Li Linghai said regretfully, "In the fifty years after the Imperium of True Human Beings was established, it was under the attacks of the Alliance of the Holy Covenant and the remaining forces of the Star Ocean Republic from both inside and outside. By the time Blackstar the Great finally pushed back the two groups of enemies, the strength of the army of the Imperium and his own life had been seriously drained. He had to rest and recuperate. It was impossible for him to carry out a thorough reform.
"Blackstar the Great, who was in his twilight years, did consider to go against the will of nature and carry out a reform by force.
"However, on one hand, the vested interests who survived the disaster were smarter, stealthier, and more loyal on the surface. On the other hand, the wounds accumulated in the training and battles in his early years finally took full effect inside Blackstar the Great's body, even affecting his thinking and judgment, making him prone to mental derangement now and then. Many of his strategies and measures were indeed too radical. The reform to completely remove the cancer inside the civilization of mankind evolved into a catastrophe that swept across the sea of stars.
"In the end, even the real Immortal Cultivators who were loyal to him when he fought for the world together with him had to grit their teeth and object to the so-called reform. Blackstar the Great died of depression in such a hopeless situation, but he left a lot of trouble for the Imperium that he created in person.
"Today, the chronic diseases of the Imperium have broken out, and all kinds of problems have arisen. It is not until now that countless knowledgeable people have reviewed the 'catastrophe' in the past, only to find that they have missed the best opportunity.
"The oligarchs in the old days of the Star Ocean Republic all changed into the vested interests of the Imperium of True Human Beings. The high and mighty noble families swallowed the flesh and blood of the Imperium and the people blatantly.
"They hated and feared Blackstar the Great from the bottom of their heart, fearing that a second Blackstar the Great would appear and steal everything from them on behalf of the country and the people.
"Deep down in their hearts, they regarded Blackstar the Great as their most dreadful enemy, far better than the Holy League or the Cultivators.
"But on the surface, the fake, castrated Immortal Cultivators had to raise the flag of Blackstar the Great and praise Blackstar the Great's accomplishments because only Blackstar the Great's invincible prestige could unite the entire universe, symbolize the legitimacy of the Imperium's reign, and appease the bottom-level Immortal Cultivators and the hominoids who were ten times more numerous.
"It is exactly because of such a contradictory standpoint that a lot of shameless propaganda materials have appeared in the Imperium right now, commenting on Blackstar the Great's deeds in a roundabout way. Some of the dirty water has even leaked into the textbooks, historical works, and propaganda products of the Imperium, vilifying Blackstar the Great in secret. How shameless!"
When Li Yao heard this, he suddenly realized and couldn't help but let out an "ah" sound.
Li Linghai was slightly startled. "What's wrong? You seem to have thought of something?"
Li Yao blinked and said quickly, "Nothing. So to speak, Blackstar the Great is truly a great hero who serves the country and the people, right?"
But he felt that he was greatly enlightened.
Li Linghai's words resolved a mystery that had bothered Li Yao for a hundred years.
It was more than a hundred years ago when Li Yao met Su Changfa's exploration team for the first time on Kunlun.
At that time, Su Changfa and the other Immortal Cultivators intended to tempt Li Yao to join their team. They intentionally played the "brainwashing materials" about the destruction of three civilizations for Li Yao.
The brainwashing materials later evolved into the game "Civilization" of the Xing Yao Federation, which led to infinite stories. It was needless to say.
What struck Li Yao deeply at that time was that the destruction of the civilizations of the Curly Dragon Civilization, the Medicine Fork Civilization, and the Martial Meritocrats Civilization was enough to prove the naïveté, shortsightedness, and ignorance of the path of the Cultivators. The rightness and necessity of the true path of immortality did not seem necessary to reveal the history of Blackstar the Great in a hurry.
Even if the glorious history of the "late emperor" was to be promoted, it did not seem necessary to portray him as such … brutal, cunning, and inhumane, right?
The propaganda stories seemed to portray an emperor who was decisive and resourceful, but in fact, they left a lot of loopholes, as if they were purposely letting people see the darkness, viciousness, and ugliness underneath the magnificent throne.
In fact, that was exactly the case.
It was exactly because of the loopholes in the history of Blackstar the Great's rise that Li Yao soon realized what was going on after his discussion with the mental devil. His belief was not shaken at all, and he still adhered to the ideology of the Cultivators.
However, it did not make any sense at all!
The Imperium of True Human Beings had ruled the center of the cosmos for a thousand years and conquered too many Sectors. How could it not have done a single propaganda product well and left so many loopholes by praising him in secret?
Even if Blackstar the Great was truly an unpardonable, ferocious devil with unpardonable crimes, as his descendant, shouldn't the Immortal Cultivators be glossing over his mistakes and portraying him as bright, holy, and flawless?
