Chapter 550: Divination

The leader's words piqued Li Shiwei's interest, and being a lively person, she had no reason to refuse.

She wasn't socially anxious, the type who wouldn't even dare accept a glass of water from someone; Li Shiwei's living environment was very broad, and she had always been good at accepting others' goodwill.

However, in return, she also habitually extended kindness to others, so getting along with Li Shiwei actually felt quite pleasant, which was also the reason she had so many supporters now.

Having received the leader's affirmation and a farewell gift, Li Shiwei bid farewell to the leader and turned to leave.

The itinerary was set: before heading to the Holy Flame World, this ship would temporarily deviate from its course to the world the leader mentioned, dropping Li Shiwei off so she could go to that world, which was said to have 'never had contact with the Merchant Association'.

It was quite good; Li Shiwei readily agreed.

After all, it concerned her Rank Seven Opportunity, and even a carefree person like Little rabbit was quite serious about it.

After leaving there, Li Shiwei walked through the giant ship's cabin.

It was called a cabin, but it was actually no different from a city.

High ecological domes, covered with numerous Formations, were like an artificial miniature heaven and earth; on them were many indistinct Divine Beast statues of lions, seahorses, suanni, xiezhi, bullfighters, hangshi, chiwen, and suanni, all used for warding off evil.

Above that transparent dome, one could even see many facilities, organizations, and mechanisms.

Large areas of artificial traces, densely packed buildings arranged like building blocks on the dome, accompanied by roads extending upwards that divided them, at first glance, it looked like an inverted city.

No, it wasn't just at first glance; in reality, this was indeed a city built by the Merchant Association in the sky.

With such domes and the cities below, there were a total of one hundred on the entire ship, connected by other roads.

This giant ship was two thousand li long and several hundred li wide; although it was only Rank Seven, its cost was equivalent to a Rank Seven World.

In terms of value, a Rank Seven World could produce more than a dozen Rank Seven cultivators and dozens of Rank Seven Spiritual Artifacts, and as for Rank Eight and Rank Nine, there was no need to count them.

Being comparable to a world of the same Rank shows the value of this inter-world transport ship.

Li Shiwei walked down the street, and as she walked, she suddenly felt a 'sound'.

It wasn't a sound, but a fluctuation resounding within her Spirit Soul, similar to telepathy.

Li Shiwei felt this fluctuation and immediately, by the strength of the signal and its reflection around her, accurately determined the source of the fluctuation.

Then, with a flash, she instantly arrived inside a large building by the roadside and said with a smile, "Senior Huang Yu, is there something you need?"

Inside the building, a certain yellow crystal covered everything like a carpet, or like a climbing plant made of some kind of Ore, covering every inch of the interior.

Then, looking forward, one could see a giant tree composed of yellow crystal.

This was a Rank Seven Ore life form; its name in the world was given by Li Shiwei. In the world, jade was revered among Ores, so Li Shiwei used the color and the character 'jade' to name it.

However, in reality, it was not jade, but a crystal that Li Shiwei did not recognize.

Li Shiwei addressed it as Senior, with a very respectful attitude.

The reason for such respect was that this Huang Yu was not an ignorant native, but had an Opportunity and was taken as a Disciple by a Rank Six member of the Merchant Association. Because it belonged to the gold and jade category and was an Ore life form with an extremely strong Spirit Soul, it was especially skilled in divination, and thus had the fortune to officially enter the Ranks of cultivators in the world.

This was very rare; among the many worlds and civilizations Li Shiwei had experienced, this was the only one.

"Li Captain, I saw a flashing spiritual light on you, so I couldn't help but call out to you. Are you leaving?" The Ore life form named Huang Yu vibrated its Spirit Soul, emitting telepathy.

"Your senses are still so accurate. Yes, I plan to leave in a few years; there's nothing more for me to learn here." Li Shiwei admitted directly.

There was nothing bad to say; she would leave when it was time to leave. She was never a timid person.

Huang Yu emitted fluctuations and said, "Indeed, the cyclical route is about to begin, and this place certainly won't hold you... However, Li Captain, you have taken care of this ship for so long, and you have been very fair to my people. As a gift, may I perform a divination for you?"

"Is it really just a gift?" Li Shiwei raised an eyebrow.

