Scenery Beyond the Realms

Li Shiwei turned her head to look at the little girl who had suddenly interrupted.

She was young, probably in her teens, and wore a light blue women's robe, giving her the air of a well-bred young lady.

However, she was probably not from a prominent family, because Li Shiwei could sense the stagnation in the other party's cultivation. Without a doubt, this was due to the Cultivation Method. The other party's Cultivation Method was not good, at least to the point that Li Shiwei could sense its poorness.

Her face is quite cute, and she has a calm and composed demeanor, just like... a mother.

My own mother has this kind of serene temperament, but the other person seems somewhat timid, unlike my mother who is serene and aloof yet possesses a grand presence. So, in reality, they are quite different.

Of course, a cultivator's appearance can be completely ignored, and it is unlikely to match their real age. For example, Li Shiwei looks seventeen years old, but those who are actually seventeen years old are extremely rare.

"Are you familiar with the runes here?" Li Shiwei wasn't shy at all; she ran straight up to the girl and asked curiously.

The girl was somewhat reserved and shy when facing Li Shiwei, who suddenly appeared on her face.

There's no way around it; not everyone is a social terrorist like Li Shiwei. After all, she's been the mountain queen since childhood. Apart from the mountain god Niu Huang, all the other spirits and monsters listen to her, and her words carry more weight than Niu Huang's.

As for Niu Huang, this old ox is honest and steady, and usually doesn't get involved in her games. Moreover, for some reason, Li Shiwei listens to Niu Huang quite a bit and calls him "uncle." Perhaps this is the spirit of the steady old ox.

"This isn't my first time on this ship. I've been studying it. But you... you're amazing. You can see so much on your first time here. That's why... I couldn't help but strike up a conversation with you. I'm sorry, did I disturb you?" The girl immediately realized the gap between herself and Li Shiwei rushing over.

She was no fool to have made such a breakthrough in researching these runes. She could clearly sense the difference in strength between Li Shiwei and herself. She didn't even have time to react when Li Shiwei suddenly rushed over.

Ordinary people would just be startled by this, but for cultivators, it's practically a death sentence.

If Li Shiwei harbored any hostility, that last blow would have been enough to kill the girl.

Moreover, the other party saw this set of runes for the first time and was able to discern so much in just a few minutes, while I studied it for more than ten days and only managed to be slightly better than them...

So, the timid girl immediately apologized and prepared to leave.

But Li Shiwei, being a social terrorist, had no concept of distance. She put her arm around the other person's shoulder and said enthusiastically, "No, no, why apologize? You're amazing! I've been looking at it for so long and still don't understand, but you pointed it out right away. What's your name? My surname is Li, Li Shiwei. Oh, and this is Shitou, my friend."

Then, she naturally asked, "By the way, could you explain what you just said in more detail? How exactly does this thing work? It doesn't look like a grotto-heaven to me. I've seen several grotto-heavens in my family, and none of them are like this. This is definitely not a grotto-heaven, so where does the space inside come from?"

Wait, is there a hidden cave in this house?

Upon hearing this, the timid girl's pupils contracted and her body stiffened.

To have a hidden paradise in one's own home—what kind of family must that be?!

"Hmm? Why are you so nervous?" Li Shiwei put her arm around the other person and could clearly feel that the other person's body stiffened, making her feel very uncomfortable.

"Oh, you don't like being touched by others, right? I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Li Shiwei let go of her hand, then took a step back, deliberately creating a social distance.

She is indeed enthusiastic, lively, and outgoing, but that doesn't mean she doesn't know how to respect others. In fact, Li Shiwei is a very caring person; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to gain the trust of all the spirits and monsters on Xuanjing Mountain.

If you want to be a mountain king, you have to have some skills; you can't just rely on your background.

However, when Li Shiwei let go, the girl shrank back, seemingly hesitant to speak.

Clearly, the reason he suddenly interrupted was simply because he saw someone with similar interests and wanted to share his research findings.

