Chapter 610 - 52: Decision

"Because to them, humans are filthy creatures with coarse pores and foul odors—just awful in every way. In fact, this type of mental illness was quite common in ancient times, which is why concepts like the separation of Immortals and mortals came to be."

The Artifice Sage said, shaking his head slightly, "They look at humans as if they’re looking at a dirty, ugly sack of blood filled with flesh and feces. This disease has a high probability of developing in Extraordinary Tier Cultivators, starting from the stage where they begin to reshape their internal organs, create Spiritual Qi Organs, and become completely different from ordinary humans."

’Isn’t this just what I used to think when I was a teenager going through my edgy phase?’

Initially, Su Zhou didn’t think much of this "Extraordinary Disease," as he had long since passed that phase.

But a second later, he frowned. "Wait. Even though I’ve been a model student with high moral character, always ready to help others, and have a solid set of values since I was a kid, I can’t guarantee that everyone who reaches the Extraordinary Tier is as well-adjusted as I am. If they really start getting some bad ideas about other people just because of the drastic changes in their bodies and power, things could get ugly."

"Yes." The Artifice Sage nodded. His projection this time wasn’t so young and had a wisp of a beard on his chin. "This is also why all the nations of the world are striving for ’Universal Cultivation.’ If we don’t popularize Cultivation, then we will inevitably repeat the mistakes of the past Immortal God Era—the separation of humans and Gods, of Immortals and mortals."

"Cultivators, possessing immense resources and technology, would live in the best districts and control the vast majority of society’s resources. Only a fraction of ordinary people would be able to practice Cultivation, and the best among them would be absorbed into the system of the Immortal Gods... Perhaps, in such a time, human technology would be better, agriculture would flourish with perfect weather, and no one would worry about food or clothing. But for the vast majority of people, life would be gloomy, repressive, and stagnant."

Failing to implement Universal Cultivation would inevitably create two classes, and class conflict is unavoidable.

In the ancient Immortal God Era, both in the East and the West, there were instances where Transcendents living alongside ordinary people would cause fatal accidents. Some radical Transcendents even refused to breathe the same air as ordinary people.

Since the Immortal Gods of the past already went down that road, there’s no need to travel it again.

"But, in that case, the resources... I see!"

Su Zhou, having keenly picked up on this point, nodded slightly. "The resources on Earth are actually not enough to support Universal Cultivation for the entire population—not even enough for the three major central zones and the several great powers."

"So, that’s where developing resources from Otherworlds comes in. Whether those resources come from another Space-Time Realm or an extraterrestrial planet, we need them."

By the same token, both Otherworld and extraterrestrial exploration require a massive amount of manpower. This is where the results of Universal Cultivation would come into play. The power of the large number of civilian Cultivators cannot be ignored; they could even serve as the main force for developing some of the more peaceful Otherworlds. This would also conveniently occupy their attention, keeping them from getting bored and starting internal conflicts or engaging in discrimination.

As for the truly difficult and dangerous Otherworlds, those would still have to be left to the professionals.

"Yes."

The Artifice Sage was quite pleased that Su Zhou had understood so quickly. He smiled and said, "The opposition between the Extraordinary and ordinary people is a very normal thing—I don’t mean that it’s okay, but that its occurrence is logical. Therefore, we either solve the logical problem, for example, by finding a way to make Transcendents not discriminate against ordinary people, or we solve the conditional problem, for example, by making it so that ordinary people no longer exist."

"The mechanized bodies I oversee and the human modification experiments my good friend, the Life Saint, is currently conducting are all aimed at solving this problem and achieving true ’Universal Cultivation.’ This is also why, despite our different approaches, we can still be good friends—our goal is exactly the same."

"However, Universal Cultivation also means that our demand for resources will increase infinitely. We must develop Otherworlds, even if the price is war—one war after another. And if that must happen, then we will have to use some less-than-savory, rather dirty, methods to ensure our continued victory."

In a sense, this was essentially classical militaristic expansion. For the sake of resources and proliferation, humanity on Earth was destined to "develop"—or even "invade"—other worlds. It was unavoidable; one might even call it an inevitability.

Because that is the nature of civilization.

Clearly, the Saints thought far ahead. In the subsequent meeting, they even briefly discussed what Earth should do if it encountered a high-level civilization in an Otherworld—how to conduct infiltration and analysis, attempt to make their civilization collapse, or target its internal factions to sow division. But since there was no such civilization to serve as a practical example, it was all just theory.

The Beast God Realm? The Beast God Realm was too primitive to be considered a hypothetical enemy. After all, the only truly civilized beings in the Beast God Realm were its tens of thousands of Divine Beasts.

Of course, the methods the Saints discussed naturally included unconventional tactics such as ’cutting off an enemy civilization’s main food supply with a targeted genetic plague,’ ’releasing biochemical viruses to attack the enemy’s major political and economic centers,’ or ’launching a massive barrage of thermonuclear weapons with lightning speed to directly destroy all of the enemy civilization’s industrial zones.’

"There’s really no need to talk about all this..."

Su Zhou couldn’t help but frown at these topics. Although he knew very well that such measures were indeed necessary, when faced with a hypothetical civilization whose very existence, let alone its friendliness or malice, was unknown, he still preferred to approach it with goodwill first.

After all, he had seen the Otherworld civilizations of the Divine Wood World and the Reincarnation World... Of course, if an enemy civilization showed hostility first, Su Zhou wouldn’t hesitate to personally fire a nuclear warhead from a rocket launcher.

"It is very necessary, Su Zhou." The Artifice Sage’s electronic voice sounded, as if he knew exactly what Su Zhou was thinking. "Just as you said before, world peace is everyone’s responsibility. And everything related to these topics... is your responsibility."

"I mean, I understand that much..."

Su Zhou wanted to argue that he wasn’t some bleeding-heart, just a bit kind-hearted, but he quickly sensed that something was off. "Wait, what? It’s all my responsibility?"

"Are you saying that all that stuff you just talked about has something to do with me?"

"Eh? You didn’t know?"

The young man’s reaction slightly startled the Artifice Sage. "Didn’t the Daoist Saint tell you?"

Su Zhou frowned. "Tell me what?"

"Based on your performance, Professor Su, in the Beast God Realm and the Demon Realm, combined with the powerful survival capabilities you demonstrated during testing, there is probably no one on Earth better suited than you to lead projects related to ’Otherworld Exploration.’"

As he said this, it wasn’t just the Artifice Sage; the other Saints who had been discussing the topic also shifted their gazes to Su Zhou.

And the Artifice Sage’s voice continued.

"...Therefore, in a moment, we, on behalf of the Thirty-Six Saints Central Committee, will appoint you as the ’Vice President of Qinxing Academy’ and the ’Minister of the New World Exploration Department,’ in charge of all matters related to the exploration of Otherworlds and even outer space."

Su Zhou: ?