Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Five thousand years ago, before the apocalypse, what was currently Furious Bears City had been an enormous metropolis. Furious Bears City had been established on the remains of the metropolis, and the remains were the most important resources for the citizens.

Therefore, Furious Bears City was divided into separate districts, which were built on the most valuable debris and enclosed by a high city wall at the edge.

The distance between different districts was usually very long. Many routes on the ground were blocked by debris. Even the routes that were not blocked were still rough and inconvenient.

Therefore, the True Qi trains in midair became the best vehicles available. Most ordinary people would ride such trains to commute from their homes to their schools or factories.

Wu Mayan had just boarded on one of the trains with Li Yao, when a conductor came to check his ticket. The young man held his head high and announced, “I’m a qi-trainer!”

The conductor immediately changed his attitude and said respectfully, “Please proceed to the special carriage for qi-trainers at the front. This is—”

Wu Mayan said, “This is a friend of mine. He is also a qi-trainer. However, he was wounded recently during a hunting trip. I will provide his spiritual gas later.”

Led by the conductor, the two of them passed through two carriages. The passengers on board, seeing that they were moving forward, realized that they were both qi-trainers and all showed admiration and reverence, as if they were heroes and big shots. Li Yao felt slightly awkward being stared at in such a way.

Compared to other carriages, the special carriage for trainers was neither luxurious nor exquisite. The only difference was that there was a big iron shelf on which many black metal balls were placed. Each ball was slightly larger than Li Yao’s hand, with holes and valves on the surface. They reminded Li Yao of the super-compressed crystal reactors on crystal suits, except that they were much more unpolished and primitive.

Wu Mayan took two metal balls from the shelf in a natural way. He stopped briefly and took another one. Then, he guided Li Yao to two empty seats and sat down.

Li Yao looked around. There were several qi-trainers in a few other booths. They had two or three metal balls in front of them, too.

Just now, Wu Mayan had said to the conductor that he was going to provide Li Yao’s spiritual gas. He started to wonder what that meant.

“Huuuu!”

The train roared. A huge amount of white fog spurted out from not only the locomotive in the lead but also underneath each carriage. All the carriages were enshrouded in grey mist. The train marched forward and was gradually lifted to almost twenty meters off the ground.

Li Yao greatly enjoyed the continuously changing scenery outside the window. He found that five steel towers almost a hundred meters high were standing not far ahead. There was a giant helical iron tube in the middle of each high tower that extended deep underground.

More than ten beams of smoke spurted out of the top of the high towers. Like raging dragons, the iron tubes drilled underground while producing earsplitting noises nonstop.

Wu Mayan followed Li Yao’s gaze and explained with a smile, “Uncle Sand Scorpion, they are the ‘True Qi Water Dragons’ of Furious Bears City that are used to pump the underground water!

“Furious Bears City has many advantages. There are many shallow crystal mines that are readily exploitable. One of the biggest shortcomings of the city is the lack of water sources!

“It was not until the True Qi Water Dragons were established that the clean and delicious water from hundreds of meters underground could be retrieved. The shortage of water in the city was resolved once and for all. After that, the population of Furious Bears City gradually increased, and it finally became one of the biggest cities on Iron Plateau!”

Li Yao stared at the towers with great interest.

When he was in the Heaven’s Origin Sector and in the space of the Flying Star Sector, he had seen a lot of drilling magical equipment driven by the spiritual energy from crystals.

However, this was the first time he had seen large magical equipment driven by the spiritual gas from human beings that could dig hundreds of meters into the underground!

The wisdom of mankind awed him. Flames of civilization were like stubborn grass that could always penetrate through the stones on them and embrace the sunlight however unfavorable the environment was!

While he was secretly complimenting the Iron Plateau natives, a few loudly noises broke out in the sky.

Li Yao craned his head out of the window, only to discover that a few grey giant sacks were slowly passing by with lead grey cabins hanging beneath.

Two wide wings extended out of the cabins. Four propellers were installed to the back of the wings and the cabins. They were spinning fast, driven by the spiritual gas and pushing the sacks to fly slowly, leaving white traces in the air that gradually dispersed.

“These are True Qi airships. They are the vehicles used to transport people from Furious Bears City to the towns of the tribe.

“The pilots of such True Qi airships are all expert qi-trainers. Their manipulation of spiritual gas is extremely delicate.

“They can lower the density of their spiritual gas with special techniques to the extent that it weighs even less than air!

“After pouring such ‘light spiritual gas’ into giant airbags, they make the airbags float. By altering their directions with propellers, they can take us to wherever we want!

“Such True Qi magical equipment was only invented three hundred years ago. With the True Qi airships, Furious Bears City is better linked to the secondary towns.

