NOVEL NEXT Chapter 338 Simulation: Prelude to the New Era
Time flowed like a river of stars, and in the blink of an eye, another two hundred years had passed.
The universe of Myriad Realms had been entirely assimilated by the Taixu Sphere, and the Taixu Illusory Realm had expanded to ten billion light-years. Earth, once a mere planet, had transformed into a genuine dimensional plane within the Taixu Illusory Realm, becoming a vast continent of circular heavens and square earth.
Technology and cultivation, fused together, flourished mightily.
In this era, the average life vitality had reached 1, and even newborns fluctuated around an average life vitality of 0.5. Humanity had become the true dominators within ten billion light-years!
It's worth mentioning that Earth was now rich in Spiritual Energy and had also given birth to various intelligent Yokai species.
Initially, the Yokai were enemies of humans, but facing the powerful humans and advanced technology, they were utterly powerless and came close to extinction.
Eventually, under the advocacy of Ming Lun, some Yokai wised up, began to learn from humans, and even contributed to human society, earning corresponding statuses within the human alliance.
From then on, humans and Yokai lived together on the vast, boundless continent, developing and progressing together.
However, a minority of Yokai felt that those cooperating with humans were crazy. They, being Yokai, should live freely and unrestrictedly in the forests and mountains.
Why cooperate with humans?
Utterly foolish!
Yet the Yokai who cooperated with humans thought those who chose to live in mountains, wetlands, and deserts were the odd ones out.
Didn't they know that these places were actually ecological preserves managed by humans?
Such so-called ambitions, in the eyes of the Yokai who interacted with humans, were nothing more than settling for a mundane existence. Cоntеnt sоurсеd frоm МV4LЕМРYR – Мy Virtuаl Librаry Еmpirе.
Minglun City.
Ming Lun No.5 High School.
As the school bell rang, many seventeen and eighteen-year-old boys and girls walked out from the school gate, some even sporting crane wings or beast ears.
All were Yokai.
Yet these Yokai students chatted and laughed with the human students as if it were completely normal.
"Jiang Li, are we going to listen to a hypnotic tune today?" a chubby student asked a plain-looking boy.
"No, I want to save the hypnotic vouchers issued by the school for a chance to be hypnotized by a Hypnotist," Jiang Li shook his head and declined the chubby student's invitation.
"Alright then." The chubby student nodded lightly and walked toward a nearby spherical building.
The hypnotic tune was a music-induced hypnosis service provided by Ming Lun No.5 High School that could calm a student's mind and induce deep sleep. The school issued ten hypnotic vouchers each month for students to enjoy this service.
However, for Jiang Li, such music-induced hypnosis services were too primitive, and his cultivation aptitude was so poor that he could hardly enter deep sleep.
If not for the average life vitality of 1 nowadays, he wouldn't have even been admitted to this high school.
"Just another twenty vouchers, and I'll have a hundred. Then I can ask the school's medical Hypnotist to perform hypnosis on me once, the effect is definitely better than listening to hypnotic music," Jiang Li had made up his mind and quickly headed home.
Tianxing Lake Community.
Here was where Su Jie's home was located.
It was said that over two hundred years ago, this was a high-end villa community where only the rich could afford to live, but now, it had become a cheap rental housing area.
"I'm back," Jiang Li took the elevator to the fifth floor, found the door marked "404", took out the key from his pocket, opened the door, and announced his arrival.
"Hmm," Jiang Li's father, Jiang Zhendong, set down the newspaper and responded.
"Time for dinner,"
At that moment, Jiang Li's mother came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of fragrant soup, "This is meat from a Milky Beast of the Cultivation World, very nutritious, just what you need to rejuvenate your body."
Jiang Li nodded, then asked, "Where are Jiang Tao and Jiang Xuan?"
"They've already eaten and are now in their rooms practicing spiritual cultivation," Jiang's mother explained, "Your brother Jiang Tao is almost in a state of trance, and your sister has already entered the third stage of deep sleep. You should try harder too."
"I understand."
Jiang Li fell silent.
Jiang Tao was his younger brother and Jiang Xuan his younger sister; both of them had better talents than him and could be described as geniuses of the new era, making him, as their older brother, feel distinctly inadequate.
While eating the Milky Beast meat, Jiang Li's gaze drifted to the newspaper on the table, which featured a news story about the Vice Principal of Minglun Martial School who had annihilated an ancestral god from another dimension.
That ancestral god, an Evil God, had established a divine kingdom, forcibly demanding the worship of myriad beings to harvest souls in the future for refining the Great Path.
"A divine kingdom where everyone is equal, everyone can cultivate, and talent is no longer an issue—what a wonderful world!" Jiang Li sighed, "If only the so-called god didn't forcibly alter people's freedom of belief."
Jiang Zhendong sternly said, "What are you talking about? A divine kingdom is a prison for human souls. Once someone becomes a devotee of the god, being 'with god after death' simply means being devoured by the god."
