Chapter 574: Origin

Could the arrival of new technology potentially prevent the world from exhausting its resources?

Such a thing exists?

The Lingchou Realm Lord immediately began reading, scrutinizing every detail within.

This was a report written by someone named ‘Mo Xiao’, which meticulously documented the technical capabilities of the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact. Although the internal workings of this technology were unclear, the specific principles and the method to prevent world resources from being mined to exhaustion through this technology were presented.

It was a perfect report, yet it made the Lingchou Realm Lord break out in a cold sweat.

What’s going on?

At this critical juncture, after the Human Dao introduced a true Spiritual Artifact assembly line, such a terrifying technology suddenly appeared.

Is this a challenge?

You say it has nothing to do with Shaman Dao? Who would believe that?

The Lingchou Realm Lord immediately placed her hand on the sample attached to the report, then cast a spell to begin divination and prognostication.

Although she wasn’t a practitioner specializing in divination, as a Fifth-Rank, she would always learn a bit of everything, as their lives were long enough to learn whatever they wished.

Following the threads of Karma, she began to trace upwards, her gaze instantly landing on Mo Xiao.

Then, she continued to trace.

World after world, even crossing world clusters, leaving the Celestial Dwelling (Xinxiu), and then rushing towards even more distant outer domains!

It wasn't until she had traced back through seventeen entire world clusters, over six hundred worlds, and the karmic connections had become extremely faint due to constant disturbances, that she finally put down the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact that served as a sample.

“Cough cough…” The Lingchou Realm Lord coughed twice, rubbing her temples.

Such a degree of deduction and divination was very stressful for her; it was not a simple matter. Continuing to deduce further would even exceed her limits.

However, after over six hundred worlds of twists and turns, she couldn't find any flaws.

This technology was just like all technologies circulating in the outer domains; everyone traded and spread them normally according to business logic or something else.

If it was useful, they used it; if not, they didn’t. If it could be bought and sold for money, that was even better.

After all, to be honest, the idea behind this Gu worm wasn't particularly novel; many places had similar technologies. However, the difference lay in the extremely mysterious internal spell workings of this Gu worm, which gave the Lingchou Realm Lord a feeling of not being able to see through it.

Such profound Shaman Dao could not have come from an ordinary world; it was definitely a product of a high-grade world, perhaps even from that true ‘Upper Realm,’ the legendary ‘World Below the Heavens.’

“No, I’m not at ease.” The Lingchou Realm Lord shook her head, feeling that her deduction skills were too poor.

Even after divination, discovering that there was indeed nothing behind this, she was still a Fifth-Rank, not a fool, and dared not trust it so easily.

Therefore, other inspections were necessary.

Thinking this, she picked up the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact, preparing to leave.

She needed to go to another world cluster to find a friend of hers.

Calling them a friend wasn't quite right; perhaps a business partner.

The other party was extremely skilled in divination and had even been to the World Below the Heavens because his son, in the screening of hundreds of millions of worlds, had defeated countless opponents and become one of the top few, thus being able to join a Sect in the World Below the Heavens.

It was said that the other party's son had originally wanted to study at the Imperial Academy, but he was eliminated in the first round. So, he had no choice but to settle for the next best thing, joining the Dongshan Academy in the World Below the Heavens, becoming a scholar. It was said that the head of the academy was a Fourth-Rank.

This was far more impressive than the Lingchou Realm Lord's own offspring. For someone from the outer domain to be able to join a Great Sect in the World Below the Heavens was truly a meteoric rise.

It was precisely because of this that his divination skills were also very powerful; it was rumored he learned them in the World Below the Heavens.

This time, she would reluctantly pay a price for peace and safety. Let the other party perform the deduction; whether successful or not, she would get an answer.

If divination provided an answer, then she would act according to it.

If the deduction and divination yielded no results, it meant that this thing had an intimidatingly powerful origin. Regardless of whether it was from Shaman Dao, it couldn't be used casually. The Human Dao's approach was at least an open scheme, clearly laid out. What kind of scheme this suddenly appearing thing was, would be hard to say.

Then let's set off.

The Lingchou Realm Lord swiftly took these items to another world cluster.

Through the Human Dao's Golden Dais on the other side, Fifth-Ranks could also travel quickly, but for them, paying the Golden Dais fee was quite expensive.

The Golden Dais was basically free for those within the Human Dao, requiring only a small payment for operational personnel costs, which was very cheap even when calculated in silver.

But for people from the outer domains, especially mid-to-high-grade cultivators, the price was truly enough to make them feel the pinch…

However, it was impossible not to use it for long-distance travel, so they could only grit their teeth and be fleeced, getting fleeced twice for a round trip.

