Chapter 551: Leaving the Chamber of Commerce

Inside the colossal ship, above the ecological dome, next to the maintenance layer.

Li Shiwei walked over, wiped a bead of sweat from Zhang You, and frowned, saying, "Be careful. Operating the maintenance facilities is too draining for you. Alas, didn't I tell you I'd get you a monitoring post? It's much more relaxed there. But you insisted on doing this dirty, tiring work. Why bother?"

Zhang You laughed, "The pay here is double what a monitoring post offers. The Merchant Guild always allocates pay based on labor. The more difficult and strenuous the work, the more you earn. I'm not like you, Young Miss, who doesn't care about the pay. No, I misspoke. Your work is even harder and more demanding... Your pay is five times mine. As the captain of the security post, you must have a lot of people and matters to deal with, right?"

"They're all minor matters. Just act with integrity and you'll be fine," Li Shiwei waved her hand, not particularly bothered.

Zhang You smiled, but did not answer that statement.

Li Shiwei truly lived by those six words.

'Act with integrity and do what is right'—easy to say, but how many can truly achieve it? Li Shiwei was one of the rare few whose words matched her actions, who walked her talk.

That's why Zhang You genuinely enjoyed being her friend, even though their statuses and family backgrounds differed greatly. She knew Li Shiwei would never view her differently because of such disparities.

"By the way, you're usually very busy. Why did you come to find me this time? Is it a case? Did a lead point to me? No, that can't be right. Isn't investigating cases something your subordinates do?" Zhang You asked, a little curious.

"It's not a case. I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to resign. After this voyage is complete, when it's time for the cycle, that's when I'll leave," Li Shiwei replied with a smile.

"Resign? Why?" Zhang You was astonished.

In her eyes, Li Shiwei's position was already quite high, and her salary was very substantial. Things were clearly getting better and better, and perhaps in the future, she could even reach the Merchant Guild's management.

This was a truly promising future. Why would she resign?

"After the cyclical route, these places will become meaningless. I also need to avoid worlds that are entangled with the Merchant Guild, because I am currently searching for commonalities between worlds and civilizations to make comparisons. This might be related to my Seventh-Grade Dao Foundation," Li Shiwei confided to her best friend.

Zhang You opened her mouth but said nothing.

Was this her friend's ambition?

Indeed, a mere high-ranking position in a Merchant Guild certainly wouldn't hold her back. Her family had several Sixth-Grade Grotto-Heavens... The Mountain Xuan Jade on her waist, she said, was also Sixth-Grade.

This level was enough to indicate that her family's influence might even rival that of the Merchant Guild. Her elders might even be Fifth-Grade Grand Cultivators... To have a Fifth-Grade Grand Cultivator as an elder—what immense power that must be... But only a family of such standing could cultivate a successor as exceptional as Li Shiwei.

"That's great. Let's celebrate. You haven't had my cooking in a long time, have you? Want to come to my dorm?" Zhang You said frankly.

"Sounds good!" Li Shiwei readily agreed.

Neither of them felt any regret, nor did they think this matter held any special meaning. It was simply that.

She wasn't dying; Li Shiwei was just pursuing her own goals. Zhang You was still working on the ship. Everything was fine.

The two walked hand-in-hand to Zhang You's dorm, where they cooked an ordinary meal. The dishes were plentiful, but all the ingredients were common, nothing particularly expensive.

There was no need for it.

After that dinner, Li Shiwei resumed her daily life.

And this time, several years passed in a simple manner.

The mission in the last world was completed. Once again, the goods from this world were acquired, and the base in this world was resupplied. All that remained was to return to the Holy Flame World.

Returning to the Holy Flame World, unloading cargo, crew rest and rotation, ship maintenance and resupply, and then, after regrouping, setting off again—this constituted a cyclical voyage.

The merchants from various civilizations attached to the ship would also use the Holy Flame World, a Sixth-Grade world, as a hub to trade and exchange the gains from their twenty-year journey, sending profits back to their home worlds.

The entire cluster of worlds flourished in this cycle.

With the Merchant Guild, this world cluster greatly benefited. The Merchant Guild had connected all the worlds and civilizations within this cluster, allowing them to exchange goods and communicate, while also bringing advanced Dao Orthodoxy and techniques from the world.

Perhaps for many civilizations, this was like pulling up seedlings to help them grow, but without the Merchant Guild, they might not even have had the chance to sprout.

