LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 2: Puppet Core
General Xu was visibly more relaxed than in previous days. He realized the Immortal seemed to be an honest cultivator and showed no signs of malicious intent toward the city. Even if there were any, he could do nothing but lament his own weakness.
"Reporting to the Immortal! Yang City has a total of 95,780 mortals and 1,240 cultivators. Of these, 980 are in the Qi Refinement realm, 250 in the Foundation Establishment realm, and 10 in the Zifu realm. Before the battle, we had around 2,500 cultivators and over 200,000 mortals. I fear that if the Immortal had delayed further, the entire city would have been annihilated. The city has a stockpile of 40,000 low-grade spirit stones and no spiritual mines. Additionally, we must pay 10% of all profits to the Wang Divine Dynasty."
"Hum, continue."
Jin's expression darkened. For a Dynasty or Empire to have 'Divine' in its name was already a sign that it possessed one or more cultivators in the Divine Transformation realm, which would complicate his future plans.
Noticing Jin's slightly somber mood, General Xu quickly continued.
"Currently, we are in the Gu Clan's province. This clan is a vassal of the Wang Divine Dynasty and has cultivators in the Nascent Soul Realm. Yang City is almost on the edge of the Gu Clan's influence. Since it is a 'small' city with few cultivators, they do not place much importance on our Yang City."
General Xu's face turned slightly red with anger as he said "small" city, but he continued.
"The Wang Divine Dynasty has a territory of 1 million miles. Our Yang City only exerts influence over 1,000 miles, which is insignificant in comparison."
Jin sighed internally. Expanding within the territory of a Divine Dynasty would be extremely difficult, even if he himself were in the Divine Transformation realm. Relocating to a territory without the presence of a strong force nearby was necessary. With this decision, Jin's face became resolute.
"All citizens of Yang City will migrate to a more abundant region. If any of you are not within the 1,000-mile radius of Yang City in two days, I will not return to fetch you."
Jin's voice resounded throughout Yang City and the surrounding 1,000 miles.
General Xu's face filled with panic, fearing that the Immortal was leading the city to the borders of the Wang Divine Dynasty to turn them into living pills. However, he quickly dismissed this idea, as if the Immortal wanted to do so, he would have acted long ago.
"Dismissed."
Jin was aware of General Xu's internal concerns. After all, it was common for powerful cultivators to treat weaker ones like livestock, and some even raised mortals only to exterminate them later. However, Jin was not concerned with the general's feelings; he was focused on how to expand quickly after the migration.
Two days passed quickly, and soon Jin was flying over Yang City's territory.
The news that the Immortal would take the city to a more prosperous region shocked and frightened the thousands of mortals and cultivators. Some believed that breaking away from the Wang Divine Dynasty was the best choice, especially after no one came to save them from the beast tide except the Immortal.
What intrigued them most was the fact that they had never heard of a cultivator capable of moving an entire landmass to another place. Only beings above the Nascent Soul Realm had that power. These figures were revered as "Deities" by mortals. These low-level cultivators dared not question Jin personally, so they could only speculate.
Slowly, Jin's spiritual energy spread over a 1,000-mile territory surrounding Yang City. It's worth noting that Yang City was only 10 miles in diameter—considered massive by Earth's standards but just an isolated city here.
"Rise."
The entire land within the 1,000-mile radius began to lift slowly, leaving behind a deep abyss. Jin's spiritual energy began to deplete rapidly; after all, he had just entered the Divine Transformation realm and was only at the second stage of nine. Destroying a 1,000-mile region wouldn't have been too difficult for him, but moving this entire region, including animals, mountains, rivers, and lakes, exponentially increased the difficulty.
Mortals and cultivators were shaken as they saw the ground beneath them being lifted into the air by a single cultivator. General Xu felt as though he might have a heart attack right then and there. He knew that only a being in the Divine Transformation realm could perform such a feat. However, rather than being terrified, he was thrilled. How many cultivators would have the fortune of receiving such "generous" care from someone so powerful?
As the land moved at an extreme speed, some cultivators on the ground believed they were witnessing a cataclysm. They saw only a massive piece of land being lifted, leaving the soil below in total darkness.
"Is this it? Are the powerful cultivators fleeing? Could it be that the purification period of the Dao is approaching? If beings above Nascent Soul can't resist, imagine me, a mere Golden Core realm cultivator."
An old man in tattered gray robes fled quickly, his eyes filled with an unimaginable terror. The only image that came to his mind was not the glorious scene of this massive landmass flying above him but a swarm of blackness devouring everything in its path.
...
