Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Veins bulged out of Li Yao temples as he declared, “As a Cultivator and an atheist from the rightful government of the Star Ocean Republic whose loyalty has been well-tested, I will never take part in the activities that are related to personal cults and superstition!”

Hardly had he concluded his sentence when a coin flew above his head and landed on the smooth helmet of the statue precisely after drawing an elegant curve.

Cheers echoed behind Li Yao. “You made it! You made it!”

Ling Xiaole was delighted, too. “Haha. This is a tradition here. If anyone can throw a coin onto the head of ‘Li Yao’ without using their spiritual energy but purely with their hand-eye coordination, they will be unbelievably lucky today. Even bystanders such as us will benefit a lot from it!”

“…” Li Yao.

Ling Xiaole stuck out her tongue. He was about to speak when the sky suddenly grew dim, as if a dark cloud was collapsing. A magnificent if not ear-splitting marching song was echoing nearby, making whoever heard it ill at ease.

The crowd was in a riot. Everybody was looking at the sky. A lot of people were even booing the newcomers.

The ‘sky’—or rather, the man-made dome—split from the center. A small assault warship dived down in the middle of lightning and clouds. On the two sides of the warship were the ‘trident lightning’ emblem that represented the Imperium and the ‘crossed swords and black storm’ emblem that represented the Black Wind Fleet. The warship was emitting hideous brilliance under the contrast of artificial lightning. Boosted by the sounds and visual effects as well as the illusions of more than a hundred starships of the Imperium projected by the enormous light beams, the tiny warship seemed to be a magnificent army.

A—army of the Imperium?

Blinking rapidly, Li Yao could not have been more confused. What was that all about?

Naturally, he knew that it could not be a real invasion of the Imperium, but the scene was rather overwhelming nonetheless. Most of the people there were raising their middle fingers at the sk, but a tiny proportion of the young men and women in fancy clothes were shrieking in excitement.

Seeing her ‘compatriots’, and hearing the military hymn of the Imperium, Heiye Lan felt so astounded that she almost lost control of herself.

Thankfully, Li Yao sent a stream of spiritual energy from underground and stimulated her spinal nerves. She was suddenly woken up and did not reveal any flaws.

The ‘warship of the Imperium’ hovered in the sky above the square in front of the ‘Civilization Center’. The cabin doors on the two sides were opened one after another. Dozens of Exos in standard crystal suits of the Imperium that were white from head to toe leapt out of the vehicle, waving their chainswords, vibration sabers, and high-heated axes.

In the burning sky, against the countless starships as background, the fire and brilliance gradually condensed into several aggressive words.

“Storm Assault Team!”

The boos of the crowd were even louder than before. Some of them seemed to be shouting ‘come on, thieves of the Imperium, and be killed by the warriors of the Uranian Ring Sector’ and such. However, part of the crowd showed great welcome for the newcomers. The crowd appeared to be divided into two groups, one against the Imperium and the other in favor of it.

“Well…”

Li Yao felt that he knew what was going on now.

He could tell that the crystal suits and blades that the ‘soldiers of the Imperium’ were using were quite similar to the most advanced gear of the Black Wind Fleet that he had looted from Heiye Lan earlier. But other than the power rune arrays, the equipment was not installed with any attack units. They were nothing more than empty shells.

The chainswords and vibration sabers were false, too. They were just props that could only trigger the captivating sound and visual effects but did not boast any actual damage.

“Who are those people?” Li Yao asked. “Actors invited for the release conference of the latest version of ‘The Imperium’s Frustration’?”

“Not actors. The ‘Storm Assault Team’ is a group of very famous experts in the game nationwide who are from the core worlds!” Ling Xiaole said. “The game experts of the team are best at ‘The Imperium’s Frustration’. Their win rate in the DLC is among the highest. Their performance is always splendid and enjoyable, and they are very good at instigating the audience to hate them. They are like a super band or superstars and popular among teenagers. Their every live stream has tens of millions of viewers!”

“Super band…” Li Yao felt that he was truly an antique from the Ancient Sages Sector that could not catch up with the era now. “This is rather unbelievable.”

“Not unbelievable at all. As ‘Civilization’ rose, other pastimes in the federation gradually became outdated. Most of the culture-type Cultivators are involved in creations concerning ‘Civilization’—such as composing the scripts, writing new plots, or rendering the atmosphere—building brilliant and yet vivid worlds one after another and releasing the most thrilling and thought-provoking quests. As a result, the superstars in show business before are all obsolete now. The most popular pastime for the new generation is to play ‘Civilization’. They either play it themselves or enter the game world of the experts. The interactive excitement and sense of achievement are a hundred times more abundant than any other method of entertainment before!

“The confrontation of experts often attracts billions of people to watch the live stream and leave comments while they enjoy the show. That is the liveliest place you can imagine!

