Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

by <unknown>

  Without any hesitation, Li Yao replied quickly, "On the planets that had creatures, after billions of years, under the tectonic movements and the high temperature and pressure, the dead bodies of the prehistoric creatures could be transformed into energy sources such as coal or oil. Although their utilization efficiency was not very high, they were enough to support a relatively primitive civilization. It's just that those energy sources alone were hardly enough to let the civilization break out of the stellar system it was at.

  "Then, if the dead bodies of the prehistoric creatures can be transformed into energy under certain circumstances, is it possible that the soul and will of the prehistoric intelligent lives can be turned into another kind of energy?

  "The vast universe has witnessed the passage of time of at least a hundred billion years. Before the civilization of mankind, there were the Pangu and Nuwa civilizations. Then, how many civilizations were there before the Pangu and the Nuwa civilizations? Theoretically speaking, there could've been ten thousand civilizations before us.

  "If the individuals in the super civilizations billions of years ago already reached the magnificent levels a hundred times stronger than the human beings in the Divinity Transformation Stage, how overwhelming must their souls and will have been? Would their souls and will be gone forever after those unparalleled experts passed away? Is it possible that their souls and will were transformed into a new, pure-energy form because of the reactions with the cosmic radiations and space waves?

  "Therefore, the hypothesis of prehistoric intelligent life holds that the spiritual energy we are using today is exactly the souls and will of countless unparalleled experts from the advanced civilizations billions of years ago, except that it has been too highly compressed and condensed for us to know what it used to be, just like when you see a bucket of oil, it will be impossible for you to imagine that it was a dinosaur at the beginning.

  "However, I do not support such a hypothesis personally, because there are two obvious questions.

  "Firstly, if the so-called 'spiritual energy' is the souls and will left by the super experts from the advanced civilizations in the past, there is bound to be an 'initial civilization' at the beginning of everything. Where exactly did the experts of the first-generation civilization absorb spiritual energy for their training? Without spiritual energy, how were they capable of breaking out of the mother planet and the stellar system, creating the first glory?

  "Secondly, an important method of training is to absorb the natural essence. The radiations of stars are one of the biggest sources of spiritual energy too. How can such a hypothesis explain that?"

  "It's very simple."

  Long Yangjun said with a smile, "The three hypotheses on the origins of spiritual energy are not necessarily independent and separated. They can totally support and enhance each other.

  "First of all, the entire universe came from the big bang billions of years ago. During the big bang, countless 'pieces' that were extremely hot and sharp were blown out and ripped out thousands of cracks in the three-dimensional universe. Those gaps led to the four-dimensional universe or even higher dimensions, introducing the energy that was not supposed to belong to the three-dimensional universe from the higher dimensions. The energy then irrigated the prosperous worlds.

  "With the nutrition of the energy of the higher dimensions, the first civilizations gradually appeared in those worlds. The experts of the first civilizations studied the energy from the higher dimensions and slowly melted their feelings, will, and souls into the high-dimensional energy, which was the prototype of spiritual energy.

  "There used to be countless advanced intelligent lives in the billions of years in the history of the universe. After the best experts of the super civilizations perished, they were all melted into the 'ocean of energy' that flowed all over the universe in a certain form as the spiritual energy that mankind uses today. Therefore, you can consider the spiritual energy as a gift from the 'ancestral civilizations' for their offspring!

  "As for the spiritual energy that radiates from stars, it is even simpler. You should know that not the radiations from all stars are beneficial for training. The radiations of most stars are just the most fundamental light and heat.

  "So, is it possible that certain super intelligent lives used to live inside the stars, or that the stars were themselves some kind of super-intelligent life forms but are already dead?"

  Li Yao was astounded. "Wait, wait, wait. What are you trying to say? How is it related to the tenebrum energy?"

  "It is related in every way."

  Long Yangjun said solemnly, "If the spiritual energy originated from the feelings, will. and souls of countless intelligent lives billions of years ago, do you not think that it is too much of a waste to just use it as an energy source? It's just like after you have excavated oil of the best quality from below the ground, you simply light it with fire. That is not the way to completely unleash its real power!

