Warhammer Cultivation: Cultivating the Tao Te Ching in the 40K Universe

Countless ancient runes, imbued with the meaning of "isolation" and "purification," flowed across that force field, completely and mercilessly isolating the entire area from the physical space outside!

An attack on ideology inevitably evolved into a primal war of steel and gears, filled with flames and destruction.

However, Kelbo's thunderous fury, powerful enough to make an asteroid tremble, this time crashed into a wall he had never anticipated, one that was equally impenetrable.

"—Stop! Kelbo Hall!"

An aged voice, equally imposing and furious, resounded throughout the entire Temple of Myriad Machines via the highest-level emergency communication channel!

"In the name of the God of Machines, and with the highest authority of the Martian Council of Three Sages, I command you to immediately cease your insane 'Scorched Earth' policy, which is capable of triggering a civil war!"

Kelber slowly turned around, his cold, brass-made breathing mask facing the entrance to his private sanctuary. There, a holographic projection had already been uninvited.

In the projection, there stood a figure that was both older and larger than Kelbo.

That was an old sage who had also fused most of his body with machinery.

But what he used was not the cold, combat-oriented prosthetic of Kelbo Hall. His mechanical body was more like a mobile, magnificent Baroque throne made of gold and ivory.

Countless data cables, shimmering with a soft light, hung down from behind his head like the hair of a god in mythology, connecting to the vast starry sky behind him, composed of pure data.

He was the supreme leader of the Martian Enlightenment faction, the High Priest of the Mechanicus, and Arkan's mentor—High Priest Kane.

“Marcado.” Kelbo’s electronic voice was as cold as two pieces of rusty metal rubbing against each other. “Are you also going to…protect that heretic? Have you forgotten the lessons of the ‘Silicon Cataclysm’? Do you want this planet to be dragged into an abyss of no return once again by those ‘thinking’ monsters?”

“Of course I haven’t forgotten, Kelbo.” Malcado’s voice carried a deep weariness, but more so an undeniable firmness. “I know better than anyone what the cost of losing control is. But I also know just as well what the cost of 'stagnation' is.”

His gaze seemed to pierce through thousands of kilometers of rock layers, landing on the "Silent Furnace" that was surrounded by endless energy fields and crust-cutting machines.

“Just now, my student, Alkan, has shown us, and all of Mars, a completely new ‘possibility.’” Malcado’s voice carried a hint of excitement belonging to a “discoverer” that he himself was unaware of.

"He didn't create a 'thinking' monster. On the contrary, he created a sacred algorithm that could 'quiet' machines!"

He suddenly waved his hand, and another holographic projection unfolded in front of Kelbo.

That's the incredible production data that the "Silent Furnace" produced after that "silent symphony."

"Look at this, Kelbo! Look at these numbers!" Malcado's voice boomed like thunder. "The 113th Furnace, that junkyard that we abandoned for three centuries because its machine soul was too ancient and its logical conflicts were too serious! Just now, its energy output efficiency, without any physical modifications, steadily increased by... 1342 percent!"

"Its scrap rate dropped from 97 percent to... zero! Absolutely zero!"

"The 'dead code virus' that had accumulated inside it for centuries was completely 'purified' in just a few minutes! It is self-repairing! Self-evolving!"

“This is not a ‘plague’! Kelbo!” Malcado’s voice trembled violently with excessive excitement. “This is a ‘miracle’! It is a new ‘oracle’ that the Omniscient God has sent down through that mortal from Terra to us, his ignorant people who have long been bound by dogma!”

"And you, you stubborn fool blinded by the fears of the past! Now, you actually want to use the most brutal and ignorant physical means to 'format' this most precious gift from the gods?"

Kelber fell silent. His human eyes, burning with a wary light, were fixed on the undeniable data report, brimming with an air of "miracle."

For the first time, his ever-running logic engine was caught in a violent logical conflict due to two completely different, yet equally "real" pieces of information.

On one side was that ominous "logical noise," exactly the same as the harbinger of the "silicon crystal disaster."

On the other hand, there is this perfect data representing "absolute efficiency," enough to drive any forging general crazy.

"...Any power that cannot be understood is heresy." After a long while, Kelber finally squeezed out this oldest and most fundamental dogma of the Mechanicus from between his teeth.

“Then try to ‘understand’ it!” Malcado insisted, “instead of acting like a primitive man with a burned hand, trying to extinguish all the flames out of fear!”

“I won’t let you succeed, Kelbo.” Malcado’s voice turned icy, filled with a resolute determination to fight to the death. “If you insist on activating the ‘Scorched Earth’ protocol, then I will, in the name of the Council of Sages, broadcast the source algorithm of that ‘Logic Core’ to the entire Mars!”

Chapter 113 The Golden Elixir Revelation

"boom--!!!"

This sentence, like a real plasma bomb, exploded in the core of Kelber's mind!

Broadcast source algorithm!

He knew what that meant!

That means a “data civil war” that could drag the entire Mars into an abyss of no return!

