Professor Mo Xuan's straightforwardness and sharpness were applauded by the students of the Sky Fantasia Academy, which was Xie Wufeng's home field.
Professor Mo Xuan pressed on. "If we are talking about 'self-awareness', adult chimpanzees boast the intelligence of five-year-old children and a certain degree of self-awareness. Also, dolphins are as good as chimpanzees in that regard.
"Therefore, instead of worrying about the Spiritual Nexus turning into a demon, you might as well worry about the possibility that chimpanzees and dolphins turn into demons and compete with human beings for the hegemony of the universe."
The audience burst into laughter again. Some were clapping, and some were cheering.
Xie Wufeng was as emotionless as before. His voice was calm, not affected by Professor Mo Xuan and the environment at all. "In the world of Cultivators, it is indeed possible for chimpanzees and dolphins to turn into demon beasts and 'demons' to some extent. But even if chimpanzees and dolphins do turn into demons, we do not seem to need to worry that they can seize the most awesome starships of human beings or even the 'stellar-level magical equipment' crystal processors that can destroy a space zone."
"No. The possibility is slim to none!"
Professor Mo Xuan said. "Because the birth and development of life follow its own pattern, even if we assume that a certain virtual life does exist, it will certainly be extremely weak, tiny, and simple when it is born, like the cells that have just been born in the primitive ocean.
"From the cells to the civilization of mankind, after billions of years of development, from the 'digital life' at the beginning to the 'brand-new virtual civilization' that truly awakens with self-awareness, it will still take tens of millions of years even if the evolution time is shortened by a hundred times without artificial intervention! Tens of millions of years is too long for any discussion or change! "
"What if there is artificial intervention?" Xie Wufeng asked. "Just like how the Pangu civilization 'enlightened' some ignorant monkeys and created the civilization of mankind, only to be swallowed by the civilization of mankind in the end? Do you not feel that the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus right now, including all the DLCs of the game 'Civilization', is some sort of artificial intervention or 'enlightenment'? A lot of real life data of human beings will be uploaded to the light circuits, the Spiritual Nexus, and the crystal processors. They will collide, surge, and merge. Eventually, something will be born!
Professor Mo Xuan said, "Just like I said before, even if a certain self-aware virtual life is born, you don't need to worry that it will control the entire Spiritual Nexus and all the crystal processors as described in the novels. That is just the fantasy of the liberal arts students who know nothing about the Spiritual Nexus and crystal processors.
"It's like, Professor Xie, as a 'real life', it's impossible for you to control the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the materials in the universe instantly, right? Even if the virtual life did exist, it had its limits. It was impossible for it to control the entire Spiritual Nexus, which was an entire virtual universe!
"In this field, I believe that I have a greater right to speak than you do, because to some extent, I am sort of a 'virtual life' myself. Look. I don't actually have a real entity and can travel on the Spiritual Nexus freely. I am nothing more than a ripple of spiritual waves.
"So what? Can I control everything on the Spiritual Nexus freely? Can I crawl into the mainframe crystal processor of every starship of the Union Army right now and control all the starships at the same time?
"It's impossible. In the world of the Spiritual Nexus, I am just an ordinary person who is slightly stronger. I will be infected by crystal processor viruses, which will be blocked by all kinds of firewalls. I will even be recognized as a special crystal processor virus and wounded or even killed by all kinds of antivirus telepathic thoughts. Most importantly of all, my computational ability is limited. Controlling all the crystal processors on several starships at the same time will be enough to drive me mentally deranged and completely collapse!
"If another virtual life is born, why was it stronger than me since the very beginning? Why was it able to control all our crystal processors and destroy us the moment it was born?
"Imagine that when the Pangu civilization created the first human being, the human being controlled all the stars in the universe and all the physical weapons of the Pangu race without any reason and in violation of any natural law, thereby destroying the Pangu race in turn. Is it possible?"
"Therefore," Xie Wufeng said coldly, "you do not deny the possibility that a virtual life exists, but you believe that it is too weak to pose a threat to us when it is born?"
Professor Mo Xuan was silent for a moment. Then, metal ripples spread out on the surface of his body again. "Yes. Not only do I not deny it, I also believe that it is very likely, if not destined, to be born."
As soon as this was said, the crowd was in an uproar.
Xie Wufeng bulged his eyes. "Professor Mo, you believe that a virtual life is destined to be born, but you are still accelerating its birth and evolution with the 'grand-unified Spiritual Nexus'? Have you — have you specialists of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus ever considered for one second what kind of monster you are going to create when you demonstrate your talents blatantly? "
Professor Mo Xuan was silent for a long time. His voice gradually turned cold. "Monster? What kind of monster? Professor Xie, and all the students here, do you think that I am a monster? "
Xie Wufeng was slightly dazed. The students fell silent, too.
"Like I said earlier, I do not have a real entity. This cluster of liquid metal or artificial body is just my carrier."
Professor Mo Xuan said, "I am an out-and-out virtual life. So, you think that I am not a 'human being' but some sort of 'monster', right?
"Not just me. In fact, all the spectral Cultivators do not have a real entity. They are nothing more than spiritual waves that contain infinite information. They are some sort of 'virtual life'. It is true that a lot of spectral Cultivators have abandoned the life of hiding inside artificial bodies in the real world and chosen to live in the database of large crystal processors for a long-term life in the virtual world.
"Therefore, the spectral Cultivators who live in the virtual world for a long time are not human beings but monsters, too?"
"How is that the same?" Xie Wufeng said in a hurry. "You are human beings in a different form!"
"Is there a fundamental difference?"
