Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Professor Mo Xuan’s lifelong savings!

Li Yao was greatly shocked.

As Mo Xuan’s disciple, he knew exactly what it meant. It was no exaggeration to say that his professor was one of the biggest magnates nationwide with wealth as great as the national treasury!

Yes. More than a hundred years ago, when Li Yao joined the Grand Desolate War Institution as a freshman student, Professor Mo Xuan, who was the dean of the Refining Department at that time, had invested all his belongings into the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit project. He had been so destitute that he had been borrowing money from everyone he knew.

However, as the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit became the first mass-produced crystal processor designated by the military of the federation and was equipped by more than ten legions, Professor Mo Xuan’s poverty was changed for good.

The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit project did not belong to the Grand Desolate War Institution but was essentially managed by Professor Mo Xuan and Professor Yuan Manqiu themselves. Not only was the earliest framework of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit devised by the two of them based on the remnants of the crystal suits from the Star Ocean Imperium, even most of the research funds were raised by them, too.

Therefore, they were the greatest profiters of the project. Li Yao was merely a researcher and a test pilot who had joined the project at the last phase, so he had only gained a tiny slice of shares in it.

But the tiny slice of shares brought Li Yao endless wealth every year incessantly, which was then exchanged for countless resources. It was the solidest support for his soar in Cultivation.

When Li Yao returned from the Flying Star Sector for the first time, the earnings generated by the authorization of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit were already astronomical.

Today, the family of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit were the best-selling crystal suits in the Star Glory Federation in the past hundred years. Their cheap cost, sturdiness, and easy maintenance were made best use of in complicated environments in the seven Sectors and the terribly harsh resource planets. They were extremely popular among people of all social classes, especially ordinary people.

One might say that in any place where the Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars emblem of the federation could be seen, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuits that were rusted and riddled with holes but still functioned well could be found. They made great contributions to the golden development of the federation!

Leaving the pirate producers aside, for the crystal suit manufacturers who were officially authorized, they had to pay the original designer a certain fee for every Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit they built. After a hundred years, as the best-selling crystal suit series, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit had already given Li Yao an astronomical income although he only had a slice of shares. It was unimaginable how much Professor Mo Xuan had earned as the major shareholder!

That, on the other hand, was only one part of Professor Mo Xuan’s wealth.

Years ago, when the Glorious Sunlight Group was founded in the Flying Star Sector, it was mainly for the purpose of covering up the Glorious Sunlight Magical Equipment Laboratory under its banner. The owner of the particular laboratory was Professor Mo Xuan, who had already turned into a star spirit back then.

Therefore, Professor Mo Xuan had quite a lot of shares in the Glorious Sunlight Group, too, almost as many as Li Yao’s.

Li Yao had always respected his professor. Neither himself nor his professor were ever greedy about money. Naturally, they never cared about such insignificant issues.

Right now, the Glorious Sunlight Group was developing quite well as one of the top twenty corporations in the federation. Professor Mo Xuan’s shares, boosted by the rise of the group, were worth an astounding fortune.

Furthermore, Professor Mo Xuan had absorbed a lot of computational ability from the star child in the battle against Xiao Xuance and saved the Flying Star Sector at the most critical moment together with Li Yao, which indirectly changed the course of the Heaven’s Origin Sector, the Blood Demon Sector, and the entire New Federation later. His personal computational ability soared crazily after the battle and could be called the best in the country in terms of many parameters!

With his amazing computational ability, he was essentially a super crystal processor with the soul of a human. That was why he had become one of the earliest developers of the game ‘Civilization’.

The initial development of the game was basically as such. Li Yao and Su Changfa would raise many creative ideas after their discussion and debate, Lu Qingchen would note them down, and Professor Mo Xuan would find a way to put them into practice.

Naturally, Professor Mo Xuan had a lot of shares in the Civilization project.

Today, Civilization had already developed into a behemothic creature of national influence. Did anyone need to question Professor Mo Xuan’s wealth?

And now, he had spent all his savings, which should have been enough to buy a whole planet, on the seemingly unattractive Tinder Plan that could only affect the future species that would be born in billions of years?

How immeasurable this mysterious ‘Tinder Plan’ must have become after being developed by him for so many years with such funding!

The more Li Yao thought about it, the more he felt that something was not right.

“Professor Mo Xuan is one of the most notable celebrities in the federation,” Long Yangjun noted in surprise. “I believe his personal wealth must be abundant. But he’s putting all of his money into an unsubstantial plan of the pessimists? What a devoted man!”

“I couldn’t agree with you more.” Ling Xiaole opened her hands. “It is said that he had a big fight with Yuan Manqiu, his former wife, who was another famous master of refining in the federation. They even got divorced because of that! He—he has indeed dedicated his efforts, his savings, and his entire soul to the ‘Tinder Project’!”

Li Yao and Long Yangjun looked at each other, both amazed.

So, it was not just because of an affair. The whole thing was getting more and more weird.

