My cultivation is too warm

Half a month later, Liang Huanhuan returned to her usual self, jumping and laughing every day, as if she had completely moved on from Ye Qingyue's passing.

However, Xu Mo could tell at a glance that she was actually forcing herself.

However, he did not expose her panic. He knew that she was doing this simply to avoid making him worry. In that case, he would just let her "mature" as she pleased. Rather, exposing her at this moment would be the cruelest thing to do.

In fact, over the years, people have left the research institute almost every few days.

The earliest group of more than 10,000 researchers at the research institute were all of similar age and had all taken longevity pills, which extended their lives by one and a half 60 years.

By this time, everyone's lifespan is basically coming to an end.

Because of the special effects of the Longevity Pill combined with other pills refined by the human race's holy ancestor, the Spirit of the Secret Realm, these people could maintain normal bodily functions until their death. Therefore, even on their deathbeds, they were still conducting research in the research institute.

In fact, Xu Mo had told them to retire and enjoy their later years as early as twenty or thirty years ago. After all, there are now generations of new talents taking over the research institute. They have worked hard for the institute all their lives, and he thought that they should be allowed to enjoy their retirement for at least twenty or thirty years. That would be the only way to do justice to them.

Otherwise, if we really let them work until they're old, wouldn't I become a heartless capitalist? Would we really make them work like slaves their whole lives?

However, Xu Mo's decision was met with unanimous opposition. This was the first time he had faced such unanimous opposition. Normally, everyone would carry out his decisions without question, but this time, they rejected his decision without hesitation.

One of the remarks made by a former researcher from Wuyou Peak left a deep impression on Xu Mo: He said:

"If you had told us to retire in the early years, we would have accepted without hesitation and would have been very happy. If it were me, I would have celebrated and celebrated finally escaping the sea of ​​suffering, because the work in the research institute was too hard, too tiring and too depressing. The research seemed endless, and the more we researched, the more problems arose. That feeling was really suffocating and made it hard to breathe. Even at night, the worst nightmare was dreaming that I was doing research."

"But now, more than a hundred years later, we can say that we have devoted our entire lives to this research, and we have long been accustomed to coming to the research institute every day to conduct research."

Although the research is still very arduous and exhausting, and the problems that have arisen as the research has progressed are many times greater than at the beginning, we no longer feel suffocated. Rather, we have become numb to it and are no longer afraid.

For us now, all we feel is resentment; we are unwilling to see the final answer to the problem.

We also know that we are destined not to live to see this problem solved.

However, we still want to advance the research as much as possible, even by the smallest margin, so that it can be easier for those who follow.

"For us now, no enjoyment is as interesting as grappling with research problems. Moreover, having been in the research institute for so long, we have long been accustomed to our current life. If we were to enjoy our retirement, we would need to readjust to the world. In that case, we might as well fight until the last moment of our lives."

"This is our will, so please, Dean, allow us to continue fighting."

Faced with everyone's firm stance, and after several unsuccessful attempts to persuade them, Xu Mo had no choice but to let them continue to stay at the research institute. However, he also said that if anyone reached a certain age or work term, they could leave at any time without any obstruction or confidentiality measures.

In fact, the research questions conducted at the research institute were never kept secret from the beginning, and were even published online.

If some exceptionally gifted individual were to solve the problem single-handedly, Xu Mo would simply be thanking his lucky stars.

Over the years, the general public in Canggu has been very enthusiastic about solving this problem. Countless people participate in the discussion online every day, and Xu Mo has also recruited tens of thousands of researchers because of this.

Those who can join the research institute are undoubtedly the most outstanding geniuses. After more than a hundred years of development, the population of the Canggu World has now skyrocketed from the initial 10 billion to more than 50 billion.

Currently, the entire research institute has fewer than 200,000 researchers. It's easy to imagine how outstanding one must be to join the institute. Xu Mo is incredibly satisfied that they were able to recruit tens of thousands of people online.

Although Xu Mo said that everyone could leave at any time if they wanted to, no one retired or went into retirement; everyone continued to work at the research institute.

Just as that disciple of Wuyou Peak said, the research in the research institute has become a part of their lives, rather than a glorious and great mission that must be completed. At their age, all tasks and missions no longer seem important. After all, when a person is about to die, what does everything in the world have to do with them?

They are here simply to continue their research and pursue the truth, nothing more.

Therefore, over the years, people have often passed away quietly while working at the research institute.

At first, everyone was extremely saddened by the death of someone, which even caused a commotion. However, as more and more people left, the people in the research institute basically got used to it, and someone would soon take care of the funeral arrangements properly.

Especially in the period after Ye Qingyue's death, people died almost every day, and there were even cases of more than a dozen people dying on the same day.

Although everyone has become accustomed to these scenes, the sadness in their hearts is also genuine. However, this sadness has also transformed into their motivation.

The new generation of researchers understand that the older generation did this because they wanted to complete the research. It was their deep desire and unwillingness to give up that enabled them to grow old while working. So how could they wallow in sadness? They had to work even harder.

As for the researchers of the same generation as those who passed away, it goes without saying that watching their former comrades die one by one also reminded them that their own days were numbered. No matter how painful it was for them, they could only suppress their pain and then feel even more urgent to do as much research as possible in the last moments of their lives.

No one bid farewell to their former comrades. After hearing that someone had left, they were only in a daze for a moment before returning to their research.

This is not because they are heartless, but because they know that it won't be long before they will be going down to join their comrades.

