Chapter 260: Earth flow car

The Shaman God Mountain delegation is here?!

Li Qi sprang up from the bed with a carp jump, his sleepiness instantly clearing.

The people from Shaman God Mountain were here, and it seemed he wasn't the only one studying abroad.

Three Young Masters? That should include himself.

Then who were the other two patsies?

Li Qi unceremoniously thought of them as three patsies, because he knew that, apart from those like himself with abundant curiosity, most Shamanes truly disliked Tang Nation.

Their Dao were different, and they genuinely couldn't stand each other, just like a Mao Bear commissar seeing a Bald Eagle boss, there was a natural sense of aversion.

Actually, Li Qi didn't particularly like the Human Dao either, because he felt that many aspects of the Human Dao were too extreme; this was his natural feeling as a Shaman.

In fact, he still somewhat agreed with the four words 'follow natural flow' in his heart, and had a considerable degree of approval for many ideas of Shaman Dao.

However, Li Qi was not a native-born person after all; he maintained basic respect for diverse cultures, so he wouldn't attack those with different opinions because of it.

Moreover, now, rather than attacking, the more pressing issue should be to go and receive the delegation.

Who is leading the team, I wonder?

It can't really be just three Young Masters, can it? That wouldn't be called a delegation, would it?

Thinking these thoughts, Li Qi packed his things and quickly jogged out the door.

Time to go meet the Shaman God Mountain delegation!

First, he'd get a feel for the situation. If there were problems, he could run early; if not, he'd return to the warm big family, with people backing him up.

With this thought, Li Qi took a public bus, preparing to head four thousand li away.

That's right, four thousand li, terribly far, but the address on the terminal news was in that very place.

Such a distant place, even ordinary Chang'an people wouldn't casually go that far.

For this kind of distance, usual transportation methods were not needed, just like if you were in the Second Ring Road and wanted to go to Tianjin, the taxi fare would skyrocket.

For this, one usually takes intercity public transport.

And Chang'an's intercity public transport, Li Qi had admired for a long time.

Soon, Li Qi ran to the corresponding bus stop.

There, a ten-thousand-legged worm lay prostrate.

This type of insect resembled a giant centipede, its legs as sharp as blades.

It was over a li long, with thousands of densely packed legs, covered in hard carapaces inscribed with countless runes.

Although named ten-thousand-legged worm, except for certain large individuals, others did not have ten thousand legs.

Then, on the back of this ten-thousand-legged worm, a carriage was carried, and the carriage was like a series of pavilions, looking quite magical.

Li Qi had already learned the operating principle of this thing through his terminal.

This was the 'Earth Flow Vehicle'.

This ten-thousand-legged worm was alive, but it was inherently a creature of the earth, skilled at moving along Earth Veins, feeding on Earth Qi and minerals, a kind of unintelligent exotic beast.

When young, it was only arm-thick, and a single egg-laying could produce tens of thousands, but not necessarily one would grow to adulthood, meaning becoming a giant insect body over a li long as it was now.

Sometimes it took several egg-layings for one lucky individual to grow this large; once it reached this size, it immediately possessed the combat power of a seventh-rank, but it was not immortal and would still die naturally, returning to the earth.

Tang Nation captured and raised ten-thousand-legged worms, then artificially cultivated them, utilizing their ability to swiftly traverse through Earth Veins and Earth Qi, turning them into Earth Flow Vehicles.

Having bought his ticket, Li Qi boarded the back of the ten-thousand-legged worm.

He arrived at one of the pavilions and entered his private compartment.

There were no general seating tickets here; all tickets corresponded to a room, as a worm over a li long could carry thousands of rooms on its back.

The pavilions on top were three or four stories high.

Inside, the corridors spiraled and intertwined, connecting to each other, forming a circular layout, with winding rooms that connected seamlessly, allowing for a huge passenger capacity.

No matter what, in terms of basic public facilities, Tang Nation was advanced and cheap.

Seated in the Earth Flow Vehicle, and after waiting a while, the ten-thousand-legged worm below began to move.

It began to burrow into the ground.

One could see that Earth Deities were around, responsible for maintaining the stability of the Earth Veins, creating a smooth environment for the ten-thousand-legged worm to advance.

As the ten-thousand-legged worm entered the ground, the runes around its body began to flash.

These runes integrated with the pavilions, forming a protective barrier that prevented the violent Earth Vein energy from invading the vehicle.

Li Qi could see outside from the window in the pavilion.

Outside, a soft golden light glowed.

