Secrets of the Fifth Era

In the past, Lu Yuan had also researched "Space-Time Tide Harmonization Conversion" and found it was purely physical labor. It would take him hundreds of years alone to gain just a tiny bit of Luck, so he didn't bother with it.

It was equivalent to spending Spirit Essence, manpower, and resources to obtain a small amount of Luck.

"Sounds a bit like... Bitcoin?"

"Spending a lot of energy to create something with no practical use, but it's inexplicably valuable?" Lu Yuan was speechless. "Is this the Pangu Continent's blockchain?"

Hai Zhiyun said, "It's indeed possible that there's an Idealistic-level blockchain system... This thing is useful to the Pangu Continent, just not to us."

But no matter what, this inexplicable "Tide Harmonization Conversion" thing definitely needs to be researched. If the efficiency could be higher, there might be some uses for it.

The second key research direction is "Emotion Harmonization Conversion."

A long time ago, when Lu Yuan completed a certain Civilization Milestone, the reward he received was a "Cube-Level Energy," a large, light-blue cube.

This Extraordinary item could generate 40-50 Spirit Essence out of thin air each year, helping humanity through many difficult stages of development.

Even from the current perspective, a productivity of 40-50 per year is still not low.

Its principle was previously completely ethereal, but now, after analysis by scientists, it has been discovered that it can collect scattered human emotional fluctuations, Fire Seed Energy, and a small amount of Space-Time Tidal Energy, etc., and convert them into Spirit Essence.

It is a very sophisticated technique, possibly even a Level 4 or even Level 5 civilization technology, called "Emotion Harmonization Conversion."

However, this "Cube-Level Energy" operates at full capacity with only 50,000-100,000 people. With a population of one million now, the output cannot be further increased.

Humanity indeed needs to research its own Spirit Essence Harmonization Conversion equation. Even if the efficiency is not as high as the "Cube-Level Energy," collecting a few more points of Spirit Essence each year is a good thing.

The times are developing, and technologies that seemed inexplicable before are slowly being deciphered, Lu Yuan couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

He couldn't even imagine these seemingly advanced technologies on his own.

Now, they are being slowly deciphered.

As for more development directions, it's hard to think of any.

"I think our biomedical technology can also be considered Level Three Civilization technology, and it's more likely to reach higher levels. Although it doesn't involve Civilization Points, it is indeed a very sophisticated method, containing the crystallization of countless people's wisdom."

"Omnipotent Factory... might be Level Four technology, currently impossible to decipher."

"Quantum Civilization's Flying Saucer... incomprehensible."

"Da Lai Empire's Space Glyphs... incomprehensible."

"Some Gear remnants from the Gear Civilization... still incomprehensible."

Everyone expressed their opinions, and the office was lively.

Lu Yuan couldn't help but roll his eyes when he heard the long list of "incomprehensible": "Ahem, don't dwell on those. Let's be more down-to-earth. Besides the open source and cost-saving technologies, is there nothing else we can research?"

Hai Zhiyun reached a conclusion: "There are some, but they are very difficult in the short term. Technologies that mobilize the power of heaven and earth, like lightning storms and volcano eruptions, require a lot of resources to build large control devices. We don't have that many resources for now."

"Level Three technology developed from Aberrant Phenomena will have lower research costs."

"If it's technology developed by ourselves, it will require a lot of resources to pile up, and the cost will be quite high, as will the difficulty."

"From this perspective, we are indeed a weak civilization, we don't even have the resources for independent research..."

"Of course, we can only try to find solutions with the Little Mirage Dragon and the Undying Giant Turtle. Perhaps we can extend new low-cost technology routes from them. As far as I know, the most likely Level Three technology to be realized at present is the [Myriad Image Iron Curtain], which comes from the Undying Giant Turtle. Its specific function is to greatly increase the defense of mechanical units, achieving a temporary 'undying' effect."

Hearing him say this, Lu Yuan couldn't help but rub his nose: "Ahem, why does it sound a bit like the Iron Curtain device in a certain game?"

"Exactly, that's where the inspiration came from."

People couldn't help but laugh again.

But then again, the Source Fire Civilization, which persisted until the End of Era, also had its own fortuitous encounters. It was only normal for them to be richer than humans.

