Chapter 109: This Is the Wu Xi!

"No, this goddess is nothing like what I imagined!"

Feng Xue, listening to the islanders' chatter, grew increasingly perplexed; though he had guessed the so-called goddess was likely some relic of the pre-civilization era—perhaps a plant-factory management AI—he never expected her voice to sound like this.

"Based on existing data archives, this AI voice interaction system prototype traces back to the pre-civilization high-popularity weather service intelligent agent 'Little Wind Bell.' Its initial development framework originated from a cross-domain collaboration project tied to a popular game character IP; after the civilization's collapse, copyright authorization could not be obtained, and the original audio source is now extinct. Only a few pre-civilization weather stations still use it."

"God damn it, a popular voice…" Feng Xue rolled his eyes, then suddenly slapped his forehead—

"Wait a minute, if we think about it this way, the reason this island's Yishen Sect has such a lax doctrine might finally make sense!"

Feng Xue's expression grew subtly odd, but imagining the islanders' mindset—if their goddess constantly delivered divine decrees in this soft, cute, playful voice—they'd never picture her as stern or majestic, would they?

Though he very much wanted to observe whether the locals employed divine arts during the execution of divine decrees, given his identity as an "infidel," it was still better not to show himself while they were performing the ritual.

So Feng Xue simply sat inside his tent, occasionally taking small bites of fish meat, digesting it with the Combined Technique of Dietary Absorption and Body Strengthening, then extracting minimal Qi for cultivation; but since this method couldn't be as mindless as soaking in a Qi bath, he could only stay alert by studying and analyzing.

The world's devotional energy system largely resembled that of the Folklore World, yet still held many differences; he pulled out the portion of the teachings passed down by Li Qianbei concerning the Wu Xi, studying it while pondering what this world might offer him.

This island currently appeared utterly peaceful, and its virtual deity was quite benevolent; a short-term stay should pose no issues, and according to Sara's nautical chart, roughly eight hundred kilometers southeast lay the lawless zone…

Wait a second…

"Southeast? I remember that weather forecast just now said…"

"Confirmed. Based on the broadcast content, this storm has a low probability of causing vessels traveling from the Emerald Island Chain to the lawless zone to discover this island. This AI is not a professional meteorological AI and cannot accurately assess the probability."

Sara calmly picked up Feng Xue's muttering; though she said "low probability," for Feng Xue—who had witnessed multiple stock market circuit breakers—any chance at all demanded caution.

Still, thoughts aside, he wasn't reckless enough to sail out into a storm; after formulating a series of contingency plans, he returned to poring over the Wu Xi Nuo opera and spirit-invocation techniques.

Recalling the priestess's earlier ritual, Feng Xue judged her actions were closer to the Wu Xi system of borrowing divine power through Nuo masks than to Daoist spirit-invocation or the possession techniques of the Chuma Immortals.

This was actually good news—it meant Feng Xue could, through Wu Xi methods, borrow the virtual deity's power, and even use that power as a seed to forge his own personal virtual deity.

Of course, to the sect that worshipped this deity, such an act would almost certainly be branded as sacrilege—but Feng Xue didn't care; with a large ship, he could flee at any moment, so all he now thought about was "where to find a virtual deity with the authority of longevity."

"Don't rush, don't rush—I must first confirm whether it's possible!"

Feng Xue restrained his rising excitement, pulled out a jade tablet inscribed with the character "神," and, following standard procedure, should have first carved a statue, spirit tablet, or Nuo mask, then gathered devotional energy toward the weather goddess, as he had done at the station.

But the devotional energy environment here was exceptionally pure—almost all impure wishes were immediately expelled from the overall devotional pool the moment they were separated (Note ①), leaving only pure faith in the weather goddess to slowly refine.

He didn't even need to collect anything; with a mere sweep of his spiritual power, the air brimmed with the "divine power" of the weather goddess.

Calming his mind, he channeled spiritual power into the 【神】-inscribed jade tablet, drawing in a thread of devotional energy, and mimicked the priestess's voice:

"La Fung Tan En!"

But there was no reaction.

"Language isn't a trigger? I thought it was like the ritual formulas of the Folklore World—so long in use that the goddess's devotional energy had modularized them!"

Feng Xue muttered to himself, when Sara beside him spoke:

"What trigger? That's just the fountain activation command!"

"?" Feng Xue raised an eyebrow. Sara, seeing his expression, sounded almost exasperated:

"A fuzzy search using Universal Language phonetic notation confirms 'La Fung Tan En' is the Landnim word for 'fountain.' The priestess was simply using the voice control system to activate the fountain and streetlights in front of the three-dimensional plant factory!"

Feng Xue wasn't surprised by Sara's explanation; he simply asked calmly: "Then what about the dock? She used the same phrase there—so does the dock have sprinklers or fountains too?"

"That's a divine art usable only by the Divine-Favored. Though the database contains no principles explaining how an AI becomes a deity, yet…"

"I get it." Feng Xue cut her off, feeling unexpectedly reassured; at least for the people of this world, the appearance of a deity still seemed like a black box? Yes—at least for Sara, clearly from a region where pre-civilization knowledge was better preserved, it was still a black box.

In that case, he wasn't entirely without advantage in this world!

After some self-reassurance, Feng Xue pulled his thoughts back and asked:

"How widespread is Landnim? Does it have any special significance?"

Sara didn't understand what Feng Xue had grasped, nor why he suddenly asked this, but she followed her interaction protocol and answered:

"Analyzing… According to database records, Landnim was a powerful nation in the pre-civilization era within the Emerald Island Chain region. Its language, due to its near-zero ambiguity, was commonly used in international contexts requiring precision—such as multilateral agreements and voice commands for international facilities…"

"..." Hearing Sara's explanation, Feng Xue now understood the language's significance; he reopened Li Qianbei's study notes, his gaze lingering on the phrase: "The truth doesn't matter—it's what people believe it to be."

Suddenly, inspiration struck—he reached into the air and drew a random circle, speaking in his most natural tone, tinged with the old Qin accent:

"Fine Rain Technique!"

As he spoke, misty raindrops suddenly fell inside the tent…

(End of Chapter)