Chapter 918 Mortal Civilization
(Unedited Chapter.)
Cultivators' view of mortals has always been consistent. They are weak, making them uncomfortable to be around. After all, if they do not perfectly control their strength, even a slight release of aura could massacre millions of mortals.
They considered mortals dirty. With their evolved senses, it's easier to see all the impurities in a mortal's body or any bacteria in their bodies; they can see all the pores or smell any odor emanating from them.
Mortals had short lifespans, making it very arduous to have any friendship or relationship with them. Even the weakest cultivator could retreat for a few decades, and after leaving their seclusions, their supposed friends have lived the majority of their lives and are on the verge of death.
Cultivators believed mortals were ignorant; they spent the majority of their lives in a daze, ignorant of themselves or the world around them. Even the few who are wise enough do not live long enough to deepen their knowledge to a level worthy of recognition.
As such, cultivators often scoffed at the word mortal wisdom.
Despite how the majority felt about mortals, they knew their lives were inseparable from mortals. They originated from mortal roots, and if they wish to ascend to greater heights in the cultivation journey, they must never forget this fact.
These ideologies or notions have been ingrained in most cultivators. However, during this meeting today, their worldview collapsed and was reorganized.
Wang Wei showed them that with the right guidance, mindset, and resources, mortals can create their own [civilization]. They have developed art, literature, philosophy, unique customs, and technology. They opened wisdom to their fellow mortals, teaching them about the wonders of the universe.
What shocked these representatives more was the fact this mortal civilization was more than capable of dealing with Supernatural Realm cultivators. The world is vast beyond words can describe, and cultivators only take ten percent of the population. If the remaining 90% of mortals could create a civilization as brilliant as this one, low-level cultivators would now become useless.
Everyone began to pay attention. Grassroots cultivators are the backbones of the cultivation world; they are usually in charge of most of the work, like mining, planting, and hunting for resources.
However, if mortals could replace these grassroots cultivators and use things like [construct] to replace their service, the cultivating world would soon experience a booming change.
The eyes of these representatives became firmer as they concentrated. They remember a few thousand years ago, the Dao Opening Sect started a project of opening schools for mortals and creating a bunch of constructs to facilitate faster travel and development.
They copied these methods because Heavenly Dao was very generous during that time and handed out plenty of merits. However, once there were no longer any benefits, most people stopped doing such a pointless thing. Most factions even dismantled these constructs to recycle the resources used.
However, now, they regret their actions as they realize the true purpose of doing these things. The Dao Opening Sect has been preparing for the court for countless millennia, granting them countless advantages.
'Why are we only fourth?' thought Xu Shi as she looked at the list. She guessed correctly about the main topic of the court, so she suggested the Academy copy the Dao Opening Sect's model of dealing with the mortals in their domains.
With her level of power, she detected the Dao Opening Sect's domains had a vibrant atmosphere around them unlike any other factions; this atmosphere greatly contributed to their sect's Qi Luck. Based on this analysis, she also sought to replicate their success.
Unfortunately, she only had a short 300 years and could not immediately catch up to the sect's thousand years of history. Even then, she believed she would be second during the meeting, acquiring more advantages for the academy.
Alas, she was wrong.
'I have never heard of the Great Jin Dynasty,' she thought with a frown. She already analyzed why certain groups were in their position. The Heavenly Tree Village was a new Supreme Land that rose in this generation. They focused deeply on tempering the Dao Heart by living a simple, mortal life.
Despite their short existence, most factions knew about them. After all, the Heavenly Emperor built the court on top of a World Tree raised in that village. Furthermore, the Emperor also left a projection to the village.
In an emergency, the projection can act as protection. People even believed the projection could borrow the strength of the real tree when necessary.
The conclusion of most Emperor Lineages is that this village has a great karmic connection with the Heavenly Emperor, so they labeled them into the class of not making them into an enemy.
The Di Clan often dealt with mortals and protected them from devil cultivators, so their ranking made sense. Their clan often does good things for mortals to reinforce their identities as protectors of the Western Continent.
The Western Bliss Sect–although recently established–was the savior of countless mortals during the era of chaos in the Western Continent. Additionally, they inherited many of the mortals that the Di Clan used to protect. Lastly, as a sect of Buddhism that focuses on compassion, they treated the people under their rules with great respect.
The Five Element Balance Palace and the Taiyi Profound Gates are the leaders of Taoism, the biggest religion of the Myriad Emperor World. They have countless believers and worshippers scattered all over the world. As such, they treat the mortals under their reign with decency and dignity to ensure their reputation and consolidate their Qi Luck.
