Mythological origin

Unlike those ordinary cities where everyone lies down and time seems to slow down, the immortal city belonging to the extraordinary is a true city that never sleeps.

Regardless of whether it is day or night outside, the city is always brightly lit and sparkling with light.

The curvature here is a completely different world from a flat, laid-back city like Qiuju City.

Because there is a reality that everyone is well aware of.

With the advancement of technology, AI robots and automation technologies can replace all kinds of jobs in the world, from production to services, from computing to creation.

Machines can do anything, except live for you or grant you immortality.

Without embarking on the path of cultivation, without repeatedly breaking through the shackles of the essence of life, and without continuously strengthening one's true spirit, there is virtually no way for an ordinary person to break through the five-hundred-year mark in terms of effective lifespan.

This is not entirely a problem of physical aging or disease.

Terra's biotechnology is sufficient to allow the physical body to be preserved for much longer.

Simply put, as time goes by, the amount of memory information an individual carries will increase and become more complex.

The vast sea of ​​fragmented memories, emotional experiences, and accumulated knowledge will eventually crush and shatter a weak and unresilient self-awareness, leading to personality dissociation, cognitive confusion, or a state of chaos where reality and memory cannot be distinguished.

Though alive, they are as good as dead.

The five-hundred-year limit is the limit that ordinary consciousness can bear, derived from a large amount of statistical data.

The reason for emphasizing "effective lifespan" is that there are indeed some forbidden technologies or secret methods considered "heretical" within Terra.

These methods, through some extreme neurosurgery or mental manipulation, allow ordinary people who cannot bear the burden of memory to choose to "throw away" almost all past memories, emotions, and skills, retaining only the most basic physiological instincts and language abilities. Like formatting, they are "reborn" in the same body as a bewildered, blank new consciousness.

However, after experiencing this extreme approach of actively abandoning even the most core memories that constitute the "self," is the awakened consciousness still considered "the same person"?
This has been a subject of great and intense debate in Terra's philosophical circles, ethics committees, and even among ordinary people.

Some people think that this is not much different from severe amnesia caused by an accident; it's just that the passive suffering has been replaced by an active choice.

The body is still the same body, and social identity may continue, only the past records are lost, but the continuity of personality still exists in essence.

I can't just stop being myself if I lose my memory.

However, many others insist that when all memories, loves, hates, and experiences are erased, the new, blank consciousness has no essential connection with the original individual.

This is tantamount to a form of spiritual suicide; the original "I" is dead, and what remains is merely a strange new soul occupying the old body.

This controversy has never ceased, and it is destined to have no standard answer.

……

As for whether or not to roll up one's hair, everyone has their own different ideas.

Some people believe that everything is for the sake of existence, and existence itself is everything.

To be alive is the greatest meaning.

In any case, it's always good to live longer.

Some people feel that spending a huge amount of time and energy pursuing the unattainable illusion of immortality leaves little time for truly enjoying life and experiencing the essence of "being alive." Cultivating immortality is for the sake of longevity, but if nine hundred of a thousand years' worth of life are spent on arduous cultivation, such a life might be even more frustrating than that of a mortal who can only live two hundred years.

People have differing opinions.

But at least numerically, people cast their vote with their feet.

Along the straight line to Marinjoia, among the many cities Bai Mo passes through, the ratio of cities where people are "lying down" to cities where people are "striving" is roughly ten to one.

……

“We’re in the Marinjoia area ahead,” Teach said, transforming into a streak of black light.

After leaving Qiuju City, the two transformed into light and traveled through the endless land.

Their figures stretched and blurred, merging into two brilliant yet solid arcs of light, one white and one black, silently sweeping across the rapidly receding mountains, rivers, deserts, and cities below at a terrifying speed approaching one-tenth the speed of light, traversing most of Terra.

The sound of the wind, the clouds, and even space itself were torn apart and left behind at this extreme speed.

"Mm," Bai Mo responded, his voice calm and even.

His divine sense could already sense that at the edge of the magnificent area in front of him, which was shrouded in countless spiritual light and Dao principles, there were dozens of incredibly condensed, powerful, and energy-containing True Immortal-level phantoms, some standing, some sitting, and some floating, some in the light and some in the shadows.

That was the manifestation of the will and power of a true immortal.

In addition, there are more than 150 layers of intricate and interwoven top-level defensive formations, each layer overlapping the others, forming an incredibly precise and sturdy giant shell that protects the core area of ​​Marionjois.

These formations and phantoms were all quietly "waiting" for him.

Or rather, waiting for this undisguised, direct white light to come to me.

He made no attempt to conceal his whereabouts. Any true immortal who had not entered seclusion and completely shut down their six senses could easily detect this undisguised approach, which even carried a certain sense of declaration.

The white light that Bai Mo transformed into seemed to hit an invisible, soft wall when it was still about a hundred miles away from Marinjoia. Its speed decreased sharply, and then it came to a complete stop. The light subsided, revealing his clear figure.

A distance of a hundred miles might require a long journey for ordinary people, but for beings at their level, it was essentially no different from being face to face with them. Every detail was clearly visible under their divine perception.

However, judging from the faintly flowing rhythm of those illusory figures of true immortals and the formations, the true immortals of Terra do not seem to have any obvious hostility.

The empire's imposing presence, though formidable, resembled a routine defense and a ceremonial display rather than a prelude to a planned attack.

Bai Mo also noticed that among the dozens of illusory figures, there were more than a dozen relatively unfamiliar faces, whose gazes were particularly focused on him.

There seemed to be no wariness or scrutiny in that gaze, but rather a kind of... endless curiosity.

An almost pure, inquisitive interest scrutinized Bai Mo, as if trying to see through his appearance to some of his inner essence.

"Hahahaha!" Teach also revealed himself, standing behind Bai Mo, and broke the silent confrontation that spanned a hundred miles with his signature laugh.

"They're all your good sons, good daughters, good wives, and good husbands!" he joked nonchalantly, waving his hand casually towards the curious figures staring at him. His words showed no fear of offending anyone or breaking any taboos, displaying an utter lack of restraint. (End of Chapter)