Chapter 706: Fast civilization

Li Qi looked at the battle report from the front lines; the place he was currently in was very far from the front, and his achievements were enough for him to rest for a period, so there was no rush.

With the Immortal Heaven joining, and the Demonic Dao, True Dragon, and Shaman joining forces, the Human Dao was not in a good situation at the moment.

However… the Human Dao had brought out many strange things, such as… a large number of Geniuses.

It was truly a large number, appearing from who knows where…

But it seemed to be related to the Eclectic School.

Besides that, the Demonic Dao seemed to be investing more and more, and the Human Dao seemed to need to find a way, otherwise defeat would come very quickly.

Putting away the battle report, Li Qi looked down.

Skyscrapers, various flying vehicles below, a large number of automated facilities, mechanical servants, and the local natives with extensive prosthetic modifications.

Neon lights flickered, looking exceptionally dazzling against the night.

However, it couldn't be described that way; this wasn't actually cyberpunk, it just had a similar art style.

In the Advancement Alliance world, they didn't have giant corporations, nor did they have the wicked methods of the Human Dao; in fact, although their political system couldn't achieve absolute fairness, it still had a very good promotion mechanism.

Of course, this was also necessary.

The rate of personnel change in this world was too fast; a complete change of people could happen in a few hundred years, and regardless of strength or anything else, it depended on the development of the entire civilization's technology, so a smooth and fair path to advancement was necessary, otherwise, they wouldn't be able to reach their current level.

They didn't become strong based on the strength of a certain powerful individual, but on the overall strength of the civilization; it was precisely this system that allowed them to enjoy the technological improvements brought by the Illusion-Reality Domain to the greatest extent.

"Why are you sitting here in the middle of the night?" In the room, Shen Shuibi rubbed her eyes and walked out.

Unlike Li Qi's light sleeping robe, she was still wearing a thick Daoist robe; except for her hands and face, almost nothing else could be seen, and even her neck was only visible as a hint of paleness from her collar when she turned her head.

This was her habitual attire; she didn't particularly like the cyberpunk-style popular clothing of this world and still wore her ordinary Daoist robe, which had even faded.

It was truly ordinary, the kind a Mortal would wear, with a simple Daoist bun, but without a hair ornament.

"We've been in this world for seven years," Li Qi said, sitting on a chair.

Shen Shuibi walked behind him, leaning on the back of the chair with her hands, her chest resting on the back of Li Qi's head, and said faintly, "What's wrong?"

"Look at this world; in seven years, it's changing with each passing day. Just the buildings in front of us have been torn down and rebuilt twice," Li Qi pointed to the tall buildings outside.

"So what?" Shen Shuibi was somewhat puzzled.

"We seem a bit out of place in this world. This world changes too fast, and we're like two old antiques, two old wooden stakes, completely unable to keep up with this fast-paced world," Li Qi said.

"Immortals are like this by nature, is there a problem?" Shen Shuibi asked, tilting her head.

"Think about it, I've experienced too many things before, too long, often thousands or tens of thousands of years, but now, we seem to have encountered a world that is changing with each passing day, a vibrant civilization, and we happen to be in it," Li Qi looked at the world outside: "These seven years have been truly unproductive. I want to spend a few years joining this world, experiencing this spirit and grandeur of eternal progress. Perhaps this… can bring some vitality to the mindset of us old tree stumps?"

Shen Shuibi didn't understand what he meant, but she said, "I don't care, if you want to go play, then go play."

"It's not playing, but very serious cultivation. I feel that we are too insensitive to the passage of time now, just like these seven years. Can you recall what we did in these seven years?" Li Qi asked.

Shen Shuibi's face flushed slightly, and she didn't reply.

It was really hard to answer; the rabbit was still very shy.

Li Qi, however, ignored this and went straight to the point: "But in the past, seven years was enough for us to do many things. I didn't even stay in Chang'an for seven years. This has nothing to do with cultivation, but I feel that our concept of time should not increasingly detach from the normal flow of time, don't you think? Otherwise, calling us old tree stumps would be an understatement; we might turn into stones."

'Normal flow of time' is a very abstract concept, but when truly implemented, it becomes very concrete.

