Chapter 2: The Golden Age

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?

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.

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.

Jimmi's Thoughts

I really like the premise that people in the future thought that literature and myths were legit history because so much of mankind's collective knowledge got wiped out that they simply couldn't tell fact from fiction anymore. Anything could be fact at that point.