Chapter 837: The World on the Ship

Finally, after the humans compromised and called for Changle, the Heavenly Demons were finally willing to let the humans board the Great Ship.

Of course, they still did not sail the Great Ship into Huangbaijie, but instead built a temporary teleportation array within the realm to teleport everyone over.

That ship was currently docked in front of the Heavenly Demons' true sanctuary, Wanshendian.

Upon teleporting over, the first thing one could see was the Lingjie sanctuary, Wanshendian. Wanshendian was extremely magnificent; it was likely the most magnificent building anyone had ever seen. Neither the imperial palaces of the Human World nor the Sword Mountain Hall of the Sword Domain were even half as tall as Wanshendian. One could fear that this single great hall could accommodate tens of thousands of people within it.

However, having teleported here, no one would spare the great hall a glance, looking only at another gargantuan object.

That gargantuan object—how should one describe it?

A city? A mountain? A plateau?

Or some other naturally occurring, spectacular existence?

It seemed the natural landscapes people had seen could not compare to this ship.

If one were to let a young person with a wandering mind describe it, it would be: a planet had been plucked from the sky and transported, intact, onto the ground.

Seeing it, one could only produce a sense of sighing at the vast ocean when facing the sea of stars.

Compared to its indescribable volume, its actual design was not particularly strange; it looked quite conservative, oval-shaped, with no superfluous edges or structures on the exterior, covered by a layer of smooth shell in that faint cyan color, as if it were the color of the vast, deep blue sky. Yet it was a bit more tender than the sky; such a youthful color seemed capable of bringing people endless hope.

"Impressive," someone said. The humans had to nod one after another. Although they had received news of the Evil God and already felt disdain for the Heavenly Demons, thinking that their shipbuilding was nothing special and merely borrowing the light of others, when they truly saw this ship, they had to sigh in admiration from the bottom of their hearts: even just manufacturing such a ship shell was quite remarkable.

If this were the habitat of the Evil God, then how big must the Evil God be?

Since it is called a god, shouldn't there also be such a sanctuary, or perhaps a Divine Kingdom?

Not only the humans, but even the Heavenly Demons who had seen this ship many times had excited expressions on their faces at this moment. Songtian's mood was clearly agitated as he said loudly, "Open your eyes and look, this is the God-Crossing Ship!"

The ship opened its doors from the stern, opening a gate a full three zhang high, enough for several carriages to drive in side-by-side. Songtian and the others introduced that this was only a general entrance; the largest gate was half the size of the ship's hull, and when opened, the ship's shell would split to both sides, blooming like a flower to reveal the ship's core. However, unless the gods descended, others were not worthy of having such a large gate opened to welcome them. The one opened this time was already a ceremonial gate; when the time came, the disciples would enter the ship through pipes like a honeycomb on the ship's underbelly, and it would only take one day to admit a million people.

After entering the gate, one first walked through a section of white corridor. There were doors at both ends of the corridor that could not be opened at the same time; the outer door had to be closed first, and after a period of time, the inner door could be opened. This was an isolation and protection measure to prevent anything bad or any bad people from breaking into the ship's cabin.

Only when the inner door opened did one truly enter the ship.

As soon as the door opened, a breeze rushed toward them, letting people smell the scent of Spring.

The place where they emerged was actually a garden; upon entering, one saw large patches of weeping willows and special plants from Lingjie, with bright, colorful flowers blooming on both sides. Amidst this lush greenery, the plants were all real, grown from real soil. Looking further into the distance, one could even see the shadows of green mountains and a lake not far away.

This mountain, this water, these trees, these flowers...

It was completely a natural landscape, with almost no difference from the Waijie. Only when looking up at the sky could one see a vast whiteness overhead, and at the limit of one's vision, there was a ceiling constructed of pure white material, covering everyone on the ship like a lid.

Although it was artificial, it was truly a work of exquisite craftsmanship. Everyone felt shocked, and Songtian introduced it in a seemingly casual tone: "There are at least ten such gardens on the Great Ship. This one can only be considered medium-sized; there are larger and better ones, and at least three large lakes and two high mountains. Each garden has a different style, and there are even landscapes from your Human World, which can alleviate the homesickness of children from all over the two realms."

At this time, Zhen Jian said: "It is indeed a grand gesture. However, I have heard that the space on the ship is limited, and the space allocated to each of the millions of people is very limited, yet you still build so many mountains and waters—isn't this a waste? If you filled in the mountains and waters to house people, you could accommodate tens of thousands more, right?"

Songtian shook his head repeatedly and said: "Is this something a Sword Saint should say? Save where you should save, and spend where you should spend. If you followed your line of thinking, what meaning would there be in living? If everyone were stuffed into jars, I fear they wouldn't want to live after a few days. Not to mention those who would commit suicide, if you just repressed a few lunatics, who knows what kind of trouble they would cause. Therefore, these facilities must exist. If you go over there, you can also see farmland; although they don't grow crops, they grow fresh vegetables and fruits, and there are special fish ponds and animal parks. Those are good things that can make them happy. Eating frozen goods stored for many years would make people depressed; these are things that must be considered."

