Tianji?

World No. 9527.

Rolling hills stretched out, seemingly without end.

Nestled among the mountains stood a somewhat dilapidated ancestral hall, the only man-made structure for a thousand miles in any direction.

At this moment, a hoarse, dry roar shook the hall.

"What millennium! My Chen family has lived in Chen Family Village since ancient times, since the dawn of history! We didn't move here from somewhere else!"

The old man spoke with conviction, his spit flying everywhere.

Li Qingshan stood quietly, his gaze passing over the old man to look at the spirit tablets on the altar, then at the surrounding pillars and walls.

The Chen family's tablets only dated back one thousand years.

The traces of time on the pillars and walls also did not exceed a millennium.

These clues were not only visible to him; the old man who had guarded the hall for so long should have been even more aware of them, yet he chose to turn a blind eye, remaining deeply convinced of the "ancient times."

However, Li Qingshan did not argue, offering a slight smile instead.

"Thank you for the explanation, Elder Chen. It was indeed my assumption. I shall take my leave now."

"Leaving already?" The old man looked stunned and immediately waved his hand.

"That won't do! You haven't even had a drink of water; if word got out, it would mean Chen Family Village doesn't know how to treat guests."

"How about this, stay for a meal before you go!"

The old man made the offer with great enthusiasm. Li Qingshan did not rush to refuse, instead turning his gaze to his surroundings.

The ancestral hall was the only building for a thousand miles.

Yet inside, there were only incense, candles, and paper money—not a single pot, bowl, or ladle to be found.

After looking around, his deep gaze fell back upon the old man.

"Elder Chen, do you cook for yourself?"

"In this day and age, who still cooks for themselves!"

The old man shook his head as if it were obvious, pulling out a slightly worn sound-transmission jade talisman and saying proudly:

"Of course, I order delivery!"

"I already placed an order before you arrived. We'll just make do with a meal together; don't turn your nose up at it. I ordered from Ruxin Restaurant in a town thirty thousand miles away. The proprietress's figure... no, her cooking..."

As the old man spoke, he couldn't help but drool, looking truly famished.

Li Qingshan was left somewhat speechless by this unexpected answer, then shook his head.

"Elder Chen, I won't disturb your meal. I'll take my leave."

As his voice fell, he stepped out of the hall and onto the high sky in the next stride.

Looking down, a delivery driver wearing a yellow and blue uniform was speeding toward the hall, standing on a flying sword.

The driver was flying very fast, far exceeding the speed expected of a first-stage Qi Refining cultivator, comparable to the full-speed flight of a second-stage Rainbow-Transforming martial artist.

But this was not due to his own strength; it came from the enhancement of the flying sword beneath his feet.

It was an industrial flying sword, full of mass-produced aesthetics, showing no signs of offensive capability, designed solely for extreme speed.

"A Qi Refining delivery driver, standing on an industrial flying sword, crossing thirty thousand kilometers to deliver food to an old man living alone in the wilderness?"

Li Qingshan murmured softly, his gaze ignoring distance to land on the left chest of the delivery driver's uniform, where he saw four characters, just as he expected.

Tianji Delivery

"As expected of Tianji Group!"

Li Qingshan smiled faintly, took a step, and appeared at the other end of the world...

Chen Family Village... Nansha Ridge... Yuge Bay... Zilan Sea...

In just a few short hours, the young man's figure moved as if teleporting, ignoring the distance of billions of kilometers to appear in every corner of the world.

Visit after visit, seeing it with his own eyes, verified Li Qingshan's previous guess.

Cognitive alteration!

The "ancient times" existed only in cognition; the historical remnants left in reality were no more than a thousand years old!

At the same time, there was another matter that could not help but draw his attention.

Tianji Delivery, Tianji Express, Tianji Groceries, Tianji Travel...

Across the world, no matter how remote the place, even on islands isolated in the middle of the ocean, one could see figures belonging to "Tianji Group."

In every aspect, they were omnipresent!

"Predatory capitalism?"

Li Qingshan hung high in the air, looking down at his feet.

Waves surged, and an island lay directly below.

On the island, only one resident remained: an elderly woman, withered with age.

At this moment, an employee of Tianji Groceries was enthusiastically helping an old woman carry fresh fruits and vegetables.

The scene before him did not align with the nature of "capitalist profit-seeking," especially since the credits the old woman used to place her order were also borrowed from Tianji Group.

This loan, clearly, had no chance of being recovered.

"Heartless capitalist? Or a conscientious entrepreneur?"

Li Qingshan raised an eyebrow, smiling with keen interest.

"Or perhaps... a cancer of the cultivation world?"

This term was not one he had coined himself, but one he had overheard along the way.

Tianji Group had penetrated every facet of society, deeply rooted and sprawling, but that did not mean there were no voices of opposition.

In fact, right here in World No. 9527, their home base, a significant wave of dissent had already formed.

"Interesting. I just wonder who exactly is standing behind Tianji Group?"

A smile curled at the corners of Li Qingshan's mouth as he strolled through the void, sweeping over mountains, rivers, towns, and markets, until he returned once more to the center of the world—Tianji City.

Tianji City, Tianji Museum.

"Chicken legs! Chicken legs!"

"Braised chicken legs! Roasted chicken legs! Fried chicken legs!"

"Tianji chicken legs, the favorite food of the late Chairman during his lifetime! Don't miss out as you pass by!"

The cries of hawkers, accompanied by waves of savory aromas, drifted into the museum.

A group of young men and women each carried chicken legs in various wrappings; some were even gnawing on them as they walked, their mouths glistening with oil.

The tour guide seemed long accustomed to this, continuing his introduction nonchalantly:

"As everyone knows, Tianji Group was founded one thousand years ago by our late Chairman, Tianji Taoist."

"In just a short millennium, the reason our Tianji Group has been able to surpass numerous immortal sects, grow to this scale, and even radiate influence across hundreds of surrounding worlds, is all thanks to the development policies left behind by the late Chairman!"

"It is precisely under the guidance of the late Chairman that we are able to live such good lives, where everyone has enough to eat and everyone has the opportunity to cultivate!"

The tour guide gestured toward the canvases recording the history of Tianji Group, speaking with such vivid emotion that many tourists were moved to empathy.

Just then, "Heh!" A cold sneer rang out abruptly. A tall young man stepped forward, arms crossed over his chest.

"That sounds nice, but isn't it just to mass-produce cattle and horses to add bricks and tiles to the development of your Tianji Group?"

"Shut up!"

The tour guide's expression changed drastically. With a wave of his hand, the air solidified, and a majestic aura, like a collapsing mountain, pressed down upon the young man.

"You don't know how lucky you are. Do you think the reason you can eat your fill and cultivate in peace is because the world is at peace?"

"No, it is only because you are in World No. 9527!"

"Open your eyes and look closely at the Azure Wave Myriad Realms. Which one isn't plagued by imperial conquests, wars between immortals and demons, and endless strife, leaving the common people starving and in rags?"

"If not for the late Chairman and Tianji Group, World No. 9527 would be just like them!"