Chapter 357: The scene of the constellations

The variable that suddenly appeared on the road, though very strange, was still taken into consideration by Li Qi.

After all, to be honest, whoever tries to scheme against him now is essentially stepping into the Heavenly Demon's trap.

It's not just the Heavenly Demon, but a game of chess between the Heavenly Demon and the Shaman God Mountain.

With this layer of connection, it means that true Great Powers won't casually get involved.

These great existences might not fear the Heavenly Demon, but why would they provoke him for no reason?

From the Heavenly Demon's actions, it's clear that this big shot acts without regard for gains or losses, doesn't care about face, and simply follows his mood.

In other words, even if someone is orchestrating things now, they won't be much stronger than him at most. Li Qi feels he can still contend with them.

Moreover, all of this is predicated on someone actually orchestrating things.

In reality, it's highly probable that no one is doing this; his identity serves as a natural filter.

It directly filters out low-level enemies, leaving only those he can't afford to provoke.

Sigh, what a headache.

To be honest, dealing with formidable experts of the Third and Fifth Ranks every day has made Li Qi even long for opponents of the same rank.

Given this, Li Qi decided to go to Lingxiao Kingdom to take a look.

If he could truly find clues about the Celestial Eye… that would be a huge gain. Even if not, he could still establish a connection with the Lingxiao Flower Goddess, and perhaps persuade her to help him enter the upper echelons of Tang Nation society.

Having someone to bridge the gap would be much more convenient than Li Qi relying on his Young Master status to force his way in.

While considering these matters, the old horse had rested enough.

Li Qi mounted the old horse and continued his journey.

After that, nothing particularly unusual happened. After all, special events don't happen every day, and he wasn't one of those trouble magnets who causes incidents wherever he goes.

It's said that such people cause bridges to collapse when they cross rivers, roads to cave in when they walk, and can make everything in ancient ruins collapse, destroying precious human historical heritage.

Fortunately, Li Qi doesn't have that Physique, or Shaman God Mountain would be in trouble.

Six days later, Star-Mansion Array arrived.

Li Qi had spent these past few days learning about Star-Mansion Array, a sort of crash course.

As the transportation hub of Shaman God Mountain, its nature is similar to the Golden Dais in Chang'an. It also has its own star map and can reach any known place in the Universe.

Star-Mansion Array is controlled by a branch of Shaman Dao called Yu Ren.

Yu Ren also has many types, including Dao Servants, Dao Right, and Rong Servants, most of which are ancient cultivation methods passed down through generations.

Upon reaching the Third Rank, they are called Great Yu.

Great Yu controls the Yulu (Jade Road) for worship. During the journey, the Zhu, Deng, Shou Pei, and Fan Ba are driven. And during the sacrifice, all Yulu (Jade Road) rituals are handled by the Great Yu.

That is to say, the Great Yu controls the Yulu (Jade Road), and all matters on the road are controlled by the Great Yu. As long as they are in the carriage, they can even replace the Zhu You of the Invoker and the ritual work of the Zong Ren.

During the journey, the Yu Ren hold the highest status; even the Zhu, Zong, and Bu factions cannot interfere and must obey them.

As for the so-called Yulu (Jade Road), it is the tool for driving.

The transportation tool of Star-Mansion Array is not a star boat, but the Yulu (Jade Road).

In fact, it's not just the Yulu (Jade Road), but also the Jade, Gold, and Elephant Roads, etc., each decorating the carriage with its respective material and named accordingly. Leather ones are lacquered leather, wooden ones are lacquered wood. Among them, the Yulu (Jade Road) is the most revered, so this entire System is collectively referred to as the Yulu (Jade Road).

It is said that in ancient times, when humanity and Shaman Dao were not separated, the Yulu (Jade Road) was a mode of transport only qualified to be ridden by Human Emperors.

Star-Mansion Array has arrived.

Li Qi sat on the old horse and looked up at the sky.

Yes, Star-Mansion Array is not on the ground, but in... the sky.

Star-Mansion Array is an ancient, ever-present starry sky, where it is always night.

The star map of Tang Nation is engraved on the Golden Dais, appearing grand and magnificent, while the star map of Shaman God Mountain is displayed in the sky.

There are no man-made objects; it is a true 'star map'.

Above that firmament, a sea of constellations floats, surrounded by mountains, as vast as the earth, spanning three hundred li, with thousands of spiritual springs gushing out everywhere, scattered in various sizes, looking like constellations.

Moonlight shines, pagodas cast empty shadows.

Green ponds hold sparkling dots, the sky is still, starlight flows.

Rich colors remotely divide the earth, bright lights distantly adorn the sky.

Mountain Qi ascends the cloud ladder, the Milky Way stirs light waves.

The five planets are aligned, a great wind rises from the long river.

