Forty millenniums of cul.., p.378
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 378
"During the decades, countless people died on their posts, leaving many touching stories behind. Some refiners were drawing structural designs of starships day and night, only to collapse and never wake up again!
"Every spacer believed that, if they could produce one more starship, more lives would be saved, and their civilization could continue!
"If you were such a spacer, what would you think if you knew that some diehards have stolen a lot of resources to build a big and useless turtle shell because of their foolishness and stubbornness?
"Fewer resources mean fewer starships, and fewer starships mean that tens of thousands of people may not be able to survive!"
Li Yao was silent.
It was indeed an impasse.
"Furthermore, as the strategies of the two sides proceeded, their social forms underwent tremendous changes.
"The society of the homers regarded the underground shelters as the cores. Before the shelters were fully established, they had built countless enclosed cities on the ground simulating the underground environment. They were hoping that they could persist underground even if several meteors breached through the defense array.
"For decades, in order to better prepare the people for the apocalypse, they even manually created a lot of meteor showers with unbelievable technology as rehearsals.
"As for the spacers, to adapt to the lifestyle in space later when each starship would be a small society, all the people were sorted into different towns. The smaller towns had a population of several thousand, and the larger ones had tens of thousands.
"Each such town was going to be a starship society later. The residents of the same town would board on the same starship.
"The Cultivators from the six major sects also took the opportunity to enter every 'starship town' and establish their branches as the leadership of the starship.
"When a starship was successfully produced, one of the towns would be migrated into the starship as a whole.
"After years of preparation, everybody had been used to a society of such a small scale. The immigration was mostly smooth without much trouble.
"It was not hard to guess why the new generations born in the two vastly different social forms found each other alien and hated each other!"
Xiong Wuji was suddenly angry when he listened to this part of the story. He raised his voice and said, "Cut the irrelevant stuff. Tell him about 'Plan Prometheus'!"
Sha Yulan paused for a moment. For the first time, the tranquility on her face was gone. She said gravely, "Although the relationship between the two sides were bad, they were faced with a common threat after all. For the big picture, there were never any real conflicts, until the hundredth year, right before the arrival of the apocalypse.
"At that time, the homers had finally finished their planetary defense array. However, due to the lack of resources, it did not reach the stellar-level, however close it was.
"The spacers had also produced a lot of starships and space towns.
"Because of the restriction of technology, the space towns did not have the ability to sail across space zones, much less constellations.
"But they were distinguished for their large size and their self-circulating biological system. Therefore, a lot of ordinary people could live on them.
"Finally, the time to part had come!
"The two divisions of civilization would embark on different paths of survival shortly.
"If things went just like that, maybe hundreds of years later, the misunderstanding between the two parties could have been eliminated, and they could still have reunited as one.
"But just then, 'Plan Prometheus' was implemented.
"Many spacers were the management and leadership of the six major sects. They had the top confidential training techniques and facilities in their sects under their control.
"Many such assets were inherited from the Star Ocean Imperium. They could only be read or utilized, but not copied or duplicated.
"According to the agreement, the spacers would leave some of the techniques and training facilities before they set off.
"But no one realized that, as the new generations of the spacers had grown up and risen to power, some of them had become the organizers of the final immigration!
"281 spacers of the new generation reached a secret agreement and carried out 'Plan Prometheus'. They stole all the techniques and training facilities that should've been left for the homers!
"When theft was discovered, they had long run away on their starships!"
Li Yao was dumbfounded. "That's highly immoral."
Techniques and training facilities were the essentials for a Cultivation sect. If such assets were stolen, the Cultivation sect would lose all its knowledge!
No wonder there were only 'qi-trainers' on Iron Plateau. Their techniques had all been lost.
It also explained why the qi-trainers loathed the Cultivators so much.
Sha Yulan said grimly, "What is moral and what is immoral when we are talking about the life and death of billions of people and the continuity of a civilization?
"The new generation had no doubts about the spacers' theories and believed that staying on Iron Plateau was a dead end. The techniques and training facilities would only be buried together with the homers.
"If so, they might as well steal all the techniques and training facilities so that the spacers could be stronger and the likelihood of the survival of their civilization could be higher!
"Every technique was a spark of civilization. Everything they did was to pass on the sparks of the human civilization. That was all.
"It was a sordid, cruel, and yet a very realistic decision.
"The homers naturally burst into fury when they discovered everything. However, there was nothing they could do. They did have some starships, but they did not have enough crew members. As the apocalypse drew close, most Cultivators had to stay inside the planetary defense array to ensure that it functioned normally. Therefore, they could only stand by and watch the spacers run away.
"Finally, the apocalypse arrived!"
Li Yao held his breath. Although he knew that human beings of the Flying Star Sector had survived the catastrophe, he still felt that his heart pounding.
Sha Yulan continued to speak bitterly. "Out of everyone's expectation, the supposedly three waves of meteoroid showers gave birth to a fourth wave, which lunged at the main fleet of spacers.
