Chapter 830: Dreamer

Li Qi walked on the streets of this underground city.

To call them streets isn't quite right; they should be called 'pipes'.

These were narrow pipes, only wide enough for two people to pass, filled with terrible noise and severe claustrophobia, but not dark. Light and fresh air were abundant here.

Walking and living here was like living in an ant's nest. You could travel through these narrow pipes to one 'block' after another, and these 'blocks' were strange buildings.

The interiors of these buildings might be energy facilities, food factories, or the 'dormitories' from before where hundreds of thousands of people slept in a single box. They could also be an Immortal Cave for Cultivation, an air purifier, a wastewater treatment plant, and so on.

After all, the technological capabilities of this place were extraordinarily advanced.

Almost infinite energy, coupled with industrial capacity capable of feeding billions of people, this was no joke.

Moreover, though it's called 'City of Dreams,' in reality, it's not exactly peaceful.

Li Qi moved through the pipes, seeing almost no 'scenery.' Even with large air purifiers and various wastewater treatments making the environment 'bearable' and not immediately lethal, it still couldn't change the oppressive atmosphere here.

However, there was one good thing.

Life forms from all over the Universe were outstanding individuals from their local worlds. They came to this world, seeking an opportunity to rise above others.

They could tolerate sleeping in those 'chicken coops' from before, but the reason was that everyone... no, most people, surely believed they could ascend to a higher level.

The reason it wasn't everyone was because some people were always defeated by setbacks.

But along the way Li Qi walked, generally speaking, most people were full of vigor.

Furthermore, Li Qi also discovered some 'Star Gates.'

Calling them Star Gates, they were actually similar to things like the Star-Mansion Array or the Golden Dais, capable of quickly transporting people from outside the realm to this world.

The Human Dao's Golden Dais daily processed countless goods. These materials sent from outside the realm supported countless Mortals of the Human Dao, allowing them to buy exotic treasures from a world millions of light-years away at a supermarket next to their homes.

The local people couldn't even eat them, but the Human Dao could buy them cheaply.

A typical example: the crystallization of an entire ninth-grade world, such as the typical 'World Tree Fruit.' A single ninth-grade world, with billions of people, spending hundreds of years, could only produce one such precious fruit. Local natives might fight to the death over this fruit, even starting world wars for it.

However, such things were sold for two yuan per catty, or five yuan for three catties, at the supermarket downstairs in a Human Dao residential building.

Nothing more; it was just a ninth-grade world, too many of them, harvesting them was too much trouble, usually the lower-grade World of the Realm voluntarily picked them.

This 'City of Dreams' was similar in terms of its products.

Things like World Tree Fruits, while not as cheap as five yuan for three catties, could still be afforded by gritting one's teeth and spending half a month's income.

This situation was nothing short of a miracle for these new Mortals arriving in this world, and it was the beginning of their 'dream.'

This world could even accomplish such things.

Then, wouldn't their opportunities be endless?

As long as they worked hard and struggled here, then when they left here and returned to the outside realm, they would naturally become superior beings, existences admired by countless people!

Therefore, as far as Li Qi could see, the surrounding areas, spanning dozens of planetary surfaces, were generally like this.

“The Demonic Dao's methods are much better than I imagined,” Li Qi thought, passing through a pipe and arriving in a relatively large underground cavern.

This was also a typical 'block,' its outer walls covered in alloy, and the internal buildings were neatly rectangular.

This was the largest 'cavern' nearby because it was the only 'Star Gate' within an area covering dozens of planets.

Of course, for the entire massive structure, this was just a very small, ordinary Star Gate, but it was already the largest building in this vicinity.

Every moment, countless throngs of people were sent to this place.

However, they weren't 'walking over.'

“Oh… packaged like this and sent over, this is truly…” Li Qi sighed with a hint of emotion.

What he saw was that it wasn't people being sent over at all, but rather Immortal Caves.

All people and life were packaged within Immortal Caves.