“However, there are many flying demon beasts in the sky that often attack the True Qi airships. So, many guards are stationed on each True Qi airship and are known as the ‘Flying Bears Army’. It is one of the most coveted professions in the Furious Bears Tribe. I used to dream of joining the Flying Bears Army in the past, too!” Wu Mayan said excitedly, holding his head high.

While talking, he picked up one of the metal balls. He then opened a valve on the top of the ball and pressed his hands against the ball. His ten fingers aimed at ten holes, and his palm aimed at the other six. The sixteen holes on the metal ball were all covered by him.

The young man’s eyes bulged and suddenly grunted. “Hu!”

His spiritual gas surged out as he fully demonstrated the capability of the 12th level of the Refinement Stage!

Li Yao sensed that the spiritual gas around his companion flooded along his arms and hands into the hollow metal ball nonstop!

The metal ball hissed feebly.

Above the metal ball was a pressure meter crafted out of bronze on which there was a red pointer. As Wu Mayan’s spiritual gas poured into the ball, the red pointer staggered and moved clockwise.

There was a circle of numbers from zero to a hundred on the pressure meter.

The pointer came to a halt when it reached sixty. However hard Wu Mayan tried, and even when his face was completely red, the pointer simply shivered and would not move any further.

Wu Mayan released his hands unwillingly, before he closed the valve on the ball and mumbled, “Another middle-level True Qi ball!”

He took a moment of rest and warmed up his hands and legs. He then grasped the second metal ball and took a long breath, saying to himself, “I’m going to make a breakthrough over the 65% mark this time!”

Seeing Li Yao’s confusion, Wu Mayan chuckled and explained, “Uncle Sand Scorpion, these are ‘True Qi containers’, the most important magical equipment for the natives of Iron Plateau!

“As you can see, the civilization of Iron Plateau is one based on spiritual gas. The vehicles in the sky and on the ground, the battles against the demon beasts and the apocalypse, and daily life such as pumping, tilling, and constructing all required spiritual gas.

“However, only the qi-trainers can produce spiritual gas. Even if ordinary people become strong experts in martial arts, there still won’t be spiritual gas inside their body. As a result, True Qi magical equipment is supposed to be unavailable for them.

“However, long, long ago, a great qi-trainer invented this magical equipment, the True Qi container, which can store a lot of highly-compressed spiritual gas like a solid pressure cooker!

“Look, we can store our spiritual gas in the True Qi containers and hand them over to ordinary people, who will use them as power sources. In such a way, they will be able to use simple True Qi magical equipment, won’t they?”

Wu Mayan smiled. “Therefore, it is not a privilege of ours that we don’t need to buy tickets when we take the train. We buy our tickets by paying with spiritual gas instead of money.

“If a qi-trainer is to take a True Qi train, they will have to fill at least one low-level True Qi container.

“Right. True Qi containers are divided into three levels, namely high, middle, and low, depending on how much spiritual gas you transmit into it. The more spiritual gas your pour inside, the higher the pressure will be, and the more difficult it will be to pour more. Right now, I’m in the 12th level of the Refinement Stage, and I can only fill 60% of a True Qi container. I can’t get any further than that.

“The more spiritual gas a True Qi container includes, the stronger the power it will release. The best ones can be applied to the more advanced True Qi magical equipment.

“Without sufficient pressure, the spiritual gas that the True Qi container releases will be weak and can only be applied to civil magical equipment. Such containers are low-level True Qi balls.

“These are the rules of the six tribes of Iron Plateau. Ordinary people till the land, weave the clothes, and earn their income by working hard in factories.

“Qi-trainers are supported by ordinary people. We are fortunate to enjoy delicious food and various resources before them. We are not bothered by daily trifles and can dedicate ourselves to training and battles.

“In return for our benefits, we have two duties. The first is to slay the demon beasts and fight against the apocalypse, and the second is to fill True Qi containers continuously, which will serve as the power source of the whole tribe!”

Li Yao nodded. The environment of Iron Plateau was even harsher than that of the Heaven’s Origin Sector. Bigger threats were always looming in this place. Ordinary people and qi-trainers had to try their best and fulfill their respective responsibilities in order to keep the torch of civilization burning.

“Our train tickets are supposed to be paid by filling two low-level True Qi containers. But, generally speaking, most qi-trainers will try to fill more True Qi containers whenever they can afford to. We might be exhausted because of the overwork, but our tribe can be greater with each additional True Qi container!”

At this moment, the True Qi train rushed past a neighborhood of skyscrapers. Illuminated by the magnificent sunset, the forest of steel was glittering with brilliant gold brightness, bringing an air of splendidness.