Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

"No, you can't do that. I've just finished a training session. I'm still very weak!"

Li Yao sweated hard. "Besides, I've just climbed to an amazing new level and perceived the mysterious truth of the universe. Can you give me some respect?"

"Alright, feel free to fight back. It's the best way to figure out your maximal combat ability."

Boss Bai rubbed his fists and grinned hideously. "I don't believe that you can become invincible after training in a cave for seven days and seven nights. How can it be so simple? Let's see how good you are in a real test!"

"You'd better drop it. I can more or less understand what Li Yao just said. It was not purely nonsense.."

Right when everybody gazed at Li Yao and was ready to beat him up, Long Yangjun finally said, "If you're a hundred years ahead of your age, you will be a genius, but if you're a thousand years ahead, you will be a complete lunatic. That's the same for cultivation.

"Our bodies contain infinite heritages and powers from the ancient times, but most of the heritages and powers are beyond our comprehension. They're not prepared for us at all, but for our offspring in the future. Even if Li Yao has activated those heritages in advance, it's not of actual significance for mankind today.

"The example that Li Yao gave on ants was not a bad one. If an ant learns of the ways a mantis attacks or can release the venom of a scorpion, it will be great, but if what the ant learns is how a tiger pounces and how an eagle flies, would it be of any significance for a creature as weak as an ant?

"It is needless to say that energy and matter must be balanced and that everything comes with a cost. How much damage will be caused to an ant's soul and body if it wants to awaken the skills of a tiger? How much energy will it need to consider the flight of an eagle? So, it might not be an excuse that Li Yao said that he's weak. Didn't we see how he looked like a fossil a few days ago?"

"Well…"

Everybody looked at each other.

Apparently, Long Yangjun was much more trustworthy than Li Yao. Everybody was deep in thought now that she endorsed Li Yao.

"It's a paradox that nobody can escape."

Not caring if other people could understand, Long Yangjun continued casually, "For various reasons, we all want to turn ourselves into 'supermen'. Sometimes, it's for fame; sometimes, it's for fortune; sometimes, it's for power; and sometimes, it's for revenge. We try our best to cultivate ourselves exactly to make ourselves 'supermen'.

"However, have you considered that if we do become supermen one day, will the reason that motivated us at the beginning still matter?

"If a superman is bound by the pursuits of fame and fortune or by their hate, unable to free themselves, would they deserve to be called supermen, and could they unleash the power of a superman? No, bound and confused by those things, they cannot become supermen at all.

"I'm sure that you know what happened when the ancient Cultivators reached high levels. They were all gone from reality.

"Most of them really died because of their inappropriate operations, but is it possible that some of them really cut off their connections to this world and ascended to universes of higher levels without being bound by this world anymore?

"Maybe death is never the destination but the beginning of another brand-new journey, which Li Yao has peeped at. To be honest, I'm very glad that he did not turn into butterflies or rainbows when he was attracted by the landscape in the new journey and was still willing to wake up and fight for this world."

What Long Yangjun said dumbfounded the emperor, the empress dowager, the general, and the mechanical lives.

Even Li Yao was astounded himself; his jaw hitting the ground.

"Wow…"

It was not until a minute later that Li Yao finally murmured, "If I weren't Li Yao, I would've thought that you had conspired with Li Yao so that you could flatter each other with pure crap!"

"President Long!"

Li Linghai, however, said deep in thought, "You became weird after you touched Li Yao in the Gold Crystal Pyramid, and you had been in a trance in the past couple of days. However, when I met you this morning, I felt that you were reborn. Besides, what you described just now seemed to be a personal feeling. Have you also made a breakthrough?"

"Maybe."

Long Yangjun smiled. "I don't like to play mysterious, but even if I did have a breakthrough, it's not something that can be explained in human languages. I can only say that I saw something that had never been seen and received certain heritages that are too advanced to be used."

"If the heritages are very advanced…"

Li Linghai asked, "How can they not be used?"

"Imagine that the primitive apes received ways to calculate the mass of a star based on the orbital changes of planets."

Long Yangjun said, "Would those ways be of any use for the apes however accurate they were?"

Li Linghai frowned, lost for words.

"If we're not so egoistic as to claim that we're the destination of evolution…"

Long Yangjun said, "Then, we will have to admit that 99% of the secrets buried deep inside our genes were not prepared for us but for mankind ten thousand or even a million years later. It's neither necessary nor possible to finish mankind's journey in the next million years within a hundred years, no?"

"Got it."

Li Linghai took a deep breath and smiled bitterly. "I was too stubborn."

"Hey, Your Highness, why do you appear so enlightened?"

Li Yao's eyes bulged as he complained, "Why do I feel that you were all suspicious when I said it but convinced when Long Yangjun said exactly the same things?"

Everybody was amused.

"Seems so."

Li Jialing said, "I don't know why, but what Sister Long said was reasonable and enlightening, whereas Brother Yao seemed to be bragging about himself. It's probably a matter of image, because Brother Yao does not look like someone who will ascend at all."

"That's definitely one way to look at it."

Long Yangjun added casually, "Although Li Yao peeped at the path to the Higher Truth and got a chance to enter universes of higher levels, he was too stupid, and he couldn't cut off his connections with the mortal world, so he was kicked back by the Higher Truth."

"Now that you put it that way, Sister Long…"

Li Jialing nodded quickly. "It's much more reasonable!"

Li Yao was angry at first, but hearing Long Yangjun's theory, he couldn't help but smile too.

"That's probably exactly what happened."

He scratched his head and spat. "I'm not interested in the universes of higher levels at all. Would life as a 'superman' really be better than my life right now? Even if I am to see what the Higher Truth looks like one day, I'll at least have to settle down my family, friends, and compatriots in this place before I embark on new adventures, right?"

"Damn right, Brother Yao!"

Li Jialing finally lunged at him and hugged Li Yao. The vibe of an emperor that the young lion had developed for half a month was completely gone, and he became Li Yao's most beloved younger brother again. "Welcome back! Before you explore the Higher Truth, you'd better help us mortals resolve the imminent problems first!"

"Exactly, Black Wind King."

Lei Chenghu's brows were still furrowed. "The situation is very tricky right now, and the newborn regime of the reformists will collapse after one moment of carelessness. I'm sure that you do not want the four families to reclaim the power, do you?

"Although you said that your combat ability did not significantly increase, you caused quite a view outside of the Gold Crystal Pyramid. Too many people awakened their spiritual roots and saw illusions because of your influence. So, you must've acquired some new techniques, haven't you?"

"Well, of course I have."

Li Yao thought for a moment and said, "Now, the range of my vitality field has been significantly expanded. With the enhancement of the Gold Crystal Pyramid, it may be able to cover a hundred square kilometers. In this range, my vitality field can influence and boost the natural magnetic field and show unusual phenomena. If the people whose brainwave frequency matches mine, they will feel comfortable and even live a longer life after they enter the range!"

"…"

Lei Chenghu asked, "That's all?"

"That's not enough?"

Li Yao asked, "In the age of the ancient Cultivators, my ability would've been as miraculous as bringing the dead back to life, and I would've been respected as a real deity!"