However, even powerful Golden Core cultivators cannot stay in the Cyber Dimension indefinitely.
This is because their consciousness bodies find it difficult to endure; as time passes, the negative energy in the Cyber Dimension will gradually erode them, leading to the corruption and decline of their humanity.
To prevent their minds from becoming mechanized, Golden Core cultivators rarely remain in the Cyber Dimension for more than one month of external time.
Only beings like Lana, who have reached the Nascent Soul level, can remain in the Cyber Dimension indefinitely.
After all, the moment a Nascent Soul is born, it can already be considered a native life form of the Cyber Dimension.
As long as they do not wish to leave, no environmental factors can force them to depart.
…
…
Lana was busy in the Cyber Dimension, completely immersed in the construction of the Digital World.
She no longer knew how long she had been in this virtual space, but she knew she had completed the construction of the Digital World.
However, it was not that Lana stopped expanding the Digital World; rather, she had already captured all the Cyber Demons nearby.
Nevertheless, by capturing a large number of Cyber Demons, the area of the Digital World had already expanded to approximately one million square kilometers.
Yet, the Digital World still seemed somewhat monotonous—except for a lonely two-story villa, most of the area remained empty.
Lana decided to turn this place into a trade center for the Cyber Dimension, but she did not plan to do it herself.
Instead, she planned to rent out the remaining empty areas to other cultivators, allowing them to decorate according to their own preferences and styles, and jointly build this city.
Thus, Lana quickly differentiated countless domain permissions and packaged them into entry passes, then unhesitatingly scattered these entry passes throughout the entire Cyber Dimension.
With her powerful strength at the Nascent Soul level, Lana had enough confidence to ignore most potential threats.
Now, she was no less capable than even a soul AI like Alt, and perhaps even superior.
Because her soul was more condensed, which allowed her to fear no threat in this dimension.
Soon, cultivators and Cyber Demons entered Lana's Digital World with domain passes.
Lana gave her Digital World a resounding name—the City of Freedom.
Not long after, those Cyber Cultivators and Cyber Demons who had fortunately obtained passes successfully entered Lana's Digital World with their domain passes.
When both sides arrived almost simultaneously, the domain permissions teleported them together to the City of Freedom.
The Cyber Cultivators, upon seeing the Cyber Demons, immediately realized they had fallen into a trap; they had stumbled into a Cyber Demon's lair.
Many cultivators immediately took to their heels, fleeing as if for their lives into the Cyber Dimension outside.
And when the Cyber Demons saw the fleeing Cyber Cultivators, they immediately let out a series of cackling laughs, then transformed into streaks of light, rushing toward those Cyber Cultivators.
Even if they could not break through the protective forces of their opponents and devour them, they could at least gain some benefits through trade, couldn't they? After all, these Cyber black accounts were well-known fat sheep in this dimension.
"Hmph, I should have mentioned in the pass that mutual attacks are not allowed in the City of Freedom, right!" Lana's cold voice echoed within the City of Freedom, and the power of the Nascent Soul instantly froze all existences in this Cyber Dimension.
Lana pulled all Cyber Cultivators back into the Digital World; since they had come, they should not leave, but stay and work for her.
At the same time, countless mechanical tentacles sprouted from the ground of the Digital World, pulling all Cyber Demons who dared to break the rules into the earth, turning them into nourishment for the growth of the City of Freedom.
As her own domain, Lana had absolute control in the City of Freedom, exerting several times her usual strength, and could even control everything in the entire city with a single thought.
She mercilessly punished those who violated the rules, while also demonstrating her powerful strength and authority.
Lana had helped Xiao build a behemoth like the Mechanicus step by step, so her political acumen and management skills were naturally self-evident.
For these outsiders, giving them a show of force was undoubtedly the best way to make them behave.
Lana knew very well that the rules of any place could only truly be forged with the blood and bones of countless people.
Otherwise, everyone would treat the rules she set as mere trifles.
Next, Lana clarified her original intention for building the City of Freedom: she hoped to create a relatively safe zone in the Cyber Dimension and welcome all who came seeking refuge.
As long as one could pay the fee, one could live in the City of Freedom indefinitely.
And in the City of Freedom, each person only needed to pay 12 Iron-Hour Gear Spirit Coins per day.
At the same time, Lana also clearly stated that she was constantly recruiting coders; every 1 YB of valid data could be exchanged for 1 Golden-Year Gear Spirit Coin.
(T/N: 1 Yotabyte is so large that the entire internet which is 125 Zettabytes is only 12% of a Yottabyte. Lana is casually asking for 10 times the data of the collective data of all of humanity currently.)
And the coding speed of each low-level Mechanical Priest could reach 2 to 3 YB of valid data per year.
For those low-level cultivators, this was clearly a very substantial reward, even exceeding the income they could obtain through normal cultivation.
Of course, those Cyber black accounts who had not received formal hacker education might need to spend more time to complete the task, and it was even possible that they could not code 1 YB of valid data in a year.
But there was no need to worry—Lana provided a quick guide to becoming a hacker, as well as a coder's bible from beginner to expert.
Just pay 5 Golden-Year Gear Spirit Coins, and you can get all the knowledge.
If funds were insufficient, Lana would also provide loan services to sell her knowledge more widely to these Cyber black accounts.
When Lana finished explaining her rules to a group of people, many Cyber black account cultivators' eyes lit up.
This was an operation they had never imagined, and it was their first time encountering such a great existence capable of building a city in the Cyber Dimension.
They knelt down one after another, grateful for Lana's benevolence and generosity, and began to praise Lana's actions with words.
Facing such a grand display and rhetoric, Lana was beaming with joy, and although she was initially very surprised, she quickly adapted.
Within the Mechanicus, apart from meeting the divine, there was no tradition of kneeling and bowing; at most, it was a simple bow.
So, for such a grand gesture from the Cyber black accounts, it was Lana's first time seeing it among the cultivator community.
After all, the Mechanicus pursues truth, and all disciples are equal; no one is nobler than another.
Therefore, the internal relations of the Mechanicus are actually very harmonious, and there is no clear hierarchy or strict class system like other churches.
⭐ Enjoying the story?
You can read ahead and support the translations by joining my Patreon! Your support helps me update faster and take on more projects. Thank you for reading!
Read up to 50 chapters ahead!
patreon.com/AminaSim