Evolution - Chapter 165
Chapter 165
The next day, Ji Changqing was whisked away by Xingchen, without even a chance for a lingering farewell with Yu Zhiyao.
Before she went missing, she had already accumulated enough military merit for a promotion to lieutenant colonel. After submitting her mission report, her entire squad had rushed to save Yu Zhiyao because they were the closest. And while Yu Zhiyao was someone she was intimately connected to, they had ultimately saved her and everyone else on the starship, which was a meritorious deed in itself.
Not to mention, she and Yu Zhiyao had later pushed forward the cultivation-technology project, gaining strong support from the cultivation world and advancing the Alliance's development by a great leap.
Furthermore, the members of Lingyun Peak, led by Chu Ci, had agreed to cooperate with the military to train a batch of qualified special soldiers.
Finally, still led by Chu Ci, the members of Lingyun Peak had re-established the sect on Blue Star. However, it wasn't a sect in the traditional cultivation sense. At Yu Zhiyao's suggestion, it was divided into an inner and outer sect. The inner sect naturally consisted of core disciples, which would certainly include He Yi, Ji Changqing, and of course, Yu Zhiyao.
The outer sect, however, was established in a university-like model, with a less profound connection to the sect itself. It mostly taught universal cultivation methods and techniques. While these might be considered trivial in the cultivation world, they were perfectly suited for the current societies of Blue Star and the Alliance's ABO system.
All these accomplishments added up to a considerable amount of merit points. Although she was still a little short of the requirement for promotion to colonel, there were no issues with her record. Due to the special circumstances requiring her to retire from the special forces and transfer to the regular army garrison on Blue Star, she could be given an appropriate half-rank boost, which was just enough to make it!
Xingchen's situation was similar, so he was also smoothly promoted from major general to lieutenant general.
As for Major General Xie'er, although Ji Changqing and Yu Zhiyao had brought her along to earn merit points each time, she still had a long road ahead of her to get from major general to lieutenant general. She would have to bide her time!
After explaining the gist of the situation to Ji Changqing in one breath, Xingchen waved her away. "Go find Xiao Xia. She was in charge of the Blue Star garrison's affairs before. Learn from her, get some practice. I'm just here to fend off any troublemakers for you."
He would also take the opportunity to represent the military and build a rapport with Chu Ci. After all, they would be training special soldiers together in the future.
Perhaps because she would soon be able to leave this place and return to her post with Major General Xie'er, Xiao Xia was in a much better mood and explained things in great detail.
"Regarding Yu Zhiyao's abduction, we traced the people involved and took down an organization on Blue Star. We purged this many." She made a hand gesture. "At least a hundred thousand!"
She found it rather hard to understand. Over a decade ago, Major General Xie'er had led her troops in a bloody purge, accelerating the Alliance's reforms. Logically, even if some dregs remained, they shouldn't have been able to stir up any significant trouble.
But who would have thought that over the past decade, those who had been gradually phased out of their high-ranking positions would suddenly transform and mix in with the very terrorists and social scum they had once righteously condemned, becoming their comrades-in-arms.
Indeed, there were only permanent interests, no permanent enemies.
This time, a large number of former high-ranking officials were implicated once again.
The populace on Blue Star was left shocked and uncertain.
Ji Changqing lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Have they dug up the people behind all this?"
Xiao Xia immediately found the joy in gossiping and lowered her voice as well. "We've basically identified them and are still digging for more evidence. But Major General Xie'er insisted on dealing with the Blue Star-related individuals first. Otherwise, if they were left for you to handle after you take over, it wouldn't look good for you."
Ji Changqing wasn't surprised by this. Back in the Empire, she had gotten incredibly lucky to have Nankong already waiting deep inside the enemy's ranks. Otherwise, completing the mission in a dozen years would have been considered fast, let alone just a few.
"Right now, the head of the Academy of Sciences on Blue Star is Yu Zhiyao, the political head is Claire, and the military head is nominally Lieutenant General Xingchen, but you'll be responsible for most of it." Xiao Xia looked at Ji Changqing with a somewhat complicated expression. Who would have thought this person was now only half a rank below her!
"Lieutenant General Xingchen can stay on Blue Star for thirty years at most. You'd better work hard!"
