Chapter 157: Li Er's Wonderful Journey

Seeing the shocked expression on Li Li Shimin's face, Lin Yu smiled faintly, raised his hand and beckoned; the energy mist on the stone steps immediately surged, condensing into a milky-white cloud boat.

Lin Yu stepped onto the cloud boat, turned to look at Li Li Shimin and said, "Come up!"

"..."

Li Li Shimin snapped back to his senses, forced down his shock, took a step, and cautiously stepped onto the cloud boat.

His feet touched the boat, instantly conveying a texture that was soft yet firm.

Li Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief, then confidently boarded the cloud boat and stood by Lin Yu's side.

With a wave of his sleeve, the cloud boat beneath his feet flew up on its own, carrying the two of them into the sea of clouds.

Along the way, ethereal mist swirled around and flowed through the boat, bringing an incredibly dense 'Heaven and Earth Qi'.

Li Li Shimin took a deep breath, couldn't help but circulate the Zhou Tian within his body, and began absorbing this energy that had already condensed into liquid.

When the cloud boat passed through the sea of clouds, a thousand-meter-high waterfall came into view; such an exaggerated height difference made the entire waterfall seem like the Milky Way hanging upside down, cascading straight down and stirring up a magic vortex wreathed in rainbow light.

At the end of the waterfall lay a pool of water radiating seven-colored rainbow light.

A lotus flower with a diameter exceeding one meter in the pool stretched out its body; on its crystal-clear petals condensed halos of four colors, making it obvious at a glance that it was no ordinary object.

Not far from the seven-colored pool, a magnificent palace stood there.

Surrounding the palace was a vast medicinal garden covering over a thousand mu; dozens of golden-furred spirit apes wearing white shirts moved between the garden, tending to the spiritual items blooming with various colored spiritual lights.

Among them were not only familiar items like ginseng and lingzhi that Li Li Shimin knew, but also some varieties he didn't recognize at all, such as various magical herbs from the Frieren world, and Heart-Shaped Herbs from the Marvel Universe, and so on.

Of course, compared to these small flowers and grasses, what attracted more attention were the bamboo grove and trees nearby.

The bamboo grove needed no further explanation; all group members following the magic cultivation system knew that the primary raw materials for the low-grade magical artifacts in Shangcheng were Magic Steel Ingots and this extremely tough green bamboo.

Beside the bamboo grove was a tea tree forest emitting a strong scent of tea flowers; there were about twenty tea trees in the forest, and the thickest and largest one was the Da Hong Pao mother tree that Lin Yu had brought back from the Tang Gui world back then.

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

It did not propagate offspring or a forest, but used all the absorbed energy for itself.

To this day, it had clearly grown into a towering giant tree over twenty zhang tall.

Looking down from above, this green jujube tree was the most conspicuous one.

Its dense canopy blocked the sky, hung full of crystal-clear, plump green fruits, and emitted a fragrance even stronger than the tea flowers.

Those spirit apes responsible for tending the medicinal garden basically all chose to rest under the green jujube tree.

This was not only because the Qi under the green jujube tree was the most dense, but also because ripe green jujubes would occasionally fall on their own, allowing these hard-working spirit apes tending the garden to taste a fresh one.

When Li Li Shimin looked at the green jujube tree, he happened to see three spirit apes fighting over a fallen green jujube.

He frowned and couldn't help but say, "Brother Lin, aren't you afraid they will steal and eat these spiritual items if you let monkeys tend them?"

Lin Yu smiled indifferently and said, "Rest assured, they dare not."

They indeed dared not, because all the spirit apes knew that the Reincarnation Pavilion's Artifact Spirit, 'Ling Hua', would monitor the growth of the spiritual items in real time.

Those green jujubes that fell on their own were one thing; if they dared to steal and eat the green jujubes on the tree, they would surely receive severe punishment from Ling Hua.

In fact, the treatment for the spirit apes was quite good; putting aside the fixed monthly salary including spiritual items, just the various spiritual items provided for three meals a day while working in the medicinal garden were enough to make a newbie group member like Li Li Shimin envious.

Any spirit ape able to work in the medicinal garden was the smartest of the smart monkeys.

With their intelligence, how could they possibly throw away their current life for a few green jujubes?

Of course, freebies don't count!

Li Li Shimin withdrew his gaze with some envy, looking forward at the continuous palace complex.

These palace complexes were situated in a dense forest, connected by various jade stone steps; between the stone steps were also many vast platforms and squares, mostly things like martial arts arenas.

Between the palaces, numerous people in white robes flew back and forth on flying swords.

Either transporting strange items produced in the Strange Treasures Pavilion, or storing mature spiritual items into the pavilion.

At first glance, this grand scene of many cultivators flying on swords was indeed shocking.

But in fact, all the people in white robes were androids, and the flying swords beneath their feet were not magical artifacts, but light aircraft equipped with Chitauri anti-gravity technology.

The things they carried were also quite out of character for Xianshan; among them were even armor suits identical to Iron Man's...

However, for Li Li Shimin, who was originally from the feudal era, there was no obvious distinction between technology and Xianxia.

Even if it was just robots stepping on aircraft, to him, it was as shocking as a true immortal cave heaven!

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

The cloud boat beneath their feet naturally dispersed upon touching the ground, merging into the surrounding sea of clouds.

