Initial Arrival

As Li Qi listened to the introductions from the two officials from the Honglu Temple, he also looked out the car window at the streets along the way.

Bustling.

There really aren't any other adjectives to use.

This is a huge city with a population of billions.

The immense popularity swept everything away, causing heaven and earth to submit, the sun, moon, and stars to give way, and rules to suppress everything. Here, even the wind had to blow according to people's wishes, and the rain had to fall according to people's wishes.

Li Qi could even see the 'weather forecast' on the terminal in his hand.

What's outrageous is that this weather forecast covers the entire year!

All the weather conditions for the year have been arranged, and everything is going according to plan.

All natural phenomena must be regulated to ensure they are at their 'appropriate' level.

The Honglu Temple introduced Li Qi to some local customs and traditions. About half Chen later, the carriage had traveled more than 300 li and finally stopped.

"Ah, have we arrived? By the way, young master, would you be interested in attending tonight's banquet? Some students who have come from other places to study are having a banquet arranged by the Honglu Temple. If you attend, you will surely be honored as a guest of honor and it will also spread your reputation." Fang Yuanzheng suggested as they got out of the carriage.

The Tang Kingdom was not the type of country that closed itself off from the world. In fact, there were many students studying abroad, but not many of them could enter the Imperial Academy.

Besides the Imperial Academy, there were many other schools in Chang'an, whose students were not necessarily from all over the country.

Among all the myriad worlds, the most outstanding geniuses are often chosen from among millions of worlds to come to the Tang Kingdom for further study, making it a scroll within a scroll.

Being able to show one's face among these people can indeed spread one's reputation.

However, there's no need.

Li Qi shook his head. "Never mind, it's just a little bit of empty fame. Then I'll take my leave. Chen Lingcheng, Fang Changke, see you again in the future. Thank you for your company today and for introducing so many things to me."

"It's nothing to worry about, young master. Everything you need is already stored in your terminal: enrollment procedures, precautions, maps, etc. If you have any questions or encounter any problems, you can contact us. My contact information is also stored here. Just come to me directly," Fang Yuanzheng said kindly.

"Thank you for your trouble." Li Qi bowed and expressed his gratitude.

"Oh, and there's one more thing, young master. Please remember, though the Central Plains is vast, it cannot tolerate lawbreakers. If you have a conflict or argument with someone, you must not resort to violence. Otherwise, under the law, even if you are a young master, you will be punished the same as a commoner." Fang Yuanzheng he said this.

"Thank you for your guidance, I will keep it in mind." Li Qi.

After speaking, the people from the Honglu Temple said nothing more, got out of the car to say goodbye to Li Qi, and then drove away.

Only Xia Li Qi remained, holding the rabbit in his arms, standing in the dormitory arranged for him by the Honglu Temple.

The Imperial Academy did not have dormitories; students had to find their own accommodations.

Li Qi certainly had no place to stay, so the Honglu Temple arranged a small courtyard for him, which was the 'entering the residence' mentioned earlier.

Although it's called a villa, it's actually no different from the ordinary houses around it, covering an area of about two or three hundred square meters.

The Tang Kingdom did not give Li Qi any special treatment; if we consider Li Qi's status as a prince, the arrangement could even be described as 'stingy'.

However, Li Qi didn't care too much about this, because he read the regulations issued by the Honglu Temple and found that the specifications were indeed like this, and everything was done in accordance with the rules.

If Li Qi wants to stay somewhere better, then he can find it himself. Anyway, this small villa is all that's been arranged, so it doesn't matter if he wants to rent it himself.

"I have no money." Li Qi shook his head, picked up Shen Shuibi, and walked into the villa.

The door to this detached house is also Law Treasure; it cannot be opened by ordinary means. It can only be opened through a terminal issued by the Honglu Temple, which contains personal authentication and grants the user the authority to activate this Law Treasure.

All houses are Law Treasure, which seems a bit far-fetched, but... thinking about it carefully, it doesn't seem so far-fetched.

It's like primitive people living in caves, while modern people live in reinforced concrete houses.

Primitive people thought industrialization was Divine Miracle. There was so much iron and concrete, it seemed endless. They could only use stone tools, and iron tools were something they could never even dream of.

But for modern people, living in a reinforced concrete house is simply a matter of course. Who would want to live in a cave?

It's the same now.

