Li Yunxian had absolutely no idea what to say, but these brains seemed to know.
“Newcomer! Another newcomer has arrived!”
A woman with an air of scholarly calm and a hint of old-fashioned elegance in her attire walked over to Li Yunxian, her face lit up with a delighted smile.
Her clothing was completely different in style from the interstellar garments Li Yunxian had seen so far.
“It’s been a long time since anyone’s come here,” the woman said. “What’s your name?”
Li Yunxian looked at her.
This woman’s form had a faintly translucent quality, with a thin, barely-there thread stretching from her body all the way toward someone else’s brain in the distance.
Without a doubt, that brain was the true body of the person before her.
This was a Demonic Aura entity.
Li Yunxian immediately made her judgment, but found it strange.
With her level of spiritual sense, no one could ever conceal their cultivation from her.
And in this cultivation-based world, Demonic Aura entities also had cultivation ranks.
But these Demonic Aura entities in front of her…
In Li Yunxian’s eyes, none of them had any cultivation whatsoever. They were no different from ordinary people.
Li Yunxian had spent most of her life cultivating, but this was the first time she’d ever seen Demonic Aura entities without any cultivation at all.
Even the weakest Demonic Aura entity should at least be at the Qi Refining Entry Level.
After all, Demonic Aura entities were born from spiritual energy.
Moreover, these people didn’t carry a single trace of Demonic Aura.
Their gazes were completely clear and upright, just like all the good people Li Yunxian had ever liked.
For once, Li Yunxian felt her heart tense up.
She suspected she’d fallen into a trap.
After all, Demonic Aura entities often possessed all sorts of strange abilities, impossible to guard against.
For most cultivators, encountering a Demonic Aura entity was far more troublesome than facing any other foe.
Even Li Yunxian was no exception.
Since she couldn’t grasp the situation, Li Yunxian refrained from making any rash moves.
She put on the blank, ignorant expression of a newcomer. “My name is Li Yinxing. Where is this place? Who are you?”
Hearing Li Yunxian’s question, the woman’s mouth dropped open slightly, her face full of shock and aggrieved surprise.
“You really don’t recognize me?!” she exclaimed, clearly furious, her voice rising several pitches.
It seemed Li Yunxian’s response had caught her off guard.
But Li Yunxian wasn’t flustered.
For her, this was just a minor situation.
Easy enough to handle.
Li Yunxian looked around at the others with an innocent, pleading face.
Judging by the demeanor of these ‘people’, no matter what the deal was with these Demonic Aura entities, at least for now their roles were all those of good people.
In any group of good people, there would definitely be some helpful souls willing to step in and smooth things over.
As expected, the moment Li Yunxian gave that look, someone soon walked over.
He smiled and patted the woman’s shoulder, his tone light and breezy. “You old geezer, you’ve been around for so long. The textbooks have changed so many times—it’s a good thing to be forgotten!”
“It just means there are plenty of people in the future better than you. You don’t even make the rankings anymore!” His words were blunt, but carried a touch of carefreeness.
After speaking, he winked at Li Yunxian. “Little Li, I’m much younger than her. You remember me, don’t you?”
Li Yunxian was silent again.
She answered him with a look of pure innocence.
Seeing Li Yunxian’s reaction, who wouldn’t understand what was going on? The woman burst out laughing, her mood restored.
At last, she introduced herself to Li Yunxian. “My name is Duàn Huácǎi, and this is Fèi Ràng.”
Hearing these names, Li Yunxian was genuinely stunned for a moment, looking at the woman in utter shock.
She immediately spoke up: “I know you! I’ve read your ‘Key Points to Entry-Level Machinery’ more than ten times! It’s amazing—so easy to understand and practical!”
Li Yunxian wasn’t just flattering her, nor was she speaking nonsense—she had truly read it.
Back when she’d been learning and trading knowledge with others in the market, she’d been recommended some books on mechanical crafting.
Li Yunxian had managed to read this book online.
It really was excellent.
For Li Yunxian, who had only just begun to study artifact crafting on the interstellar side at that time, this book saved her a tremendous amount of time.
When exchanging thoughts with others, she’d praised the book, and from them, learned more about its author.
This Duàn Huácǎi was one of the Five Foundational Pillars of their technological era, and by far the most lamented.
—Of the Five Foundational Pillars, she was the only ordinary person unable to cultivate.
She lived only seventy-one years, passing away with deep regret.
Yet her research into artifacts and machinery continued to nourish the entire interstellar world.
And her most famous work was on a particular artifact.
That artifact was called—City Core Artifact.
Li Yunxian had heard Duàn Huácǎi’s name before, but had never seen her picture, which was why she hadn’t recognized her.
As for the name Fèi Ràng…
Li Yunxian hadn’t heard of him either, but she knew that since she’d arrived via the normal timeline of the City Core Artifact, the others must surely be related to it as well.
For a strategic artifact to go from research to maturity, it would have to pass through generations of effort.
Could it be that all these people were…
Li Yunxian felt her heart grow heavy.
Only then did she notice that, although the clothing styles varied, everyone here dressed in exceptionally simple garb.
The sort of clothes researchers would wear.
Duàn Huácǎi, upon hearing Li Yunxian’s words, beamed with pride, glancing smugly at Fèi Ràng before reaching out to pull Li Yunxian into the group.
