Chapter 56
When social science and technology develop to a certain level, a large amount of physical labor will be replaced by more efficient, more accurate and cheaper machines. The room for personal ability to be exerted will become smaller and smaller. The wisdom of a few people determines the direction of the entire society. The vast majority of people - ordinary people without any particularly outstanding abilities, are like gears, operating according to established tricks, and are in a position that is dispensable and can be replaced at any time.
So there is a saying that the body is an unnecessary superfluity and we only need the mind.
In fact, there are indeed some intelligent races. When life becomes more and more convenient and most activities such as food, clothing, housing, transportation, shopping and socializing can be completed just by lying in bed, they become more and more lazy, resulting in obesity and numerous diseases. In order to completely eliminate this situation, they simply abandon their useless bodies and only retain a brain to survive in a special culture medium, or transfer their consciousness to a mechanical body, hoping to obtain eternal and healthy life from then on.
However, the fact is that such a civilization soon went extinct. Without natural enemies, wars, or major diseases, they just disappeared.
The truly powerful and ancient civilizations in the universe are all those that have both wisdom and strength. The more the civilization develops, the more people pay attention to sports and health, and people with strong personal strength are increasingly sought after. The pursuit of physical beauty has continued from ancient times to the present.
The Landians are particularly outstanding in this regard. Most Landians will complete the Ascetic Path at least once in their lifetime.
The Ascetic Road of the Imperial Star starts from the Trommei Grand Canyon, crosses the Benslana Great Plain, climbs over the highest peak, Mount Tobi, passes through the Rig Hills, bypasses the North and South Poles, crosses the Little East Sea, and ends at the end of the Alinlo Highlands. The total length of the entire journey is almost twice the circumference of the planet. There are countless dangerous terrains during the journey, and the original style has been preserved as much as possible. This means that on this road, people cannot get any help from technology, no aircraft or vehicles, no shelter from the wind and rain, no clean hot water and prepared meals, and even no toilets. All needs must be solved by the people who embark on the Ascetic Road themselves.
Only here is there a blank in the monitoring network throughout Landia.
Rong Yuan's spaceship landed on the edge of the Rig Hill in the middle of the Ascetic Road. Mu Xiaohu went to the enrollment point of the First Military Academy to report, and he took Alpha and went in the opposite direction, deep into the hills.
At this moment, a group of people had just stepped into the Rig Hills.
Three mammoths walked slowly with heavy steps, their long white hair dragging on the ground, and they carried huge packages on their backs. The mammoths have short and thick legs, wide and thick feet, and a concave arc in the middle of the soles of their feet. When walking on ice, they can firmly grasp the ice like a suction cup without slipping. Although this animal is a little slower, it is huge in size, has a strong load-bearing capacity, and is gentle and smart. In ancient times when technology was not so advanced, it was the preferred travel companion of the Landians. Today, anyone who embarks on the pilgrimage will rent one or two mammoths to transport luggage, and sometimes use it as a means of transportation.
At this time, a simple tent was set up on the broad back of the middle Monka elephant, and bursts of coughing came from inside. Whenever the sound was heard, the people walking around the Monka elephant would look at the tent with worried expressions. After another burst of heart-wrenching coughs, the nearest strong man with a full beard seemed to be unable to bear it anymore. He grabbed the rope tied to the elephant's back, climbed up with his hands and feet in two or three steps, opened the tent and got in.
The man holding the reins of the frontmost Monka elephant was a tall young man with purple hair. His steps were particularly brisk, as if this was not a glacial hill with thick snow, but his own flat and clean backyard. Hearing the movement behind him, he turned his head and smiled to the people around him, "The young master's condition looks a little serious. Why don't we find a doctor in a nearby city to see him?"
Next to him was a man with thick eyebrows, big eyes and a square face. He looked coldly at the purple-haired man without saying a word.
The purple-haired man didn't get a response, but he didn't feel embarrassed. He looked ahead, a happy smile flashing in his slender eyes .
Inside the tent was a thin young man, with a pale face and red cheeks, hunched over, lying on the quilt, covering his mouth as if he was going to cough out his heart and lungs. The bearded man turned around distressed, patting his back gently with his palm as big as a palm leaf fan, and then frantically took out a paper bag, poured the powder into a cup, and used hot water to make a cup of dark green medicine juice and wanted to send it to the boy's mouth, but looking at the disgusting color of the liquid and smelling the indescribable smell emanating from the cup, he hesitated again.
"Give me."
The boy finally recovered. He took a breath, wiped away the tears from his eyes, grabbed the cup without even looking at it, and drank it all with his eyes closed. The bearded man quickly poured another cup of water and handed it to him, but he poured the water into the cup, rinsed the remaining medicine juice in it, and then drank it all in one breath.
"Young Master, you..." The bearded man stretched out his hand, but didn't dare to stop him, and looked at him in surprise.
——Don’t you think it tastes bad?
It was written in his eyes.
The boy covered his mouth, forcibly suppressing the urge . After a moment, he said, "We don't have much medicine powder with us, so we can't waste it."
“Master, you, you are too wronged!” The bearded man howled, tears of pain streaming down his face. He said resentfully, “ It was Count Venem’s gang who forced you to walk the path of asceticism at such a young age, and also took away most of the things we brought! Even if ascetics walked this path, they would at least bring constant temperature suits and nano-therapy devices, but they insisted that having these things doesn’t count as true asceticism, and…”
"Okay, stop talking." The boy closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his eyes were clear. He said gently, "Don't worry, although this medicine tastes bad, it is very effective. I feel much better now."
"Master..." The bearded man was touched at first, then said hatefully: "After we go back, I will definitely..."
"Ivan!" the young man interrupted him, saying, "Don't forget that Semillian is still outside. If he hears us, it will be trouble again."
