Chapter 438 Investigation 1

“You don’t need to be so worried,” Lin Hui’s voice continued. “This time, I just need you to lead the way and help me scout things out. If we wait until it’s time, we won’t be able to find our destination immediately. It’s essential that we do some reconnaissance first.”

“That… that makes sense…” Yan Qiushi felt a bit relieved. As long as he wasn’t going to cause trouble right away, she could accept a small buffer.

“So, what preparations are needed to enter the Divine Domain?” This time, Lin Hui was also treating the matter with considerable caution.

He knew it was unlikely that a Five Rings powerhouse would be permanently stationed near Red Pattern Star, but it was always better to be safe than sorry. You couldn’t pin your hopes on luck.

If a Five Rings powerhouse made a move, escaping easily would be a huge problem.

“Entering the Divine Domain is actually quite simple. The tricky part is bringing someone else in,” Yan Qiushi replied. “We have a Divine Domain mark, which is like a natural ID we’re born with. But if an outsider wants to enter, they have to go through layer after layer of applications. It’s incredibly tedious.”

“What procedures are required?”

“First, you need a sponsor. To bring a stranger into the Divine Domain, you need a joint application from at least two members of the Divine Race,” Yan Qiushi answered quickly.

“Second, the teleportation device to enter the Divine Domain has a specific inspection procedure. You have to be checked by the Contraband Review Committee to confirm you aren’t carrying any forbidden items. The whole process takes at least three days.”

“Third….”

“That’s enough. Don’t say any more.” Lin Hui cut her off, getting annoyed by all the procedures.

‘There are plenty of ways to scout the place out. I just won’t go in myself. If Yan Qiushi just carries me around for a bit, the problem will be solved.’

He didn’t say anything else, simply telling Yan Qiushi to find an excuse to make a trip back to the Divine Domain. He no longer mentioned his intention of going with her.

Yan Qiushi was confused, but she didn’t dare disobey his request. That evening, she found a desolate patch of wilderness and prepared to return.

「One hour later.」

She was dressed as if for a trip, carrying a suitcase.

A yellow shirt, jeans, big sunglasses, and even a woven green hat with a crocodile on it.

No matter how you looked at it, it was just casual attire.

Moreover, her current location had absolutely nothing to do with travel.

She was standing on the side of a highway, flanked by rolling, desolate mountains.

There wasn’t a single car on the road in either direction, nor were there any hover-cars passing overhead.

The only exception was the occasional flash of golden light from a starship jumping overhead.

This place hardly seemed like Red Pattern Star.

“I… I can return from here,” Yan Qiushi replied softly through her Heart and Spirit.

“This place… did you pick it, or…?” Lin Hui sensed there wasn’t a single settlement for dozens of miles in any direction. He was a bit speechless and asked directly in her mind.

“I picked it myself. The return points closer to the city are more expensive. One trip from there costs as much as ten from here.” Yan Qiushi was clearly a very frugal person.

“You all have spatial storage technology, so why are you still carrying such a big suitcase?” Lin Hui asked, exasperated.

“Uh… because it’s full of spatial storage devices.” Yan Qiushi crouched down, opening the suitcase to reveal it was crammed with Space Rings.

On the outside, this type of ring looked similar to a normal silver ring worn by an ordinary person, but in reality, it could contain a space equivalent to a shipping container.

Lin Hui had seen Yan Qiushi use one before, so he knew a little about them.

And here there was a whole suitcase full… At a glance, there were at least several hundred.

‘You…’ He felt like he’d grabbed some kind of idiot. ‘So many Space Rings… are they all fakes? Counterfeits?’

“I… I’m just broke, so I’m bringing back some goods for my colleagues and friends…” Yan Qiushi forced a smile.

Carrying spatial storage devices through the Teleportation Gate consumed extra Divine Power. If she had a choice, she certainly wouldn’t want to bring so many, as it made teleporting exhausting.

But what could she do? She was poor.

After hearing Yan Qiushi’s explanation, Lin Hui was at a loss for words. After a long moment, he finally squeezed out a sentence.

“What about your family?”

“I don’t have parents. I was abandoned at birth because I was born with a physical defect and can’t have children. My grandmother found me and raised me. She’s critically ill now, in a private hospital room, and needs a lot of Shen Yuan every day…”

Shen Yuan was the standard currency used in the Divine Domain.

Yan Qiushi sighed.

“Later, through sheer effort, I managed to get into the Divine Army and entered Shenying University. My grades were good enough that I should have graduated and been fast-tracked to a junior officer position, but someone with connections secretly took my spot. Without that opportunity, I could only follow the path of an ordinary soldier. Then, because I couldn’t keep up with the others in the military, I just applied for a post on the front lines in the Human Realm. This way, I could guard a city district by myself and interact with fewer people. And then… I met you… No, you, sir…”

“…Sounds like you’ve had it pretty rough.” ‘No wonder,’ Lin Hui thought. ‘Her strength is decent, yet she’s stuck with a simple city guard post… so that’s the reason.’

“Thank you for your concern… So, can we… not go back for now?” Yan Qiushi gave a dry laugh.

“No,” Lin Hui refused. “However, given your special circumstances, as a temporary disciple of my Qingfei Mountain, if you perform well this time, I can give you a reward that will help you increase your strength.”

“Increase my strength?” Yan Qiushi was skeptical. The other party was just a Mixed Race, and it was understandable that he was stronger than her, but to have a way to increase her strength? That sounded like a fairy tale.

