Chapter 738

Chapter 738: Technological Bottleneck

In the year 6280 on the Xia calendar, on Penglai Continent

In the blink of an eye, more than ten years had passed since Penglai Continent was developed. Moss that can absorb nuclear radiation was everywhere on Penglai Continent. Now, apart from the nuclear explosion center, the radiation levels in other areas had dropped to safe levels.

These two years also saw a surge in immigration. Huaxia’s latest navy ships could carry up to fifty thousand immigrants at a time. Many low-income people in Huaxia eagerly signed up. Basically, those who came to Penglai Continent would see a significant increase in their income.

Lin Jiang and Cao Ying heard that Penglai Continent had been developed well, so they came for a short vacation to see the scenery and relax.

"Such good land wasted for decades, it’s really a shame."

Cao Ying stood beside Lin Jiang, looking out at the vast grasslands. Apart from the Gray Cloud Mountain Range in the middle, there weren’t many large mountain ranges on Penglai Continent. Before the decline, it was an agricultural powerhouse.

"It won’t be wasted now. Penglai Continent is designated as an agricultural area. Besides some agricultural processing factories, there won’t be any industries established here."

"Are you in the business of breeding monsters?"

"Yes, there are too many cultivators. The thirst for resources is endless. The land in Huaxia can grow things with higher added value, so other places have to make sacrifices."

Lin Jiang said. The power of the entire human race is actually fiercely competitive. Many countries don’t have much presence at all. They are exploited, whether in the past or in the future.

For example, in the western countries of the Shen Continent, they are still suffering from attacks by monsters. There are large numbers of casualties every day. It is obvious that Huaxia has the ability to help them, but Huaxia chooses not to do so. They only help them fight some higher-level monster races. The vast number of low-level monster beasts are ignored because they need these monsters to control these small countries.

The same goes for Penglai Continent. There are still millions of indigenous people alive on Penglai Continent, scattered as refugees in various places. They are also returning to Penglai Continent. In the future, they may engage in some independent movements. So this area is just for agriculture. Even if they become independent in the future, they can’t escape exploitation.

"Speaking of sacrifices, I think of Zhou Liao. Unexpectedly, after this battle, Zhou Liao weakened and went from second place to Ying Continent."

Cao Ying said. More than ten years ago, in that big battle, the Shenwu Demon Emperor launched a sudden attack from Zhenhai City, which was once again destroyed, and a large number of cities were also destroyed.

Not to mention the death toll, the key is that too many elite cultivators from Zhou Liao died. All six Nascent Soul stage cultivators from Zhou Liao were wiped out in that battle, combined with the destruction of the industrial center, which led to Zhou Liao’s complete decline. Even now, they have not fully recovered.

In that battle, Huaxia’s losses were much higher than Zhou Liao’s, but Huaxia recovered in just a few years. Their foundations are incomparable.

"The Ying Continent is vast and abundant, with a larger territory than Huaxia, and a rapidly increasing population. Relying on the population dividend, they currently have an advantage. It’s normal. Li Qing will visit me in a few days. She must have been intimidated by our actions."

Lin Jiang said. Huaxia has a high level of industrialization, which has led to urbanization. However, urbanization has a side effect of lowering the birth rate.

Nowadays in the Huaxia Federation, apart from some elite families, many people are not interested in having children, especially in the middle and lower classes. They don’t want to have kids anymore. Having a second child is considered a lot.

This has resulted in a low population growth rate in Huaxia. Immigration has played a part in maintaining a decent appearance. But it’s different in the Ying Continent. Their urbanization rate is not as high, and high-ranking individuals like Li Qing are introducing incentives to encourage childbirth, keeping the birth rate high in Ying Continent.

This has given the Ying Continent a plentiful population dividend. With people, comes everything. In recent years, the Ying Continent has developed rapidly. Now that the numbers are up, they aim for quality.

However, the Ying Continent has found their development opportunities being blocked by Huaxia, causing them great distress. This time, when Lin Jiang openly went on vacation to Penglai Continent, Li Qing had already planned to visit.

"Will you meet Li Qing?"

"No, things come full circle. When the groundworms wreaked havoc back then, didn’t she take advantage to extort us? Let’s show her some attitude now. If you’re interested, you can send her away."