The living beings within the 1,000-mile region specified by Jin were utterly stunned, their hearts filled with terror and fear.
Who wouldn't be horrified?
The residents of this landmass would have been turned into meat paste if Jin weren't protecting them with his energy, shielding them from the cutting winds. Realizing that his spiritual energy was depleting rapidly, Jin didn't despair; on the contrary, he accelerated the process. Jin wasn't merely fleeing; he already had a specific location in mind that could sustain his empire's expansion.
Lifeless Flat Region, Dead Plateau.
The Dead Plateau was a vast, desolate plain where almost nothing grew. The soil was gray and barren, a void where nothing thrived. The lack of spiritual energy made this place like an empty jade vessel—beautiful on the outside but lifeless within.
The vegetation was sparse, consisting of a few dry shrubs surviving like weeds among the stones. The fauna was practically nonexistent, made up of a few creatures adapted to the extreme aridity. Small, hard-shelled insects capable of surviving long periods without food or spiritual energy were the only visible inhabitants, scurrying furtively between rocks and crevices.
The sky was eternally overcast, and the silence was oppressive. During the day, the heat was unbearable, and at night, darkness reigned. Other cultivators might think Jin was crazy to go to such a place, but this was precisely Jin's intent. He wanted to go to an almost uninhabitable location and quickly expand his empire's forces.
Jin was confident because he possessed Zifu-Grade Spiritual Veins, which would multiply the spiritual energy in the area where they were placed, creating a favorable environment for cultivation and increasing the empire's fortune.
When the cultivators realized they were in the Lifeless Flat Region, notorious for its desolation and aura of death, their initial excitement turned to despair. If the spiritual energy at the Wang Divine Dynasty's border was already sparse, in this place, it barely existed.
"We are doomed..."
"We'll be stuck in the Qi Refinement realm forever!"
"Do not despair! The Immortal must have a plan."
General Xu roared to calm the desperate cultivators. Although he himself was worried, he couldn't let it show. After all, who wouldn't be desperate being taken to a region almost devoid of spiritual energy, cutting off their path to immortality?
"We've arrived."
When Jin's voice resonated in the ears of mortals and cultivators, the landmass that was in the air sank into the ground, crushing what remained of the barren earth that existed there. The contrast between the environment of Yang City's land and the Dead Plateau was striking. Yang City's 1,000-mile region was full of life, while the Dead Plateau was arid and desolate.
"Go."
Still floating in the air, Jin summoned a ball of purple light from his sea of consciousness. The purple ball of light disintegrated into ten small purple-golden lights, which dispersed across 10,000 miles of Yang City.
When the purple lights touched the ground, the barren and desert-like land transformed into a celestial paradise. The air was now filled with purple energy, and the arid lands of the Lifeless Plateau began to repair and flourish. That was only the first stage; in the future, the spiritual energy of that land could likely cultivate beings of the Nascent Soul realm.
"The ancient Yang City is extinct. Now, the Divine Jin Empire is created to dominate and rule over the heavens and the earth!"
The cultivators who had been desperate moments ago were now stunned. Cries of acclaim began to echo across the Dead Plateau. Jin specifically emphasized 'Divine' to show the level of his cultivation. With his divine consciousness, he could sense the auras of some sentient monsters with high cultivation bases in the surrounding region.
"Long live the Divine Jin Empire! Long live Emperor Jin!"
"Emperor Jin is eternal and will suppress all calamities!"
The transformation of the environment and Jin's commitment to creating an empire out of his city left a profound impact on everyone's minds. Now, even mortals without talent could easily reach the Qi Refinement realm. Jin was inwardly satisfied; the effect and contrast of an ancient and new environment on these people were greater than he expected. He could still see that some were not fully loyal to him yet, but Jin would give them time. If, after many years, he still felt they were not truly loyal to him and the empire, they could only blame their stupidity for thinking they could extract benefits without contributing. Jin would not tolerate parasites without loyalty.
"I will hold the first Imperial Trial in ten years! In this trial, I will select Ministers for my Empire. Both mortals and cultivators may participate!"
"There is a low-grade spiritual mine 100 miles from here. Only cultivators of the Qi Refinement realm may mine there."
When the mortals heard they could participate in the Imperial Trial, most were shocked but soon shouted with even greater fervor. After all, no empire, dynasty, or kingdom had ever cared about mortals. To them, mortals were merely inferior beings who could be slaughtered at any moment; what truly mattered were cultivators. For people who had no cultivation talent, this could be a blessing.
"Long live the Divine Jin Empire! Long live Emperor Jin!"
"Long live the Divine Jin Empire! Long live Emperor Jin!"
...
