Li Yao swallowed hard.
When he realized that the saliva was virtual, it was even more difficult for him to swallow.
Ling Xiaole held her arms subconsciously and asked in a shivering voice, "Professor, what do you want?"
Professor Mo Xuan continued licking the nonexistent lollipop, enjoying the sweetness that was purely virtual. He smiled and said, "Nothing. I only want to talk to the honorable guests from the center of the cosmos. If you feel uncomfortable, we can go to the town and talk to the leadership of the Union Army of the Hundred Flowers Space Zone and the Secret Sword Bureau.
"Of course, it is just a formality because they have the high-level permissions of this world. Even if they are not here on the surface, they can still hear what I said just now clearly. A real Cultivator never bother to hide their opinions. Everything I do is open and aboveboard. I've said that more than a hundred times."
Li Yao thought for a moment and decided to figure out what his professor was up to. He shook his head and said, "That will be unnecessary. I'm very interested in your theories, professor. They do sound radical, but that's how the cutting-edge studies work. I can understand that. Please continue. Is there anything else?"
"Of course."
Professor Mo Xuan pointed at his temples and said, "Do you understand? Human beings, who were trapped in fleshly bodies in the past, were indeed an imperfect life form. Our ancestors originated from an unknown planet in the depths of the sea of stars. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, they were still common monkeys. The first sparks of wisdom were triggered by the manipulation of fire and the use of tools. Then, they were noticed by the Pangu Clan or the Nuwa Clan and turned into some sort of 'body'. They were carefully modified by the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan to carry their genes and recessive techniques.
"However, no matter how the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan modified us, we could not get rid of the shadow of the monkey. Our fleshly bodies were born for the simple collection and hunting work on the planet. They were products with serious flaws and limitations!
"As monkeys, we can only live in a world where the temperature and environment in the atmosphere are extremely stable. Most people can't stand a high temperature above eighty degrees Celsius, nor can they stand a cold temperature of minus fifty degrees Celsius. My body is too fragile. A tree branch or a sharp tooth can kill us. We need air, air with a very precise proportion of elements. The increase and decrease of the content of various micro-elements can turn the air into a deadly poisonous gas. Our strength is too weak, and our running speed is too slow. Compared to the vastness and antiquity of the universe, our lifespan is too short. We can only live for three to five hundred years at most. What's the difference between us and the germs that come and go?
"Of all the flaws, the one we can't tolerate the most is our brains.
"Our fleshly brains, which are a cluster of wet, sticky things, are too shabby in design. They were prepared for the monkeys to collect, hunt, and reproduce in the primitive forests hundreds of thousands of years ago. They never thought that they would shoulder the mission to conquer the entire universe one day!
"First of all, our brains cannot inherit the wisdom and memories of the previous generation. It is impossible for our offspring to have everything that their parents have when they are just born. No matter how smart and knowledgeable their parents are, they cannot embed wisdom, information, and memories into their genes and pass them on to their offspring. Everything has to start from scratch! Even the children of the greatest mathematician of our age have to learn 'one plus one equals two' clumsily!
"Wisdom and memories cannot be passed on. What a great waste. What a pitiful brain!
"Secondly, the brains of most human beings are not suitable for complex calculations. Without the assistance of crystal processors, four calculations is the limit of most human brains. Even an excellent high school graduate can at best perform tens of thousands of multiplies and subtractions in their head.
"But what about calculus? What about the mechanics of spirit particles? What about the deflection and folding of spiritual energy fields? What about the mathematical expression of gene strands? What about the calculation of curved surfaces in multidimensional space? Can a human brain do that? No. Not just the ordinary people, even the brain of a Yuanying expert might not be able to do it instantly!
"But those are necessary to explore the universe and develop our civilization in vaster spaces and higher dimensions!
"Conquering such a mysterious universe with a fleshly body and a brain is like an ant living on a piece of paper trying to conquer a high mountain. It's too difficult. It's too difficult!
"If we get to the bottom of it, we are monkeys in the first place. The planet where we were born should be our final destination. The so-called universe should not be our destiny, responsibility, and ambition. We do not have such abilities!
"But the Pangu civilization and the Nuwa civilization chose us and enlightened us. They stuffed too many things into our poor fleshly bodies and gene strands. Those things triggered the fire of our wisdom and raised our ambitions to conquer the universe. They were too ambitious!
"It is exactly because of such ambitions that the brilliant and glorious civilization of mankind today has been built. However, it is already our limit to reach this step with a heavy and weak fleshly body.
"We need to jump and make a new 'leap of evolution', just like our ancestors waved burning branches and sharpened sharp stones for the first time hundreds of thousands of years ago!
"The Spiriters are the answer.
