Li Yaoâs eyebrows trembled, his complexion was somewhat grave. The period of âThe Great Dark Ageâ was the most important phase of growth for Cultivator Civilization. So much so that one can say The Great Dark Age divided civilization into two periods, the âClassical Cultivation Periodâ and the âModern Cultivation Period.â This was an extraordinarily typical question. Although everyone knew about it, it was not easy to give a comprehensive answer.
Muttering deeply for a moment, Li Yaoâs thoughts coursed with electricity and were spoken in his soul, flying upwards:
âThe cultivators of the ancients held an eternal life without death as their ambition, creating a matchless Ancient Cultivator Civilization that was full of splendor. They established from the Qi Refining and Forge Foundation stages to the Binding Core and Primordial Infant stagesâŠâŠ until the Tribulation Ascension and True Immortal stages; these are the ascending stages in their system in order gain immortality. Moreover, to advance bravely on this strip of path means to unceasingly break through the limits of life and stride towards the endless sea of the stars.â
âWhen Ancient Cultivator Civilization was at its peak, Ancient Cultivators established thousands of worlds one after another. They constructed ancient transmission formations to run through the endless sea of stars, allowing for travel at will between the planets and stars. Theyâd reached a level where they began exploring the ultimate mystery of time!â
âWith the continuous evolution of the Ancient Cultivator Civilization, the Ancient Cultivators became more and more powerful, their lifespans grew longer and longer, and the amount of resources they seized grew larger and larger.â
âWhen the Ancient Cultivator Civilization was in its early stages, there were only several hundred Gold Core stage cultivators and dozens of Primordial Infant stage cultivators within 3000 worlds. The âGod-Changed Devils of the Oldâ and the âTribulation Ascended True Monarchsâ were unheard of. On dozens of worlds, only one may appear after thousands of years. They were an existence that were few and far between.
âBut when the Ancient Cultivator Civilization reached its later stages, the number of high stage cultivators exploded massively, multiplying factor by factor like a geometric series. During this time, there was a saying: âPrimordial Infants were numerous like dogs and Changed Gods were happy to walk them.ââ
âAnd so there were numerous high stage cultivators, all needing tremendous amounts of resources to cultivate. Additionally more and more cultivators reached the penultimate stage to immortality. Their craving towards resources also reached â an endless bound!â
âIn the beginning, it was possible to satisfy the avarice of the high stage cultivators through the exploitation of resources on the Greater Thousand Worlds. But after ravaging resources over the course of thousands upon thousands of years, after discovering 5,000 worlds and spending an entire millennium, the Ancient Cultivator Civilization came to find not a single new existence of a Greater Thousand World.â
âA world is limited, but the demands of cultivators are boundlessâ The Ancients spent a millennium in order to understand this truth. Naturally civil war broke out as cultivators contested over the natural resources.â
âA three-thousand year civil war swept across all the Greater Thousand Worlds. Ancient cultivators that could conjure profound magics and transform nature engaged in slaughter on every star! Celestial bodies flamed and the ancient transmission formations were destroyed. Crystal battleships detonated one after another, and the high stage cultivators who claimed to be immortal fell one by one. The âBinding Core Seizersâ and the âOld Primordial Infant Devilsâ were more like the ants of mortals they once were, turning into worthless cannon fodder. In addition there were assaults sufficient to cause the annihilation of planets, turning them into scattered ash and smoke. â
âOver seven Greater Thousand Worlds were destroyed during the later stages of the civil war and countless Greater Thousand Worlds had their connections severed from the Master World. Over 90% of the high stage cultivators turned to ash. The remaining low stage cultivators struggled at deathâs door in the midst of ruin.