"It is indeed just a gift, Li Captain. You might not feel it yourself, but... since you arrived, things have gotten much, much better. Haven't you noticed that far fewer people seek you for arbitration? This is a kindness to our race and to everyone, and it must be repaid." Huang Yu said.

Li Shiwei frowned slightly: "Isn't the leader very efficient? And he doesn't covet those things. Although he's a bit cold, he's still very reliable, isn't he? Why thank me specifically?"

Hearing this, Huang Yu sighed: "Yes, he truly doesn't care about these things, but he also doesn't care about ordinary people. His heart is only on his Dao path. Unless it's a very dangerous matter, he will never intervene. Before you took over, our two Ore life forms had fought many, many battles. But now, you know, with the mediation of the great ones and these years of co-existence, peace will continue indefinitely."

"For that Captain, his Dao path is everything; everything else is external. He can remain silent for two thousand years for an Opportunity, and he can betray everything he can betray for the next Opportunity. Li Captain, you must be careful; he is truly not as simple as he appears."

Li Shiwei shook her head, noncommittal: "It doesn't matter. Saying more is useless. I'm leaving soon, and whether the leader is simple or not is not for me to comment on. Senior Huang Yu, let's proceed with the divination."

To be honest, she completely disbelieved this statement. She felt she understood how the leader worked and that he wasn't that incompetent. It was just that the leader was indeed not good at dealing with people; he was too rigid and inflexible, which was why his reputation wasn't as high as Li Shiwei's.

But Li Shiwei wouldn't use this to step on others. She listened and let it go; after all, everyone had their own opinions, and there was no need, no need.

"Alright, then allow me to perform a divination for Li Captain as a farewell gift, wishing Li Captain success in finding her Dao path." Huang Yu said, and then began his divination.

At the same time, a series of crystal collision sounds rang out, as pleasant as wind chimes, and within this building, a faint yellow light gradually began to spread.

These crystals began to flicker on and off, countless pale yellow crystals, divided into Yin and Yang trigrams.

When it was a Yin trigram, a faint buzzing sound would be emitted.

When it was a Yang trigram, a loud and harmonious resonance would be emitted.

The surrounding temperature began to rise, and Li Shiwei noticed a warm, gentle warmth beginning to envelop her. In addition to the yellow light emanating, these crystals continuously refracted other lights, with colors more vibrant and diverse than a rainbow dancing and shining on the surface of countless faceted crystals, bringing a sense of peace and stability.

Countless shimmering, brilliant crystals intertwined and woven into sparkling gem chains, one after another forming a direct and conspicuous Yin and Yang Formation within this giant building.

Then, in the very center of this building, in front of Li Shiwei, that towering, shimmering pale yellow Huang Yu tree began to charge, its entire body radiating a bright, crystalline luster.

Ding-dong, ding-dong energy pulsations echoed around the Huang Yu tree, forming a melodious song. Finally, this song transformed into a string of runes composed of Yin and Yang trigrams, inscribed on one of the Huang Yu tree's leaves.

With a ding-dong, that leaf fell, landing on the ground like a bell.

The trigrams, which emulate the movements of the Universe, thus give rise to good and ill fortune.

Li Shiwei stepped forward, looking at the Yin and Yang trigrams on it, and asked, "Please, Senior Huang Yu, explain the divination for me."

Huang Yu then said, "It is beneficial to cross the great river, for there are matters to attend to. This trigram signifies that the Qian (Heaven) has a river, and the Kun (Earth) has water. The two trigrams ascend and descend, entering and exiting Qian and Kun, making it beneficial to cross the great river. Yang seeks five, Yin seeks two; without obtaining the correct position, military affairs will not cease, hence 'there are matters'. The Qian third trigram is behind, the Kun third trigram is in front, easily giving rise to Zhen (Thunder), and the news passes through the Qian and Kun images. Qian is the beginning, Kun is the end, hence 'the end has a beginning'."

He scrutinized the divination result and then said, "This journey will likely have some twists and turns, and many things will happen. However, in the end, you will find the reason. You will discover that everything had early signs. The end has a beginning. You need to be careful about what is happening around you now; the answer might not be far away."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind! I'll be going now, Senior!" Li Shiwei noted it down, then waved her hand, bidding a graceful farewell to the other party and leaving the place.

