The 3D image of the hospital behind Li Linghai gradually dimmed, only to be replaced by the image of a hearty old man with white hair and a healthy face.
No. Except for his gray hair and deep eyes, he was almost a vigorous middle-aged man whose every movement was full of exuberant vitality.
"Dongfang Renxin, director of the Heavenly Star Hospital, vice president of the Imperium Medical College, vice chairman of the Royal Society of Medicine, one of the five hundred elders of the Imperium, a doctor, a Meditation Healer, an alchemist, and a specialist in the Divinity Transformation Stage. He is also the biological brother of Dongfang Wang, the prime minister of the Imperium. He is already 390 years old this year. You can't tell, can you?"
Pointing at the 3D light beam, Li Linghai said casually, "Two hundred years ago, Dongfang Renxin was one of the best specialists in 'xenogeneic organ transplantation' in the Imperium. He was best at eliminating the rejection reactions between the xenogeneic materials, namely demon beasts, spiritual beasts, and alien beasts, and the human body, before he transplanted the organs of the animals into the human body. With such a unique approach, the combat ability of human beings could be strengthened.
"In the most successful case, he replaced the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, and other internal organs of a seriously ill patient with the alien organs from demon beasts. After that, the patient who was doomed to die lived for eighty-two years and even kept his original Cultivation arts and strength. In the end, he did not die of organ failure but was killed in a battle.
"In other words, if he had taken a good rest, he could have lived on. The 'comprehensive alien organ transplantation' was a great success. It was much better than the regular 'artificial body replacement surgeries'.
"It is well known that the most troublesome problem in organ transplantation is the rejection reaction. Even the transplant of human beings would face serious rejection reactions, not to mention the transplant of human beings and demon beasts. However, Dongfang Renxin successfully resolved the problem and even published a lot of monographs. With that, he won the highest award in the medical community of the Imperium and joined the board of directors of the Royal Society of Medicine.
"After he made a name for himself, he expanded his research field to the production of all kinds of drugs, exploring how to refine the blood, bones, cores, and cores of the powerful demon beasts into the most effective strengthening drugs. You are all high-level Immortal Cultivators in the Divinity Transformation Stage. You should know that the strengthening drugs made of biological materials strongly reject the human body and have to be 'refined' slowly. One moment of carelessness, and you will be mentally deranged, right?
"That's exactly what Dongfang Renxin is trying to solve. But no matter how well he solves it, the gap between human beings and the demon beasts and the spiritual beasts is too huge after all, not to mention the alien beasts that are of a completely different origin from human beings. The rejection reaction is inevitable.
"In practice, the organs of demon beasts that are a perfect match for the patient's body are few and far between. The compatibility is often less than one in a hundred thousand. It means that for a patient whose organs are incomplete to find Dongfang Renxin, they have to screen at least a hundred thousand demon beasts before they can find a suitable one.
"That's why the foreign organ transplantation surgeries have a very high threshold. Although the techniques are very good, few people can enjoy them. They have become out-and-out 'dragon slayers'.
"However, from a different perspective, human beings are animals too. Physiologically speaking, they are no different from demon beasts and spiritual beasts. If the organs of demon beasts can be transplanted, the organs of human beings can be transplanted, too. If demon beasts can refine drugs, can human beings refine drugs? If the demon cores and the demon cores are great tonics, won't the spiritual roots and the Jin Dan be tonics too, and the rejection reaction will be much lower?"
Li Linghai licked his lips with a smile, as if he were enjoying it very much.
Even though everybody was a brutal, ferocious Immortal Cultivator, they still shuddered in fear.
Li Yao, on the other hand, took dozens of deep breaths before he managed to calm himself down.
"The path of training is like sailing against the current. If you don't move forward, you will fall back. Also, the higher you reach, the more difficult it will be to make further progress. You will have to spend countless efforts and resources to maintain your progress. It is like a parabola. It is easy to reach the peak, but it is extremely difficult to maintain the peak. The higher you soar, the faster you will fall. No matter how high you are, you will fall sooner or later. Let's take you for example. You must have a deep understanding of the feeling of loneliness at the top, right?"
With his hands behind his back, Li Linghai continued coldly, "Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the laws of nature. The path of training is against the will of nature. When one is old and feeble, one is bound to be punished by the heavens. Nobody can get away from it.
"Also, 'training' and 'power' are two contradictory sides. Training is about being undistracted and focused, but once you have power, you will inevitably have to deal with all kinds of affairs every day and be disturbed by all kinds of trivial matters. There are mountains of official business that you have to deal with. You can't wait to entertain guests twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.
"In order to maintain the peak state, you will have to train in seclusion for at least half of the time. But if you really spend twelve hours in seclusion every day, how can you control your power, command your subordinates, and deal with your affairs? Won't you be manipulated by your subordinates at any moment?