The history of Human 18 Civilization is only a little over two hundred years. It's impossible to compare with established civilizations, and isn't the current number of Level Three technologies they possess quite decent?

During this closed-door meeting, everyone discussed a lot.

Each generation of young people has their own ideas and expectations.

Occasionally, there is youthful idealism and impracticality.

But their starting point is always good. They haven't suffered too many hardships and have a little bit of the light of idealism.

One has to admit, the world belongs to the young!

Even Lu Yuan felt that he was still very young, at the age to achieve something great.

"Then let's leave it at that for now. The future key research directions are Level Three technologies related to 'increasing income and reducing expenditure', research on high-performance computers, further in-depth research on Spirit Speech Technology, exploration of composite Idealistic Materials, weak artificial intelligence, unmanned exploration... and, the Myriad Image Iron Curtain!"

"Comrades, if you encounter any difficulties, you can tell me directly. Don't be afraid of anything, I will always be your backing."

"Alright, it's getting late. Dismissed!"

The young people left one after another, with anticipation and smiles on their faces.

After the crowd left, only Hai Zhiyun remained in the office, looking around, with a face that wanted to inquire about confidential information – perfectly inheriting Lu Yuan's personality.

"What, do you want me to treat you to dinner?" Lu Yuan's heart tightened, and he covered his wallet.

Lu Yuan's salary was actually quite good, but just giving out benefits was a bit too much to bear, so he could only be stingy.

"Lu Dad, I have a major discovery that's not suitable to talk about in a crowd..."

"Tell me about it."

"I analyzed a large number of ancient documents and calculated the development process over the years, and found that our Green Field City actually has many inexplicable and unexplainable places."

"So I think there are many unknown secrets that have not been disclosed. Just like the Da Lai Empire's Spaceship, why is it placed in the Sinkhole? The area of the Sinkhole is so precious, putting a broken Spaceship there obviously has a reason, right?"

"Older Brother Yun, you know too much." Lu Yuan said irritably, "For a civilization to develop, there must be secrets. You don't expect me to tell you, do you?"

"When you grow to a certain height, you will naturally know. The Da Lai Spaceship is very dangerous, you shouldn't research it."

Being called "Older Brother Yun" by Lu Yuan, the young man's face couldn't help but blush.

There are indeed many secrets in Human 18 Civilization.

Not to mention Lu Yuan's own secrets, such as the "True Paradise" in "Green Field Paradise", the Life Fruit, the [Blood Guai] and the mirror [Demon] in the Da Lai Empire laboratory.

There are even remnants of the [Demon · Shadow of Zhao], which are terrifyingly big secrets!

But no matter how well-kept a secret is, there are always some clues. It's normal for smart people to analyze some things from them.

"Since you say so, I won't try to find out for now."

Hai Zhiyun regained her composure. "But there's another very important matter. While reviewing the data, I discovered that the development path of the Ancient Era was different from the present."

"In the very distant past, the Idealistic path was dominant. Calamity-level Aberrant Phenomena were born from ancient times. There were many Mythical creatures back then, and the number of giant beasts and Aberrant Phenomena was countless. Even the Undying Giant Turtle, who has lived for a very long time, was born in the Ancient Era."

"But starting from a certain era, the emergence of the Materialistic path led to a change in the development paths of various civilizations... The number of new Aberrant Phenomena decreased. I mean, the number of new species decreased; old species would still be born naturally."

"Alright, I'd like to hear what you've analyzed..."

Lu Yuan took the young man to the Big Rice Bucket Cafeteria and ordered an expensive double set meal.

The robot's eyes lit up.

"Beep! Double Luxury Set Meal, you have paid 288 yuan!"

His heart was bleeding. The Big Rice Bucket Cafeteria was getting more and more expensive. It was said to be run by a novelist with the pen name "Eternal Furnace," truly a greedy fellow.

Hai Zhiyun, having gotten a free meal, was naturally very happy and continued, "First conclusion, the Undying Giant Turtle has a very special point: it possesses intelligence. Subsequent Aberrant Phenomena often lack intelligence; it seems all the intelligent ones are old things..."

"Maybe the sample isn't rich enough... And doesn't the Little Mirage Dragon also have intelligence?" Lu Yuan took a sip of soup.

