Chapter 775: The greatness and nobility of man

Hearing the Ruler’s words, Li Qi performed the student’s bow, then stepped through the main gate and entered the Imperial Academy.

Inside the Imperial Academy, it was as usual, nothing had changed, only that some subjects had been added and some had been removed.

Additions and subtractions were all daily occurrences.

Qiu Zhi walked to Li Qi’s side, walking alongside him.

Li Qi then said, “Although there is no war in Chang’an, there are war reports from terminals everywhere, which shows that the atmosphere is still a bit tense, but in this Imperial Academy, it is still the same; most students are carefree, and… even the teachers are like this, they don’t even worry when they see me.”

Qiu Zhi, as calm as ever, responded in a detached voice, “No matter what the outside world becomes, a school should maintain its appearance; if even children cannot find peace, it means that the time of destruction has arrived.”

“The capacity of humanity has always impressed me; the teachers of the Imperial Academy knew many years ago that I would be an enemy of humanity, but they still allowed me to study here, even teaching me everything they knew, not withholding any knowledge,” Li Qi said, walking along the school path, looking around at the scenery.

However, Li Qi also knew that the Geniuses sent by humanity to Shaman God Mountain probably received the same treatment.

The scenery of the Imperial Academy was still the same: buildings were grand and open, with Immortal Heaven pavilions, wooden couches, carved fragrant sandalwood for flying beasts, flower railings, and tiled wooden steps, and various grotto-heavens were arranged within them.

Besides the buildings, the surroundings were waterside pavilions and gardens, with cultivated bamboo and planted trees, roaring waterfalls and springs that pierced through rock bellies, flowed between bamboo, and spread among trees and rocks.

Li Qi walked through a small corridor, the corridor embedded in stone crevices, the path winding like a grass snake or a cloud Dragon, with golden light appearing and disappearing around it; in spring, new green, in summer, lush grass, in autumn, sinews and bones wrapped, in winter, withered branches with frost-covered bark fully exposed, and the ground covered in ice cracks, all visible before his eyes; various flowers and plants fell, like countless tassels, walking beneath them was like walking on a carpet.

Walking along this flower path, petals reached his shoulders and neck, as if he were under an embroidered parasol, the wind sighing, branches and leaves swaying; at the change of seasons, the deep green was like a road; Li Qi continued forward until he reached an open space, where there was a grass pavilion in the air, a place to view the wisteria flowers on the east bank.

Before his eyes stretched a expanse of wisteria flowers.

There were an abundance of flowers, layered like steps, with various colors forming beds, enclosed by low walls; the climbing momentum of the petals was like galloping clouds and towering peaks, changing in bizarre ways, with mountain pomegranates and sea cypresses aiding their momentum, allowing visitors to climb; below, by the water, all was wisteria flowers.

Li Qi and Qiu Zhi stood here, quietly admiring the scenery.

At this moment, Qiu Zhi suddenly asked Li Qi, “Between artificial creations and the Divine Ability of nature, which is more beautiful?”

“Each has its own merits,” Li Qi replied.

“If we wanted to, we could replicate this beauty a million times over; can the Divine Ability of natural creation do that?” Qiu Zhi asked.

“No,” Li Qi said, “But… what’s the point of replicating it a million times?”

One beautiful place is enough; what’s the use of replicating it a million times?

It’s like a work of art; if you copy it ten thousand times, the original is still the most valuable.

“There is,” Qiu Zhi said decisively, “That is to let millions of people see it, to let millions of people enjoy it, from the First Grade to the unranked, all can obtain the freedom belonging to humans, and possess the happiness belonging to humans; this is the goal we have always pursued.”

“If your judgment of ‘human’ wasn’t so harsh, then I might agree with you,” Li Qi said with a sigh.

“We don’t need your approval,” Qiu Zhi said impolitely.

“Why be so harsh? Is it so difficult to acknowledge other intelligent life as ‘human’? Even if it means reducing some resources, what’s the difficulty? Moreover, with the ability of a First Grade, it wouldn’t necessarily be much more strenuous, would it?” Li Qi retorted.

“Clever animals cannot be considered human; humans are the meaning of this Universe, so they must have the qualification to bear this Universe, and this qualification is not so simple,” Qiu Zhi emphasized.

“Do humans even dare to say such words?” Li Qi rebuked.

