Half a day later.

  Xia Li arrived at Linguang City in Ke Xiao's hover-car.

  This was also the first time Xia Li had seen a city of the new era since awakening. He had been confined to the mining site with no way out.

  Fortunately, the Company hadn't restricted the overseer robots from answering questions, allowing him to learn some basic knowledge from them.

  But...

  The appearance of this new-era city left Xia Li somewhat bewildered.

  The entire city was shaped like a massive "工" character. Besides the dense buildings and streets on the ground, there was actually a sky-city of equal size floating above.

  The sky-city blocked out the sun, casting the ground-city into shadow.

  Connecting the ground-city and sky-city was an enormous cylindrical structure.

  Like a vertical dumbbell.

  "Sister Ke, are all cities in the new era like this? Or is it just Linguang City?"

  The appearance of new-era cities completely exceeded Xia Li's imagination. Why would they build cities like this?

  "They're all like this. Any city worth naming has this structure."

  "Why?"

  "You should know some basic history, right? When spiritual energy first revived, humanity was weak. We could only fight those demon creatures with nuclear bombs."

  "The consequence of overusing nukes was radiation everywhere, acid rain falling constantly, radioactive dust that could easily take lives. The surface became nearly uninhabitable, and underground wasn't necessarily safe either. So humanity chose the sky."

  "Later, as Spirit-Tech achieved major breakthroughs—especially the invention of the Qi Reactor and the Dao-Spirit Computer—humanity surged back to the top, becoming even stronger than before."

  Ke Xiao pointed at the enormous cylindrical pillar connecting the sky-city and ground-city.

  "That's the Dao-Spirit Pillar. At its base is the giant Qi Reactor that supplies spiritual energy to the entire city—the city's heart. The middle and upper sections are Linguang City's brain."

  "A super-computing array composed of three thousand quantum computers. Our new era's supercomputer, named—"

  "Heavenly Dao."

  Ke Xiao's expression grew solemn as she introduced the pillar's function. It was humanity's crystallized tower of wisdom. The Spirit Core and Heaven Chip technologies were both derived from the Qi Reactor and Dao-Spirit Computer.

  Especially that supercomputer called Heavenly Dao.

  "Heavenly Dao... isn't that name a bit exaggerated?"

  Xia Li had spent a month in the other world and knew that cultivators revered the Heavenly Dao above all else—an ineffable, indescribable great existence.

  But on Earth, it had been deconstructed by humanity through data.

  "Not exaggerated at all. If you ever cultivate to the point of facing tribulation, the Heavenly Dao Computer can help you nullify the lightning tribulation, or intensify it—basically let you undergo tribulation however you want. And that's just one of countless applications."

  "The Heaven Chip in our heads connects to the Heavenly Dao Network formed by cities across the world. The Heavenly Dao Computer is the server."

  Ke Xiao's words made Xia Li, who had experienced the other world's cultivation traditions, feel an inexplicable sense of pride.

  Earth's cultivation tradition was far more formidable than he had imagined.

  While cultivators on the other side were still revering and speculating about the Heavenly Dao, Earth's tradition had already understood it and begun making it serve humanity.

  Implant a Heaven Chip, join the Heavenly Dao Network, and from then on become a child of the Heavenly Dao!

  Afterward, Ke Xiao drove the hover-car toward the Lower District. The streets of the Lower District gave off an overall chaotic feeling, somewhat like the old rural towns from Xia Li's era.

  "Sister Ke, why does the Lower District feel so run-down?"

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  "Because the lower level wasn't originally meant for habitation. It was just the foundation supporting the upper city. Later, as the population exploded, the lower classes gradually migrated down here."

  "I see..."

  Xia Li leaned out of the car and looked up at the sun-blocking upper city. Living in the Lower District meant you couldn't even see the sky—worse conditions than the mining site.

  At least at the mine, he could occasionally see the sun.

  Before long, they arrived at their destination.

  A district noticeably more dilapidated than others, where pedestrians walked with their heads down. The atmosphere of this area made Xia Li feel uneasy.

  "We're here. Get out."

  The hover-car landed in an open area. As Ke Xiao and Xia Li stepped out, they immediately felt gazes from all directions.

  "Sister Ke... why are they looking at us?"

  "No reason. Let them look. This is Black Street—a paradise for crime and illegal trade."

  "Also... my shop is actually an illegal modification shop."

  Ke Xiao pointed at a nearby store called "Red Crowbar" that appeared to be a general goods shop.

  "That's my place. Let's go."

  With that, Ke Xiao grabbed Xia Li's hand and headed toward the shop. Xia Li wanted to ask if it was too late to back out, but didn't dare.

  Come to think of it, it made sense.

  What kind of organization would go around blowing up mining sites? Definitely some underground criminal organization.

  Xia Li had cooperated with them before simply to take a gamble—for that slim hope of gaining freedom.

  After entering the shop, it appeared to sell only tools like wrenches and steel pipes along with other small items. But Xia Li knew there had to be more to this place.

  Ke Xiao locked the door behind them, then led Xia Li to the warehouse. In one corner, she activated some mechanism, and the warehouse floor opened to reveal a descending staircase.

  Going down the stairs into the space below the warehouse...

  The first thing that caught his eye was various military equipment.

  "Come over here. I'll pull up the catalog for you to browse."

  "Don't let the fact that this is an illegal modification shop fool you—our stuff isn't necessarily worse than what's on the market, and prices are usually cheaper."

  "Plus, we have things you can't buy on the market. As for where they came from... you know. Maybe black market goods, maybe they were running inside someone not long ago. But don't worry—the blood's been washed off and everything's been properly sterilized."

  Ke Xiao spoke of the origins without shame, even with pride. Xia Li didn't mind either—this was the survival law of the underground world.

  Don't ask where the Spirit Core came from. Don't ask the Heaven Chip's origins.

  If it works, that's all that matters!

  Then Ke Xiao activated the holographic display. A holographic screen immediately showed a dazzling array of items.

  Spirit Cores, Heaven Chips, prosthetics, weapons, artifacts, cultivation methods, techniques—everything was available.

  Xia Li immediately began selecting what he wanted.

  And when he saw the prices, he finally understood just how stingy the Company had been.

  The Spirit Core the Company had given him could only reach the first level of Qi Refining, yet a Spirit Core capable of reaching the fourth level cost only five spirit stones.

  The Heaven Chip the Company had given him had only one storage slot and one technique slot, yet any Heaven Chip selling for one spirit stone had at least two technique slots and three storage slots.

  Storage slots held pre-recorded techniques in the Heaven Chip. Switch one to a technique slot and you could use it directly.

  A cultivator's arsenal of techniques directly affected combat power, so more storage and technique slots were always better.