We've already reached this age, so why bother with these rituals? It's better to work harder, research and solve a small problem, so that when we grow old, we'll have less resentment in our hearts.

To be honest, compared to those researchers, watching one person after another grow old was very sad and devastating for Xu Mo.

Because he is immortal and his physical functions remain youthful, although he is older than these researchers, he can never reach their level of mindset.

After all, the researchers are like this because they are old and their lives may be coming to an end at any moment, so they can take everything lightly.

But Xu Mo couldn't. He would continue living, so watching one person after another pass away truly made him feel like he was about to collapse. After all, these were partners who had fought alongside him for over a hundred years, and he knew each and every one of them intimately. How could he possibly ignore them?

At this moment, he truly understood the tragedy of those who live forever.

As more and more people left, he sometimes felt truly numb.

With more experience and practice, one can naturally take things in stride.

This is how Xu Mo comforted himself, or rather, deceived himself.

He wanted to get used to all of this, to be able to face parting again without any emotional turmoil, because he couldn't afford to break down. Unlike others, he had his own mission, a mission that he had to complete, and therefore he had to be strong before he could fulfill it.

After deceiving himself like this, he thought he could remain calm and composed when anyone left.

However, when his second senior brother Wang suddenly came to his house that night, his heart, which had already calmed down, trembled violently again. His face turned pale, his body went limp and weak, and he couldn't even stand up.

Seeing Xu Mo's reaction, Wang Er chuckled and said with a hint of teasing, "Junior brother, you didn't think I came here to say goodbye, did you?"

Xu Mo remained silent upon hearing this, staring intently at Wang Er.

Seeing this, Wang Er calmly sat down and then laughed heartily, "Junior brother, don't worry. Although I don't know when I will grow old, I feel that I can live for a few more years. So at least for these few years, I can still stay with you."

After saying that, he took out a bottle of wine from the box he had brought, opened the bottle, poured two glasses, and as the aroma of the wine filled the air, he pushed one of the glasses in front of Xu Mo and said, "I came to see you this time to drink."

Xu Mo was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Seeing this, Wang Er picked up the wine on the table, took a sip, and remained silent for a moment before looking at Xu Mo and saying, "If I remember correctly, you didn't drink when either Peak Master Jiu Miao, Elder Ouyang, or Senior Sister Ye left, did you, Junior Brother?"

Xu Mo was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and then nodded. Although he was very sad when Elder Ouyang and the others left, he did not drown his sorrows in alcohol. He felt that he was now the ancestor of all spirits in the new era, carrying the future of Cang Gu on his shoulders, so how could he drown his sorrows in alcohol?
He felt he had no right to do this, so no matter how heartbroken and upset he was, he had to bear it.

Wang Er nodded slightly upon seeing this, stared at him for a while, his eyes flickered slightly, and a look of heartache appeared between his brows.

He knew why his junior brother did this, which was why he felt sorry for him. Everyone in the new era believed that it was only natural for his junior brother, as a noble and compassionate spirit farmer who cared for all living beings and possessed the ability to live forever, to become the ancestor of all spirits in the new era, carrying the future of the ancient world forward and fulfilling his mission.

People naturally assumed that Wuyou Lingnong was omnipotent, capable of doing anything and bearing any pressure.

However, they never considered that Junior Brother Wuyou was actually a person. Apart from his ability to live forever, he was no different from any other ordinary person around him. He had his own flesh and blood, his own emotions, and he could feel sad, upset, and even break down.

Others may not know this, but Wang Er knows it all, because he is the "leader of the Worry-Free Friends and Family Group". How could he not know his junior brother?

Because he understood his junior brother, he felt even more sorry for him. His junior brother had really suffered too much. In this degenerate age, the ability to live forever was not a blessing, but a curse.

At least that's what Wang Er thinks.

This feeling became even clearer when the Nine Peaks Master, Elder Ouyang, and the others left.

After Elder Ouyang and the others left, Wang Er clearly felt that his junior brother at that time was like a child abandoned by his parents, lonely, helpless, and bewildered in the face of the world.

However, the junior brother remained strong and did not show it, because he was clear about his current identity and the mission he carried.

Over the years, my junior brother has been working hard to mature so that he can tell the world that he is worthy of the title "Ancestor of All Spirits" and can bear the mission on his shoulders.

Wang Er was very pleased about this. As the senior brother, nothing was more joyful than witnessing his junior brother's growth firsthand.

However, as the senior brother, he felt that he also had his own mission, which was to be able to rely on his junior brother a little, so that he wouldn't have to bear everything on his own.

He had never said these things before, and his junior brother had worked very hard, so he had never relied on him.

He thought this was good, as it proved that his junior brother had truly become capable of handling things on his own.

However, he now feels that he doesn't have many years left to live, and if he doesn't let his junior brother rely on him now, he will never have another chance.

So he came today.

Wang Er raised his wine glass to Xu Mo and said, "Junior brother, come and have a drink."

“This…” Xu Mo hesitated.

Wang Er continued, "Junior brother, I know your concerns. That's why I came to see you. I want to tell you that no matter what your identity or status is, as long as you're human, it's normal to drown your sorrows in alcohol when you're sad or upset. Anyone can understand that."

"At least, this is better than keeping it to yourself and bearing it all alone."

"So, in the future, when you're feeling down and want to get drunk, don't worry about it. Just wake up and continue doing your own thing."

(End of this chapter)