That evening, Celestial Xia’s national news broadcasted the announcement that thirty of the country’s astronauts had landed on the Moon and completed the construction of a temporary Moon Base.
[News Agency Report: With the assistance of Taoist Masters, our nation’s researchers have successfully landed on the Moon and completed the construction of a temporary Moon Base.
For this lunar mission, our nation dispatched thirty researchers and engineers. The initial goal is to establish a fully functional, large-scale Moon Base within two months, achieving its normalized operation.
Experts predict that the operational Moon Base will significantly advance Domains such as spaceflight research, lunar geological resource exploration, biological cultivation experiments, and gravitational wave detection.]
People across the globe: ???
Wait, so these Taoist Masters could not only fly up there themselves but also bring others along?
And they didn’t just bring people—they brought an entire Moon Base with them?
The news broadcast played several short video clips. They showed not only the interior of the temporary Moon Base but also a glimpse of its exterior, along with a vast, continuous array of solar panels.
"Holy crap!"
"They said a successful moon landing was still years away. How did they just quietly pull it off?"
"And they sent up thirty people at once to build a large-scale, normalized base. That just sounds bizarre."
"Call me a prophet! I said it before: if the Taoist Masters can pack up an entire telecom fraud compound and land on the Moon themselves, then taking astronauts up there to build a base would be a piece of cake!"
"That’s so badass!"
Keywords like "successful moon landing," "thirty astronauts," "temporary Moon Base," and "unparalleled space barbecue" surged to the top of trending searches.
As the Celestial Xia People entered a state of online revelry, the public opinion in Sakura Paste and Europe and America suffered another collective meltdown.
"Cheaters! Bastards! This is blatant cheating!"
"Celestial Xia’s engine technology is still far behind ours. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t even be close to achieving a manned moon landing!"
"It’s all because of those Extraordinary Beings from Celestial Xia’s native Daoism!"
"How exactly did they obtain such abilities? Why are they the only ones who have them? It’s not fair!"
"We strongly demand that Celestial Xia publicly share the secret behind how those Daoism Extraordinary Beings grew so powerful. This is the shared wealth of all mankind!"
"Dream on. Other countries haven’t shared their technological achievements either, so what right do you have to demand that Celestial Xia share theirs?"
"How is that the same? Technological achievements are private property. Those Daoism Extraordinary Beings in Celestial Xia obviously didn’t gain their power on their own. Otherwise, why can’t Extraordinary Beings from other countries do the same?"
By now, after witnessing events like the moon landing, the annihilation of the fraud compound, and the dispelling of typhoons, the insecure yet arrogant citizens of South Ban and Sakura Paste, as well as the heavily indoctrinated masses of Europe and America, had finally come to their senses.
There were only two types of Extraordinary Beings in this world: Celestial Xia’s Taoist Sect Extraordinary Beings, and everyone else.
Aside from a tiny handful of die-hard denialists, the vast majority of ordinary people had admitted that their own countries’ Extraordinary Beings were utterly incomparable to the Taoist Sect Extraordinary Beings of Celestial Xia.
Sakura Paste’s highly touted Yin-Yang Masters and Huaqi’s Superpower Special Service Bureau were nothing but jokes. Aside from performing on the internet and television shows, they hadn’t accomplished a single thing of significance.
Sakura Paste suffered constantly from typhoons and earthquakes, while Huaqi Country was plagued by endless hurricanes and wildfires. Let alone providing disaster relief, their Extraordinary Beings couldn’t even predict these events in advance.
However, acknowledging the truth was one thing; accepting it was another.
The sense of superiority born from over a century of dominance wouldn’t fade so easily. Deep down, they still looked down upon the Celestial Xia People, convinced that the Celestial Xia Taoist Sect Extraordinary Beings had only obtained their Extraordinary Power through sheer luck.
Perhaps they had discovered some artifact left behind by an alien civilization that could grant power to ordinary people. Regardless, they refused to admit that this was the intrinsic power of the Celestial Xia Taoist Sect Extraordinary Beings.
