Chapter 831: The life of a dreamer (Happy New Year)

Li Qi found a spot, likely a corner of a food factory, then integrated himself with natural, hiding behind it, and observed the other party.

Immediately after, he began his observation.

After all, he had already reached the Fourth Rank. For the current Li Qi, decades were but a blink of an eye, even for Li Shiwei; these decades were nothing.

Li Qi was unwilling to seek out Li Shiwei now, because he knew that doing so now would likely not yield a good outcome; Li Shiwei would not be willing to say much to him.

He had to deepen his understanding.

Understanding… the Demonic Dao.

Sigh.

At this thought, Li Qi couldn't help but sigh.

For his daughter, he really had to thoroughly study the Demonic Dao. This current observation was also to understand how the Demonic Dao guided the operation of this Realm.

But as soon as he thought about studying the Demonic Dao, he couldn't help but worry.

Would he not stray further and further down the Demonic Dao?

Sometimes, with some knowledge, merely 'understanding' it can influence your various decisions, and you unconsciously fall into the other party's scheme.

However, Li Qi had confidence in himself.

If the Demonic Dao truly possessed something that, once understood by him, could instantly and irresistibly pull him into it, then it could only mean that Li Qi was naturally compatible with the Demonic Dao, and if he didn't enter it today, he would eventually.

So, he began to observe carefully.

The Eighth Rank he had chosen had a very strange name; the pronunciation of names from outside the Domain was difficult, and referring to him was not very convenient. Li Qi decided to give him a codename.

Let's just call him 'Number One', simple and convenient.

This Eighth Rank, codenamed 'Number One', had mortgaged his entire Realm to obtain a Grotto-heaven capable of housing all his clansmen.

Then, he led all his clansmen to 'Ascension'.

On his first day here, he carried that Grotto-heaven and began his journey of exploration.

He needed to find a place to live. He could indeed live in his own Grotto-heaven, but that would leave the Grotto-heaven unguarded, exposed outside, which would essentially be giving it away.

Therefore, at least one person had to remain outside to protect the Grotto-heaven and all its property.

But he found that, after searching around, the cheapest dormitory, which was the large communal bunkhouse Li Qi had just arrived at, still required 'one coin'.

And the price of this 'one coin' directly stunned him.

It had been mentioned before that the 'World Tree Fruit' from outside the Domain was sold in fruit stores here, and half a month's income was enough to buy it.

World Tree Fruit was very cheap, corresponding to…

For these Realms, their most precious possession could only be exchanged for so little money.

This made Number One decisively give up on accommodation. He decided to go to work first. Since money here was so valuable, what if he, as an Eighth Rank, worked tirelessly for half a month?

Having made up his mind, he went to do it.

However, after finding a job, he realized… the existence of such dormitories had a reason.

Yes, everyone was a Cultivator, so why would something like 'dormitories' exist?

Because he discovered… he couldn't go without sleep.

After arriving at this place, he seemed to get tired particularly easily.

After working for a few days in the Spiritual Artifact factory, he almost fainted on the production line. Then, his co-workers found him on the verge of collapse and asked if he hadn't slept, if he was new.

He answered yes.

Thus, he learned that in this place, one must sleep.

Although he didn't know the reason, here, one's spirit became particularly easily fatigued, and one couldn't recover without sleep.

Li Qi, of course, knew why.

It had been mentioned before…

The Demonic Dao feeds on the heart.

The moment they stepped into this 'City of Dreams', the erosion had already begun.

And sleeping was the simplest, most common way to resist.

If he didn't sleep, an Eighth Rank's capabilities simply couldn't hold out for long.

But if he slept, people everywhere would be eyeing his property and even his life. In the past few days, he had been robbed dozens of times during the day and mugged several times, only avoiding harm by being vigilant.

However, sleeping in the dormitory was 'absolutely safe'. The dormitory guaranteed that during sleep, he would absolutely not be killed, stolen from, or robbed.

So, he sold one of his savings, a backup Spiritual Artifact, for ten coins, which could cover ten days of stay.

He endured not sleeping, going once every three days, which meant he could stay for a month.