Nevertheless, being a Fifth-Rank, she still had some savings. Although it pained her, she could afford it.

Upon arriving at the other party's world, she immediately saw its prosperity.

It really was…

Enviable.

Having a promising offspring is truly wonderful. Moreover, after joining a Great Sect in the World Below the Heavens, they not only don't charge money but actually provide benefits. What they want is your talent and future, fellow travelers, not a small sum for apprenticeship fees.

Therefore, the advantage of the people of the World Below the Heavens lies in this: previously, it was said that people from the outer domains had to abandon survival to pursue the Dao, but for the native inhabitants of the World Below the Heavens, there was no need to worry about survival.

They had no survival pressure.

The Lingchou Realm Lord genuinely envied this point and greatly admired it.

However… fortunately, they weren't born in the World Below the Heavens. If they had truly experienced the lives of the Baiyue or the East Sea Merfolk, the Lingchou Realm Lord might perhaps envy the freedom of the outer domains.

Everyone has their difficulties. Even Li Qi, with his privileged life, still had to face the Human-Shaman War. Thinking about the impending Dao dispute, he also had a headache.

Who doesn't have worries?

Putting those aside, with the Realm Lord's visit, the people below naturally trembled with fear and immediately tried to greet her with a grand ceremony.

But the Lingchou Realm Lord had no time for that. She directly told them it wasn't necessary, then swiftly arrived at her friend's palace.

“Lian Qing, Lian Qing.” The Lingchou Realm Lord called out from outside.

The palace doors opened, and a voice came from within: “Oh, it’s older sister. What’s wrong? Why do you have time to visit me?”

The Lingchou Realm Lord, at this moment, was not so particular. She took big strides and entered: “I have something to ask of you, Lian Qing, please help me.”

“What trouble has older sister encountered?” The Fifth-Rank named Lian Qing asked with a smile.

“I want to divine and deduce the origin of this item. It is of great importance, so please, Lian Qing, do not refuse.” The Lingchou Realm Lord entered and said so.

Then, one could see a handsome man, but he was not human.

The man named Lian Qing exuded a faint Demon Qi, clearly, this was a demon who chose to shapeshift into a person of the World Below the Heavens, already a Fifth-Rank, so his original form was almost invisible.

“Divination? Hmm, older sister, let me see?” The other party said so.

The Lingchou Realm Lord naturally handed it over.

Then, inevitably, there was another round of negotiation, bargaining, and various debates, but she still paid a hefty price. Finally, the two settled on a price, and the other party began the divination.

The Lingchou Realm Lord placed high hopes on this.

However, after more than three days of deduction, the other party concluded that this set of items originated from the World Below the Heavens.

This truly startled the Lingchou Realm Lord.

It was actually something from the World Below the Heavens. Could it be another conspiracy?

But, perhaps by coincidence, at this moment, Lian Qing's son, who was studying in the Human Dao of the World Below the Heavens, returned.

He had just returned to visit his father and happened to see the item they were deducing and divining.

“Oh, isn’t this a Shamanic Silkworm Artifact?” Lian Qing’s son asked with some curiosity, “Father, how did you get this?”

“My dear son, you know this?” Lian Qing was a bit curious. He couldn't recognize it, but his young son, currently still an Eighth-Rank, could?

“Yes, this thing has been quite famous in Chang'an recently. It belongs to Liu Donghe’s son, I think his name is… Liu Canzhi. He is from a prominent family of the Imperial Academy, and his cultivation has already reached Seventh-Rank. The industry he operates is the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact,” Lian Qing’s son said.

“Liu Donghe’s son? Is this Liu Donghe very famous?” The Lingchou Realm Lord immediately asked anxiously.

“Of course he’s famous! He’s a high-ranking Official, a Third-Rank Great Official, a contemporary Confucian scholar. As his son, how could Liu Canzhi not have some capability?” Lian Qing said boastfully, as if showing off his erudition.

After all, he was someone who had entered a Great Sect in the World Below the Heavens by his own merit.

“In other words, this thing was made by the son of a Third-Rank Great Confucian… It’s only natural that I couldn’t grasp the situation.” Lian Qing suddenly understood.

Upon learning the reason, the Lingchou Realm Lord also breathed a sigh of relief.

If this thing also came from the Human Dao, then it meant it definitely didn't come from Shaman Dao. After all… would you say the offspring of a Human Dao Third-Rank would get involved with a Shaman?

That's absurd.

