He had not considered that Lin Wan’er might view it this way.
These twenty days of seclusion, and Lin Wan’er’s words, further clarified why cultivation spans hundreds or thousands of years.
In truth, heaven is fair. Though cultivators gain longevity, they merely slow their rhythm like sea turtles.
If one is fated to live a century, seeing only thirty-six thousand five hundred sunrises and sunsets, stretching each to ten days might seem like living a thousand years, but the wonders experienced remain those of a single century.
Once cultivators begin practice, no matter how long their lives, they lose the joys, sorrows, and delights proper to humanity, and miss the vibrant experiences of the mortal world. Like Meng Changsheng, secluding in a cave for centuries offers little joy.
Meng Changsheng lived a thousand years, yet truly experienced fewer than thirty-six thousand five hundred sunrises and sunsets.
Even if a thousand years of cultivation granted power beyond ordinary men, what of it? Missing so many wonders only to turn to dust with heaven-defying abilities, is that not waste and torment?
Fortunately, Ye Chen did not truly seek immortality.
His greatest motivation for cultivation was utterly eradicating the Poqing Society to avenge his parents.
Once vengeance was achieved, he would rather spend his remaining time experiencing life day by day like Lin Wan’er than confine himself to endless cultivation.
The two stood embraced at the window for a long while before Ye Chen sighed softly. “If one day vengeance is complete, I will never seclude myself again even for a day. I too wish to live like Miss Lin, missing no day’s wonders.”
…
Meanwhile, several hundred kilometres away on the Antarctic wasteland, Wu Bolin continued his unique probing.
Over the past twenty days, he had searched various places across Antarctica yet found no valuable clues.
He speculated that the so-called gate of ascension was not some array allowing direct flight to immortality. A more reasonable theory was that, as the dharma-ending age arrived, Earth’s most powerful sect brought their cultivators here for a final struggle.
Some caught the last flight to ascension, while others could only await lonely death on Earth.
As the remaining generations died, the sect’s traces vanished. Some left Antarctica for the mortal world to spend their final years, carrying legends of the ascension gate back to society.
If his theory held, that sect must have had a dao field here.
As Earth’s strongest sect before the dharma-ending age, it would surely have left vast techniques, artefacts, and high-level cultivation materials.
Finding those ruins would open his path of cultivation wide.
Yet in vast Antarctica, searching bit by bit was like finding a needle in a haystack. After twenty fruitless days wasting much spiritual energy, his mind finally cleared. He summoned Kikuchi Kohei and asked, “You are a scientist. You must know Antarctica well?”
Kikuchi Kohei said humbly, “A little more than the average person.”
Wu Bolin probed, “If I want to know what lies two thousand metres beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, how could it be done?”
Kikuchi Kohei asked, “Zhenren, when you say ‘what lies’, roughly how large an object? If seeking small items, we have no good methods.”
Wu Bolin said, “I wish to find building complexes buried under the ice. If structures or man-made buildings exist beneath, is there a way to locate them? I know it is difficult. As scientists, do you have any approaches to try?”
After speaking, Wu Bolin thought inwardly, “These scientists likely have no good solutions.”
Yet Kikuchi Kohei replied as casually as answering one plus one. “For targets as large as building complexes, use ice radar directly. It reveals everything beneath the ice sheet in one sweep. Even through several thousand metres of rock, seismic prospecting works. Artificially generate seismic waves, and geological structures within ten kilometres become clear. Large man-made complexes could also be found this way.”
Wu Bolin was astonished. “Are these technologies difficult to implement?”
Kikuchi Kohei shook his head. “Not difficult. We have ice radar on the vehicles, and higher-power, wider-range units at the base. For seismic survey, explosives and equipment are also at the base.”
Wu Bolin’s expression turned stunned. Recalling the hardships of the past twenty days, shame turned to rage. He slapped Kikuchi Kohei across the face, cursing, “Bloody fool! With such excellent technology, why did you not mention it sooner?!”
