40,000 Years of Cultivation

Li Yao and Li Jialing walked under a "towering giant tree".

This big tree is hundreds of meters high and is located between dozens of high and low stalagmites and stalactites. There are countless "branches" protruding from the surrounding branches, and there are ridge-like roots. It spreads radially around, all the way to the bottom of the earth.

Li Yao gently tore off a few vines, wiped off a piece of moss, and could vaguely identify the interface of a row of crystal cards.

This seemingly giant tree is a very sophisticated and huge central control system - he has only seen similar systems on the bridges of some super-large starships in the past.

But now, all the crystal brains and computing chips embedded in the central control system are all rusty. The surface is covered with moss, vines, and various ant-like bugs, and there are even tumor-like spore-like life dots. Between the vines and moss, a mist of mist is continuously sprayed outwards.

Dim, like breathing, making it like a monster that combines life and precision machinery.

This is the largest "playground" in the town. Many playful children climbed onto the branches of the "giant tree", which is the crystal line transmission pipeline, to catch the small insects that breed from the crystal brain, and go to the head and spine of their companions. Putting them up, teasing each other, one after another laughed like silver bells.

Li Yao noticed that these children with crystal clear skin and slightly red eyes are among the few people in the entire town who can laugh.

Li Yao looked at the children and thought thoughtfully: "The underground towns numbered after 10000 are the limit of the empire's statistics. So, the residents here are the oldest exiles?"

"No."

Li Jialing shook his head and said, "Forty thousand years ago in the ancient cultivating era, and the underground exiles during the rise and decline of the monster race, after all, they are too far away from now, and most of them are decayed in the darkness of the earth under the erosion of time. , Or'fusion' with latecomers.

"Even if a very small number of people are alive occasionally, they have long forgotten their identity, the meaning of civilization and even the most basic wisdom, and they have become savages and blood-drinking savages, and even degenerate into ignorant, ignorant, instinctive humanoid beasts.

"These savages and humanoid beasts were all driven to deeper than five-digit towns, not to mention the names, even the dark death areas without numbers-Sister Long went down to the tribe of these savages to mediate the disputes between them."

Li Yao frowned slightly and said, "Then when did the people here escape into the ground?"

"It should be 10,000 years ago when the Star Sea Empire collapsed and fled to the ground."

Li Jialing said, "This was originally an underground refuge in the Xinghai Empire era. The ancestors of most of the residents should have escaped at that time, thinking of temporary refuge. Who knows that it takes ten thousand years to hide here. Struggling and prospering, there will never be a chance to return to a sunny world."

Li Yao sighed, still a little puzzled: "Since it is an underground refuge built by the Xinghai Empire, it should have all kinds of facilities and education systems. The people who escaped at first, even if they are civilians, should You all master the basic survival skills and the flames of civilization? Why do I see that this place is lingering, lifeless, and everyone is degraded to the appearance of the medieval world?"

Li Jialing thought for a while, seeming to recall Long Yangjun’s words, and finally said: “Sister Long said that the way of cultivation is like sailing against the current, or retreating if you don’t advance. The same is true for the continuation and development of civilization. The faster you evolve and surpass one peak after another, can you maintain the existence of civilization.

"If you want to stop and take a breath, you are very likely to be overwhelmed by your own weight and embark on an unstoppable recession and even perish.

"However, the more advanced the civilization, the more sophisticated the social structure, the more complicated the conditions for maintaining the same social form, and the weaker the ability to withstand the pressure of the environment. Sister Long said, you are a craftsman, and you must understand that the more components Less, the lower the failure rate; and as more and more components make up a magic weapon, no matter how carefully it is refined and how carefully it is used, it will always fail over time.”

Li Yao nodded. In the magic weapon refining circle, there is a saying that "adding one component will double the failure rate". Although it is a bit exaggerated, the truth is correct.

With the increase of magic weapon components, the difficulty of refining, assembling and repairing will increase exponentially. A large magic weapon composed of millions of components is simply an unpredictable chaotic system. No one can guarantee that it will not There will be weird problems during use, even Li Yao can't guarantee.

Perhaps, as components and talisman arrays break through their limits, magic weapons have a certain sense of life, and life forms are the most uncontrollable and unpredictable existence in the universe, right?

"Sister Long said that this is the magic weapon, and civilization is the same. A super-giant magic weapon composed of tens of billions of components is destined to collapse one day no matter how it is repaired and maintained; and a highly advanced and developed civilization is too fragile to be added. , It’s very easy to be ruined by a little bit of the smallest problem."

Li Yao snorted coldly, "How is the magic weapon and civilization the same?"

Li Jialing said, "Sister Long said, "If it is a village in the ancient world, composed of the simplest logs and rocks, all villagers will work at sunrise and rest at sunset, relying on hunting and farming to make a living—— Such a seemingly backward social form can easily resist the erosion of time and environmental changes. Even if it migrates from the ground to the ground, it can maintain its original form and survive for a long time.