“Since that’s the case, I shall take my leave now, Lian Qing, farewell.” The Lingchou Realm Lord bowed and then departed.

“Older sister, travel safely.” Lian Qing bid farewell, then patted his son's shoulder, very pleased.

Truly promising.

“Oh, by the way, my son, why did you suddenly return? Aren’t you still studying?” Lian Qing asked his son.

“Oh, Father, it’s like this: I was originally in the outer domain, but I received a message. It seems there will be some changes around our home, specifically near the Great Fire of the Celestial Dwelling (Xinxiu). I can’t reveal the source of this message, but the other party certainly wouldn’t lie, so I came back to check on you and warn you,” the young man said.

Lian Qing nodded slightly upon hearing this.

So that’s how it was, a coincidence.

His son still thought of him when something happened; that was a good thing, a good thing.

— — — — — — — — — —

Thus, everything proceeded smoothly.

Three years passed, and after three years, the Lingchou Realm’s experiment succeeded.

At the Realm Lord’s instruction, they spent three years testing the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact in some low-grade worlds.

Then, they achieved great success. All seventy worlds used for the experiment had their depletion alleviated and even began to recover. At the same time, profits did not decrease; they even increased.

Because the produced Spiritual Artifact robes saw a 10% performance increase, but their price increased tenfold, leading to terrifyingly high profit margins. With steady growth in total revenue, costs were perfectly controlled.

It was simply… perfect.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that a Great Power had meticulously customized this technology for the Lingchou Realm.

And the Lingchou Realm Lord was not particularly surprised by this effect.

This was technology from the Imperial Academy; such an effect was only natural. It was truly good luck to encounter such a thing.

The predicament of the Lingchou Realm was temporarily resolved, and there was no longer such an urgent need for expansion and pressure.

The Lingchou Realm Lord finished handling these matters, looking at the daily reports, and thought to herself… perhaps she could continue to delay?

Yes, delay.

She had not yet accepted the Human Dao's Spiritual Artifact assembly line, nor had she disturbed that Shaman Dao envoy.

To be honest, the Lingchou Realm Lord still thought about playing both sides, not wanting to take a stance until the last moment, because if she did, the enemy-friend relationship would become very clear, and all subsequent matters would be restricted.

If she could avoid taking a stance, she would. Anyway, no one was forcing her now.

Thinking this, the Lingchou Realm Lord took a sip of tea.

Hmm, good tea.

Life was truly pleasant.

Thinking this, she picked up today's report again.

However, halfway through, she suddenly frowned, then initiated a communication spell and began to inquire about the specific situation: “How many spies were caught? Is there going to be a war?”

The reply came: “Yes, Realm Lord. Several worlds on the border have received definite news that the Fu Cao Yi Realm is preparing to go to war against us. It is said… that our current production strategy has caused them extreme dissatisfaction. They demand that we stop using the Spiritual Artifact assembly line and change our current expansionist attitude.”

The Fu Cao Yi Realm was another Fifth-Rank world, slightly stronger than the Lingchou Realm, mainly because the Fu Cao Yi Realm was originally a native world and not civilized from the beginning.

As a native world, its Realm Lord had broken through the world barrier himself and came to the outer domain, full of drive. The entire civilization had a strong atmosphere of pursuing the Dao. It was said that there was once a war where they didn’t care if their race was annihilated, just to uphold their Dao.

Later, the Fu Cao Yi Realm was not annihilated because a Shaman descended and saved the Fu Cao Yi Realm. The Fu Cao Yi Realm was surprised to find that their ‘Dao’ had a very high degree of overlap with Shaman Dao.

Because the Fu Cao Yi Realm was named so due to the nature of their race: this race was a naturally occurring Spirit Soul creature that attached itself to anything and combined with all things, thereby producing a physical body and consciousness.

As a race that could ‘empathize’ with all things, they had an extraordinary recognition of Shaman Dao.

The Fu Cao Yi Realm still maintained its own Dao and had not fully joined Shaman Dao, but it had always been a supporter of Shaman Dao. People from Shaman Dao would also often come to preach the Dao, considering them fellow travelers rather than subordinates.

Now, the Fu Cao Yi Realm suddenly attacked, probably sensing their intention to fully introduce the Spiritual Artifact assembly line, or even possibly discovering the Human Dao envoy!

Of course, there was another possibility that the Lingchou Realm Lord did not wish to consider.

That was, someone was directing the Fu Cao Yi Realm from behind, forcing the Lingchou Realm to take a side.

If that were truly the possibility… then who was directing it?

Who had a reason to push the Lingchou Realm into a war?