Star-Mansion Array is a three-hundred-plus-li wide and long three-dimensional sea of stars, quietly floating beneath the firmament, corresponding to the true starry sky above.

These points of light drift with the wind, like rivers, stirring light waves.

“This truly is beautiful,” Li Qi gazed at the magnificent scenery of Star-Mansion Array.

The only slightly jarring part was the sheer number of people.

Indeed, there were truly many people; Li Qi couldn't even count them. As far as his eyes could see, a conservative estimate would not be lower than a million.

And this was only within Li Qi's line of sight; within this three-hundred-li radius, there were even more people.

Just like any train station, such a place would naturally have many people.

They rode various different modes of transportation, carriages of all decorations, turtledoves, peacocks, horses, white pheasants, numerous rare birds and beasts, strange flowers and peculiar trees.

Some flew by themselves, their escape techniques varied, almost none identical.

Some were couples traveling together, some were brothers accompanying each other, and many were masters leading their disciples. Their attire also differed, but the commonality was that they all floated in the air, flying towards the sea of stars of Star-Mansion Array.

Other parts of Shaman God Mountain were sparsely populated, but this place was quite lively, being a transportation hub after all.

However, because it was a three-dimensional space and occupied a considerable area, it looked crowded from a distance, but in reality, there was no situation of people being squeezed together; everyone still maintained a certain distance.

Li Qi also joined the crowd, preparing to go to Lingxiao Kingdom.

If he found a Yu Ren, not only would it be faster, but also very convenient. All matters along the way could be handed over to the Yu Ren, as they were familiar with the route.

However, Li Qi wasn't planning to let a Yu Ren handle it this time.

This was his first time at Star-Mansion Array, and he wanted to try it himself to see how the Yulu (Jade Road) actually worked.

According to books, the method of traveling to a certain place via the Yulu (Jade Road) is very simple: find your destination, then use the corresponding Daoist Art, compile a Daoist Art that the Yulu (Jade Road) can understand, and then activate it.

Afterward, based on the distance, the Yulu (Jade Road) would automatically allocate a portion of resources and then proceed to the corresponding location.

There's no need to pay in between, unlike Tang Nation where currency would be spent, because Shaman God Mountain has no currency.

Li Qi was very puzzled by this.

Wouldn't this... result in a loss? Or is it purely a public welfare project?

Does Shaman God Mountain truly have public welfare projects?

It feels like the Great Shamanes shouldn't be that kind-hearted.

Moreover, even if they were that kind-hearted, the consumption of the Yulu (Jade Road) would probably not be a small amount. Even a Great Shaman might not be able to support it. So, who is truly behind Star-Mansion Array?

Li Qi found that even he didn't know, and probably wasn't qualified to know yet. It wasn't time.

However, if it's free to use, then he'll definitely use it for free. He didn't dwell on those matters.

Riding the old horse, as soon as he entered the range of Star-Mansion Array and began to touch those light points, Li Qi felt a surge of information flowing towards him.

Receiving this information, it automatically transformed into a streak of scholarly Qi in his palm.

Li Qi began to read.

What was written inside seemed to be... the specific operational information of Star-Mansion Array, how to operate it, and a map of Star-Mansion Array.

Wow, this is so convenient.

Truly thoughtful.

Li Qi entered the interior of Star-Mansion Array, looked at the map, and following the map, quickly found the light point representing the vicinity of Baiyue.

Baiyue is such a poor, remote place that basically no one wants to go there, so one could see that there were significantly fewer people here.

Li Qi found a star point suspended in the sky. According to the previous scholarly Qi, simply triggering it with a specific Daoist Art would activate the Yulu (Jade Road).

“It's very simple, isn't it? Does this even require a Yu Ren?” Li Qi muttered to himself in confusion.

If it was just like this, wouldn't the Yu Ren's job be too simple?

Then, Li Qi discovered that things were not that simple.

This light point first asked him some simple questions, registering his identity, rank, Dao Orthodoxy, and name.

Then a Daoist Art appeared, requiring him to deconstruct it. After completion, the Yulu (Jade Road) could be activated.

Li Qi looked at the Daoist Art that emerged from the Yulu (Jade Road), somewhat stunned.

He found that deconstructing this thing consumed a great deal of energy, and moreover, this Daoist Art didn't seem to be fixed.

He made a mistake in deconstructing one, so the light point immediately gave him another one.

This was like... a captcha?

Except this captcha wasn't four simple characters, but rather a problem given to you, requiring you to solve it at your own expense, completing the process from nothing to something.

These problems were highly specialized, and constructing this Daoist Art was very difficult.

Li Qi suddenly recalled that he had seen this before.

“So that's how it is…” Li Qi sighed.

There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world; the trap is dug right here.

Li Qi had consulted various problems in Shaman God Mountain more than once, many of which were tricky, but Li Qi could always find answers among them.

He used to marvel that someone would even write about this.

