Piercing the Window Paper

So what? What does this have to do with Li Qi?

They talked about so many things that Li Qi didn't know were true or false, even the Witch God appeared, and said that five second-rank cultivators wanted to compete for the Great Dao Opportunity of the Sun and Moon Path.

Are these things related to Li Qi?

It was completely meaningless; Li Qi couldn't verify it, and these things were too far removed from his life.

"There's no point in talking about these abstract things. The Witchcraft Silkworm can bring too many benefits in the long run, so I can't just buy it out for you," Li Qi said.

"Yes, but do you have enough resources and manpower for the initial investment? You know, research and development is one thing, and subsequent production is another. If you want to bring resources from other places to do this, I think... the price they offer will not be lower than mine."

"Feelings are feelings, and business is business. Especially since you are a member of the Shaman Path, there will probably be some arguments within the Shaman because of your creation. In the end, the result of the discussion will be neither support nor denial, leaving you to do it yourself. You can only find support outside of the Shaman Path."

"Other places... do you really think you can protect them?"

"But if you plan not to sell to anyone and produce it yourself, that is indeed a way, but within two or three thousand years, you will probably only be able to do some small workshop business, and you will not be able to solve the predicament of the Moonlit True Person."

"Your line of thinking coincides with a study by the Miscellaneous School, which is why we came to you. No other Dao Lineage would offer such a high price. Li Qi, think about it carefully. You're not stupid, are you?"

"Sometimes, not everything can be done optimally," Yu Zao said.

After she finished speaking, she stared quietly at Li Qi, waiting for his answer.

Li Qi has now confirmed it.

What he saw before him was definitely not the Yu Zao he had seen before.

Does this android harbor other secrets? Or is 'Yu Zao' just a code name?

Does the person 'Yu Zao' really exist?

Li Qi temporarily suppressed his suspicions.

But he still said in a normal tone, "There are indeed fewer resources, but how can there be no people? There's no need to lead me astray, Yu Zao."

Li Qi spoke calmly and casually, "The remnants of Mount Luofu, are they dead? Or are they useless? Is there really no one useful among them? As far as I know, at least Granny Mei and a fourth-grade Daoist cultivator still have enough mobility."

"We have the people, so why would we lack resources? The Witchcraft Silkworm can only produce products of around grade seven at present. I have a Sixth-Rank World in my possession, which is more than enough to supply the resources needed by the Witchcraft Silkworm."

"Furthermore... my goal from the beginning was not the world. People in the world have high aspirations, and it would be difficult for me to stand out from those top-notch alchemists, nor could I defeat the Law Treasure production line jointly created by the Mo family and the Reason Way school in terms of quantity."

"I intend to sell it throughout the heavens. Such Law Treasure would be very popular there, wouldn't they? I'm sure that's something you've been considering. Am I right?"

Li Qi said these things to Yu Zao while observing her reaction.

Unfortunately, Yu Zao was expressionless, her eyes didn't even move, she looked like a dead mannequin, and her muscles didn't twitch at all.

Yu Zao, expressionless, remained silent for a long while before replying, "Hmm... indeed a smart person. As expected, it's really too much of a stretch for me to act as a persuader; I'm really not good at this."

"However, since you are unwilling to sell this, but I do need the core technology, can we talk about this? We will never compete with you commercially, but... what I need right now is an idea on how to combine Shaman Path and Human Path."

"Me? Not 'us' anymore?" Li Qi noticed the change in her tone.

"Yes, it's me, Yu Zao. I'm buying this technology from you in my personal capacity, and it has nothing to do with the Miscellaneous School," Yu Zao said.

"You're Yu Zao? But I don't think you are." Li Qi shook his head.

With such a drastic change, how can you still claim to be Yu Zao? You're kidding me.

"No, I am indeed Yu Zao, but... not the Yu Zao from before." Yu Zao pondered for a moment, seemingly considering something.

"Hmm, that's too hard to understand. How about this, come with me, it's just a short walk, maybe two or three miles." Yu Zao stood up and invited Li Qi.

