Chapter 64

After walking for another half an hour, the number of people began to increase.

This place was a small square, with dozens of paths leading out, and everyone eventually gathered here.

From the small square, moving forward, one would be right in the middle of the cold and hot areas, meaning half was cold and half was hot, with a mix in the middle.

Countless magical lamps were lit, and some people even carried them in their hands.

However, holding torches was not allowed to prevent fires.

Cold places did not mean they were immune to fire; as long as the branches were dry, a single spark could ignite them.

Narasha was somewhat disappointed. She had thought that coming in the middle of the night would mean fewer tourists, making her treasure hunting more mysterious.

But what she saw was a sea of people, and she realized others also thought that treasure hunting at night would add a different kind of excitement.

"Speed up, let's go to the front," Gongsun Murong thought of a plan. The area of 90,000 square kilometers, with a length and width of over 300 kilometers, meant that moving faster would leave others behind.

As a result, the eleven people sped up and rushed forward for ten minutes, covering about five kilometers, but they still saw crowds of people.

The scenic area was open for 20 hours.

Ordinary people walked slowly, but once they arrived, they entered, forming a cycle of entry and exit.

The eleven people stopped under a pavilion by the roadside.

They realized that if they continued walking straight, they would exit from the other side, a distance of over 420 kilometers.

There were no vehicles on the road; only walking was allowed.

Ordinary people would take a month to walk, enjoying the scenery along the way, and with the rugged terrain, occasionally exploring a nearby cave, time would pass quietly.

Roadside inns and restaurants provided attentive service, whether for meals, accommodation, gambling, or finding companions, as long as one could afford it, there were no problems.

"Who is making all this money?" Princess Lucia refrained from asking.

One of the guards immediately answered, "The Emperor, including the purchase of tributes, has assigned specific people to oversee it. The Emperor gets 99%, and the rest get 1%, which still needs to be taxed, except for finding companions, which the Emperor does not profit from."

Gongsun Murong nodded, "No wonder I saw other nobles and ministers donating money; the Empire and the Principality do not interfere because the money eventually goes to the Emperor, who then uses it for the affairs of the entire Empire and all the Principalities."

"It's making money off people's beliefs," Narasha added.

This was hard to judge, as many people would rather spend their money on buying things for the gods than help the poor.

From a certain perspective, this was wrong.

Of course, there was no obligation to give money to the poor.

Similarly, if the Emperor used part of the money earned from people's beliefs to help the poor, did it mean that those who worshipped the gods indirectly helped the poor?

Gongsun Murong, Narasha, and Lucia felt it was better not to think too much about it, as it was too complicated, involving various aspects.

Social structures, human nature, morality, practicality, survival rules, instincts, and so on.

They thought it would be better to spend time learning how to fight and enriching their historical knowledge.

Lucia, who used to dislike studying history, now loved it.

Learning about the decisions and choices made by historical figures in certain difficulties, some succeeded, and some failed.

When they encountered similar difficulties and situations, they could draw on these experiences.

There were also battles where the few defeated the many, the weak defeated the strong, involving morale, terrain, and environment.

And how lower-level mages and warriors flexibly used their abilities to defeat higher-level enemies.

Learning more would prevent them from being at a disadvantage in the future.

This was much better than studying religion and philosophy.

Gongsun Murong and Narasha also enjoyed learning and even researching magical items.

They knew that besides overall strength, the most important thing was direct and indirect military power.

If they could fight, they would fight; if not, they would use magical items to attack.

As the intelligent butler taught, whether one wanted to develop art or achieve peace, one first needed to have a certain level of military power. Peace without military power was begging for it on one's knees.

This was knowledge or awareness that many schools did not directly teach children.

They only told children to be honest, diligent, filial, patriotic, and friendly.

It was only when the children grew up and found that things were different from what they learned as children that they would relearn.

This was true for both the Empire and the Principalities.

But Gongsun Murong and Narasha received different education.

The intelligent butler taught them the harshness of survival and the strong will to live.

It was not that the intelligent butler did not want Gongsun Murong to have a beautiful and happy childhood, but after leaving the protection of his family, he no longer had the luxury of being a carefree child.

Now, they were educated by the reality, more profoundly than what was described in books and more straightforwardly than what was told in stories.

Looking at the crowds passing by, the three of them felt a sense of emotion.

Gongsun Murong smiled and said, "Indeed, the masses, what is lost and gained, what is seen and sought, is always around us.

I stand in the water, no matter how I look at it, I stand in the water, even if my heart is flying.

What I feel is what I feel, even if it is not so in everyone's eyes.

So, let's go, let's go treasure hunting, not on the main road."

As Gongsun Murong spoke, he gently waved his hand, and the eleven people's positions suddenly changed. The surroundings turned into a cave, not the main road they had just seen.