Although his accusations were reasonable, Zhen Jian would not be bluffed by him, and sneered: "Don't tell me that anyone who wants to can come to these mountain and water gardens? Isn't it true that only certain people can come?"

Songtian said: "That is natural. It was originally intended for rewards. You have to give everyone something to look forward to; shouldn't those who have contributed to the ship enjoy more?"

Zhen Jian said: "Oh, so it can be enjoyed based on merit? Isn't it that some people were born higher than others?"

Songtian said dismissively: "The ship has its own order. Even if there is a hierarchy at the beginning, those backgrounds lose their backing pillars, and in fact, they will slowly become invalid over time. Who knows what will happen after many years? Old folks like you and me who aren't boarding the ship don't need to worry about it."

Zhen Jian smiled and said: "That is also true."

If this ship really took off, no one could imagine what it would be like in a hundred years, so there was no need to worry about descendants.

Songtian looked at the sky and said: "Do you see? This garden alone is the size of a small town, and there are spaces thousands or tens of thousands of times larger than this, absolutely beyond your imagination. Can you control it?"

As soon as Changle heard this, he knew it was directed at him, and said: "How do you know this is beyond my imagination? Actually, it is not; my imagination has always been quite good. This is still within my conception; I am not troubled."

Songtian snorted and said: "Good. If you really have the ability, I will find you a good place to let you release it to your heart's content. Don't give me excuses, saying the place is wrong and limited your performance."

Changle said: "No matter when or where, I will accompany you."

Songtian chuckled and said: "Arrogant." He was secretly surprised: It is said that their people and swords are similar; his sword is particularly low-key and forbearing, so why is he such an arrogant scholar? Can such a big contrast between a person and their sword exist?

Passing through the garden, they arrived at the residential area. They saw that the residential area consisted of small villas. Although each house was relatively close to the next and there was no talk of courtyards, they were all detached houses, and it would certainly be very spacious to live with fewer than ten people.

A Heavenly Demon introduced that these were configurations for one to five people, with hot spring water, balconies, and roof gardens, making them very comfortable to live in. Walking further ahead, the houses gradually became taller and more crowded, no longer detached, but apartment buildings. The buildings were all connected. But one could see that each room was still quite spacious, with large windows, and those with good orientation could see the distant gardens.

Walking further out, the houses became taller and more crowded, finally connecting to the ceiling, looking like a wall from top to bottom. The wall was densely packed with small windows, each window being a room; it looked like it was barely enough for one person to fit in. The windows were densely packed, and from a distance, it looked like giant termite mounds.

Although they were prepared for the "order on the ship," the Sword Saints still frowned. Zhen Jian said: "The difference between the best and the worst is too great, isn't it?"

Songtian said: "This is not the worst..." Everyone was shocked, and he said as a matter of course, "Although this kind of house is uncomfortable to live in, at least it is in the main cabin. There is only a difference in comfort, and safety can be guaranteed. Below, there are several partition cabins; not only are the conditions poor, but once there is an external enemy, they will be abandoned..."

The humans were in an uproar, and several people said indignantly: "Who do you intend to let live in that kind of place?"

Songtian laughed instead: "What? Do you think we would arrange for humans to live there? Wrong! What do you take us for? Humans are important guests to us; how could we be rude? Not only will we not arrange for you to go there, but we won't even let you live in these worst accommodations. I can guarantee that all of you who come will at least have medium-sized houses to live in. With equal contributions, we will give you the good houses first; we have this much hospitality. Moreover, the worst places are not for normal people to live in; they are considered prisons. Only those who have violated the laws and caused damage to the ship and others will be locked in there."

Zhen Jian frowned slightly; he heard the word "laws" and thought of more things. This plan came too suddenly, and the human side had not considered it thoroughly at all. These two months had been focused on investigating technology, allocating resources, and fighting for quotas; they hadn't thought about the next level of issues. For example, the social structure, politics, and economic ecology within the ship's cabin.

For instance, right now, he and the others had just realized that the laws on the ship had already been formulated, and even prisons had been built. Who formulated those laws, and who do they benefit? Need one even ask?

It can only be said that it was fortunate they had a more reliable plan on their side and that the Relic Project was optional. Otherwise, if they really had to submit to this, these loopholes wouldn't be enough to patch in a month. Seeking skin from a tiger is truly courting death.

Then he heard Songtian say: "If little friend Changle is willing to board the ship, I can arrange for you to hold an important position on the ship, live in the best house, have priority in supplies, and have an exceptionally respected status; everyone will treat you with the respect due to an elder. And if you can cover the ship's hull, you won't have to spend a great price; you can live for a very long time and achieve great results."

Changle smiled and said: "What I seek is not my own longevity. I am willing to use my own fleeting moment to exchange for the eternity of the world."

Everyone stared at him, examining his composure.

Songtian seemed to want to stare a hole through him, and only after a long time did he say: "Good, good. A person like you... is also rare. Come up with me; I will take you to the highest point to see if you can achieve what you said."