"The main fleet of spacers, caught off guard, was almost entirely demolished.
"The remaining starships were swallowed by space storms and lost in the broken universe. They had to survive on their own in darkness. It was not until four thousand years later that the civilization gradually recovered.
"However, even to this day, the civilization hasn't returned to its former glory!
"The ending of the homers was not any better. Although the strongest wave of the apocalypse was split to strike the fleet of the spacers, its remaining power was still beyond the capacity of a defense array that had failed to reach the stellar-level. A lot of meteoroids broke through the defenses and hit the surface of Iron Plateau. The environment of Iron Plateau was completely reshaped. A disaster of hundreds of years was thus begun!
"During the calamity, all the Cultivators above the Refinement Stage, including the Building Foundation Stage Cultivators, the Core Formation Stage Cultivators, and a few Nascent Soul Stages, did their best to drive the defense array to resist the apocalypse lead by a Divinity Transformation Cultivator. In the end, they all perished when their souls were burnt out!"
Li Yao did not understand. "Wait. Didn't you say just now that all the three Divinity Transformation Cultivators were spacers?"
Sha Yulan sighed. "The Divinity Transformation Cultivator who was the first to be attacked in the 'God Slaying Initiative' chose to stay on Iron Plateau in the end. He said that he had not changed his mind, and he still believed that space was the only destiny. But it was the duty of a Cultivator to protect mankind. Since so many ordinary people were staying in their homeland, one of the three Divinity Transformation Cultivators should also stay and fulfill their responsibility.
"Born in Iron Plateau, die in Iron Plateau.
"It was what the female assassin had said a hundred years ago.
"When the apocalypse arrived, the Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivator recited the eight words and died a hero's death together with countless other Cultivators in the battlefield!"
Chapter 560: Eggs of Apocalypse |
"After that—"
When Sha Yulan was about to continue, Xiong Wuji interrupted her, speaking in a hoarse voice. "After that, most of the shelters were demolished by the apocalypse. The bombardment of the meteors cast Iron Plateau in absolute darkness for decades. The territory was entirely changed. The demon beasts that used to lurk underground mutated and became even more brutal and bloodthirsty!
"Only a few of them, who had been hiding in the deepest shelter, survived the catastrophe. But they were barely alive.
"When they returned to the surface, what they saw was a black sun, a desolate land, savage demon beasts, and city debris after city debris.
"All the Cultivators above the Building Foundation Stage had been killed. Only a small portion of Refinement Stage Cultivators, who were responsible for the order and safety of the shelters, were lucky enough to survive.
"However, most of the techniques and training facilities had been stolen by the spacers!
"Without the techniques and the corresponding knowledge, without the enlightenment of masters, and because all the natural paradises had been destroyed, they explored in the darkness for a thousand years and yet failed to find a way to build their foundation!
"But what's the big deal about being unable to build a foundation? They could still slay the demon beasts and defend their homes even if they were merely in the Refinement Stage!
"The Refinement Stage Cultivators fought against the mutated demon beasts and the harsh environment day after day. Gradually, they learned how to broaden their veins and nerves in order to improve their capacity for spiritual gas. They also perceived a brand-new technique from the apocalypse and embarked on an entirely different path of Cultivation from the past.
"These Cultivators—
"No, they stopped calling themselves Cultivators anymore.
"Since 'Cultivators' meant abandoning homes and fleeing without fighting, they should be ashamed of the name forever.
"Because they could only make use of spiritual gas, they simply called themselves 'qi-trainers'!
"The Cultivators all ran away, but the qi-trainers stayed on Iron Plateau and guarded their homeland and the people living in it!"
Sha Yulan stood up. She glared at Xiong Wuji without any concession and spoke in a voice that was low and yet determined. "Cultivators did not run away! We were merely trying to save civilization in a different way!
"In space, the Cultivators shed as much blood as those on Iron Plateau did!
"At that time, most Cultivators were riding crystal warships that were faster, agiler, and sturdier.
"In comparison, most ordinary people were moving in the space towns, which were slow.
"When the apocalypse approached, the crystal warships of the Cultivators could've run away!
"But in order to let more space towns escape from the apocalypse, countless Cultivators waged a suicidal war against it in their crystal warships!
"For most of them, they knew that they would certainly be killed, and yet they charged at the apocalypse anyway, just so that the power of the apocalypse could be diminished and the space towns behind them could be one percent more likely to survive!
"It is true that a Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivator stayed on Iron Plateau and sacrificed himself, but the other two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators were also in the lead when the apocalypse struck the space fleet, and they died protecting their own people!
"The homers built an iron shield on the surface of the planet, but the spacers also built a shield, one made of flesh and blood!
"I don't care how you brag about the valor of your ancestors, but I will not allow you to insult the Cultivators who sacrificed themselves bravely!"
The short doctor held her head high without the slightest fear in front of the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau like an infuriated cat.