Li Qi glanced around the venue.

Inside, the light was dazzling, the atmosphere was turbulent, and the roars of many people could be heard.

The competition was fierce; I wonder which young talent will emerge as the winner.

However, anyone who goes to compete with others for no reason is either an idiot or a professional player, Li Qi is neither, so he resolutely refuses to go.

The match is unlikely to end anytime soon.

"Okay, then I'll go with you." He nodded.

Yu Zao nodded in agreement and walked forward without saying a word.

Li Qi was still following behind.

After walking for a while—

Li Qi was taken underground.

The underground station is where the Earth Flow Chariot are located.

Strangely, there were no passengers at the station, nor were there any ticket gates or anything like that; it seemed... to be a private station.

"Please wait a moment, my car will be here soon," Yu Zao said.

"Are we going to a very far place? Why do we need to Earth Flow Chariot?" Li Qi frowned.

Are we going to take it to some remote mountain valley?

Something feels off about the plot.

Fortunately, Yu Zao shook her head.

"No, the truck will bring the things over. We can just wait here," she said calmly.

Li Qi checked the time.

It only took me a few minutes to get here from where I was just now, so it seems like it won't take much time. I'll just wait.

I waited for about 10 or 20 minutes.

Sure enough, with a rumbling sound, the Earth Flow Chariot's ten thousand legs were rushing through the earth's veins.

Li Qi perked up and looked at the Earth Flow Chariot.

A few minutes later, an Earth Flow Chariot did indeed stop there.

Li Qi immediately noticed that this Earth Flow Chariot was not 'official'; it was not Earth Flow Chariot publicly deployed by the station or the imperial court. It appeared to be a private creation, just like the station itself.

This eclectic... built his own independent Earth Flow Chariot system?

Is it necessary?

How was this approved? Or was it processed using a public network?

Li Qi knew that, according to the rules of Human Path, some things did not need to be made public to everyone for the sake of the overall situation, but all large-scale projects required the approval of the imperial court.

What reason did you give for applying for such a bizarre, isolated set of Earth Flow Chariot? How many resources would it take to create this?

Just as Li Qi was surprised, the Earth Flow Chariot stopped.

The car door opened.

Yu Zao made an inviting gesture. "Please, classmate."

Li Qi walked into the carriage of the Earth Flow Chariot without saying a word.

The Earth Flow Chariot is essentially an artificially bred centipede with countless pavilions built on its back. These pavilions are the carriages, each containing numerous rooms. The centipede carries these pavilions and travels rapidly through the earth's veins to achieve its travel purpose.

The same goes for this Earth Flow Chariot. Following the stairs that were built down, Li Qi walked up to the pavilion on the back of the centipede and was once again convinced that this was indeed a private Earth Flow Chariot.

The pavilion above was clearly specially made, containing a large number of formations that Li Qi couldn't understand, but these things were definitely not arranged randomly.

This train of Earth Flow Chariot might be very important to a polymath.

"You can't go anywhere else, let me take you to my room," Yu Zao said.

Li Qi naturally agreed and quietly followed Yu Zao.

Walk through the corridor to a room, then push the door open and go inside.

Li Qi was stunned.

But then I saw—

The room was filled with "Yu Zao".

This room is basically decorated in the style of a girl's bedroom, but it's much larger, enough to accommodate at least a hundred people. It has all kinds of furniture, tables and chairs, but no beds.

However... Li Qi overlooked all of these things.

What he really noticed was the dozens of 'Yu Zao' in the room!

These Yu Zao were all asleep, like sleeping beauties, but not in bed. Instead, they were suspended in the air by an array, like marionettes hanging on strings, arranged in neat rows.

The scene was indescribably eerie.

Dozens of identical girls, surrounded and entwined by runes, were hanging from the ceiling. They were not corpses, but living bodies. From time to time, these bodies could be seen instinctively curling up, sucking their fingers, blinking their eyes, and making soft breathing sounds.

It's like... a baby in its Mama's womb.

"This is..." Li Qi looked at the indifferent 'Yu Zao' beside him.

