Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Yes,” Professor Xie Wufeng said. “According to the records of Professor Mo Xuan’s experiment logs and the confessions of the specialists of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus, the two Hyper Spirits code named ‘No. 17’ and ‘No. 18’ were the products of failed experiments. Their core databases had long collapsed, and their operational logics were quite chaotic. In the end, Professor Mo Xuan abandoned them and sealed them in the Virtual Spirits Sector.

“However, as you have seen, the Hyper Spirits are all the most terrifying artificial intelligences. A single ‘Moonlight Bringer’ is capable enough of seriously disrupting if not completely controlling the transportation hub of the entire federation.

“Even if ‘No. 17’ and ‘No. 18’ are only broken clips of glyphs and code right now, should they fall into the hands of malicious parties, there could still be dire consequences.

“Therefore, we must find them and eradicate them completely!”

Li Yao nodded cautiously. “Indeed, we must. However, I’m confused about one thing. Judging from their code names, ‘No. 17’ and ‘No. 18’ must’ve been the Hyper Spirits that were developed at the end. Before them, sixteen Hyper Spirits were produced successfully, including a Hyper Spirit as complicated and powerful as ‘Moonlight Bringer’.

“Logically, Professor Mo Xuan had accumulated abundant experience in modification of the Hyper Spirits. Also, he had the enhancement of the extraterrestrial devils. Chances were low that he could make a mistake. Why did he experience two failures in a row?

“Professor Mo Xuan did not mention the problem much in his experiment logs. In the rare cases where he did bring up No. 17 and No. 18, he never cared to give more details. It seemed that he was quite baffled about the outcome himself. Over the past few days, you have cracked and analyzed all the crystal processors in Deep Blue Super Brain Hospital, and you interrogated so many Spiriters. Did you find any leads?”

“We may be onto something now,” Professor Xie Wufeng said. “According to the confessions of the specialists involved, it was mostly because Professor Mo Xuan was too ambitious. After the success of the first sixteen Hyper Spirits, his confidence expanded crazily and prompted him to produce an ultimate version that was stronger than all the ‘Hyper Spirits’.

“Despite the weird life form of Professor Mo Xuan as a star spirit and the abilities of the extraterrestrial devils, the techniques that they intended to endow to the ultimate Hyper Spirit far exceeded their limits.

“They seemed to have tried almost ten thousand radical algorithms and revolutionary operational logics on No. 17 and No. 18. All of them were the most cutting-edge virtual technology. However, every person has their limits, and even the extraterrestrial devils are not omnipotent. Because of the overwhelming untested new technology, the failures were unavoidable.

“After the two consecutive failures, they realized this point themselves. Therefore, the No. 19 Hyper Spirit was produced dutifully based on regular algorithms and operational logic. No. 17 and No. 18 were absolutely unique.

“I’m afraid that Professor Mo Xuan sealed them in the Virtual Spirits Sector instead of completely destroying them for the same reason. He probably intended to continue the studies of the two ultimate Hyper Spirits after he seized absolute power and gathered all the specialists and resources of the whole federation.”

Li Yao and Long Yangjun looked at each other and could not help but ask, “What kind of missions were No. 17 and No. 18 designed for that could only be supported by the techniques that were even unrealizable for the extraterrestrial devils?”

“The game ‘Civilization’.” Professor Xie Wufeng took a deep breath and said, “The mission for No. 17 and No. 18 was to control every platform, every DLC, and every player of ‘Civilization’ instantly.

“If the mission succeeded, they would be able to seal all the players dwelling in the worlds of ‘Civilization’ inside the immersive game cabins forever. Without the permission of them or the extraterrestrial devils, the players would never be able to return to reality.”

Li Yao was greatly alarmed. He could not help but feel that his blood was freezing.

‘Civilization’ was the greatest game platform in the federation. No. In fact, it had far exceeded the category of ‘game’. It was more like a virtual platform of communication that included the entire federation. Entertainment, socialization, work, and even the functions of the government could not have been done without the platform.

According to the statistics, more than ten billion people were online in Civilization every second. More than ninety percent of the population logged into the child platforms that derived from the platform on a daily basis. Almost a hundred percent of the population logged into Civilization at least once a week!

If the extraterrestrial devils had indeed controlled the game ‘Civilization’ with ‘No. 17’ and ‘No. 18’, the entire federation would essentially be under their control!

However…

“How is it possible?” Pondering for a moment, Li Yao shook his head quickly. “The computational load is too heavy. Also, it involves the mysteries at the deepest part of human souls. The mission is more difficult than counting the stars in the sky!”

“It is indeed practically impossible,” Professor Xie Wufeng remarked. “That was why the two experiments both failed. Later, even the Professor Mo Xuan possessed by the extraterrestrial devil realized that it was a complete waste of time and resources and put the project on hold.