She had to strive for a promotion to major general within thirty years to legitimately take over as the supreme military commander of Blue Star.
Ji Changqing immediately put on an obedient act. "Then I'll have to rely on your guidance, just like before."
Could I possibly not guide you? Xiao Xia thought. The faster you get the hang of things, the faster I can get back to my comrades!
So, Ji Changqing was busy taking over military duties, living and eating in the barracks. She followed Xiao Xia every day, learning the ropes, and occasionally led small fleets to coordinate with operations on other planets, rapidly transitioning from a frontline operative to a commander.
Although her official title was aide to Lieutenant General Xingchen, the work she did was never that of a normal aide.
Yu Zhiyao was also very busy. On one hand, there was her work at the Blue Star branch of the Academy of Sciences. On the other, she had to work with Chu Ci to refine and implement the plan to model the Lingyun Peak outer sect after a university.
Her reason for proposing such a model was based on the fact that Lingyun Peak itself had always been rather unconventional. When new disciples joined the Tianyi Sect, they all entered the Trial Study Pavilion and were placed in classes according to their progress. Only after mastering all the basic lessons would they be assigned to the various peaks.
After entering a peak, some would be favored by a master and taken in as personal disciples, but most would remain ordinary peak disciples for their entire lives, never formally apprenticed. However, everyone could accumulate sect contribution points by completing missions and exchange them for advanced cultivation methods at the Cultivation Method Hall, or borrow various books from the Library Pavilion.
Chu Ci, of course, had never taken a master back then either; she had fought her way up entirely on her own.
Therefore, she felt there was no problem at all with changing it to a university-like model. Wasn't it just like the Trial Study Pavilion of old? In her view, the Cultivation Method Hall and the Library Pavilion were equivalent to a university's specialized professors and its library.
The only unique aspect was the need to add courses on scientific knowledge, which would require a group of people from the Academy of Sciences to design the curriculum and compile the textbooks.
Thinking about it this way, she immediately felt that the Lingyun Peak outer sect was already quite prestigious. The curriculum and the teachers were all top-notch.
Another point was that the students recruited here had to possess a spirit root or have the aptitude to become a physique cultivator.
The Trial Study Pavilion was already built, and there were plenty of teachers to choose from among the cultivators who could teach for the next century. Those seven thousand cultivator workers would certainly be willing to take on this task to earn spirit stones. They hadn't officially opened their gates to recruit students yet because there were still some details that needed to be negotiated and hammered out with the Alliance.
For example, would the first batch of students be selected only from Blue Star, or would recruitment be expanded to the entire Alliance ABO system?
Another example: how often would they recruit? Once a year, once every three years, or even once a decade?
For the first batch of recruits, should the age limit be relaxed? And if so, to what age?
How would students be selected and eliminated after enrollment? In the cultivation world, once a person entered a sect, they naturally belonged to it. Underachievers would fall to the bottom and could only perform menial chores. Now that the model was different, a new elimination mechanism needed to be established.
These individuals would be considered outer sect disciples of Lingyun Peak. After completing their studies, would they serve the cultivation world or the Alliance's ABO society?
Also, what were the standards and qualifications for being selected into the Lingyun Peak inner sect?
These and a host of other similar issues were not major problems of principle, but they were all sufficiently annoying minor details.
It wasn't just Yu Zhiyao and Chu Ci who were busy. Gu Jiawen, Shen Guiqing, He Yi, plus Luo Mingsheng and Luo Gengjiu who were also overseeing the construction—every single one of them was incredibly busy.
If it weren't for the fact that they were all cultivators and thus immune to dying from overwork, they would have wished they could split themselves into eight people!
By the time everything was sorted out and Lingyun Peak was ready to reopen its gates after nearly six thousand years of silence and decline, half a year had already passed.
Yu Zhiyao, exhausted from all the work, upheld her reputation as a top student and managed to complete all the lessons in the Trial Study Pavilion just before the gates reopened, officially becoming a member of Lingyun Peak.
She had grown thin from the strain.
This made Ji Changqing's heart ache. She had finally managed to free up some time and return under the guise of official business, ensuring all of Lingyun Peak could be present for the gate-reopening ceremony.
The mountain-protecting formation had long been established and activated. Reopening the gates involved erecting a mountain gate stone and imbuing it with spells so that it could be seen at a glance from anywhere on Lingyun Peak.
