Chapter 1 A Serious Matter

Although it sounds like worrying about something that might never happen, it's actually a very serious issue.

When the ancient immortals and gods return and declare sovereignty over this land, how should the humans living on Earth today respond?

Will the arrogant immortals and gods treat modern humans as the successors to their civilization? They can forcefully edify the Beast God Realm, so conversely, can they also edify modern humans in this way, forcing modern humans to accept their 'rites'?

"From the perspectives of law, bloodline, inheritance, culture, and everything else, we are their descendants."

The Sage of Culture at the time answered Su Zhou in this way: "We are their descendants, children, disciples, and inheritors—so when those ancestors return, what should we do?"

"Don't say stupid things like the immortals and gods leaving means they've given up on Earth... A thousand years is a long time for mortals who don't cultivate, but for the oldest of those immortals and gods, that amount of time is just like going out for a short stay. They don't think that a thousand years is abandonment."

Lying in his work chair, Su Zhou spun around childishly, like a spinning top. He stared at the brand-new ceiling above him, and the memory of that meeting also spun around.

Perhaps, some cynical or unfortunate people would say, what if the immortals and gods return? It's just changing a group of rulers, it can't get any worse, it doesn't matter who comes.

But that's not the case. It has nothing to do with who the ruler is.

The immortals and gods who left before the spiritual energy was cut off are essentially two different civilizations from the modern civilization that developed during the spiritual energy depletion. Living in the era of high spiritual energy, they have completely different values, worldviews, and philosophies of life due to their extraordinary powers.

Their views on civilization, the people, and other various bits and pieces related to life may not be cruel, but they are different from modern views.

You need to know that ancient times didn't have the current global population of billions—even if you count the Thirty-Three Heavens, Earth definitely didn't have that many. Management experience and other matters are very different.

If they regain power in modern society, unless they govern entirely according to the methods of modern society, it will definitely cause great turmoil—but putting aside everything else, would those arrogant immortals and gods really do that?

Since they can seal off the Beast God Realm until the divine beasts and beasts inside become human, then when facing modern humans who are different from the humans in their hearts, will they regard modern humans as another kind of refined beast?

So-called tolerance may also be another kind of narrowness. Immortals and gods who focus on 'edification' and 'thought' may cause great conflicts in this regard.

Su Zhou's thoughts were actually very simple, only focusing on the big picture. He knew that he wasn't a professional analyst, unlike the Sage of Culture and his team who had thought about these issues for a long time. He could only think this far himself.

"So, our mood is also very complicated now. The reason why we are tracking the trajectory of the immortals and gods leaving is not to bring them back—we just want to know which direction they went to, whether there are any signs of returning, and if so, when will it be approximately, so that we can be prepared to deal with them."

The Sage of Culture said this. As the manager of ancient books in Zheng Nation, his understanding of the old immortals and gods far exceeded that of others. Following his words, a professor said with a smile: "If the worst happens, and the immortals and gods really return and insist on Earth's rule, and want to drive us out... then we can simply immigrate to the moon."

"Isn't that right." Another person also chuckled and replied: "If all of humanity awakens, and most people reach the Transcendent level, then with this kind of physical fitness, we can really live on the moon and Mars."

--You guys are thinking too far ahead. As for me, I can only think that if new immortals and gods appear on Earth before the former immortals and gods return, like me, what will the immortals and gods think.

Su Zhou would never have thought of ideas like immigrating to the moon and Mars. It was only in that rather enthusiastic discussion that Su Zhou learned that the official Zheng Nation even has a plan to explore habitable planets outside Earth!

Various flying machines similar to the Xuan Niao-class, and the tasks of the Qin Hang Academy's research and development department, are to create and experiment with modern high-tech creations that are fused with spells in large quantities. When the technology matures, there will be magical spaceships, magical space shuttles, magical universe exploration ships, transport ships and other fusion creations appearing, unleashing unreasonable power.

Even in the Godwood world without advanced technology, they can rely on extraordinary power and a little simple magic to create things like true qi airships. So now, Zheng Nation, with the inheritance of immortals and gods and the most complete industrial system, may really be able to skip several levels and forcibly develop interstellar exploration technology!

"Maybe, I will have a chance to take a stroll on the moon and Mars in the future!"

Although he had a very happy thought in his heart, Su Zhou's expression still frowned slightly—sometimes, after becoming a higher-up and knowing many things that ordinary people don't know, it's really impossible to be a carefree, silly internet user like before.

After all, it's really uncomfortable to have solid big news in your hands but not be able to tell others!

As for worrying about what kind of changes the return of the immortals and gods will bring... Su Zhou doesn't worry at all. Not to mention that the immortals and gods probably can't find their way home, according to his speed of progress, becoming an immortal or god is just around the corner.

