Leaving the Merchant Association

Inside the giant ship, above the ecological dome, next to the maintenance layer.

Li Shiwei walked up to Zhang You, wiped his sweat, and frowned, saying, "Be careful. Operating and maintaining the facilities is too much of a strain on you. Sigh, didn't I tell you to get a job at the monitoring post? It's a more relaxed place. But you insisted on doing these dirty and tiring jobs. Why bother?"

Zhang You laughed and said, "The pay here is twice that of the surveillance post. The Chamber of Commerce always distributes pay according to the work done. The more difficult and tiring the work, the more you can earn. I'm not like you, a young lady who doesn't care about the pay at all. No, I misspoke. Your work is much harder and more difficult... The pay is five times mine. As the captain of the security post, you must have to deal with a lot of people and things, right?"

"It's all a small matter. As long as you act uprightly and honestly, that's all that matters." Li Shiwei waved her hand, not caring much.

Zhang You smiled but did not answer the question.

Li Shiwei embodied these six words.

"To act uprightly and honestly" sounds simple, but how many people can actually do it? Li Shiwei is a rare example of someone whose words and deeds are consistent and whose knowledge and actions are in harmony.

Therefore, Zhang You enjoyed being friends with her, even though their identities and family backgrounds were very different, because she knew that Li Shiwei would never have any different opinion of her because of these differences.

"By the way, you're usually very busy, why did you come to see me this time? Is it because you're investigating a case? Has a lead come to me? That doesn't make sense, isn't investigating cases usually the job of subordinates?" Zhang You asked curiously.

"It's not about investigating a case, I just wanted to let you know that I'm planning to resign. I'll leave when this route is completed and it's time to start a new cycle," Li Shiwei replied with a smile.

"Resign? Why?" Zhang You asked in astonishment.

Li Shiwei's current status is already quite high in her eyes, and her salary is very considerable. It's getting better and better, and she might be able to move up to the management level of the Chamber of Commerce in the future.

This is a perfectly promising future, why would you resign?

"After the circular route is completed, these places will become meaningless. I also need to avoid worlds that are entangled with the Chamber of Commerce, because I am now looking for commonalities between worlds and civilizations and making comparisons. This may be my Seventh-Rank Dao Foundation," Li Shiwei said to her best friend.

Zhang You opened her mouth, but said nothing.

Is this what the other person aspires to?

That's true. A mere high-ranking member of a chamber of commerce certainly couldn't stop them. Their family might have several Sixth-Rank Grotto-Heaven... According to her, the jade pendant on her waist was also a sixth-grade Xuanjing Jade.

This level of influence is enough to suggest that the other party's family background might even be as powerful as the Chamber of Commerce, and their elders might be Fifth-Rank Great Expert...

Fifth-Rank Great Expert is one's elder; what immense power that must be...

However, only a family background like this could produce such an outstanding descendant as Li Shiwei.

"That's great, let's celebrate! You probably haven't had my cooking in a long time, right? Want to come to my dorm?" Zhang You said frankly.

"Okay~" Li Shiwei readily agreed.

Neither of them felt any regret, nor did they think the incident had any special meaning; that was all.

They're not dead. Li Shiwei is just pursuing her own goals, and Zhang You is still working on the ship. Everything is fine.

The two went to Zhang You's dormitory hand in hand and cooked a simple meal. The dishes were plentiful, but they were all made with ordinary ingredients and nothing particularly valuable.

There's no need for that.

After dinner, Li Shiwei returned to her daily routine.

This time, a few years have simply passed.

The mission in the last world is complete. We've once again acquired the goods from this world and resupplyed its base. All that's left is to return to the Sacred Flame Realm.

Returning to the Sacred Flame Realm, unloading cargo, resting and changing shifts for the crew, repairing and resupplying the ships, and then setting off again after regrouping, this completes one cycle of the voyage.

Merchants from various civilizations who were attached to the ship would also use the Sacred Flame Realm, a Sixth-Rank World, as a distribution center to trade and exchange the fruits of their twenty years of travel, and send the profits back to their home world.

The entire world thrives in this cycle.

With the establishment of the Chamber of Commerce, this world group has benefited greatly. The Chamber of Commerce has connected all the worlds and civilizations in this world group, allowing them to exchange goods and resources and communicate with each other. At the same time, it has also brought advanced Dao Lineage and Technique Method from all over the world.

