The Progenitors of Mechs were geniuses. They had developed a hybrid creation cultivation method that surpassed many others of its kind! Although the restrictions were great, the results were good as well! In a barren galaxy that no longer produced exotic radiation on a wider scale, human civilization had managed to produce at least a hundred or so Star Designers in just four centuries. This was an exceptional result considering that many of these creators who ultimately evolved into True Gods started off as ordinary citizens from different states for the most part! Now that Ves developed a clearer overview of how mech designers worked, he moved on to deconstructing mech pilots. "Compared to mech designers, mech pilots are a lot more self-centered." Veronica explained. "It is clear that willpower cultivation serves as the basis of their progression. Each time they rank up, their willpower grows that much more powerful and dominant. When they finally become a god pilot, they shed all qi, leaving behind only their own extraordinary will." Cynthia nodded. "That is an adequate description. Since you have Interacted with expert pilots and ace pilots enough times, you should know that they are strong and uncompromising cultivators. Do you know how willpower cultivation originally emerged?" Since she asked this question to Ves, he should be able to come up with an answer with the information he received. "Willpower cultivation tends to create the strongest delusions in people." The cyborg cat slowly replied. "That sort of sounds like artistic conception... centered around mech pilots themselves. If my guess is correct, then their method of cultivation is essentially trying to become idealized versions of themselves." Cynthia raised her eyes in surprise. "I see why you have become successful as a mech designer. It is this sort of thinking that you will need to understand the truth of ql and cultivation. You are correct. Willpower cultivation emerged as a specialized approach to the use of artistic conception. Martial cultivators have discovered that if they cultivate by visualizing themselves in a specific manner, they can activate their hidden potential and fortify a quality that is commonly regarded as willpower." Veronica nodded. "Willpower has at least two advantages that make them suitable for combat. First, they are highly exclusionary and can easily resist external interference. Second, they can resonate with mechs... and other artifacts for that matter. Both of these aspects enable mech pilots and especially high-ranking ones to pose a huge threat against other cultivators of the same level." The Lady of the Night lowered her head. "Can you make a guess who will win in a direct confrontation between myself and a god pilot?" "Uhhh... I'm not sure what advantages you have, but if all other factors are equal, then I would personally bet my money on a god pilot." Veronica honestly said. "I don't have a good understanding of god pilots, but I can extrapolate based on what I have witnessed from ace pilots. Your methods may be more comprehensive and varied, but a god pilot must definitely be stronger in a direct confrontation. The fact that they can derive a lot of additional power from an artifact as strong as a god mech only multiplies their effective combat power. Unless your stolen crown gives you an advantage that I am not aware about, I don't see how you can win against a single god pilot." He may not be the best son for voting against his own mother, but Ves understood mechs and mech pilots all too well. They could fight against both warships and alien monstrosities. As long as their willpower was strong enough, they could overpower anything! Cynthia did not look insulted when she heard this response. She was pleased that Ves made a clear Judgment based on facts rather than any biases or mistaken preconceptions. "Mech piloting is an evolution of willpower cultivation and artifact cultivation taken to an extreme. By combining the absolute combat strengths of willpower with the strongest Individual combat tool in the form of a large and elaborately designed mech, you can produce a result that has reached the celling of how much combat power you can evoke from a combat method. It is a masterpiece and an indescribable feat of brilliance. Compared to the original willpower cultivation methods that are mostly focused on punching enemies with the use of fists or cutting them with simple swords, the use of mechs as a force multiplier completely defeats other willpower cultivation methods." "Does this mean that the MTA can essentially defeat you anytime it wants by sending out just one or two god pilots?" Ves asked with a hint of concern. Cynthia chuckled. "You should have more confidence in your mother. As you have mentioned earlier, qi cultivators such as myself have access to more varied methods. Our direct combat strength is not as powerful, but we can create weapons, build up armies and alter the terrain to work in my favor. The Nyxlan Gap is my territory and the Oblivion Empire is fully under my sway. These two advantages grant me the power to protect myself against most threats. Of course, it is better if I do not conflict with the Mech Trade Association. They have the numbers advantage." Perhaps this was why Cynthia worked so hard to promote her husband's own progression as a mech pilot. She would become a lot safer and more secure in her position if she finally had a god pilot of her own by her side! "There should be more to mech piloting than willpower cultivation and artifact cultivation." Ves said. "I think there is also an element of body cultivation in it. The Mech Body Merger Process that ace pilots have to complete in order to ascend to a god pilot makes this pretty clear." The mother nodded. "This is a common element in more sophisticated artifact cultivation methods. Once an artifact cultivator has evolved to a certain extent, he can begin to merge with the object that he has drawn strength from. If the cultivator succeeds, he can enjoy the combined advantages of both forms and benefit from new advantages that were previously absent. As powerful as this may be, adding body cultivation to the mech piloting cultivation method is not entirely positive. Can you tell me the greatest shortcoming of this addition?" Ves already had a clear answer in this regard. What his mother just explained about all of the