Chapter 271: Shadow of Chang'an

Just as he exclaimed, Li Qi felt a force gripping his vocal cords.

"Don't speak," the Grand Shaman repeated.

Li Qi nodded.

But he couldn't be blamed for what just happened.

He had felt the Qi of a Dragon Vein!

True Knowledge Dao Resonance clearly gave him the same sensation as the detection terminal—that immense, boundless, almost indescribable grand Dao that permeated all realms!

He suppressed his emotions and silently followed the Grand Shaman forward.

Along the way, the Grand Shaman began to explain to him.

"Aren't you curious what a Dragon Vein is? It just so happens that I'm coming here tonight, so I brought you to see one of the closest facilities to a Dragon Vein—the location of a second-grade Peak Spiritual Artifact of the Human Dao."

Li Qi naturally remembered the instruction not to speak, so he honestly kept his mouth shut and followed.

Then, soon, within this cavern, Li Qi saw 'machinery'.

It was real machinery.

It wasn't the common ancient architectural style of Tang Nation, nor did it integrate Spiritual Artifacts and circuits into a single, unified terminal Spiritual Artifact.

Instead, it was pure machinery: countless rotating gears meshed together, complex mechanical structures vibrated, and perfect escapement mechanisms and balance spring Systems were arranged together on the rotating frame of the bearings.

Deep underground, beneath Chang'an, there was another Chang'an!

The underground of Chang'an was a mechanical city!

This was not some hidden grotto-heaven as Li Qi had previously guessed, but a city!

Beneath Chang'an's neat and orderly streets was a shadow-like mechanical city!

All these machines were interlocked structures, solidly arranged underground, capable of free rotation, disassembly, and reassembly, allowing the three mutually perpendicular coordinate axes around a specific center to rotate freely.

Like clocks and single-tooth carry mechanisms, the transmission between magical power and delicate mechanical structures sent out commands level after level.

These machines were all made of an alloy Li Qi didn't recognize, crafted with extremely fine processing techniques. Some servo lines were formed by optical cables, with many hydraulic pistons encircling their central part, and a complete set of protective folding plates on the outside.

Impeccable, flawless. From every perspective, this was a self-consistent, endlessly circulating, exquisitely designed machine that could run for a hundred thousand years without stopping if left alone.

Watching this city operate, one couldn't help but feel an innate sense of order.

So complex, so intricate, trillions of parts created this magnificent thing, so much so that Li Qi's brain felt like it was twitching just by looking at it.

He had to retract his True Knowledge, no longer examining it closely, but analyzing it only with his eyes.

If he kept his True Knowledge extended, he worried his brain would boil. The things here were too complex, making his body, accustomed to information flow灌脑, feel overwhelmed!

The Grand Shaman led Li Qi through it.

As he walked, he explained to Li Qi: "This is the master of all terminals and all public facility Spiritual Artifacts of the entire Human Dao, the foundation upon which the entire Chang'an can operate smoothly."

Chang'an's ground, houses, and various infrastructures were all Spiritual Artifacts.

Just as human cities on Earth are all industrial products, no one would build a house with thatch in a city, and even the ground is concrete and asphalt; Chang'an is the same.

It's just that industrial products have been turned into Spiritual Artifacts.

The Grand Shaman's steps were steady, as if he was used to it, and he explained to the astonished Li Qi as he walked: "This is the Spiritual Artifact closest to the Dragon Vein."

"A second-grade Peak, the ultimate product jointly created by the Dao of Reason and the Human Dao, 'The Axis of All Realms,' the origin of all terminals, the core of Tang Nation's endless network."

"The energy of The Axis of All Realms is the Human Dao Dragon Vein. Here, you can directly communicate with the Human Dao Dragon Vein, but just feel it, don't look, or you will die."

Saying that, the Grand Shaman passed through the endless mechanical structures and led Li Qi to a giant pipeline.

It was truly enormous. Li Qi even thought he was standing on flat ground; the surroundings were incredibly flat and smooth, made of a metal he didn't recognize, emitting no energy fluctuations.

If he hadn't looked far into the distance, with his eyesight, he could see a circular interface connecting to this pipeline in the distance, he would have even thought it was a road.

And that 'distance' was truly far; Li Qi conservatively estimated it to be several thousand li.

Being able to see the circular interface from such a distance, besides Li Qi's good eyesight, was also because that interface was simply too large.

As long as it's big enough, it can be seen, just as one can see the sun from Earth even at the distance between Earth and the sun.