Now it seems, it wasn't because someone wrote about this, but because... this was 'payment'.

As long as someone wanted to use the functions of Star-Mansion Array, they would voluntarily help Shaman God Mountain with design, repair, answering professional questions, and so on.

Shaman God Mountain didn't need money, but it needed knowledge, brainpower, and labor.

Every day, tens of millions of mid-to-high-level cultivators travel to Star-Mansion Array. When they use it, they must use their brainpower and professional knowledge to help Shaman God Mountain complete a portion of its work...

If Shaman God Mountain had any daunting major projects, it could completely undertake all the high-difficulty design and production itself, but for the countless low-level problems, numbering in the hundreds of millions... it could break them down and then distribute them to all the 'Star-Mansion Array' throughout the myriad worlds.

There would be an endless stream of travelers helping Shaman God Mountain complete these projects.

And it could be used directly, because even the consumption of these Daoist Art themselves was provided by the travelers' own cultivation.

If one chose to hire a Yu Ren, would it be to provide physical materials and resources similar to Spiritual Artifacts, avoiding the expenditure of mental effort?

This truly is...

Li Qi didn't know how to describe it, he could only say that the Great Yu who controlled Star-Mansion Array... truly had some ideas.

After changing the problem, this time Li Qi knew how to solve it.

It took him over ten minutes, and even he racked his brains before finally solving the problem, calculating the specific operating model, then providing the corresponding Daoist Art, and spending his own cultivation to inject it into the Yulu (Jade Road).

Then, this Daoist Art was transmitted by the Yulu (Jade Road), disappearing in a flash.

Li Qi knew that this Daoist Art would be deconstructed, and the energy within it should be absorbed by the Yulu (Jade Road). However, the specific operating mechanism and model would become information, sent to a certain place in Shaman God Mountain. This information would use the local energy to reassemble into the form of Daoist Art, and then become part of a certain project.

It's truly outrageous.

Just as Li Qi was astonished by the operation of Star-Mansion Array and tried to figure out more, the old horse, who was bored beside him, nudged Li Qi.

This was urging him to hurry up; Grandpa Horse was losing patience.

Why was he taking so long to ride a carriage, what was he researching?

Li Qi suddenly realized that he had spent quite some time researching this thing, almost two quarters of an hour.

“Alright, we'll talk about it later. Let's set off first.” Li Qi nodded.

Immediately, one person and one horse boarded the 'Yulu (Jade Road)'.

The so-called Yulu (Jade Road) was not an actual road, but a type of transportation tool, similar to a carriage. In ancient times, only Human Emperors were qualified to ride the Yulu (Jade Road), and the Great Yu was the Human Emperor's driver, responsible for driving the Yulu (Jade Road) and handling all matters of clearing the way and during the journey.

Even gods could not block the Human Emperor's carriage.

As of today, Shaman Dao no longer recognizes Human Emperors, nor does it acknowledge humanity. The noble Yulu (Jade Road) has also been opened for public use, and can even be mass-produced.

However, the true Yulu (Jade Road) is meant for inter-world travel. He was just going to Baiyue, so a low-grade wooden road would suffice.

Star-Mansion Array activated, and a wooden carriage appeared before Li Qi.

He and the old horse got in.

Then, the carriage started.

As this carriage moved, it left a brilliant trail behind it.

Immediately, the world before his eyes suddenly changed.

They entered that 'Fast Universe'.

Just like the star boat back then.

However, unlike the star boat, the star boat's unit of flight time was 'shichen' (two-hour periods), as it was for deep space voyages.

But now, in just a flash, Li Qi didn't even have time to look at the scenery within the Fast Universe, not even half a second, before he emerged from the Fast Universe.

Baiyue, Lingxiao Kingdom, arrived.

Time spent: half a second.

Li Qi hadn't even reacted, and the Yulu (Jade Road) had already disappeared, leaving only a bright trail that lasted for a few seconds before dissipating.

“Uh…” Li Qi was stunned, dumbfounded.

“Ouch…” The old horse was also stunned, its horse face contorted in fright.

The Fast Universe, surpassing the Heavenly Dao suppression of the world, easily achieved superluminal movement within the world...

“With this ability, why—” Li Qi was stunned, murmuring to himself.

However, he immediately understood.

The opening of the Fast Universe could only be established in places like the Golden Dais and Star-Mansion Array; it couldn't be opened elsewhere.

So as long as you were at the Golden Dais or Star-Mansion Array, transportation was very convenient.

But now, if he wanted to return to Star-Mansion Array from Lingxiao Kingdom, he would have to rely on his legs.

Sigh, should I buy a carriage later? That way, the old horse would have an easier time running.

He'd consult the old horse's opinion after a while.

Thinking this, Li Qi looked up at the surrounding scenery.

Indeed, Baiyue was still as dilapidated as ever.