different cultivation approaches gave him a much clearer understanding of this problem! "Body cultivation can often be difficult and dangerous." He said. "If there was no need for mech pilots to merge with their own mechs close to the end, then the amount of god pilots flying around may easily be ten times greater!" They would be a lot weaker than the god pilots who successfully merged their bodies with god mechs, so it was not entirely clear whether this was the better variation. Cynthia held a strong opinion on this matter. "You may think that adding a body cultivation requirement to mech piloting is an unnecessary luxury, but it is one of the key reasons why the rebellion against the Five Scrolls Compact succeeded. Compared to other willpower cultivators, god pilots are so strong that it is not inaccurate to call them the nemesis of qi practitioners. Can you tell me why this is the case?" Veronica frowned a bit, which caused her to look remarkably cute! "Is it... because their abnormally strong defenses against spiritual and material attacks make them far too difficult to harm?" "That is part of the answer." Cynthia replied. "God pilots have no weaknesses that qi cultivators can exploit. The latter's methods may be more mysterious as they can directly harness the fundamental forces of the universe, but that means little to a god pilot who has merged with a god mech." "So god pilots are the nemesis of other True Gods?" "You can say that. Strong willpower can displace and void the power of heaven and earth, thereby stripping a qi cultivator of his domain and any other external manifestations of power. Strong willpower can also break or suppress the artistic conceptions that qi cultivators depend upon for much of their abilities. A strong god mech as a body further amplifies these advantages while also providing god pilots with an incomparably strong physical body that can resist all sorts of hard attacks." This combination of traits sounded so absurd that it was no wonder that the Five Scrolls Compact ultimately got spanked by the Big Two! Once god pilots entered the scene and deprived the True Gods of the Compact of their precious domains and other reliances, the fall of the Great Temple became a certainty! Ves understood a bit better now why her mother constantly called the traditional methods of the Five Scrolls Compact outdated and behind the times. Unless the Compact's qi cultivators could come up with a superior cultivation method that granted them a fighting chance against god pilots, they had no choice but to remain hidden in their anomalous spaces where they could still rely on their few remaining terrain advantages. Ultimately, the mech piloting cultivation method was probably one of the most difficult and life-threatening ways to become a True God, but the rewards were worth all of the hardships. "It is impossible for this specialized cultivation method to benefit human society as much as it did without the hidden assistance from the Kingdom of Mechs." Veronica remarked. "Just as with mech designers, a lot of mech pilots are able to get started and progress on this path without really needing to consciously follow any convoluted methods like the Annals of Terra Vita. Perhaps it robs mech pilots of a lot of choice, but the barrier of entry is so low that anyone with spiritual potential has a chance, though faint, to become a mighty god pilot." "That is all true, but you are still forgetting one more aspect about mech piloting, my child." "Uhm... I guess that deity cultivation is also a part of its makeup. God pilots are widely revered in our society as heroes and champions. I guess there is a real purpose of promoting their popularity." The powerful resurrected woman smiled down at the cat. "Deity cultivation can play a modest assisting role to mech pilots. Willpower cultivators are highly resistant to both positive and negative external sources of power by nature, so they are highly inefficient at deriving power from the worship of others. This form of cultivation only becomes more prominent once they have become god pilots. Once they have attained the level of a True God, they can further their cultivation by harnessing the power of true faith. Although it is a double-edged sword, it is effective for them as well." Veronica widened her eyes! This explained a lot! She understood now why many god pilots chose to shift their allegiances to the MTA. By leaving their limited groups and becoming a guardian of human civilization as a whole, they would effectively be able to Inspire faith across every living human! Since human civilization in the Milky Way alone was incomparably huge, that amounted to an Immense amount of faith energy! Of course, as more god pilots came into being, the faith energy that ordinary people could supply would be further diluted. Maybe this was another reason why the Progenitors of Mechs added a body cultivation requirement for mech piloting. If god pilots did not have to go through the life-threatening Mech Body Merger Process, then far too many weak god pilots would emerge that all demanded way too much faith energy in order to progress further! Ves also came up with another theory. Perhaps certain god pilots such as the Destroyer of Worlds decided to remain attached to the New Rubarth Empire because it was already large enough and could easily satisfy her demand for faith energy without needing to solicit worship from the other parts of human society. The Great Severing complicated the situation even further. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶 Red humanity's exposure to exotic radiation likely changed the equation for every human True God stuck in the Red Ocean. Every Star Designer and god pilot had lost access to the enormous population of human worshipers in the Milky Way, but red humans all had the chance of becoming much more powerful on an individual basis. The potential for red humanity to supply an enormous amount of spiritual feedback and possibly faith energy was Immense! However, the greatest challenge was to ensure that the population of red humans remained large enough in the following years and decades. If the aliens killed too many red humans, then the high-ranking mech pilots and mech designers would not be able to fare as well as before! Therefore, the Red MTA must be the most anxious among all of the human powers to defend red humanity's space!