439: Clash of two civilizations

Long Yuan chuckled inwardly. Relying on the people at Tiangong Group to catch up with the technological level of those major powers in such a short time was impossible. The development of Great Ming had leaned too early towards Cultivating Profound Qi, which limited technological progress. The few scientists they had, having been long removed from Advanced technological civilizations, lacked the vision and a solid scientific foundation. Trying to develop high-tech products like mechas was like building castles in the air. If not for his help on several occasions, they wouldn't even have been able to develop such Tiangong mechas.

It could be said that this mecha treasure was definitely one of the jewels in the crown of technological civilization. A single small mecha gathered countless technological achievements, built up by countless people through long and unremitting research and accumulation. It was unrealistic for Tiangong Group to catch up with those major powers in such a short time.

Of course, this referred to Tiangong Group; it was different for Sinkhole Base. Because the people at Sinkhole Base had been transformed by the yu wood chips, they had all become technological experts. Their vision was far higher than the scientists of those major powers, and the technological projects they were involved in were countless. The mechas they had built already far exceeded the Snow Eagle mechas, reaching a level beyond their imagination!

However, such products could not appear before Prince Zhao and his people for now. It wasn't that Long Yuan was afraid of them knowing, but rather that they might leak the information. In particular, Xuanji Tower and the Tianji Pavilion behind it were the key targets he needed to guard against. There were also people from other technological and Cultivation civilizations in this Star Domain. If the secret of Sinkhole Base were exposed, it would very likely attract their covetousness and attacks. Therefore, during the Early Stage of development, Long Yuan had to carefully protect this secret, only striking like thunder when necessary, then brushing off his clothes and leaving without leaving behind any fame or merit...

Why must he be especially wary of Tianji Pavilion?

The main reason was that Tianji Pavilion held sovereignty over Blue Star. To ensure its power, Tianji Pavilion could not allow Blue Star to produce combat power reaching the Mahayana level of the Cultivation World—this combat power included both Cultivators and technological forces. If a faction on Blue Star possessed its own Mahayana Cultivator, or technological civilization power equivalent to this level, then Blue Star would be qualified to possess autonomy. This was one of the operating rules of this Star Domain, which even Tianji Pavilion could not defy.

Therefore, according to normal logic, Tianji Pavilion would inevitably suppress Blue Star's top-tier combat power, keeping Blue Star forever under its control. For example, during this period, Xuanji Tower had been selecting and sending those high-quality immortal seedlings to Tianji Pavilion. Once these people went to Tianji Pavilion, they would slowly detach from Blue Star and become people of Tianji Pavilion, thus losing any future qualification to legally control Blue Star. This move could be described as drawing the firewood from under the cauldron, preventing Blue Star's top combat power from being passed down, thereby achieving the goal of weakening and controlling Blue Star.

And once Tianji Pavilion discovered that there were mysterious technological forces developing at high speed on Blue Star, they would certainly strike as well. This was a risk that Long Yuan and Sinkhole Base could not currently bear, so they had to endure for now.

Come to think of it, the development of technological power might be even more unbearable for a Cultivation force like Tianji Pavilion, because technological civilization and Cultivation civilization were fundamentally two different types of civilizations. Technological civilization pursued external power for life, while Cultivation civilization pursued the development of life's internal potential. This caused a relatively obvious conflict in philosophy between the two civilizations!

In the eyes of Cultivators, Mortals were like ants, easily crushed with a flick of a finger. However, when they saw a Mortal using the power of technology to actually contend with them, the impact was quite immense and hard for them to accept. For some paranoid, narrow-minded Cultivators with low vision, these things could basically be attributed to violating the Heavenly Dao, or even being something like evil cultivation. It was highly likely that they would strike first to erase such things that did not conform to their Cultivation philosophy.

Therefore, it was not uncommon in the Star Domain for Cultivation civilizations and technological civilizations to engage in fierce battles, with both sides wishing to fight the other to the death. Sometimes this would even involve the war between righteous and demonic factions, expanding the influence to multiple Star Domains!

Through reading books in the Treasure Pavilion, Long Yuan had already gained some understanding of this situation, so he was naturally vigilant. Before possessing absolute strength, he could not expose the secret of Sinkhole Base.

In fact, Tianji Pavilion was not a brutal Cultivation force; on the contrary, it should be considered a moderate faction. This could be seen from its actions after taking control of Blue Star. It did not choose to drain the pond to catch the fish by squeezing all the resources of Blue Star dry. Instead, it adopted a relatively gentle approach, allowing Xuanji Tower to slowly integrate into Blue Star, gradually developing the market and promoting circulation, making the cake of wealth grow larger and larger. This was a very intelligent operating model.

In Long Yuan's view, if Tianji Pavilion continued to adopt this laissez-faire management model, then it wouldn't be unacceptable for Blue Star to be entrusted under the wings of Tianji Pavilion. The fear was that this model might suddenly change in the future, and Tianji Pavilion might change it to an exploitative mode due to some consideration, in which case Blue Star would suffer. Therefore, to completely control its own destiny, the life on Blue Star still needed to grow up on its own.

"Long Yuan, what are you thinking about?" Prince Zhao asked. Long Yuan snapped back to reality and changed the subject: "I just suddenly remembered that I also brought back some gene potions this time. I wonder how Tiangong Group's research in this area is going?"

The gene potion was also one of the jewels in the crown of technological civilization. A single bottle of potion could potentially change the fate of an ordinary person, enabling them to walk the path of a strong person from an ordinary life. This was no different from an ordinary person in the Cultivation World suddenly possessing a Spiritual Root and leaping to become a Cultivator. This power to turn decay into magic was also a fascinating and huge achievement in technological civilization!

"Haha, you've asked the right person! Our Tiangong Group might be even better at gene potion research than at mechas. We have already achieved mass production of products, which are currently being shipped to the military!" Prince Zhao said with a proud smile.

"Oh? Does our Great Ming now have its own gene warriors?" Long Yuan asked.

"Indeed, we do! However, the number is still very small. After all, it is a new type of unit that requires training and integration. Moreover, because the source of the potion ingredients is limited, production is somewhat restricted, so the number of gene warriors that can be cultivated is also limited," Prince Zhao said.

"Congratulations, Uncle! Congratulations to Tiangong Group! I think we will soon hear of the might of the gene warriors!" Long Yuan smiled and said.

"Let's go! Let's go to the Potion Department to take a look..." Prince Zhao took Long Yuan's hand and walked ahead, while the other leaders looked at each other and hurriedly followed...