This might be like forcing growth in many civilizations, but without the Chamber of Commerce, they might not even have had the chance to sprout.

This is also a means of expansion for 'the world'.

Countless civilizations have therefore abandoned their unique 'Tao' and turned to cultivate the various Dao Lineage of the world.

This is not a violent crushing, but a view from above.

Aside from Human Path, the world doesn't actually like violent conflict; they simply descend upon us, and thus... these worlds submit.

If one neither submits nor opposes, then the world will regard one as a fellow traveler. As long as there is no conflict over the Dao, then one is a friend.

But very few worlds can hold out, after all... when true gods appear in the mortal realm, how many can resist kneeling?

Li Shiwei will leave this place after this cycle ends, heading to that world that is said to have never seen the Chamber of Commerce, that special world that the leaders know about.

The stone vibrated and said, "Boss, everything is ready. We can disembark now."

"Okay, let's go." Li Shiwei packed her Mustard Seed Bag, made sure she had everything, took another ticket, and then quietly left the ship.

Actually, it wasn't exactly a quiet departure, as the news had already spread throughout the ship. However, she didn't want anyone to see her off, so she decided to leave quietly.

As for the other ticket she had, it was for a new ship.

After all, she was only an eighth-rank official. It would be unwise for her to traverse the void on her own. Where a person cannot walk, she still had to drive.

However, it wasn't a world-class large ship anymore; it was just a small flying boat, a few dozen feet long and wide.

She rented the ship, intending to travel alone to cross the void and reach the world the captain had described—a world untouched by the Chamber of Commerce.

Everything is proceeding smoothly.

Holding the pre-prepared boat ticket, which she had rented at the cost of eleven years' worth of earnings, with a rental period of eleven years, the price indicated that the boat she rented was essentially Seventh Rank Magic Treasure.

Even if a seventh-grade flying boat isn't a world-class behemoth, it's still very valuable.

Of course, it was rented from the Chamber of Commerce, since only the Chamber of Commerce in this world group has the ability to manufacture, rent, and sell Seventh Rank Magic Treasure on a large scale.

Li Shiwei received the ship from the smiling merchant, but her expression showed some disdain.

"Ugh... this thing is kind of disgusting." She looked at the ship, her lips twitching.

Stone said, "That's true, but this thing was invented by the Shaman. It should be made using the craftsmanship of the Witchcraft Silkworm. This ship is alive and can adapt to various environments. In the void, it can even reach 1.5 times the Heavenly Way Limit. It is very suitable for short-distance travel within the world group, but for long-distance travel, you still need to use the Liesu or world-class giant ship."

But look at the ship they described as 'disgusting'—it was a living flying boat thirty feet long, made entirely of a large number of Gu worms, with a chitinous shell-like structure that reflected a multicolored black.

Some red liquid flowed inside the airship, like viscous blood. But apart from that, it was generally a normal airship, and its appearance was no different from that of a normal airship, with the same pavilions and decks.

After all, the basic aesthetics are still there, and the functionality is also well maintained. It's just that... using living Gu worms as materials is a bit unusual.

"Witchcraft Silkworm? I've seen them at my father's place too, but they're not nearly as disgusting... The things made by Witchcraft Silkworm are no different from ordinary Law Treasure." Li Shiwei curled her lip.

Stone said, "How can the craftsmanship of the Shaman be compared with this mass-produced goods? These are flying boats made by lower-level Gu masters using Witchcraft and Poison Arts. Witchcraft is a minor art after all, how can it be compared with the Shaman's lineage?"

"Yeah, Dad's still pretty good. Oh well, it's okay if it's ugly, as long as it works. After all, this thing is said to have excellent performance and is easy to operate." Li Shiwei shook her head and boarded the strange flying boat.

The ease of operation was the reason she chose this type of flying boat. Even a 30-zhang-long flying boat would be very difficult for one person to operate. Controlling Seventh Rank Magic Treasure is no easy task.

Generally speaking, Seventh Rank Magic Treasure requires a seventh-grade cultivator to operate it properly. If there is no seventh-grade cultivator, then a fleet must be formed, with one person responsible for a portion of the weapon.

But Li Shiwei is only one person, and she doesn't plan to recruit crew members, so she doesn't operate live boats because she can't manage them all.

"You take half, I'll take the other half. Let's go, let's set off!" Li Shiwei said with a smile, and then started the flying boat.