“Based on the experiment data that we collected, No. 17 and No. 18 had only one percent of the virtual pieces left after collapse. That being said, it is still necessary to locate them, partly to prevent them from falling into the hands of ambitious schemers and partly because the central glyphs and the fundamental operational logic would be helpful for us to analyze other Hyper Spirits.”

Li Yao thought for a moment and asked, “Does it mean that we have to enter the Virtual Spirits Sector?”

“Regarding the super crystal processors that were involved in the ‘Virtual Spirits Sector Project’, the specialists have a lot of ways to unravel the deep mysteries in them,” Professor Xie Wufeng said. “However, it is indeed the most time-saving and most straightforward way to have someone check the collapsed Virtual Spirits Sector first.”

Li Yao frowned. “Won’t it be dangerous?”

Professor Mo Xuan, Lu Qingchen, and even Su Changfa in the beginning were all involved in the violent virtual turbulence during the collapse of the Virtual Spirits Sector. Their souls were heavily wounded. Some of them were dead, and some were corrupted.

Li Yao did not want such a tragedy to happen again.

Wei Qingqing smiled. “Rest assured. Although the Virtual Spirits Sector is a broken mess right now, it is still rather stable. As long as we do not modify the data on a large scale, there shouldn’t be a second collapse.”

“Of course, it can be dangerous,” Professor Xie Wufeng said. “That is why we are hoping that you and Fellow Cultivator Long can lead us to inspect the Virtual Spirits Sector together. Both of you are super experts close to the Divinity Transformation Stage, and you demonstrated enormous soul power in the fierce fights against the extraterrestrial devils. If you come with us, even if we are trapped in the Virtual Spirits Sector, there should be a way for us to break the illusion and return to reality instead of panicking, right?”

Li Yao considered for a moment. He was very curious about the Virtual Spirits Sector, which was designed to hatch virtual life. Besides, as a virtual world that had been forsaken for decades, it could not be more dangerous than the Spiriters’ Realm, which was directly under the control of the extraterrestrial devils, could it?

Li Yao looked at Long Yangjun, checking if she was willing to go.

“Don’t look at me. I have already promised Professor Xie.” Long Yangjun opened her hands and said solemnly, “Theoretically speaking, there shouldn’t be much danger after we enter the Virtual Spirits Sector, but we have to take precautions for a fatal factor nonetheless.”

Greatly alarmed, Li Yao hurried to ask, “What factor?”

“You!” Long Yangjun glanced at him. “A simple mission of inspection that is supposedly not dangerous at all will be a hundred times more perilous than before should you participate in it, Monster Li. I can almost hear the alarms ringing loudly in my head!”

“…” Li Yao.

…

In the super crystal processor control center in Hundred Flowers City, Li Yao, Long Yangjun, Professor Xie Wufeng, and several other specialists of crystal processors were all soaked in the warm nervous interaction liquids.

Wei Qingqing and several other spectral Cultivators, or Spiriters, connected themselves to the enormous super crystal processor through wires, too.

It was a well-planned operation of inspection. Naturally, countless doctors, Meditation Healers, and crystal processor specialists were monitoring the status of their bodies and brains closely to lower the danger level to the minimum.

“Are you ready? Inspection of the Virtual Spirits Sector will begin in ten… nine… eight…”

Professor Xie Wufeng’s voice sounded like blurred tides through the thick nerval interaction liquids.

When the transparent cover of the cabin was closed, it seemed to be cutting off the light of the outside, too. Li Yao felt darkness consume him inch by inch until even his head was drowned.

He was suddenly surrounded by coldness. He struggled to stand up, only to discover that he sat up without any trouble and that his head did not bump into the cover of the cabin.

The cover of the immersive cabin was gone. Or rather, the real world was gone.

Right now, he was sitting on a bleak beach deep inside the broken Virtual Spirits Sector, and his legs were being brushed by the dark waves.

This was a world that was dying slowly.

Li Yao looked far away. The end of the sea level was a gigantic star that almost occupied Li Yao’s entire eyes, giving a very weird feeling of astonishment, as if it were not a sphere but a mouth that collapsed inwardly and was about to swallow the entire planet he was at.

Despite the unbelievably huge size of the star, it did not emanate much dazzling brilliance. It burnt lethargically and occasionally released one or two rays that were no better than nothing. They brought a pale hue of redness to the beach but not the slightest warmth.

It was better to call the star some mottled, red pigment that was smeared in the sky than a star. Nothing more.

The black ocean was also the same.

At first, Li Yao thought that the ocean was frozen and all the waves and tides had come to a stop. But upon closer inspection, and after a long observation, it finally occurred to him that the ocean was actually still flowing, except that it seemed to be flowing a hundred times more slowly than the oceans in the real world. In such a weary, sluggish way, it reminded him that he was in the middle of a dying Virtual Spirits Sector.