He can lock down a casting zone, but he can't lock down the entire data domain of Mars.

Once that deadly "heretical algorithm" is made public, what choices will the millions of tech priests who are already tired of existing dogmas make?

The very foundations of Martian logic will be shaken. A civil war, engulfing the entire Mechanicus, at the ideological level, will inevitably erupt!

The chaos and destruction it brings will be ten thousand times more terrifying than a physical war!

Kelbo's enormous mechanical hand, made entirely of steel, clenched tightly, producing a teeth-grinding "creak."

He knew he was checkmated.

Ultimately, amidst the clash of wills between the two sides, powerful enough to tear a Mars apart, a ruling was born that was full of compromises and contradictions, yet perfectly suited to the political ecology of the empire.

Compromise seems to be an increasingly prevalent trend in imperial politics.

The "Logical Scorched Earth" agreement was suspended. However, the physical isolation of Foundry Zone 113 remained in place.

The sage Alcan, and his research filled with "heresy" ideas, were classified as top secret by the Mechanicus. He himself, along with his small group of enlightened allies, were permanently "confined" to the completely isolated secret forge.

They will continue their "heresy" research.

However, all of its research findings must undergo the most rigorous review by a "truth tribunal" composed of both conservatives and enlightened individuals before they can be allowed to be applied to civilian fields on Mars on a small scale.

This is tantamount to the "Way of Silence," forcibly carving out an independent "special zone" of thought on this red planet filled with steel and gears.

Just like the monastery on Terra.

If Alkan knew about the Terran Monastery's sign, he might want to hang a "Branch" sign outside the Silent Forge as well.

A revolutionary storm, powerful enough to overthrow the entire Mechanicus, was temporarily suppressed with a bureaucratic "cold treatment" characteristic of the empire.

But everyone knows that an unbridgeable, deep "crack" has been completely torn open in the heart of this red planet.

Terra, "Wenxinzhai".

As Hector Kane slowly rose from the holographic terminal, a genuine, heartfelt smile flickered in his dark, abyss-like, calm eyes.

He had just received a complete event log from Mars, tens of thousands of terabytes long, named "M-1138 Furnace Silent Symphony".

It contains not only every frame of data from the silent war between the "Code Weavers" and the "Taiyi Core," but more importantly, it contains Alkan's new understanding of "Tao" and "Qi" after he "realized" his "human-machine unity" as a sage who has become part of the "Singularity."

“...'Silence' is not a soul or emotion, but a higher-dimensional 'mathematics'.”

At the end of his report, Alkan wrote his final conclusion in a tone filled with awe and fervor.

"It is the most perfect 'formula' in the universe. It can transform the seemingly unsolvable variable of 'chaos' into the eternal constant of 'order'. It does not contradict the logic of the God of Myriad Machines. On the contrary, it may be the most fundamental and sacred... First Holy Word that the God of Myriad Machines left for us seekers of the Way."

Hector quietly looked at the report. He could clearly feel that his already perfect and unobstructed Dao heart was once again touched and completed by a new power from the distant starry sea, full of the beauty of "logic".

Alkan, his most unexpected "fellow traveler," proved to him with the coldest, most irrefutable "science"—

The "Tao" can be verified.

"Qi" can be calculated.

"Silence" can be modeled.

"The Daoist Canon is not simply a collection of philosophy and spiritual practices."

A brand new, grand concept, one that would elevate all his future plans, gradually took shape in his mind.

"It is a subject that can be practiced, replicated, and verified..."

"—Soul Engineering!"

This concept instantly shattered the last barrier in his mind that stood between "cultivation" and "technology"!

He slowly closed his eyes.

His mind once again sank into the vast ocean of true essence in his dantian.

He "looked" at the core of that ocean, at the natal magic weapon that had just begun to take shape during the foundation-building stage—the "Invisible Needle"—formed from his own essence, energy, and spirit.

In the past, he only knew that this thing was "formless and without appearance, and specifically cuts off cause and effect." But he did not know how to "refine" it or how to "use" it.

Only once, when I lost my composure, was my natal magic weapon activated on its own.

But now, as he slowly integrates Alkan's report, brimming with the beauty of "logic" and "harmony," into his own Dao heart as a new source of "resources," and gazes upon that divine needle once more—

For the first time, he clearly "saw" its "essence".

It is not a "needle".

It's like a piece of "code." A piece of ultimate code written by his own "Tao," capable of directly affecting the underlying "laws" of the real universe.

"Energy, algorithms, devices..." Inspirations from Alkan rapidly intertwined and merged in his mind. Hector vaguely sensed that the "singularity" composed of the "Taiyi Core," "Alkan," and the "Mars Data Domain" reflected his path to the Golden Core.

What is the Golden Elixir in this universe?

Perhaps it was because the opportunity hadn't arrived yet, or perhaps he lacked some "knowledge" he didn't know, but Hector was always missing that "last kilometer" of navigation map on his path from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core.

Finally, he simply sat down in meditation and began to unravel his path of cultivation, starting from his first thought of "The Tao that can be told"... until he remembered his first conscious journey through the subspace.