"No, the Little Mirage Dragon was born through Nirvana, which is different."

"We can boldly assume that in a certain era, the probability of intelligent Aberrant Phenomena being born significantly decreased. And this era happens to be the era when the Materialistic path emerged."

Hai Zhiyun drew a horizontal line on the table.

"Before this era, there were many intelligent Aberrant Phenomena."

"After this, intelligent Aberrant Phenomena were rare..."

Lu Yuan was just casually listening at first, but as he listened, his brows furrowed. "Which era?"

"The Fifth Era... Suspected, not entirely certain."

Lu Yuan instinctively felt a little uneasy. The number Fifth Era... was a bit sensitive.

Guai, Demon, Yao, Guai, if the Four Great Calamities represent one era, wouldn't the next one be the fifth?

He looked around for a while, thinking this information shouldn't be a big deal, and motioned for the other party to continue.

Hai Zhiyun shoveled a few mouthfuls of mushroom chicken rice and took another sip of soup. "A purely Materialistic path has no Extraordinary Levels. Even if some Idealistic technology is combined, the Extraordinary Levels of items significantly decrease."

"Just like that superconducting composite material, 'Ether Phase Fiber,' theoretically it's just an Inferior level material. But its practical uses are very extensive; it's a prerequisite technology for controllable nuclear fusion..."

"Even if controllable nuclear fusion is actually made, I think the entire power generation device might only be Rare level, unlikely to surpass Excellent level. But its function is much stronger than a Legendary Axe."

Hai Zhiyun spoke eloquently, "Pandora Crystal is amazing, right? But it's also Inferior level. It's actually a natural composite material... Pandora Crystal only appeared after the Materialistic path emerged."

"Therefore, we can believe that since the Fifth Era, when this path combining Materialism and Idealism was born, the rules of the entire Pangu Continent were changed."

"In subsequent eras, this path became prevalent, and the combination of Idealism and Materialism became the true mainstream."

"This path is economical and practical."

"Simpler than pure Materialism, more economical than pure Idealism."

Lu Yuan nodded, finding some logic in that.

Hai Zhiyun's tone shifted. "But could it be that civilizations before the Fifth Era didn't think of this path?"

"I think that's impossible. There were too many civilizations, like the sands of the Ganges River. There were always some innate technological civilizations. Before they came to the Pangu Continent, they already possessed pure materialistic technology and the corresponding development concepts."

"There's only one possibility: before the Fifth Era, the physical rules of the Pangu Continent were so messed up that perhaps even stable electricity couldn't be generated. Therefore, they could only take the idealistic path."

"In that world, idealism was rampant. Even if things like fantasy and cultivation could be achieved, I wouldn't be surprised at all."

"We can even consider it a fantasy world!"

"But in a certain era in between, which is... the Fifth Era, pure physics suddenly rose again. Idealism and materialism began to balance, and everyone could take a new path."

"Why did this happen? There must have been an extremely huge turning point in between. I've consulted a large number of Green Field Civilization documents and found some clues. There must have been a super-large-scale prehistoric war that changed..."

"Alright, that's enough." Suddenly, a red light flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes.

This was a mental shock from [Control].

It wasn't to control this young man, but to make him stop talking.

The depth of this information was already toxic.

With a "clatter," the spoon in Hai Zhiyun's hand fell onto the table.

After being hit by that shock, his mind was in a daze. It took several seconds for him to recover. He looked at the Grand Commander with some confusion.

Lu Yuan sighed, "The reason why secrets are secrets is that the eyes of the world are everywhere... We are all birds in a cage."

"Even speculation is dangerous."

"Humans are a little stronger than you think, but the Era Disaster is a hundred million times stronger than you think."

Hai Zhiyun was stunned. Smart people can often think of many things quickly.

His brain began to work intensely, and sweat started to bead on his forehead.

His thoughts began to extend from the Ghost Mist Disaster...

Finally, he let out a long sigh, "I understand a little. This world is indeed terrifying."

"The civilizations before us dug too big a pit. What kind of mess did they leave us?"

"Not entirely. Without the previous civilizations, there would be no us... We have indeed benefited from the legacy of our predecessors."

The two ate in silence. Hai Zhiyun was under great mental pressure. The more he ate, the less taste he found, and he wished he could go and research immediately.