Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"It's called apportionment. If I need to fill out forms or something, I'll just assign them. There are plenty of college students willing to fill out forms for free anyway—including those preparing for college."

After saying that, he made an "OK" gesture to Zhu Xianxin.

"Have you distributed it?"

Shangluo made another “OK” gesture.

"You learn really fast! Now, there's only one step left. How do you plan to build the net?" Zhu Xianxun asked. "Although soaking it in tar will do the trick, what's the specific plan?"

"I plan to continue using the teapot as the base. I'll then soak the teapot in tar until it's saturated. As for the teapot's spout, I've obtained a Philosopher's Stone from Victoria to plug it up. In the world within my teapot, I've witnessed giant snakes with pupils comparable to the sun and moon, so I'll use the Philosopher's Stone to replace the sun and moon within the teapot, simply plugging up the spout."

"But a ball of tar, where are you going to put it?"

"Last time, there was that superconducting toy here. I was wondering if there was a bigger one that could support a ball of tar."

"Hmm? What are your plans?"

"I thought that if the teapot wobbled, the world inside would also tremble. So I found a stable superconductor and suspended it in the air. That would be the most stable way."

"Wait a minute," Zhu Xianxun asked, "So you want to use a teapot to support the earth, surround the teapot with tar, and then use superconductors to support the world?"

"Yeah." Shangluo nodded.

"That's quite interesting." Zhu Xianxi sat up straight. "Whether the superconducting effect can work on tar is another matter. What you just said reminded me of something, you know? The Avatamsaka Sutra says: The golden wheel depends on the water wheel, the water wheel depends on the wind wheel, the wind wheel depends on the void, and the void has nothing to rely on. Although it has nothing to rely on, it can make the three thousand great thousand worlds rest in your teapot. It's quite interesting. Look." He grabbed the new teapot on the table:

"The teapot itself supports the world; it's the golden wheel. Wrapped within the golden wheel is the tar-filled water wheel, which in turn is supported by the wind wheel. Beyond this lies the 'void,' our world. Wait. You're still missing one more thing, just a little bit."

He stood up and said, "Come with me."

Back mountain, imperial prison.

The courtyard with the sign "Imperial Prison" was located halfway up the mountain. It was surrounded by high walls, but it looked much smaller than the imagined "heavenly prison" and it seemed that only a few people could be held inside.

This place is also called the Heavenly Prison. In the past decade or so, when there haven't been any political prisoners, the Imperial Prison is mostly used for confidentiality. For example, to maintain confidentiality during the examination of papers, they would borrow a room from the Imperial Prison.

With a "click", the elevator door opened and Lu Huaiyang stood inside.

"Your Majesty, which floor are you going to?" Lu Huaiyang asked.

"The eighth floor underground. Shangluo, come in and let's go together."

"The imperial prison has so many floors?" Shangluo asked.

"Because it's connected to the fortress inside Purple Gold Mountain. Oh, and I know you like to wander around. But this isn't the place for that. It's better for you not to wander around. If you want to come and visit, remember to inform the Imperial Guards—but there's nothing much to see here."

As they spoke, the elevator stopped. This altitude had already reached the underground of Purple Mountain, even lower than Yuxi Palace. However, the elevator buttons didn't have fixed numbers—they used a numbered dial to identify floors. There was no telling how many floors lay below.

The elevator doors opened, but there was no feeling of the cold underground. The air-conditioned air whirred in, warm air for ventilation. It wasn't cold at all inside. The corridor was lit with warm yellow light, and there was a soda machine next to the elevator entrance. Suspended from the ceiling were ducts for starting logistics. From an office not far away, the sound of voices drifted in, as if a football game was being shown.

"This floor is"

"You'll be using this floor often," Zhu Xianxi replied. "This is where the switches are placed. Many Tianyi nobles work here, along with many other Jinyiwei as their colleagues. Captain Lu, take us to the room in the Dushan Great Jade Sea."

The Dushan Great Jade Sea sits in the center of the room, resting on a jade bed. Long-term extraction has reduced the Dushan Great Jade Sea to only half its original size. Holes are chiseled throughout the sea, resembling a starry sky. Each hole corresponds to a piece of jade material for a jade plaque.

The Shangluo mobile phone was also taken from above, and the chisel marks were particularly large. The cross-section of the chisel marks reveals colorful stone spots, which were the mark of the flower and stone gang selected in the Northern Song Dynasty.

"How about giving this to you?" Zhu Xianxun suggested.

"this is?"

"Heaven," Zhu Xianxi replied, also making an inverted gesture. "Let's use the remaining materials from the Dushan Great Jade Sea and turn it upside down like a bowl. This is 'Heaven'. Since you want to build a Pure Land, then we'll build this Vajra Mandala. It seems that it is indeed connected to the Pure Land. By using the Dushan Great Jade Sea, the divine thoughts in the Feixin Card can also enter and exit easily. This way, when visiting the Pure Land, there is no need to rely on anything else, just the jade card. Then, the souls of us immortals will descend from the Feixin Card 'Heaven', pass through the Space Wheel, and pass through the encirclement of the Wind Wheel, Water Wheel, and Gold Wheel to enter the Pure Land. I think this is the only way for this Pure Land to be stable. Have we inadvertently set up a powerful formation?"