Professor Mo Xuan said. "My original self was killed in the explosion of the Crystal Suit more than seventy years ago. For a long time after that, my self-awareness and memories were completely gone. The last bit of my feeble obsession turned into a 'Phantom Entity'. Later, it was Li Yao's obsession and soul waves that woke me up, allowing me to regain my self-awareness and memories of the past.
"But the so-called 'memories' are just a series of data. The so-called feelings and desires are nothing more than the shivering frequency of spiritual waves for me.
"Then, was it the real 'Professor Mo Xuan' that Li Yao woke up, or was it a brand-new life form that boasted all of Mo Xuan's memories and grasped the frequency of his soul waves?
"If a virtual life that suddenly awakens self-awareness after absorbing tremendous data of the soul waves of human beings is really a 'monster' instead of a brand-new human being in a different form, is it really a 'monster'? What is the difference between them and the spectral Cultivators?
"Am I really a human being? Who can define whether or not I am a human being? Myself, you, the students here, the government of the Federation? Or a certain supreme sage who has grasped the ultimate mysteries of the universe?
"Even if we don't consider the groundless, unanswered questions, we really cannot regard the brand-new virtual life that is destined to be born as our own kind. Do we have to regard them as monsters?"
Xie Wufeng sneered. "Not our own kind, not monsters. Then, what are they?"
"Children."
Professor Mo Xuan said casually, "I believe that the brand-new virtual life is the 'child of mankind' and our child civilization."
There was nothing but dead silence.
Xie Wufeng burst into laughter in the dead silence, with tears flowing out of his eyes. "Child civilization? Don't forget how the Pangu civilization was destroyed by their child civilization! "
"Got it."
Professor Mo Xuan said calmly, "Then, in terms of our standpoint, Professor Xie, you are probably the 'Pangu' of human beings, and I am the 'Nuwa' of human beings."
"I don't understand!"
Xie Wufeng raised his voice. "Why do you have to do such a thing? Why do you have to put our civilization in such unpredictable dangers? Why do you have to create a highly dangerous' gravedigger '?"
"If you don't have a child, nobody will dig a grave for you and bury you. Wouldn't it be even more pitiful if you died without a proper place and nobody remembered you after your death?"
Professor Mo Xuan said softly, "It's not that I have to do such a thing, but it is truly irresistible!
"The reason is simple. For the civilization of mankind to develop at a high speed, it cannot do without the assistance of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus. For the three thousand Sectors to be condensed into an unbreakable whole, a high-speed, grand-unified platform of the Spiritual Nexus in space is absolutely necessary.
"Without such a platform, how can different galaxies hundreds of lightyears away from each other reach out to each other and establish a country and a civilization instead of falling apart and fighting against each other?
"Once we produce the earliest crystal processors and establish the most primitive Spiritual Nexus, the cells of the virtual life will already be born, and the unstoppable evolution will begin!
"The computational ability of the crystal processors will be higher and higher, and the speed of the Spiritual Nexus will be higher and higher. There will be more and more nodes, and the data uploaded to the Spiritual Nexus will be more and more boundless. One day, our children, virtual lives with self-awareness, will be born!
"It is not my hope, and it will not change because of my will. Even if somebody kills the entire production team of the game 'Civilization', including all the specialists of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus in the Xing Yao Federation, nothing will change at all.
"It is because the Imperium of True Human Beings and the Alliance of the Holy Covenant boast more advanced crystal processors than ours. Sooner or later, they will, if not already, develop a Spiritual Nexus that is more developed than ours.
"Then, a brand-new virtual life, our child civilization, will be born in the Imperium of True Human Beings or the Alliance of the Holy Covenant.
"Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the laws of nature. Human beings will die, and so will the civilization of mankind. Most people will leave their descendants to inherit their bloodline and will before they die. By the way, it is necessary and inevitable that the civilization of mankind will leave behind some child civilizations before it perishes. Why are we so scared and worried about everything?
"What you just said is similar to Senior Gui Suishou's' Monument Plan '. However,' monuments' are dead, while the child civilizations are alive. They are our heritage, our symbol, and our future!"
The auditorium seemed to have been frozen. Xie Wufeng and all the students turned into statues. The cracking sounds of nerves breaking seemed to be echoing in the air.
Xie Wufeng was dazed for a long time before he stammered, "Then, how can the problem of the child civilizations be resolved?"
A big smile was outlined on the surface of Professor Mo Xuan's metal body. "Professor Xie, do you have children?"
Xie Wufeng nodded subconsciously. "Two sons and a daughter."
Professor Mo Xuan said, "If you are worried that your children will be unfilial when they grow up, you should educate them from a young age and teach them how to be a good person. You should nurture them into people with ideals, morals, and correct values, instead of shooting them to death in swaddling clothes, right?"
Xie Wufeng was rendered speechless.
"The future is here. Nobody can stop it."
Professor Mo Xuan said solemnly, one word after another, "If our child civilization, a virtual life based on the Spiritual Nexus and the crystal processors, is destined to be born, I only hope that it will be born in the Xing Yao Federation instead of the Imperium of True Human Beings or the Alliance of the Holy Covenant. I also hope that the Xing Yao Federation can be a qualified 'father' to care for it, educate it, and raise it, instead of what our father, the Pangu civilization, did to us.
"In such a case, one day, we may create a child civilization that is more intelligent, kinder, and brighter than the civilization of mankind. After the civilization of mankind perishes, it will inherit our spirit and will and continue marching to the boundless universe deep in the sea of stars.
"Who can say that it will not be 'human beings' in a brand-new form by then, and that it will not be our eternal life?"
The fourth update that I haven't seen in a long time!
Over the past couple of days, some readers have commented in the comments section that it was unnecessary to introduce such a small game for so long. Were they simply spamming the game?
You should know by now that the introduction a few days ago was necessary. Even Old Cow would not spout nonsense easily!
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