Xiong Wuji seemed to be caught off guard by Shu Yulan's refutation and was lost for words for a moment.
Li Yao was dazed briefly, too. He hurried to ease the intensity. "Faced with such a world-destroying catastrophe, I think that homers and spacers both had good reasons for their decisions. But as for the members of 'Plan Prometheus' who stole the techniques and training facilities before the arrival of the apocalypse… I don't know how I should comment on them. I wonder, what was their ending?"
Sha Yulan took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Members of Plan Prometheus had planned to flee to the periphery of the Flying Star Sector after they stole the techniques and training facilities and reunite with the main fleet when the apocalypse passed. They would hand in all the techniques and training facilities by then.
"In the message that they sent to the main fleet, they confessed that their behavior was in violation of the laws of the coalition government and any code of conduct; they admitted that there was no way that they should be pardoned or forgiven.
"But in the meantime, they emphasized that more of their civilization would be saved this way and the humans of the Flying Star Sector who were about to roam through space would have a better chance to thrive again.
"Whatever felonies they were going to be condemned to, they were willing to accept them all, even if they had to go on trial and be sentenced to death. Before the action, they had been prepared to die in dishonor.
"As long as the civilization of the Flying Star Sector could live long and prosper, they would sacrifice everything and be the fuel for the burning torch of humanity!
"However, before they joined the main fleet, the apocalypse had already arrived.
"The entire Flying Star Sector was cast into a havoc. Several planets were torn apart. Many world fragments collided, and even more were separated in that moment.
"In the end, we lost touch with the members of Plan Prometheus. After such a long time, I assume that they have long gone extinct."
Li Yao secretly sighed.
The members of Plan Prometheus had run to the periphery of the Flying Star Sector in advance with abundant training techniques and facilities. If they had still been around, they would be a quite important force. Too bad they had perished.
Thinking for a moment, Li Yao asked again, "The apocalypse happened five thousand years ago. Why are there still 'battles of the apocalypse' today?"
Xiong Wuji slowly exhaled. "Apocalypses are not as simple as you think. The apocalypse that assaulted Iron Plateau was not made of meteors, but 'eggs'!"
"Eggs?" Li Yao was baffled.
Xiong Wuji explained, "In the first hundred years after the apocalypse, the survivors also thought that the apocalypse had passed and went out of their shelters to rebuild their homes. At that time, the land was scarred, and countless enormous meteorites were standing like mountains.
"Very soon, the survivors discovered that they were wrong. Very wrong.
"The meteorites were not simple rock and metal, but 'eggs of apocalypse' in which countless terrifying eccentric beasts were growing. Every few years, several such eggs would mature and give birth to tremendous eccentric beasts that ravaged our land!
"To fight against the beasts, qi-trainers established the six tribes of Iron Plateau according to the organizational structure of the six big sects in the past.
"Each of the six tribes was allocated a certain area to defend. A deal was also made that, when the eggs of apocalypse showed signs of maturing in one tribe's territory, all the other tribes would gather and fight it together!"
Li Yao gasped. He did not know that the meteorite mountains he had seen in the desert were eggs yet to mature.
No wonder so many weird runes were carved on them!
Apocalypses. The mysterious apocalypses!
When Li Yao was in the Heaven's Origin Sector, he had taken courses like 'Nine Levels of Apocalypses' and 'Hypotheses on the Origin of Apocalypses'.
The few apocalypses that the Heaven's Origin Sector had witnessed all targeted certain experts.
In the early years of the Star Glory Federation, several experts had experienced apocalypses when they were trying to break into the Divinity Transformation Stage from the Nascent Soul Stage, too.
The form, duration, and outcome of each strike of the apocalypses were different.
There were normal means of attack such as meteor showers or lightning strikes. There were also less normal ways such as mental attacks when the experts were sleeping.
Whatever the pattern was, the apocalypses all targeted individuals. Even their family members next to them had hardly ever been affected.
According to the textbooks, such apocalypses targeting individuals were known to be 'minor apocalypses'.
In comparison, the destructive strikes targeting a planet or even a constellation were called 'major apocalypses'.
Due to the insufficient development of the Heaven's Origin Sector, its knowledge about major apocalypses was quite limited.
Therefore, this was the first time Li Yao had learned the entire process of a major apocalypse.
He had never thought that it would be so powerful that its effect still lingered on after five thousand years!
Li Yao couldn't help but ask, "What kind of monsters could grow inside the eggs of apocalypse for five thousand years? Couldn't you demolish all the meteorite mountains to destroy them?"
Xiong Wuji replied, "The eccentric beasts were not brought here by the apocalypse; they are all the local demon beasts of Iron Plateau.
"The eggs of apocalypse are like mutation factories. They can absorb the cells and flesh from the demon beasts on Iron Plateau and produce even stronger demon beasts!
"You should've discovered that, different from those of other places, the demon beasts on Iron Plateau had more metal constituents in their bodies, haven't you?"