Cracked and scratched yellow Earth Qi shimmered, accumulating in the visible canyon fissures, where fierce Earth Qi raged.

But this originally violent Earth Qi was now tightly controlled, with repulsive forces overflowing from it, evaporating and dispersing into the air, providing basic propulsion for the ten-thousand-legged worm.

Beneath the ten-thousand-legged worm's trunk, the constantly changing and extending Earth Qi connected with the ground below, firmly fixing the ten-thousand-legged worm in place.

Above, countless energies formed a vortex, like a large pool of constantly stirred and ground rock.

One could only see:

Yellow clouds moved for ten thousand li, stirred by the wind, golden waves flowed for a thousand paths like rivers.

Glimmering gold and stone appeared in grandeur, countless natural chasms were purified of waves.

Magnificent and beautiful, transforming into countless vibrant yellows before his eyes, during the Earth Flow Vehicle's preparation process, it was as if one could experience the strength of the Earth Veins across the world.

If the power within were to erupt, it could easily shake ten thousand li, shattering countless mountains and rivers.

Then, the Earth Flow Vehicle began to move.

The ten-thousand-legged worm moved its thousands of razor-like legs, like a domino effect; suddenly, countless legs formed a wave.

A rumbling sound came, and one could only hear:

Shaking heaven and earth, thunder drums roared, golden snakes and electric flashes opened.

Collapsing mountains and moving peaks, stirring seas and overturning rivers, felling trees and destroying cliffs.

Like a great furnace being stoked in the early evening, the booming sound was incessant, its roar reaching rivers and great lakes, causing countless birds, beasts, and fish to prostrate themselves.

However, Li Qi didn't actually see birds and beasts being frightened; it was just that the sound made him feel that way.

Listening to this sound, it was as if he had witnessed an earthquake.

In fact, Li Qi knew that although the commotion was so great here, in reality, there would be no feeling whatsoever on the surface of the ground.

Such movement was almost equivalent to an earthquake.

However, the energy of this earthquake was utilized by Tang Nation, allowing the Earth Flow Vehicle to instantly accelerate to an extremely fast speed!

Such massive energy certainly wouldn't only supply one Earth Flow Vehicle.

In fact, every day, large numbers of Earth Flow Vehicles travel through Tang Nation; Tang Nation has hundreds of thousands of such vehicles.

Hundreds of thousands of adult ten-thousand-legged worms connect the entire intercity transportation of Tang Nation, and through this 'underground high-speed rail', ordinary people can travel within Tang Nation without being hindered by vast distances.

After all, the world is truly too vast; ordinary people trying to travel on their own couldn't even leave one district of Chang'an.

Therefore, Tang Nation's transportation tools genuinely facilitated these ordinary people.

Even a seventh-rank cultivator would find it difficult to surpass the speed of these transportation tools; although they should be able to catch up, if the speed is similar, why not just take the vehicle, right?

It is estimated that only at the sixth-rank can one break free from these public transportation methods and travel faster on one's own two legs.

But presumably, by then, there would also be transportation tools belonging to sixth-rank existences, just not as widely popularized as public transport, belonging to exclusive items.

The Earth Flow Vehicle's operating speed was quite fast.

However, the drawback was that the scenery outside was very monotonous.

The first time one came underground, it would certainly feel spectacular, but spectacular as it was, it didn't change, and looking at it too much would eventually become boring.

Previously, when in Great Deer Kingdom, talking with Jing Yan, a merchant from Song Kingdom, Li Qi knew of the existence of Earth Flow Vehicles; at that time, the Song Kingdom people said Earth Flow Vehicles could travel three thousand li in a day, but only one route had temporarily opened to Song Kingdom.

At that time, Li Qi exclaimed that it was invincible, the speed was too fast.

However, now it seemed that it was probably because Song Kingdom's Earth Veins were too weak, and the ten-thousand-legged worms were probably not good quality either, just broken things from the border areas, only capable of three thousand li a day.

Now in Chang'an, the Earth Flow Vehicles here can easily travel fifteen thousand li a day, and if traveling at full speed, probably even faster, but usually, they need to take care of the ten-thousand-legged worm's health, so they don't rush too much.

But at this speed, it only took one morning to reach the outskirts of Chang'an, four thousand li away.

One morning quickly passed.

Li Qi's destination also arrived.

When he got off the vehicle, it was already noon.

He quickly arrived at a high-ground park here, which was where the news said the Shaman God Mountain envoys would appear, give interviews, and publicly engage with Tang Nation.

To be honest, Li Qi didn't understand why they had to engage publicly; had the relationship between the two sides eased?