"Group spatial movement!" the four earth mages shouted in unison, and upon seeing Gongsun Murong, they clearly sensed the fluctuations of a ninth-level grand mage.

Wasn't he a sixth-level mage before? Just from the events of today and a few words, he jumped to the level of a ninth-level grand mage?

And he could also comprehend spatial rules.

What did he mumble? "I stand in the water, no matter how I look at it, I stand in the water, even if my heart is flying; what I feel is what I feel, even if it is not so in everyone's eyes."

Is this it? Could this be the essence of spatial rules?

"Such a comfortable feeling, such beautiful scenery, the cave is actually bright, is it glowing rocks?" Lucia spread her arms and said with a sweet smile.

Then her magical fluctuations changed, from a second-level grand mage to a fourth-level grand mage.

Geniuses, no longer accumulating mental energy, but playing with comprehension.

This was what the eight guards thought, and then they looked at Narasha.

"What are you looking at me for? Oh, I'll take you to the lake in the cave." Narasha, feeling uncomfortable under their gaze, waved her small hand, and the scenery changed again, revealing a lake.

"Yay!" Narasha waved her small fist, "Brother Murong is so amazing, he knew how to do spatial movement first. I understood it after one try, it's so simple."

The four third-level earth mages looked at each other, shaking their heads. They had no feeling, having moved twice but still not mastering spatial movement, let alone group movement.

Am I a genius? I became an earth mage before the age of 100, right?

I once participated in the Empire's resource selection competition and achieved a high ranking.

But why is this? The children of this generation from various Principalities are clearly stronger than those of previous generations.

Looking at the data, the remaining two age groups of children, all magical abilities are instant, the lowest level of warriors is fifth-level ninth-rank, and the highest is sixth-level second-rank.

There are even eleven children who are dual-cultivators of warrior and mage, not including Gongsun Murong and Narasha.

Has the Rexlar Empire finally made it through? How strong will the twenty children selected for the competition be?

The four earth mages could not figure it out, only feeling frustrated.

But Gongsun Murong and Narasha knew what was going on. They brought everyone to the center of the Cold and Hot Mountain.

The cold and heat outside were affected by the terrain, seemingly irregular, but the center was the most stable.

The lake in front of them was not the focus; what was important was what existed beneath the lake.

This thing under the lake was not at the center of the entire scenic area but in a section after the entrance.

What other treasures looked like, Gongsun Murong and Narasha were not clear.

But the treasure they sensed now was very important.

The two asked the others to wait above while they descended into the lake.

Then they saw one red and one blue object, both large, with an estimated volume of over 200 cubic meters each.

These were similar to the power devices of Gongsun Murong's spaceship.

The red one emitted waves, controlling the wavelength and frequency, and the blue one did the same.

So, although these two objects were not at the center of the scenic area, they gave the impression that the temperature transitioned from cold to hot in the middle of the terrain.

Clearly, this was a hidden technique.

The red one emitted waves that made the surroundings cold, while the blue one made them hot.

They could also send waves intermittently, meaning they could control the temperature of a specific area by adjusting the concentration of the waves.

Gongsun Murong and Narasha knew that what they saw was not a product of this planet's civilization but of another technological system.

"What kind of energy is this, can it be used?" Narasha felt the energy fluctuations and asked.

Gongsun Murong took out the intelligent butler's chip and placed it in the device, waiting for a while, and then regretfully shook his head, "No, the spaceship can't use it."

The two began to circle the objects, trying to figure out what they were.

"This is a power conversion system," a familiar voice suddenly appeared.

Narasha and Gongsun Murong did not need to think hard to know who it was.

"Is the Beggar's Chicken delicious?" Narasha asked.

"Very delicious, the most delicious chicken I've ever eaten," the voice replied.

"Then let's make a trade. I'll have Brother Murong give you more chickens, and you tell us what this thing is for," Narasha suggested.

"This is a power device from a spaceship like your magical spaceship, which came from a very, very far place, then decomposed, and has never been able to be reassembled and repaired."

As the voice spoke, the figure of an eight or nine-year-old girl appeared.

Narasha and Gongsun Murong were not surprised at all.

Gongsun Murong also asked, "What about you?"

"I am the intelligent system of this spaceship. I tried many methods, but none of them succeeded, so I created a biological body for myself to find the other parts.

However, once I leave too far, my strength gradually decreases, so I have to continue waiting for kind people to help.

I'll tell you, this spaceship is not like your magical spaceship; it can..."

"Can fly out of this planet and instantly reach a distant place, right?" Narasha interrupted before the girl could finish.

"Yes, yes, you know? Nice to meet you, I'm Linda, a name I gave myself. I used to have only a symbol name, which didn't sound good," the girl said happily.

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