The blood inside the flying boat began to circulate faster, and then the large Gu worm suddenly opened its eyes and began to act according to the instincts that had been implanted in it.

That's right, this is a way to reduce operational stress.

This flying boat was pieced together from some large, ignorant and instinct-driven Gu worms. These Gu worms have no consciousness, but they have physical instincts. As long as you use specific operations to trigger the instincts of these Gu worms, they will react accordingly, just like the Witchcraft Silkworm.

No... it's not like that. These were originally made using the technology of the Witchcraft Silkworm. Li Qi Qifa's Witchcraft Silkworm technology has been widely used in the Witchcraft and Poison Arts within the Chamber of Commerce, becoming a required course for those sorcerers.

This can be considered his small contribution to the development of technology worldwide.

That being said, once you learn how to control the instinctive reactions of these Gu worms, you can control this flying boat to perform complex movements with just simple operations, because a large number of operations are integrated into the Gu worms' instincts, without the need for human fine-tuning.

Although this would reduce the performance and maneuverability of the flying boat, since the characteristic of the Witchcraft Silkworm is that its performance is relatively poor and cannot compare with expensive custom magic Law Treasure, it is still sufficient for use.

With this feature, Li Shiwei can control an entire airship by herself and her partner.

Thanks to Li Qi's invention; without this technology, the Chamber of Commerce wouldn't have been able to provide a large number of single-person flying boats for external rental.

Of course, Li Shiwei didn't feel anything about this, because since she joined the company, single-person flying boats have been common equipment and can be seen in many places.

As everyone knows, the technologies I developed before I was thirty were commonplace and simply part of the world.

The same applies to Li Shiwei. Although the Witchcraft Silkworm is a new technology, she has already become accustomed to it.

He placed the stone in the cockpit, and although he had no hands or feet, he could still perform some operations.

Then Li Shiwei took charge of the subsequent energy work herself.

Division of labor makes things much easier.

"The coordinates have been determined, let's go!" Stone said.

The flying boat left a trail in the air, passing through the World Barrier that had already been artificially opened in the Sacred Flame Realm, and headed towards the distant outer space.

This voyage will require continuous acceleration for three months, traveling at a speed one and a half times the Heavenly Way Limit.

Moreover, this is Li Shiwei's own three months, because when the speed approaches the Heavenly Way Limit to a certain extent, one's own time will slow down.

Although cultivators can use Technique Method to raise and elevate the Heavenly Way Limit around them, these limits always exist. As long as one gets close, it will cause time to slow down. This is also a manifestation of the 'Great Dao' in the real world, just like the omnipresent gravity. This disorder of the speed of time is also omnipresent.

This situation once puzzled Li Shiwei greatly. She found it difficult to understand what was going on with this disordered spacetime, because her cultivation Cultivation Method allowed her to clearly perceive this difference, but this difference was extremely awkward.

It's like... a nearsighted person trying to read words on a computer screen from a meter away. She can vaguely see something on it, like she can see words written on it, but she just can't make it out clearly. She wants to get closer to see, but she can't get any closer, which is very frustrating.

This may be related to her Cultivation Method from Mount Luofu.

It is said that her mother and Aunt Yang Ning cultivated this kind of great path, but unfortunately, Li Shiwei could not understand it, nor could she understand why there was such a distortion in space and time.

Regardless, it was only three months for Li Shiwei, but more than a year had passed in the outside world. During this time, she was stuck in this limbo of time-space disorder, which caused her great pain.

Fortunately, three months later, Stone, who was placed in the cockpit and controlled the airship with his soul, suddenly said, "Boss, that's enough, I need to slow down."

"Okay... you can lose weight," Li Shiwei said weakly, looking somewhat haggard.

Sitting inside a large, world-class giant ship, she didn't have this feeling. Perhaps it was because the world's Heavenly Dao protected her, shielding her from the disturbances of time and space?

Anyway, these small boats are still too stimulating for her, to the point that she's been suffering from nervous breakdown and vomiting non-stop for the past few months.

"Alright, you'll feel better after slowing down. I'm going to lower the upper limit of the Heavenly Way Limit here, which will increase the ship's mass and cause it to shake a bit."

As he spoke, accompanied by a tremor, the ship's speed was forcibly suppressed by the Heavenly Way Limit!

We've arrived.

(Two updates tomorrow, and another two updates on the Number One next month.)