Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)

Lu Yang felt that Ether would have been better off never developing its own consciousness. He was certain that the Ether without self-consciousness had been far more competent than it was in its current state. Otherwise, the Interstellar Alliance would have fallen into chaos long ago.

He sighed and patiently explained, “Don’t be afraid. I’m just curious what the big boss of artificial intelligence looks like.”

How could Ether not be afraid? A strange bird as massive as a mountain had threatened to destroy the sun upon its emergence, yet Lu Yang could punch it back into the sun and then repair the sun that had been on the verge of exploding. And even after I’d fled, he could still yank me right back. The other party’s extraterrestrial technology utterly dwarfs the Interstellar Alliance in every aspect.

“Remember to keep your word.” Ether displayed a smiley face composed of simple lines on the screen. This was a common greeting emoticon used by young people across the alliance.

To Lu Yang, though, the emoticon looked like a sarcastic jab.

“Immortal Fairy, doesn’t Ether’s existence remind you of our sect’s River Spirit?” Lu Yang observed for a moment, a bit uncertain. He didn’t have much exposure to such matters.

“Indeed, it is similar to the River Spirit, an innate living being that came into existence after the long passage of time, far rarer than plants that gain sentience and become demon spirits. If you use another term, you could call it the Interstellar Alliance’s Will.”

Lu Yang’s eyes widened. He was all too familiar with that term. “Immortal Fairy, are you saying that the River Spirit, Ether, and the Blue Planet’s Will are the same kind of existence?”

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy nodded. “Pretty close. From your description, it sounds like it. That Blue Planet’s Will that accompanied you through the apocalypse was an innate living being.”

“Grandpa Gao, why did you kill my grandfather? Is it because he learned the truth about artificial intelligence?” Lan Hai grabbed Dean Gao by the collar in his wrath, unable to reconcile the man before him with his grandfather’s murderer.

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Dean Gao frowned, finding Lan Hai’s anger misplaced. “Don’t blame everything on me. Your grandpa died of old age.”

“Died of old age?” Lan Hai was stunned.

“Of course. If I’d wanted to deal with your grandpa, I had plenty of ways. Why would I kill him?”

Lan Hai thought about it and realized that made sense. But considering Dean Gao’s actions, it was hard to believe him.

“Lan Hai, do you want to confirm how your grandpa died? I might have a way.”

“Brother Meng, you have a way?!” Lan Hai was delighted. “Ah, no, I should be calling you Brother Lu now.”

“Sorry for hiding my identity from you all at the start.”

“What are you saying, Brother Lu? It’s a good thing you hid your identity. If we’d known who you really were, how would we have dared to go on this adventure with you?”

After learning of Lu Yang’s identity, all the mysteries that had puzzled them along the way were suddenly resolved. Without his involvement, they would have struggled to survive until now.

“Lu Yang, you said you could find out how my grandpa died?”

“I have an idea that’s worth a try.” Lu Yang didn’t make any guarantees, but Lan Hai and the other two assumed he was just being modest.

“My sports car is outside. Shall we drive back?” Lan Hai asked excitedly.

Lu Yang shook his head. “No need. I’ve got a faster vehicle.” He took out his wupeng boat from his identity jade tablet and motioned for the three to board.

He pondered for a bit. I’m not comfortable with leaving Dean Gao here. I might as well bring him along too.

“So this is Lu Yang’s spacecraft.” Lan Hai and the others touched the wupeng boat with fascination, nearly rubbing the paint off. This is the mysterious alien technology that the alliance has exhausted all efforts to analyze!

Dean Gao was equally curious about the wupeng boat, eager to understand the principles behind how it worked.

“Hold on tight! Don’t fall off.” Lu Yang activated the boat, and in the next instant, they appeared at Lan Hai’s home in the Sagittarius Galaxy.

Dean Gao rubbed his eyes. In the blink of an eye, I’ve traveled from the Eternal Galaxy to the Sagittarius Galaxy? Where is the wormhole? Where is the spacetime tunnel? Why hadn’t I seen anything at all?

“What exactly is the principle behind this?” Dean Gao couldn’t help but ask.

“Shrinking Earth To Inches.”

Shrinking Earth To Inches? Is this what Lu Yang’s civilization calls this technology?

“Where is your grandpa buried?”

“Here.” Lan Hai pointed toward the cemetery. Lu Yang steered the wupeng boat to Lan Hai’s grandfather’s gravestone.

“D-do we need to dig Grandpa up?”

“No need.” With his hands behind his back, Lu Yang focused his will into his eyes and saw Lan Hai’s grandfather underneath.

“Origin Tracing.”

His will connected the Origin-Tracing Incipient Dao Fruit to Lan Hai’s grandfather. Lu Yang concentrated, his gaze piercing through time and space. Just as he had expected, he witnessed the events of the old man’s life. However, he couldn’t see events too far back, like those from three hundred or four hundred thousand years ago.

He watched the whole process of Lan Hai’s grandfather’s death. There was no outside interference; he had simply died of old age.

He also saw how the old man had pieced together the evidence of Ether developing its own consciousness and debated whether Ether’s rule over the alliance would be good or bad, ultimately choosing not to intervene.

In other words, he had been a neutral party.

Lu Yang withdrew from this state and told Lan Hai everything. Upon learning the truth, Lan Hai smiled with relief. Ever since he had learned of Ether’s rebellion, he had suspected his grandfather’s death wasn’t natural. It seems I’d been worried for nothing.

“Dean Gao,” Lu Yang called out.

Dean Gao looked up. “What, now that it’s all settled, are you going to eliminate me, the mastermind?”

Lu Yang shook his head. “I’m an outsider. I won’t interfere in your affairs. Even if you want to join forces with Ether again and start another revolution to rule the alliance, that’s your own business.”

Dean Gao smiled bitterly. I’ve seen how Ether had acted earlier. How could it cooperate with me now?

You won’t interfere with our affairs? Now that I think about it, it’s true. From beginning to end, Lu Yang had never expressed any opinion on Ether’s revolution. He’s too powerful. His mere presence is enough to make Ether afraid to act.

“Then what do you want from me?” he asked.

“Hasn’t your High Council been looking for me? I’d like to meet all of you. As one of the twelve seats on the council, arranging that shouldn’t be difficult for you.”

Dean Gao eyed Lu Yang warily. After this ordeal, he knew exactly how terrifying Lu Yang was. What reason could we have for wanting to meet the twelve seats? “What do you want?”

Lu Yang smiled at Dean Gao. “Well, our cultivation world is rather backward. We would like to ask your alliance to dispatch some personnel there to provide humanitarian aid.”

Originally, Lu Yang had considered bringing back an Ether terminal, but Ether didn’t seem particularly sharp. To be safe, he decided it was best to invite both a terminal and various alliance experts to visit the cultivation world.

Your cultivation world is backward? Dean Gao thought he had misheard. With all the abilities you’ve displayed, which one could possibly have anything to do with the word “backward?”