âIt seemed like the civil war was about to collapse, likely ushering the dawn of a new peaceful era â until an ignorant cultivator genius on an unknown Greater Thousand World invented a âSmall Playful Invention.â
âHistorical records of this cultivator geniusâs name and sect had long been lost. His refining methods had also been swept away by the winds of time. Modern society calls what he invented â the âDemonic God Virus!â
âPerhaps his thought process was very simple: Since there werenât enough soldiers, why not create something that could enhance the combat abilities of spirit beasts to replace cultivators in the battlefield â After all, there was seemingly no end to the number of spirit beasts!â
âHe succeeded. The beasts that were catalyzed by the Demonic God Virus, countless once-docile spirit beasts, were transmogrified into terrifying machines of slaughter, becoming war machines known as demonic beasts. They did not tire. They did not falter. They appeared to be undying!â
âIn a short 10 years, this cultivator genius relied on his army of demonic beasts to unify his Greater Thousand World. His demonic beast army numbered a  hundred million strong. Cultivators of other worlds discovered what he had done and each began to refine their own âDemonic Beasts.ââ
âIn a hundred yearâs time, Demonic Beasts became the main forces of the cultivator civil war, emerging in every nook and corner within the sea of the stars.â
âUnfortunately all of the cultivators failed to realize two key issues.â
âThe first. The âDemonic God Virusâ possessed an extremely powerful self-replicating ability and was violently contagious.â
âThe second. While the âDemonic God Virusâ raised the fighting power of the demonic beasts, it also continuously increased the intellect of the demonic beasts at a rate that was imperceivable at first. Within a hundred years of savage blood-filled battle, a tremendous number of 10 billion demonic beasts had underwent catalyzation. A âDemonic Raceâ possessing intellect surpassing mankind was born!â
âEventually on the final day of the three-thousand year civil warâ The Demonic Race awakened!â
âAll of the demonic beasts within the sea of the stars rebelled nearly simultaneously against their masters, as if they were being conducted by an existance of terror. The cultivators who had not entered the battlefield for ages, who had been hiding behind closed doors living like royalty, engaged with the demonic beasts. Additionally, the demonic beasts grasped the technology and skills of cultivator human society!â
âSpirit countries were razed to the ground one after another. Entire sects were utterly extinguished. Within a hundred years, the Demonic Race ferociously hunted down the cultivators that managed to escape their net within the sea of the stars. The once high and lofty cultivators were now like stray dogs. They hid in the dark regions and cracks in space-time of the sea of stars, living in endless terror, unable to carry on.
âThe next 30,000 years in its entirety was humanityâs âGreat Dark Age.â Within this infinite darkness, the demonic race established a tremendous âDemonic Beast Dynastyâ and all of mankind was reduced to being lowly slaves. They lost their dignity. They lost their pride. And they lost what was most valuable of all, the power to cultivate!â
âIt lasted thirty-thousand years, an entire thirty-thousand years! The old days lustered with glory where the Ancient Cultivator Civilization ruled the boundless sea of the stars. However it was like a castle of sand, destroyed by the raging waves, with no trace left behind! The descendents of the high level cultivators of the days of old, whom possessed âan eternal immortal lifeâ, could only rely on the most powerful primitive methods of reproduction, reproducing in great quantities, striving to ensure the preservation of their race!â
âThe Great Dark Age ended only after the passing of 30,000 years due to internal power struggles within the Demonic Race; they constantly had conflicting views which split their society. Only then was humanity able to take a faint breath of opportunity. Cultivators launched three âCultivator Revolutionsâ from the shadows under the relentless efforts of countless cultivator geniuses. They set up a âModern Cultivator Civilization Systemâ completely different from that of the Ancient Cultivator Civilization. Only then could they walk anew on the surging road of cultivation, reviving this road of glory!â
âUnder the guidance and tenacity of the unprecedented âSupreme Emperorâ, humanity was able to excavate a great number of the vestigial remains of the Ancient Cultivator Civilization and was able to found twenty âSects of Provenanceâ anew once more. A thousand years of blood-filled battle past and the humans achieved prosperity. Mankind became the rulers of the endless sea of stars once more; Modern Cultivator Civilization had achieved a shining and thriving reprieve from annihilation!â
â10,000 years have passed since the end of the âThe Great Dark Ageâ. And an entire 40,000 years have past since the collapse of the Ancient Cultivator Civilization. The present is currently the best age of cultivation history; itâs the year 40,000 of the Cultivation Era of endless glamour!â
While Li Yao was pondering over the final passage, a countdown had appeared in the sky, representing that the examination was coming to a close, leaving him no choice but to abandon his thoughts on continuing to expound on the âSupreme Emperorâsâ life. He spoke a few factual sentences without much thought, ending the passage in a rush.
In nearly the instant the final word emerged in his mind, the entire world collapsed with a loud bang and shattered into butterfly-like fragments. Li Yao was ejected by a tremendous force, his vision blossomed, and his consciousness returned back to the classroom.