As the phantoms of the group took shape, Li Xingkong also arrived at the space station.
The completed phantom looked around first, and then saw Li Xingkong standing in front of them.
"Brother Li, you're really fast! It's only been a few days and the teleportation station is already completed."
Baili Qiu looked around and greeted Li Xingkong.
"It's nothing much. I just finished taking care of my business, so I thought I'd come back for a visit."
As the host, Li Xingkong naturally couldn't let them stand there idly. While talking, he led the group to the rest room inside the space station.
In preparation for their arrival, Divine Land had made advance preparations. On the way to the lounge with Li Xingkong and his group, the cultivators received the news, and the pre-arranged reception ceremony began as soon as they entered the lounge.
After all, among the civilizations Li Xingkong had encountered, the Sihali Kingdom was relatively friendly towards Divine Land, and it was also a large country, so he couldn't afford to lose face when receiving them.
The elaborate rituals lasted for nearly an hour before finally ending. Li Xingkong was getting a little bored, his attention already focused on his surroundings, observing the visiting ships. Baili Qiu, however, was very interested in the rituals, appearing quite fascinated from beginning to end.
Only after everyone had left, leaving only him and Li Xingkong, did he come back to savor the feeling of the welcoming ceremony.
"Brother Li, your civilized way of hospitality is truly unique. I'll have to learn from you sometime."
Li Xingkong shook his head and laughed.
"It's all just bureaucratic tedium; what's so interesting about it? After a while, these methods just get a bit annoying."
Baili Qiu's opinion was clearly somewhat different.
"Although it's tedious, isn't that the symbol of civilization? Only a civilization with a profound cultural heritage would put so much thought into these things."
That makes sense.
After exchanging a few casual words, Li Xingkong changed the subject to the purpose of their visit.
"Now that you've arrived, does that mean the three major powers have already detected the vicinity of the Solar System?"
When this matter was brought up, Baili Qiu put down his teacup and his face turned serious.
"Although the three major powers are still some distance away, judging by their reconnaissance speed, they should be here soon. The fact that you set up this teleportation station earlier than we expected has certainly made things easier for us."
"Although I still can't tell you what they're looking for, whatever it is, we've at least gotten some advance notice and can start looking before they arrive."
"Haven't they come looking for us yet..."
Li Xingkong uttered a soft sentence, his mind already beginning to ponder.
When Li Xingkong heard Xuanyizi say that, he subconsciously thought that these civilizations were looking for their system, and that they might have found some traces of the system.
But now it seems something is amiss.
According to the system, it has been on Earth Star since it appeared, and has not been to any other star systems. If it were looking for it, it would obviously not be investigating such a large area.
Moreover, the timeline doesn't match what Xuanyizi said; the system appeared much earlier than when they obtained the information.
Furthermore, Xuanyizi once said that what they were looking for might be related to the rules, which in turn had even less to do with the system.
Although the system spans multiple universes, its binding method with Li Xingkong is quite unique. Li Xingkong is a person within this universe, while the system, although bound to Li Xingkong, exists outside of this universe and is not within this universe.
Therefore, although it can employ a considerable number of mysterious techniques, it has never dabbled in modifying the rules of the universe.
According to the system, the rules of the universe are like playing chess or Go; everyone in the universe must abide by these rules in every word and deed.
Those civilizations that could modify the rules had evolved from chess pieces on the board into the players themselves.
Although they can modify the rules, the modified rules also apply to them.
In this game, the system plays the role of a spectator, but not just any spectator; at most, it's a spectator watching via live stream.
Although it can communicate with Li Xingkong through bullet comments, teach Li Xingkong many things, and even help him in some small ways, it basically has no way to interfere when it comes to matters involving the rules of the universe.
Just like the live stream audience it metaphorically represents, they can send comments and gifts, but they can't force the people playing chess in the live stream to change the rules according to its ideas.
Unless it takes a huge risk, goes directly to the scene, points a gun at the referee, and forces him to change the rules.
But doing so would do him no good and would only provoke the universe's wrath.
According to the system, if these forces are looking for information about rule-based weapons, then they have nothing to do with the system, because their various methods are completely unrelated to the rules of the current universe.
Therefore, Li Xingkong was not too nervous about this meeting with Baili Qiu, as he trusted the system's words to a certain extent.
But if they weren't looking for the system, what were they doing making such a big fuss about? Li Xingkong had no idea.
Hopefully, Baili Qiu and his team can take advantage of this head start and explore the vicinity of the Solar System first.
The best outcome would be that what they're looking for has nothing to do with the Solar System. If it does, hopefully Baili Qiu and his team can get their hands on it before the major powers come looking for them.
So what are your plans for the future?
Li Xingkong was very curious about how Baili Qiu and his team would conduct their investigation.
"This is where we'll need your help."
Baili Qiu pointed, and a small, circular device appeared on the table in the lounge. However, judging from the way it appeared, it was still a projection.
"For privacy reasons, and knowing you wouldn't want our people conducting extensive investigations throughout the galaxy, we've prepared this. You can reach out and try it."
Upon hearing this, Li Xingkong reached his hand above the ring. The ring flashed, and a virtual wristwatch appeared on Li Xingkong's hand.
"This is our universal detector. It's very easy to use; simply bring it near a planet, and it can scan the entire celestial body."
"Of course, scanning planets would be simple, but since we know nothing about what we're looking for, the entire galaxy, besides the planets, also needs to be scanned with instruments. It's obviously inefficient for us to do this alone, so we need your help."
"As for the ships, my men will use them to explore other star systems in the surrounding area. I remember you haven't left this star system yet, have you?"
Baili Qiu explained his plan to Li Xingkong.
To be honest, the people of the Sihali Kingdom really know how to behave. They didn't take advantage of their superior civilization to show off their arrogance. Instead, when facing Divine Land, they still considered many things. They even said that Divine Land could explore some sensitive areas on its own.
As for whether the detector contains any information about spying on Divine Land's technology, Li Xingkong guessed it probably did, but what it could detect was hard to say.
After all, the core content of the cultivation system has never been on books or in data; all the core content is in the patterns formed by Divine Sense.
Only when a conscious being sees it with their own eyes can they read information from it; if they try to examine it with instruments, it will just be a jumble of patterns.