Chapter 257: Philosopher's Stone
After delegating all miscellaneous tasks to his assistants, Bai Mo embarked on a solo journey to the South Pole.
Along the way, he flew close to the boundless sea, admiring the magnificent scenery. Of course, this was all done at a terrifying speed of thousands of kilometers per hour. With his excellent dynamic vision, his experience was no different from an ordinary person enjoying the scenery from a slow-moving train.
Flying at speeds approaching the sound barrier would typically generate immense noise, but thanks to the energy absorption halo, Bai Mo's flight at such a velocity did not disturb the ocean's tranquility.
The sea surface was indeed a better place for speeding than a highway; no matter how one drove, there was almost no chance of a collision.
And just as he was enjoying the sea breeze, the entire world was once again thrown into a colossal uproar by someone.
"Even lifespan can be traded?!" This was everyone's first thought upon seeing the news.
An article titled "Lifespan Alchemy Array" was publicly released across the internet's various corners the day after Bai Mo departed.
According to the article, using such an array would allow one to extract their own life force, seal it within a corresponding, pre-inscribed rune array, and then, through a process of transcription, ultimately refine a peculiar crystal known as the "Philosopher's Stone."
Then, by applying a corresponding unsealing array to the "Philosopher's Stone," another person could absorb a portion of the life force stored within it, thereby extending their lifespan.
Furthermore, there was a tolerance issue; after extending one's lifespan two or three times, the effect would gradually diminish.
Though this seemed somewhat redundant, humanity's obsession with living could not be analyzed rationally.
Superficially, everyone felt that in the Spirit Qi era, an age where treasures for extending life were endlessly emerging, the appearance of such a rune had little practical use. In reality, however, the entire world was already churning with undercurrents of ambition.
Human greed knows no bounds. With humanity's frantic exploitation of various heavenly materials and earthly treasures over the past few years, most wild Spirit Plants had vanished from all areas except the perilously dangerous Big Four Mystical Realms, and nearly half of the proven Spirit Stone mines had already been excavated.
Resources particularly close to coastlines were developed without restraint, as the sea level continued to rise slowly, threatening to turn these areas into Sea Race territory at any moment, leading to their complete and utter depletion.
Resources with various effects, including lifespan extension, were becoming increasingly scarce, yet the river of time continued its relentless flow forward.
"Does this array work on the Sea Race and other terrestrial mutated creatures?" Of course, not everyone focused solely on their own kind. If possible, they still hoped to consume other organisms rather than people.
For many years, humanity had never ceased its research on the Sea Race, constantly capturing large batches of specimens for study in various laboratories.
However, with the incredibly complex variety of marine life, and countless new situations arising under the induction of Spirit Qi, the speed of human research often couldn't even keep up with the rate at which new Sea Race members emerged.
"It works, but the efficiency is even lower than between humans, about one-tenth of the human-to-human transfer."
"And there might be side effects; the body could undergo small-scale mutations towards the Sea Race, perhaps gaining Sea Race powers."
Such experiments, concerning the interests of countless people, were completed by national research institutes immediately. Within just three days, they had all independently reached the same conclusions.
"The rich rely on technology, the poor rely on mutation." This saying had become a deeply ingrained adage in the Spirit Qi era. The vast majority of research achievements by Spirit Energy institutes were predicated on resource consumption.
For instance, various cultivation techniques, whether from the Martial Path or the Spirit Hub System, all required immense expenditure.
Those without the money to purchase various resources could only hope for a sudden mutation one day, gaining a Spirit Hub and thus embarking on a path to change their fate.
The words "mutation" and "power" from various national reports touched the sensitive nerves of countless individuals yearning to change their low-level destinies.
Everyone's heart harbored an unwillingness to remain ordinary, especially in this information-explosive modern society. Everyone wanted to be the center of the world's attention, preferably able to strike back at those who had once looked down on them, thus achieving a sense of gratification.
"Want my treasure? If you want it, go to the sea and find it; I've left all my power and lifespan there!"
Soon, someone created such a meme, which spread like a virus across the world in various forms, igniting the ambitions of countless ordinary people.
As the instigator of the Lifespan Alchemy Array, Black Crow's original intention was merely to replenish his excessively depleted lifespan.
A few years ago, as an experimental subject for the American Federation, his body had actually suffered significant damage when he merged with the spiritual energy machinery.
Prior to this, Black Crow had been unaware of such a thing until he broke through to the Xuanhua Stage. Only then, with a deeper understanding and perception of his own body, did he realize the extent of the damage he had sustained—as a Xuanhua Stage cultivator, his remaining lifespan was less than forty years!
To survive, he abandoned all other explorations to enhance combat power, dedicating all his thoughts to research on lifespan extension. In just over a year, he had initially cobbled together this set of runes and the synthesis of the "Philosopher's Stone."
Further improvements might take more than ten years, but at least a beginning had been found.
Through research by various countries, it was generally confirmed that human lifespan could actually be divided into two parts: one, thought lifespan, and two, the physical body's lifespan that carries thought. The actual lifespan is the smaller of the two.
For ordinary people, the physical body has a maximum lifespan of approximately 120 years, which is the short board limiting actual lifespan. Researchers estimate that, if there were no cultivators, the human thought lifespan limit would be around 180 years.
The Spirit Animation Stage and Life Field Stage primarily increased the cultivator's physical body lifespan, allowing it to match the thought lifespan.
It was not until the Unmelting Realm and Xuanhua Stage that both began to advance concurrently, increasing simultaneously.
Conversely, the acupoint path of Martial Path cultivation was a path that only increased physical body lifespan; the Xingyi Path, which cultivates Dharma Body, was the method for broadening thought lifespan, but itself offered no benefit to physical strengthening. Thus, some also interpreted this as a means of "dual cultivation of essence and life."
Rulers across the world held a love-hate relationship with this Lifespan Alchemy Array.
Their love stemmed naturally from the fact that it provided another path to extend lifespan; being able to live longer was always a good thing, especially for those in high positions, enjoying a life of luxury.
Their hatred, however, arose because this array could even extract power and lifespan by refining mutated beasts, inciting unrest among countless common people, who were filled with the urge to personally venture into the sea to catch fish.
For these rulers, it was naturally best if their subjects never caused trouble, worked hard every day, and didn't entertain so many fanciful ideas.
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