"It's basically what you expected."
"That's what the system said."
Li Xingkong still found it hard to believe. After all, in his consistent understanding, both Li Xingkong and traditional thinking held that human life was sacred and precious.
"So the so-called soul is also nothingness?"
"No, that's not it. The concept of the soul still exists; it's just that it was created within a cultivation civilization."
Now that the topic of the soul has come up, the system begins to explain.
"For example, the way we're connected now is a rather deep, soul-level connection."
"Create?"
Emotions and a soul aren't something you're born with.
"To give an analogy, in a world without Spiritual Qi, a person manipulating their body is like controlling a character in a game, except this game is a one-life mode; once you die, the game ends."
Even if you start another game, it's a completely new game and has nothing to do with your previous game.
"In a world with Spiritual Qi, the artificial creation of the Underworld and Samsara is equivalent to creating a resurrection point in a game world. Even if your character dies, you can still resurrect here."
"And in the period between a character's death and its resurrection, it exists as a soul."
"Or to put it more simply, at the moment of death, the human body automatically triggers a spell that preserves its memory and thought modules, allowing it to maintain conscious awareness in the form of Magic Power structure."
"Since this state is an energy state, similar to the spirits and ghosts in the Myth, it can also be called that."
"However, without a physical body, the energy-state soul loses its energy source. If it cannot be channeled into the corresponding Underworld or Samsara in time, it will dissipate due to energy depletion."
"So, I can now access content related to the soul?"
Li Xingkong understands the system well. It doesn't usually throw out new settings easily. As long as it tells him something new, it means he can start to use it.
"That's right, a new practical course has been added for the Golden Core Stage. I can tell you the main content of this course now."
The system nodded.
"The topic has already been decided for you: the Artificial Underworld."
"Huh? So, will they build an artificial Heavenly Court later?"
Although he had already undertaken many unimaginably large-scale projects, Li Xingkong was still somewhat shocked when this topic was raised.
The term "Underworld" has always been considered very lofty and grand, Li Xingkong felt that he wouldn't dare to think about such things before he became an immortal.
But what I didn't expect was that I would have to start learning about these things as soon as I reached the Golden Core, and not only learn about them, but also create them myself.
Have you ever thought that life is actually very insignificant in the universe?
"The system asked."
"Of course, compared to the entire universe, let alone humanity, even I am like a floating object. Compared to the entire universe, an individual's strength and lifespan are insignificant."
Li Xingkong had some understanding of his own strength. Although his Divine Sense could cover the entire planet, he was still just a small calami in the context of the entire Solar System, let alone the entire universe.
"Since you already have this idea, why do you still find saving one person's life so difficult when faced with a discipline that aims to transcend the entire universe?"
Li Xingkong was speechless for a moment and didn't know what to say.
Yes, he's overcomplicated things.
Thinking about what the system said, Li Xingkong's goals became much clearer.
It's just building an Underworld; if others can build one, so can he.
"So, the battle royale game you're talking about is actually just a practice tool for creating the Artificial Underworld, right?"
Li Xingkong, and it turned out that he did indeed discover something from it.
"That's partly true, but it's mainly for fun."
The system's tone became cheerful.
The cultivation process up to this point in the Golden Core Stage is quite different from the previous methods.
In the previous stages, when Li Xingkong was cultivating, he would first learn the general theoretical knowledge of the entire stage and understand what he needed to do in this stage before he would start to make a plan and carry out his cultivation.
Unlike the Golden Core Stage, Li Xingkong only has a basic understanding of its main objective so far, and that's about it. His understanding of other aspects is indeed not deep enough.
Li Xingkong doesn't really know what Golden Core Stage can do or to what extent. At his current level, he's just a novice who has just stepped into the Golden Core stage.
Even so, he still had a general plan.
Regardless of one's cultivation level, improving one's cultivation before learning spells is always the top priority.
Cultivation is fundamental, and magic is the means; these two are the most basic elements of each realm, and they are indispensable no matter what.
According to the system, in addition to this, he also has a practical course that requires Artificial Underworld, which is definitely not a small project.
In addition, further study of space-related knowledge, as well as research on formations and weapon crafting, needs to be continued.
The importance of formations is extremely high; other unorthodox arts also rely heavily on their assistance.
Finally, Li Xingkong had a small idea of his own. After listening to what the system had just said, he felt that this small idea might be worth trying out.
The idea was simple, and Li Xingkong named it the Artificial Spiritual Root Plan.
While the existing methods of cultivation allow everyone to practice, the pace of cultivation is indeed too slow.
For an ordinary person, it takes decades to Qi Refining and even hundreds of years to Foundation Establishment. This is far too long.
He was prepared to lend them a hand.
Artificial Spiritual Root —this was one of Li Xingkong's ideas.
Everyone has a different affinity for Spiritual Qi energy, and the difficulty of cultivation varies from person to person; some people cultivate faster than others.
Therefore, Li Xingkong had this idea: to use magic to artificially construct an organ similar to a Spiritual Root and implant it into the bodies of all cultivators.
This Spiritual Root, thanks to Li Xingkong's design, has a much faster absorption and control over Spiritual Qi than an ordinary person's cultivation.
Moreover, the existing methods of transmitting cultivation techniques are relatively simple and brutal. Even though the Divine Land region is very strict in its control, there are still people like Zhang Ru who can obtain the relevant cultivation techniques. In the future, it is inevitable that some people will hoard them or even monopolize the right to spread the cultivation techniques.
This practice is very common; Li Xingkong has seen many similar examples over the years in Divine Land.
Once he has mastered the Artificial Spiritual Root, he can directly practice with all cultivators through this Spiritual Root. He can even set up a cultivation technique library, so that anyone who requests Spiritual Root can directly receive cultivation techniques from him.