Chapter 157: Li Er

Watching the stunned expression on Li Shimin’s face, Lin Yu smiled faintly, raised his hand, and summoned the energy mist on the stone steps, which surged and coalesced into a milky-white cloud-boat.

Lin Yu stepped onto the cloud-boat, turned, and said to Li Shimin: “Come aboard!”

“...”

Li Shimin snapped out of his daze, forced down his shock, and stepped cautiously onto the cloud-boat.

The moment his feet touched the vessel, he felt a soft yet solid texture beneath him.

Li Shimin exhaled in relief, then stepped fully aboard and stood beside Lin Yu.

Lin Yu swept his sleeve, and the cloud-boat beneath them rose automatically, carrying the two into the sea of clouds.

Along the way, ethereal mist curled around the boat, flooding the air with an intense concentration of “heaven-and-earth spiritual energy.”

Li Shimin drew a deep breath, unable to resist activating his microcosmic orbit to absorb the energy, now condensed into liquid form.

As the cloud-boat pierced through the cloud sea, a waterfall a thousand meters tall came into view—its extreme drop made it seem like the Milky Way had been inverted, cascading downward and stirring magical vortices wreathed in rainbow light.

At the waterfall’s base lay a pool radiating seven-colored rainbow light.

In the pool, a lotus over a meter in diameter unfurled its petals, each translucent bloom radiating four hues of aura—clearly no ordinary plant.

Not far from the seven-colored pool stood a grand palace.

Surrounding the palace was a vast medicinal garden spanning over a thousand mu, where dozens of golden-furred spirit monkeys in white robes moved among the plants, tending to spiritual herbs glowing with varied radiance.

Among them were not only familiar items like ginseng and lingzhi, but also species Li Shimin had never seen—such as magical herbs from the Frieren world and heart-shaped grass from the Marvel universe.

Of course, more striking than these humble plants were the bamboo groves and trees nearby.

The bamboo grove needed no explanation—all members of the magic-cultivation system knew that the primary material for basic artifacts in the marketplace was magic steel ingot and this exceptionally tough green bamboo.

Beside the bamboo grove lay a tea tree forest exuding a rich camellia fragrance, containing about twenty trees, the largest and thickest of which was the original Da Hong Pao tree Lin Yu had brought back from the Tang Gui world.

As for the green jujube tree also brought from Tang Gui, it had taken a path entirely different from the Da Hong Pao mother tree.

It did not produce offspring or form a grove; instead, it channeled all absorbed energy into itself.

Today, it had grown into a towering giant over twenty zhang tall.

From above, this green jujube tree was the most conspicuous of all.

Its dense canopy blocked out the sky, laden with crystal-clear, plump green fruits emitting an aroma even stronger than camellia blossoms.

The spirit monkeys tending the garden almost always chose to rest beneath the green jujube tree.

This was not only because the spiritual energy here was densest, but also because ripe green jujubes occasionally fell on their own, giving these hardworking monkeys a rare treat.

As Li Shimin gazed at the green jujube tree, he saw three monkeys fighting over a fallen fruit.

He frowned and couldn’t help asking: “Brother Lin, you let monkeys tend these spiritual items—aren’t you afraid they’ll steal them?”

Lin Yu laughed dismissively: “Don’t worry—they dare not.”

They truly dared not, because every spirit monkey knew that the Wheel Pavilion’s sentient artifact, Ling Hua, monitored the growth of all spiritual items in real time.

Fallen jujubes were fine, but if any dared to pluck fruit directly from the tree, Ling Hua would punish them severely.

In truth, the monkeys’ treatment was quite generous—not to mention their monthly stipend of spiritual items, even their three daily meals of spiritual nourishment while working in the garden would make newcomers like Li Shimin envious.

Any spirit monkey assigned to the garden was a genius among monkeys.

With their intelligence, how could they risk losing their current life for a few jujubes?

Of course, fallen ones don’t count!

Li Shimin reluctantly tore his gaze from the tree and looked ahead at the sprawling palace complex.

The palaces sat nestled in dense forests, connected by jade stone steps, with numerous vast platforms and courtyards between them—mostly training grounds and the like.

Between the palaces, many robed figures flew on swords, coming and going.

Some transported odd artifacts from the Treasures Pavilion, others stored mature spiritual items within it.

At first glance, the spectacle of countless cultivators flying on swords was truly awe-inspiring.

But in truth, all the robed figures were bio-androids, and their swords were not artifacts, but lightweight aircraft fitted with Chitauri anti-gravity tech.

The items they carried also clashed with the immortal mountain aesthetic—some even included Iron Man-style battle armor...

Yet for Li Shimin, raised in a feudal era, technology and xianxia were indistinguishable.

Even androids riding flying machines felt to him like true celestial realms!

Soon, Lin Yu brought Li Shimin to a plaza in the middle of the palace complex.

The cloud-boat beneath their feet dissolved naturally upon landing, merging back into the surrounding mist.