Why do Immortals live long?

It is to have more time to pursue the Dao, to have more time to do their own things, to not be bothered by time, and to have a large amount of time to do what is necessary for pursuing the Dao.

All of this points to the same goal, which is 'longevity is for gaining more time'.

So, if you turn into a wooden stake, a block of stone, has your time truly increased?

Suppose there is a species that can live for ten thousand years, but their perceived flow of time is only one hundred years. In the eyes of others, their actions are extremely slow, one hundred times slower than ordinary people.

Then, compared to the Jisu Realm mentioned earlier, which is a race where even a Seventh-Rank can only live for eight days, who truly has more time?

Clearly, the Jisu Realm will have much more time than this stone person, even if they only live for a few seconds in reality.

Li Qi now felt that he had a tendency to live like a wooden stake.

Many years would pass in an instant, but in those many years, had he truly done anything?

The longevity of Immortals should be used for one person to accomplish a great feat that would take a hundred generations to complete.

It shouldn't be for time to turn oneself into stone, to become a slow, foolish 'Immortal' who sits idly by, letting time pass, self-important but in reality doing nothing at all.

Now there was a good opportunity before him. Facing this rapidly changing world, facing this Advancement Alliance, Li Qi felt that perhaps he could reconnect his gradually slowing concept of time with that of Mortals.

"Hmm… what you say makes some sense, but what do you plan to do?" Shen Shuibi asked.

"First, participate in the operation of this society. Live like the ordinary people here and integrate into their fast-paced life. First, change this habit of sitting still and contemplating for four or five days at a time," Li Qi said with a smile, then stood up and waved his hand.

His clothes changed accordingly, becoming a common outfit in the Advancement Alliance, a rather avant-garde set suitable for sports, somewhat form-fitting, with separate top and bottom, and various ports for direct connection to mechanical devices, though currently empty.

"Are you going out now?" Shen Shuibi asked.

"Pretty much. I'll go see the situation first. When you say it, do it. No need to procrastinate," Li Qi said, bidding farewell to the rabbit and walking downstairs alone.

The rabbit just watched him, dazed.

It wasn't until Li Qi opened the door, and then closed it, that she shook her head.

Hmm… Li Qi's whimsical ideas were quite interesting.

As for this side, besides restoring his normal sense of time, he also planned to use this time to stabilize his cultivation and so on.

However, the rabbit probably didn't feel much about this, after all, she was a naturally long-lived species; time had always been the same for her, and she didn't have the sense of detachment from her current situation that Li Qi did.

Li Qi's time used to pass very slowly, and now it passed very quickly, but the rabbit felt nothing about this; she thought it was all pretty much the same.

Meanwhile, after Li Qi went downstairs, he looked at the flickering neon lights outside, and some people walking on the street, as well as floating vehicles whizzing by.

People came and went, roads crisscrossed, and crowds surged. Large electric streetcars, like ocean currents in an urban sea, passed through this bustling metropolis.

Li Qi saw some girls giggling, holding a street-bought drink in one hand, wearing those highly futuristic glasses, or even artificial eyeballs, looking around.

There were also some adult office workers on the street scratching their heads, troubled by work matters; even in this world, hard work was still indispensable.

Young people, laughing and joking, played happily on the street; they were hitting the air, likely because a complete virtual game was projected into reality within their field of vision.

There were many pedestrians on the street, but everything was not completely linked to the virtual. In fact, Li Qi had not accessed those virtual realities, but he could still see many decorations from reality.

They were immersed in the virtual, yet they had not forgotten reality; the virtual was merely an embellishment of reality.

Looking into the restaurant, the aroma wafted, and the food cooked was genuine, not some nutrient paste with seasonings. This also corroborated the idea above: the Advancement Alliance was not immersed in the virtual world, even though their virtual reality was very developed, it was still only a part of the real world.

Li Qi just stood on the street watching, until dawn, completely unaware of the time passing.

Above, there was a light grid formed by neon lights, and further up, the world's firmament and world barrier, dotted with stars, which were the lights lit by Star Officials.

Looking down, there was the vast Mortal World.

The prosperity of the human world, the rolling lives, all came into view.

