343: The "Sweet Troubles" Arising from Knowledge

When the exploration team returned to the camp, the reception awaiting them was far grander than Wen Youyi had anticipated.

Dozens of campfires had been lit in the open space of the temporary camp, illuminating the night brightly. Almost everyone was still awake, waiting eagerly for their return—after all, this was the first large-scale exploration of New Homeland, and it concerned everyone's future.

"How did it go? Did you find any treasures?" a young Cultivator asked impatiently.

"Was there any danger? Are you hurt?" Little Girl (who was being temporarily looked after by Mu Wanqing) broke free from Mu Wanqing's hand and threw herself into her mother's arms.

Before Wen Youyi could answer, Mountain Roar Lord walked out from the team with a hearty laugh, patting a young member of the Yao Race on the shoulder: "We found it! We found a great treasure! It's more valuable than any Spirit Stone mine we dug up back in the Southern Border!"

These words were like pouring a ladle of water into a hot wok of oil; the crowd erupted in an uproar.

"Really?"

"What is it? A divine Secret Manual? A Heaven And Earth Treasure?"

"Don't keep us in suspense, tell us quickly!"

Wen Youyi raised his hand, signaling for everyone to be quiet. He walked to the makeshift wooden platform in the center of the camp and cleared his throat: "There are indeed treasures, but not the kind you are thinking of."

He paused, looking at the expectant faces below: "It is knowledge. Knowledge left behind by the Star People, about how to farm, how to build houses, how to treat illnesses, how to Cultivate, how to manage society... knowledge on almost every aspect."

Once these words were spoken, many of the expectant expressions froze. The ordinary Mortals were fine, but many Cultivators clearly showed signs of disappointment.

"Just this?" an Inner Sect Disciple from the Qingyun Sect muttered, "What's the use of knowledge? It's not as practical as getting a few Magic Treasures."

Blood Fiend Old Demon had sharp ears and snorted coldly upon hearing this: "Fool! How long can a Magic Treasure last? Knowledge can be passed down for generations! I have lived for thousands of years and have seen countless experts, but those who can establish a sect and have a Legacy that never fades are always the ones who hold unique knowledge and Legacies!"

This made sense, but clearly not everyone could understand it.

Wen Youyi did not explain further and directly began a demonstration. He asked Senior Brother Zhang to pull up a holographic projection—it was the "New Type of Spiritual Field Cultivation Plan" extracted from the knowledge base, which detailed how to use energy pulses of specific frequencies to stimulate the soil, combined with the root Systems of several plants unique to New Homeland, to increase the Spiritual Qi content of ordinary soil fivefold within three months.

"Following this method, the land we are currently reclaiming could see its harvest double next year," Wen Youyi pointed to the data on the projection, "And we won't need to use traditional fertilizers, so it won't damage the land."

Sun Bo, the representative for the farming Mortals, had his eyes light up: "Really? That would be great! When we used to farm in our village, even in good years, we could barely scrape by..."

Wen Youyi then displayed another piece of knowledge: "Ecological Water Purification System." The principle was to use the root Systems of several silver-blue trees combined with special bacterial colonies to automatically filter and purify water sources, and also remove harmful energy residues in the water. For a camp that had just landed and was still relying on simple filtering devices for water, this was a godsend.

"This is simple, we can start building it tomorrow," Senior Brother Zhang pushed up his glasses, "The Materials are all ready, there are plenty in the forest."

Next was the medical aspect: Mu Wanqing demonstrated the basic principles of a "Spiritual Resonance Therapy," which could help Cultivators suffering from Heart Demon backlash stabilize their emotions. There were also detailed analyses of the medicinal properties of several New Homeland herbs—this solved her biggest headache of the past few months.

"The sap of this 'Starlight Grass' combined with the bone marrow of the 'Moonlight Rabbit' can refine a special medicine for treating internal injuries," Mu Wanqing held two samples she had just collected, her voice filled with excitement, "The effect is not much worse than the 'Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pill' of the Tianyuan Realm, but the Materials are everywhere!"

Now even the most skeptical Cultivators sat up straight. Cultivation inevitably leads to injuries, and good healing Medicinal Pills are hard currency at any time.

The demonstration lasted for over an hour. Wen Youyi and the exploration team members, like a product launch, displayed the practical technologies from the knowledge base that could be quickly implemented one by one. Every time one was displayed, there was a burst of exclamation and discussion from the audience.

Finally, Wen Youyi pulled up a chart—it was a development prediction chart for New Homeland over the next fifty years, calculated based on the "Civilization Development Model" in the knowledge base.