For the residents of the Baiyue region, living in an ordinary wooden house was normal, but living in Law Treasure was inconceivable.

But to the people of Chang'an, isn't it only natural that houses are a magic Law Treasure for automation? Everyone builds them this way.

The difference between Baiyue and Tang Kingdom lies in the most basic aspects of life: clothing, food, housing, and transportation.

Compared to Baiyue, this is a comprehensive leap forward.

When Li Qi arrived at the entrance of the villa, he saw an old man taking a walk.

This must be my neighbor, right? He looks like an ordinary person with some cultivation, but not yet at the rank of a high-level cultivator. He looks to be in his sixties or seventies, with a straight back and a vigorous spirit.

Since they had already bumped into each other, Li Qi greeted him, "Good afternoon, sir."

The old man replied, "Good, good, young man, you just moved here? No one used to live here."

"Yes, we just arrived today. We'll probably be staying here from now on. How old are you, sir?" Li Qi stopped with Shen Shuibi in his arms and greeted the old man on the pedestrian crossing.

"I'm two hundred and five years old this year!" the old man replied in a loud voice. "And you, young man? How did you end up moving here?"

Two hundred and five years old!?

Li Qi was taken aback and glanced at the old man.

Honestly, you can't tell at all.

The other person didn't even reach the highest level of cultivation, so how did they live to be 205 years old? And with such good health?

However, Li Qi only paused for a moment before quickly regaining his composure.

The only things that can achieve this are a peaceful living environment, widely available Cultivation Method, and comprehensive medical facilities.

Afterwards, Li Qi said to him, "Old man, you are in great spirits. You don't look two hundred years old at all. As for me, I came to the Imperial Academy to study, so I'm staying here."

When the old gentleman heard that Li Qi was a student of the Imperial Academy, his eyes widened immediately!

"Oh my! I hadn't even noticed he was a student of the Imperial Academy!" The old gentleman was so surprised he almost jumped up. "Good child, good child, very good, very good."

He seemed a little excited. "This is really a great thing for my Liu family! Oh, right, kid, wait a minute." With that, he dashed off to the house next door.

That agile person doesn't look two hundred years old at all.

Li Qi stopped in his tracks, curious, wondering what the other person wanted to do.

After a while, the old man came out with a child of about twelve or thirteen years old.

Li Qi stared at the child...

There's Yao Qi about this child.

It's a half-demon, not a pure-blooded human.

But the child didn't seem to feel anything special. Instead, he looked at Li Qi with admiration, held up a red envelope with both hands, and said to Li Qi, "Brother, this is for you!"

The old man urged, "Child, take it, for good luck."

Huh? Are the Tang Kingdom this hospitable?

Seeing the genuine surprise on the other person's face, Li Qi found it hard to refuse.

He could also sense that this was entirely heartfelt joy and blessings, along with some auspicious customs.

Although he wasn't entirely sure, Li Qi accepted the red envelope, clasped his hands together, and replied with a smile, "Thank you very much."

To do this, he even squatted down and put the rabbit aside.

Fortunately, the rabbit had been silent from the beginning and was still in a state of blushing silence, so no one noticed this strange rabbit in a little dress.

After accepting the red envelope, the old man and his grandson exchanged pleasantries for a while.

They said things like they could help tutor the kids when they had time, and that if anyone needed anything, they could contact them because they knew the area well. They also asked if the furniture was ready and if anyone needed any help.

Li Qi naturally replied politely as well.

After exchanging pleasantries, the grandfather and grandson watched Li Qi enter the house. Li Qi could still hear the old man lowering his voice to instruct the child, saying something like, "Watch carefully, and learn from this older brother in the future."

Li Qi listened to these words, he walked into the courtyard and opened the red envelope.

It didn't contain copper coins or silver, but rather several pieces of red paper with auspicious sayings written on them.

Upon closer inspection, they were all phrases like "no disasters in the past, no harm in the future" and "a celestial being, a top scholar on earth."

This pleased Li Qi more than putting money in his bag; he put the red paper in and stored it in his Mustard Seed Bag.

He learned more about the Tang Kingdom.

But... how does it compare to Wushen Mountain?

As Li Qi opened the door, he looked around the small courtyard and compared it with Wushen Mountain.

The conclusion is...

Are they about the same level?

They are indeed similar, but the styles are too different.

When I went to the banquet, when I was in the cave, and when I was traveling, I could see from the decorations of the various spiritual peaks that if I wanted to, Wushen Mountain could also be very advanced.