She didn't think the other party was wrong, but... since it wasn't an ominous divination, it didn't matter. Reason? What reason? She hadn't even encountered anything, so where would the reason come from?

But she didn't return to her own quarters; instead, she went outside the ecological dome, to the maintenance layer.

The larger and more precise the equipment, the more prone it is to errors, and once an error occurs, something else is needed to maintain it.

This maintenance can be done by automated equipment or by people.

Of course, this ship chose to 'use both'.

Li Shiwei came here to find her best friend, Zhang You, in the maintenance layer.

Yes, Zhang You was no longer in the security department. Her personality was not suited for that kind of work, and she was unwilling to venture into those worlds, so she ultimately chose to join the logistics department, working diligently and earnestly to earn resources for her cultivation.

Unlike Li Shiwei, who never had to worry about food or clothing, Zhang You needed a stable job and a stable income, which was also her initial reason for boarding the ship.

Meeting Li Shiwei was just a coincidence, but no matter who she met, her life was ultimately her own.

The resources Zhang You needed for her own cultivation, the books she needed for her studies, and even her daily expenses, essential expenditures like buying Spiritual Artifacts and Medicinal Pills, all required a stable income to support.

Zhang You's father was only Rank Nine, and her grandfather was said to be Rank Eight, so she could only rely on herself, unlike Li Shiwei, who could carry tens of thousands of high-quality Talismans with her.

Those Talismans were handwritten by Shen Shuibi, one by one, imbued with a mother's love; although their Rank was Eight, their value was absolutely more than that.

Li Shiwei also understood this principle, so she didn't say anything.

There was no need to say more. Could Li Shiwei even support Zhang You? No need for such pretense; just remain friends. If Zhang You encountered difficulties, she would certainly not stand idly by.

Besides that, was it wrong for Zhang You to earn and spend her own money? Of course, she should respect the other person; there was no need to create differences.

However, due to work, the two had been separated for quite some time over the years.

It was time for farewells. Li Shiwei was going to resign and pursue her Dao; she would not stay on this ship.

But Zhang You couldn't; Zhang You was still planning to stay here and work, so Li Shiwei was going to have a good talk with her best friend about the situation and make a somewhat formal farewell.

She went all the way to the maintenance layer and quickly found Zhang You.

Zhang You was floating above the maintenance layer, operating a gigantic Formation, mobilizing the ship's own power to perform daily inspections and maintenance on the ecological dome.

This scene was quite spectacular. Zhang You floated in mid-air, surrounded by a powerful Formation spanning tens of li. Billions of runes floated above the Formation, and massive amounts of energy surged from within the ship, forming a blue energy wave that continuously swept through, then was broken down by the runes into small, precise energy flows, accurately injected into different Spiritual Artifacts, ultimately enveloping the entire dome and maintaining its normal operation inside.

This endless energy was actually the Heavenly Dao of a world.

This giant ship was made by dismantling a dying Rank Seven World. The Heavenly Dao of the world was embedded in Spiritual Artifacts, and the original continents, oceans, and air were all infused into this ship, distributed to different ecological domes to accommodate different life forms.

After all, different races require different environments; even slight differences in air composition could very likely cause the destruction of a certain race, which is why many domes were created, each with a different living environment.

Fortunately, as long as they cultivated, almost all life forms could enhance their resistance to external environments, so there was no need to be too strict in constraining the environment.

These massive energy flows were the breath of a Rank Seven Heavenly Dao; with its breathing, energy spontaneously generated from the Void Realm.

Yes, creating something from nothing.

This was the Realm that Shaman Dao pursued and hoped for, the miraculous utility of creating something from nothing.

The Universe was created out of nothing.

Worlds were also created out of nothing.

Life and indeed all things were created out of nothing.

This was the mystery of infinite creation from nothing.

Li Shiwei stood by and watched Zhang You working.

So beautiful.

After about two hours, Zhang You gracefully descended from above, landing right next to Li Shiwei. She had already seen Li Shiwei waiting below.

"Shi Wei, long time no see." Zhang You smiled, then wiped away some sweat.

Maintenance, after all, was physical labor.