Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 361 Swiftness Talisman (Also known as: Planetary Engine)

Earth, the Wallfacer's Compound

"What is the purpose of this Swift Travel Talisman?" Li Bai asked.

“The lowest level of the Swiftness Talisman can provide an ordinary person with a running speed bonus of 50 meters per second, which is almost equivalent to the top speed of the car I drove in the Common Era,” Luo Qing said with an exaggerated expression.

Li Bai pointed to the Swift Travel Talisman, then pointed to himself.

"Now, tell me, what is my movement speed?"

“0.162 meters per Planck time,” Luo Qing replied.

"Then what's the point of me drawing this?" Li Bai said through gritted teeth, holding the talisman he had painstakingly drawn, which emitted a faint golden light.

"Didn't you want to pursue art?"

Luo Qing took the Swiftness Talisman and examined it carefully.

To be honest, Luo Qing didn't expect that Li Bai's ability to draw a talisman that even a first-stage Qi Refining cultivator could create would pose such a significant obstacle to Li Bai.

To create this Swift Travel Talisman, which would at most serve as homework for elementary school students in Kyushu, Li Bai spent a week painstakingly drawing it in the courtyard of the Wallfacer, imitating it with atomic-level precision before finally succeeding in drawing it.

In just the last two days, Li Bai has wasted more yellow paper and used more ink than Wang Xizhi used in his entire life.

“Art… The art I want is the grand, super-technical, invincible kind of art, like the giant talisman you displayed when you fought against Entropy Pingguangpo, not this little piece of paper.”

In response to Li Bai's dissatisfaction, Luo Qing explained:

"Everything should be done step by step. You drew this simple talisman very well. It might even help you run faster. Would you like to try it?"

Li Bai: "..."

Luo Qing noticed the other party's dissatisfaction and was secretly taken aback.

He truly hadn't expected that Li Bai could actually draw this Swift Travel Talisman using ordinary yellow paper and industrial ink without spirit paper and spirit ink. He had initially thought that Li Bai could at most imitate a shape.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the Swiftness Talisman was actually usable! Li Bai used energy to simulate the properties of spiritual power by controlling each string, its opening and closing, its frequency, and its amplitude.

There's a certain beauty in the way bricks fly with great force.

In other words, if this speed-running talisman were applied to an ordinary person in ancient times, they could actually run 50 meters per second—a speed that most martial artists at the mid-stage or higher of the acquired martial arts realm could also achieve, so it was basically unnecessary.

A person who doesn't know how to cultivate immortality has drawn a real immortality talisman. Luo Qing's gaze towards Li Bai suddenly became somewhat strange.

Do you still want this talisman?

"No, I don't want that. You have to teach me something even more amazing... Besides drawing talismans, alchemy, weapon crafting, and formations, I want to try everything else. I've seen cultivators in human TV dramas who know so much; you're definitely hiding something from me," Li Bai said, dissatisfied.

Helpless, Luo Qing casually stuck the Swiftness Talisman that the other party had painstakingly drawn onto the ground. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly felt the Earth beneath his feet move 50 meters per second faster.

Luo Qing was shocked.

He glanced at Li Bai, whose face was full of innocence, and then fell into deep thought.

Just how much energy did Li Bai add to the Swiftness Talisman?
If we draw tens of thousands of these pictures and paste them on the Earth, wouldn't we be able to save on planetary engines?
Most importantly, Earth's thin crust cannot withstand the thrust of a planetary engine, but the Swiftness Scroll obviously acts on the entire Earth and is not troubled by stress limits.

If there are enough of these talismans, the Wandering Earth project might actually work.

hiss……

Luo Qing noticed that Li Bai's gaze immediately changed.

This is a nearly limitless treasure trove of divine energy! "Li Bai, how long would it take you to draw one of these talismans?"

Li Bai said, "The pattern can be produced quickly, but the main thing is the energy input. It's about inputting high-dimensional energy into the pattern traces of the talisman. This step takes me quite a bit of time."

“Can it be mass-produced?”

