Chapter 705: Those Praised in Song...

“It’s very simple. The process has been made foolproof.” The Artifice Sage’s tone held a trace of pride. “As long as you have the corresponding Soul Sea Guide Device, even a helpless Ghost from the streets can be drawn into the Electronic Netherworld and become one of its residents.”

“That’s really convenient.”

This was hardly the time to get sidetracked, so after a moment of marveling at the fusion of modern science and ancient Extraordinary Technology, Su Zhou began to detach the Souls entwined on the Wisdom Tree one by one. Using his own Soul as a conduit, he transferred them to the regular dodecahedron, which was engraved with an untold number of intricate runes.

Although the concept didn’t exist in Zhengguo’s Extraordinary System, in the global field of Extraordinary Studies, the regular dodecahedron symbolized ‘a world of Perfection.’ The Artifice Sage’s choice to craft the Soul Sea Guide Device—a Divine Artifact that served as the entrance to the Electronic Netherworld—into such a shape surely held some special meaning.

Su Zhou thought, ‘If Cultivators are to become new Immortal Gods in the future, then the Artifice Sage has the title of King of the Netherworld locked down. After all, this world’s original Netherworld had long fallen into ruin, becoming completely useless—it was even said to have been taken away by the Immortal Gods.’

“Speaking of which, can a Soul be immortal?”

The process of transferring the Souls was rather tedious. As he guided one confused Soul after another into the Electronic Netherworld, Su Zhou couldn’t help but turn to the Artifice Sage, who was silently observing, and ask a question that had been bothering him for a long time. “I know that a Soul without a body deteriorates quickly. Most can’t even retain their memories for long, and only a few can walk the path of a Ghost Cultivator… but in the Netherworld, can a Soul become immortal?”

“Hmm… A good question.”

The Artifice Sage looked up, giving Su Zhou a complicated glance before speaking slowly. “Actually, a Soul’s existence has nothing to do with whether it’s in the Netherworld or has a body… If it wants to live, it can live.”

“The vast majority of Souls decay and deteriorate after their bodies die for one reason only: they truly believe they are dead. Of course, a harsh external environment with no Spiritual Qi is another factor, but such conditions don’t exist now.”

As he spoke, a hint of melancholy crept into the Artifice Sage’s tone. “If you want to live, you live. Naturally, if you want to die, you die. And there’s no coming back from that.”

“And to *keep* wanting to live… that is an incredibly difficult thing.”

“Isn’t that the truth.” Su Zhou could relate. ‘Everyone says it’s better to live a miserable life than to die a good one,’ he thought, ‘but who hasn’t felt discouraged or hit a low point?’

In the mortal world, anyone can have thoughts of ending it all when they’re down. But for a Ghost Cultivator’s Soul that hasn’t undergone special Cultivation, the moment that thought arises, they really do die.

That is why the most important thing for a Ghost Cultivator is an ‘unwavering conviction.’

“So, is the Electronic Netherworld an exception?”

The question came to mind, and Su Zhou asked it instinctively, “Or is it just like the normal situation?”

“The Electronic Netherworld is both a confinement and an opportunity.”

The Artifice Sage held nothing back, stating plainly, “In a sense, the residents of the Electronic Netherworld are not so much purely digitized Souls as they are Souls attached to ‘electromagnetic signals.'”

“How should I put it? Pure conscious brain activity, to put it bluntly, is just a type of micro-current neural signal. The Electronic Netherworld, in essence, uses information technology to simulate that very electromagnetic signal within a network. In a way, the residents of the Electronic Netherworld haven’t really died at all. They’ve simply discarded their carbon-based bodies and transferred the electromagnetic signals they produced to an artificial network.”

Su Zhou quickly grasped the Artifice Sage’s meaning. He mulled it over for a moment, then said slowly, “So the confinement you mentioned… that’s the Electronic Netherworld itself, serving as their ‘body’…”

“Yes.”

The Artifice Sage slowly lowered his head, his tone grave. “In essence, they have already become another form of electromagnetic information-based life… They are no longer human. Even if we recreated their original bodies, it would be impossible to resurrect them—not unless we created a fully modified cybernetic body, but in that case, they would essentially just be controlling a puppet.”

Su Zhou was left speechless. ‘Yes,’ he thought, ‘the price is indeed steep. Entering the Electronic Netherworld is essentially converting to another form of life… But compared to fading into nothingness, it’s also another chance—a chance to live again.’

But just then, Su Zhou saw the Artifice Sage’s gaze, fixed on the Netherworld Server, fill with a heartfelt, paternal love.

It was hard to explain how a projection formed entirely of electronic signals could convey such ‘paternal love’ to Su Zhou, but it was the truth. It was an intense emotion that came from the heart, one that could only be born from the Soul, and was by no means some simulated electronic signal.

“That is why I am hopeful. I look forward to the day when these Ghosts in the Electronic Netherworld can break free from the limitations of ‘this world,’ to transcend it and become… well, I don’t know what to call them… beings that surpass the ordinary Soul.”

Smiling gently, the Artifice Sage walked forward and gazed upon his life’s work. His eyes were as tender as a father’s looking upon his own child. “I hope that they can transcend this electronic Netherworld, just as we Cultivators have transcended life, death, and Reincarnation, to become entirely new beings.”