Li Yunxian considered many possibilities.
However, with the current lack of information, she was unable to make any effective judgments.
Fortunately, there was still plenty of time.
Here was the Time Fissure, and its flow was different from that of the outside world.
Since she entered, half an hour had passed, and she had yet to sense any fluctuation from this Time Fissure.
This meant that, in the outside world, Su Wenjing had not yet dismantled the next building linked to Zhencheng.
Li Yunxian didn’t think Su Wenjing would be so slow.
So the only explanation was a difference in the flow of time.
As for how great the difference was, she’d have to wait until she left to calculate it.
And at this very moment…
Li Yunxian sensed that the voices discussing her presence gradually quieted down.
The attention of these people returned to Li Yunxian.
“Little Li, that’s enough, don’t mind them anymore. Hurry and tell us about your research. What modifications did you make to Zhencheng?”
Duàn Huácǎi sat down right beside Li Yunxian, asking with great interest.
Li Yunxian calmly began her usual method of persuasion.
“What I’ve mainly done is explore whether, apart from machinery and magical tools, there are other possible directions for development in this world.”
“I’ve achieved some results in this area.” At this, Li Yunxian gave them a basic lesson on formations.
The hall quieted down, everyone listening intently to Li Yunxian, only speaking up during the intervals.
“There really is that possibility, it’s a very interesting research direction.
“When we set up Zhencheng before, the supporting magical tools placed at each building point seemed to match this logic.”
“I remember when I saw someone else’s research, the arrangement was similar to the tenth principle Little Li just mentioned.”
The professionalism of these people was obviously much greater than that of the engineers Li Yunxian had met in Wanwuwu.
Even though they could not cultivate, nor could they actually arrange these things.
Yet, just based on knowledge alone, they could judge that Li Yunxian’s foundational formation theory was highly feasible.
Li Yunxian, spared from much explanation:
Not that she felt particularly pleased about this.
Because it meant these people were even harder to fool than she’d imagined.
But the situation was as it was; thinking more wouldn’t help, so Li Yunxian continued, “The research on Zhencheng is already very mature, so I thought to combine it with my own research, and thus I made some modifications.”
Li Yunxian pointed out the differences in magical tools from Shenzhou and, combining the amplification effects in formation, produced a simplified design plan.
This time, rather than nodding, many furrowed their brows.
Duàn Huácǎi spoke bluntly, “This design plan of yours is way too old-fashioned!”
“You’ve directly skipped over the core part of Zhencheng, removing it altogether.”
“According to your plan, the spiritual energy in the city would be gone.”
“This is a version that was eliminated a long time ago.”
“Back then, everyone had to leave the city just to cultivate, and many were defeated by alien races because of this.”
“That’s a blood-soaked lesson!
“Such a change is abandoning the fundamentals!” Duàn Huácǎi’s tone was stern.
She remembered all the bad things that happened in her era.
Li Yunxian’s eyes flickered at this, but her face remained obedient.
“But I haven’t figured out how Zhencheng retains the suppression of strange beings with spiritual energy. Using the original Zhencheng, many functions can’t be amplified.”
This was obviously nonsense—Li Yunxian had never put any of this into practice.
But for drawing out information, this line was very effective.
Duàn Huácǎi immediately retorted, “Impossible, there’s no reason why this functionality couldn’t be amplified!”
“From the beginning of my research to Fèi Ràng’s era, the effects of Zhencheng have already been more than doubled!”
Li Yunxian followed up, relying on the fact that these people, stuck in the Time Fissure, had no way to verify, and continued to bluff: “I’m not sure either, but that’s just how it is.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m not a specialist in Zhencheng.” After saying this, Li Yunxian cut to the chase, “Why don’t you teach me a bit, Senior? See where my understanding went wrong?”
Duàn Huácǎi and the others were very happy to do this.
In this Time Fissure, they had watched each other for countless years.
During these long years, it had been ages since anyone needed their instruction.
When they were alive, bringing up students and apprentices was always an annoyance—why did they have to teach such fools?
But now it was something fresh.
Although Li Yunxian’s foundation was somewhat lacking.
After a round of questioning and teaching, confirming what Li Yunxian couldn’t understand, and simplifying things layer by layer, Duàn Huácǎi finally figured out Li Yunxian’s actual level.
This girl really was as she claimed, without much knowledge of Zhencheng.
Or rather, her knowledge of their mechanical and magical tool fields was… very average.
No wonder she came up with such research results.
Duàn Huácǎi and the others mentally grumbled, but never suspected Li Yunxian’s identity as a technical researcher.
After all, her earlier formation theory was indeed a bit stunning.
And when they called it average, it was only average by their standards.
But who were they?
Duàn Huácǎi, Fèi Ràng, and several who had their names inscribed in interstellar textbooks—geniuses who gave encouragement to countless ordinary people unable to cultivate.
Out of the hundreds of billions across the stars, in nearly ten thousand years, only a few like them had appeared.
Being called ordinary by them was, in some way, a kind of recognition of Li Yunxian’s identity as one of their kind.
Especially since Li Yunxian learned extremely fast.
She only needed a brief explanation, a little more detail or a case or two, and she immediately understood.
Clearly, what Li Yunxian lacked wasn’t intelligence, but knowledge in this field.
The same feeling as Li Tianying rose in these people’s hearts—teaching this student was truly satisfying!
But the more Li Yunxian learned, the heavier her heart became. This Zhencheng magical tool…
It was completely about altering the very morality within cultivators living in the city.
The underlying logic of Zhencheng wasn’t complicated.