"Universal Seventh Stage, Enlightenment, Awakening, Transcendence. Above the high level of Transcendence is the Lord, then the Overlord."

"Further up are 'Immortality' and 'Creator.'"

Lord, Immortality, and Creator are the names of the last three stages of the Universal Seventh Stage that Yala told Su Zhou, regarding the myriad worlds. It can easily correspond to the ranks of immortals, gods, and demons in ancient Zheng Nation.

The Lord stage is the demon king, the leader of a clan. The Overlord stage is the demon god, possessing prestige that transcends races. Immortality is the Great Sage, the emperor respected by all demons. And the Creator corresponds to the level of the Life-Bearing Great Tree in the Beast God Realm, a Creator-level individual.

These four levels correspond to the Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, Heavenly Immortal, and Celestial Venerable in the traditional ranks of Zheng Nation.

The strength of Ximu Datianzun (Great Celestial Worthy of the West) and the former Five Heavenly Emperors should be at the Celestial Venerable level. And Ximu Datianzun's power is probably considered strong among the Celestial Venerables, otherwise, it would be impossible to defeat the Life-Bearing Great Tree of the Beast God Realm—and the existence of the Life-Bearing Great Tree is probably the reason why the immortals and gods had to edify the Beast God Realm. After all, with the other party's strength, even if it is a tree, it is really too worrying.

An existence that is too powerful is a threat in itself, causing worry and the urge to eliminate it, or drive it away, just like humans may be able to treat a lazy kitten gently, but will never be able to face a giant tiger that looks equally lazy and cute without any fluctuations.

Su Zhou is not far from the Lord stage. And after the Lord stage, in terms of strength, he will be one of the immortals and gods—Human Immortals, although they have the word 'immortal', are not considered one of the immortals and gods in the usual sense. They have more human attributes.

But even so, the strength of the Lord stage is definitely not considered bad in many worlds. Even before the spiritual energy was cut off, the Lord stage was at least an individual who could become a local lord, a high-ranking official. Converted to myths and legends, it is enough to be considered a small god.

Even in the era when spiritual energy was gradually cut off, they were enough to be called immortals.

"Continue to cultivate!"

Thinking that the gap between himself and the immortals and gods didn't seem so far away, Su Zhou smiled and suddenly had more motivation. He stopped the spinning chair and then got up and walked to the closed-door cultivation room: "Actually, I think that if the immortals and gods come back a little later, then when they come back, they might be able to see a group of new immortals and gods."

After all, it's not strange for an immortal or god who thinks a thousand years is just a long trip to accidentally come back a few hundred years late.

At the same time.

Tiandu, Central Medical University, Spiritual Creature Department.

In a specially designed ultra-large, fully enclosed sterile laboratory, Associate Professor Ning Shiyu, Su Zhou's mother, was waiting for relevant research materials.

"The various evil beasts discovered in the Kunlun Secret Realm last time were really eye-opening. It's rare to see such unique modification techniques."

"Yes, two kinds of spiritual beasts, one castrated for intelligence, even suppressing the activation of the soul, only retaining a powerful body, while the other is strengthened in both soul and body."

The physicians were exchanging professional topics, and this time, what they were discussing was naturally the Kunlun Secret Realm, the source of most of the recent research materials.

They naturally couldn't imagine that these research materials came from another world, and they all thought they were the result of modifications by the ancient immortals and gods. Su's mother was no exception, and was also chatting with her colleagues: "Those spiritual beasts basically have two hearts and multiple internal organs. Even if the internal organs are damaged, they won't die immediately."

"The modification techniques of the ancient immortals and gods are really amazing. I even think they are very valuable for reference."

Ning Shiyu wasn't talking nonsense. Although it's estimated that because of the age, this modification technique is somewhat old and simple, this mature method of internal organ modification is really a good reference for modern medicine, which has only just stepped into related fields.

Not to mention anything else, they all know that the Transcendent stage is about to begin the spiritualization of organs—if humans already have sufficiently powerful self-organs before this, then the strengthening effect and speed will be faster than before. Moreover, even if they don't advance to the Transcendent stage, the body functions of humans after modification will be far stronger than before modification.

A complex operation to increase the chance and speed of advancement to a related level, it seems that many people would be willing to do it.

Although Ning Shiyu's technique isn't the best among many physicians, she is one of the most famous—it's quite embarrassing to say, mainly because of her son.

Thinking about it carefully, there's no need to be embarrassed, after all, I gave birth to him. Su's mother, who was a little shy at first, suddenly became happy after thinking about it: "As expected of me!"

At first, there was the Wooden Centipede from Hongcheng Academy. Although it was later learned that Su Zhou might have killed it, it was indeed related to Su Zhou.

