils' exactly? Does it really mean 'devils which come from the extraterrestrial lands beyond the three thousand Sectors'? That is obviously not right. Devils are everywhere in the three thousand Sectors. Is it possible that there are no 'extraterrestrial devils' at all, but only 'devils of desires'?
"Stop glaring at me with your bulging eyes. I'm not criticizing human beings condescendingly as if I were a god. Like I said just now, I do not feel that intense feelings are a uniquely evil nature of mankind. On the contrary, I think that it is very likely to be a special gift left by the Pangu and the Nuwa civilizations.
"Perhaps every civilization of carbon-based intelligent lives, which boasts individuals whose brains are closed and independent, will inevitably witness the polarization of individuals and cannot stop the rampantly flooding desires. That's why all of them have been destroyed.
"The Pangu civilizations' alliance must've realized the problem. They are terribly scared of their feelings and call their emotions and desires 'devils', trying their best to seal their 'inner devils'. To avoid having emotional fluctuations in the complicated and dangerous environments, they even abandoned the explorations of the outside world and created a tool named 'human being' to explore and modify the universe on behalf of them. As for themselves… they might have exiled themselves to the meditation state where they could not feel anything, right?
"However, despite everything they did, they could not stop the rise of desires. A rebel appeared among them at last—the Nuwa Clan.
"The extremity of everything is often its contrary. The consequence of repressing feelings and desires for a long time was the most complete indulgence! Led by the Nuwa Clan, all the intelligent lives in the alliance who could not stand the lack of feelings and desires rose to resist, eventually leading to the great demolition of the primeval civilization!"
"Wait!"
Li Yao was confused. "On one hand, you claim that feelings and desires are extremely terrible and will lead to eventual destruction. But on the other hand, you say that feelings and desires are unavoidable and that they will unleash a huge power if they are highly repressed. Then, which side are you on exactly?"
"Why are you silly again?"
Long Yangjun smiled. "I have the dual legacies of Pangu and Nuwa in the first place. Of course I'm on both sides, and I think they both made excellent points!"
Chapter 2362: Accidental Achievement |
Fine. Li Yao rubbed his nose and had to admit that Long Yangjun's self-defense was too reasonable. She was neither a man nor a woman, neither an ancient person nor a moderner, neither a human being nor a pure member of the Pangu Clan or the Nuwa Clan. She was indeed the most self-contradictory being in all the three thousand Sectors.
Li Yao's attitude toward such a contradictory person was rather complicated.
If he regarded her as a friend, Li Yao found her opinion that humans were born evil unacceptable. It seemed that they should just go separate ways when they clearly had different beliefs.
But if he regarded her as an enemy, she had just rescued Li Yao from Blackstar the Great's hand, and she disclosed all her "evil plans" and changes of her mind to Li Yao openly and frankly. She did not even hide her most secret base. Li Yao couldn't help but feel amused. It would seem inappropriate for him to burst into fury.
Pondering for a long time, Li Yao thought that he had grasped a loophole. He said, "Wait, since your previous self experienced the primeval war in person, you should know that the Pangu civilizations failed to stop their doomsday even though they did cut out their feelings and desires. The Pangu Clan was still annihilated in the end! Therefore, whether humans are born kind or evil, it will not help to simply repress, seal, or erase feelings.
"In that case, why did you found the so-called 'Nepenthe' and play the moves that have been proved useless on human beings again?"
"The reason is very simple."
Long Yangjun replied with a smile, "Because Nepenthe was not founded by me at all!"
"What?"
Li Yao felt that he was having a dialogue with the deaf. "What do you mean? Are you not the 'Serenity Seraph'?"
"Yes, I am the 'Serenity Seraph'. When I was active below the ground of the capital as a foreigner, I had to resort to a disguise. Could I have just told everybody that I was a eunuch from the Ancient Sages Sector?"
Long Yangjun said matter-of-factly, "I only taught some of the locals here how to forget their pain and repress their feelings as the 'Serenity Seraph'. Little did I expect that they would spread the tricks out and established a 'Nepenthe' spontaneously. What could I have done? I am rather troubled too!"
"Is that… so?" Li Yao looked at Long Yangjun suspiciously.
"Of course it is. You should know that I am a very selfish person. For me, the most important thing is to find my origins. I certainly do not want to ask for any unnecessary trouble!"
Long Yangjun pursed her lips, as if she were upset. "As the saying goes, the bigger trees catch more wind. Why could I have possibly gained by establishing a 'Nepenthe'? Those people are not good at fighting or collecting intelligence. Their organization is full of flaws and will collapse after the first blow. They will only serve as a burden and expose my existence. Something will be seriously wrong with my head if I am going to lead such a bunch of folks. If I really intended to set up an evil organization, I would've hired a group of professionals first!"