However, aside from his personal hobbies, Wushen Mountain was unwilling to make too many changes to the natural world, nor did he want to improve everyone's lives.

The idea of letting nature take its course implies that most people and animals are the same in the eyes of Shaman, and their death and reproduction are part of the natural cycle.

If you can embark on the path of cultivation and achieve immortality, it is the result of your own efforts; the Shaman Path will not deliberately prevent you.

If you can't, that's perfectly normal, and they won't make an effort to help you.

This is what the Baiyue region looked like.

All beings are equal, including humans.

Human Path, on the other hand, is exactly the opposite.

The fact that an ordinary elderly person can live to be two hundred years old and still be so energetic is enough to show that Human Path actually cares about these ordinary people and will make special efforts to provide them with medical care and education.

However, Li Qi could also see the large-scale encroachment carried out to support these people.

There is no shortage of meat at street stalls and restaurants; this must be the result of large-scale farming.

The practice of 'farming', which was unseen in Shaman Path land of Baiyue, was clearly taken for granted in Chang'an, the Human Path.

The two different Dao Lineage had different understandings of the world, which directly led to drastically different changes in social patterns.

Farming is extremely cruel and unfair to the animals being farmed, and it is not advocated by Shaman Path.

However, animal husbandry is very convenient and effective for the recipients of the care, so this model has been widely adopted by Human Path organizations.

Li Qi once again understood what the struggle for Dao Lineage meant.

Dao Lineage have different understandings of the world, and therefore, they do different things.

Conflict arises from this.

Is this Human Path approach? I doubt that other species that have been farmed or invaded would think so. Among these invaded species, there are certainly some that are born with intelligence.

Is the practice of Shaman Path correct? How then can we explain the feudal era that lasted for countless years? Compared to the people of Chang'an, the two seem to live in completely different worlds.

In this matter, it's probably impossible to distinguish right from wrong; there's only one's own interpretation of the 'way'.

Only...

Human Path does not seem to be confined to the race of 'human'.

Because there seem to be some Demon Race and other races on the street who have human rights and also have terminals. Even the little child from before was a half-demon, and one of his parents must be a demon.

This shows that even monsters have human rights.

Extending this further, Li Qi speculated that Human Path should be defined as 'Those who agree with me are my kind.'

If they don't acknowledge it...

The Tang Kingdom has already demonstrated its domineering and aggressive nature towards the outside world many times, so there's no need to elaborate further.

With these thoughts still swirling in his mind, Li Qi sat down in a chair in the room.

This is a desk by the window. He placed Shen Shuibi on the desk and continued to ponder and summarize what he had seen and heard along the way, while taking out paper and pen to help him think.

Normally, before I came, someone from Wushen Mountain should have specifically told me about the common knowledge of the Tang Kingdom, but...

I didn't come here under normal circumstances; I actually ran away after doing something wrong, so I didn't receive any pre-job training.

But that's alright. Li Qi found it even more interesting to gradually sketch out the specific image of the Tang Kingdom.

Because it happened so suddenly, there was a full month before the start of the Imperial Academy.

Besides, even after school starts, we can still go out for a walk.

There is still plenty of time for me to witness this nation at the center of the world firsthand.

Organizing information and insights, he began drawing mind maps to help him better organize the clues.

Time suddenly speeds up once you start thinking.

It quickly went from noon to evening.

The sun sets, and the moon rises.

However, Li Qi did not sense anything was wrong.

Because while he was engrossed in his writing, Shen Shuibi had already quietly turned on the light for him.

A beautiful woman adds fragrance to the night lamp; the candlelight floats on the screen, illuminating the distant breeze.

The rabbit reverted to human form, leaning slightly against the other side of the recliner, silently watching his back.

Actually... I appeared as a rabbit all day and didn't say a word, not because I was shy.

Rather, it's because...

Pain.

But this matter cannot be told to Li Qi.

Shen Shuibi had a premonition that if she told him, something bad would happen.

But it should be fine tomorrow, right?

Li Qi has already applied for medical treatment, so once he recovers, he will be able to do many more things.

I need to start thinking about how to accumulate wealth after I recover from my injuries, at least to pay off the debts owed to the people of Mount Luofu and Yang Ning.

In this way, I won't become a burden to the Your Highness.

And so, the man and the rabbit fell into deep thought.