Chapter 277: Arrival

After all, the two of them were here for research, and with only about twenty days until Imperial Academy started, they had to hurry.

However, as soon as they stepped out of the Golden Dais, they saw a crowd of touts rushing towards them.

Some were tour guides, waving maps and introducing tourist routes and scenic spots.

Others were vendors, hawking various local specialties.

What Li Qi found most familiar were those who, seeing them as a couple, immediately held up signs advertising 'accommodation' and 'king-size beds' for promotion.

It must be said, Li Qi was tempted for a moment.

But he held firm.

They were out for serious business; no crooked paths!

Li Qi closed his eyes and began to convince himself not to get involved in such nonsense.

However, just as Li Qi's resolve wavered, he saw Shen Shuibi had already found a promoter.

The rabbit looked at the pictures with great interest: "Are these your rooms in the photos? They look quite nice. Where are they located?"

The promoter immediately smiled and said, "Your good sirs have excellent taste! Our hotel is located on the edge of the protected area, surrounded by sea and mountains. You can see the beautiful scenery of this world just by looking up—"

By the time Li Qi awoke from his self-critique of evil thoughts, he saw that Shen Shuibi had already obtained the room card.

"This... Yu'er, you?" Li Qi stammered.

But Shen Shuibi excitedly pulled him and walked outside.

The rabbit was very generous, but it was Li Qi who felt shy.

Putting aside some small talk on the way, the two of them arrived at the scenic area's room without much delay.

The price wasn't expensive, as Tang Nation indeed didn't have much of a profit culture.

Just as the promoter advertised, it was located on the outermost edge of the 'protected area,' and from the window, one could directly see the pristine scenery outside.

Sitting in the room, Li Qi's thoughts drifted.

He couldn't help it; he was still young.

Shen Shuibi, however, pulled open the curtains and looked outside: "Hmm... it's really not bad, Li Qi, come and see."

Li Qi, called, shook his head, cast aside his lingering thoughts, stood up from the bed, walked to Shen Shuibi's side, and looked out the window.

Then, sure enough, he saw the 'protected area.'

It was a very clear barrier, composed of a circle of Spiritual Artifacts that Li Qi didn't recognize, faintly shimmering with the light of some Divine Ability.

This barrier didn't obstruct vision; it merely blocked a line.

Outside was a wild, untamed world.

Inside was the bustling tourist attraction of Chang'an.

From time to time, one could see vehicles or mounts, controlled by guides, entering and exiting through special openings, presumably for tourists to go out and sightsee.

And even more spectacular was the ocean outside.

This was a mountain-view room, where one could see countless spiritual stones towering, all stones standing like bamboo, resembling exotic bamboo, strange flowers, beautiful fruits, and unusual trees, creating a distinct landscape.

Beyond the stone forest and spiritual stones, there were also accumulated earth and piled stones, forming deep abysses and ponds, wondrous and peculiar, like jade stones.

Due to the unique land and different climate, various special flowers and plants that Li Qi had never seen grew within this stone forest.

Shen Shuibi, however, recognized many of them and kept introducing them to Li Qi: this one was called Golden Jade Emei, that one was called Shy Tiger Ear, and there were also plants like Phoenix Tail and Jasmine.

However, these were common plants across various worlds, not truly unique to this world.

These plants were likely brought by the people of Tang Nation.

Gazing into the distance, through the stones and crevices, one could see a vast ocean beyond the stone forest.

It was unclear whether it was an ocean or a large lake, but it was vast, with no end in sight.

Looking out from this large floor-to-ceiling window, the stone forest and the water flow connected ridges and mounds, facing east and west, succeeding each other back and forth, with mountains on the left and water on the right, along the stream and beside the hills, continuous and full, encompassing mountains and embracing valleys, the scenery was exceptionally beautiful.

Moreover, there were two suns in the sky, one red and one white, complementing each other, yet not causing excessive heat.

Vague and distant, stretching across the azure sea and radiating morning glow, towering over green mist and spreading across the horizon.

It was dazzling, and various species were also full of otherworldly charm; many rare treasures and exotic beasts were unique to this world, their appearance hard to describe, but completely unlike any species Li Qi knew.

It was indeed worthy of being chosen as a tourist destination; the scenery truly had a unique charm. After seeing the bustling streets of Chang'an, now seeing this kind of scenery was truly refreshing.

After the two had observed for a while.