The Eternal Dream Sect most likely received some inside information from the Dao Opening Sect and did not abandon the mortals like other sects once the benefits no longer manifested.
The Yu Clan was not higher on the list because they controlled only one Domain, and their population was not up to par.
'Tong Ruobing was probably smart enough not to completely abandon these mortals as she felt the Dao Opening Sect was planning something, so she chose to wait and continue her support, even if it was the bare minimum,' analyzed Xu Shi.
She would definitely do something like this with her personality; it would also explain why she was not higher on the list.
'Everything else made sense except for this Great Jin Dynasty.'
Many people had questions similar to Xu Shi but knew it was not the time to ask since the Heavenly Emperor was not finished. After everyone processed the information he gave, he continued:
"The Dao Opening Sect will become the standard model that I want you to follow."
Many people immediately frowned after hearing this, releasing an aura of hesitation and struggle. Wang Wei immediately guessed their main source of concern: resources.
Two main things are required to create a civilization like the one the Dao Opening Sect cultivated: food and the resources for the constructs. The issue of food can be dealt with after working together. However, the constructs are another problem.
This world is too vast. According to Wang Wei's calculation, the world's largest Domain is 576 times that of the observable universe back on Earth, and that's only one Domain.
Whatever Domain a mortal is born in, they will never leave it through their entire lives. Even worse, millions of generations of their ancestors will live and die in that same Domain.
The distance between two cultivators' cities is usually counted in the light years. Meanwhile, the distance between two mortal cities in the same mortal dynasty can be as large as the Earth's circumference.
If not for the fact that animals like horses were bred by Heaven and Earth for long and fast travels, transportation in mortal dynasties would be a nightmare.
With such a vast distance, the constructs needed by mortals will need to be at least Heaven Tier to allow them to break the space and teleport to vast distances. However, Heaven Tier resources involve Void Shattering Realm cultivators and the power of laws.
Such resources are valuable even in Emperor Lineages, so how could they use them to cultivate mortals? Even with the possibility of reward from Heaven and Earth, the gain was not worth the loss.
Wang Wei waved his hand, and a seed appeared:
"This is the Good Fortune Seed. After planting it, it will absorb the Spiritual QI between Heaven and Earth to accelerate growth. Furthermore, it can be programmed to turn into different crops like rice, grains, fruits, etc.
"With this thing, the issue of food is dealt with. The only percussion you need to take is to prevent animals from destroying the crops and deal with Heaven and man-made catastrophes like dragons turning over (earthquake), drought, and insects."
Everyone's eyes lit up as they saw another possibility for this rice–cultivate Body Tempering Cultivators. Any product raised from this Good Fortune Seed should contain traces of Spiritual Energy, which can be used for the Tempering Realm. They can use large quantities of food to replace low-level pills.
Lastly, if they could retain some power of Good Fortune from the seed, it is the perfect energy or power to cast the foundation for their Heaven Chosen.
Wang Wei knew what they were thinking but did not care, so he continued:
"As for the issue of transportation, I also have a solution."
He waved his hand to show them a special dimension.
"This is a subspace created by the Dao Opening Sect, only accessible to mortals for their transportation. Our mortals have control of this subspace, allowing them to travel long distances without using any Heaven Tier Resources.
"Your job will be to create the same subspace and connect them. Be warned that the subspace belongs only to mortals, and cultivators are forbidden from using it."
'What a great method,' thought most people, followed by 'why didn't I think of that?'
"One last thing," continued Wang Wei pointing at the list in the middle of the room.
"This list was not created arbitrarily by me to decide the number of merits."
People's eyes squinted as they realized the implications behind these words.
"Heavenly Dao is in charge of the list and decides the number of merit points allocated. It's based on plenty of criteria, with the main focus on mortals' livelihood. In other words, the more developed and fulfilling the lives of the mortals in your Domains are, the more merit points you will receive."
No one said a word as they guessed they were more.
"As for what those merits are for?" said Wang Wei with a smile. "Of course, it is a form of currency for exchange."
He waved his hand to show another list. People's breathing became elevated as the first thing on the list was Grand Dao Source Seed, followed by Immortal Mansion.
"Now that Heavenly Dao has plenty of World Source, it needs a new way to develop the world, hence this list. As you can see, with enough merit points, you can directly exchange Dao Source Seeds and Immortal Mansions from Heavenly Dao, cultivating more Immortals for your factions."