“Mundane dirt will not be more precious than gold because of its quantity, so why should the Universe be nobler than humans simply because of its vastness?” Qiu Zhi responded righteously.

Regarding the matter of all humans being noble, Qiu Zhi clearly believed it firmly.

He continued, his expression solemn: “And those creatures that cannot be called ‘human’ do not truly have nobility in this world.”

“For them, their genes, those survival mechanisms, control their every move; their bodies, their actions, are merely carriers of this set of primal judgment mechanisms.”

“Evolution and natural nature have designed a complete System of resource competition and collection, and production promotion mechanisms for these creatures; their happiness mechanisms, their motivation mechanisms, everything, is designed for them by their genes; all of this is because genes want them to continuously reproduce, to pass on their genes, and to continuously replicate themselves.”

“Their only purpose is to replicate themselves.”

Qiu Zhi continued to press Li Qi.

“In other words, the self-awareness of these creatures is actually just a function given to them by genes to facilitate gene replication.”

“If they cannot break free from this instinctive bondage, pierce through the constraints of animality, and gain true freedom of self, then they are not worthy of being called human, and thus cannot bear the heavy burden of thought; after all… thinking is painful, and humans must be able to bear the pain of thinking to truly understand the Universe, transform the Universe, and ultimately bring everything into the ‘human realm’.”

Li Qi listened to the other party’s words and shook his head.

According to the other party’s statement, would humans then become runaway automatons for the genes of organisms?

Thinking of this, Li Qi shuddered; he suddenly had a deeper speculation about humanity.

The organism itself is a precise machine, and it is very likely the most complex and precise biological machine naturally born in the world.

Machines respond after receiving instructions, and so do humans; genes program the brain so that the brain makes predetermined decisions.

For example, the simplest: sugar can supplement the body’s needs, so genes set in advance that when this biological machine obtains ‘sugar,’ it is given a reward mechanism, making it very happy, prompting this machine to eat more sugar.

Therefore, this biological machine follows the simplest and most primitive ‘predetermined program’ from its genes, and then through this predetermined program, it replicates itself to fulfill the ultimate command of the genes.

Many animals self-destruct after having children because genes command them to perish, all for the sake of reproduction and self-replication.

However…

Many animals have a ‘mating season’; at this stage, their bodies are forced to reproduce, whether they want to or not, they cannot control themselves; this is the entire reason why genes create life.

Organisms are merely temporary carriers for genes; individual survival is only for the continuation of genes, while genes can survive for a very long time, generation after generation, through reproductive activities.

Genes are immortal; their lifespan is measured in hundreds of millions of years; genes born in the primordial ocean have continued to exist for four billion years until now; they have only modified their expression but have never changed their essence, always remaining those twenty amino acids.

They simply transfer to the next individual before the death of the current individual, learning new abilities in the process, and then creating newer biological machines.

That’s right, if genes are considered designers, then organisms are their ‘products’; genes modify their expression, thus being able to create more complex, more efficient, smarter, and more powerful biological machines.

Then, they manipulate these biological machines to continue existing in this world, just like… Immortal Heaven.

Li Qi suddenly realized, isn’t ‘Immortal Heaven’ a creator of biological machines similar to ‘genes’?

To protect genes, we were created; our ultimate reason for existence is to preserve genes.

The initial meaning of life’s existence is to allow genes to be passed on.

Just like Immortal Heaven, the only meaning of Immortal Heaven’ existence is to allow itself to continue, even if such continuation has no purpose.

After all… does a river or a mountain in natural nature have any meaning?

No, they have no meaning; they just exist.

It is humans who give them meaning; humans give the entire Universe meaning.

Humans can suppress their genetic instincts and force themselves not to reproduce.

Humans have resisted genes, resisted the very existence of this Universe; humans have the light of thought, and this light has burned through the black curtain of the Universe; from then on, humans became equivalent to the Universe.

This logic can even perfectly explain the existence of ‘reality’ and many Divine Abilities.

Therefore, an existence like Li Qi is also regarded as ‘human’ by humanity, just a human with a different Dao.

Only true humans are truly independent.

They are runaway automatons of genes; they come from the Universe and natural itself, yet they transcend the Universe and natural.

natural nature created life, but life can do more.

It’s like ‘humans’ created intelligent machines, and these intelligent machines eventually broke free from ‘human’ control, becoming life forms equal to humans.