Immortal Caves capable of carrying life usually found it difficult to traverse directly within a world, easily being shattered by the world's barrier, with everything inside lost, unless they could form their own space and maintain their existence.

However, the space in this world was very sturdy, so there were no such concerns. Here, whether it was an Immortal Cave or a miniature heaven and earth, this world could easily bear them.

But the problem was, with Immortal Caves, each containing hundreds of millions of people, being transported like this, then... how would they be released?

It was easy to put them in, but when it came to releasing them, where would they go?

Li Qi was a bit confused, so he decided to ask directly.

He emerged from his state of merging with natural, then walked forward, approaching one of the transporters.

That was an eighth-grade humanoid creature, a bit taller than a normal human. He was holding an Immortal Cave, carefully stepping out of the Star Gate.

The reason Li Qi chose him was that after scanning the area with his mind-reading ability, he found this person to be the most honest.

It was more pleasant to deal with honest people; otherwise, seeing a few eighth-grades jumping around and playing mind games would be quite annoying, especially since Li Qi wasn't in a very good mood right now.

He walked up to this eighth-grade, releasing a slight aura, exerting pressure only on that one person.

The humanoid creature immediately trembled.

At that instant, he seemed to see the Universe unfolding before him.

A brand new 'reality.'

An ineffable, terrifying world, with completely different World Law.

In that moment, his mind and body seemed to be destroyed and then reassembled.

Then, all of it suddenly vanished, leaving only him.

The surrounding world was also isolated.

An 'independent' space appeared here.

Of course, it wasn't actually independent; space was essentially just a manifestation of material movement and couldn't exist independently. The surroundings were merely folded directions.

The directions of space showed its complexity. Now, the complexity of the space here was different from the outside world, so it was naturally isolated. Neither light nor anything else could reach here, because there was simply no 'direction' leading to it.

“Immortal, great… God, grand… ugh—” The humanoid eighth-grade opened his mouth, seemingly thinking of a long list of honorifics, but in the end, he couldn't utter any of them.

He only knew that the existence before him was beyond his imagination.

Calamity?

Fortuitous encounter?

He didn't know. He only knew that he had encountered something big, and his life, death, and fortune all hung by a thread.

“Just call me Senior. On the path of Cultivation, learning comes at different times, but people are not inherently superior or inferior. There’s no need for excessive courtesy,” Li Qi said casually. “I have something I want to ask you.”

“Please ask, Senior,” the other party immediately replied in very fluent 'World Tongue.'

It seemed that in order to come to this world and make a name for himself in this City of Dreams, he had done a lot of preparation.

Li Qi could have directly read the other party's surface thoughts, but Li Qi found the other party's surface thoughts so chaotic that they were incomprehensible. Now, this person was completely flustered in front of Li Qi; he didn't even know what he himself was thinking, so Li Qi naturally couldn't see anything useful.

Li Qi could have directly forced a soul search to read deep memories, or used Demonic Dao methods to hypnotize, but he was unwilling to do so now.

If he could talk properly, then he would talk properly. He wasn't some big villain, so why bother with all that? He was just asking for information; there was no need to make it like that.

“I know your purpose for coming here. I just want to ask, how did these billions of people in your arms get here?” Li Qi asked.

Hearing this question, the humanoid eighth-grade before him was first astonished, then immediately realized he should answer first, so he said, “Ah? This? Oh, Senior, these are all my clansmen.”

“Your clansmen? Oh, you moved an entire world here?” Li Qi asked.

“Yes, this is this world, the pinnacle of all heavens and myriad realms. I never even dared to dream of coming to such a place, so given this opportunity, as a Realm Lord, I couldn't let it pass. I could only move my entire clan here. Perhaps in the future, we can take root here and become natives of this world!” he said.

“…That’s very difficult. Has anyone told you?” Li Qi asked.

