Li Yao was silent but nodded quickly in his heart.
In fact, what the voice said had been reflected a lot in the history of the civilization of mankind in the Pangu universe, which was the chaos in the age of the ancient Cultivators and the tragedy of the Ancient Sages Sector.
There was no power that could be obtained without paying any price. Fate had already set a price for every power. Those powers that seemed easily obtainable might have to be exchanged for with something even more precious — organization, social order, the desire to explore, and curiosity.
Thankfully, the civilization of mankind in the Pangu universe, including the Pangu civilization before the civilization of mankind and the hundred primeval civilizations before the Pangu civilization, were not the first-generation primitive civilizations strictly speaking but the offspring of the Primeval Civilization.
On one hand, they could find the relics of the previous civilization deep below the ground and in the vast sea of stars to learn valuable lessons and avoid repeating the same mistakes. On the other hand, deep inside their genes were the primeval memories from the Primeval Clan in the first place. Although the ancient memories were mottled, blurred pieces most of the time, they were enough to stimulate the instincts of intelligent lives and naturally form a complicated society and a high degree of organization.
Therefore, the 'secondary civilizations' could still develop into powerful civilizations in the environment with intense spiritual energy, but they had to take a lot of detours, too. For example, the collapse of the ancient Cultivators and the Great Dark Age of thirty thousand years in human beings, and the evils of the Alliance of the Holy Covenant and the Imperium of True Human Beings today were all due to the great differences between individuals. The strong were too strong, and the weak were too weak.
The primitive civilizations, which did not have the relics of the previous civilizations to excavate and did not have "organizational instincts" deep inside their genes, suddenly received inexhaustible spiritual energy. They were like seven or eight years old children who received enormous legacies but lacked the discipline of adults. They could only squander the legacies blatantly. Few of them did not learn the bad things.
"Spiritual energy is naturally one of the most precious resources in the universe, but only a highly mature civilization that boasted its own belief was qualified to drive it instead of being enslaved by it."
The voice went on. "It was exactly because we did not have the help of spiritual energy that we were able to trigger all our passion, wisdom, and courage to modify our planet and get to know the universe beyond our planet with our hands, sweat, and blood.
"We carried out the first industrial revolution, the second industrial revolution, and the third industrial revolution.
"We have discovered the laws governing the movement of celestial bodies. We have also discovered molecules, atoms, and structures even smaller than atoms.
"We have discovered electromagnetic waves and learned how to make use of radio. We have conquered mountains, oceans, and countless kinds of bacteria. We even know how to drive mold to cure fatal diseases. We believe in technology more devoutly than we believe in gods. We firmly believe that the path of technology is infinite, and the infinite technology will eventually make us the gods of ourselves and even the entire universe.
"Of course, the rapid advancement of technology and the sudden expansion of civilization also brought crazy ambitions and bloody killings. In the first fifty years of the twentieth century, we launched two world wars in succession. If the main battlefield of the first world war was limited to only one continent, then the storm of death of the second world war truly swept across the entire mother planet.
"Those were the two most glorious and cruel wars. The people, who lacked spiritual energy and the strength to truss a chicken, were able to unleash destructive power that was even more terrifying than that of the trainers. Tons of steel and explosives fell like a storm, which could instantly destroy a large city with a population of hundreds of thousands of people.
"It was especially so at the end of the second world war. We used a weapon named 'atomic bomb', which involved the mysteries of the annihilation of matter and the explosion of energy. On the surface of a planet with an atmosphere, it was an existence that was even more terrifying than the main guns of a starship.
"However, while war is a demon that destroys civilizations on one hand, it is also a catalyst that promotes the rapid development of civilizations on the other hand. The new technologies and ideas born in the two world wars, as well as the new systems born on the old systems that were destroyed, all contributed to the explosive development of our civilization in the last fifty years of the twentieth century. We marched forward as fast as lightning.
"After the end of the second world war, only twenty years later, on July 21, 1969, our primitive and shabby starship landed on the only satellite of the mother planet for the first time and took the first step to conquer the sea of stars."
Along with the voice, a new picture popped up in Li Yao's head.
Three astronauts in white spacesuits and stars and stripes, who looked bloated and clumsy, were bouncing on the surface of the moon. In the slightly low and noisy background, one of the astronauts' voices came over.