“For a super band as popular as the ‘Storm Assault Team’, their business performances within the next five years have already been scheduled. We only invited them here to challenge the local experts because we wanted you to better experience the essence of the civilization in the federation.

“Don’t be confused when everybody is raising middle fingers and booing them. This is a very special way of welcome or a brand-new subculture originated from ‘Civilization’, if you will.”

Li Yao did not know what to say. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Alright. If they are experts of the game, they are free to play the game. But why are they wearing the crystal suits of the Imperium as their costume, and why have they modified their enormous shuttles into a warship of the Imperium? Also, if I am not mistaken, the background of their flag where ‘Storm Assault Team’ is written should be the emblem of the Black Wind Fleet. Do the authorities not care about such outrageous actions?”

“This is because they’re the Storm Assault Team!” Ling Xiaole said. “They’re the professionals of the Imperium’s army. They always play the role of the Imperium in the DLC ‘The Imperium’s Frustration’ and crush the federation every single time. That’s how they earned their fame. This time, their role is the ‘attacker’ during the competition with the local experts. Of course, they have to dress up like this in order to build the vibe.”

Li Yao and Heiye Lan looked at each other. “You can play the Imperium’s side in ‘Civilization’?”

“Of course you can.” Ling Xiaole smiled. “‘Civilization’ is a large virtual platform designed to guide reality. Since it is designed to guide reality, naturally, real human beings must be involved in every aspect in order to collect authentic data. If everything on the Imperium’s side is generated by the crystal processors, the final result will be no different from child’s play.

“That is especially so for competitive DLC like ‘The Imperium’s Frustration’. We can’t simply ask everybody to stand on the federation’s side and fight the Imperium that is controlled by crystal processors, right? In that case, will it be any different from playing a large single-player game?

“Therefore, the federal government encourages game experts to play the role of the Imperium’s army, consider things from the Imperium of True Human Beings’ perspective, and attack the federation by any means possible. Only if we have foreseen all the strategies that the Imperium can possibly adopt will we be able to work on countermeasures!

“How should I put it? Just like during military drills when there are two different parties, it is often the case that the most elite troop will play the ‘enemy’, right?”

Li Yao pondered for a moment and realized that it did make sense.

Ling Xiaole went on. “To better fit the role of ‘enemy’ and simulate the possible strategies that the Imperium will take, the ‘evil experts’ of the game often train themselves through all kinds of ‘immersive approaches’ by really regarding themselves as the Imperium’s army and Immortal Cultivators. They often put on the clothes of the Imperium, speak the slang of the Imperium, and think in the ways the Immortal Cultivators do even in their daily life.

“For such ‘evil experts’ and ‘professionals of the Imperium’, a special DLC of ‘Civilization’ has been prepared, in which the Immortal Cultivators are the protagonists. The players are free to establish a civilization of Immortal Cultivators however they want and govern the people under the true path of immortality. They are also allowed to invite their fellows to live in their world of Immortal Cultivators.

“The DLC, named ‘Legend of the Mortal Immortals’, is relatively unpopular, but the players in it are quite active. It is also a very classic DLC!”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Li Yao took a deep breath and felt that his head was confused. “You—you specifically built a ‘world of Immortal Cultivators’ in ‘Civilization’ for the players to experience the Immortal Cultivators’ life?”

“Exactly!” Ling Xiaole blinked and did not see anything wrong. “Is there a problem? If you are interested, you are free to try it later yourself.”

“But…” Li Yao thought for a moment and asked, “Can you really do whatever you want to do like a real Immortal Cultivator in ‘Legend of the Mortal Immortals’?”

Ling Xiaole nodded. “Of course. ‘Civilization’ is best known for its high degree of freedom. All the choices that can be made in real life can be made in every DLC of ‘Civilization’.”

“So,” Li Yao said, “the players can really play… an authentic Immortal Cultivator in the virtual world?”

“If it is not authentic enough, it will be against the purpose for which Li Yao created ‘Civilization’ years ago.”

“… Fine. Then, does everybody have access to ‘Legend of the Mortal Immortals?”

“Not exactly. Like a said just now, it is a relatively special DLC that contains a lot of content unsuitable for teenagers. Therefore, a lot of conditions have to be met before you play the DLC. For example, you must be over eighteen, you must finish another few designated DLCs first, and you must pass a series of psychological tests to prove that you are an adult with basic morals and a relatively stable outlook. Only after that will you be allowed to play the game.

“Also, there is also the most unique rule in ‘Legend of the Mortal Immortals’.

“It is true that the players can play ‘Immortal Cultivators’. They can kill, loot, and burn in the world of Immortal Cultivators. They can be a dictator who establishes a tyrannical rule. They can do whatever they want.

“However, after every hour as an ‘Immortal Cultivator’, the player has to play two hours as a ‘mortal’ to be enslaved, savaged, and exploited by the other players who are playing as Immortal Cultivators and to experience double the pain that they have imposed on other people just now.”