Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Light and shadows were changing behind Professor Mo Xuan while data and files as boundless of an ocean emerged. Together with his immaculate body made of liquid metal, they inevitably brought a sense of mysteriousness.

“It is well known that spectral Cultivators are vulnerable to the interference of magnetic fields and radiation because of the lack of a physical body. They can possibly perish and disappear forever because of such interference!

“Therefore, the ancient ghosts often extended their own lives through vicious approaches such as absorbing other people’s vitality and even possessing someone else’s body.

“Nowadays, a kind of great magical equipment named ‘artificial body’ has been invented, which provides a metal shell for the spectral Cultivators, thereby significantly improving the longevity and life quality of the spectral Cultivators!

“However, the artificial bodies have their shortcomings. To say the least, in a war, compared to the bodies of Cultivators, the artificial bodies are very weak, and they can only make use of spiritual energy in a monotonous way!

“It is because the artificial bodies of the present day are all made of normal metals that have their own restraints. However, my four students and I, after being baptized by the cosmic storm by accident, turned into star spirits, new-generation spectral Cultivators, by hiding inside the liquid metal!

“Compared to regular artificial bodies, the liquid metal has too many advantages. We can change our physical form however we want. We are compatible with most magical equipment, crystal processors, and warships. We can even directly hack and corrode hostile crystal processors and warships!

“In the war to settle the riot of the Immortal Cultivators in the Flying Star Sector, we five star spirits snuck into the mainframe crystal processor of Heavenly Phantom, the predecessor of Burning Prairie, with the body of liquid metal. We stole tremendous computational ability and helped Li Yao and the fellow Cultivators defeat the magnificent star child indirectly!”

Behind Professor Mo Xuan, pictures about the riot of the Immortal Cultivators popped up. Explosions and ear-splitting sounds of metal being twisted were immediately echoing inside the hall.

Professor Mo Xuan went on. “As a scholar, I don’t believe in coincidences. Anything that happened will definitely happen again, however low the odds are!

“So, if my four students and I can be melted into the liquid metal perfectly, why can’t the other spectral Cultivators?

“The so-called ‘Spiritual Ghost Plan’ is exactly for such a purpose! We will establish an enormous ‘cosmic storm laboratory’ in the Heaven’s Origin Sector to simulate the cosmic storms and everything that my students and I experienced that day. We will explore the patterns by which the remnant souls are melted with the liquid metal. In the end, we will get the technology to produce star spirits on our own!

“By then, we will be able to pour the remnant souls into liquid metal as conveniently as we pour them into the artificial bodies right now!

“Today, more than fifteen million spectral Cultivators live in the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector. Taking the ‘ghost demons’ in the Blood Demon Sector into account, the number can easily surpass twenty million! Our ultimate goal is to melt a hundred thousand or even more of them into the liquid metal and build an enormous ‘army of star spirits’ in the next hundred years!

“Think about it, everybody. Let’s leave the application of the ‘army of star spirits’ in peacetime aside for a moment. When the expedition army of the Imperium comes at us aggressively, the hundred thousand star spirits will sneak into the starships of the Imperium of True Human Beings without alarming anyone. We will infiltrate their mainframe crystal processors, swallow their computational ability, and even completely take over the starships!

“What a great help it will be for the victory of the war!”

The ‘Spiritual Ghost Plan’ that Professor Mo Xuan proposed with consideration of his own situation was truly enticing. Many Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators nodded in approval. They were apparently quite interested.

Professor Mo Xuan took the opportunity to look for patrons. “To realize the ‘Spiritual Ghost Plan’, we will have to conquer thousands of technological obstacles. For now, the most important thing for us is to establish a ‘cosmic storm laboratory’ in outer space, which is a huge investment that requires more than fifty billion dollars to initiate. The Grand Desolate War Institution alone cannot afford it!

“After the Meeting of the Nascent Soul Stage, we will host a ‘Spiritual Ghost Plan Press Conference’ and tell the public more details about the project. If you are interested, fellow Cultivators, you can come and join the event!”

Dozens of Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators behind were waiting to speak. Therefore, Professor Mo Xuan only gave a general picture and a brief introduction.

After sending the detailed files to the crystal processors of the two hundred participants, Professor Mo Xuan bowed and left the podium.

Li Yao immediately sent a message to him. “Professor Mo Xuan, what’s the progress of the ‘Spiritual Ghost Plan’ right now? Are there any theoretically irresolvable conundrums? Let’s talk in private after the meeting and see if the Glorious Sunlight Group can invest the project directly and secure strategic cooperation with the Grand Desolate War Institution!”

Li Yao and Professor Mo Xuan had been through life and death together. Naturally, Li Yao would give his full support to Mo Xuan’s project.