But it didn't matter if he didn't understand; as long as the big figures at the top understood, that was fine.

Li Qi sat on the street waiting, surveying the surrounding park.

This seemed to be a memorial park, with some statues, but Li Qi didn't recognize them. There was a huge plaza, with jade platforms several zhang wide around it, and white stone pillars everywhere.

On the mountain, there was the sound of drums and flutes, green plants swayed, a gentle breeze blew, and there were also fountains and various entertainment facilities.

However, the style was all ancient and traditional, mostly featuring openwork and flying eaves.

Earth-spitting fountains, clear pools with distant Qi.

Graceful and colorful, with glistening dew.

Li Qi simply found a place to sit in the park, watching the time.

Soon, about an hour later, he got what he wanted.

Gods of Tang Nation and guards suddenly appeared around, beginning to set up the venue nearby.

Some people from news agencies or other information organizations, like himself, had also arrived early and were waiting nearby.

The curious onlookers also began to gather.

Many dignitaries also sat in advance on the temporarily arranged chairs in the plaza.

Li Qi was even asked to leave because he didn't have an interview pass, so he could only stay outside with the crowd of onlookers.

There were quite a lot of onlookers, about ten thousand people, probably all gathered because they heard the name of Shaman God Mountain.

Li Qi bought some food outside, and while eating, he waited for another half an hour.

During this time, he wasn't idle; he squatted by the roadside and struck up a conversation with a passerby.

"Buddy, what's with all these people gathered around?" Li Qi asked a man next to him, who was about thirty years old, with a curious expression.

"Ah? You don't know and you still came over?" The man was a little surprised.

"I just saw a lot of people and came to join in," Li Qi said with a smile.

"I see, well, if you read the news, people from Shaman God Mountain are coming here today, everyone's here to watch the excitement. It's my first time seeing a Shaman; I've only seen them on the terminal before. I heard they don't wear clothes, only animal skins, saying it's natural."

"What public account did you read that from? Isn't that an obvious rumor? How could Shaman God Mountain, which stands alongside Tang Nation in the world, truly be so backward?" Li Qi curled his lips and said.

The man didn't take offense, smiling and saying, "I haven't seen it, that's why I came to see it with my own eyes this time, right?"

"I remember the library and various legitimate terminal science popularization accounts all wrote about it; I've been reading a lot about the customs and traditions of Shaman God Mountain recently," Li Qi said earnestly, taking out his terminal.

That was indeed the case.

The terminal was similar to an ultimate Internet of Things, and through the Human Dao Dragon Veins, a zero-latency internet had been established, an internet that could even connect to all the heavens and myriad worlds.

Naturally, with the internet, everything that should be there was there.

It could be said that the spiritual life of the people of Tang Nation was very rich.

Li Qi had learned a lot through this, and some popular science accounts even understood Shaman God Mountain better than he did.

Although this was because Li Qi had only lived in Shaman God Mountain for a few days before leaving.

"Are those things they say true? It's all the same, you still have to see it with your own eyes to know the truth, so I specifically took an Earth Flow Vehicle to see it!" The man said, holding his head high.

"Indeed, you still have to see it with your own eyes to know the truth," Li Qi nodded.

The two chatted about their conjectures regarding Shaman God Mountain, and time passed little by little, the scene becoming increasingly grand.

But to be honest, it wasn't that grand; although the setup was quite luxurious, Li Qi didn't see any high-ranking officials from Tang Nation appear, only small fry doing the work.

After chatting with that man for about half an hour, both of them freely discussed their fantasies about Shaman God Mountain, and as they were talking—

At this moment, they suddenly saw a luxurious carriage approaching in this direction.

The carriage was pulled by a Dragon.

Not some flood dragon, horned dragon, or viper dragon or anything like that.

But... a True Dragon, covered in wounds, pulling the carriage listlessly in front.

Four people got off the carriage.

Immediately, there was a flurry of clicking and recording sounds all around.

The one standing in front should be the adult leading the way, and behind them were the Young Masters who followed.

Li Qi could see that, led by two adults he didn't know, two people he did know followed behind.

Yan Ke, and... Bo Yue?

Huh? How did Bo Yue get involved in this kind of thing? What does it have to do with him?

However, Li Qi, standing outside, looked closely and found that Bo Yue's Face was full of unhappiness.

Although he forced a smile on his Face, it was clear that he looked haggard.

What's going on? How did Bo Yue get dragged into this?

And what's going on with that Yan Ke?

Why are they both people I happen to know?