"Do you not feel that the Spiriters actually have a lot of advantages compared to ordinary human beings? We can use 'artificial limbs', which are much stronger. We consume less energy and occupy less space. We are less sensitive to temperature and air. Even a desolate planet without an atmosphere and air can be a paradise for the Spiriters. More importantly, we can build crystal processors for ourselves and expand computation and cooling plug-ins on the crystal processors. In such a way, our learning ability, computational ability, and communication efficiency will be much higher than that of the fleshly body!
"Therefore, my opinion is that the fleshly body is a product of a 'planetary civilization'. But now that human beings have expanded to a 'universal civilization' that includes three thousand Sectors and can travel in the four-dimensional space freely, we should get rid of, at least partly, the shackles and burdens of the fleshly body and upgrade to a brand-new form!"
Li Yao took a deep breath and calmed himself down. "Professor, such a theory is hard to accept right now!"
"Other people may find it unacceptable," Professor Mo Xuan said, "but why can't you? Haven't you despised your fleshly body a long time ago and tried to change and get rid of it?"
Ling Xiaole was dumbfounded. "Professor, what are you talking about?"
Professor Mo Xuan smiled and said unhurriedly, "Miss Ling, if I'm not mistaken, you have the bloodline of demons in you. You are a half-demon, aren't you?"
Before Ling Xiaole replied, he continued. "Demons? What are demons? Didn't human beings a long time ago feel that the normal fleshly bodies were no longer enough to meet the demands of marching into the universe, so they had to make some changes on the genetic level?
"You should say that your ancestors succeeded. At the very least, in terms of strength and adaptability to survival, most demons are indeed better than ordinary human beings.
"However, no matter how genes are modified, no matter how strong the fleshly body is, there are limits. For both human beings and demons, carbon-based lives are carbon-based lives and are bound by the laws of the material world. Even the strongest demon emperor or demon god is still a carbon-based life. It is impossible for them to live on the surface of a star, right?"
Ling Xiaole was not convinced. "Can the Spiriters do it?"
"Of course not," Professor Mo Xuan said. "But at the very least, there is the potential. Theoretically speaking, we can see the direction of development. The demons, on the other hand, will be nothing more than a large carbon-based life even if they walk on the path to the end, just like the Pangu civilization and the Nuwa civilization.
"Even the 'kings of carbon-based life' such as the Pangu and the Nuwa civilization have been destroyed. As their successors, if we continue on their path, is there any other possibility except repeating their mistakes?"
Ling Xiaole bulged her eyes. "But human beings are carbon-based lives!"
"Little girl," Professor Mo Xuan said, "let go of your limitations and imagination. We are just making a theoretical assumption. Assuming that the civilization of mankind continues to develop for another hundred million years and still exists after a hundred million years, do you think that it can only be a fleshly body and not in any other form?"
Ling Xiaole puffed her cheeks and thought for a long time. Then, she lowered her head and mumbled, "Who knows what will happen a hundred million years later?"
Professor Mo Xuan smiled. "As a matter of fact, it didn't take a hundred million years. It was even far earlier than now. A long, long time ago, somebody embarked on a path of evolution that was entirely different from that of the demon race. It was the path of the Spiriters, or rather, the 'life of pure energy'. It was the path of Cultivation that Representative Lin walked on."
Not expecting that his professor would point at him all of a sudden, Li Yao blinked and pointed at his own nose. "Me? A Cultivator? "
"Yes. Haven't the Cultivators since ancient times been pursuing the goal of 'ascending from mortal to immortal', to get rid of the shackles and obstacles of the fleshly body and evolve into a life form of pure energy?"
Professor Mo Xuan smiled casually. "The levels of the Cultivators are divided into the Refinement Stage, the Building Foundation Stage, the Core Formation Stage, the Yuanying Stage, the Divinity Transformation Stage, the Divinity Branching Stage, the Void Refining Stage, the True Deity Stage, the Immortal Stage … There are many other levels.
"In the Refinement Stage, the Cultivators perceive the natural spiritual energy with their soul and experience the mysteries of the world of energy for the first time.
"In the Building Foundation Stage, the spiritual energy inside the fleshly body is stabilized and flows through the limbs and veins of the human body. On one hand, it cleanses and strengthens the flesh and veins of the human body, but more importantly, it builds a network of spiritual veins that is similar to nerves and veins. It is equivalent to building a 'body of spiritual energy' inside the fleshly body, except that the two are overlapping for now.
"In the Core Formation Stage, a new 'second brain' is gradually born, which is the 'brain of spiritual energy' of the 'body of spiritual energy'.
"In the Yuanying Stage, the soul of the Cultivators is nurtured and condensed by the spiritual energy and becomes very powerful. It is equivalent to the birth of a baby in the form of spiritual energy. The Cultivators embark on a brand-new path of evolution! Representative Lin, you are in the beginning level of the Yuanying Stage right now. You should understand what I'm saying, right?
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