Jin was seated in a lotus position in the enormous oval hall of the former lord's ancient palace. Two objects lay before him: the core of a puppet and a massive mirror.
The ten-year timeframe was set so he would have enough time to use the mirror and the puppet core. Jin already had a clear idea of what to do with these two items. He wanted to program the puppet core to identify information about cultivators, create basic martial arts techniques, develop a merit system, and much more.
Of course, he knew that with the small core he possessed, he could only create a few basic functions. Despite the core being of the Void Daoist realm, a cultivation realm above his own, Jin was not entirely familiar with runes, which limited his possibilities.
"Let's see what you have to show me."
Jin's divine sense penetrated the puppet core, and his mind was flooded with the language of runes and their complexities. He noticed an uncanny resemblance to the programming languages from his previous life, which left him somewhat astonished.
"I already had familiarity with programming languages in my previous life... so it won't be too difficult to achieve my goals."
Jin planned to begin by creating the first system with empire management functions, as this was essential and urgent for the empire's rapid development.
He understood the importance of technology, and with the right knowledge, even empires, kingdoms, or sects that had existed for millions of years would not be able to hinder his progress.
Additionally, having the data and information of all his subjects would help him maintain greater control over them.
The system would be divided into: Data Analysis, Cultivation Records, Celestial Library, Spiritual Communication, and Merit Table.
Data Analysis: Responsible for collecting and analyzing information on performance, techniques, and other crucial data for the empire.
Cultivation Records: Would maintain detailed records of each citizen's cultivation, including progress, techniques used, and achievements, directly tied to the Merit Table.
Celestial Library: A source of knowledge about different cultivation techniques, allowing all citizens of the empire to access new skills according to their merit points and spirit stones.
Spiritual Communication: An ambitious project that would facilitate communication between the empire's cultivators through spiritual messages, enabling the exchange of information and collaboration in training and missions.
Jin knew he could create the first four functions, but the Spiritual Communication project would have to be left for the future, likely being the most complicated. After all, ruins and spiritual realms could disrupt communication, and if transmission jades existed in this world, it would ease Jin's work.
He decided to start with Data Analysis and Cultivation Records. With determination, he began modifying the rune symbols within the puppet core. Perhaps he would need less than a year to complete this stage and move on to the next.
…
Four years and eight months later, Oval Hall of the Emperor's Palace.
A striking young man was seated in a lotus position at the center of the enormous hall. His body exuded an oppressive aura, and in his hands was a brown orb covered with intricate red symbols rapidly rotating clockwise. A faint scent of sulfur emanated from the orb, permeating the air.
"Finally, it's done. It took much longer than I expected."
Jin sighed repeatedly as he looked at the puppet core, a brown orb in his hands. The core was extremely hot; he feared that if he weren't a cultivator at the Divine Transformation Realm, his hands would have already melted. The language of runes was far more complex than he had imagined, with a single rune being 100 times harder to write and understand. Without his Divine Transformation-level mind, he would have been incapable of continuing. The familiarity he relied on with the programming languages of his past life proved insufficient.
But along with the difficulties came the benefits. The language of runes was immeasurably faster than any programming language from his previous life. Jin felt that, with enough knowledge of runes, he could alter the very fabric of reality, transforming and manipulating the world around him.
"Now, I'll need to create a massive structure to contain this core. After all, the temperature it emits is capable of destroying even a cultivator at the Zifu Realm. But before doing that, I need to at least try to create the last two systems."
His mind was exhausted; he had spent four years and eight months continuously programming the first two projects. If it weren't for his cultivator's body and mind, he would have collapsed long ago. Sighing heavily, Jin once again injected his divine sense into the puppet core.
The Celestial Library code would be the easiest since he could import functions and information from the Cultivation Record and Data Analysis. The Merit Table had already been created during the development of the first two projects. The only challenge would be creating new techniques based on existing ones—essentially an AI similar to those from his previous life. Fortunately, he had been a technology enthusiast in his past life and had developed several AI models, giving him a foundation to build upon.
Jin didn't know if machines or sentient objects existed in this world. But if they did, they must be incomprehensibly advanced, depending on the realms of their creators.
Sighing lightly, he looked at the brown core in his hand and steeled his resolve.
No matter how much work this takes now, I will be rewarded in the future. I will first complete the simpler functions, like the Mission Hall, Item Trading, and so on.
Three years later, Oval Hall of the Emperor's Palace
The air in the hall was so hot that the surrounding walls seemed to begin melting. A ball of flames sat at the hall's center, glowing like a small sun. If a cultivator below the Golden Core Realm entered, they would be instantly melted into dust.