In a month, he would receive his first payment.

But he still underestimated one thing…

The factories here had KPIs; he had to work extremely hard to keep up with the speed of the production line.

In fact, his own labor wasn't enough. Many times, he had to assign production tasks to his Grotto-heaven, letting all his clansmen, billions of them, help him complete them.

Yes, billions of people together.

For them, an Eighth Rank Spiritual Artifact was a treasure of an entire Realm, similar to an aircraft carrier, where each component required a person's lifelong dedication to complete.

Just the design blueprint for such an Eighth Rank Spiritual Artifact, if done by unranked Mortals, might require hundreds of tons of blueprints, pooling the strength of an entire Realm to create one.

However, while it sounds exaggerated, it's quite normal upon closer thought. The design blueprint for a single screw might require three to five A4 pages.

And two hundred pages are roughly 1 kg, so one ton of blueprints would be approximately 200,000 pages by this calculation.

And an Eighth Rank Spiritual Artifact, as a precise System more complex than an aircraft carrier, a super collection of complex engineering, composed of various control Systems and precise components, having so many blueprints combined seems very reasonable.

Just the design documents for each small sub-Domain are on the scale of tens of thousands of pages.

Even these blueprints need corresponding indexes, titles, and numbers; these would be compiled into a catalog, otherwise, Mortals wouldn't understand them at all.

Each component must have its dedicated drawing, one A4 or A3 page per component. When components form assemblies, there also need to be dedicated assembly drawings. When assemblies form mechanisms, there need to be dedicated assembly drawings. Going up level by level, the amount of blueprints reaching tens of tons is as common as eating.

It's conceivable what level of work those Refiners who can independently refine Spiritual Artifacts actually do.

For such people, photographic memory is a built-in baseline ability; without this talent, one isn't even qualified to enter the Refiner profession.

Therefore, the factories here, though called factories… are actually super distributors that allocate work by Realm, merely appearing unremarkable because the scale of the Realm is simply too vast.

Soon, Number One learned that he was far from the only one doing this.

Or rather… those who didn't let their Realm help were the minority.

After that, Number One continued to work hard, continuing to accumulate money.

The reason he accumulated money was that he found many, many cultivation methods.

Many of them were, in his eyes, top-tier profound methods. As long as he learned them, he could become much stronger than he was now, the entire Realm could benefit, all his clansmen could learn, and the Realm's level would increase as a result. The number of Ninth Ranks might even increase by hundreds of times because of just one of these cultivation methods.

Originally, after Number One's clansmen arrived in the Realm, the number of Ninth Ranks had increased by dozens of times, and many who were stuck in Bottlenecks had broken through as a result.

Because the Heaven and Earth Great Source of the Realm was strong enough to easily support these people in making Breakthroughs.

And with the support of good cultivation methods, they could become stronger, more numerous, and the entire Realm would benefit as a result.

This was the benefit of coming to the Realm!

This was also the reason Number One could persevere.

Yes, perseverance.

Every day now, Number One was in unimaginable pain.

Only being able to sleep once every three days caused his Spirit Soul incredible torment. His head felt like it was about to explode, his entire body curled into a ball. He felt ashamed and angry at his own vulnerability. Illusions appeared around him every moment, and the mental torment made it difficult for him to control his thoughts.

He constantly had the urge to jump up and escape this place, to return to the outer Domain, but soon after, his eyes would fill with tears of frustration, and anger would surge into his heart again, until he struggled to control himself and then calmed down again.

All of this was to make the Realm better.

All of this was worth it.

Number One told himself.

The only point that made him feel 'enjoyment' was sleeping.

That night in the dormitory was his most comfortable time.

He didn't have to think about anything.

The illusions also vanished. As he sank into dreams, he unconsciously reveled in this sweet nothingness.

There were no dreams at all. He just closed his eyes, with no worries, no work, no illusions, no endless torment. There was only the comfort brought by rest, the alleviation of physical fatigue, and the relaxation of his spirit.