It did not matter how much money the Glorious Sunlight Group was really investing. After the news that the Glorious Sunlight Group was now cooperating with the Grand Desolate War Institution, a lot of sects in the Flying Star Sector would certainly be willing to join the project.

Professor Mo Xuan replied to Li Yao with a thank-you emoji. They did not have time to pursue any further because another expert had begun his introduction. It was another of his old acquaintances, the Fire Ant King!

“What I am going to introduce is not a systematic plan but a series of research fields—the treasures left by ‘Chaos’ Ba Yanzhi!

The Fire Ant King used to be the leader of the Blade of Chaos. After the Elder Nether Spring died, most of the relics of ‘Chaos’ Ba Yanzhi fell to his hands. The development and utilization of such relics were his primary concern.

“Forty thousand years ago, Ba Yanzhi, the leader of the Chaos Demons, fought against the Ultimate One Demons with the Blood Demon Sector as his last fort. He left countless relics and secret treasures on the planet!

“The largest of all the relics is the place of Ba Yanzhi’s burial, namely the Mausoleum of Chaos deep inside the White Silver Death Desert of the Blood Demon Sector.

“There, Ba Yanzhi conducted a series of incredible research projects based on the relic of the Pangu civilization, which can shed a lot of light to us even today!

“After the situation in the Blood Demon Sector stabilized, I led an exploration team of Skyfire to excavate the Mausoleum of Chaos a second time. We sorted through the key technologies inside. Three of them are of paramount importance for the three Sectors today.

“Firstly, the man-made spiritual root technology. Once it succeeds, it will be possible to plant a man-made spiritual root into the head of an ordinary person and transform them into a Cultivator easily!

“Of course, due to the lack of training, such Cultivators will definitely be far from real ones. They might even not be able to advance and will stop at the beginning level of the Refinement Stage all their life.

“However, for the ordinary soldiers in their thirties who have almost no hope of becoming Cultivators in the first place, is there anything wrong with improving their combat ability quickly in such a way?

“Secondly, the gold core technology! If the man-made spiritual roots can only significantly expand the number of the bottom-level soldiers, the gold core technology will be able to produce experts in bulk!

“In fact, this is also the technology that is closest to realization. My brother, Elder Nether Spring, built a strong special force named the Nether World Watch through a similar technology!”

The Nether World Watch had been Elder Nether Spring’s personal army. The soldiers of the army were embedded with tremendous demon cores to enhance their combat ability. They were indeed much tougher than normal demons and had even caused a headache for Li Yao.

After Elder Nether Spring died, part of the Nether World Watch had resisted and been executed, but part of them, having no leaders, had chosen to surrender. The secrets of their training had then fallen into the hands of the Fire Ant King and Skyfire.

Methods of training were neither righteous nor evil after all. What Elder Nether Spring used to commit crimes, the Fire Ant King and Li Yao could use to protect their homeland and help the people.

“Thirdly, the technology to blend magical equipment with flesh! The essence of the technology is to grant a piece of magical equipment certain self-control and identification abilities. They can be called ‘ware spirits’, if you will, which can perform a mission for a long time without any manipulation!

“The intelligence of such ‘ware spirits’ will not have to be as high as an adult. They will be able to play an important role in many military fields as long as they are as smart as army dogs!

“Imagine such a picture. A batch of blood-sucking flying swords are produced and deployed to the space zones at the frontier of the New Federation. Once the invaders from the Imperium of True Human Beings are detected, they will immediately be awoken from their hibernation state. With self-control, they will dash into the warships of the Imperium of True Human Beings and keep themselves functioning by absorbing the flesh and blood of the Immortal Cultivators. Then, they will slaughter and sabotage!

“Even if they cannot stop the enemy, they will at least buy us more time and will consume the enemy’s resources as much as possible!”

Man-made spiritual roots, synthesized gold cores, and cannibal ware spirits!

Each of the three technologies was groundbreaking enough. If they were all successfully developed, the capability of the three Sectors would be enhanced by at least ten times!

All the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and demon emperors nodded in approval.

Like Professor Mo Xuan, the Fire Ant King left the podium swiftly after sending the project proposal regarding the development of the Mausoleum of Chaos to everybody.

Li Yao had seen the toughness of the blood-sucking flying swords in the Mausoleum of Chaos himself. He was quite interested in the mysterious magical equipment, too. So, he declared confidently to the Fire Ant King that money was not a problem, and he could provide however much the Fire Ant King needed.

However, after the Fire Ant King gave him the budget of the preliminary phase, Li Yao was so shocked that he could barely keep mouth closed.

Good heavens. So much money?

Li Yao’s personal assets right now, if used for his own training and entertainment, would be more than enough for the rest of his life even if he were to do nothing from this moment on.

However, compared to the budget of a super project that would take decades to accomplish and influence multiple Sectors, his money was nothing but a glass of water in front of an entire ocean.