"That does make sense."
Li Yao realized that Long Yangjun used to be the founder of "Ghost Character", a professional intelligence and assassination group in the Great Qian Dynasty. It was unlikely that she would recruit a group of believers through superstitions like what "Mother White Lotus Wan Mingzhu" did in the past.
Before Li Yao raised new questions, Long Yangjun already told him her experiences below the ground.
According to Long Yangjun, although she had seen so many sufferings of the mortals, she did not plan to do anything at the beginning. After all, as a newcomer to the place, it would be best if she kept a low profile.
But later, she witnessed an upcoming outburst of devils in a large mine fifteen thousand meters below the ground!
In an outburst of devils, the legendary extraterrestrial devils would arrive from the void and consume countless people, boosting their feelings and desires to the maximum, to the point that they would completely lose control of themselves and become possessed, destroying everything that they saw. It was the greatest catastrophe!
It was exactly how the outburst of devils was defined in the textbooks of the Star Glory Federation.
However, Long Yangjun told Li Yao that most of the outbursts of devils were not as unbelievable as that, and the devils did not necessarily come from the extraterrestrial lands billions of lightyears away.
Every person's head was inhabited by an infinite number of devils. When the brain world made of the devils was kept in balance, the host would boast normal thinking ability and steady emotions. However, when an external force completely broke the ecological balance inside the head, resulting in the limitless expansion and overflow of some devils, the person would be deranged and possessed.
Once a person was deranged, his brain waves would become highly powerful and contagious, and it was very easy for the symptom to spread out exponentially. The process was both like the infection of a virus and the resonation of sound waves. In the terms of Meditation Healing, it was also known as "collective hysteria".
Of course, under normal circumstances, however one suffered and no matter how anxious one was, it was not easy for the devils in their head to completely lose control. Some triggers or fuses were required for the "collective hysteria" to escalate into an outburst of devils.
The lives such as "Extraterrestrial Devil Mo Xuan" and "Extraterrestrial Devil Lu Qingchen" were naturally the best inducers, but they were often too advanced to come by.
Most of the triggers of outbursts of devils were not as terrible as that. The vindictive thoughts left from dozens of years ago or the "devilish artifacts" excavated from the underground relics that carried feeble tenebrum energy were enough to stimulate and transform the desperate and resentful ordinary people.
As it happened, stellar radiations and cosmic storms could barely pierce through the thick rocks and reach the underground world ten thousand meters deep. Therefore, the last brainwaves of the victims who died a miserable death hundreds of years ago might be perfectly preserved into vindictive thoughts that might linger for a hundred years.
In the meantime, the "devilish artifacts" that the Nuwa Clan used to unleash the tenebrum energy were not rare either.
Therefore, small outbursts of devils were anything but unusual.
As a matter of fact, it was not just the case in the capital. In various Sectors of the Imperium of True Human Beings, small, low-intensity outbursts of devils were happening every now and then.
Even though most of the outbursts of devils were suppressed as fast as they rose, they had greatly consumed the national power of the Imperium, which was also one of the important reasons why the Imperium had been on the losing side in the war against the Covenant Alliance in the previous thousand years.
"By logic, I should've just left it alone. After all, the outbursts of devils are happening all the time in the Imperium. The Tribunal of Extraterrestrial Devils and the local sects of Immortal Cultivators were all there to take care of the incidents. What was it to me? Besides, I also had the heritages of the Nuwa Clan. The Nuwa Clan practiced the tenebrum energy and worshipped absolute freedom and chaos. So, I could almost be counted as a kin to the devils!"
Long Yangjun blinked her eyes and said, "I should've just ignored it and watched the ordinary people who went on a rampage be entangled by uncontrollable tenebrum energy and transformed into hideous devilish people, destroying the mines where they lived and worked, before they were suppressed by the Immortal Cultivators who would come soon.
"However, when I was about to turn around and return to the darkness, countless heroic images suddenly popped up inside my head. The first to show up was naturally you, Vulture Li Yao, dominator of three Sectors.
"I thought that, if it were you, you would certainly not turn a blind eye to the upcoming tragedy but would do your best to stop and change it.
"I'm not kidding. Perhaps I was indeed deeply influenced by you while we fought by each other's side during the last couple of years. I suddenly felt that you were right. If you only care about yourself but do not try to change other people's fate and even the whole world when you have the most powerful strength, what's the point of your strength? It's like you have a mountain of gold but you are reluctant to spend a single coin. Are you going to bring all your gold and jewelry to your coffin?"
"Stop it—"
Li Yao said, "You can say and do whatever you want to do, but please don't act like you are doing it because of my charisma!"
Long Yangjun smiled and continued, "At that time, I had two options, one being the Nuwa Clan's solution and the other being the Pangu Clan's."