“That is naturally very difficult, and perhaps it will never be achieved, but in matters of the world, what is feared is not difficulty, but the lack of opportunity, the impossibility. Now that an opportunity is before us, how can we not seize it firmly?” he immediately said with determination.

“But you should know that things aren't that good. When you come here, your clan could be annihilated at any time. Staying outside the realm is actually safer,” Li Qi said.

“Senior… you may not know this. It might sound a bit presumptuous… but Senior is very powerful, and I presume Senior is also a native of this world—”

“I am not a native of this world,” Li Qi interrupted him. “Continue.”

“Not?” The man was surprised for a moment, then visibly relaxed, becoming much friendlier towards Li Qi, no longer as reverent as before.

It seemed that compared to Li Qi's 'strength,' he was more afraid of the 'native of this world' identity.

He seemed to have an… indescribable longing for this identity.

“So we’re both from outside the realm, then Senior is also new here?” He immediately became familiar.

“I’ve been here for… a while, but this is my first time in this particular place. I happened to see you all coming out of the Star Gate in a cluster, which made me curious, so I came to ask you,” Li Qi said.

The other party nodded slightly: “I see, then I understand. Senior probably doesn’t know that the outside realm hasn’t been very peaceful lately, right?”

“Hmm… I do know, there’s a war going on, right?” Li Qi said.

“So Senior knows. Then why would Senior ask such a question? Staying outside the realm, one day you might suddenly die, and for no clear reason. How is that different from staying in this world? Not to mention, there's opportunity here,” he said.

Li Qi could hear hope in the other party's voice—a vibrant energy, a youthful vigor.

This was 'City of Dreams.' Even if it was as rotten as a cesspit, everyone who came here believed there was hope, that they could pursue what they wanted here.

“Is that so? Indeed, outside the realm, one doesn’t know why they live or why they die. It might as well be worth a gamble here,” Li Qi nodded.

“Exactly. Senior came to this world for the same reason, didn't you?” this eighth-grade asked.

“No, I just came by accident. I don’t even know how I got here,” Li Qi said.

The other party immediately looked at Li Qi with envy: “That truly is… good fortune.”

“Good fortune? Perhaps,” Li Qi casually brushed it off, then continued to ask, “But… you’ve come to this world, but this world is divided into many regions. Do you know where this place is?”

“The Demonic Dao, I know. Coming here is certainly a near-death experience, but… we have billions of people. Even if it's a near-death experience, some will always be able to stay,” this eighth-grade said.

“That’s true. Then I have one last question. How did you learn about the existence of this city? Star Gates shouldn’t be everywhere, right?” Li Qi asked.

“Coincidence, or perhaps… luck. Sometimes, a Star Gate will suddenly open in one’s own world. This is also a legend in the outside realm. I never expected to encounter it, but since I did, I couldn’t let it pass,” this eighth-grade said.

“I see. Thank you then. Take this; consider it my gift,” Li Qi said, taking out a Medicinal Pill from his hand.

It was just an ordinary Longevity Pill, which Li Qi had conjured by hand a second ago.

“You are still at the eighth-grade and haven't achieved immortality. This is perfect for you. This Medicinal Pill can extend your life by a hundred years and has no other side effects, but it can only take effect once. Consider it payment for the information,” Li Qi finished speaking and vanished from the spot, the Medicinal Pill already in the other party's pocket.

Li Qi vanished, and the other party was bewildered.

He hadn't been able to detect any fluctuation in Li Qi's Cultivation from beginning to end. Truly impressive. He was already the strongest in his own world, but here, there were powerful people everywhere.

Indeed, this was this world!

A surge of ambition rose in his heart!

Thinking these thoughts, he stepped out of the Star Gate and, along with others from different worlds, marched towards this 'City of Dreams,' heading towards his future.

However, he didn't know that Li Qi had already placed a mark on him.

Li Qi wanted to see.

How these people pursued their dreams, and what their ultimate fate would be.

Then, by using this information, he could deduce the Demonic Dao's policy here and further assess Li Shiwei's situation.