"Do you take me for a perpetual motion machine? Even a god has to conform to the second law of thermodynamics, okay?" Li Bai glared at Luo Qing.

Luo Qing: “…”

Also.

It seems I'll have to figure it out myself.

Luo Qing did indeed have the idea of ​​moving the solar system. The reason was simple: an empty solar system placed in a starless isolation zone would be too conspicuous and ostentatious. The galactic center region under the rule of the carbon-based federation, or the third or fourth spiral arm, was obviously more suitable for the development of Earth's civilization and a broader stage for civilization.

However, he clearly lacks the ability to move the entire solar system tens of thousands of light-years.

But Li Bai's talisman gave him some hope.

Luo Qing then recalled the warning given by the commander of the Carbon-based Federation: "The absence of a star-based isolation zone may seem secure, but it is not absolutely safe. Although the Silicon-based Empire has been almost completely crippled by the Carbon-based Federation, it has not been completely annihilated, and its remnants still occupy the top of the first cantilever."

The meaning of "blue" is that the characteristic of silicon-based life is that it can expand exponentially when resources are sufficient. Once the population of the silicon-based empire recovers to a certain size, it is likely to launch a new round of invasions into the Milky Way. The starless isolation zone is the interstellar fire zone. Without the ability to leapfrog between stars, the silicon-based empire will definitely use a large number of light-speed warships to slowly advance in space.

Given that the silicon-based empire is essentially a super-civilization that believes in the Dark Forest theory, if this civilization were to launch a second invasion of the Milky Way, the solar system, which is located in the isolation zone, would be in danger.

Unless a high-powered warp drive is used to create a deadline around the solar system, and then the deadline is allowed to spread into a slow fog, forming a complete blackout that completely envelops the solar system, then it would be possible to be immune to most advanced weapons attacks, which would be another kind of security claim.

However, the downside is that the solar system civilization will be forever trapped within the solar system.

Luo Qing was naturally unwilling.

However, the reality that the solar system is on the front line of the battle also makes Luo Qing feel very helpless. He doesn't even dare to leave the solar system to go to the Trisolaran system easily, for fear that something unexpected might happen in the solar system.

We must be prepared to fight the enemy at any time.

After all, the carbon-based federation's support is also limited in speed. By the time the carbon-based federation's reinforcements arrive at the battlefield of the first cantilever, the ashes of the solar system will probably have been scattered by the silicon-based empire.

Therefore, this is also the main reason why Luo Qing began to change his attitude towards escapism, and even tacitly approved and supported the escape of warships.

In the event of our defeat and the annihilation of humanity in the solar system, those escaped warships will be the last spark of human civilization.

Moreover, he himself had no way of ensuring the survival of over 100 billion humans in the universe. The Mercury cavitation base was merely a last resort, a desperate measure. Once the situation in the solar system remained unchanged, all 100 billion humans would be stuffed into the cavitation by Luo Qing, and then, propelled by the planetary engines on Mercury's surface and accelerated by his own dragging, they would quickly leave the solar system.

But... if Earth can be saved, who would want that iron lump, Mercury?
It's important to know that the Trisolarans are remarkably similar to Mercury in terms of mass, size, and material composition. This means that if humanity were to escape the solar system alongside Mercury to avoid future dangers...

Human civilization would then inevitably fall into a predicament similar to that of the Trisolaran civilization, characterized by severe resource shortages.

The human population and the Trisolaran population are similar in size, both around 100 billion. However, the Trisolarans possess the ability to dehydrate, while humans do not; therefore, it is clear that a human consumes far more resources than a Trisolaran.

Therefore, it would be extremely difficult for Mercury alone to sustain the lives of 100 billion people.

Luo Qing also crafted an ordinary Swiftness Talisman, which he casually affixed to the Earth. The faint spiritual energy on the Swiftness Talisman flickered, clearly insufficient to propel the Earth.

But Li Bai could.

This guy is simple-minded, but has a lot of energy and is easy to get along with.

It seems that all the arts of cultivating immortality should take Li Bai as a starting point and study them carefully.

(End of this chapter)