The chart showed that if these pieces of knowledge were used reasonably, combined with the efforts of one hundred thousand people, they could build a fully functional, permanent settlement within five years; achieve energy self-sufficiency within ten years; establish a complete education, medical, and scientific research System within twenty years; and fifty years later, the population of New Homeland could double, and the civilization Rank could potentially reach the "Elementary Interstellar Civilization" level defined by the Star People.

"By then," Wen Youyi pointed to a node on the chart, "We will not only be able to protect ourselves, but we will even have the ability to help other civilizations still trapped in the 'Ranch'."

The whole place fell silent.

Then, thunderous applause broke out. This time, it was heartfelt, enthusiastic applause.

After the meeting, Wen Youyi returned to his simple wooden house—though it was called a wooden house, it was actually just a large tent, with nothing inside except a bed, a table, and a few chairs. He had just sat down and hadn't even had time to drink a sip of water when there was a knock at the door.

When he opened the door, a crowd of people stood outside.

"Council Speaker Wen, our Agricultural Department would like to learn more about that Spiritual Field technology in detail..." This was Madam Liu, the representative for the Mortals.

"Fellow Daoist Wen, could you teach our medical team the Spiritual Resonance Therapy first?" This was an Elder from the Qingyun Sect who was skilled in medicine.

"Mr. Wen, regarding the ecological water purification System, I have a few technical details I would like to ask about..." A young technician under Senior Brother Zhang.

"Boss Wen, the Yao Race wants to learn that 'Beast Taming and Symbiosis Technology'..." A representative of the Yao Race.

"Little Friend Wen, I have some questions about the Star People's energy theory..." Sword Maniac had actually come too.

Wen Youyi's head began to ache. He waved his hand: "Everyone, the knowledge base is already open to everyone. According to test performance, everyone has corresponding access permissions. How to learn and what to learn will be detailed in a plan to be formulated by the council tomorrow. It's too late now, please go back and rest."

After much persuasion, he finally managed to get them to leave.

Closing the door, Wen Youyi had just breathed a sigh of relief when a figure appeared outside the window—it was Zhao Iron Pillar. He was clinging to the window frame, grinning: "Boss, have they gone? I brought you something to eat."

Wen Youyi opened the window, and Zhao Iron Pillar nimbly climbed in, holding a wooden bowl in his hand, containing steaming stewed meat and a few roasted rainbow potatoes.

"You're still the most reliable." Wen Youyi took the bowl and wolfed it down—having spent a day in the ruins, he had only eaten a little dry rations and was starving.

Zhao Iron Pillar sat opposite him, watching Wen Youyi eat, and suddenly said: "Boss, those pieces of knowledge today... I might not be able to learn them."

Wen Youyi looked up: "Why do you say that?"

"My brain is slow," Zhao Iron Pillar scratched his head, "Those energy frequencies, ecological cycles, civilization models... just listening to them makes me dizzy. I only know how to fight, farm, and build houses. In the future, when everyone goes to learn those profound things, will I be useless?"

Wen Youyi put down the bowl and looked seriously at this brother who had followed him since the Ranch World: "Iron Pillar, let me ask you, if you weren't leading people to reclaim land, build houses, and maintain order, could this camp of ours have been built?"

"That wouldn't be possible," Zhao Iron Pillar straightened his chest, "Just those Cultivators, if you let them cut down a tree, they wouldn't even be able to cut it straight."

"So," Wen Youyi smiled, "There are many kinds of knowledge. Knowledge in books is important, but how to turn that knowledge into reality is just as important. You know how to build houses, so go research how to use new knowledge to build better houses; you know how to farm, so go experiment with new planting methods. You don't need to understand all the theories, but you need to know how to use them."

Zhao Iron Pillar's eyes lit up: "Just like when I was in the Cooperative before, I didn't understand any economics, but I knew how to organize everyone to work?"

"Exactly!" Wen Youyi patted his shoulder, "And you have another important task—mentoring apprentices. Young people like Little Li have drive but no experience; they need someone like you to lead them. You pass your experience on to them, and that is contributing knowledge."

Zhao Iron Pillar grinned: "Then I understand. I'm going to go think about how to use those new methods to build sturdier houses!"

He left in a flurry.

Wen Youyi finished eating and was about to rest when his communicator rang—it was Aila.

"Wen Youyi, there's a situation," Aila's voice sounded a bit tired, "After opening the knowledge base, some... unexpected problems have arisen."

"What problems?"

"First is the 'Knowledge Barrier'," Aila said, "Different people have different access permissions. People like you, me, and Senior Brother Zhang who performed well on tests can access Advanced technology and social management knowledge; ordinary Cultivators and Mortals can mostly only access basic agricultural and medical knowledge; the Yao Race has it even worse—they can't even understand most of the knowledge—the System seems to be incompatible with their 'consciousness patterns'."