"Heaven and Earth are limitless, all paths return to one. With the Dao, we surmount the heavens, and never fall from the azure clouds!"
Big Sister rose into the air, her sword intent surging. With a few swift strokes, she carved the three characters for "Lingyun Peak" into the mountain gate stone, sealing her sword intent within.
"Rise!"
The mountain gate stone was fixed in place by a spell, standing firm and steady, ensuring it could be seen clearly from any angle and any location within Lingyun Peak's territory, a full 360 degrees with no blind spots.
As the mountain gate stone was set, it triggered a ripple of profound and strange power, vast and deep.
A mix of indescribable emotions welled up in everyone's hearts.
"Let's go back. The recruitment starts tomorrow, and there's still much to do." Big Sister truly lived up to her reputation as a woman who came and went like the wind. She decisively cut through everyone's sentimental melancholy, snapping the worker bees back to reality. No time to get overly sentimental about a stone gate when there was a mountain of work to be done.
The sentimental crowd quickly composed themselves. In this society, sentimentality got you nowhere, because the big boss was a heartless woman with no feelings!
Lingyun Peak's first recruitment drive was a massive affair, and this was mainly the Alliance's doing. The feeling was akin to children from a poor family finding a place where they could learn a trade for free; they wanted to cram every single qualified person inside.
Chu Ci ultimately decided that official recruitment would be held once every five years, for students aged six to ten. As for exceptional recruitment, she followed the Alliance's model of granting newly joined planets a ten-year protection and development period. This meant there would be a total of two exceptional recruitment drives, with the age limit relaxed to sixty.
The regularly recruited children were separated from the exceptionally recruited youth group (ages 11-20) and adult group (ages 21-60). Looking out, one could see three separate entrances, with the number of people doubling with each increasing age group.
The elementary schoolers chattered away as if on a field trip. The middle school group had that classic eighth-grader syndrome vibe, defiant and ready to change the world. And the adult group wore expressions of weary anticipation, calm on the surface but with minds racing. The three scenes were distinct and formed an amusing contrast.
Every one of them felt like they were carrying the hopes of their entire village on their shoulders.
Manning the recruitment entrances, busy with registration, grouping, and maintaining order, were none other than the cultivator workers. After a harsh dose of reality, these once high-and-mighty, conceited cultivators had finally, like Yunbao, been led astray by the goofy netizens of the interstellar web.
While others were obsessed with cultivation, they were obsessed with technology, which in turn gave them a stronger motivation to cultivate and achieve immortality. After all, if you live long enough, you get to see everything! To enjoy more of this bizarre and dazzling world, how could they not redouble their efforts?!
The eight members of Lingyun Peak were all huddled on the main peak, watching a live broadcast of the event.
They watched the surging crowds at the three recruitment entrances, as group after group entered the trial grounds. The people of Lingyun Peak might not have felt the grand ambition of "gathering all the world's talents," but as they watched the successive batches of little kids, they saw the hope for the future.
As long as its people were here, its legacy would endure, and Lingyun Peak would continue to exist. It had been annihilated on one planet, only to start anew on another.
At this moment, the Seven Realms of Cultivation and the society of the Alliance's ABO system were all watching.
Everyone was filled with anticipation and hope.
A brand new future had begun.
Ji Changqing gently scratched Yu Zhiyao's palm. She, too, wanted to start a brand new future with Yu Zhiyao—for example, by getting married and making things official.
Yu Zhiyao looked over, puzzled.
"Let's start a new phase for us, too!"
Yu Zhiyao understood instantly.
"After we reach Foundation Establishment."
This was a strict requirement from Big Sister. After all, dual cultivation was only possible when their cultivation levels were the same.
Big Sister's viewpoint was very traditional and simple, much like the old notion that you could only be legally intimate after getting a marriage certificate. You could only dual cultivate after becoming Dao Companions, so what was the point of becoming partners if you couldn't dual cultivate?
Blue Star had a new beginning, Lingyun Peak had a new beginning, and the entire Alliance was also looking forward to new changes.
Nothing could be accomplished perfectly in a single step. All that was needed was for each day to be a little better than the one before.
Everything was changing for the better. That was evolution.
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