  "What I'm saying is that the so-called spiritual energy is the feelings, will, and souls of the prehistoric intelligent lives, except that they gradually entered the hibernation state in the billions of years of changes of the universe. 99% of their power has been sealed.

  "The way that human beings make use of spiritual energy is too primitive to activate its real power. You are sitting on a mountain of treasures, and yet you regard the gold and the diamonds as rocks. This is exactly how it feels.

  "In short, the tenebrum energy is not the opposite of the spiritual energy but the advanced form of the spiritual energy. The tenebrum energy is exactly the spiritual energy that has been fully activated, while the spiritual energy is the tenebrum energy in the hibernation state!"

  Li Yao found it hard to believe. "It does sound more or less reasonable, but do you have any evidence?"

  "I don't have any direct evidence. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a 'hypothesis' at all."

  Long Yangjun said with a smile, "However, isn't it the best evidence that I can make use of the tenebrum energy freely at will? Not just me, you can do the same too. Just free your mind, make your soul travel to billions of years ago so that you can feel the power deep inside the spiritual energy and hear the roars of the prehistoric civilizations during their conquests of the universe and the moans when they passed away. You can inherit the spirits and will of the prehistoric civilizations and unlock the 'seals' that cover the spiritual energy, transforming it into the tenebrum energy that is a hundred times more powerful!"

  Blinking his eyes for a long time, Li Yao asked, "If the tenebrum energy is really an advanced form of the spiritual energy, why are the extraterrestrial devils such a hazard? Tremendous ordinary people and even trainers who were corrupted by the tenebrum energy were possessed and deranged!"

  "That was because the tenebrum was too powerful for regular people to handle! If you ask a three-year-old to rein a disobedient stallion or wave a saber weighing a hundred kilograms, how can they not fall over and hurt themselves? If an indigent man who has not a single coin in his pocket suddenly inherits tremendous wealth, how can they not be lost in the extravagance?"

  Long Yangjun replied casually, "Think about it. The feelings, will, and souls of the best experts of countless super civilizations in the past billions of years all flooded into the brain of an ordinary person. How could the ordinary person contain themselves and not be lost?

  "Also, the living form of the prehistoric super civilizations was clearly different from mankind today. They must've had some moral codes that human beings cannot accept or understand. When the 'prehistoric morals' all flooded into the head of an ordinary person, is it strange that they are turned into a mentally deranged person and something entirely different?"

  Chapter 2306: Personal Question |

  Li Yao thought quickly and realized that although Long Yangjun's words were rather unconventional and whimsical, they did seem self-consistent and explained the situation logically.

  Considering for a long time, Li Yao said a
gain, "Even if your speculation is correct and the tenebrum energy is not 'evil', it is nonetheless very 'dangerous'."

  "Exactly. Tenebrum energy is a kind of energy that is almost too powerful to be controlled. It is indeed very dangerous and not to be touched by ordinary people and low-level trainers."

  Long Yangjun said, "However, for the experts in the Nascent Soul Stage or the Divinity Transformation Stage, exploring the mysteries of the tenebrum energy is the only way to make them stronger.

  "It is already the limit to advance into the Divinity Transformation Stage or the Divinity Branching Stage with spiritual energy alone. Only the tenebrum energy can help the insignificant human beings to touch the ultimate mysteries of the universe and inherit the precious 'legacies' left by countless intelligent lives in history!

  "Of course, that being said, it is perfectly normal that you have concerns. Not just you, even the Pangu Clan in the past did not agree with training using the tenebrum energy!"

  Attracted, Li Yao couldn't help but ask, "Have you remembered more things about the primeval war now?"

  "More or less. The mottled memory pieces are getting clearer and clearer inside my soul."