Hmm…

It was quite beautiful.

However, just at this moment, Li Qi suddenly felt someone tap him.

He turned his head and saw a man who looked like a Patrol Officer, appearing very young, likely just starting work. As for his cultivation… he wasn't ranked, of course, if you included all his equipment, he should be able to fight a relatively weak Seventh-Rank, right?

This was the advantage of this world: mass-produced Seventh-Ranks. However… correspondingly, their upper limit was also relatively low, but ultimately, their talent made it very difficult to reach Seventh-Rank, so being able to ascend in one step, even if they could only live for a few hundred years, was thanks to the civilization.

In a place like All Under Heaven, they might not even touch the edge of Eighth-Rank.

Li Qi observed the other party, pondering his situation.

But to the other party… Li Qi was just standing there dumbfounded.

So, this young Patrol Officer said in their civilization's own language, "Friend, according to surveillance, you've been standing here for four time-rings. What's going on?"

Time-ring, the timekeeping method of this civilization. They divided a day into twenty time-rings, corresponding to the positions of the sun and moon.

Li Qi came back to his senses and gave an embarrassed smile: "Ah? Has it been that long already? Sorry, I was spacing out."

It happened again. This was what he wanted to change, this sense of detachment from time; it really wasn't good.

"Spacing out? Also, why are you only wearing one set of clothes, and where's your equipment? You didn't wear any equipment when you came out, so what are you doing here?" the Patrol Officer asked again.

If he didn't bring any equipment, he couldn't even take a public bus, nor could he buy anything. What was he doing out here spacing out?

Anyway, no matter how you looked at it, Li Qi seemed suspicious.

"I suspect you might have used illegal psychotropic drugs. Please come with me, we'll check your bodily fluids," the Patrol Officer said.

Li Qi was stunned.

Ugh, so his attire, plus spacing out for a few hours, made people think he was a drug addict!

But honestly, thinking about it carefully, it really did seem like it.

He didn't make it difficult for the officer. Li Qi nodded: "Okay, let's go then."

With that, Li Qi simply extended his hand, signaling for the other party to cuff him.

He knew that he had pretty much figured out the basic common sense of this world in the past few years. This civilization called the Advancement Alliance would indeed use this method to arrest unstable individuals.

This, in turn, confused the Patrol Officer.

"Uh… alright, just follow me for now. Have you eaten?" The other party chose not to cuff Li Qi, but instead told Li Qi to follow him, asking at the same time.

"Not yet," Li Qi replied.

The other person's expression clearly showed a hint of pity towards Li Qi, and he completely gave up the idea of cuffing Li Qi, only saying: "Okay, let's go then, let's get something to eat first."

He led Li Qi to a fast-food restaurant by the roadside. The culinary culture here emphasized elaborate cooking, so the dishes generally didn't resemble their original ingredients, with large amounts of local spices added, and reshaped into entirely new forms.

For example, making vegetables look like meat patties, or meat look like fruit.

How to put it…

Molecular gastronomy?

It was roughly that idea, but no matter what, the food actually tasted quite good, it was just impossible to tell what the raw Materials were.

Some food was brought over. After thanking the other party, Li Qi began to eat.

He ate slowly and methodically, and the Patrol Officer watched Li Qi, analyzing the identity of this mysterious visitor.

Spacing out like that earlier, he might have suffered some kind of blow.

He had no external equipment on him at all, so he was probably stripped, and a bit unaccustomed to it.

The way he ate was quite elegant, every movement seemed to have a certain special rhythm, indicating that the other party must have some background, not as simple as a passerby on the street.

Just staring at Li Qi eating, after a while, the Patrol Officer asked: "Brother, how did you end up like this? You look dazed, but your hands are steady like this, so you shouldn't have used any psychotropic drugs. How did you end up with nothing on you?"

"Oh, that, actually, I didn't have any of that equipment on me to begin with. I came here mainly to try and integrate into society. I've always lived alone before, and now I want to try living by myself. I just got a bit lost in thought when I saw the scenery outside after coming down," Li Qi said with a smile.

The young Patrol Officer looked Li Qi over again.

Could he be mentally ill?

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