According to these scholars’ research, the birth of strange beings was because a certain kind of qi produced by living creatures would be accompanied by spiritual energy, and under certain conditions, the strange would be born.
So, wherever there was spiritual energy and lots of living things, the strange would arise.
And the functions and forms of these strange beings often related to this qi.
The magical tools in Shenzhou solved the problem of spiritual energy, cutting off the co-existence of this qi and spiritual energy.
While here in the interstellar, Zhencheng directly absorbed this qi, processed it, and then released it.
After being processed, the qi was no longer qi, so it couldn’t give rise to the strange alongside spiritual energy.
What was expelled was indeed no longer qi—it was Wen Dao!
Li Yunxian didn’t know what expression to wear.
Creatures in the world were roughly divided into four types: human, yao, beast, and ghost.
Those who cultivated the orthodox path were called Renxiu, Yaoxiu, Guixiu, and spirit beasts.
Those who practiced the demonic path, in Shenzhou nowadays, humans were called Hunters, but in ancient times, like in the interstellar, they were called Renyi, along with Yao (Yao), strange beings, and alien beasts.
It meant “other than my path, not of my kind.”
Together, they were called alien races.
When Li Yunxian first entered, the reason she immediately judged these “ordinary people” as strange beings, not Guixiu, was because she could sense that the Wen Dao of the demonic path in this Time Fissure was leaking from the minds of each of them.
So Li Yunxian had never considered these people her own kind, and had no psychological burden when spinning her lies.
In her heart, she did not consider these people as the real persons behind those names.
However…
Just as these people could judge the extent of Li Yunxian’s ignorance, Li Yunxian could also judge the knowledge level of these strange beings she was conversing with.
Their knowledge perfectly matched what the names should have.
In fact, in Li Yunxian’s estimation, they might even surpass the originals in knowledge.
This wasn’t a loophole, but actually a kind of logical completion for the scene.
These scholars, gathered in this space, exchanging ideas, researching and analyzing—shouldn’t their level be even higher than when they were alive?
Li Yunxian’s gaze slowly landed on “Duàn Huácǎi.”
Perhaps she truly was Duàn Huácǎi—at the very least, her consciousness was rooted in Duàn Huácǎi.
Could such a thing be possible?
And how was it done?
Was their appearance here as strange beings an accident, or…
By design?
Li Yunxian suddenly sensed a ripple of temporal Dao.
Guided by this ripple, she felt she could follow it out, without getting lost in time.
But Li Yunxian did not move.
There were still things she needed to ask, to confirm.
By her reckoning, she had been here for over a month.
She could wait for the next ripple.
For now, what she wanted to ask was…
“Teacher Huacai, was the overall operational logic of Zhencheng developed by you alone? It’s truly incredible!” Li Yunxian put her flattery to work.
At this, everyone present showed awkward expressions.
Fèi Ràng even said directly to Duàn Huácǎi, “Looks like your name really has disappeared from the textbooks. Even this kind of common sense is lost to the younger generation.”
Duàn Huácǎi ignored Fèi Ràng’s jab.
Such changes over time left her a little disappointed, but after more than a month, she had long since accepted it.
When answering Li Yunxian, Duàn Huácǎi’s tone was rather calm.
She stated, “No, my main design concept was provided by Feng Ji, and the original model machine was also worked out by him.
“But the whole process of developing Zhencheng, from biochemical theory to its final form, was under my supervision.”
At this, Duàn Huácǎi’s voice paused. Li Yunxian’s lack of basic knowledge had already left an impression on her.
She looked at Li Yunxian suspiciously. “You know Feng Ji, right?”
“I do.” Li Yunxian replied.
This time, Li Yunxian didn’t bluff—she truly knew.
Feng Ji, like Duàn Huácǎi, was one of the five founding pillars—how could Li Yunxian not know?
“Why isn’t he here?” Li Yunxian pretended to look around curiously.
These researchers were straightforward and didn’t see through Li Yunxian’s act at all.
They burst out laughing. “Senior Feng Ji was able to cultivate, and eventually even reached the Golden Core stage!”
“Back when he was in my institute’s guard team, many couldn’t compare to him.”
“He lived for several centuries, and a third of the people here have met him.”
“Only ordinary people who couldn’t cultivate would end up here after death.”
“If you put it that way, aren’t we luckier than those cultivators?”
“Even those who lived a hundred years have to go, but no matter what, we can’t die.” The group laughed heartily as they spoke.
But to Li Yunxian, their laughter seemed to carry another meaning.
Combining it with the underlying implication in their final words…
“What do you mean by ‘no matter what, we can’t die’?” Li Yunxian asked.
Hearing Li Yunxian’s question, Duàn Huácǎi and the others either looked expressionless or stared intently at her, as if seeing someone else through her.
At last, these people finally gave Li Yunxian a truly strange feeling.
“It means exactly what it sounds like—no matter what, we can’t die.”
“When we were alive, unable to cultivate, we watched ourselves grow old bit by bit.”
“And those colleagues, whose talents were far less than ours, lived long lives just because they could cultivate.”
“Back then, we always thought, if only we could be like them.”
“If only we could live for hundreds or even thousands of years.”
“But after actually experiencing it, at first there was happiness, excitement…”
“So many seniors to keep company, to discuss, to learn from…”
“But in the end, it all turns into emptiness.”
“So what if you learn? So what if you master it? Here… there’s nothing but us.”
“Little Li, tell me—do you think immortality is a blessing, or a curse?”
Li Yunxian heard them ask her.