  Long Yangjun sighed and said, "The ultimate war between the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan, in terms of ideology, was a war of 'order' against 'freedom'. But apart from the metaphysical theories, the real trigger of the war was whether or not to develop the tenebrum energy on a large scale.

  "In the last years of the Pangu Civilization, the technologies and the training techniques were all highly advanced. They also found the relics of countless ancestral civilizations from billions of years ago. All the requirements to develop and apply the tenebrum energy on a large scale were met.

  "However, the energy form that was a hundred times more powerful and dangerous than the spiritual energy naturally raised everybody's wariness.

  "The thirteen main civilizations of the Pangu civilizations' alliance only joined each other because they were exhausted and almost mutually destroyed in the countless universal wars against one another. The wars in the past taught them a good lesson about the dread of desires, ambitions, hatred, and chaos. Therefore, the Pangu Civilization's alliance worshipped absolute order and believed that everybody must conceal or even erase their feelings to maintain the peace and harmony of the universe.

  "While the tenebrum energy was an energy form that was a hundred times more advanced and powerful, it entailed the residues of the feelings, will, and desires of countless prehistoric civilizations. If they were taken in recklessly, it was possible that the ambitions and hatred that the Pangu civilizations had just suppressed would be stirred up again.

  "Therefore, the leaders of the Pangu civilizations reached a consensus to seal the tenebrum energy together and abolish all the technologies that can develop the tenebrum energy. Also, the tenebrum energy was defined as 'Chaos', 'extraterrestrial devils', and things like that, to inform every individual in the alliance of civilizations how evil and dreadful the energy was, and how it could destroy the entire alliance of civilizations when it was released and activated!"

  Regardless of the credibility of Long Yangjun's words, Li Yao felt greatly enlightened.

  Long Yangjun went on, "The first twelve civilizations that joined the alliance had all been through the destructive wars against one another. They were fully aware of the importance of order, and they carried out the ban dutifully in the next thousands of years.

  "However, the 'Nuwa civilization', which was youngest and joined the alliance last, was not a participant of the goriest wars in the past. They loved freedom by their nature, not knowing that freedom would lead to chaos and chaos would result in destruction. The Nuwa civilization believed that the spiritual energy in the suppressed state was not enough to help the alliance of civilizations to break out of the known universe, just like coal and oil alone are not enough for a planetary civilization to march out of the stellar system.

  "In order to explore the vast universe and even conquer the entire sea of stars so that the civilization can climb higher peaks, the tenebrum energy must be activated and made use of!

  "Otherwise, the seemingly glorious and brilliant alliance of civilizations was nothing but a frog at the bottom of a well. It would be forever stranded in the known universe and perish without a sound in the end!

  "Disregarding the ban of the Pangu civilizations' alliance, the Nuwa Clan researched on the tenebrum energy in secret. Naturally, the studies couldn't have been flawless at the beginning. When the magnificent power was released, some tragedies happened too, and the Pangu civilizations' alliance learned of the matter.

  "To maintain the peace and order of the universe, the other twelve civilizations of the alliance, including the Pangu Clan, the Kuafu Clan, the Gonggong Clan, the Zhurong Clan, etc., decided to wipe out the Nuwa civilization that was already polluted by the tenebrum energy so that the chaos and destruction could be terminated while they were still in the cradle!

  "That was the trigger of the primeval war. You know most of what happened next. Fighting against twelve powerful civilizations that were far stronger than themselves at the same time, the Nuwa civilization was naturally on a losing streak at the beginning and almost entirely obliterated.

  "But at the last moment, the Nuwa civilization freed the power contained in the spiritual energy, upgrading the spiritual energy into the tenebrum energy. With such a power, they transformed the 'full-terrain generic miniature biochemical tools', or human beings, which were most widely used in the Pangu civilizations' alliance, into ultimate weapons that had their own will and emotions, with a high independence and inestimable potentials. Eventually, the Nuwa Clan and their opponents suffered equally heavy losses, and human beings finally became the owners of the three thousand Sectors after Pangu and Nuwa passed away!