Chapter 369: Heavenly Star

[Shangluo invited Wen Yuan to join the discussion group.]

"What does this group do? The 'Gate of Vientiane' closed beta test group? What does that mean? Are we going on a trip to Laos?"

Shangluo quietly changed the group name from "Wanxiangzhimen" to "Wanxiangzhimen".

"So what exactly does this group do?"

"Let me ask first, are you free now?"

"Yes, I am free. Originally, our group was supposed to practice driving this afternoon—I mean, our own chariot. But Lu Liang has to receive her senior sisters and junior brothers from Wudang Mountain, so I am free this afternoon."

"That's right. I have a very interesting job for you. Don't ask too many questions. Just receive the client I sent you and find a quiet place to sit down. Then open your Fetion card and prepare to enter a new world."

five minutes later.

"Welcome to the Gate of All Aspects. Wen Yuan, you are our visitor number 0001. What are your thoughts?"

"Ah, this. This, this, this, this." Standing in another world, even Wen Yuan knew that this was a very powerful thing.

“I wonder why me.”

"Besides the fact that you're the only one free, it's also because I know you. You're not a Xuan cultivator, and your overall strength can represent the average level of all Qigong practitioners. That's why I chose you to help me with the test."

"Why do I seem like an average soldier?" Wen Yuan muttered. "But thanks anyway. Thank you for always thinking of me when something good happens."

Under the night sky, waves crash against the greenery on the beach. The calm sea reflects the full moon, and the air is filled with the fragrance of tea.

Above his head was a starry sky. But it was not the usual starry sky he had seen in the past, but a different starry sky.

This starry sky looks a bit strange, with strange constellations arranged in a strange sky, and there is even a constellation that looks square, like a mobile phone.

"Why does that constellation look like a cell phone?"

“Because that’s my phone.”

"Oh my goodness, what is this sky???"

"Yes, this sky is the inverted Dushan Jade Sea. Every star you see in this sky is light shining through the holes in the Dushan Jade Sea. It passes through the void, through the wind wheel and water wheel, and is projected onto the golden wheel - the shape of the teapot."

The Golden Wheel's boundary is the border of this world. Zhu Xianxun's teapot is the outer shell of the Golden Wheel. Now, there is not only sea and land, but also a true sky.

"I see. If your phone has its own constellation under this starry sky, do other people's Fetion cards have their own constellations too?"

"Yes. But some people may be grouped together—to form a constellation. My phone is a constellation of its own because it takes a particularly large piece of material. But in the final analysis, we all have our own place in this sky. Everyone is a fairy from outer space."

"By the way, what is that moon? Why is it not moving?"

"Well, this might be the characteristic of this world. Neither the sun nor the moon moves. That's because that's the hole in the Golden Wheel itself—the teapot's spout. The spout was originally a hole, but something strange escaped last time, so I blocked it with a philosopher's stone. The moonlight you see now is the light shining through the philosopher's stone."

"I understand the logic, but why is it nighttime now? Eh?" As he spoke, without any warning, the sky and earth suddenly became brighter. The moon turned into sunlight in an instant.

"Oh, my day and night cycle is going haywire! Why is the change between day and night so rough?"

"Because... uh." Shangluo thought for a moment, "This wasn't actually my setting. I originally wanted it to be always daytime. But the water wheel outside contains oils of varying clarity, rotating around the outer edge of the golden wheel. When the clear oil side rotates behind the Philosopher's Stone, it's daybreak. When the tarry side turns around, it's naturally dark."

“This is strangely reasonable.”

"Yeah, it's baffling, but it makes sense. What do you feel about it so far?"

"Except for this sun-moon cycle, everything else couldn't be better."

"That's not a big problem. The tar was just added, so it hasn't been shaken well yet. Once it's shaken well, the clear oil and tar will become distinct, and the day and night cycle will become regular."

"Why is it so inexplicably reasonable?"

"Because this world was built from scratch using existing technology, it's of course reasonable. It's precisely because it's not large enough that even the smallest disturbance can have a huge impact on this world. I've already found a sufficiently secluded place."

"where?"

Shangluo thought about it – if it were someone else, he wouldn’t be able to tell her this, but Wen Yuan could.

"Put it in the basement of the Imperial Prison."

"Oh~~ It's really quiet and safe there. By the way, what does it look like down there?"

"You are a Jinyiwei, haven't you been there?"

"No." Wen Yuan shook her head. "They never let me go down."

"The layout downstairs is the same as the first floor. I don't see any difference."

"Tsk, but I'm still curious. Once I'm officially inducted, I'll have to go and see it—and then, you want to ask about my personal experience, right? My answer is: it's absolutely impeccable. You really made the right choice. Generally speaking, I can't stay in the spiritual network for too long, because after all, I'm not a Xuan cultivator, and I can't project my divine consciousness into the clouds all the time. But this place is truly magical."

