Above The Sky
Chapter 544 - 544 513 Fortunately I'm Still Here In any case there's still the 6th update asking for monthly votes!

544: Chapter 513: Fortunately, I’m Still Here (In any case, there’s still the 6th update, asking for monthly votes!) 544: Chapter 513: Fortunately, I’m Still Here (In any case, there’s still the 6th update, asking for monthly votes!) ——Standing on the summit.

The Second Prince’s words echoed in Ian’s ears.

——Standing on the summit, humans are just like ants, or even completely invisible, let alone their happiness and dreams.

——Standing on the summit, all you can see is a city, a province, and an entire nation.

——Those who stand on the summit become cold-hearted, sacrificing a group of the present for an unreachable future.

——As long as one stands on the summit, everyone is a tyrant.

Michael had thought that Ian would either argue against his somewhat cold and ruthless words or silently nod in understanding—he could feel similar emotions, two complex and conflicting feelings echoing in Ian’s heart, his Heart Light Body could sense such fluctuations.

But, after a brief pause, Ian simply asked in confusion, “Is the summit of the Imperial Capital…

that high?”

Ian was sincerely puzzled.

The prince was taken aback, not knowing whether to laugh or sigh, “No.

Indeed, the summit is not that high, but above it, there is nothing.”

“Everything humans can have is above the ground, and any height beyond that is meaningless.”

——Not true.

Ian thought to himself.

——This isn’t right.

——Above the sky there is meaning, it’s so vast.

Everything that humans have is definitely not just what can be seen from the summit…

but also everything that can be seen when gazing at the stars!

He could not deny Michael’s words had a certain rationality in the Terra Continent, but with such immense powers, the Fifth Echelon that was still maintaining a balance on the Terra Continent, as well as the various technologies that had long since reached the threshold of a near-star society, should not have made this land so tormented.

They should not be slaughtering each other with these technologies that could travel to the stars; they should not be so self-destructive…

They could completely head towards far more distant places…

But soon, the white-haired youth understood, or rather, remembered the reason.

He recalled what he saw when he looked up in the Golden Prairie: a sky lacking stars and dim, pitch-black as the abyss, horrifying.

A void of nothingness, uninspiring of any romance, imaginative wandering or deep thinking, incapable of providing fuel for imagination, infatuation, and contemplation.

There were no stars there.

Yes…

Ian suddenly realized, he finally understood.

——The people of the Terra World…

grew up in a world without stars.

They never expect, nor fantasize about, the splendor of the night sky.

They never are curious, nor contemplate, what lies in the Milky Way.

They simply do not think there is anything worth longing for and exploring above the sky.

The people of this world…

have lost the stars in their hearts.

Their highest point is merely the mountain summit.

That’s all.

——So.

Ian thought to himself.

——They are all prisoners wandering above the ground.

So…

all the strong of this world are balancing each other, futilely wasting all their power.

Unless…

— a Sixth Echelon appeared.

That was what Michael truly wanted to tell Ian during this visit.

He encouraged Ian’s ambition, agreed with his wisdom, but conveyed through various tactful methods that he shouldn’t care about ordinary people.

No, that’s not right.

Deep inside, Michael harbored an intense sorrow.

Just as he had said, he had once traversed the frontiers of the Empire, seen the poorest of the poor, and done anything an ordinary person would do—this prince, who barely hid his admiration for Inega II, aspired for the happiness of all mankind, just like his grandfather.

He cared deeply about people.

Whether they were ordinary humans or Sublimators, he cared about these lives.

Thus, he understood…

merely producing a few more potions, merely developing some technology, was nothing more than adding to an already abundant production capacity.

Technology couldn’t change the current predicament.

In a world with the Fifth Energy Level, on this land with extraordinary powers, Sublimation Skills, and Spirit Energy, mere production capacity and some technologies were utterly meaningless.

Nations checked each other, and major powers struggled and depended on each other, like crabs in a bucket, with no one able to climb out on their own.

Terra had all the answers that could make everyone in the world happy, and yet, due to people themselves, these answers couldn’t solve the problems.

The only one who could break this sad deadlock was the most powerful Sublimator at the pinnacle of power.

The one to suppress the entire world…

the Black Sun.

In Michael’s eyes, even if Ian’s wisdom couldn’t make him reach the Fifth Echelon, it could definitely accumulate nourishment for future generations, accumulate experience, so it absolutely couldn’t be wasted—To truly change Terra Continent, one must accumulate step by step the path leading to the Sixth Echelon.

And it wasn’t just the Empire.

All other nations and major forces likely thought the same.

No matter who it was, no matter which path.

As long as there was…

this land bound in chains, and the people imprisoned in the starless Void, they could take another step forward.

After the second prince left, Ian still sat on the lab chair.

His mood became somewhat heavy, but in the end, everything Michael had shared with him, the young man had already thought through.

The social issues here were infinitely more complex than on Earth, yet infinitely simpler…

because all the problems essentially came down to the gap between ordinary people and Sublimators.

And even more fundamentally, on human desires.

How to check human desires and maintain a vast order without being consumed by it?

This was an eternal question.

“Indeed, now is not the time to confront a behemoth like the Alchemy Group with the identity of an ordinary First Energy Level person, Michael’s advice on this is right, I should change my research direction first.”

Standing up, Ian prepared to continue taking stock of the lab’s equipment: “I need to start planning for the territory too, I have to think about the development plan that follows.”

“I need to schedule research on the Domain of Extremes too, the Sixth Energy Level…

My teacher’s conjecture is just a guess, although it has indeed made me stronger, I still can’t be completely sure that fully mastering it would allow me to reach the Sixth Energy Level.”

“The Sixth Energy Level is certainly not as complicated as five Domains of Extremes, but it’s not as simple as achieving it just by mastering them.”

At this thought, Ian closed his eyes and recorded down a long list of schedules on the Silver Chip, then smiled.

“Interesting, a wasteland waiting to be developed.

That’s a real challenge.”

The white-haired youth whispered with a light laugh: “Yeah, how boring is this world?

The combative Fifth Echelon powerhouses, the endless wealth and resources that the great nations throw into the restraining Abyss, the pinnacle technology of the previous epochs and the flourishing Sublimation Skills Terra is nearly reaching, all will gradually stagnate, and even a slight development can turn around and destroy the civilization itself, dragging the entire civilizational system into the Abyss.”

“A world rotting in crisis and silence, a world where technology turns around to destroy civilization, a world without stars, a world where everyone’s souls are bound by gravity.”

“Such a world is truly too boring.”

“Fortunately, there’s me.”

He stood up, with silver-green fluorescent light shining in his eyes: “I really ought to thank His Highness Michael—he pointed out the real problems of this world.”

“It’s not just the absolute power of the Sixth Energy Level, but also about reshaping in people’s hearts the yearning for stars—otherwise, no one will look up to the Sky.”

“It looks like before I truly return to the countryside to farm, I have a lot to prepare.”