Chapter 3676

Lin Waner also had the same doubt as Ye Chen.

That ring itself has a teleportation function; logically speaking, this should be the best means of transportation, and those cultivators wouldn't even need a fixed large teleportation array to achieve point-to-point teleportation—just having the ring in hand would make going anywhere seem effortless.

But for some unknown reason, the teleportation array inside is set to be passively triggered only when one's life is in danger.

While Ye Chen was puzzling over this, Lin Waner thought back and forth and proposed an idea: "Young Master, could it be that this ring itself can teleport, but you just haven't accessed this function yet?"

Ye Chen was stunned for three seconds, then fell into embarrassment after three seconds.

He said very seriously: "Miss Lin's words make a lot of sense..."

After saying that, he thought of another question and blurted out: "But if this ring truly has a teleportation function, why would they go to all the trouble of setting up nine teleportation arrays around the world?"

Lin Waner said: "These nine teleportation arrays are too scattered to be anything more than transportation hubs, and intercontinental-level super hubs at that—but aside from the main lines, who would handle the branch lines? You can't expect hundreds of cultivators to teleport to a continent and then scatter like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each using their own divine powers to reach their individual destinations, can you?"

Ye Chen asked in surprise: "So you mean the ring might be responsible for branch-line transportation?"

"Exactly," Lin Waner said. "All of Huaxia, and even our western neighboring countries—such a vast area has only one teleportation point at He Ming Mountain, which hardly seems reasonable. If the ring could achieve medium- to short-distance teleportation, their personnel mobility would be much faster, making it more convenient for them to plunder Earth's cultivation resources."

Ye Chen nodded in agreement and said: "Makes sense—they're cultivators capable of interstellar migration, so they must possess many divine powers beyond our imagination. As for the underground city they left behind and the mysteries of this ring, it may take a long time to gradually uncover them."

Lin Waner smiled and said: "Don't worry, Young Master has plenty of time to explore slowly."

Ye Chen nodded, checked the time—it was already 12:10—and said: "Miss Lin, let's rush back to He Ming Mountain before dawn. We need to prepare the supplies and equipment, as well as the base in Shu Du. Let Old Chen and the others arrange everything urgently. Once they're ready, we can return to He Ming Mountain at any time."

Lin Waner nodded and smiled: "I'm eager to return to the underground city early to see what changes Mother Pucha has undergone!"

From Jin Ling to Antarctica, the longest leg of the journey is flying from Jin Ling all the way to Argentina. Without a long-range dedicated aircraft, this route requires two layovers and at least 24 hours of flight time.

But now, from Jin Ling to Antarctica, the longest leg is from Jin Ling to He Ming Mountain.

Theoretically speaking, the distance from Jin Ling to any place in the world, the farthest route is this very segment.

As Lin Waner drove the helicopter toward Jin Ling Airport, Ye Chen couldn't help but ponder her speculation about the ring.

If it truly enables medium- to short-distance teleportation, combined with those nine large teleportation arrays, the entire world would feel like one's own living room—blink, and you could reach any corner.

After the helicopter landed at the airport, Lin Waner parked it on the dedicated apron, and the ground crew's shuttle immediately brought her and Ye Chen to the hangar, where the business jet was already ready for takeoff.

After a flight of over two hours, the plane arrived in Shu Du, just as on the way here—special department vehicles escorted the two all the way to the mountain entrance of He Ming Mountain.

Ye Chen calculated along the way.

Even with fast-track airport access, this whole ordeal still takes at least four and a half hours.

Of that, over two hours are flight time, and one hour is by car.

He Ming Mountain is after all in the suburbs of Shu Du; though the distance of several dozen kilometers isn't far, combined with complex road conditions, one hour is already quite ideal.

This is still just reaching the mountain trail entrance of He Ming Mountain. With me leading Lin Waner along the mountain path, our speed is limited, and the ascent alone will take at least an hour.

But if a helicopter were stationed in Shu Du, the situation could be greatly improved—this one-hour drive plus one-hour hike could be completed in just twenty minutes.

After getting out of the vehicle, the two walked into He Ming Mountain. They trekked for an hour along the pitch-black mountain trail and finally arrived at the slope housing the teleportation array.

Ye Chen took Lin Waner's hand, his mind stirred slightly, and they had already entered the cave leading to the underground chamber.

Although outside was pitch black, inside the cave, like the underground city, a soft and comfortable light emanated throughout, no different from daytime.

Ye Chen worried that Lin Waner had just finished the mountain trek and her pace would naturally slow, but she was anxious to see Mother Pucha, so she was already impatient and, on the contrary, pulled Ye Chen along in a frantic run.

Ye Chen brought her to the teleportation array, silently recited his cultivation method, and their vision blurred for only an instant before clearing—when they opened their eyes, they were already inside the Four Directions Treasure Pagoda of the underground city.

Afterwards, Ye Chen once again brought Lin Waner to teleport to the plaza. Lin Waner looked around, unable to decide, and asked Ye Chen: "Young Master, where do you think Mother Pucha should be planted?"

Ye Chen thought for a moment and said: "Just plant it on the plaza."

Lin Waner worried: "This place is all blue stone—we'd have trouble fixing the soil in place for Mother Pucha to take root."

Ye Chen smiled and said: "Don't worry—there's still a large amount of green-striped stone in the storage space. We can use them to build a large enough pool, put the soil we brought inside, and then plant Mother Pucha."

Lin Waner breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "That's wonderful!"

Mother Pucha is after all a sentient mother tea. As Lin Waner said, during the tribulation it had already become like a towering tree—such a large plant would have its roots sink into the soil by at least ten meters or more, so we definitely need a sufficiently large space to fill with soil, so it can grow continuously.

The storage space contains many green-striped stones, so Ye Chen prepared to use them to build a cube five meters on each side and ten meters deep—this volume should be enough for Mother Pucha to grow slowly for several years.

Although each green-striped stone weighs a thousand jin, taking them out of the storage space only requires Ye Chen to move two thoughts in his mind: one thought to issue the command to retrieve, and another to inform where they should be placed after retrieval.

As long as this is done, these green-striped stones can be completely cleared in an instant and neatly stacked in a corner of the plaza.

Facing thousands of these green stones, Ye Chen suddenly had another thought: if I take them all out, I'll have to place them one by one myself.

Although my strength is sufficient, moving so many green stones would inevitably be time-consuming and laborious.

What if I directly use my thoughts to imagine them stacked together? Could these green stones come out already arranged exactly as I envision, neatly stacked into a rectangular solid space?