NeoRealm - Staring back into the Future

Satisfied, Jason sits back to observe his plants one final time. The Gloom Weed had lost its gloom as not a single one of the fruits were left on them and so the need to redirect power was gone. A couple of the Energy Herbs still had a berry or two hanging on, but clearly not because of overcoming its limits and of course the rest of the Bloody Lingzhi had gone woody.

That left the Ginseng and Focusing Tea. The Ginseng of course still had a few years of growth to go, though without the Gloom Weed pumping in extra power it looked a little wilted. Of course this wasn't enough to actually harm the plants potential, at least that is what Jason's Herb Farming skill was telling him, but if it continued the plant would end up taking longer to mature.

As for the Focusing Tea? It continued to grow. Tea plants in general are evergreen shrubs and while Jason's had grown a little faster because of good conditions and abundant power, the power was only a supplement to it, unlike with the Ginseng. Still, he could tell that the current arrangement of plants was good for its growth.

With the conditions of the plants figured out, Jason starts to ponder on the overall situation of the planter. The last change he had made was to allow it to mimic the core of his cultivation and so he figured there might be something to glean from this.

The Gloom Weed situation had obvious parallels, at least to him. They represented outside resources that had been exploited too much. His sect had always preached that if you find three herbs, leave one. Not that anyone ever did for the rarer stuff, which thinking back on it might be half of why the damn things were so rare.

Still, this made sense and not just from the view of overharvesting. His new world's history is littered with the examples of an Empire falling because its growth stalled out and all that sweet sweet loot stopped coming in from newly conquered nations. To depend too much on abusing outside resources is a sure way to end up failing after you've gone so far.

The Energy Herbs, well, Jason frowns as he can't think of anything. Maybe they represent the fact that you need to maintain your walls and defenses? He can tell there is probably something there, but it escapes him and so his attention wanders to the lingzhi.

The normal Bloody Lingzhi easily calls back to those empires of old, having grown hidebound and unable to handle changes in their situation. But there was also the one that managed to break through that challenge and remain somewhat flexible. Simple enough comparison, you have to keep your rules flexible so that as things change, you can adapt.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

At the same time though, you could almost say the lingzhi that has gone woody better represents a stable society. Sure, there is some stagnation, but it is impossible to grow forever and so you need to know what is core to your identity. To forsake that central tent pole would cause a collapse eventually. That or as the old saying goes, "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain".

Jason nods to himself, having a core belief or principle is basically required to far with cultivation. Still, being able to stay flexible on other matters isn't a bad thing. Then he looks at the Ginseng again. A classic example of a dependent group that has been stuck to some larger group who suddenly finds themselves cut free.

The Ginseng at least is able to stand on its own. Way too many groups, especially if you're talking about nobles, end up just being parasites on the larger organization. It is only when a true crisis happens and they find themselves cut free that they realize they need the larger group. The Ginseng is more like a high level cultivator in a sect. They grow faster with the support, but in the end don't need it.

They are able to continue their growth alone, if slower. Though of course within that is another trap. Take too long and the potential to break through further begins to vanish. Never mind the ever present limitation that is one's own lifespan.

Instead, the Focusing Tea represents a more healthy approach. While at the moment it isn't paying anything back, once mature the shrub will be able to repay the efforts spent by the whole in raising it. Jason spends a moment to think of any examples he had personally witnessed when one stuck out.

The tea plant was like an elder that had been in his sect. It took that elder many centuries to reach his position, but once there didn't allow the position to go to his head. Instead of how most other elders tended to only teach the most promising, he would hold open lessons on the most basic of things. It was only through those lessons that, during that life, Jason was able to cultivate as far as he had.

Jason, satisfied, sits back to ponder over the details further while watching Lily play. Though in the end that last bit stuck out the most to him and merged with his thoughts on the Gloom Weed. The idea of not taking too much and giving back once you've grown enough to do so was how a society prospers. This was clearly shown by how far things managed to fall in his new world when the rich became too rich.

It caused him to chuckle a little as he realized that even the classic cultivation world seen in so many stories, let alone his old world, hardly compared to the actual callousness the rich showed themselves capable of. Though Jason could only shrug, that is what happens when one gains power without actual effort.

He shakes his head and stretches, it was time to make dinner, but before that the System seemed to want to tell him something.

{Understanding of [Civilization] improved from 0.174% to 0.210%}