"Surprised? You must have heard, right? Liu Shenzhi told you that I have no parents, and I am the product of the Miscellaneous School's experiments," Yu Zao said calmly.

As she said this, Yu Zao stepped forward and came to an empty spot for a "loser".

The array above activated runes, sending out shimmering threads that pierced her spine and limb joints.

Then, she was hung up.

The light in her eyes vanished instantly, leaving her with a puppet-like expression.

Li Qi stared in astonishment at the scene, momentarily speechless.

Liu Shenzhi had told him that Yu Zao was not an ordinary person, but he had never said that... she would be such a strange being.

But then, Li Qi suddenly realized that his Information Flow Vision and True Knowledge Dao Charm simultaneously detected a strange energy, similar to a divine soul but not quite, seemingly a product somewhere between 'mind' and 'divine soul', leaving the Yu Zao had just been hoisted up.

Through a specific 'medium'—the array on the ceiling above and the extending threads—the 'mind' shifted its position and quickly arrived in another body.

Another 'Yu Zao' has awakened.

Then, she revealed her usual lively smile, "Hmm~! This body is still more comfortable. Look, don't I feel much more used to it now? I didn't use that body often before, so it felt a bit strange."

After she finished speaking, the threads on her body began to withdraw on their own, and she fell to the ground, stretching Primal Qi and making a cute sound.

She's a completely different person from the indifferent Yu Zao from before.

"Huh? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost. No... you Shaman should be dealing with ghosts all the time, shouldn't you have seen all sorts of gods and ghosts? Why are you like this?" Yu Zao poked Li Qi curiously.

Now she truly resembles the quirky and clever Yu Zao.

"You... what's going on with this change in you?" Li Qi realized something and immediately asked.

"What? What happened?" Yu Zao tilted her head. "Has anything changed?"

"Why has your... personality changed so much? Didn't you just change bodies?" Li Qi stared at the other person and asked cautiously.

Just now, in his field of vision, he clearly saw a being that existed between mind and soul, having taken on a completely new body.

The concept of 'boundaries' involved here goes far beyond Li Qi.

Li Qi found it difficult to understand how this delicate state, which lies precisely between pure logic and substance, was maintained.

But that didn't matter. Although Li Qi was curious, he wasn't in a hurry. Anyway, he had already gotten started and would be able to learn more about this kind of thing sooner or later.

What truly puzzled him for a long time was... the changes in the Yu Zao.

Based on Li Qi's current knowledge and understanding, he felt that changing one's mind to another body was just changing the vessel, so how could it produce such a huge change?

"Huh? Is that strange? It's bound to feel different with a different body." Yu Zao tilted her head.

"For example, Li Qi, if you were to become a woman now, after a while, under the influence of your physical body's nerves and hormones, you would naturally move towards femininity. This is definitely beyond your control."

"Isn't the 'self' itself the sum of everything you have? Body, soul, mind, and whatever else—they're all components of the self. If one of these components is replaced, isn't it only natural that things will change? What are you wondering about?" Yu Zao retorted.

She pouted and said, "You don't find it strange that my body has been replaced?"

"I've changed my personality, and now you're acting strange. I think you're the one who's acting strange, aren't you?"

Yu Zao's words hit Li Qi on the head.

His eyes widened suddenly.

The confusion given by the Heavenly Demon, the revelation given by the Witch God, the encounter of the Five Aggregates Demon, the question that Zhu Fengdan asked for a whole day, the inspiration given to him by the Plague Lord, plus his continuous thinking and analysis, and the accumulation of knowledge and foundation!

Now, all of this has been compounded by the Yu Zao and algae.

He's figured it out!

I am who I am!

This is my answer, and it belongs only to Li Qi!

This answer may not be 'absolutely' correct.

Because everyone's Dao Path is different, everyone's answer is also different. Every answer to a question may be wrong to others, but it may be right to the practitioner.

But this is the correct answer for Li Qi, summarizing all his thoughts and adventures over the years!

He found out what I truly represent!

At the same time, he closed his eyes and opened all his senses!