"What did you find?" After a moment, Shen Shuibi asked Li Qi.

"Hmm... you know, is this world not yet fully developed, or does it simply have no development value? I see the curvature of the horizon in this world; its area shouldn't be large, probably only a rank eight world." Li Qi pondered for a moment: "This world probably has no development value, likely only its scenery is good."

"It's just... is Tang Nation really rich enough to build a highway just for a scenic spot? This Golden Dais here probably isn't cheap." Li Qi pondered, somewhat puzzled.

Tang Nation specifically built a Golden Dais here just so people could come here for tourism?

This calculation just doesn't add up.

Or, was he overthinking it, and there was really nothing special here?

"Well, we can't see anything by observing from here. Let's go outside the protected area and take a look. If there's really nothing extraordinary, then we'll come back to rest, and tomorrow morning, we'll leave this miniature heaven and earth and go see the wild world clusters," Shen Shuibi said.

"That's fine too. Then let's pack up and go out to take a look." Li Qi nodded, agreeing with the suggestion.

No sooner said than done, the two didn't delay, immediately got up, and went to see what was going on in this world, whether it had economic value, and why Tang Nation built the Golden Dais here.

Only by confirming these circumstances could they begin to make money.

However, was it really like that?

If Bo Yue were here, he would definitely start mocking Li Qi.

No matter what Tang Nation was doing in this place, Li Qi couldn't intervene, so investigating this world was completely meaningless.

The two of them pretended to book a room, then sanctimoniously made analyses, and even claimed to be going out to investigate under the guise of an inspection, leaving tomorrow.

What they were thinking was obvious even to a fool.

It was just that the two of them were thin-skinned and needed to find some cover for themselves.

One day passed.

The two's 'inspection' was very enjoyable; after all, it was a tourist attraction, and even outside the protected area, everything one could want was there, including many entertainment facilities. Shen Shuibi had always been a reclusive social phobic, never having seen such things, and she had a great time.

Local specialties also included food, for example, there was a unique type of water bubble fish, an endemic species of this place; besides living in water, it was completely unlike a fish, more like a balloon, its internal organs were inedible, but its skin was crispy and tender, melting in the mouth, extremely delicious.

There was also the special terrain of this place, that stone forest, which contained traces of fragmented Dao Resonance, allowing it to form such a magnificent landscape. One could see some indigenous cultivators meditating and cultivating below, though most of them were unranked.

The indigenous people here were very weak.

After a day of playing, by evening, the two returned to this king-size room...

...

The night passed uneventfully.

There was nothing much to say.

By the next day, the two got out of bed, each avoiding the other, and went to different places to get dressed.

Once fully dressed, they came out and met each other's gaze.

Then both of them straightened their expressions.

The fun ended here.

From now on, it was time to do serious business.

Packing up and checking out, all in one go.

The rabbit even burned the wet bedsheet, making Li Qi pay an extra thirty coins.

But... but, this money was worth it!

Once everything was handled, Shen Shuibi and Li Qi arrived at the uninhabited area outside the protected zone.

This place was already far from the normal recreational areas; ordinary tourists would not come to this place.

Here, Li Qi stood ready beside her.

Shen Shuibi, meanwhile, extended her hand, and a large amount of Yin and Yang trigrams surged from her palm.

A small part of a fifth-rank's immense power was displayed at this moment.

The world was forcibly torn apart!

The Yin and Yang trigrams formed two Yin and Yang fish, which rotated against each other and then suddenly separated.

In the center of their separation, Yin and Yang Qi tore open a dark, spherical void, like a rift in the real world, leading into the Void Realm of endless nightmares.

This black sphere seemed to be a void left behind after space itself was erased.

"The World Barrier has been torn open, let's go," Shen Shuibi said, stepping into it first.

This thing only looked intimidating; in reality, it wasn't a spatial black hole or anything of the sort, just a simple hole.

Just a hole between a world and the Outer Domain.

Through this hole, the two were to leave here and head towards the true wild world clusters.

Li Qi looked at the hole; Shen Shuibi had already walked in.

"Truly..." he sighed.

There was nothing surprising about Shen Shuibi's power; a fifth-rank mighty figure should be like this. Besides, she was actually one of the very, very strong ones among fifth-ranks.

It was likely that even the Great Deer Kingdom Lord and Green Mountain Kingdom Lord he had once seen would not be a match for her in a single exchange.