He opened his arms and took a deep breath. His image in the Hutian performed exactly as he had imagined, and everything was as natural as in the outside world. Moreover, such a delicate movement was as natural to him as breathing.

"It's like being on a negative pressure ventilator. Have you ever seen that?"

"You mean the iron lung?"

The negative pressure ventilator, known as the "iron lung," is a medical device. As an early ventilator, the iron lung uses "negative pressure" to provide breathing. In other words, it eliminates the need for intubation. Instead, the entire torso is placed inside a cavity, and the expansion of the machine drives the expansion of the lungs.

This is not convenient. Negative pressure ventilators were quickly replaced by positive pressure ventilators in the treatment field for most of their functions, but there is one function that positive pressure ventilators cannot replace: it is comfortable.

Aside from being unable to move my hands, breathing inside the iron lung is a remarkably comfortable experience. While my natural breathing isn't replaced, it's no longer a matter of effort. It's as if the lungs' natural function has been amplified dozens of times.

Chapter 370: Return to Heaven

This is extremely necessary for polio patients, as many require several hours, or even more than ten hours, of assisted breathing treatment each day. If all patients were intubated with positive pressure breathing, it would be completely agonizing for the patient. But in an iron lung, patients can lie there in relative comfort, simply finding ways to pass the time.

"I feel like this world is like an iron lung to me. My spiritual power isn't that strong, but I feel as if it's been 'elevated'. My sense of the universe has never been so clear, and I can stay here as long as I want."

"Of course, since most of the calculations are done on the server."

From the moment Wen Yuan entered this place, the tar began to be consumed. The consumed tar was used to advance time, replacing the cultivator's spiritual consciousness that should have been invested in calculations. However, since there was only one person, the consumption was not very high.

The time was also being counted outside. Shangluo also wanted to see how much tar was consumed during the operation.

"And the little blind man? Is he here?"

"Who are you calling a little blind man?" Gao Shiyu's voice suddenly popped up in the chat room.

"(*Jinling Yayan*)! Where did you come from?"

"After you came in, Shangluo invited me to join the chat room, but I haven't checked it out yet—so what does it mean when you call me a blind man?"

"Because I don't think you need my sympathy. You have a better understanding of the world than I do. I don't think of you as someone who needs to be taken care of. Well, that's the truth."

This was truly true. Although Gao Shiyu couldn't actually see, aside from needing a guide the first time he walked, he didn't exhibit the vulnerability typical of a blind person. He was practically clairvoyant; his pupils could even spot approaching planes at high speed below the horizon, practically better than radar.

In other words, Wen Yuan treated him as a fellow Qigong practitioner. From a Qigong practitioner's perspective, blindness wasn't a major issue, and it was only temporary. After ascending to celestial being, these issues could be restored. Gao Shiyu, on the other hand, gained a wider field of vision due to his blindness, which could be considered a "gift" to some extent.

"Tsk, that's more like it." Gao Shiyu didn't care and even felt a little happy. "But don't let my sister hear it. I don't mind wearing an eye mask when going out. Some people say it looks pretty cool, but my sister really doesn't like wearing headphones."

"I understand. If I really minded, I would never tell you."

"Oh, by the way, where are you guys? I just logged in, and it seems like we're not in the same location."

"Huh?" Shangluo was stunned for a moment. "So we're not in the same place after we came in? Then where are you?"

"I'm at the same place we first came, right where I exited last time. It can't be random every time, right? Hey, what's this thing next to it? It's a bunch of lumps, and it's moving?"

"Wait! Don't move," Shangluo replied. "This time is different from last time. This time, some unintelligent monsters may be born in the secondary world, but I don't know what they will be."

"It seems to be getting closer. Let me take a picture. Take a look."

Shangluo called up the chat group, and the photo Gao Shiyu had just taken appeared in it:

One, jelly.

There was a large white jelly-like mass on the ground, but it didn't look disgusting at all. Instead, it looked very chewy.

"Jelly?" Shangluo stared at it for a while, "What is this?"

"I don't know. I'm still freezing. Eeyore, it's getting closer and closer, jumping towards me."

"Wait a minute!" Wen Yuan saw the picture. "This is kombucha!"

"What?" Shangluo asked.

"It's a traditional snack made by fermenting black tea with lactic acid bacteria and other bacteria. I don't know the mentality of the first person to eat it, but it's definitely something that grows inside tea after it's been left for a long time."

"Oh~~" Gao Shiyu understood, "It's the douzhi from Yingtian."

"This isn't smelly." Wen Yuan corrected his analogy. "This tastes pretty good, sour and sweet."

"It's really good. It looks delicious. Huh? Ah? Ah! I'm dead."

He let out an emotionless cry that didn't make anyone want to save him at all.

In the distant sky, Shangluo saw a beam of white light flying into the sky and flying into the constellation that belonged to him.

"what happened?"

"Dead." Gao Shiyu replied, "I wanted to taste the kombucha, and then I was eaten."