Secondly, there were the mutated Hungry Ghost and some living sea beasts sent from the South Sea. The former was killed by Su Zhou, and the latter was captured alive thanks to Su Zhou's charm.

Then, there were some spiritual beasts that Su Zhou itchy hands and cooperated with the official encirclement and suppression, and the extremely cooperative Thunder Swamp Jellyfish that appeared some time ago... These are all big guys, which allowed many professional physicians in the Spiritual Creature Department to study for a long time. It was at that time that everyone discovered that Su Zhou, who was often on the list, was actually Ning Shiyu's son.

Especially some time ago, when the huge headless peacock corpse was sent, the residual huge energy reaction even stimulated the research room's warning system to start, and waves of high-risk red lights flashed wildly. And this time, Su Zhou's name was still on it.

"I'm making you laugh, I'm making you laugh." Facing the quite envious and admiring eyes of other colleagues, who lamented, 'Why can't my son and daughter send me experimental materials?', Su's mother could only nod without any modesty and say: "He's my son, how about it, awesome, right?"

I have to say, this personality is indeed from the same family.

Recently, the bodies of Su's father and Su's mother have been getting better and better. Especially Su's father, Su Beiluo, has been energetic recently, full of energy in both work and family. Some time ago, he was even commended for his work and promoted to a second-level inspector.

This is mainly because Su Zhou often sends some spiritual plants and fruits as rewards from the unit and official rewards. A few days ago, he even sent a few flat peaches—these things may not be able to directly improve cultivation, but they are great for nourishing the body. The two, who have recently been trying to cultivate, feel more and more energetic.

Of course, Shao Qiming's family also sent things. And Shao Nantian, who knew more about the internal situation behind this, keenly realized, besides sighing that the younger generation surpasses the older, that the spiritual fruit-related industry will definitely become the main force of Zheng Nation's civilian cultivation resources in the future.

If these flat peaches can really be crossbred with ordinary peach trees to increase production, as Su Zhou casually said, then even if not all people in Zheng Nation can eat them, at least most individuals who are determined to cultivate can get benefits.

This industry will definitely drive a major revolution in the domestic related market. There will definitely be no mistake in investing in this!

The world is somewhat turbulent, but overall it is stable, slowly passing through the peak period of 'spiritual energy eruption, ruins opening'. Countries around the world holding inheritances have opened the ancient inheritances they possess... Although it is only a part, but with the experience of opening the first one, the second one is only a matter of time.

Even, for many ruins that are not located within the territory of various countries, but in the public domain, the countries have jointly planned to carry out joint development—in fact, it is not that no one wants to monopolize the benefits, but the world today is not what it used to be. Developing ruins alone is also risky. The benefits of this matter are not as great as imagined. After all, in the future, facing the larger-scale alien invasion events that may occur, they may need the support of other countries.

It can also be regarded as a pre-run and test. The three major central regions have jointly explored several ancient ruins located in the high seas. The whole process is broadcast live, and when facing various unexpected situations, it also happens to show the elite qualities of the transcendents of various countries, secretly competing, and occasionally launching a friendly sparring session. The sparring is naturally to the point of stopping, but except for a few that are really hard to distinguish, they can basically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages.

This is the now-popular multilingual international program "Walking into the Ruins" and "Stopping at the Point" (Chinese translation).

And because of these joint adventures and sparring sessions, some well-wishers on the Internet have even established various rankings, rating and ranking these transcendents who have shown good strength and quality in live adventures, and even analyzing their advantages and disadvantages in the performance of many agents.

It sounds like just a rhythm chart that modern people are accustomed to, and even used to, existing to satisfy the superiority of various countries' civilizations.

But in fact, this list is used by the official background of various countries to guide public opinion, shift perspectives and contradictions—it is better for the people to argue about the strengths of the agents and sparring transcendents of various countries on the Internet, venting their hostility, than to do so in reality. Moreover, with the help of many lists, votes and big data, the official authorities of various countries can also clearly know the demands and hobbies of the people.

In addition, although most of them are nonsense, some of the evaluations and analyses that are estimated to come from real transcendents have certain real value, and these are also opinions worth collecting.

In short, "Walking into the Ruins" and "Stopping at the Point", which are broadcast every day, have successfully replaced almost all variety shows around the world and have become the real ratings champion of the new era, and have successfully guided the trend of public opinion on the Internet, focusing most of the discussions on the strength of the ruins and transcendents on this topic, which is extremely easy to manage.

Of course, Su Zhou is not on any list in any country, whether it is ruins exploration or combat sparring, all the lists have no place for him.

This is certainly not suppression, censorship, or other messy reasons.

The reason is simple.

Because now, the title of Professor Su Zhou is already the most authoritative professional ranking person invited by the various highly credible lists.

There is no other.