"… This is a small step for me, but a giant leap for mankind."
Of course, the astronaut was speaking in English, which was the 'magic language' in Li Yao's understanding.
"The cruel destruction of the second world war and the ensuing cold war between the two superpowers not only gave birth to the space technology and the research on the universe that far exceeded the limits of our civilization, but it also awakened the ancient nation with the largest population in our civilization. After hundreds of years of silence, the ancient civilization standing in the east was rejuvenated with the greatest ambition and creativity."
The voice said, "From the last fifty years of the twentieth century to the first twenty years of the twenty-first century, it was almost the golden age when our civilization developed at the fastest speed. Almost every year, new technologies and research results were born. Almost every decade, the entire civilization was renewed. In 1950, electronic computers were still a fantasy for most people, but sixty or seventy years later, they could already be worn on people's wrists and become an indispensable tool of production and life partner for everyone. People even began to imagine the birth of artificial intelligence in the next hundred years.
"However, the beautiful dream suddenly broke like a golden soap bubble. Our technological explosion hit the limits of physics, and we were forced to hit the brakes hard. In the third decade of the twenty-first century, we encountered stagnation and setbacks in every field. We barely made any valuable discoveries.
"As technology stagnated, a series of drawbacks and fatal flaws burst out from the depths of our civilization.
"The Super Matthew effect brought about by the global network made the gap between the rich and the poor even wider, and society even more divided.
"The population explosion brought about by advanced medical technology, but the lack of a good education system and enough jobs made most of the population become an 'invalid population' or even a 'negative population'. They became a burden to the civilization.
"The destruction of the environment and the lack of resources made the living environment of most people worse. The emergence of cutting-edge weapons and even unmanned weapons made the weaker countries even more powerless to resist the countries that had the advantage. This also led to the prevalence of extremist ideas and a series of terrorist activities.
"If these problems are all 'chronic diseases' that can be slowly solved during the development of our civilization, then when the two powerful forces that represent two completely different logics and economic systems in our civilization collide, it means that the entire civilization will fall into a catastrophe.
"Everyone hopes for peace, not war.
"However, you should know very well that, when a civilization encounters setbacks in its external expansion, and all the known worlds are explored 100%, all the resources will be drained, and the path of technological advancement will be blocked. There is no other way except to be caught in the desperation of 'involution' and to kill each other and perish together.
"First, it was the trade friction, then the proxy war, and then the small-scale and low-intensity skirmishes … A series of warm-ups, tests, threats, and intimidation lasted for ten years. When both sides were clear about each other's strength and determination, the Third World War finally began in 2028 of the new era.
"In our civilization, a wise scholar once said, 'I don't know how the Third World War will start, but I know that the Fourth World War will be fought with stones and sticks.' He was absolutely right.
"The intensity of the Third World War was a hundred times greater than the 'World War II' a hundred years ago. It was even beyond everyone's imagination at that time. Before the war, everyone was very optimistic that with the advancement of technology, especially the popularity of supercomputers and armed drones, it would be a 'clean war' and a 'bloodless war'. It was even another low-intensity bluff and routine friction between the two sides. It was not until the bizarre-shaped mushroom clouds rose above their heads and swallowed them instantly, turning them into burning skeletons that they regretted it.
"The Third World War lasted for thirty years. It was the longest and cruelest war in the history of our civilization, and it also changed our civilization deeply.
"It was especially so in the later part of the war, as the mother planet turned into a wasteland, all kinds of extremist and terrorist plagues appeared. All kinds of immature biochemical weapons, virus weapons, and even genetic weapons were unleashed without restraint, making us feel the fear of the extinction of our civilization for the first time.
"Perhaps, the growth of every civilization is like that. They will not know the value of peace and unity until they encounter a 'Cataclysm' that may destroy the entire civilization.
"Even though some of the survivors learned the importance of peace and unity, the blood feud of thirty years and the white and black tombstones piled up with billions of corpses still became a natural moat and a high wall that separated the two sides.
"If there were no accidents, our civilization might have died in such a humiliating and sorrowful way.
"However, since you can hear our voices, and even your existence itself, it represents the arrival of a 'miracle'.
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