Wen Youyi frowned. This was indeed a problem. Knowledge should have been equal, but now it had invisibly created a class System.

"Second is 'Knowledge Indigestion'," Aila continued, "Many people obtained profound knowledge but couldn't understand it at all. A Cultivator was forcing himself to study 'Multi-dimensional Energy Geometry' and ended up suffering from Qi Deviation, almost self-destructing. Mu Wanqing has already saved three such people."

Wen Youyi rubbed his temples. This was a classic case of "giving a primary school student a calculus textbook."

"And the most troublesome one," Aila sighed, "Some people have started privately trading 'knowledge access permissions'. A Loose Cultivator used an Alchemy Secret Manual from his permissions to trade for hunting skills with the Yao Race; and several Cultivators are colluding to try to monopolize certain types of technical knowledge and raise 'tuition fees'..."

Wen Youyi's head hurt even more. Sure enough, human nature problems were much harder to solve than technical ones.

"Emergency council meeting, in half an hour," he said, "Put all the problems on the table, we must come up with a plan tonight."

Half an hour later, the main members of the council were squeezed into Wen Youyi's small wooden house—there was no way around it, as a dedicated meeting room hadn't been built in the camp yet.

Wen Youyi threw the problems out, and everyone fell silent.

"Is there a technical solution to the Knowledge Barrier problem?" He looked at Senior Brother Zhang.

Senior Brother Zhang pushed up his glasses: "Theoretically, yes. The Star People's knowledge base has an 'Adaptive Learning System' that can adjust how knowledge is presented based on the learner's comprehension ability. But it requires a lot of computing power, which we don't have the conditions for right now."

"Then open it in stages," Wen Youyi made a decision, "Basic knowledge is open to everyone; Intermediate knowledge requires passing a learning assessment to unlock; Advanced knowledge requires proving you have the corresponding comprehension ability and sense of responsibility to access it. Senior Brother Zhang, you lead people to formulate the specific assessment standards."

"What about knowledge trading?" Wang Wu asked, "We can't forbid everyone from teaching each other, right?"

"Don't forbid it, but regulate it," Wen Youyi said, "Establish a 'Knowledge Notary Office'. All knowledge transfer must be registered to ensure the teacher really understands it and the learner really learns it. Charging fees is okay, but you cannot monopolize it, and you cannot demand exorbitant prices. Violators... will have their knowledge base access permissions revoked for three months."

"What about the problem of the Yao Race not being able to understand it?" Mountain Roar Lord asked in a muffled voice.

Wen Youyi looked at Aila: "Can we develop a kind of 'consciousness translator'? Convert knowledge into a mode that is easier for the Yao Race to understand, such as images, sounds, or even scent memories?"

Aila's eyes lit up: "We can try! The Sky Patrol has similar technology used to communicate with civilizations with different sensory modes. Give me a few days, and I should be able to make it."

"Finally," Wen Youyi looked at Mu Wanqing, "The medical team will establish a 'Learning Health Monitoring Group' to regularly check everyone's learning status. If signs of Qi Deviation are found, learning will be suspended, and they will be forced to undergo counseling."

One by one, the measures were decided. Although they couldn't perfectly solve all the problems, at least there was a direction.

After the meeting, Wen Youyi walked alone to the edge of the camp and climbed up a small hill. From here, he could see the whole camp: the dotted campfires, the busy figures, and the field that had just been reclaimed in the darkness in the distance.

He remembered the last words of the last Council Speaker of the Star People he had seen in the ruins: "Our biggest mistake was being too afraid of them making mistakes."

Now he understood the weight of this sentence. Giving knowledge to a civilization is like handing fire to a child. You hope they use the fire to keep warm, cook food, and light up the road ahead, but you are also afraid they will play with fire and burn themselves, or even burn down the entire forest.

But you cannot stop giving it just because you are afraid.

"Take it slow," he said to himself, "Bugs are always fixed one by one."

The night breeze blew, bringing the fresh scent unique to the forest. In the distance, the calls of some unknown night birds could be heard, ethereal and distant.

Wen Youyi took a deep breath, feeling his tense nerves relax a little.

Just then, the communicator on his wrist suddenly vibrated—it wasn't a regular communication, it was a top-level emergency alarm.

"Captain," it was the voice of the duty officer on the "hope", "Detected abnormal spatial fluctuations! 0.5 light-years away from New Homeland, a small jump exit has appeared! Unknown ships are exiting! Quantity... three! Energy signatures cannot be identified, they are neither Star Devourers, nor Sky Patrol, nor any known civilization!"

Wen Youyi's heart tightened.

What was bound to come, had finally come.

The first batch of guests—or rather, the first batch of trials—for New Homeland had arrived.

(End of Chapter)