311: Chapter 311 Beginning

Lin Yuan's fingertips paused slightly, and subtle ripples stirred within his sea of consciousness.

A cultivation system?

He truly hadn't expected the system to package this ultimate fantasy, rooted deep in the souls of countless people in Xia, into this reward and dump it right on him.

"Interesting… this is just too interesting."

Lin Yuan murmured to himself in his heart, his lips slowly curling into an arc that carried a hint of dark humor and playfulness.

It seemed the carnival on the internet a while back, and the massive surge of emotion and faith the citizens unleashed toward ancient myths and legends, hadn't been in vain.

It was worth it that he had deliberately directed Xiao Long to fan the flames behind the scenes, frantically pushing up the national discussion and popularity.

The system, that emotionless machine of causality, had captured this collective subconscious desire with extreme sensitivity and manifested it in reality in the most unreasonable way.

Lin Yuan couldn't help but feel a genuine sense of emotion; he even found it inexplicably absurd and interesting.

"One can only say that for the people on this land, the desire and obsession rooted deep in their bloodlines—to 'roam the northern sea at dawn and the Cangwu mountains at dusk, to pluck the stars and swap the moon and sun'—is truly too terrifying."

Thousands of years of cultural heritage…

From the bizarre and magnificent prehistoric beasts in the Classic of Mountains and Seas that could swallow the sky and earth, to the divine wars in Investiture of the Gods that could destroy the heavens and earth and reshape the elements…

From the countless emperors and generals throughout history who sought immortality and longevity, to the massive amount of modern internet literature that has subtly and tirelessly influenced generation after generation…

All of this has long since condensed on this land of Xia into a unique ultimate cultural gene that no foreign civilization can ever hope to rival.

By comparison, what are those so-called superheroes on The Other Side of the Ocean?

They are nothing but rootless trees spawned by a century of industrial revolution, lacking historical depth, forcibly cobbled together by capital assembly lines and the imaginations of comic book writers—mere popcorn fast food.

They say the rich rely on technology and the poor rely on mutation; their scope of imagination is pitifully small.

But Xia's mythology is a soul imprint genuinely passed down through five thousand years, watered by the incense, writing, and unyielding spines of countless ancestors.

As long as a tiny spark is given, this massive collective subconscious can erupt with terrifying power capable of rewriting reality!

The system didn't give him much time to reflect.

A fourth torrent of information, distinct in style and ancient and profound, soon surged into the depths of his consciousness!

Refining acquired essence, gathering and storing Qi in the Dantian, circulating Qi through the meridians, refining the essence of the five viscera, using Qi to cleanse the marrow and cut the pulse, the Yang Spirit detaching from the body, and the ten thousand laws returning to the Dao…

These were no longer simple parameters or modular blueprints.

This knowledge seemed to carry a certain profound rhythm of life; every character contained an ultimate inquiry into the origin of life.

A clearly layered, step-by-step cultivation roadmap slowly unfolded in Lin Yuan's consciousness, eventually forming a perfectly self-consistent and complete system of life evolution.

Refining essence into Qi, refining Qi into Spirit, refining Spirit to return to the Void, returning to the Void to merge with the Dao…

Lin Yuan's brain, far exceeding that of an ordinary person, operated at high speed to process this. With his extremely high strategic vision, he quickly grasped the underlying core logic of this "Cultivation System"—

No reliance on external objects!

It is different from "Genetic Ascension," which requires external biological reagents for genetic integration.

It is also completely different from "Mechanical Ascension," which relies on replacing flesh and blood with high-strength alloy prosthetics and micro-reactors.

This system does not seek outwardly; it only digs inwardly.

It views the human body itself as the ultimate divine treasury, one that is inherently homologous with the universe, containing infinite potential that has never truly been unlocked.

It uses the three most fundamental elements of the human body—'Essence,' 'Qi,' and 'Spirit'—as its three cornerstones.

Through the refinement of acquired essence, the opening of the Dantian Qi sea, and the connection of the extraordinary meridians, it complies with the creation of heaven and earth, breathing and exhaling the Qi of the universe, and ultimately achieves an infinite leap in the dimensions of life.

This is the path of cultivation unique to the people of Xia!

Lin Yuan's consciousness only needed to perform a brief strategic deduction on this system to clearly foresee:

Once this cultivation system is made public, it will trigger an unprecedented frenzy and tsunami among the entire population of Xia.

It will no longer be the pursuit of a single piece of black technology.

It will be a sense of cultural identity and ultimate belonging that stems from bloodline resonance and is deeply rooted in the soul!

For thousands of years, countless ancients wrote books, sought immortality, practiced Taoism, refined elixirs, and cultivated Qi.

They followed one another in the long river of history, pursuing that illusory path to immortality, yet they could never find the entrance.

They could only turn into dry bones in the yellow earth, leaving behind sighs of regret.

But now, that true gateway to the heavens is firmly in his grasp.

"This is what countless predecessors spent their whole lives sitting in meditation to pursue… Immortality."

Lin Yuan let out an imperceptible, silent sigh amidst the washing of the information torrent.

He did not know how much time had passed.

As the final ancient stream of information was steadily carved into the deepest part of his memory, this vast knowledge infusion, which encompassed the four ultimate systems, finally came to a complete end.

In the quiet private dormitory, Lin Yuan, leaning on the sofa, slowly opened his eyes.

Feeling the massive database in his mind that would drive any civilization mad, he revealed a satisfied smile.

"It hasn't been easy; the field of Life Sciences has finally been successfully harvested."

"However, Genetic Ascension, Mechanical Ascension, Psionic Ascension…"

"And finally, Tribulation Ascension!"

"It is… worth it!"

Lin Yuan murmured in thought, his slender fingers tapping unconsciously on the sofa armrest, making a rhythmic "da, da" sound.

The four ultimate evolutionary systems harvested this time each had their own merits, yet they all led to the same destination.

Genetic Ascension reshapes flesh and blood, mining the potential of carbon-based life to its physical limit to create divine bodies.

Mechanical Ascension is a torrent of steel, abandoning fragile flesh and blood to carry immortal consciousness with eternal mechanical structures.

Psionic Ascension is spiritual transcendence, awakening the great power sleeping deep in the brain to interfere with the origin of matter through willpower.

The Cultivation System is the unity of form and spirit, tempering oneself and seeking the Dao within, ultimately achieving sainthood in the flesh and ascending as an immortal.

No matter which of these four paths is taken alone, it is enough to break the shackles of the mundane, achieve true transcendence, and allow a civilization to undergo a qualitative leap.

And now, these four great thoroughfares are all laid out before him, ready for him to choose and plan!

As the creator of all this, Lin Yuan naturally wouldn't treat himself poorly.

"Then…"

A soul-captivating light flashed across Lin Yuan's eyes as he whispered to himself.

"It is time to start my own path of evolution!"