  "Therefore, human beings are in fact very strong, and they have the natural-born gifts to make use of the tenebrum energy. As long as I tell you a few tricks, you will soon be able to play with it skillfully!"

  Long Yangjun told the whole story without any stop and grimaced at Li Yao, as if she had said nothing but an unimportant rumor instead of a shocking legend.

  Li Yao felt the urge to scratch his head. Pondering for a long time, he asked, "You are willing to teach me how to use the tenebrum energy? Why?"

  Long Yangjun said, "If I say that it's because I was moved by your statement that you regarded me as a friend in the metro tunnel of White Stone Municipality the other day, and that I would like to treat you as a real friend, would you believe me?"

  Li Yao replied, "Not that I don't believe you, but it does sound a little bit… nauseating."

  "Ha, I feel that it is a little bit nauseating too. Then, let me put it in a different way."

  Long Yangjun swam inside the deep ocean as agilely as a mermaid while she said with a smile, "Dongfang Wang is dying, but I am still in need of abundant training resources, and I need somebody to help me maintain my Colossus. So, I have to find another thick thigh to cling to, don't I? Li Linghai is too dangerous, and I don't really want to deal with her. After weighing all the candidates, I think that Monster Li is relatively dependable. That's why I've decided to offer you a gift. Does that make sense?

  "If you think that it is not good enough, I have one more reason. Most of the details of the primeval war as well as the interpretation of the tenebrum energy that I described just now are merely my speculations that are not supported by any evidence. I think that I will have to explore deeper fields to find the whole truth of the primeval war or even the mysteries of the primordial age before the appearance of the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan after I gather enough intelligence and files in the Imperium of True Human Beings! The journey will be too long and lonely if I were to finish it on my own, and I can totally use some company. Monster Li, are you willing to come with me?"

  "Mysteries of the primordial age? That's rather distant!"

  After a long daze, Li Yao said, "I'll have to check wi
th my wife first."

  Long Yangjun: "…"

  Li Yao: "Or maybe we can explore the mysteries of the primordial age together after my wife retires from the office. You know that she is very good at fighting. If she picks up the tenebrum energy, her speed of training will certainly be ten times higher than mine!"

  Long Yangjun: "…"

  Li Yao: "If you think that it's going to be awkward if there are two of us and only one of you, we can bring more people, like Jin Xinyue, Yan Liren, Wu Mayan, and Fiend Blade Peng Hai. The more, the merrier!"

  Long Yangjun stared at Li Yao for a long time.

  Even in the dark and profound bottom of the ocean, her eyes still appeared extremely sharp through the crystal suit and the seawater.

  Long Yangjun sniffed and swam to the depths of the undersea chasm, waving the metal fins next to her legs. "Enough of the nonsense. If you want to meet Dongfang Wang while he is still alive, just come with me!"

  Li Yao scratched his chin for a long time and still decided to go down with Long Yangjun.

  It couldn't be helped. He and Long Yangjun were caught in the dilemma where neither of them could defeat the other person and both of them were capable of dying together with each other. It seemed that they had to work together now.

  Retreating the Gold Vulture and absorbing the mental devil back into the body again, Li Yao followed Long Yangjun and descended quickly.

  Looking at Long Yangjun's agile body that looked like a mermaid, Li Yao couldn't help but send a telepathic thought over. "Well, there is a personal question that I've been meaning to ask you. It's not a big deal, but I'm very curious about one thing. Are you… a man or a woman?"

  Long Yangjun swam silently ahead of him. Half a minute later, when Li Yao thought that she had turned a deaf ear to his question, she replied casually, "It has occurred to me that you are not only narrow-minded but also childish. Is it important whether I am a man or a woman?"

  "Not really."

  Li Yao was more or less embarrassed. "Forget it. Just forget it if you don't want to answer it. It's just that since we are such close friends and comrades, we are likely to be faced with certain extremely dangerous battles in the future. If your body is blown into a mess and you are unconscious, I will need to know how to treat you."