"The term 'Tiangong' is a bit hasty; I don't plan to transform the dojo into the appearance of an Immortal Court for now. After you return, you'd better explain to Zhuge Liang that this is my dojo, not the 'Tiangong' you speak of."

"... Understood!"

Li Li Shimin nodded solemnly and followed Lin Yu forward.

While talking, the two had already walked out of the square and arrived between two rows of magnificent palace complexes.

Jade stone steps were paved in the center of the mountain path; on both sides stood golden-armored divine generals holding swords and halberds.

An immortal with wide sleeves and a long skirt, possessing jade-like beauty and bone structure, stood on the road ahead of the two; her two jade arms were wrapped with floating ribbons, her clothes and skirt hem flowing with shimmering fragmented light, and she bowed gracefully with a sweet smile.

"Ling Hua greets the two True Lords!"

Li Li Shimin was overwhelmed with honor and quickly said, "Immortal, you are too polite!"

Lin Yu smiled and said, "Don't be nervous; this one is the Reincarnation Pavilion's Artifact Spirit, not a true immortal. According to your cognition and understanding, she counts as the steward of the entire dojo."

"If you have matters in the future, just find her!"

So she was the Chief Steward Immortal!

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

Seeing this, Lin Yu helplessly shook his head and pointed to the palaces on both sides, saying, "These palaces on both sides are prepared for you. That palace built of green jade is Xiao Su's Yuhaodian; you can choose a side hall around it as your residence."

"Of course, if you are not satisfied with the form of the palace, you can also ask Ling Hua to remodel it."

"Wanting to learn from Xiao Su to use jade and gold is also fine; anyway, in my place, ordinary objects are the least valuable..."

Li Li Shimin nodded, both shocked and solemn, indicating that he had taken note.

Lin Yu smiled, waved his hand to summon a person in white robes, and said to Li Li Shimin, "Earlier, Xiao Su asked me for some robots and puppets to serve as palace attendants and decorate the facade."

"Now that you have come, I cannot favor one over the other, so I shall give you some attendants as per custom!"

Having spoken, Lin Yu looked at the person in white robes, or rather, the bionic robot equipped with artificial intelligence.

It is worth mentioning that after 'Ling Hua' collected the massive hive data transmitted by 'Ling Hua No. 2', it has completely evolved into a high-level consciousness, becoming the sole digital life form in the dojo.

At the same time, many bionic robots have also been equipped with artificial intelligence and are in the stage of primary consciousness.

The artificial intelligence at this stage cannot yet be called life, but it possesses behavior and conduct that are sufficiently realistic.

Sensing Lin Yu's gaze, the person in white robes immediately responded, bowed deeply to the two of them, and respectfully said:

"Intelligent Butler 'No. 23' of the Strange Treasure Pavilion is at your service!"

Li Li Shimin could not yet understand the significance of artificial intelligence, but he understood the term 'butler'.

So he hurried forward, helped No. 23 up, and said seriously, "No need for excessive courtesy. In the future, all matters around Li Mou will rely heavily on you, Second Butler!"

No. 23 politely replied, "Replying to True Lord, this is what I ought to do."

Lin Yu: "..."

Watching the strange interaction between the two, Lin Yu was somewhat speechless.

After a moment of thought, he felt this concept was not bad; it might even accelerate the process of No. 23 awakening to digital consciousness, so he did not correct Li Li Shimin's mistake.

Thinking of this, Lin Yu smiled and said to Li Li Shimin, "The matters ahead will be handled by Ling Hua and No. 23. I must contact Fan Xian and Yun Ye, so I need to leave for a while."

Li Li Shimin nodded and said, "Brother, take your time!"

After Lin Yu's figure vanished, Li Li Shimin turned his head to look at Ling Hua and No. 23.

"You two, lead the way!"

Afterwards, under the guidance of Ling Hua and No. 23, Li Li Shimin wandered for about twenty minutes, finally returning to the original spot and choosing the third hall on the east side of Yuhaodian.

This hall bore a strong resemblance to the Hall of Two Principles in the Taiji Palace of his past life.

From the outside, it appeared to be the size of a single palace, but the internal space was extremely vast; a rough calculation showed it even covered half the area of the Taiji Palace from his past life, making it countless times larger than the imperial palace he had in Shu Han.

Like the neighboring Yuhaodian, this hall was fully equipped.

Besides the living room for receiving guests and the bedroom for resting, it also contained functional areas such as a seclusion chamber, a pill-refining room, and a healing pool; various large formations and cultivation tools were all present.

In addition, Ling Hua, following Lin Yu's instructions, also gifted him numerous attendants.

Among them were not only four Golden Armored Generals carrying swords and halberds responsible for guarding the gate, but also a total of eighteen bionic robot attendants, including the intelligent butler No. 23.

Of course, these Golden Armored Generals and attendants possessed no true spiritual intelligence and could only operate within Lin Yu's inner universe.

Only No. 23, equipped with primary artificial intelligence, could accompany Li Li Shimin back to the Three Kingdoms World.

Learning this, Li Li Shimin could not help but feel a bit regretful.

After all, these white-robed attendants and Golden Armored Generals possessed immense combat power.

Especially the latter, they were intelligent magic puppets personally modified by Lin Yu; not only did they have bodies cast from magic steel ingots, but they could also unleash numerous spells from the Frieren World, making them an invincible existence in the Low-Magic World.

If they could be brought back to Shu Han, they would surely bring a small but overwhelming shock to Cao Wei!

(End of Chapter)