"But what if it's a modern town?

"Think about it, what does it take to maintain a modern town? Even from the most superficial point of view, there must be a crisscrossing vacuum pipeline system and ultra-high-speed crystal track system above the head, and there must be tunnels and lifting platforms extending in all directions at the foot, and there must be densely packed. Sewers, ventilation pipes, information and energy transmission pipes will be connected to each other, and there must be enough space to accommodate vehicles such as shuttles, and all of this requires a continuous supply of energy.

"Assuming the same number of people, the energy consumption of modern cities and towns is a hundred or even a thousand times higher than that of ancient cities and towns. In addition to geothermal energy, there is almost no more psychic barren land. How can modern cities not collapse ?

"There is also a human factor. Sister Long said that the common people in the ancient world seem to be weak ants, but the ants' ability to survive is actually very strong. The ancients have thick skins and hardships and stand hard work, and they only need a few bowls of the worst ballast every day. Zi congee can continue farming and hunting, and there is a concept of many children, even if most of the children die, a very small number of descendants can continue their blood.

"However, although modern society has produced such a powerful ethnic group as cultivators, as well as various magic weapons, which make life so convenient that it is impossible to add to it, it also invisibly weakens the survival ability of human beings. Most people's stomachs are only suitable for the finest food. , The air-conditioning talisman array is needed to provide a cool and comfortable environment, not to mention that there is no sewer and toilet, even if there is no spiritual net, it will become a zombie.

"Modern people have long forgotten that in harsh environments, they rely on the worst tools and even the ability to farm and hunt with their bare hands. They are engaged in the work of crystal brain engineers, crystal rail train drivers, high-rise building builders, singing, dancing and telling stories. ——All these survival skills require a rigorous, complicated and error-prone platform to support. When this platform disappears, the survival ability of 99% of modern people is close to zero.

"In addition, the more civilized the race, the more inclined it is to prenatal and postnatal care, and even one offspring will not have the ability to resist risks.

"This is the case with the remnants of the Xinghai Empire who migrated to the depths of the earth. Perhaps when they first fled, the facilities in the refuge were very advanced and the material reserves were sufficient. Among them, doctors, scholars, teachers and engineers were modernized. Talents are readily available, enough to continue a small civilization.

"But this is just an illusion of self-deception. In the face of the strong pressure of the crustal movement, the seemingly indestructible outer wall of the refuge is no different from the illusory soap bubble. Just one'small' earthquake is enough to destroy their entire modernity. Civilized system, and if engineers in some key positions fall unfortunately, it is difficult to cultivate enough good successors within a few years.

"Over ten thousand years, dozens of earthquakes and underground magma eruptions have occurred. It is normal. These survivors of the Xinghai Empire have struggled to survive in such a harsh environment to this day without losing their humanity, and they can still have language, thinking, and Basic social organization skills are already pretty good!

"By the way, Sister Long also said that perhaps Pangu and Nüwa civilizations were both destroyed in this way. The more advanced the civilization, the more fragile the internal structure. Therefore, when Pangu and Nüwa civilizations develop to the extreme, their internal social structure should be better than today's. Human civilization is a hundred times more fragile. It is a typical'externally strong and medium-dominated'."

Li Yao sneered at this statement. He could cite a hundred counterexamples. Could it be that the ability of the Tianyuan Realm to deal with disasters is not as good as that of the Ancient Sage Realm? What a joke!

However, he didn't intend to dig out the words, but looked at the dim darkness above his head and said: "Does the imperial authorities know the situation here? How can you ignore it?"

"Of course I know, otherwise how did the area number ‘10084’ come from?"

Li Jialing said, "However, why should we care? Who will take care of it? What good is it? Immortal cultivators are the most selfish, it is no good things, they...we don't do it!

"If there are any rare mineral veins or precious ancient civilization relics found in the depths of the earth, the immortals will naturally scramble to flock, fight, and even wipe out the entire underground town.

"But in the area of ​​10084, the barren villages that rely on cultivating rock worms do not have any oil and water to squeeze. If you want to collect a dime here, you will waste a hundred yuan in taxation costs. It is not worthwhile. How could a cultivator waste his precious training time to take care of these insignificant ants and'garbage'?

"Furthermore, the extreme heavens and the celestial stars are theoretically a'vacuum zone' where the power of the four major electors’ families clashes. This is the imperial capital directly under the emperor. Which elector is thankful to help the emperor manage the depths of the earth Where are the untouchables and savages?

"Therefore, apart from a large population census more than two hundred years ago, which identified many underground areas with numbers, unless rare mineral veins and ancient ruins were found somewhere, very few immortal cultivators would go down to such a deep underground. This is the world that has been ignored and forgotten deliberately, and has been completely abandoned by the rulers on the ground."