It's normal. It's like that timid, withdrawn girl in class. When others are talking about her favorite niche fandom, she'll happily chime in, but as soon as she realizes she's entered the conversation, she'll immediately shrink back and not dare to say anything more.

However, faced with Li Shiwei's persistent questioning, she seemed unable to leave, so she could only lower her voice and say, "I... my Zhang You."

Li Shiwei clasped her hands together, bowing slightly, and said in a coquettish tone, "Oh, Zhang You, could you tell me and Shi Tou about what you just did? I'm really curious!"

Faced with the other party's advances, Zhang You seemed unsure how to refuse. After hesitating for a long time, and feeling embarrassed to leave directly, she could only nod and say, "Okay..."

"Great! That's fine then. Let's talk here, we can eat and talk at the same time." Li Shiwei said, taking out many spiritual fruits from her Mustard Seed Bag.

These are all expensive items, produced by the Sixth-Rank Grotto-Heaven within the Xuanjing Mountain cave abode.

This left Zhang You somewhat stunned.

What kind of rich woman did I meet?

By the way, why can that rich woman's jade pendant talk? Is it some kind of magical Law Treasure with sentience? Its price would be sky-high!

Two days passed in the blink of an eye, and the gourd arrived at Liesu, releasing everyone.

Each person boarded Liesu and headed to the world they wished to visit.

Zhang You and Li Shiwei were no different. After spending the past two days together, they had become somewhat familiar with each other and could be considered friends.

The main reason is that Zhang You's skills are quite good, which Li Shiwei admires. Li Shiwei has a very proactive personality, so she naturally took the initiative to get close to him.

Zhang You was the type of person who couldn't refuse others, so she could only let the other person stick close to her.

Fortunately, after spending time together, Zhang You discovered that Li Shiwei was actually a very easy person to get along with, so she stopped being resistant to her and the two became friends during the two-day trip.

Zhang You probably doesn't have many friends, so she cherishes Li Shiwei. Li Shiwei is a typical "central air conditioner," taking good care of everyone, which seems to give Zhang You a feeling she's never had before.

However, Zhang You was a bit older, in her twenties, but it didn't matter, because to cultivators, they were all young girls.

It could even be said that Zhang You was actually very powerful to reach the eighth rank in her twenties. However, due to limitations in her Cultivation Method and knowledge, she was inferior to Li Shiwei in many aspects, such as her combat strength.

Li Shiwei could easily pin Zhang You to the ground and beat her, even though the two of them had never actually fought.

Upon arriving at Liesu, the two girls bid each other farewell.

Although we only spent two days together, I still felt a little reluctant to part ways.

Then, after the Liesu parted, they arrived at the Sacred Flame Realm—

Then, the two of them unexpectedly met again.

The two were quite surprised when they met and asked each other about their destinations in the Sacred Flame Realm.

Because, right now, neither side in the gourd asked the other where they were going, since everyone knew that it was very likely just a chance encounter.

But unexpectedly, this chance encounter led to another meeting in the Sacred Flame Realm.

So, they told each other their destination.

It turned out that both of them were going to the Sea Hunting Realm and were going to work on the same ship.

This is truly pure fate.

So the two decided to go together.

I boarded that large ship from a port in the Sacred Flame Realm. It was a Seventh Rank Treasure Ship, specially designed for sailing between Seventh Rank World. Because it needed to operate outside the realm, it was a full two thousand miles long.

These ships can sail beyond the domain and are used to fill the gaps in areas that the Liesu teleportation mechanism cannot cover, such as the world clusters they are now exploring.

Riding on this kind of boat is very exciting.

Because beyond countless worlds, there are countless more worlds—

Cold, hot, bright, dark.

An infinite world composed of different things and different species.

In the boundless outer realms, they could see all possibilities; for example, they saw a giant whale when they first set off.

It seemed to be the mount of a powerful being; it was the largest thing Li Shiwei had ever seen.

This whale was even larger than the world itself—in fact, Li Shiwei and Zhang You saw that the whale carried more than a dozen different worlds on its back.