Li Qi couldn't estimate how large that circular interface was; it was beyond his observational capabilities.

The Grand Shaman walked on the pipeline, taking casual steps: "This pipeline beneath our feet is a branch of the Dragon Vein. Remember, don't look casually, or you will die. I won't be able to save you then."

He repeated this twice.

Originally, Li Qi wanted to use his True Knowledge to look at the pipeline beneath his feet, but he immediately stopped upon hearing this.

Life is precious, life is precious.

"And then, tonight's destination, also my destination. Once we get there, you can go back." The Grand Shaman led Li Qi from the pipeline to another small path.

This place had countless small paths weaving through various facilities. These paths spiraled and twisted, incredibly hidden. If Li Qi were left alone, he would probably get lost as soon as he left.

But without these small paths, probably no one could traverse inside this giant machine.

Following the Grand Shaman, he left that pipeline.

Then, Li Qi saw a house.

A house in this place...

How strange.

The Grand Shaman, however, quickened his pace and quickly walked to the front of the house.

Li Qi followed closely.

Inside the house, Li Qi saw the presence of people for the first time in this underground mechanical Chang'an.

Two officials, seemingly from Chang'an, stood inside.

One of them stepped forward: "Mr. Mixin, we two will be responsible for the 'seismograph' visit agreed upon this time. And this person behind you is?"

"He's a junior of mine, came to see it with me. Don't mind him, just let him see the periphery. Don't let him go inside."

The two exchanged a difficult glance, then one of them said: "...This might require a request for instructions. The original agreement was only for you, sir."

"Hmm, if it's not possible, then forget it." The Grand Shaman didn't dwell on it too much and readily agreed.

Li Qi kept in mind the earlier warning not to speak, so he honestly stood still and remained silent.

However, he heard a term.

Seismograph...

Was it the seismograph he understood?

Li Qi felt some doubt in his heart.

Soon, the request was completed.

The two bowed: "Please come in, but you must stay in the periphery as you said."

"Of course. Although there's competition, there's always this much credibility," the Grand Shaman said.

It seemed they truly trusted each other's character. Li Qi thus brazenly entered what seemed to be a confidential institution.

As soon as he entered, Li Qi understood why the Grand Shaman had brought him here.

Here, ordinary people might feel nothing, except for a slight dizziness, almost no other sensation.

But for Li Qi, who possessed True Knowledge Dao Resonance, this place... it was simply...

It was simply...

No, he couldn't describe it.

Because he saw countless things similar to True Knowledge Dao Resonance.

No, this wasn't Dao Resonance, this was a Dao!

The natural forces between heaven and earth undulated at an extremely fast frequency, forming invisible strings, one after another.

He didn't know where these strings connected, but an endless number of strings spread outwards. Every second, every string seemed to be transmitting at an extremely high frequency, carrying wave traces and transmitting its own fluctuations inward.

What was inside?

Although Li Qi hadn't seen it with his own eyes, the Grand Shaman had just said it was a 'seismograph' inside.

A machine named the seismograph, responsible for receiving the information transmitted by all these strings and then collecting it.

Countless dense strings extended from the seismograph to different places, continuing to stretch. Li Qi dared not imagine how much this thing could detect.

The 'strings' here were all wisps of Dao Resonance.

However, a single one seemed to be quite inferior to True Knowledge Dao Resonance.

But, there were countless strings here.

This wasn't 'Dao Resonance,' but a complete Dao!

Dao Resonance was merely some scattered fragments of a Dao. Pulling one out from here would be called Dao Resonance, but these countless ones combined formed a Dao, whose status and performance were unknown multiples of True Knowledge!

The Grand Shaman also seemed to be able to feel the presence of that Dao all around.

He sighed: "The seismograph, jointly created by the Dao of Reason and the Human Dao, embedded within The Axis of All Realms, its strings are endless, covering the world, all nine divisions, mountains and rivers, grotto-heavens and blessed lands, the Five Insects and Five Immortals, all observing good and evil, discerning the wise and the foolish. Seeing it with my own eyes today, it truly lives up to its reputation."

"Gongzi Qi, you stay here, do not move around freely, lest you die here. I will go in first. You stay here... for one hour. After one hour, someone will come to pick you up."

"Afterward, keep your mouth shut. Pretend you never came. Just do what you usually do."

Upon hearing this, Li Qi immediately bowed, but still remained silent.

