39: Chapter 39 Spiritual Power and Technology

Wang Chen continued, "This flying sword is also equipped with AI smart assistance features. You might not understand what AI is, but to put it simply, you can just think of it as the sword spirits or artifact spirits that came with the divine swords of your ancient era."

Mo Yufei chuckled inwardly, secretly complaining to himself, "He really takes me for an ancient person who doesn't understand anything. Although AI had just started to emerge in my original era and hadn't reached such a level of intelligent perfection, I am perfectly clear on the principles behind this thing. How could I not understand?"

Mo Yufei gazed at the high-tech flying sword before him, which shimmered with a cold metallic luster. Its spine was engraved with archaic spiritual runes, and its hilt featured energy ports. As his fingertips lightly touched the hilt, he could clearly feel the subtle energy vibrations within.

Wang Chen's words about "AI assistance," "dual-energy drive," and "energy core replacement" still echoed in his ears. While his heart was already churning with shock, he continued to feign the bewilderment of someone who had just awakened.

He slowly withdrew his gaze and looked at Wang Chen, who was dressed in a simple black martial arts outfit with weak fluctuations of spiritual power around him.

"I have just awakened from a long slumber and am completely unfamiliar with this world. I would appreciate it if you could explain things to me in detail."

As he said this, he deliberately lowered his posture, letting just the right amount of helplessness bloom in his eyes, perfectly playing the role of a relic from the ancient era disconnected from the present world.

Wang Chen nodded slightly upon hearing this, his tone clear and solemn, "Since that is the case, I will explain it from the beginning, so you don't wander around later and break the rules; it would be difficult for me to help you then."

He leaned against the large tree behind him and pointed outside the secret realm, "First, you must completely discard all your perceptions from the ancient era. There is no martial arts world you are familiar with here, no imperial courts, and certainly no sectarian strife; those have long been buried in history."

"The iron boxes you see flying in the air can be roughly thought of as the flying skiffs from your ancient times, but we call them 'floating vehicles.' They are public transportation, requiring no manual control throughout the journey; everything is uniformly scheduled and managed by the super AI at the center of the city."

Mo Yufei's fingertips curled slightly. He thought to himself, 'As expected, it's an intelligently controlled aircraft, much like in science fiction movies.'

He feigned ignorance and asked softly, "Super AI? Is that the existence similar to the sword spirits and artifact spirits you mentioned?"

"Similar in form, but worlds apart in nature." Wang Chen shook his head, his tone carrying a sense of detachment from the ancient era. "Your sword spirits have autonomous consciousness and can recognize a master to cultivate, but a super AI is an intelligent system created by humans using technology. It has no emotions and only operates according to programs."

"It can manage every aspect of the entire city, from small things like household utilities to major things like traffic scheduling, city security, and energy distribution. It completes millions of instructions simultaneously, which is ten thousand times more efficient than the management of officials or sects in ancient times."

Mo Yufei lowered his eyes to hide his emotions. In his era, AI had just started, capable only of simple interactions, and autonomous driving was still being tested. Yet, the AI here could control an entire massive city. This gap felt like a lifetime away.

Wang Chen did not notice his anomaly and turned to talk about people's livelihoods, which was the part that most subverted Mo Yufei's understanding.

"In your era, mortals rushed about just to fill their stomachs, relying on the heavens to farm. In disaster years, the starving would litter the fields. The wars between feudal lords and the expansion of sects were nothing more than fights over land and food. But in this era, the problem of food and clothing has long been completely solved."

"Nowadays, the vast majority of food is mass-produced by food synthesis machines."

"Synthesis stations are spread throughout the city. As long as you swipe your identity ID and pay credit points, you can synthesize any food in seconds. Lychees from a thousand miles away or mountain delicacies can be perfectly replicated, with taste and nutrition even better than the natural ones."

"These machines don't need fertile fields to farm or rely on the weather. As long as there is energy, they can produce continuously 24 hours a day. There are no more starving people in this entire era, and no one fights for power and profit over food. This is something that would have been unimaginable in your ancient times."

Mo Yufei's heart trembled. The images of food synthesizers from the movies of his previous life instantly surfaced. Humans had solved the foundation of survival through technology. Was this also the future trajectory of his original world?

He remained silent, but Wang Chen suddenly reined in his tone. His aura became cold and heavy. He stepped forward, locking his gaze onto Mo Yufei's eyes, his words striking like iron, "The previous information is just the basics. You must engrave the next point into your marrow; you must never forget it."

Mo Yufei looked up to meet his gaze, his heart tightening inexplicably.

"You are an ancient cultivator, believing yourself to be supreme in immortal arts and invincible with spiritual power, thinking that flying on a sword and using spells to harm others makes you a peerless expert. But in this era, the immortal arts you pride yourself on are a full 0.5 seconds slower than laser weapons and mechanical exoskeletons."

Wang Chen held up a finger, indicating the critical number, his tone cruel and realistic.

"You need to cast hand seals and gather spiritual power to perform immortal arts; there is a charging process. But technological weapons don't need to prepare; they can strike instantly upon locking onto a target. The speed of lasers is comparable to the speed of light. Mechanical exoskeletons can enhance human physical capabilities by dozens of times, and combined with AI assistance, they can accurately predict all your movements."

"This 0.5 seconds might be insignificant in your ancient times, but here, it is enough for the super AI to analyze you three times over. Its calculation speed is in the hundreds of millions per second. Your spiritual power meridians and movement trajectories are no secret before it. Once judged as a threat, it can instantly mobilize the city's security weapons to lock onto you. You wouldn't even have room to resist."

Mo Yufei's pupils constricted. The images from novels in his previous life where ancient martial arts and cold weapons were crushed by thermal weapons overlapped with the words spoken just now. He had always thought that cultivators who could fly, burrow, move mountains, and fill seas were the peak of the world, but he never expected that in a world where technology had developed to the extreme, immortal arts would be so powerless. 0.5 seconds was the chasm between life and death.

"Therefore, you must put down the survival rules of the ancient era and the pride of a cultivator. Do not use old eyes to measure this world." Wang Chen's tone became increasingly severe, leaving no room for sentiment.

"In this era, you are not a peerless expert; you are just a 'black household' with no identity ID and no credit points. In the eyes of the system, without an ID, you cannot take transportation or buy food, and you will be unable to take a single step. Without credit points, you can't even drink a sip of water. Once scanned by the system, security robots will immediately take you away. Your immortal arts are vulnerable in the face of technological rules. Do you understand these words?"

As the words fell, Mo Yufei stood still, remaining silent for a long time. Every word of Wang Chen verified the judgment in his heart: this world was exactly what he had seen in the science fiction movies of his previous life. Super AI managing the city, flying vehicles for transportation, machines creating food, technological weapons crushing immortal arts, no imperial power or martial arts world, everyone relying on identity and credit to stand—all the settings were identical to the sci-fi blockbusters in his memory.

Previously, these were just fantasies on the screen, but now they were truthfully placed before his eyes, even integrated with the spiritual power of cultivation he was familiar with, creating such a technological flying sword. He had thought that his transmigration would either be to a prosperous era of cultivation or a strange ancient time, but he never expected to have fallen into a sci-fi world where technology was developed to the extreme. In his previous life, he loved sci-fi movies and knew these settings like the back of his hand. This, instead, became his greatest reliance, giving him countless times more knowledge than a true relic of the ancient era.