“This world is the Continent World, known as the Forging Machinery World. Before we arrived here, the Great Confucian Word Post had told us that there are no human clans in this world, only robots. Initially, we didn’t believe it, but when we arrived, we realized that there genuinely weren’t any human clans in this world.”
“We naturally thought of what our textbooks said, that all worlds contain human clans.”
“We thought that the human clan of this world had been extinguished, but the Great Confucian Word Post said otherwise. It suggested that these robots possessed souls, and speculated that the human clan of this world survived in the form of robots.”
“The ruler of the Forging Machinery World is known as the Mechanical King. We found the Mechanical King, explained our origins, and asked for aid. But upon hearing about the multitude of strong and long-lived individuals in our Jiuzhou world, it changed its demeanor drastically. It wanted to capture us. Considering we were outsiders, the Sect Master didn’t wish to enter into conflict with them. Thus, he led us away and initiated solo exploration to discover the world’s truth.”
“As we delved into history, exploring various ruins buried in sandy rivers, we gradually unraveled the truth of this world filled with robots.”
“Initially, the Forging Machinery World was a typical technological civilization, just having mastered controlled nuclear fusion, resolving energy problems. The human clan ruled the world, while the robots served as auxiliary tools.”
“Humans yearned for life, hoping for immortality. Even by tackling the problem at the genetic level – reducing disease-causing genes and increasing longevity genes – the solution wasn’t indefinite. The body would still face various unexpected problems, eventually even resulting in ‘genetic diseases,’ a malady beyond cure.”
“People replaced problematic body parts with mechanical ones – mechanical hearts, breathing pathways, lungs, and stomachs. Apart from their brains, everything was mechanical.”
“Later, they made a significant technological breakthrough: the ability to replace the brain with a mechanical one.”
“From there, they achieved their goal, thoroughly freeing themselves from the physical constraints of the flesh and from disease. This marked their transformation into the mechanical clan, entering an era of total mechanization.”“Although not immortal, they could live up to the maximum lifespan of an ordinary person, 140 years.”
If they wanted to prolong their lives further, they needed to cultivate their souls. The technological level of the Forging Machinery World hadn’t reached that degree.
“These are the historical facts that we discovered while exploring the remains with the Sect Master and Immortal Artifact. This history is so ancient that no one remembers it anymore. The people of this world believe that they have been members of the mechanical clan since time immemorial.”
“When we deciphered the history, the Sect Master raised a new question: How do the robots reproduce? Souls can’t appear out of thin air, nor can they attach themselves to newly-born robots.”
“We later found out that all newborns come from a place called ‘Mother of All Beings.’ We decided to split into three groups to search for the nest. The Great Confucian Word Post took one path, the Sect Master took another, and the rest of us joined forces and took the third.”
“The robots here drink a blend of petrol with alcohol. In an alcohol house, we found a clue, infiltrated the metropolis, deceived the guards with a spell, and finally arrived at this underground base, two thousand meters below the ground.”
Jiang Li nodded. The ground above the underground base wasn’t just dirt but was layered with sixteen isolation layers in sequential order: a sixty-meter-thick concrete wall, an alloy of lead and zirconium to resist nuclear attacks, a thick carbon nitride film… Each layer was filled with graphite powder in between, ensuring the underground base would remain undisturbed, whether due to continued nuclear detonations, launched excavation missiles, or even direct collision from falling meteors.”
“Just as we were on the verge of success, we triggered a warning device. Out of options, we had to request the Human Emperor and Sect Master Bai to come.”
One of the young cultivators pointed at the large door occupying an entire wall behind the mechanical guards saying, “Behind this great door is the ‘Mother of All Beings’.”
Jiang Li pushed the obstructing mechanical guards aside, placed his hand on the heavy door, and grasped the principle of its operation.
“This door is made of rare metals combined with intricate gears in the middle. It can only be opened with a four-fold verification: engine coding of a specific robot, its voice, and its soul. If someone tries to forcibly open the door, it will automatically lock itself and can only be opened by that specific robot…” ℞ÀƝổΒΕ𝐒
The young cultivators were anxious: “The specific robot is the Mechanical King, and it will never help us open the door.”
With a gentle push from Jiang Li, the door automatically locked itself. A force like a surging flood beast then Lien turned and forcibly opened the door.
“If the force is immense, the difficulties mentioned earlier don’t matter.”
In front of Jiang Li, this sturdy door, representing the crystallized wisdom of the Forging Machinery civilization, was no different from a piece of paper.
After opening the door, the young cultivators saw a sight they couldn’t comprehend.
Numerous genetically identical male infants were floating in nutrient vessels.
The vessels were tidily arranged according to the state of the infants’ development, from the embryonic stage to the umbilical cord-coupled stage, to the stage of eye, mouth, and esophagus development.
The liquid inside the vessel seemed to have the ability to separate the soul. When the infant grew to one year old, the soul would leave the body and attach itself to a freshly-produced robot.
After the baby robot received a soul, it began to move around, crawling haphazardly and making infant-like noises.
The Mother of All Beings was the place where robots received their souls.
Jiang Li and Bai Hongtu had expected this. When they arrived in this world, they had scanned the mechanical production line behind the door with their Divine Sense and knew everything.
“Robots couldn’t generate souls, so they made use of cloning technology to create infants, which became the source of souls.”
Jiang Li clapped his hands: “Let’s go check out what’s above. There are people waiting for us.”
The young cultivators were confused.
…
On the surface, Jiang Li saw countless “humans,” who looked identical to members of the human clan at first glance.
A young cultivator remarked, “There’s a ‘Skin Swapping Shop’ here. Robots can freely change their skins. Having identical appearances isn’t a problem because everyone identifies each other through brain waves.”
The figure leading the pack donned a high-ranking officer’s uniform. The profusion of medals of honor hanging from his chest spoke of his status.
The singular ruler of the Forging Machinery civilization — the Mechanical King.
The Mechanical King appeared to be a steady middle-aged man, but his actual age was ninety years.
As he had a robot body, as long as his soul didn’t feel aging, he could maintain the vigor of a young man forever.
Astro is with an E at the end and not an O.He faced the well-prepared army, the stern Mechanical King, and various novel weapons he had never seen before. All of these held immense malice for Jiang Li and the others.
“Fire at the thieves who have infiltrated the Mother of All Beings!”
This place was the most prosperous city in the Forging Machinery civilization, housing forty million robots. On learning about an intrusion underground, the Mechanical King evacuated all the citizens in record time, intending to severely punish the thieves.
He harbored jealousy towards these cultivators from the Jiuzhou world.
They abandoned their bodies in their pursuit of longevity. Why could these ordinary flesh-and-blood people live for hundreds to thousands of years?!
Upon introducing himself, Sect Master Huang Chengdan claimed he was eight hundred years old. This claim ignited the Mechanical King’s envious rage.
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