Ten thousand I am across the heavens

Dao Tian completed his work methodically without making any extraordinary contributions, but his knowledge, experience, and qualifications were of great value, which allowed him to gradually gain more and more social power.

Originally, he only intended to experience this life to the fullest, to live a relatively ordinary life. Even now, having achieved what would be considered quite remarkable by ordinary people, it's all really nothing to him in the end.

However, the Mountain and River Republic grew and expanded even faster than it advanced. By the time it was promoted to the head of a team of a hundred people, the Mountain and River Republic had already begun to fight against multiple immortals.

When he became one of the key project representatives in a team of thousands, the Shanhe Republic had already begun its liberation campaign across the entire southern border. He repeatedly clashed with eighth-level powerhouses, emerging victorious. At that time, the Shanhe Republic didn't have any experts at the seventh-level; it relied entirely on the power of the state apparatus to unite the strength and will of different individuals, along with technology far exceeding that of the era, to overcome challenges across so many levels.

Looking back, Dao Tian had to admit that the establishment of this kingdom was nothing short of a miracle. And this might truly be a cataclysmic change, unprecedented in 300 million years. Seeing the entire kingdom grow even faster than he had ever imagined, Dao Tian couldn't help but feel that this might be the best opportunity to change his fate. Although countless failures had almost made him give up hope of returning home, making him unwilling to easily harbor any expectations of the future.

But whenever he encountered a genuine glimmer of hope for success, he would instinctively grasp it tightly. It was as if, in history, he had found the Langya Patriarch, hoping this near-Grandmaster level alchemist would create a Gu worm capable of traversing space and escaping this world. It was also as if he had repeatedly and recklessly attempted to explore beyond this world, trying to find his way home.

Even though countless indescribable beings roam beyond this world, including terrifying creatures that even Venerable Ones would avoid, he never gave up on returning home.

And today he sees a new hope. A path that relies on technology, on the most beautiful, down-to-earth, and methodical way to walk out of this world with dignity. On this path, he is not alone. But there are thousands upon thousands of like-minded comrades, pursuing the truth of the world and curious about what lies beyond, walking the same path with him.

Unbeknownst to him, he had become arrogant because of his status as a venerable one. He believed that only those of the same or similar level were qualified to help him.

He hadn't properly interacted with mortals or absorbed their wisdom for far too long. Even now, reincarnating time and again within mortal bodies, stealing their lives, and living as ordinary people each time, all he witnessed was ignorance and folly. To the point that he subconsciously felt that this was how ordinary people were supposed to be. That they were no longer the same species as them, and that lacking equal wisdom was perfectly normal.

But now he's gradually realizing his past arrogance. The difference between immortals and mortals is simply a difference in memory and calculation ability, and these can be bridged with tools. On Earth, where supernatural powers are lacking, relying on tools to compensate for memory and calculation ability might be quite difficult. Innate intellectual differences require much more effort to overcome. But here, bridging this gap is much easier.

The Gu worm, a deadly weapon, could subtly blend the memory and computational abilities of humans and machines. Once the qualitative difference in numerical values ​​disappeared, those mortals he had once disregarded began to display their unique wisdom. Each person's thoughts are unique, and when they are willing to think and dedicate their minds, they will inevitably achieve miracles in unexpected areas, creating wonders that even geniuses would marvel at.

Dao Tian gradually realized that in such an environment, if his physical body were limited to the same speed of thought, he might not be the most talented among these people. In some areas, his talent might not even be considered above average. And in the future, there would be more and more like-minded comrades like him. At that time, he might be surrounded by countless comrades comparable to the Grandmaster level.

Although Dao Tian realized this, he did not rashly bet everything. He only slightly improved his performance, which was still relatively mediocre overall, but he took the initiative to adjust his research and development direction.

Initially, he focused on his own interests, concentrating more on mechanics, or more precisely, humanoid mechs. He possessed not only exceptional talent but also supreme experience in this field. However, this didn't actually help him much in escaping this world and finding his way home. The terrifying thing was that he was enjoying this new life—enjoying the feeling of returning to his previous existence. The creation and piloting of the humanoid mechs could be seen as a way for him to reminisce about his life before his transmigration.

Gradually, his focus shifted from the field of scientific research to the field of Yu Dao, which was the second area of ​​expertise of the Heavenly Thief Demon Lord.

Most Venerables cultivate two schools of thought simultaneously, one widely known as their primary cultivation and the other, more discreetly, as their secondary cultivation. For example, the Giant Sun Immortal Venerable primarily cultivates the Dao of Fortune and secondarily cultivates the Dao of Blood, while the Heavenly Thief Demon Venerable primarily cultivates the Dao of Theft and secondarily cultivates the Dao of Universe. The Dao of Universe may not be the most suitable secondary cultivation school for him, but it is the school most likely to lead him back home.

And this time he made the same choice. It wasn't his area of ​​expertise, but it was the area most likely to help him return home.

Yu Dao's research efforts in the Shanhe Republic have always been substantial. His decision is not surprising. The development prospects of humanoid mechs within the Shanhe Republic are certainly not as good as Yu Dao's, and even if a transformation is undertaken, it may face certain risks. For a young man like him, such a price is bearable.

Upon first entering this field, he realized the sheer scale of the Shanhe Republic's investment in it far exceeded his previous expectations. There were over 300 different projects alone related to overcoming global barriers, each with a fairly high probability of success.