The Grand Shaman seemed very satisfied with Li Qi's silence. Then, he turned and left, disappearing into the depths of the room with the two Human Dao individuals.

They were probably going to see the 'seismograph' itself.

That was not a place Li Qi could see.

However, just these peripheral fluctuations were enough to astonish Li Qi.

He sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.

He began to 'comprehend' the Dao Resonance nearby.

Of course, it wasn't that vague and ethereal comprehension, sitting there just thinking hard; that wasn't comprehension, that was wasting time.

The character 'can' (参) in 'canwu' (参悟, comprehend) here originally means to investigate. How can one investigate by daydreaming while sitting still?

True comprehension is to gradually probe the nature of this Dao, understand and record its parameters, so as to better understand this Dao.

He began to diligently collect information, compile data, create analysis tables, and summarize properties.

He unfolded his True Knowledge Dao Resonance and tentatively touched one of the strings.

If it was just a single one, True Knowledge seemed to be deeper and more profound than it.

So, this tentative contact succeeded.

However, there was no reaction at all. Li Qi could only vaguely perceive some sounds.

It was a cacophony of countless people talking.

It was like the jabbering of countless people on a bustling street.

He switched to another string and tried again.

This time, a sharp, high-pitched static sound came through, similar to the static of a radio.

He tried several strings consecutively, and each time it was a different sound.

However, it was always very noisy and without practical meaning, as if it was all just static.

Li Qi fell into deep thought.

He searched his memory for records about seismographs, and also pondered what these things represented.

"The Houfeng Seismograph... its lid was raised, shaped like a wine jar, decorated with patterns of篆文 mountains, turtles, birds, and beasts, perfectly sealed without gaps. If there was an earthquake, the jar would vibrate the dragon, the mechanism would release a ball, and the toad would catch it. The sound would resonate, and the observers would thus know, finding the direction, and knowing where the tremor was." Li Qi silently recited this passage in his mind.

The meaning of this passage was to explain the working principle of the seismograph.

"Is that it?"

Li Qi looked at the countless strings.

Are these things... collecting sounds?

Then, countless vibration messages are transmitted through these strings to the seismograph's location, and then analyzed?

He couldn't understand those sounds, was it because the information was too vast, or because it was encrypted?

But in any case, only the seismograph inside should be able to decipher it.

In this situation...

What was the Grand Shaman's purpose in letting him in?

It could be guessed that his visit here was not without cost. The Grand Shaman must have paid an extra price to the Human Dao to allow him to stay here for an hour, so he had to make good use of it.

First, collect data, and then think about how to use it.

Thinking about this, Li Qi no longer delayed.

True Knowledge Dao Resonance was fully unleashed, and with his own mind and senses, he began to 'comprehend' the Dao of this place.

As much data flooded into his brain, Li Qi began his work.

However, an hour was too short.

Soon, someone came to find him and asked him to leave.

Li Qi was helpless, but he couldn't force himself to stay, so he had to get up and follow the person out of there.

Before leaving, he took a deep look at this mechanical city.

The underground of Chang'an... actually had such a magnificent complex of buildings.

These underground facilities were the reason why Chang'an was so bright and beautiful. All of Chang'an's modern institutions were built upon these machines below.

Then... was it only Chang'an that had them?

Most of Tang Nation's cities should be like this, right?

That is to say, beneath every large city, such terrifying Spiritual Artifacts are buried, usually maintaining the operation of people's lives, and in times of war... they are probably also great weapons.

And... could this really be considered a second-grade Peak?

Li Qi was skeptical.

The so-called second-grade Peak Spiritual Artifact, 'The Axis of All Realms,' the one beneath Chang'an, was merely a small part of it.

The main body of The Axis of All Realms was probably all of Tang Nation's cities in the entire world... wait, no, more than that! It should be the automated machinery beneath all Tang Nation cities in all the heavens and myriad realms!

This way, everything made sense!

Why terminals could connect to other terminals without delay, even across hundreds of thousands of li, or even across many worlds, still connecting without delay.

The fundamental reason was that the terminals themselves only needed to connect to that small part of The Axis of All Realms beneath the city, and then everything else was completed within The Axis of All Realms.

The main body of The Axis of All Realms was probably not these machines; this was just its external manifestation. In essence, it permeated all the heavens. Every small part of it appeared beneath a Tang Nation city, providing the necessary automated services for these cities!

The more Li Qi thought about it, the more his scalp tingled.