“Calling this place ‘Heavenly Palace’ is too hasty—I have no intention of turning my cultivation ground into an imperial celestial court. When you return, explain to Zhuge Liang that this is my dao-field, not the ‘Heavenly Palace’ you mentioned.”

“...Understood!”

Li Shimin nodded solemnly and followed Lin Yu forward.

As they spoke, they left the plaza and entered the space between two rows of grand palaces.

Jade stone steps lined the mountain path, flanked by golden-armored divine generals holding swords and halberds.

Before them stood a fairy, tall and graceful, in wide sleeves and a long gown, her jade arms entwined with flowing ribbons, her robes shimmering with scattered light, bowing with a sweet smile.

“Ling Hua greets the Two True Lords!”

Li Shimin was flustered and hurriedly replied: “Madam, you’re too kind!”

Lin Yu smiled: “Don’t be nervous—this is the Wheel Pavilion’s sentient artifact. She’s not a real fairy; in your terms, she’s the steward of this entire dao-field.”

“If you need anything, just ask her!”

So she’s the chief steward fairy!

Li Shimin suddenly understood and bowed deeply to Ling Hua again.

Lin Yu, seeing this, sighed helplessly and pointed to the palaces on either side: “These palaces are all prepared for you. That jade-green one is Xiao Su’s Yu Hao Palace—you may choose any side pavilion as your residence.”

“Of course, if you dislike the design, you can ask Ling Hua to modify it.”

“Want to build with jade and gold like Xiao Su? Fine—here, mundane materials are the cheapest thing.”

Li Shimin nodded solemnly, awestruck, indicating he had taken note.

Lin Yu smiled and summoned a robed figure, saying to Li Shimin: “Earlier, Xiao Su asked me for some androids and puppets to serve as palace attendants and decorate the place.”

“Now that you’ve arrived, I can’t favor one over another—I’ll give you the same.”

He turned to the robed figure—or rather, the bio-android equipped with artificial intelligence.

Notably, “Ling Hua,” after absorbing massive hive data from “Ling Hua No. 2,” had fully evolved into a high-level consciousness and become the dao-field’s sole digital life.

Meanwhile, many bio-androids had been upgraded with artificial intelligence, now at an early stage of consciousness.

This stage of AI couldn’t yet be called life, but its behavior was convincingly lifelike.

Sensing Lin Yu’s gaze, the robed figure immediately responded, bowing respectfully:

“Treasures Pavilion AI Steward ‘No. 23’ serves you wholeheartedly!”

Li Shimin didn’t grasp the meaning of artificial intelligence, but he understood the word “steward.”

He stepped forward, helped No. 23 rise, and said earnestly: “No need for such formality—henceforth, I rely on you, Second Steward, for all matters concerning me!”

No. 23 replied politely: “It is my duty, True Lord.”

Lin Yu: “...”

Watching the odd interaction between them, Lin Yu was speechless.

After brief thought, he decided this mindset might even accelerate No. 23’s awakening into digital consciousness, so he let Li Shimin’s mistake stand.

Thinking of this, Lin Yu smiled and said to Li Shimin: “I’ll leave the rest to Ling Hua and No. 23—I must go contact Fan Xian and Xiang Yunye and will be away for a while.”

Li Shimin nodded: “Brother, take care!”

Once Lin Yu’s figure vanished, Li Shimin turned to Ling Hua and No. 23.

“Lead the way!”

Under Ling Hua and No. 23’s guidance, Li Shimin wandered for about twenty minutes, eventually returning to the same spot and choosing the third pavilion east of Yu Hao Palace.

This pavilion bore strong resemblance to his past-life Taiji Palace’s Liangyi Hall.

Externally, it appeared no larger than a single palace, yet internally its space was vast—roughly half the size of his past Taiji Palace, far exceeding the imperial palace he had in Shuhan.

Like the adjacent Yu Hao Palace, this one was fully equipped.

Besides reception halls and sleeping quarters, it contained meditation chambers, alchemy rooms, healing pools, and all manner of large arrays and cultivation tools.

In addition, Ling Hua, per Lin Yu’s orders, gifted him numerous attendants.

These included four golden-armored divine generals armed with swords and halberds for guarding the gates, plus eighteen bio-android attendants, including AI steward No. 23.

Of course, these divine generals and attendants possessed no true sentience—they could only operate within Lin Yu’s inner universe.

Only No. 23, equipped with early-stage AI, could accompany Li Shimin back to the Three Kingdoms world.

Learning this, Li Shimin felt a pang of regret.

After all, these robed attendants and golden-armored generals possessed formidable combat power.

Especially the latter—they were intelligent magic puppets personally modified by Lin Yu, with bodies forged from magic steel ingot and capable of casting numerous Frieren-world spells, making them invincible in low-magic worlds.

If he could bring them back to Shuhan, they would surely deliver a stunning blow to Cao Wei!

(End of Chapter)