"I’m not interested either, but Li Qing might be the second Tao Achieving of the human race. Her cultivation speed is even faster than yours."

"No use for her."

Lin Jiang said he understood Cao Ying’s meaning, which was to use Li Qing as a messenger, but Lin Jiang didn’t want the trouble because Li Qing was a bit unpredictable.

"Okay, then let her be left out."

Cao Ying nodded, ended the conversation, and didn’t talk about it anymore.

In the following days, Lin Jiang and Cao Ying visited several tourist attractions in Penglai Continent, and even went to see the former nuclear blast center. When they saw the huge crater, Cao Ying also felt scared. If the nuclear blast happened near her, she felt she wouldn’t escape.

As expected, Li Qing was left out by Lin Jiang, who didn’t want to see her. This made Li Qing very angry, so she had no choice but to return to Ying Continent.

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After coming back from Penglai Continent, Lin Jiang went to Cao Wang’s place again. For over ten years, Lin Jiang almost visited Cao Wang’s place a few times every year to inspect the development of the Space Mother Ship.

"Ancestor Lin, these are the pictures sent back by Explorer Nine spaceship, at the edge of the solar system. Take a look."

Cao Wang saw Lin Jiang and immediately projected a screen from his watch, showing many photos taken by the Explorer Nine spaceship at the edge of the solar system.

"It’s very impressive, isn’t it?"

"It is very impressive. Before, I always thought cultivators were omnipotent, but now I feel cultivators are very small. Perhaps it’s because my cultivation level is too low."

"Then let’s work hard on cultivation. The Tao Achieving, Disaster Crossing Period, and Mahayana Period are all qualitative changes, completely different beings. Maybe the Disaster Crossing Period is even stronger than current technology."

Lin Jiang explained that from the Qi Refining Period, each realm upgrade for cultivators doubled their strength. From Void Achieving to Tao Achieving, and from Tao Achieving to Disaster Crossing Period, the pattern remained. Since they didn’t have data on the Disaster Crossing Period yet, there was still hope.

"Yes, enough about cultivation. Let’s talk about the spaceship. Explorer Nine is one of our most advanced spacecraft. In three months, it will return and bring back a lot of data, especially on space development, which is very important."

"I see, you mean the plan to develop planets in the universe."

Lin Jiang mentioned that he had talked with Cao Wang many times before. According to Cao Wang, even with the current level of technology, concentrating all the world’s energy would not be enough to fly them out of the galaxy.

So, Cao Wang and his team proposed many ideas, such as developing barren planets. Although these planets had no inhabitants and were unsuitable for living, they still held many resources.

"Yes, and our team has come up with many new directions for technology development, such as a teleportation array. In a few years, we will attempt to build a teleportation array from Shen Continent to the Moon. This distance is even greater than the current maximum range of teleportation arrays, but it is achievable. If successful, we can focus more on this area."

"If this technology matures, maybe we can travel beyond the Milky Way using one distant teleportation array after another. The teleportation array technology is related to black hole theory and space jumps, which could drive advancements in this field."

"Are you asking for money again?"

"Ahem, Ancestor, scientific research cannot be summarized by money. It’s too simplistic."

Cao Wang coughed. Scientific research is truly never-ending. No matter how much money is invested, it always seems insufficient. Lin Jiang seems to favor them endlessly, yet they still believe a little more funding is necessary.

"I can’t give you more money. I need to balance various forces. If you need more funding, find ways internally, like cutting costs. Corruption in space projects is not light, I have received many reports."

"I can’t handle this kind of situation. There are corrupt individuals everywhere."

"You figure it out yourself."

"Ancestor Lin…"

"Oh, the third generation Space Mother Ship is going on a space voyage! I won’t compete in the first round, but once the space routes are safe, I will go on a long journey."

Lin Jiang said that the first and second generation Space Mother Ships were designed for long journeys but didn’t go far. They had to protect space stations and were mostly used for military purposes.

So, when the third generation Space Mother Ship is ready, it will explore space like the explorer spaceships. It’s groundbreaking and dangerous. That’s why Lin Jiang won’t go first, but he will go on a voyage once the routes are safe.