"Which of the fellow Cultivators here do not have such troubles?"
"You do have a point, Your Grace."
Li Linghai's words, however, were exactly what everybody was thinking. Lei Chenghu said, "To be honest, ever since I became the commander of the Third Battle Area, I have been drowned by the battle reports from the frontline every second and consumed by the bizarre affairs in the entire fleet and the entire battle area. I barely have the time to think, summarize, and train myself. Both my body and my soul are seriously exhausted.
"Although I am still in the Divinity Transformation Stage, I do not have the courage to activate the computational ability of the Divinity Transformation Stage easily. If I continue burning and exhausting myself like this, there is no telling how long I can last in the Divinity Transformation Stage as I grow older."
Li Yao couldn't have agreed more.
He was young and strong, and his combat ability was on the rise. After he came to the Imperium, he had a series of fortuitous encounters and gains, including the ultimate treasures such as the "Imperial Fire Pearl". That was why his level had been soaring all the time.
However, Li Yao was also very clear that his level was like a flying sword that was soaring straight up. It required an incessant supply of energy in order to accelerate continuously. When the energy ran out, or when there was not enough, his level would definitely plummet.
The universe was eternal, and the trainers were nothing more than brilliant fireworks that pursued momentary brilliance but would die out eventually.
Why could Li Yao go on a rampage in the capital with the Gold Vulture as if he were invincible? Was it true that nobody was a match for him? Did nobody come out to teach the "Vulture" a lesson?
Of course not. There were too many experts in the four Kurfürst families. Not just Li Linghai, there were still a lot of experts whose combat ability was higher than his. However, those experts had advanced into the Divinity Transformation Stage according to the regular methods. The youngest of them were almost three hundred years old. They were all elders and uncles. How could they come out and fight Li Yao unless it was absolutely necessary? Even if they went through all the trouble to take down Li Yao, chances were that they would "die of old age" when they returned.
Not counting the hibernation, Li Yao's real age was no more than a hundred years old. If his guess was correct, he should be the youngest battle-type expert in the Divinity Transformation Stage in the sea of stars. That was the greatest advantage that he had for his arrogance!
How could they always maintain their peak state? Once they reached the Nascent Soul Stage, they would always be in the Nascent Soul Stage. Once they reached the Divinity Stage, they would always be in the Divinity Stage. Once they reached the Divinity Stage, they would always be in the Divinity Stage. This was truly the ultimate dream of all cultivators throughout history!
Li Linghai said calmly, "Do you all agree? For the high-level Cultivators who are in high positions and have to deal with a lot of affairs every day, it is more difficult than climbing to the sky to maintain their level. Let's take 'Silver Fox' Li Jiande for example. After he became the prime minister of the Imperium, he was bothered by too many trifles and eventually suffered mental derangement and fell from the Divinity Branching Stage.
"Although everything that happened afterwards was quite a show, it was absolutely true that he had gone berserk back then.
"But what about the Dongfang family? Think about it carefully. Don't you find it odd? In the past hundred years, a lot of experts of the older generation of the Dongfang family have maintained their peak level. I have barely heard of any cases of mental derangement. Some of them can even reach a higher level and break into a new level when they are more than three hundred years old!
"According to the 'average peak time', the experts of the Dongfang family are obviously twice as long as the experts of the other three families. If other people can maintain their peak level for fifty years, they can maintain it for a hundred years!
"On the other hand, the proportion of 'genius youngsters' emerging in the Dongfang family in the past hundred years is appallingly high too. Rarely-Seen training geniuses and unparalleled experts are popping up all the time. In the joint competitions held within the four Kurfürst families, the young men of the Dongfang family have distinguished themselves in dozens of competitions. They are known as the 'Golden Generation'.
"It is exactly because of the vigor of the older generation and the unexpected rise of the younger generation that the Dongfang family has been expanding nonstop. To this day, it is far above the other three families. Have you ever wondered why that is?"
Lei Chenghu said solemnly, "Your Grace, are you implying that someone in the Dongfang family is practicing 'cannibalistic training'?"
"'Cannibalistic training'? That's an excellent summary! "
Li Linghai said with a smile, "Exactly. That's exactly what I mean. Headed by Dongfang Renxin, there is a secret research team that is dedicated to 'cannibalistic training' for the core leadership and the descendants of the Dongfang family. That's why the Dongfang family is what it is today!"
Lei Chenghu took a deep breath. "This is an important issue. We must have concrete evidence. Where did you get such appalling intelligence, Your Grace?"
Considering for a moment, Li Linghai said, "Such confidential intelligence cannot be acquired from the outside. It came from the Dongfang family."
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