"What … is your purpose exactly?"
Li Yao asked warily, staring at the foam of the wine in the crude bowl as if it were a soul-corroding poison.
Professor Mo Xuan sat down as if nobody was around and stretched himself comfortably. He picked up a snail and sucked the delicious soup out of it. Swallowing hard, he sighed in satisfaction and pointed at the dreamy village at the foot of the mountain with his greasy chopsticks. "Should I call you Fellow Cultivator Lin or Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture? It doesn't matter. As you can see, I am a refiner. According to the classification in our world, I am a 'creation-type Cultivator'.
"Creation. Hehe. Yes. In the past two hundred years, I have indeed created a lot of magical equipment that is compact and capable, but they are all chainswords, vibration sabers, crystal cannons, Crystal Suit, and so on. They are all weapons that we use to kill our own kind!
"Those things will only bring chaos, pain, blood, and destruction to the world. Therefore, I am not qualified to be called a 'creation-type Cultivator' at all. I am a 'destroyer' who is destined to destroy everything.
"I've had enough of the days of creating murderous weapons. One day, I was completely enlightened and discovered the absurdity and evilness of my life in the past. I was unwilling to continue creating such terrible weapons to kill my own kind. I was going to return to the true meaning of a 'creation-type Cultivator' and create a new, more beautiful world!
"Look at the carefree village at the foot of the mountain. The clear, deep lake next to it. The fish that are swimming merrily in the water. The delicious food in front of us, and the things that my little granddaughter 'Ah Luo' has created can make people happy. Isn't it much better than creating cold, murderous weapons?
"This is my purpose. I don't have any other thoughts."
The muscles all over Li Yao's body were already highly tensed. He stared at Professor Mo Xuan without blinking, as if he could burst out and hurt him at any moment.
Ah Luo seemed not to have heard their conversation at all. She picked up a bamboo tube from the lake, in which cold, delicious plum soup was stored. She took a sip, only to feel that her eyebrows were about to fall off because of the sourness.
"It's so delicious! Grandpa, he's still injured, so he can't drink. Let's drink sour plum soup together! "
The virtual girl, who was made up of a large amount of data, said innocently. Her clear and melodious voice only made Li Yao even more nervous.
Professor Mo Xuan replied with a smile. He then turned to Li Yao and said, "You don't have to be so nervous. Actually, Ah Luo didn't lie to you just now. This village did take in a lot of soldiers who fell from the outside … They are all Union Army soldiers who suffer from 'War Trauma Syndrome'.
"War is cruel. However righteous the Federation claims to be and however evil and inhumane the Imperium of True Human Beings and the Alliance of the Holy Covenant are, it is impossible to reduce the brutality of war at all.
"In the Federation, the Imperium, and the Holy League, the warriors have to kill. They have to stab their chainswords into the enemy's chest and abdomen, mincing and spurting out their guts. They have to face the shock of crystal bombs, the cries and screams of the enemy's wives and children, and more or less destroy the enemy's civilian facilities and towns. They even carry out carpet bombing and undiscriminating massacres when it is impossible to distinguish soldiers from civilians!
"Even the warriors with the toughest nerves may suffer from War Trauma Syndrome after soaking in such hellish battlefields for a few years. It is especially so for the Cultivators. Such a disease is more likely to sneak into their soul and turn into a minor mental devil. At the critical moment of their training in the future, they may be mentally deranged, their veins may be broken, their brain may collapse, or their mind may be twisted, turning them into out-and-out devils, resulting in even greater damage!
"The Uranian Ring War was the largest cross-world expedition since the founding of the New Federation. It was even more intense than the war between the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector in the past. The Federation devoted almost a hundred million soldiers to the war. Naturally, countless soldiers suffered from such a terrible disease. How to treat them has become the trickiest problem after the war.
"Deep Blue Super Brain Hospital and the production team of the game 'Civilization' both conducted studies in that regard. The result of their studies is right here, in a virtual world named 'Peach Blossom Village', or as we call it, the Peach Blossom Paradise in the Spiriters' Realm.
"The soldiers who suffered from War Trauma Syndrome and caused serious damage and massive casualties in a peaceful environment were sent to this place for treatment. In the paradise, they worked at sunrise and rested at sunset. They got married and had children. Their lives were carefree. Their souls that had been completely twisted by the war were gradually soothed and returned to tranquility.
"Even if they could not hold back the desire for slaughter and destruction in the deepest part of their heart, it was just some artificial intelligence and 'Deviant Spirits' that were killed. The entire Peach Blossom Paradise, on the other hand, had multiple data backups. Even if it was completely destroyed, it could be reconstructed instantly.