“Alright, let’s stop talking about trivial things.”
“It’s been so, so long since a newcomer arrived—we were starting to wonder if people outside had given up on the City Core Artifact!”
Li Yunxian kept her confused expression, but her mind was already working furiously, analyzing the situation from their conversation.
First, these people couldn’t tell if she was lying or telling the truth.
When she gave her name as Li Yinxing, no one seemed to find it odd.
Second, none of them found her sudden appearance unusual.
But this oddness wasn’t about whether newcomers arrived, but about how Li Yunxian’s state was completely different from theirs.
She had no brain.
Wait, no.
She had no external brain.
In these people’s eyes, she was exactly the same as them.
Perhaps, in their perception, everyone here was just a normal person.
Did these people not know they were Demonic Aura entities?
As she pondered this, Li Yunxian kept up her dumb-newcomer act, quickly replying, “It’s not that no one’s researching it anymore, just that it’s not a focus these days. Since no new cities are being built, there’s no need for more City Core Artifacts.”
This wasn’t something Li Yunxian knew for sure.
It was an analysis she made, combining what they’d said with her understanding of the outside world.
After speaking, Li Yunxian reacted belatedly, then complained unhappily to the others, “You still haven’t told me what’s going on!”
“How did I end up here?”
Li Yunxian judged this was a safe question.
She’d already asked it before, and no one had shown any unusual reaction.
So it was a question she could press.
Sure enough, someone quickly spoke up: “All ordinary people who devote themselves to normal research but can’t cultivate end up here.”
“Maybe the City Core Artifact heard the wishes we once made in our hearts, and this is its reward to us.”
“Who hasn’t dreamed of living as long as a cultivator?”
“Pah, that’s not it!”
“Who hasn’t wanted to live long, just like those cultivators?”
“So after we died, we all came here and have been living ever since.”
“Don’t worry, it’s actually quite nice here. Everyone’s a dedicated researcher, we all share the same passion, and sharing ideas is very enjoyable.” The speaker grinned at Li Yunxian.
But to the experienced Li Yunxian, it was obvious there was craftiness and calculation behind that expression.
Not malicious craftiness or calculation, though.
Li Yunxian could clearly see through their scheme—after all, she’d used the same trick on others herself.
—Whenever she wanted to dig knowledge out of someone else’s brain, she looked just like that.
Now karma had come full circle, and it was someone else’s turn to try to dig information out of her mind.
Li Yunxian didn’t particularly mind this feeling.
But now wasn’t the right time for her to speak up.
After she mentioned that the outside world didn’t prioritize City Core Artifacts anymore, several of the researchers who had devoted their lives to them grew angry or indignant, their voices rising in a flurry of criticism.
“What’s wrong with people outside nowadays? How could they just stop researching because the cities are full and no longer being built?”
“This is a project that should be pursued forever!”
“There’s a lot of meaning in researching it to the very end!”
“In areas covered by the City Core Artifact, there isn’t a single Demonic Aura entity!”
“If we keep researching, one day the area covered by City Core Artifacts will keep growing, and eventually cover the entire planet.”
“Maybe we’ll wipe out Demonic Aura entities altogether!”
Listening to this crowd of Demonic Aura entities talk about eliminating Demonic Aura entities right in front of her, Li Yunxian:
Is this reasonable? Is this scientific?
Li Yunxian didn’t dare say a word, nor did she dare interrupt the angry voices, but kept probing for more information from the others.
Before long, the veteran Li Yunxian had figured out the basics about many people here.
For example, the first person to appear on the ‘battlefield’ was Duàn Huácǎi.
The reason the City Core Artifact was as it was now was undoubtedly linked to her!
But since she didn’t know them well yet, asking directly would be too abrupt.
Fortunately, this wasn’t a big issue for Li Yunxian.
She was well-versed in how to deal with focused researchers.
—Just exchange knowledge!
As for the worry that her own knowledge might not go as deep as these lifelong professionals…
Li Yunxian wasn’t concerned!
She could use her knowledge of formations and artifacts from the cultivation world to bluff!
If they wanted to discuss the City Core Artifact, she could reference similar artifacts from Shenzhou and come up with new research ideas.
There was a difference between the two.
The City Core Artifact in Shenzhou was designed to drive away spiritual energy, lowering the concentration in the entire city to the bare minimum.
In the central area, it was so hard to cultivate that even practicing was a struggle, thus suppressing the birth of Demonic Aura entities.
Everyone knew that Demonic Aura entities required spiritual energy to be born.
As a result, most cultivators lived near the edges of cities.
The city centers were filled with ordinary people.
This created a situation where cultivators protected the ordinary folk—even if some cultivators weren’t particularly righteous, they would still follow this structure.
It was a win-win.
But the interstellar City Core Artifact was different.
The spiritual energy concentration inside the cities wasn’t lowered at all.
So the Ascension Platform was built right in the city center, atop the City Core Artifact.
Even Nascent Soul cultivators stationed there could cultivate without any trouble.
At this thought, Li Yunxian’s mind gradually focused.
Her gaze fell on the Demonic Aura entities before her.
—Was this the reason these ordinary people turned into Demonic Aura entities?
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