After all, the Divine Power system had been studied for hundreds of years by many ambitious humans, yet no weaknesses or shortcuts were ever found.

‘Him? A Mixed Race of unknown origin? He can solve such an age-old problem?’

‘If it’s a lie, it would be pretty immoral to deceive me when I’m already in such a difficult situation.’

‘But if it’s true, then a Mixed Race with such powerful techniques… no… that’s something a Mixed Race could never achieve.’

Yan Qiushi instantly realized he was probably just bluffing, or maybe just trying to put her mind at ease before she entered the Divine Domain. She immediately feigned being deeply moved and agreed.

“So… when will you be coming over? Don’t you need to see how I return to the Divine Domain?” she asked quietly.

“It’s fine. I can watch just like this,” Lin Hui replied.

In fact, a wisp of his Heart and Spirit had already merged with a thread of Disaster Energy and attached itself to the outside of Yan Qiushi’s suitcase.

For someone at his level, splitting off a wisp of his Heart and Spirit for temporary possession wasn’t difficult.

The tricky part was avoiding detection during the entry inspection.

That’s why Lin Hui came up with the idea of merging with Disaster Energy.

Because he had merged with the Wind Calamity for years, his Heart and Spirit now had almost the same properties as the Wind Calamity. To put it simply, aside from the fusion not being deep enough, he was now a textbook Wind Disaster Fusionist.

In the outside world, a wisp of his Heart and Spirit naturally carried the characteristics of the Wind Calamity’s Disaster Energy; it just wasn’t as potent as the Wind Calamity itself.

And the Divine Domain happened to have a rather interesting quirk.

That is, there was almost no screening for pure Disaster Energy. Combined with the special constitution of those psionic energy monsters—which were formed purely from a combination of various Disaster Energies—the hidden logic within intrigued Lin Hui greatly.

After receiving the reply, Yan Qiushi felt a little apprehensive.

But the arrow was already on the bowstring; there was no turning back. She took a deep breath, stood up straight, and pressed her hand to her heart. A golden mark began to send a signal into the unseen Void around her.

After waiting for a few seconds, she quickly closed her eyes.

Three seconds later, she opened them.

Before her was no longer a desolate mountain range, but a vast, pure white space filled with a faint white mist.

The ground was paved with pure white crystals, and a vast white mist hung overhead, obscuring any ceiling.

Most importantly, ahead of her was a circular, platinum-gold Teleportation Gate, a full hundred meters high. It resembled a giant platinum vortex, with a transparent golden liquid constantly swirling inside.

The circular frame of the Teleportation Gate was engraved with countless twisted, mysterious symbols. Some parts were even inlaid with things like bone, gemstones, or ore.

It looked ancient and crudely made. Some edges were even chipped and had burrs.

‘This is the Divine Gate…’ Yan Qiushi exhaled, introducing it in her mind. ‘Mountain Lord, are you still there?’

‘I’m here. Go in,’ Lin Hui replied coolly.

‘He could sense that this place was detached from reality, existing in a layer where the illusory and the real overlapped.’

‘The countless symbols and decorations on this gate were, in fact, largely manifestations of Yan Qiushi’s own imagination.’

‘Because the gate’s true nature was to induce such natural associations in people, thereby concealing its actual operating mechanism.’

Yan Qiushi, suspecting nothing, slowly dragged her suitcase, her body emitting a faint golden light as she stepped toward the Divine Gate.

POP.

With a soft sound, her surroundings flashed white. A few moments later, her vision returned to normal.

She was standing on the platform of the familiar Songxiang Station, behind the Divine Gate.

That’s right. Each of these Divine Gates connected to one of the collective teleportation platforms inside the Divine Domain.

Songxiang Station was remote and its teleportation fees were cheap, which was why Yan Qiushi favored it. She had long used it as a transit point for her reselling business.

The traffic here was extremely low, and it was on the verge of being shut down at any moment.

A glance around revealed the scene.

The platinum-gold circular Teleportation Gate was built inside a long, rectangular white station. Inside, aside from a few rows of cheap metal benches, there wasn’t even a single staff member.

The station was built on a platform about ten meters above the ground.

At this moment, Yan Qiushi was the only person on the entire platform.

CAW CAW…

A few white crows flew over and landed on the station roof, cawing noisily while preening their feathers and eyeing Yan Qiushi sideways.

‘Mountain Lord? Sir?’ She stood in place, carefully calling out to Lin Hui in her mind.

There was no response.

In reality, Lin Hui hadn’t left. This place was completely foreign to him, and he knew nothing of its defensive mechanisms. Following Yan Qiushi to learn about it step-by-step was the best option.

So he had no intention of acting alone.

Not responding to Yan Qiushi right now was also a small test to see if she was truly obedient at heart.

Yan Qiushi called out for a while. After getting no response, a conflicted look appeared in her eyes.

But soon, she stopped overthinking it, dragging her suitcase and walking briskly out of the station.

Once outside, a golden light shone from her feet, and she slowly began to fly. Her speed was extremely slow.

It was roughly comparable to the speed of a bicycle.

She didn’t fly high into the sky, either. She just hovered less than a meter off the ground, following a black road that connected to the station.

Taking this opportunity, Lin Hui’s Heart and Spirit began to carefully observe this so-called Endless Divine Domain.