This was also the means of expansion of the 'world.'

Who knows how many civilizations abandoned their unique 'Dao' because of this, turning instead to cultivate the Dao Orthodoxy of the world.

This wasn't a violent suppression, but a high-level俯视.

Aside from the Human Dao, the world actually disliked violent conflict. They simply descended, and thus... these worlds submitted.

If they didn't submit, nor were they hostile, then the world regarded them as fellow travelers. As long as there was no Dao dispute, they were friends.

But very few worlds could endure, for... when true Heavenly Gods manifest in the mortal realm, how many can resist kneeling?

And Li Shiwei, after this cycle concluded, would leave this place to go to that special world, unknown to the Merchant Guild, that her leader knew about.

The stone vibrated and said, "Boss, all preparations are done. We can disembark."

"Okay, let's go," Li Shiwei tidied her Mustard Seed Pouch, confirmed everything was packed, then took out another ship ticket, and quietly left the ship.

Actually, it wasn't exactly quiet, as the news had already spread throughout the ship. However, she didn't want anyone to see her off when she left, so she opted for a discreet departure.

As for the other ship ticket in her hand, it was for a new ship.

After all, she was only Eighth-Grade, and traversing the Void Realm purely on her own was extremely unwise. For places where people couldn't walk, one still needed to drive.

However, it wasn't a world-class colossal ship, but merely a small flying boat, dozens of zhang in length and width.

She rented this ship, intending to travel alone, using it to traverse the Void Realm to reach the unpolluted world her captain had spoken of, untouched by the Merchant Guild.

Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

Holding the pre-prepared ship ticket, which she had rented with eleven years of her salary, for an eleven-year term, the price indicated that the ship she rented was essentially a Seventh-Grade Spiritual Artifact.

A Seventh-Grade flying boat, even if not a world-class colossal ship, was still very valuable.

Of course, it was also rented from the Merchant Guild, as in this world cluster, only the Merchant Guild possessed the capability for large-scale manufacturing, leasing, and selling of Seventh-Grade Spiritual Artifacts.

Taking the ship from the smiling Merchant Guild merchant, Li Shiwei's expression was somewhat disgusted.

"Ugh... This thing is a bit disgusting," she said, her mouth twitching as she looked at the ship.

The stone, however, said, "It is a bit, but this thing was invented by Invoker. It should be made with the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact technique. This ship is alive and can adapt to various environments. In the Void Realm, it can even reach 1.5 times the Heavenly Dao limit, making it very suitable for short-distance travel within the world cluster. However, long-distance travel still requires using the Star-Mansion Array or world-class colossal ships."

The ship they described as 'disgusting' was a thirty-zhang-long living flying boat. Its entire structure was composed of a large number of Gu insects as Materials, forming an outer shell similar to a chitinous carapace, reflecting a kaleidoscopic black.

Some red liquid flowed within the flying boat, like viscous blood, but apart from that, it largely resembled an ordinary flying boat, with no difference in appearance from a standard one, featuring the same pavilions and decks.

After all, the basic aesthetics were still there, and functionality was well-maintained. It was just... using living Gu insects as Materials made people a bit uncomfortable.

"Shamanic Silkworm Artifact? I've seen them at my father's place, but they're not this disgusting... Things made by Shamanic Silkworm Artifact are no different from ordinary Spiritual Artifacts," Li Shiwei pouted.

The stone, however, said, "How can Invoker's craftsmanship compare to this mass-produced item? These flying boats are refined by lower-level Gu Masters using Shamancraft Gu techniques. Shamancraft Gu is, after all, a minor Dao, how can it be compared to Invoker's lineage?"

"True, my dad is still very impressive. Forget it, let it be ugly; as long as it works. After all, this thing is said to perform very well and is simple to operate," Li Shiwei shook her head and boarded the peculiar flying boat.

Ease of operation was the reason she chose this type of flying boat, because even a thirty-zhang-long flying boat would be very strenuous to operate alone. Controlling a Seventh-Grade Spiritual Artifact was not a simple task.

Generally speaking, a Seventh-Grade Spiritual Artifact requires a Seventh-Grade cultivator to operate it effectively. If there isn't a Seventh-Grade cultivator, then a crew must be assembled, with each person responsible for a part.

But Li Shiwei was alone, and she didn't plan to recruit crew members, so she couldn't manage a living ship without help.

"You handle half, I'll handle the other half. Let's go, depart immediately!" Li Shiwei said with a laugh, then started the flying boat.