They saw a giant figure, as if it held the world above its head, rapidly passing over their ship.

Through the ship's incredible telescope, they saw across millions of light-years that four elephants supported a flat disc, on which stood Bodhi Tree, eight dragons supported the four elephants, and a tortoise supported the eight dragons. It seemed to be... some kind of Pure Land.

Of course, the giant ship they were on was also part of this boundless spectacle.

Because they noticed, and even came into contact with, many backward little worlds that were struggling to travel beyond their own borders in their own way, and they all looked at their two-thousand-mile-long giant ship with envy or fear.

Along the way, their ships even fired weapons and captured a giant, starry squid that was hundreds of miles long. Li Shiwei didn't know what it was, but it tasted delicious.

They also encountered another giantess in a flowing dress who held aloft a giant bowl containing a burning, flat world, which she traded for many supplies on the ship.

This world, with a diameter of over 20,000 miles, was towed behind the giant ship by the powerful beings on the ship after the exchange, like a truck, by chains formed by Technique Method. It traveled through the endless outer realms.

On their journey, they encountered another giant ship. They discovered that this ship seemed to be of divine origin, as the ship constantly proclaimed the superiority of their gods. Moreover, these beings had long, thin limbs and long noses. Through conversations with these people, Li Shiwei learned that this race did not have their own world; this giant ship was everything to them. Most of them were born in outer space, and most interestingly, they even looked down on the 'native inhabitants' from the world, considering living in the world a sign of backwardness.

This is infinite possibility, an endless and mysterious landscape, a boundless and bizarre spectacle that the two little girls could not describe, constantly appearing before them.

However, everything must eventually come to an end.

After traveling for one year and two months, we are about to reach our destination. In two more days, we will be able to see the Sea Hunting Realm.

After that, Li Shiwei and Zhang You were to deliver goods to the Sea Hunting Realm, then take the contents back to the ship and sail to the next world.

Such a trip...

It feels pretty good.

At least that's what Li Shiwei thinks; the scenery abroad is far better than at home.

But... Zhang You doesn't seem to think so.

Another day of work ended, and Li Shiwei and Zhang You returned to their double dormitory.

As soon as she got back to her dorm, Li Shiwei jumped up and exclaimed excitedly, "Wow, we're almost at the Sea Hunting Realm! We've passed through so many worlds on the way, but this is the first time I've personally come to an extraterrestrial world! Yay! I'm so tired of being on this ship."

Zhang You, however, looked worried. "The world we're going to this time... I've heard it's constantly ravaged by war."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Li Shi said with great interest, "Heroes emerge in chaotic times! Who knows, we might even be able to dominate in that world and create our own legend."

Zhang You didn't say anything, but silently walked to the dormitory kitchen and started cooking.

They are all still at the eighth rank, not yet at the level of transcending the mundane and Grain Avoidance a state of fasting and purity, so they still need to do things like cleaning and eating.

Only a person of exceptional talent like Shen Shuibi, Immaculate Body is pure and untouched by worldly dust, who lives on qi and does not eat grains, can be considered to be free from the entanglements of household affairs.

However, Li Shiwei is completely unskilled at housework and doesn't lift a finger. Zhang You is in charge of all the housework and meals. Zhang You handles all the eating and washing. If Zhang You will go and buy food.

If she really wanted to do it, with her eighth-rank action and intelligence, combined with Technique Method, she probably wouldn't have been unable to do it. But the little brat never had this awareness since she was a child. She didn't realize at all that she actually needed to help with cooking.

Because she has never done housework since birth, she still doesn't realize that it's wrong for her to live in a dormitory together and let her partner do all the housework.

Fortunately, Zhang You didn't mind these things, and it seemed that she actually enjoyed housework and cooking.

Unlike Li Shiwei, who thrived on chaos and was eager to establish her career in a turbulent world, Zhang You preferred a peaceful and ordinary life.

Zhang You was packing up the ingredients, which were all prepared on the ship and everyone could take them. After all, the ship was two thousand miles long and had Mustard Seed Bag, so the space was quite large.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.