Li Yao was there mainly to meet Professor Mo Xuan. Investigating Lu Qingchen was not his primary concern. Most importantly, he was hoping to reach out to Ding Lingdang and Jin Xinyue through a reliable channel with Professor Mo Xuan’s help.

But judging from the latest information…

Professor Mo Xuan seemed to be the one he should really focus his attention on!

Professor, what happened to you? Who have you become after a hundred years? Or maybe…

While Li Yao was pondering, the shuttle trembled softly and slowly stopped on a silver rail that was close to the ground.

Green grass grew around them, a refreshing breeze was embracing them, and a blue sky, white clouds, and warm sunlight were overhead. Although they knew that everything was illusionary, they could not help but feel reinvigorated.

Li Yao heard giggles and laughter that were ringing like a pleasant bell.

He looked at the source of the sound, only to discover that almost a hundred elementary school students were playing on the lawn with each other. A few teachers in white dresses were also involved, playing the game together with the kids. They seemed to be on a spring hike together.

But unlike normal spring hikes, every kid there was followed… by a weird thing.

Li Yao blinked and did not know how to describe it.

Some of the objects floating around the students looked like some sort of furry, round, and cute pets, like the Puji Critters with short and stupid wings in Li Yao’s memory.

But some of them were raging dragons that were hovering above the students. They looked rather intimidating, but the kids were not bothered at all. Even the most vulnerable girls did not seem to have noticed the ferocious animals above their heads at all.

Some other students were followed by glittering puppets or even living human beings!

Those human beings were in different attires. Some were wearing robes or sword suits in a vintage style, as if they had travelled through time from forty thousand years ago. Some were wearing a mustard-seed combat suit, with the Demon Beast Detector that Li Yao was quite familiar with on their faces. Some of them even had sacredly white wings in their back and glamorous horns above their head, like kings among the demons.

Every elementary school student was accompanied by such a ‘being’.

Before Li Yao figured out what was going on, two little boys who appeared brawnier than their age and the two beings that were following them closely like guardians collided!

“He! I’ve finally got a chance today. Look at my old grandpa. This is the ninth generation of the latest model. Have you ever seen one before? It is going to beat your old grandpa to the ground!”

“What’s the big deal about the ninth generation? Although my old grandpa is the eighth generation, his combat system was just upgraded yesterday, and he learned quite a few new techniques!”

“You are bragging. Let me teach you a lesson. Come on!”

“Do you think that I’m scared of you? Bring it on!”

The two young boys began wrestling with each other on the ground until they were covered in grass and mud. The two ‘old grandpas’ behind them drifted to the midair and fought each other.

What slightly surprised Li Yao was that the two ‘old grandpas’ were quite professional warriors and looked like real experts. As they began fighting, glamorous saber and sword auras were spreading out like fireworks.

Had it not been for the fact that Li Yao sensed no spiritual waves, he would have almost mistaken the two ‘old grandpas’ for real persons.

But soon, the teachers leading the team noticed the two wrestling students. One of them quickly ran close and pressed the crystal processor on her wrist. The ‘old grandpas’ that were having a heated battle above the two little kids turned into two streaks of brilliance before they were absorbed into the teacher’s crystal processor.

“Little Long, Little Qi, it’s you two again! Old grandpas are supposed to teach you knowledge, not horse around!” the white-dressed teacher said angrily. “You will be forbidden from using old grandpas for three days as punishment!”

“Three days? Please don’t, teacher!”

The two boys immediately begged for mercy with tears in their eyes.

Li Yao looked at Ling Xiaole. Ling Xiaole stuck her tongue out and shrugged, indicating that it was the first time that she had ever seen such a weird scene and that she did not know any more about the base than he did.

While the three of them were suspicious, a little green bird made of clear, beautiful crystals hovered for a moment above the shuttle and slowly landed before it. Then, it turned into a girl who was pure, serene, elegant but somewhat as lonely as an orchid flower in an empty valley. The girl looked at them with a smile.

Li Yao felt his heart palpitate.

He had seen the image before on the train north to the Grand Desolate Plateau a hundred years ago.

It was Wei Qingqing, the one with the lowest Cultivation and the weakest combat ability and the one who had been the least obliged to stand out of the seven Cultivators who sacrificed themselves valiantly to save a train of ordinary people. It was the free little green bird.

He had not seen her for a hundred years, but he had never forgotten her.

It had nothing to do with romance; it was something much more intense than romance.

Before, it had been under the encouragement of Wei Qingqing and the rest of the heroes that Li Yao had awakened his spiritual root and embarked on his path of Cultivation.

The scene of the valiant sacrifice of Wei Qingqing had been etched into his soul as part of his belief, never to be effaced.

“Greetings. My name is Wei Qingqing, and I am a teacher here. I’m going to set off to billions of years in the future tomorrow. You are free to see me off if you want,” the virtual image of Wei Qingqing said gently and calmly.