The blood within the flying boat began to circulate faster, and this large Gu insect suddenly opened its eyes, its body beginning to move according to the instincts already implanted within it.

Indeed, this was the method to reduce operational pressure.

This flying boat was assembled from several large Gu insects, devoid of consciousness and possessing only instinct. These Gu insects lacked sentience but had bodily instincts. By using specific operations to trigger these Gu insects' instincts, the Gu insects would respond accordingly, much like the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact.

No... it's not 'like,' these were originally made with Shamanic Silkworm Artifact technology. The Shamanic Silkworm Artifact technology invented by Li Qi has been widely applied in the Shamancraft Gu techniques within the Merchant Guild, becoming a compulsory subject for those Gu Masters.

This could be considered a small contribution he made to the technological development of the world.

Coming back to the point, as long as you learn how to control the instinctive reactions of these Gu insects, you only need simple operations to make this flying boat perform complex maneuvers, because a large number of operations are integrated into the Gu insects' instincts, eliminating the need for human micro-adjustments.

Although this would lead to a reduction in the flying boat's performance and maneuverability, as the characteristic of the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact is its relatively poor performance compared to expensive custom Spiritual Artifacts, it was still sufficient.

With this feature, Li Shiwei could control an entire flying boat with just two people.

Thanks to Li Qi's invention and creation, without this technology, the Merchant Guild would not have been able to provide a large number of single-person flying boats for external rental.

Of course, Li Shiwei felt nothing about this, because since she started working, single-person flying boats were already standard equipment, seen in many places.

It is well-known that technologies appearing before one's thirtieth birthday are considered commonplace, an inherent part of the world's fabric.

For Li Shiwei, it was the same. Although the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact was a new technology, she had already grown accustomed to it.

Placing the stone in the cockpit, even without hands or feet, he could perform certain operations.

Then Li Shiwei herself went to take charge of the energy work at the back.

Division of labor made things much easier.

"Coordinates confirmed. Departing!" the stone announced.

The flying boat traced a path through the world barrier of the Holy Flame World, which had already been artificially opened, and sped towards the distant deep space beyond the domain.

This voyage required continuous acceleration for three months, traveling at 1.5 times the Heavenly Dao limit for three months.

And these were Li Shiwei's own three months, because when speed approached the Heavenly Dao limit to a certain extent, her own time would slow down slightly.

Although cultivators can use techniques to raise and enhance the Heavenly Dao limit around them, this limit always exists. As long as one approaches it, it will cause time to slow down. This is also a manifestation of a 'Great Dao' in the real world, just like omnipresent gravity. This temporal disorder, too, is omnipresent.

This situation once greatly puzzled Li Shiwei. She found it difficult to understand what this chaotic space-time was all about, because the cultivation method she practiced allowed her to clearly perceive this difference, yet this difference was extremely awkward.

It was like... a nearsighted person looking at text on a computer from a meter away. She could vaguely see something there, similar to seeing words written on it, but she just couldn't make them out. She wanted to get closer to see, but couldn't, which was very uncomfortable.

This might be related to her Mount Luofu cultivation method.

It was said that her mother and Aunt Yang Ning practiced the Great Dao in this area. Unfortunately, Li Shiwei couldn't understand it, nor could she comprehend the distortion in space-time now.

But regardless, for Li Shiwei it was three months, but more than a year had passed in the outside world. During this period, she was constantly stuck in this awkward space-time turbulence, suffering immensely.

Fortunately, three months later, the stone, placed in the cockpit and controlling the flying boat with its Spirit Soul, suddenly said, "Boss, it's about time. I'm going to decelerate."

"Alright... you decelerate," Li Shiwei said weakly, looking somewhat haggard.

Sitting inside a large, world-class colossal ship, she didn't have this feeling. Perhaps it was because the Heavenly Dao of the world provided protection, thus shielding against the disturbances in space-time?

In any case, this small ship was still too stimulating for her, to the point that she had almost suffered a nervous breakdown and incessant vomiting these past few months.

"Alright, after decelerating, you'll feel better. I'm going to lower the upper limit of the Heavenly Dao limit here. The ship's mass will increase, so it might be a bit shaky."

As he spoke, accompanied by a jolt, the ship's speed was forcibly suppressed by the Heavenly Dao limit!

They had arrived.

(Tomorrow will be a double update. There will also be another double update on the first of next month.)