The bearded man named Ivan lowered his voice and gritted his teeth and said, "That lackey of Venem..."
The young man was helpless. He leaned on the pillow behind him and said, "Okay, you go first. I'll lie down for a while and then go out."
Ivan hurriedly advised: "Master, you are still sick. Rest for half a day, no, a day. Otherwise, you will catch a cold and your condition will get worse. What should we do?"
"Don't worry, you won't die." The young man said calmly but firmly, "Since I have chosen to take this path, I will naturally go down it myself when I can move."
Ivan tried to persuade the boy a few more times, but seeing that the boy remained unmoved, he was ready to leave worriedly and sadly, but he heard the boy behind him suddenly say, "Ivan, wait a minute."
Ivan turned around in delight: "Master, have you changed your mind?"
"No." The boy looked at him and sighed, "Wipe your tears before you leave."
Ivan: ...
Ivan, with red eyes, jumped down from the back of the Monka elephant and stared at the purple-haired man Semillian's back with murderous eyes. Semillian smiled and looked contented, not taking it seriously at all.
Half an hour later, the tightly wrapped boy also came out of the tent, grabbed the rope and slowly climbed down. When he was about to land, his foot slipped. Ivan hurriedly reached out to support him, then quickly retracted his hand, and even turned his head away in an attempt to cover up his mistake, pretending that he had done nothing.
Semillian turned around and smiled, "Master Lor, are you feeling better?"
The young boy Lor was wearing goggles and a mask, not even a hair was exposed. When he heard Semillian's words, there was no change in his expression. Only a muffled "hmm" was heard from behind the mask, which was quickly blown away by the cold wind.
Semillian smiled and said, "You must take care of yourself! We have only walked one-third of the way, and there is still a long way to go. You must be safe and healthy!"
The four words "safe and healthy" were pronounced with special emphasis by him, and they sounded more like a curse than a blessing.
Ivan and the others looked angry, but Lor said calmly, "Thanks to your good words, I hope so."
Semillian's smile faded slightly, and he looked him up and down carefully for a while. Before Ivan got angry, he chuckled, turned his head and said no more.
Because Luo Er was short and had small steps, their speed suddenly slowed down a lot. On the white snow, a line of footprints stretched into the distance, but soon they were covered by the wind and snow, and no trace could be seen anymore.
At this time, a grand ball was being held in the warm and magnificent Ice Palace. Count Venem held a wine glass, ignored the dissatisfaction of his female companion, and stared at the most lively place in the crowd. Finally, he saw a gap, and he slipped in as if he was a shadow. His chubby body squeezed to the front gracefully and quickly, raised his glass and said, "Your Majesty, congratulations on your succession to the throne. Your speech is so touching!"
Serinda nodded with a smile and said, "Thank you."
Just as Venem was about to introduce himself and recall the time he had seen young Serinda from afar, someone suddenly cut in front of him. Venem's eyes narrowed and he was about to get angry, but after seeing the man's face clearly, he retreated to the side in shame and had to look for the next opportunity to speak.
The Left Prime Minister Sean, who didn't notice that he had pushed the person out of the way, smiled and said with emotion: "Congratulations, Serinda. I didn't expect that the little girl back then has now become the helmsman of the empire, and she is so beautiful and outstanding. Seeing you, we old guys have to admit that we are really old."
"Uncle Sean, do you mean you want to retire early and enjoy your life?" Serinda smiled and said, "I can't agree to that. The empire needs you, and I need you too. Wait at least another hundred years before you talk about getting old!"
Although he knew that she was only complimenting him, Sean still laughed happily and said, "That won't do. It's hard to say whether Uncle Sean can live to be a hundred years later! You have to let my old bones rest for two years!"
Right Prime Minister Tagawa said grimly, "Why don't you hand in your resignation?"
Sean choked and glanced at Amirida. Seeing that she was just smiling and pretending that she was a junior and could not interrupt, she had no intention of smoothing things over. He laughed and said, "Although I also want to rest early, the emperor has changed and everything is complicated. If I give up now, wouldn't it be unfair to Your Majesty? I can't do that!"
After that, he never dared to take advantage of his age and say that he wanted to retire. Although he still wanted to show the new Queen his arrogance of "you can't do without me", the Right Prime Minister stood there like a wooden stake, neither speaking nor leaving. After a while, he found an excuse to leave.
Serinda breathed a sigh of relief without anyone noticing. She took the opportunity to lower her head to drink and secretly winked at the right prime minister. The majestic queen suddenly looked playful.
Right Prime Minister Takanawa's eyelids drooped, his expression remained unchanged, but the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
On the edge of the Rigg Hill, hundreds of huge natural icicles stood like a forest. Rong Yuan stood on a pillar, looking at the white building in the distance. From the outside, it looked like a broken egg upside down on the ground, quiet and harmless.
Beside him, Alpha said, "…External defense level is A, internal is unknown. Preliminary judgment is that the other party has learned of your death, so they did not raise the defense level, but the possibility of setting traps cannot be ruled out. The threshold index is 2,000, and an extremely strong position is detected. Space transfer is extremely dangerous. It is recommended to adopt plan B."
"What plan B? Just rush in directly." Rong Yuan pulled down his hood, his eyes sharp.
"Don't be careless. There may be the same light cage weapons as last time." Alpha said, "Also, after the operation begins, I will block all signal transmissions in the vicinity, but the moment you appear, Landia's intelligent brain, Hellfire, will detect you. From the time the opponent's attack is detected to the arrival of the attack, it is estimated that there will be a total of seven minutes and twenty-four seconds. Seven minutes and twenty-four seconds, you have to take over this base and retreat, not a second more."
"Well, okay." Rong Yuan moved his hands and feet and said softly, "Let's get started!"