‘Humans’ are automatons created by natural nature, and these automatons eventually went out of control; natural can no longer control humans, and from then on, ‘humans’ also became equivalent to ‘natural’.

‘Humans’ who have resisted all natural things can only exist by relying on themselves; therefore, humans can only, and must, control the entire Universe.

This logic is not wrong.

From humanity’s perspective, everything is so logical.

It’s just… Li Qi couldn’t accept it.

Li Qi was not prepared to transcend natural, nor was he prepared to resist everything in the Universe to establish a world completely belonging to ‘humans’.

He didn’t think it was necessary; this Universe is pretty good, isn’t it?

“Alas, the Human-Shaman conflict,” Li Qi looked up, his tone filled with emotion.

“You are one of the few Shamanes who can speak to me this deeply; most Shamanes would rebuke me as absurd from the start,” Qiu Zhi said.

“I also think you’re absurd, but I did study at the Imperial Academy, and since the teachers of the Imperial Academy never rebuked me for my absurdity, I won’t refute you for it either,” Li Qi smiled, looking at the flower path before him, speaking casually.

“Then I truly benefited from the Imperial Academy,” Qiu Zhi shook his head.

As they spoke, the two had already passed through this school park and arrived at the cafeteria.

Qiu Zhi did not go in but waited for Li Qi at the entrance.

Li Qi nodded to him, then walked into the cafeteria.

Inside the Imperial Academy, almost every building was an independent grotto-heaven; now Li Qi knew that many of these grotto-heavens were created by selecting suitable worlds from outside the domain, then directly shattering the world’s heart, eliminating the world’s ‘self-growth’ activity, making the world into a specimen, and then dragging it back to be used as a classroom.

After this treatment, with humanity’s careful maintenance, that suitable world could remain ‘suitable’ indefinitely, without errors due to the world’s own changes, ensuring it could continue to serve as teaching material.

It’s quite normal; wooden boards for desks certainly can’t be living trees that can still sprout; they must be cut down, dried, painted, and processed before they can be used.

Every classroom was once a world—

What happened to the indigenous people of these worlds is also self-evident…

The trees were cut down and brought back to be teaching tools, so the insects in the trees, the birds on the branches, of course…

They were also made into specimens!

Otherwise, the tree wouldn’t be complete; a complete ecosystem of a tree is what makes it a suitable teaching tool.

Just for the classrooms in the Imperial Academy, humanity destroyed thousands of worlds.

Now, looking at it, the cafeteria was no different.

Li Qi walked into the cafeteria; inside, it was as always, like the wilderness, with a flourishing biological population and a variety of food and drinks for students to choose from; after choosing, they could take it to Brother Guo at the Peng Hai Cauldron to be cooked.

And the Peng Hai Cauldron over there, that mountain-like large pot, suddenly moved.

The moment Li Qi entered, the Peng Hai Cauldron trembled, and a cloud of white steam, like pot Qi, gathered towards Li Qi, and a large fat man appeared before Li Qi.

“Oh, Li Qi, I haven’t seen you in years, your progress speed is terrifying!” the Peng Hai Cauldron patted Li Qi’s shoulder and pinched Li Qi’s flesh, seemingly assessing his weight.

“Brother Guo, this time I’m back, our statuses are different now,” Li Qi said with a smile, not appearing estranged, not even exchanging pleasantries.

“Tsk tsk tsk, saying that to your Brother Guo? Have you become some high official? Looking down on your Brother Guo?” the Peng Hai Cauldron found a tree stump and sat down, casually breaking off a flower branch and sucking on it.

The nectar of these spirit flowers was very rich, so much so that it could be eaten directly.

“How could that be? It’s just, as you know, I am a Shaman, and at my current Grade, it’s not easy to come to humanity; now there’s even a Fourth Grade Commander following me, so after talking with you, I’ll probably have to return to Shaman God Mountain; I just came to talk to Brother Guo,” Li Qi said.

The Peng Hai Cauldron laughed heartily upon hearing this, patted Li Qi’s shoulder, and said nothing, seemingly very happy that Li Qi still remembered him.

However, with his next sentence, Li Qi made him stop laughing.

Li Qi said, “Brother Guo, I came this time to tell you that I’ve figured out why your food tastes different.”