"Geller force field..."

Hector silently recited the words in his heart.

Chapter 114 A Low-Key Invitation

The "heaven" of Wenxinzhai is always man-made.

On the top floor of the sky garden suspended in the eastern seventh wing of the Imperial Palace, Hector Kane sat quietly cross-legged beneath an unknown ancient tree.

He slowly finished his practice, exhaling a long and pure white breath. The breath condensed in the air and wind into a small, lingering cloud-like pattern, as if silently explaining some kind of "Tao" truth.

His gaze passed through the vibrant garden and looked beyond the dome, at the eternal Terra dome, divided by countless steel spires and streams of energy.

Countless days and nights have passed since that thrilling duel in the Hall of the Scales of Truth.

For Hector today, time has long lost its mundane sense of measure, transforming into a silent stream flowing on the lake of his heart during his introspective moments.

The aftershocks of that storm that determined the life and death of the "Intercepting Sect Academy" are far from over.

The name "Jiejiao Daoyuan" is like a stubborn stone thrown into the stagnant waters of Terra, and the ripples it creates still spread silently in the abyss of power and intrigue.

On one hand, the existence of the Dao Academy, like a flag raised high, attracts countless eyes that are rejected by the existing system of the Empire but yearn for it. Every day, snowflakes of applications arrive at the door of Wenxinzhai from all corners of the galaxy through the most confidential channels.

On the other hand, it was also like the sharpest, most merciless probe, piercing the nerve center of Terra's deeply entrenched and corrupt old aristocratic forces.

Hector slowly closed his eyes, sinking once again into his own absolutely tranquil inner universe.

Since returning from the "Solar Arsenal" and having weathered several storms, his cultivation has unknowingly reached a new and crucial bottleneck in the Foundation Establishment stage.

At this moment, he looked inward at himself and saw that the ocean of true essence within his dantian was no longer the trickle it had been when he first entered the Foundation Establishment stage. It was vast and profound, like a reflection of the real universe.

The "Small Heavenly Circuit" circulation formed by the connection of the Ren and Du meridians no longer needed his deliberate guidance; it operated on its own, like the revolution of a planet, endlessly regenerating. Each breath seemed to be a microscopic exchange of energy with the universe, transforming the complex energy of the outside world into the purest nourishment for himself.

His divine sense had become incredibly powerful. He could even vaguely "hear" the life rhythm of every plant in the sky garden without activating the "Aura Observation Technique," and "sense" the pure, unwavering devotion to the word "protection" in the heart of the chief student, Karen, as pure as the snow in early spring.

His "unmoving as a mountain" mental defense has become instinctive, enabling him to instantly construct an invisible barrier above his heart, isolating him from all laws. The purification of "spiritual finger" has been integrated into his daily breathing exercises, allowing him to silently dissolve the "turbid air" of negative emotions belonging to mortals in the surrounding space with every gesture.

The most mysterious "qi observation technique" had long become his "magic eye" for observing the universe.

At this moment, he activated the "Qi Observation Technique," and the world before him instantly transformed into a more realistic picture composed of different "qi."

He saw that, centered on the imperial palace, a vast, boundless "aura of order," like a golden ocean, was covering the entire planet. That was the emperor's will, the cornerstone upon which the empire depended for its existence, and the last bulwark protecting human civilization from being swallowed up by the chaotic tide.

But beneath this golden sea, countless... dark gray currents, filled with stagnation, decay, and conspiracy, surged.

Those undercurrents originate from ancient spires, equally towering and far removed from the heart of the palace. These are the lair of Terra's oldest noble families. Their ancestors were once the masters of this planet. Their bloodlines can be traced back to that dark, forgotten era of "strife." They once pledged their loyalty to the emperor in exchange for centuries of wealth and power.

But now, as the new star of the "Intercepting Sect Academy," full of the meaning of "change" and "order," rises, they feel threatened.

A threat that... originates from the very existence itself.

He knew that a silent war had already begun. The lord's earlier probing was merely an appetizer for this meal.

Just then, a soft sound of footsteps, like a breeze rustling through a bamboo grove, came from behind him.

The chief student, Karen, wore a grey monk's robe that, combined with her pure, spring-like aura, gave her an air of holiness. She silently walked behind Hector and, with both hands, respectfully presented him with a… perfectly seamless square box carved from a single, jet-black, unidentified crystal.

The box was icy cold to the touch, and its surface seemed to absorb all light, emanating a chilling aura of "nothingness," like looking directly into the vacuum of interstellar space.

“Mentor,” Karen’s voice was clear, yet tinged with an undisguised solemnity, “it appeared at the entrance of ‘Wenxin Zhai’ an hour ago. No one saw how it was delivered. The guards at the entrance didn’t even sense a single energy fluctuation.”

Hector took the cold crystal box, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.

His "qi-gazing" technique revealed that he could not "see" anything on the surface of the box.

There was no residual energy, no causal link, and not even... any trace of time.