"Integrate with the Xuan Mirror."
A calm voice echoed in the hall, contrasting with the previous silence. A massive three-meter-tall mirror suddenly appeared in front of Jin. Despite the high temperature, the mirror remained unaffected, evidence of its extreme durability.
The puppet core, resembling a miniature sun, floated toward the mirror. The oppressive heat began to dissipate rapidly, and the temperature soon returned to normal. During the programming process, Jin recalled when he had acquired the items—he could use the Xuan Mirror to temporarily contain the puppet core. This discovery was a relief, as he wouldn't need to construct a large structure to house it for now.
Suddenly, the Xuan Mirror, which had been floating, split into hundreds of smaller mirrors, filling the entire hall. Each measured about a meter in height and width, and the division continued. If Jin hadn't stopped it, the entire palace would likely have been filled with these fragments.
"Strange..."
Jin was amazed. What he saw now defied the physics of his previous life. The three-meter mirror had divided into hundreds of one-meter pieces—something inconceivable in his former world. Clenching his fists slightly, Jin calmed his excitement, and with a thought, the mirror stopped dividing.
"Perfect, let's try entering now."
Jin approached one of the mirrors, took a small spiritual stone from his storage ring, and directed it into the mirror. His body suddenly vanished from the hall.
He reappeared in a small space three meters wide and tall. The spiritual energy there was 1,000 to 100,000 times denser than outside, almost liquefying. Jin took a deep breath, absorbing the spiritual energy like a hurricane.
Jin felt his cultivation advancing rapidly in this space, even as a cultivator at the Divine Transformation Realm—a stage that could take hundreds or thousands of years to progress. For cultivators in lower realms, the effect would be even more pronounced.
To achieve this effect, Jin had used all 40,000 low-quality spiritual stones from Yang City and another 80,000 extracted from a low-quality Spiritual Mine. All these low-quality spiritual stones were injected into the mirror. The secret to its efficiency was the small size of the area—less than three meters—causing the accumulated spiritual energy to become immense and easier for the cultivator to absorb.
"Since I am the master of this mirror, it won't expel me. But I fear that if other cultivators tried to enter, they'd be immediately rejected."
The solution Jin found was to use spiritual stones. If a cultivator wanted to spend an hour inside the mirror, they would have to pay a fee of 500 spiritual stones and have at least 300 merit points. The spiritual stones would partially replenish the mirror's spiritual energy, while the merit points would encourage cultivators to complete more missions for the empire.
Jin thought this fee was extremely low, considering the mirror's effects. However, he wanted to strengthen the empire's cultivators as quickly as possible and attract outsiders to become citizens of the Jin Divine Empire.
After much consideration, he decided on the following pricing: One hour = 150 SS + 50 MP (SS = Spiritual Stones; MP = Merit Points), Two hours = 300 SS + 150 MP, Three hours = 500 SS + 300 MP.
In addition to the entry fee of 500 spiritual stones and 300 merit points, they would also need to pay the corresponding hourly rate. However, if someone had enough merit points, they could substitute them for spiritual stones to spend more time in the Xuan Mirror. Jin also temporarily restricted the mirror's use to citizens of the Jin Divine Empire, encouraging outsiders to become citizens.
Anyone could earn merit points by contributing techniques, information, treasures, etc. This was all part of Jin's next plan: to gather enough data on techniques and cultivators' abilities to create the world's first general artificial intelligence.
The process would be simple: Gather sufficient data → Training → Refinement → Completion.
But before doing this, he would need to find a more powerful puppet core, perhaps from a realm higher than the Void Taoist. The higher the core's level, the greater its computational power, which would, in turn, reduce the AI's training time and boost its capabilities. Jin had already created his first basic artificial intelligence in this world—a system for generating simple martial techniques using data collected from his empire's cultivators through various campaigns. Initially, the cultivators were hesitant to share their techniques, but since only basic techniques were requested, they eventually relaxed.
This caution toward their emperor and empire wasn't something Jin desired for the future, but the empire was still young. As the wonders of the system he had created and his future accomplishments unfolded, this caution would turn into endless admiration and reverence. In time, within their hearts, Jin would become greater than the Heavenly Dao and their cultivations.
"The first version of the system is ready. It's time to test it."
"SYSTEM"
[Name: Emperor Jin]
[Cultivation: Divine Transformation [Second Stage]]
[Merit Points: ∞]
[Remaining Time: ∞]
[Mission Hall[] Universal Shop[] ...]
A blue hologram appeared before Jin. After many years of development, everything was ready. Though still basic, many functions would be implemented and improved in the future.