Why … after reading the brainwashing materials presented by the Immortal Cultivators and learning the history of Blackstar the Great's rise, did they naturally have the feeling that he was a great villain?
When the royal painters in ancient times painted the emperor, they even knew to ignore the pockmarks on the emperor's face.
Why was it that the propaganda materials of the Immortal Cultivators were even worse, as if they were afraid that the listeners could not tell how brutal, crazy, and cunning Wuying Qi was?
It was basically a brainwashing material that was highly unqualified and even written by the "rebels"!
After all, Li Yao had been thinking at that time that he would definitely capture and behead the guys who compiled the propaganda materials if he were the emperor of the Imperium.
Li Yao did not believe that the propaganda department of the Imperium of True Human Beings, which had a history of a thousand years of conquest, colonization, and brainwashing, would be so retarded.
Later, he asked Su Changfa and Di Feiwen separately, but the two seasoned Immortal Cultivators did not know much about it, either. They only knew that the official propaganda of the Imperium a long time ago was exactly the same tone. On the surface, Blackstar the Great's accomplishments were exaggerated, but on closer inspection, Blackstar the Great's insanity and cruelty could be sensed.
Li Yao had considered the issue for more than a hundred years, but he failed to figure it out.
It was not until today that he finally understood everything.
The instinctive fear and disgust when he heard the story of Blackstar the Great for the first time on Kunlun more than a hundred years ago was not an illusion but a deliberate effect.
Those brainwashing materials were probably written by the writers of the noble families. Not only did they want to implant the first impression that the Imperium of True Human Beings was extremely powerful, but they also wanted to implant the first impression that Blackstar the Great was an insane, bloodthirsty butcher, and supervillain.
The latter was even more important than the former!
"That explains a lot. The propaganda department of the Imperium is not retarded, but they are all 'traitors'."
Li Yao thought to himself.
"Without Blackstar the Great, all the human beings at the center of the cosmos would've been under the reign of the Alliance of the Holy Covenant. They would've been deprived of feelings and free will, and they would've been turned into inhumane machines of flesh and blood."
Li Linghai said casually, "Is Blackstar the Great not worthy of the title of 'hero' for his accomplishments of resisting the Holy Covenant and defending the center of the cosmos?
"It's a pity that history is always written by the victors. Blackstar the Great led countless real Immortal Cultivators and fought hard to defend the civilization of mankind. After all the difficulties, he finally established the Imperium of True Human Beings. But right now, all the fruits of his victory have been stolen by the noble families.
"In the recent hundreds of years, and especially in the recent one to two hundred years, the corruption of the noble families has reached intolerable limits."
Li Yao thought of something. "Why do you say that?"
"It's very simple and critical — longevity."
Li Linghai said, "The greatest problem that the Imperium is faced with right now is that almost all the Immortal Cultivators from noble families have lived too long."
Li Yao was dazed. "Too long?"
"Exactly. The replacement of the old and the replacement of the new is the law of nature. Those who are too old to die are thieves!"
Li Linghai said, "In the first five hundred years, the Imperium had indeed fought some tough battles during its continuous expansion. A lot of Immortal Cultivators in the Core Formation Stage, the Yuanying Stage, and even the Divinity Transformation Stage fought in person or sacrificed their life and brain power incessantly. The odds of them being mentally deranged, heavily wounded, or even killed on the spot were not low.
"Only when the Immortal Cultivators of the older generation were dead could the Immortal Cultivators of the younger generation have the opportunity to rise and see hope. Only then could they have the motivation to fight, right?
"But in the later five hundred years, the Imperium did not have any large-scale wars of expansion to fight. The 'cake' was almost all divided. Every carrot was deeply rooted in its own hole. The only problem that they considered was how to prevent themselves from being 'plucked' out.
"As a result, a lot of high-level Immortal Cultivators changed the purpose of their training from 'how to improve their combat ability and computational ability' to 'how to prolong their lifespan and even immortality'.
"Those high-level Immortal Cultivators boasted tremendous resources and could consume astronomical crystals without caring about the cost just to slightly prolong their lifespan by a few days. As they expected, they made great progress.
"In the recent hundreds of years, the average lifespan of the Immortal Cultivators above the Yuanying Stage in the Imperium has been getting longer and longer. In the age of Blackstar the Great, even the Great Emperor himself died in less than four hundred years. But today, any random Yuanying Cultivator in the beginning level can live three to four hundred years if they take good care of themselves. If they enter the Divinity Transformation Stage, with the enhancement of special techniques, it is not unusual that they can live five to six hundred years."
"So unbelievable?"
Li Yao secretly clicked his tongue.
Gui Suishou, the famous Old Man of the Xing Yao Federation, with the bloodline of the demon turtles and irregular hibernation, had only lived for eight hundred years. Yet, he was already known as' Ren Rui '.
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