Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“‘Civilization’ is too important for the federation. We cannot allow it to be controlled by a certain personal sect or group. The federal government specifically established a ‘Ministry of Future’ to supervise the production and operation of the game. The Ministry of Future is one of the government agencies of the highest level on par with the Department of Defense and the Ministry of Finance.

“In the early years of its development a hundred years ago, ‘Civilization’ was managed by Professor Mo Xuan and Professor Su Changfa of the Grand Desolate War Institution together. However, in recent decades, the director of ‘Civilization’ and the minister of the Ministry of Future has been Professor Xie Wufeng, a former president of the Sky Fantasia Academy.”

Li Yao quickly searched in his head and soon located the files of ‘Xie Wufeng’. Of course, the files were from a hundred years ago.

A hundred years ago, Xie Wufeng had already been a mathematician and sociologist close to the Nascent Soul Stage. He had taught in Deep Sea University, Sky Fantasia Academy, and many other Nine Elite Universities of the federation. He had already been quite a famous guy in the academic circle back then.

After a hundred years of training, it seemed rather appropriate that such a distinguished master of mathematics and sociology had become the helmsman for ‘Civilization’.

Li Yao took a deep breath and said, “The experience today has truly been a great eye-opener for us. I’ll duly report everything to Speaker Cui. I truly wish that all the compatriots on Firefly can enjoy the splendid virtual world one day.

“However, I do have some tiny concerns. Perhaps I’m too old for this modern technology after hundreds of years of hibernation, but I feel that it is a bit weird to give everything to the Spiritual Nexus and the crystal processors.

“Isn’t such a system a bit too vulnerable? For example, if a certain important node is attacked by the enemy, or a mainframe crystal processor that is of paramount importance is completely destroyed, resulting in the immediate collapse of the virtual world, will there be dire consequences in reality?”

Ling Xiaole smiled. “Of course, it is a plausible possibility, but we cannot give up strengthening ourselves because we fear the enemy’s attack, can we?”

Li Yao was not completely satisfied by the answer. Frowning, he said, “Also, I can’t tell what it is exactly, but I do feel—I do feel that certain highly dangerous, unpredictable variants may exist in such an enormous virtual world…”

“You’re right,” Ling Xiaole said. “Many sociologists, futurists, and crystal processor experts have raised warnings and worries on the rapid expansion of the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus. In the eyes of the specialists, the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus is even more dangerous than the Imperium of True Human Beings and the Alliance of the Holy Covenant, and it may even swallow us one day.

“Personally, I do not deny such a danger. There is indeed a chance that we may be burnt by our own endeavors.

“However, just like the origin of the metaphor, to primitive savages, ‘fire’ was also highly dangerous; it would kill them and burn their houses down after one moment of carelessness.

“Did our ancestors abandon fire because of the fire’s danger?

“Without the highly dangerous fire, there would be no civilization of mankind today. Our ancestors would either struggle to survive on the cold, dark deserts or be replaced by other species who were not afraid of danger and learned to use fire.

“The grand-unified Spiritual Nexus is the new ‘universal fire’ that is necessary for mankind to evolve to a higher level. It will be ignited by either us or somebody else, and it will sweep across the universe. Nothing can stop it.

“It is dangerous to use fire, but it is even more dangerous not to use it!”

Li Yao was deep in thought. “Got it. Let’s go back. There are too many things I would like to share with my companions.”

“This way, please,” Ling Xiaole said with a smile.

…

In the virtual world, in the capital city of the federation randomly generated several hours ago, where Li Yao had worked as the ‘mayor’…

Since the moment Li Yao exited the game, the entire city had been sealed into the complicated, ever-changing light circuits, crystal processors, and databases in the form of data and runes.