Jiang Li was somewhat unconvinced, "But if we can just avoid that, the Taixu Illusory Realm we live in is, in a sense, a divine kingdom created by Sun Shisheng, isn't it?"
"Only this divine kingdom still allows the disparity between the rich and the poor to exist—"
Slap!
Jiang Zhendong slapped Jiang Li across the face and scolded, "Have all the years of studying been in vain? Only with disparity is there motivation to rise, otherwise it's just entitlement. Would you dare to accept that?"
"Every gift had its strings attached in the darkness!"
"Civilization is the civilization of all beings, not of one person. That is the essence of Ming Lun!"
Jiang, heartbroken, gently rubbed Jiang Li's swollen cheek and called out to Jiang Zhendong, "That's enough, talking is fine, but why hit your son?"
Jiang Zhendong huffed, "I am waking him up! In the future, even if he just works properly as an ordinary person, packaging in an alchemy factory, that's still much better than being a follower for those saints."
Over the past two hundred years, some saints had emerged on this continent transformed from Earth.
Unlike Ming Lun's Sun Shisheng, Wang Chao, Su Jie, Li Hansha, Chan Yinsha, and Tang Zichen, they couldn't carve their own path and could only systematically draw upon the faith of the masses.
However, because of Ming Lun's rules, when they recruited followers, they had to submit the relevant application to the Human Alliance and then ensure that the followers' souls would not be harvested after their death.
Every follower had to be marked by the Human Alliance.
After all, within the Taixu Illusory Realm, a true realm of reincarnation existed; once it was discovered that the souls of the dead followers had not entered the realm of reincarnation, Ming Lun would immediately send someone to arrest the saints.
Therefore, this type of saints could only rely on drawing meager faith slowly.
As for whether there were people who would become followers of these saints?
Yes.
And many at that.
Because the benefits offered by the saints were too good, completely enabling them to skip years of struggle and ascend to the skies in one step.
But these followers were generally looked down upon by others.
Because in the eyes of others, these people were those who had no dreams and only wanted to live in idleness, preferring to sit rather than stand, and to lie down rather than sit.
Indeed, almost everyone had thought this way at some point, but the vast majority still overcame this inertia, hoping to find fulfillment and meaning in life through labor.
"I understand," Jiang Li said a bit resentfully, eating his meal in small bites.
"Ah, eat more," Jiang Tao urged Jiang Li as he served him a slice of Milky Beast meat, "You are at the age of growth. Just get into a slightly better university, and after graduation, your vitality could break through to 3, making you one of the elite among humans."
Jiang Li murmured an acknowledgment and ate heartily.
"I'm done eating, going for a walk."
He set down his dishes in the kitchen and left the house, heading to the nearby artificial park and sitting on a bench, gazing at the clear, mirror-like artificial lake, he couldn't help but sigh, "When will I be able to enter deep sleep?"
There weren't many people in the park, mostly those out for a post-dinner stroll, their faces bearing faint smiles, clearly satisfied with their lives.
But Su Jie was not satisfied.
He felt that with Ming Lun's strength, it was totally possible to make everyone's talent and wealth equal, so why allow disparities to exist?
Even issues like faith should be solvable, right?
"When will everyone be like dragons?" Jiang Li murmured to himself, suddenly noticing a black cat with a throng of cats jumping next to him.
Out of curiosity, he couldn't help but reach out and stroke the head of the big black cat.
"One thousand Human Alliance coins, please," the black cat suddenly spoke, startling Jiang Li.
But Jiang Li quickly realized, frowning, "You are those untransformed demons living here?"
He had heard that, over two hundred years ago, there were people who dressed up as characters from movies and novels, warmly posing for photos with tourists, then charging excessive "posing fees" after the fact.
In this era, such people were gone, but similar incidents occurred on the demons living untransformed in parks.
They relied on their cute appearances to bewitch humans, even using some hypnotic techniques, getting humans to pet them, and then—
They extorted them!
Jiang Li didn't expect to encounter such demons in the artificial park and couldn't help but feel both amused and annoyed.
"Er, this... I don't have any money," Jiang Li awkwardly smiled.
"Please, I have an entire family to support. Can you cut me some slack?" the big black cat squinted its eyes like crescent moons, its mouth curving to reveal two fangs, "If you don't pay, I'll report you to the nearby security office for freeloading!"
Jiang Li: "..."
He had never been so speechless in his life.
And now, he was beginning to dislike cats.
"You can report me, but I can also report you. After all, what you're doing is illegal too, right? This is extortion!" Jiang Li argued righteously.
"Hmph! Consider yourself tough!" the big black cat huffed and led the kittens away from the place, "We'll be back, you vile creature."
Watching the big black cat's departing figure, Jiang Li thought to himself, "There couldn't possibly be demons in this place, could there be some kind of opportunity I'm missing?"