They believed that the secret behind the Taoist Sect Extraordinary Beings’ power actually belonged to all of humanity—or at the very least, they were entitled to a share. If this secret fell into their hands, the Superpower Special Service Bureau would be the ones dominating the world.
Therefore, they righteously demanded that Celestial Xia publicly share this secret that rightfully belonged to all of mankind.
Well, strictly speaking, their speculations weren’t entirely wrong. The secret behind the Taoist Sect Extraordinary Beings’ growing strength stemmed from Gu Zhao, and the secret behind Gu Zhao’s strength came from the Five Thunders Order.
Unfortunately for them, the Five Thunders Order only worked for Taoist Sect Cultivators. Whether they were Yin-Yang Masters, Black Magic Masters, or the Cardinals and Wizards of Europe and America, none of them were qualified to receive a Thunder Seed.
Of course, if Gu Zhao was willing to bring them to the Otherworld, the high concentration of Spiritual Qi there would likely allow these individuals to experience a massive leap in strength. After all, anyone who could Cultivate into an Extraordinary Being in the modern world was no pushover.
Even if they couldn’t reach the threshold of five hundred years of Dao Practice, accumulating one or two hundred years of Dao Practice would be enough for them to do whatever they pleased in Blue Star society. At the very least, ordinary police officers or even small military units would pose no threat to them.
But would Gu Zhao bring them over?
Heh...
Thus, the netizens of Europe and America were left with nothing but impotent rage, standing on their self-perceived moral high ground as they prepared to resort to moral kidnapping.
Didn’t Celestial Xia claim to win people over with virtue? Didn’t they promise never to seek hegemony? Weren’t all countries, large and small, supposed to be equal?
If that was the case, to prove their trustworthiness, they should hand over the secret to the Extraordinary Beings’ power!
"The Mongolian Steppe wanting an exclusive railway and a free plot of land carved out for them in Jinggang is also an absolute joke."
"An Nan wants to build a high-speed rail. Not only do they hope Celestial Xia will provide an interest-free loan, but they also demand that we share the high-speed rail technology."
"In the automotive trade, we traded our market for technology for decades, yet Young Master Ou never gave us their core tech. Now that our new energy vehicles are entering Europe, those Young Master Ous are demanding that we transfer our relevant technologies to them."
"Are they all addicted to daydreaming?"
"It’s just because we don’t have enough aircraft carriers and our firepower isn’t fierce enough! Last time, when the Type 055 fleet sailed a lap around Kangaroo and conducted a wave of live-fire exercises right off their coast, they fell right in line."
"Once our aircraft carriers can sail right up to their borders, they’ll finally wake up."
"It’s a pity we care too much about our image. We don’t have overseas bases or the capacity for highly frequent long-distance voyages. Plus, building naval bases in foreign countries goes against our national policy. It’s a bit of a hassle."
"It’s no hassle at all. We just shouldn’t occupy other countries’ land, that’s all."
Someone online had a wild brainstorm: "Shen Hao Master could bring a Floating Island back to the country, and the Taoist Masters can even fly to the Moon. Could altering the terrain really be that difficult for them?
"Let’s not even talk about the deep sea. The Taoist Masters could just gather earth into piles on the high seas to create a small island. According to the principle of ’finders keepers,’ that island would naturally belong to us.
"When the time comes, we can build a few near crucial straits and key islands, or even build them right off the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean. We can directly say hello to the people on the other side. The main theme will be ’harmonious neighborhoods’ and ’befriending our neighbors’!"
Yunyang had just returned from the Moon. While scrolling through his phone, watching the news videos about the Moon Base and himself, he stumbled upon this wild idea. He considered his current abilities and realized that it actually wasn’t impossible.
"Befriending our neighbors—that’s quite a thought!" Yunyang’s eyes lit up. "Our Taoist Sect Cultivation is all about persuading people to embrace kindness!"