The Stars Beyond

Chapter 2: The Golden Age

“You’ve mastered the arts from the Old Era?” Qin Cheng was astonished when he saw the clear handprint left on the bark tree.

Physical combat, meditation, and Chi cultivation. Manuals regarding these techniques were gathered from scattered archives from all across the world. These are what remained from a vast collection of knowledge that was destroyed during the war. They were then compiled by researchers to become what was known as the “Scattered Arts”.

Many among the population of the Old World had a name for this collection of scattered knowledge as well: The Old Arts.

Despite his close association with Wang Xuan that exposed him to the wonders of the Scattered Arts, Qin Cheng had always harbored doubt in his mind: Can it really be mastered?

But Wang Xuan’s demonstration had completely changed his mind. To be able to leave a dent in such a thick tree with nothing but flesh and blood... The Old Arts... It might be his ticket to the New World!

“This but a fraction of what practitioners were capable of back in the days.” Wang Xuan shook his head. His well-honed form was shrouded with moonlight.

“Don’t compare yourself with what they had in the past. In fact, I’ve never actually believed in this stuff. Don’t forget that many of these archives have been debunked.” Qin Cheng sighed.

He knew how hard the Old Arts could be in practice. After all, he had been dabbling in it himself. And meditation alone was enough to drive him crazy.

Besides, in an era where the stars were finally within mankind’s reach, where technology had finally allowed stable communication to be established between humanity’s homeworld and its colony, would anyone even believe in the Old Arts?

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Most of them did not.

But Wang Xuan, Qin Cheng, and countless others were approached when they were first years. “Are you interested in the study and research of the Old Arts?” They were asked.

Wang Xuan’s interest was immediately piqued. He had learned about the Scattered Arts when he was younger. It did not take much convincing for him to sign up there and then.

His best friend Qin Cheng, on the other hand, was never a believer. The only reason he even considered taking part in the endeavor was because of rumors that a powerful megacorporation had taken an interest in this field and was generously funding its research.

They naively thought that it was something that they could easily juggle between their class and their free time. But it did not take long for the duo to realize that “research” involved copious amounts of training with specially prepared food provided by those in charge of the project. All for the sake of mastering the Scattered Arts, they had claimed.

Their naivety was finally shattered when they learned that the professors that were in charge of the research were transferred to their campus from Terra Nova. It was then that the duo came to the realization that the so-called “research” was not as simple nor was it as easy as they imagined.

Many of their peers were quick to give up. The hardship that laid out before them was simply too much to bear. It was tiring and repetitive. This made the research boring. It was ultimately the doubts people of the New Era held for the so-called arts salvaged from the remnants of the Old Era.

But while many deemed the research a failed ordeal and left, many more were drawn in by the immense wealth of the megacorporation like sharks smelling blood in the water.

With the resources at its disposal, the megacorporation was able to attract many willing participants from all corners of the world for its research. Many among the youths of the Old World were attracted by the high monetary reward offered by the mysterious business entity.

Through a careful process of selection, however, the vast majority of the participants were sent packing home. Within half a year, their number had shrunk to a mere fifty. These were then transferred to Wang Xuan’s campus, where they would continue their majors while participating in the newly formed “Old Arts Research”.

Not many among them shared Wang Xuan’s enthusiasm in the Scattered Arts. They were there simply because of the high paying jobs promised to them upon their graduation. But none of them truly understood the resolve of the megacorporation behind the research in unlocking the secrets behind the Scattered Arts.

They were first astonished by the reading materials provided to the students of the “Old Arts Research''. They were copies and even genuine artifacts of books and scrolls gathered from museums, from the megacorporation’s own collection, and even religious scriptures of the major religions of the Old Era.

There was even a copy of a certain Chi cultivation technique that was said to be popular in the Old Era recovered after being deemed lost forever after the war.

The diet they were required to take further amazed the students of the Old Arts Research. The department was very particular about what they could eat and what they could not during the research.

According to their professors, the food provided to them by the Old Arts Research Department were among some of the rarest and most expensive materials available to mankind, existing in quantities so limited that they had to be shipped to the Old World across the gulf of space. Even on Terra Nova itself, the prices of certain food provided to them were simply astronomical. Some of them were so rare that even money was no guarantee that one could acquire them.

Even food harvested from the depths of the New World’s seas were introduced into their diet. These were said to be able to slow down aging, help with improving a person’s vigor, and help with their concentration and drive.

These foods, claimed to be favored by the rich and powerful of the New World for their anti-aging properties, were said to be crucial in the practice of the Old Arts.

The scope of the corporation’s resolve to crack the mystery of the Old Arts and its willingness to go to extreme lengths to achieve its goal finally dawned upon the students when twenty transfer students from Terra Nova arrived at their department.

Migration had always been done from the Old World to the New World and not the other way around.

With them they brought with them rumors about the project that shocked many in the Old Research Department to their core.

“They’re trying to unlock the secrets of immortality!”

It was a goal that seemed so preposterous to a modern human, but was also something that the rich and powerful sought to attain. Many had tried since the rise of China’s Qin Dynasty, but they had all failed. It was something deemed impossible.

Immortality was debunked as mere myth since the rise of technology. It had since been deemed unachievable. After all, something that did not exist technically could not be obtained. But it was from such a technologically advanced world that the quest for immortality once again began.

“Well, to be precise, it’s the wish of one of the elders from a great megacorporation. They wish to live longer.”

But the statement did nothing to cushion the shock they had already received. It had always been thus in history, that people in positions of power refuse to succumb to their old age. Youth was the only thing they wished to attain more than wealth.

Wang Xuan had shared such a conversation with Qin Cheng back then.

“Of course the old men over there wish to be younger. I would want to live for 500 more years If I’m as rich as them. Imagine all the money I have that I’m not able to spend. Imagine lusting for beauties but unable to act upon your urge because your body has grown frail.” one of them mused.

“Yup!” the other agreed, “I’m sure the ladies are even more desperate than the men. Aging is the biggest enemy of women who have attained vast quantities of wealth and immeasurable authority in exchange for their youth. If there’s a chance for them to shed their wrinkled old skin, they will definitely grab it. Think about it. Who wouldn’t want eternal youth?”

A few among the newcomers rolled their eyes at the conversation that was not hard to overhear. After all, those that were being discussed were people who were related to them.