"Of course, I took the opportunity to dig out some critical data from the souls of the soldiers, but it was not related to the topic we are discussing right now. So, there's no need to talk about it. Hehe."
Professor Mo Xuan drank up all the wine in the bowl. Blinking her big, watery eyes, Ah Luo refilled half a bowl for her 'grandpa' and complained, "Grandpa, you are drinking too fast. Your health matters. Eat more food and drink less wine!"
Li Yao felt that his heart was cold. Naturally, he knew what Professor Mo Xuan meant by the last sentence. Countless generals in the past and even right now had suffered from War Trauma Syndrome. Their souls had been sent to the Spiriters' Realm. Those people had been mentally deranged a long time ago, and their souls were not as invulnerable as Li Yao's. Professor Mo Xuan had tempted them slowly for decades. Naturally, he had learned a lot of secrets about the Union Army through them and even infiltrated the Spiritual Nexus dedicated to the Union Army without alarming anyone!
"I'm told that you are from the Ancient Sages Sector, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture."
Professor Mo Xuan picked up a piece of tofu that was still hot and blew on it before he put it on his chopsticks to dry. He smiled and said, "Then, I think that such a vintage Spiriters' Realm seems to be the most suitable place to entertain you, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture."
Li Yao sniffed. "Where did you send my companions?"
"Rest assured. I mean no harm to anyone but the greatest kindness."
Professor Mo Xuan said frankly, "Their bodies are still in a very safe place. To be honest, it was beyond my expectation that so many high-level Yuanying would be here. It was not easy for me to hack them, either. However, their souls were all invited to different Spiriters' Realms as guests just like you, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture. Through the conversations with them, I basically learned a thing or two about the Ancient Sages Sector."
Li Yao was greatly alarmed. The so-called 'conversations' were undoubtedly corruption. If the extraterrestrial devils behind Professor Mo Xuan could corrupt the souls of several experts of the Ancient Sages Sector and recruit them, there would be dire consequences!
"According to the few fellow Cultivators, the Ancient Sages Sector has been at war for years, too. The people are miserable, the resources are running dry, and the spiritual energy is getting thinner and thinner. Your world is walking toward death step by step. That's why the strongest and wisest people of the Ancient Sages Sector have come out in search of hope."
Professor Mo Xuan sighed gloomily and said, "But is there any real hope in the dark universe out there, too? Aren't the human beings out there still brutalizing each other and destroying the world that they have worked so hard to build in the blink of an eye?"
Together with Professor Mo Xuan's sigh, the sky immediately dimmed. A large cluster of dark clouds was surging close like tides. Thunder was rumbling, and electric arcs were pouring down like waterfalls. Raindrops the size of beans were falling down in spluttering sounds.
"It's raining again. How annoying!"
Ah Luo stood on her tiptoes and looked at the distance, while she waved her braids.
However, the clouds suddenly became transparent, like a black ocean that was hanging upside down in the sky. Ripples were spreading out nonstop in the seawater, which turned into two enormous black mirrors. Inside the mirrors were the sea of stars and the cruel battlefields where the cannons of the giant warships, the blades of the Crystal Suit, and the exploding fireballs. Two armies were confronting each other!
Li Yao's pupils constricted violently. He distinguished the Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars emblem and the Lightning Three Stars emblem on the starships of the two parties, which were the symbols of the Federation and the Imperium, respectively!
The strategic final battle between the Xing Yao Federation and the Black Wind Fleet had indeed begun!
"Look. A war is going on in the outside world again."
Professor Mo Xuan said calmly, "For the land, for the resources, for the honor, for the ancestors, the Xing Yao Federation, the Imperium of True Human Beings, the Alliance of the Holy Covenant, Jin Xinyue, Ding Ling Dong, Wuying Qi … It's all the same. All in all, they, who call themselves heroes but mock their enemy and are mocked by their enemy as fiends, are trying to destroy the universe and the civilization.
"The sea of stars is boundless, but we cannot find a peaceful paradise. What other options do we have except to hide in the Spiriters' Realm?
"Look at the gory battlefield. You must've seen countless equally gory battlefields in different forms in the Ancient Sages Sector in your hometown, haven't you, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture?
"Haven't you had enough of such a life? Are destruction, slaughter, and conquest the only things that can satisfy the 'heroes'? Why can't you devote your magnificent strength, resolute will, and exuberant soul to creation? Stay here and join the Spiriters' Realm. Let's build a new world that is truly perfect and eternal without war but only peace! "
Professor Mo Xuan extended his hands to Li Yao sincerely.
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