Chapter 913: The Call of the Divine Tree

After Qi Yuan demonstrated the power of the steam tank, the Giant Tribe Clan Chief wisely signed a trade agreement, deciding to open the Giant Tribe's market to the Heaven and Earth Society Cyber Branch and allowing his tribespeople to work in the workshops.

Looking at these burly Giant Tribe natives, a certain unscrupulous businessman's heart was already blooming with joy, and he immediately decided to take this batch of high-quality labor under his wing.

Although the Giant Tribe's appetite seemed much larger than other races, they possessed innate Divine Power, and one could do the work of dozens, making them excellent Materials for manual labor.

All it cost was some grain.

As the workshop gradually got on track, he, the Chief Helmsman, was not idle either. With a carrot in one hand and an electromagnetic cannon in the other, he successfully subdued the other three tribes surrounding the Gold and Wood Tribes one by one.

The Earth Tribe excelled in construction and architecture, the Fire Tribe was proficient in the way of fire control and tempering, and the Water Tribe members were experts at transporting water resources.

With the support of these tribes, the development of the Cyber Branch advanced by leaps and bounds in a short period, changing every day.

In just one month, the scale of the Cyber Branch expanded dozens of times, nearly catching up to an industrial base.

Under the leadership of Chief Helmsman Chen, the Cyber Branch's product line became increasingly rich, rapidly evolving from ordinary fertilizer and steam engines to firearms, ammunition, tanks, and cannons—a veritable war factory.

When everything was ready, Qi Yuan set out on the path of external expansion with this new-style army he had built single-handedly.

As the most powerful race within a radius of tens of thousands of miles, the Giant Tribe was naturally the first target that needed to "trade"…

After some fair trading, the Cyber Branch exchanged a large number of assembly-line products like matches and soap for many specialties from the Giant Tribe, including their ancestral treasure, the Power Crystal, returning fully loaded.

At the same time, the Cyber Branch's generous treatment attracted many young male giants to work in the factory, completely maximizing resource utilization.

Of course, judging by the Giant Tribe Clan Chief's smile, which looked worse than crying, the Giant Tribe had "made a killing" this time…

After leaving the Giant Tribe, Qi Yuan, who was hitting his stride, immediately decided to strike while the iron was hot and head to the next tribe, only to see Xia Hanjun on the tank with her brows slightly furrowed, looking preoccupied.

At this moment, this female war god was rarely without her armor, instead wearing the uniform of the Cyber Branch, her body standing straight.

The well-tailored black fabric perfectly fitted her curvaceous figure, which, combined with her heroic and handsome face, made her look like a work of art meticulously carved by heaven, dazzling wherever she went.

"General Xia, what's wrong?"

Noticing that Xia Hanjun's mood was a bit off, Qi Yuan couldn't help but frown slightly and stepped forward to ask the reason.

For some reason, when interacting with the female general before him, Qi Yuan would always subconsciously ignore her identity as a woman and had no wicked thoughts, simply treating her as a trusted comrade-in-arms to whom he could entrust his back and fight alongside.

"Mr. Chen."

Xia Hanjun did not answer directly but took a deep breath and asked in a complex tone:

"Is the world in your ideals just like it is now?"

Faced with this abrupt question, Qi Yuan was first stunned, then turned his gaze toward her with a look of confusion:

"Why do you ask that?"

"I mean…"

A trace of distress appeared on Xia Hanjun's face. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke:

"You once said that the purpose of establishing the Heaven and Earth Society was to benefit all living beings. But the world's people are supposed to be protected by the Imperial Court. Yet you chose to start something new. Doesn't that mean you are dissatisfied with the current order?"

Then, she swept her gaze over the rumbling torrent of steel and continued:

"In this place, the path of immortality is severed. Except for some individuals who have had an Awakening of certain abilities, no transcendent power can exist. Instead, it greatly enhances the power of ordinary commoners."

"Through what you call Science, even these natives who have almost nothing can change their fate and live powerful and prosperous lives, completely without the need for help from Cultivators."

"But in the outside world, Cultivators stand high above, viewing Mortals who cannot Cultivate like ants, unscrupulously taking whatever they want. Even in the prosperous Great Qian Dynasty, there is no lack of city-wide massacres and clan exterminations…"

As she spoke, Xia Hanjun's expression became increasingly bewildered, and she finally voiced the greatest doubt in her heart:

"Doesn't this mean that if there were no Cultivators in the world, the vast majority of ordinary beings could live better?"

Hearing her words full of confusion, Qi Yuan was slightly stunned and immediately understood her thoughts, feeling a sense of absurdity.

As the number one war god of the Great Qian, Xia Hanjun possessed the formidable strength to slay a Golden Immortal, clearly belonging to the group of greatest vested interests in the Cultivation World.

For a top-tier powerhouse of this level to actually doubt the rationality of the existence of Cultivators was simply too Heaven-Defying, wasn't it?

However, he could also understand Xia Hanjun's current confusion. As a Cultivator, after witnessing the various wonders of Science, her worldview would inevitably suffer some impact.

Realizing this, Qi Yuan shook his head and answered with a serious expression:

"General Xia, you don't need to dwell on such questions. The Great Void has the rules of the Great Void, and the Cultivation World has the rules of the Cultivation World."

"The existence of Cultivators is originally a result evolved from the Great Dao, while Science is another result. There is no hierarchy between the two."

"The reason I chose to talk about Science in the Great Void is that the Dao here is too stable for Cultivation. It was the environment that created this choice, not anything else…"

Speaking to this point, his heart suddenly stirred, and he explained leisurely:

"Man follows Earth, Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows the Dao, and the Dao follows Nature!"

Hearing these profound words, Xia Hanjun was suddenly jolted. The confusion on her face vanished instantly, replaced by deep admiration.

"Thank you for clearing my doubts, Sir!"

Feeling enlightened, Xia Hanjun's expression turned solemn, and she gave Qi Yuan a deep bow.

"You're welcome."

Having played the role of a plagiarist for a moment, a certain someone waved his hand and was about to continue posing, when suddenly his body stiffened, and he seemed to fall into some indescribable and strange state.

At this moment, Qi Yuan's mind went blank. The scene before him faded rapidly, and a towering golden tree, emitting an endless aura of the Great Dao, faintly emerged between heaven and earth.

In the midst of it all, he received a clear call, or rather, something more like a warm invitation, and the destination of the invitation was that place of the Dao's origin…

"Mr. Chen?"

In just an instant, all the visions vanished, and a call reached his ears.

After coming back to his senses, Qi Yuan realized that Xia Hanjun was looking at him with a tense face, as if everything just now had been a mere illusion.

"I'm fine."

After a brief moment of shock, Qi Yuan restrained his emotions, quickly took out a map from his robes, looked at the location of the great dao divine tree with burning eyes, and said in a low voice:

"Continue moving forward. Let this Industrial Revolution spread throughout the entire Great Void in the shortest time possible, until we reach the Forbidden Land!"