Number One, however, did not consider the reason for these feelings. He allowed himself to be immersed in the mysterious and harmonious sounds that intoxicated him. He was completely lost in a hazy void and a sweet sensation. He did not understand, nor did he intend to understand, what was happening to him.

However, such a disparity sometimes made him feel disheartened.

When he awoke from sleep, he often found himself sandwiched between two other people, in a dark space filled with stuffy, nauseating stench and nightmarish screams, wails, prayers, and vomit.

At that time, he would obediently pack his things and quickly leave, because he knew that he was also part of others' 'discomfort'.

Everyone lacked their own space; this was unavoidable. A dignified Eighth Rank Realm Lord, yet so…

His most spacious, most freely breathing place, was actually working in the factory.

However, there was also hope in all of this.

Number One had a junior he greatly admired. As long as this junior could reach Eighth Rank, their Realm would have two Eighth Ranks.

Then, he could take turns.

He could let the other party guard the Grotto-heaven, he would go back to rest, and then when the other party couldn't bear it, he would take over again.

As long as there was one person who could share such a heavy burden, his pressure would be much less.

Number One thought so.

He persevered for six years.

After six years, due to a scam, he suffered heavy losses, and his proud junior died.

That's right, a simple scam.

In this place, of course, there were not only honest people like Number One who followed the rules.

Criminals were also not few. There were those who violently robbed, stole, defrauded, and various other competitions were also natural here.

To be honest…

There was simply no law here.

Yes, the Demonic Dao would not follow any laws or rules. There was no such thing as 'government' here; there was only complete free competition.

In this situation, the lives of the lower strata were naturally completely unprotected.

For example, Number One, in the factory where he worked, his income was less than one percent compared to the goods he produced.

But he had no way to sell them himself.

Because he had no blueprints, no production line, and not even sales channels. If he tried to sell Spiritual Artifacts himself, no one would buy them. He couldn't even make those Spiritual Artifacts on his own, and without the factory's protection, he would have been beaten to death long ago.

Yes, the factory owner was a Seventh Rank, who protected the entire factory, maintaining safety within the factory so that employees wouldn't be suddenly beaten to death by thugs who rushed in, and have all their property stolen.

It could be said that without the factory, he couldn't even protect himself.

In this situation, he could only be exploited, with no way out.

To get ahead, one must first find a way to survive; everything comes from being alive.

This area was completely unsafe. All the order here now was merely a dynamic balance brought about by infinite friction.

Major wars had already been fought, and minor skirmishes occurred daily, but large-scale fighting was not good for anyone. Working together to maintain the lowest level of order that wouldn't affect production was in everyone's interest.

Therefore, there was a superficial peace here.

But it couldn't stop petty theft, swindling, and deception.

Number One was like this. He felt that after six years, he had accumulated a certain network, and he had become quite familiar with the people at the factory.

So, he trusted one of them and prepared to cash in the Longevity Pill Li Qi had given him.

As long as he sold the Longevity Pill, he could buy a useful cultivation method that could be passed down.

This way, the level of the entire Realm could be raised, and Ninth Ranks would become common in the future! Eighth Ranks would become more numerous, and he could live much more easily.

However, he was deceived.

The person had no intention of trading with him; they merely wanted to snatch his Grotto-heaven and Longevity Pill.

For others, it was a Grotto-heaven; for him… it was his Realm and his people.

Number One was not unaware of the saying

Don't flaunt your wealth

but he still trusted others easily. He thought he had found a channel over the past six years.

But it was a setup.

The final outcome was that the successor, his junior, whom he had placed great hopes on and raised like a son, died as a result.

The Grotto-heaven of the Realm was stolen, and he fought with all his might to get it back, but the population within had already been abducted, leaving only an empty shell.

Number One was completely disheartened from then on, plagued by demonic thoughtss. He had originally come to the Realm full of hope, but now he was reduced to this state.

The Longevity Pill Li Qi had given him had become his death warrant.

“…Just ordinary,” Li Qi sighed.

Yes, ordinary. Such things were all too common in this City of Dreams.

(Is it unlucky to publish such a chapter during the New Year?)

(By the way, are you interested in a New Year extra story about the little rabbit and Li Qi?)