Chapter Thirteen: The Advancement of Civilization

As consciousness returned, Sun Meng found himself once again in the mysterious space that appeared after the completion of his task. This time, there were only three options before him. The first was a complete Martial Arts Cultivation System Card for anything below the late second tier, requiring five thousand points. With this, he could ensure that Earth’s civilization would transform into a martial cultivation society. It also came with all the martial arts manuals he had collected from previous trial worlds—whether internal or external techniques, weapon usage, or even some unconventional skills, all were included.

However, these would not materialize directly as manuals; instead, when someone on Earth comprehended the relevant martial arts type, the more similar their understanding, the more likely they could directly obtain the full content of the manual.

The second card’s effect was to bring the complete martial arts philosophy for anything below the late second tier to Earth, requiring eight thousand points to exchange. Unlike the previous system card, people would only comprehend ways to cultivate and use spiritual energy similar to martial arts. The effects might resemble those of martial arts, but in essence, it was about harnessing spiritual energy.

Thus, the martial arts manuals he had previously acquired would only become methods for utilizing spiritual energy, dependent on individual insight, rather than granting the original manual’s content simply through affinity as with the first option.

Frowning, he looked at the third card: the Spiritual Energy Eruption Card, which would unleash the total spiritual energy equivalent to a mid-second tier cultivation world within one month. It required ten thousand points—all he had earned this time.

Yet, the martial arts manuals he brought back would materialize physically, scattered randomly across the Earth. The sole advantage was that these manuals could not be destroyed; upon contact, individuals or other intelligent beings would absorb them directly. If the absorber died, the manual would reappear, gradually evolving as it incorporated their cultivation insights and techniques, but never exceeding the world’s tier limit.

He took a deep breath. The three rewards represented three distinct paths. The first was undoubtedly the martial arts cultivation system, the one Sun Meng and the viewers were most familiar with. Choosing this would allow Earth’s civilization to rapidly break through its current barriers and advance. However, during the “Wasteland Shopping” event, he had encountered other cultivation systems. This meant that future task worlds might not always be martial arts-based.

The second option, the spiritual energy cultivation system, could develop into a cultivation society or even a fantasy-oriented martial system. Its advantage lay in biological evolution and energy manipulation, but its drawback was uncertainty.

Five months had already passed, and seven months remained. Could Earth’s civilization establish a perfected cultivation system under these circumstances?

The third option was akin to thrusting Earth’s civilization into crisis ahead of time, like breeding venomous insects. It could quickly produce high-level combatants, but at the cost of massive disruption to society, making it difficult to rebuild a stable developmental and cultivation system within seven months.

“Contestant, you must absolutely not choose the third option!!!”

Red subtitles appeared. Sun Meng nodded, “Don’t worry! I’m not that foolish.”

No matter the choice, he would gain enhanced energy and martial arts-based energy manipulation skills. The final difference lay only in how many points he could retain from this task world; he wasn’t sure what he might need in the main city, given that he only had four hundred ninety points left from his first task.

The first option would grant Earth a stable, fast-growing opportunity, but with some uncertainties ahead.

The second option was more open-ended, yet Sun Meng was unsure whether Earth could develop effective combat strength within seven months. However, if they survived the first year’s trial, he believed the future would be bright.

On Earth, ninety-nine percent of people stared anxiously at their screens, waiting to see Sun Meng’s decision.

The rewards from the previous task world had already changed Earth. First, the temperature had returned to comfortable levels; plants began to revive, and people felt mentally refreshed just breathing the air.

Within half a month, those with innate bodies had begun to display extraordinary abilities, frequently showcased by official propaganda.

With the public release of martial arts-based body training methods, people eagerly anticipated even more powerful cultivation techniques. Sun Meng had shown them the prowess of martial artists beyond the innate level during the trial world; no one could resist such temptation.

Meanwhile, Huaguo officials were more anxious, as the former option clearly favored their culture.

The screen flashed, and Earth changed. Xiao Yu noticed immediately—he could begin cultivating. As spiritual energy formed a complete cycle within him, a faint bronze glow appeared on his skin.

“Is this the Golden Bell Shield, Iron Shirt, or maybe the Copper Man Technique?” Xiao Xu adjusted his glasses. The glow faded, but he distinctly felt a spiritual vortex forming in his dantian. With each breath, his body slowly absorbed external spiritual energy, which flowed along his meridians, following the previously practiced circulation. After passing through the dantian vortex, the energy condensed slightly, then began another cycle.

He found that accelerating this process required concentration to control the absorption of spiritual energy; otherwise, it was slow.

“So this must be the effect of cultivation. The special effect I just triggered must be due to different meridians involved in the energy circulation—or perhaps something else? There’s too little data to draw conclusions. Since the contestant chose the second option, we’ll need to mobilize a large team for experiments in the coming months.”

This was only possible because Sun Meng had previously given Earth basic internal energy cultivation methods; otherwise, Xiao Yu wouldn’t have stepped onto the path of spiritual cultivation so quickly.

Xiao Yu looked at the others in the room. Apart from the white-coated elder and the general, the rest merely had traces of spiritual energy—effects from the world’s change and natural refinement.

The other two, however, had, like Xiao Yu, directly embarked on the path of cultivation, creating preliminary versions of techniques suited to themselves.

Seeing the screen briefly devoid of messages, Sun Meng quickly asked, “How is everyone feeling? I chose the second option and have now reached the early second tier. With the effect of that card, this should trigger a spiritual energy baptism. Has anyone comprehended a cultivation method?”

He felt anxious, fearing no one would step onto the cultivation path, which would mean this choice wasn’t optimal for Earth’s civilization and that he had delayed its advancement.

“Rest assured, contestant. We have completed preliminary cultivation, but we need you to provide Earth with more reference. With one day left before the next task, please search for suitable materials or explain the operation modes and levels of martial arts techniques.”

Seeing the red-letter message, Sun Meng breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, “That’s good. I’ll now explain the methods and divisions of martial arts cultivation…”

Seizing the moment of excitement, Sun Meng indulged his urge to teach and gained an understanding of the current state of cultivation on Earth.

Those with good talent and innate bodies had directly formed spiritual energy vortices and begun to connect with martial arts philosophies, shaping the embryonic form of their own cultivation techniques.

Those a bit less talented had managed to let spiritual energy enter their bodies but hadn’t yet formed the vortex.

The weakest only had a faint sense of energy, passively breathing spiritual energy to temper their bodies. Thanks to the foundation of martial arts and basic internal energy methods, no one was left behind in this civilization’s advancement.

Indeed, as Sun Meng broke through to the second tier and Earth attained a direct path to second-tier civilization, the civilization’s limit was instantly raised. The ambient spiritual energy reached late first-tier levels, and the seeds of innate spiritual veins began to take root.

Before the task began, Sun Meng had bought a copy of “Basic Energy Guidance Technique” in the market—a fundamental method for absorbing external energy to cultivate. It cost him fifteen hundred points to exchange for Earth; after purchasing some basic medicines, he had twelve hundred points left.

Returning to his room, as the time arrived, a beam of light enveloped Sun Meng, whisking him away.