Only I Walk Alone

Cultivation is similar to governing a nation or managing the natural environment. Each individual is akin to a cell within the body, where everyone works together. If there’s an issue in one part, other parts compensate. If it’s beyond repair, the body becomes ill.

While individuals can seek external medical intervention, a nation’s “illness” is harder to address externally and often requires self-help.

However, the current situation isn’t about self-help but about uniting to overcome a challenge.

Wu Ge’s ongoing approach resembles the brain training favored by some geniuses. For instance, some who enjoy showing off perform daily IQ tests to watch their scores gradually increase, then boast about their high IQ. However, constantly practicing these tests will naturally improve scores. Lack of this basic understanding yet bragging about it really shows their intelligence isn’t that great.

This is just Wu Ge’s internal jest; despite his serious exterior, he often mocks others internally.

What Wu Ge is doing is a form of societal brain training, a common practice that no one dares to apply to all of humanity viewed as a single entity.

Fifteen days after Wu Ge issued the first task, scientists gradually discovered various methods of papermaking. Interestingly, their techniques varied: most dismantled their wooden desks, some shredded packaging paper, and a few adopted complex methods like turning silk into a new thin fabric to serve as paper.

These individuals, some of whom barely understood what paper was, merely knew it as an ancient medium for recording text.

From Wu Ge’s perspective, these scientists naturally made quite a few amusing mistakes. However, for the scientists themselves, they took pride in their work, considering the creation of “paper” a victory, regardless of the method.

With the first task completed, the second task was promptly initiated: inventing a new language.

The announcement of the second task caused an uproar among scientists, and the public interest exploded across major websites, attracting many non-scientists eager to participate.

Inventing a new language seemed easy at first—after all, who couldn’t do it?

When Wu Ge clarified that the competition wasn’t about speed but about inventing a language that was easier to remember, the challenge suddenly escalated. It’s well-known that, five hundred years ago, ‘english’ was considered the easiest language to memorize. However, as time progressed and new vocabulary accumulated, english words became increasingly longer due to the limited 26 letters, making it more difficult to remember and eventually leading to its obsolescence. In contrast, chinese, despite its complexity, was preserved because new terms could be expressed in two or four characters, or a new character could be created if necessary.

Modern Chinese had also been simplified from what was considered simplified five hundred years ago, making it even easier to memorize.

Given that languages evolve over time, inventing a new, easily memorable language proved challenging.

Nevertheless, many participated with a casual mindset, willing to try even if they couldn’t invent anything.

However, the widespread participation put pressure on scientists who felt this was a test from the supreme deity. They couldn’t complain but instead used this pressure as motivation to forge ahead.

On the seventh day after issuing the second task, an artist invented a unique language that was difficult to remember but also developed a corresponding spoken language. Although his script was hard to memorize, the artist himself became memorable, as did his artwork, thanks to the event’s popularity.

Then, one after another, scripts and languages were invented. In the end, a victory was secured by a cosmic sociologist, who, strictly speaking, was also a scientist. This victory somewhat saved the face of the scientific community.

However, Wu Ge then proposed a more challenging task: inventing a card game, judged by all Earth civilization members based on their preferences. Due to it being a public vote, personal popularity and relationships could influence the outcome, but the game had to be fun above all.

The scientists truly felt the pressure, as game development was far from their forte. This task felt as if adults were asked to play with mud—pointless and embarrassing.

But because it was a task given by Wu Ge, they had to give it their all.

With Wu Ge’s meddling, the Earth civilization was now fully energized, setting aside the Unified Field Theory to focus on playing. Some wanted to win, some didn’t want to lose, and some were just there for the spectacle.

Everyone tried their best, using their strengths, connections, or even money to win by any means necessary.

Surprisingly, a seventeen-year-old from the mchanical insect race won the competition, shocking everyone. Usually opting for military service or bodyguard work, their kind were stereotypically seen as brawny but simple-minded. However, this “brute” invented a particularly interesting card game that even became a favorite pastime in the virtual world.

After the third task was issued, Wu Ge stirred things up again by hiding a total of seven divine orbs across Earth, Mars, the Moon, and Venus. He promised to grant a wish within his power to whoever collected all seven orbs first.

This announcement sent everyone into a frenzy. The scientists felt relieved, but the supreme governor felt immense pressure, knowing that Wu Ge would fulfill a wish for someone to become the new supreme governor if asked.

With the task’s declaration, Earth civilization society exploded in excitement, regressing several hundred years in behavior. Work and money-making ceased, and even the supreme governor himself went searching for the divine orbs.

Even Xiao Chao thought Wu Ge was playing the Earth civilization to ruin.

Yet, during this chaos, some chose to focus on research, art, and diligent work, pondering what truly mattered in life.

Was it money, power, status, or beauty they sought? If so, chasing the elusive divine orbs made sense. But if their goals were driven by original ideals and objectives, then staying true to their path was the right choice.

As most of the earthlings searched for the orbs, a few began to diverge from the crowd, marching out of sync with the world.

The Earth civilization had begun its true evolution!