This was quite remarkable. Dao Tian had never imagined that the Shanhe Republic, before even fully unifying the Southern Frontier, was already considering how to break through the barriers of the world and reach beyond it. Many of these research ideas were things he hadn't even considered when he was a Venerable. The research achievements in many areas were far more valuable than anything he had made during his time as a Venerable. This made him regret not having switched careers and joined related research sooner. These were research projects that could genuinely benefit even someone like him as a Venerable.

Beyond exploring the world beyond, the research projects also involve a significant portion of civilian applications, specifically the construction of civilian teleportation facilities.

Infrastructure construction has been ongoing since the establishment of the Republic of China. The construction of large canals, highways, railways, and even underground vacuum pipelines is progressing at an extremely rapid pace. However, the speed of these projects is ultimately limited. And Southern Xinjiang is simply too vast, its total area comparable to the area of ​​a circle drawn with the Earth-Moon distance as its boundary.

Even traveling at the speed of light, it would take two or three seconds to travel from east to west, let alone with conventional means of transportation. To facilitate the exchange of goods and people across such a vast geographical area, even using space travel-speed vehicles like vacuum tubes would still be somewhat inadequate.

Therefore, the research and development of teleportation-related technologies was put on the agenda at the same time as the war of unification broke out. Significant progress has already been made. The technology for teleporting non-living things has even reduced the cost to 0.3 yuan stones per ton, which is virtually unaffected by distance limitations. The cost is so low that even he, a former Venerable One and a former Quasi-Supreme Grandmaster of the Universe Path, would be astonished.

While large quantities of supplies can now be transported via space teleportation as a regular means of transportation, the cost of transporting living beings remains difficult to reduce. Currently, the cost is as high as 0.5 yuan stones per kilogram, and this cost may increase further if the teleportation distance exceeds 10,000 km.

However, this is already sufficient for practical application. For an ordinary person, a single long-distance teleportation would cost over sixty spirit stones, which sounds quite expensive. Based on the productivity of the past, an average person might only earn one or two spirit stones in a month. Those with slightly more skill might earn a little more. But sixty spirit stones was a huge sum for an average person back then. It would probably take several years to save up. However, in that era, such a teleportation system wouldn't necessarily have been without a market. After all, if there was a place one desperately wanted to go, but it was thousands of miles away, saving up for several years to teleport there was clearly more cost-effective than spending over a decade or more, traversing mountains and rivers, and facing various uncontrollable risks.

Moreover, current productivity is vastly different from what it was back then. The artificial elemental stone mines created by the Dao Yuan reactor have seen a dramatic increase in output, completely transcending the original system. This has increased social wealth, boosted individual productivity, and implemented a fairer distribution system, resulting in drastically different incomes compared to the past. Typically, an ordinary worker with a relatively stable job earns over 500 elemental stones per month. Of course, the increased money supply due to increased productivity will inevitably lead to a certain degree of decrease in the purchasing power of elemental stones, resulting in an inflation-like effect, especially in the service sector. This level of income means that even without a complete reduction in the cost of lifeform transmission, it is now sufficient for civilian applications.

Over the past few years, Dao Tian has witnessed many towns and cities, large and small, establishing their own teleportation stations, just like train stations and bus stations. Even most county towns with only about 10,000 people have their own teleportation stations.

Even if he regained his Venerable strength, he didn't think he would be able to place numerous teleportation points of varying sizes throughout the continent, ensuring that these points wouldn't interfere with each other and maintaining the operation of a system far more complex than the railway system.

He himself works as a behind-the-scenes designer within this system. Projects involving exploring beyond the world are all highly secretive. Having just switched careers, it's clearly difficult for him to participate in these projects. The projects he can get involved in are generally less secretive, less technically demanding, and require more expertise in civilian technologies.

Fortunately, he wasn't too disappointed. The technical details in the relevant civilian fields were quite helpful to him. Moreover, he discovered that his cultivation level had dropped. He was originally a Quasi-Grandmaster of the Universe Dao, and almost the strongest in that field.

But now he finds that his cultivation level has unknowingly dropped to the Grandmaster level. The realm division in the Gu Realm is very interesting. It's not that once you reach a certain level, you'll stay at that level forever. This can be seen from the definition of a true Supreme Grandmaster: a true Supreme Grandmaster must master all the knowledge of that school of thought. If you fall even slightly short, you cannot become a Supreme Grandmaster.

This means that achieving the status of a Supreme Grandmaster under normal circumstances is almost impossible. Only by utilizing special methods of direct transmission from the universe—knowledge that cannot be obtained through conventional means—can one become a Supreme Grandmaster. And becoming a Supreme Grandmaster is a prerequisite for becoming a Venerable. This demonstrates just how difficult it is to become a Venerable.

This also means that other realms are relative. The higher the overall level of a related field in this world, the more difficult it is to reach a higher realm. Similarly, if the overall level of a certain field makes a significant leap, but an individual's level stagnates, then a decline in realm is quite normal.

The Republic of Mountains and Rivers has clearly raised the level of space and technology across the entire world. This has caused Dao Tian, ​​who originally possessed the quasi-Grandmaster realm and mastered most of the knowledge about the universe, to have his knowledge greatly diluted, resulting in a decline in his realm. If someone unaware of the situation were to discover their sudden drop in realm, they would certainly be terrified. But now, facing his decline, he feels only excitement.

[To be continued]

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