The orthodox direct descendant of Mount Luofu, the essence of Yin born from the Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron and Empress Luofu, born at seventh rank, was already top-tier even across all the Heavens and Myriad Worlds, and Li Qi was deeply aware of this.

However, he didn't feel inferior about it.

He would one day catch up to Shen Shuibi's cultivation; he firmly believed in this.

His goal was to pursue the Dao and observe the entire Universe.

There were too many things worth seeing in the entire Universe. Every time he went to a new place, he would marvel. Infinite worlds and countless Dao paths awaited him to explore one by one.

Therefore, Shen Shuibi's power did not make him feel inferior.

The real reason for his sigh of admiration was the differences between these worlds.

The World Barrier made Li Qi realize that, although they looked like stars, these worlds were not planets.

They were not suspended in the Outer Domain, moving with other celestial bodies.

The Outer Domain was the Outer Domain, and worlds were worlds.

Worlds were like individual vesicles, and the Dao within them would have slight differences from the outside world, leading to each world being unique.

It wasn't that planets floated in the Universe; worlds existed independently.

Just like the unique Cosmic Light miniature heaven and earth in Yan Ke's hand, it contained a complete stellar system, and beyond the stellar system was the World Barrier.

Some worlds were not stellar systems but continents, or water spheres, or even more peculiar forms; there were all sorts of appearances.

So, could some high-grade worlds... be an entire Universe?

Unthinkable.

Then, why was the world of All Under Heaven so special? Able to become the pinnacle of all Heavens?

Of course, Li Qi knew that it was impossible to know now, no matter what.

He hoped to get the answer in the future.

Thinking about these things, Li Qi also began to pass through the World Barrier.

Then, he arrived in the Outer Domain.

This was his third time in the Outer Domain, but this time was much more comfortable.

Because Shen Shuibi's power enveloped him, warding off many dangers.

The two floated in the Void Realm, with the previous world beneath their feet.

This world, when viewed from the outside, looked like a golden-yellow mountain model, shrouded by an elliptical, hazy World Barrier.

"Golden Dais..." Li Qi looked at that world, clearly seeing a small Golden Dais piercing through the World Barrier.

It seemed that the Golden Dais inside was an extension of this outer Golden Dais.

Through such a connection, one could directly reach the inside of the world from the outside, making the World Barrier seem non-existent, allowing travelers to pass through freely.

However, Li Qi and Shen Shuibi didn't come out from the Golden Dais; instead, Shen Shuibi directly forced her way out, but the Golden Dais seemed not to have noticed.

Did they not notice... or did they not care?

"Found it. According to the star map, the wild world clusters are in that direction, about... three days away. We should reach the outermost world there. Without further ado, shall we depart?" Shen Shuibi observed the celestial phenomena, confirmed their current location, and then confirmed the coordinates.

Li Qi immediately stopped focusing on other trivial matters, concentrated his power, making it easier for her to take him forward.

Moonlight surged, flowing around the two of them.

Then, Li Qi clearly felt that the surrounding Dao had changed.

The most obvious point was the appearance of a 'barrier.'

It wasn't a real barrier, but something like a lens.

Within this area, the speed of light was increased!

The light inside and the light outside exhibited inconsistent speeds, thus causing the scenery to change.

Then, Li Qi felt himself suddenly accelerate!

Light began to overlap before his eyes; the light ahead was still at normal speed, but around Shen Shuibi, the upper limit of light speed was increased, so the light ahead hadn't had time to enter Li Qi's vision before it was 'collided' together.

This caused countless scenes to stack together, and the light spots before his eyes gradually became distorted.

Li Qi watched from behind as Shen Shuibi continuously accelerated.

This was...

Faster-than-light travel!

And it was faster-than-light travel that didn't violate the law of Karma!

"Yu'er, how many times the Heavenly Dao limit are we going?" Li Qi asked.

"About two hundred times," Shen Shuibi replied, finding a moment. At this speed, it was still a very heavy burden for her.

Even with the very relaxed Dao suppression in the Outer Domain, this was her limit.

If they were in All Under Heaven, under that kind of suppression, accelerating to the limit probably wouldn't even reach one-tenth of the Heavenly Dao limit.

———

Meanwhile, at Li Qi and Shen Shuibi's destination, a series of worlds were being moved by some force.

Today's subscriptions suddenly returned to normal; the previous two days, when I changed the date, they dropped. What's going on? I'll change it back one day and see, repeat the experiment to eliminate variables.