Chapter 544: Empathy
"Don't you think we're like, inside a gigantic creature?" the cloaked man said thoughtfully, as they walked along the road after a satisfying meal.
The countless, incredibly complex machine clusters, working together flawlessly, the vast, ethereal aura that hung over them, and the theory of the unity of all things circulating among the Holy Progenitors —all these factors inevitably led their conjectures to such a conclusion.
"This is what I meant by opportunity. To become a civilization, to be the core link connecting a race. The Ark's plane exploration is bound to encounter countless dangers. By incarnating as countless individuals of a civilization and spreading one's feelers across multiple worlds, one can ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that they won't be wiped out in a single blow. The universe is unimaginably vast; who knows if we'll suddenly run into a monster that can instantly kill all of us transmigrators. Only by surviving will there be a future." Yu Que Yue spoke of the path he wished to take in the future.
After entering the Ark, similar ideas had already begun to subtly sprout in his mind, and after realizing the "truth" of Hanluo City, Yu Que Yue simply stayed put, diligently studying its design.
Although he didn't know the concept of an "Earth Immortal," he had, by coincidence, embarked upon this very path.
"You little rascal, you really know how to get rich quietly, mooching meals to a whole new level." The cloaked big man ruffled Yu Que Yue's head.
"But unfortunately, this isn't my path," the cloaked man, who cultivated the pure Martial Path, said. He found it difficult to accept such an desperate strategy of constantly leaving escape routes for himself.
In his view, the Martial Path should be about pressing forward without hesitation, facing death to find life. Always leaving a backup plan would only cause him to hesitate at critical moments, preventing him from unleashing his hidden power.
What's more, by incarnating as a civilization and spreading one's power across countless individuals, the output would be severely limited, considering the capacity of each individual unit.
...
"On the Ark's S-tier rewards, there seems to be something quite similar to your idea," the big man recalled, remembering a notification he had seen earlier that morning out of boredom.
"S-tier reward? Going by S, A, B, C, D, E, F, then S-tier means it's a seventh-stage item?!"
According to the Ark's management system settings, the internal base currency, Xierdesi, could be directly exchanged for items of various tiers: F-tier was first-tier, E-tier was second-tier, and so on.
"The Way of the Earth Immortal, incarnating as myriad things..." Yu Que Yue quickly moved aside, opened his internal communication device, and after a quick search, soon found the brief text description.
"Price: 3.58 million Xierdesi." The last sentence in the description mercilessly shattered all his notions.
Among the thousands of transmigrators on the Ark, not counting the leadership at the very top, the total Xierdesi in everyone else's hands combined was less than 20 million.
Distributed among individuals, that 20 million meant less than ten thousand per person. Thus, 3.58 million was simply an astronomical sum for a single transmigrator.
"How in the world did those guys up top get hold of it?"
"Who knows? But rumor has it, they have a secret trading channel with the Moon."
"The Moon dares to sell something like that? Aren't they really worried we'll stir up a seventh-stage expert who'll then turn around and rule the Moon?" Yu Que Yue chuckled.
"Maybe there's a trap in it, the kind that kills whoever cultivates it." The cloaked big man speculated with a hint of malice.
Few among them were benevolent individuals.
"Quite possibly, but it should still hold significant reference value."
...
"Of the Five Immortal Paths—Celestial, Earth, Human, Divine, and Ghost Immortals—according to the description here, Brother Hu, you should be pursuing the Human Immortal path of martial arts, while I'm focused on the Earth Immortal path. At the same time, almost all cultivators on the Ark will truly become Reincarnating Ghost Immortals when they reach the seventh-stage."
"Seventh-stage... that's such a distant matter," Hu Lai, clad in his cloak, said with a bitter smile.
Both of them were Fourth-Tier elites, capable of tearing down a building with a full-power outburst. On the original Earth, they could have been leaders in a small city of hundreds of thousands.
But after arriving on the Ark, where the minimum starting point was Fourth-Tier, they were merely two small ripples in a vast ocean, barely counting as elite cannon fodder.
...
"Have you chosen your Fifth-Tier cultivation technique yet? I've set my sights on the 'Flame Spirit Titanium Extreme Golden Body.' Including eight successful breakthrough experience shares, it only costs 88,000 Xierdesi."
The cultivation technique Hu Lai had chosen would likely require him to save money for about ten years.
"It'll probably take twenty or thirty years, and I don't even know if I can create a cultivation technique that goes all the way from Fifth-Tier to Seventh-Tier Earth Immortal," Yu Que Yue chuckled. "If thirty years isn't enough, then fifty. If fifty isn't enough, then a hundred years. I'm not content to be ordinary anymore."
"I, Yu Que Yue, have been an ordinary person my whole life, just missing the chance to 'leap over the dragon gate.' Fortunately, the Ark isn't one of those demonic Main Gods that forces death missions on you every time you enter a new world. I have ample time to fulfill my dream."
"I can only wish you good luck," Hu Lai offered no further opinion, though for a friend, having no opinion was often the greatest opinion of all.
According to historical records spanning many years, most people who cultivated self-created techniques had to face a rather helpless truth: they couldn't surpass those who later cultivated the same set of techniques.
This was because the times were constantly advancing; both the theories and the Spirit Arts created were continuously optimized and expanded upon by later generations.
The cultivation foundations of the creators were already set, and many structural optimizations might not keep up. Only those who came later, like a blank sheet of paper, could freely imbue themselves with new developments.
Moreover, compared to creating something from scratch, optimizing an existing system was undoubtedly much simpler. The mental and physical effort expended were often not even on the same order of magnitude.
The only advantage explorers had was speed; they had already crossed the bridge while others hadn't even started on the path.
Therefore, when all these factors were combined, fewer and fewer cultivators were willing to forge new paths. The vast majority preferred to cultivate existing techniques, at most making minor, targeted modifications to suit their own circumstances.
"I've actually already designed the first stage; I'm calling it 'The Countless Forms of Life'," Yu Que Yue excitedly told his friend about his proud concept.
"Actually, this idea came from those Holy Progenitors. Do you know they have an ability called 'Empathy'?"
"Weren't those who stayed on Earth back then just ordinary people with no cultivation potential? What abilities could they possibly have?" Hu Lai, while revering the power behind the Land of White and not daring to act recklessly, didn't necessarily view those Holy Progenitors as equals—the ones he could punch and shatter dozens of, who were essentially still just ordinary humans.
Having grown up immersed in a culture where the strong were revered, he simply couldn't comprehend any talk of equality among all people. Only those of comparable strength did he consider worthy of his respect.
The situation was even more extreme than the money-worshipping society of several decades ago..
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