Chapter 56: What Efficiency Looks Like! The Pressure is on Lin Zhao...

Sa'a thought about it for a moment, finding it truly unimaginable, and could only say weakly, "Well, I've never seen anything so great."

Lin Zhao raised an eyebrow. "Have you heard of it? Have you ever heard of such a thing?"

Sa'a shook his head. "A secret treasure that can help many, many people—let alone heard of it, I've never even dreamed of it."

Sensing something amiss, Lin Zhao tentatively asked, "Then what are the artifact secret treasures of Qigong Country mostly like?"

Mentioning this instantly perked Sa'a up. "The most common artifacts are living whips. Like snakes, they patrol every workshop, lashing anyone who slacks off. People are often whipped until they're covered in blood and unable to work, only to be cast out of the workshop."

"..." Displeased, Lin Zhao tightened his grip on Ji Yaoguang's fingers.

Recalling the situation in Qigong Country, Ji Yaoguang silently took a step back, trying to make his presence as minimal as possible.

"There's also the astrolabe. It's huge, floating in the sky like duckweed, blocking the sunlight. It's powered by strong gales, but it requires many people to climb up and maintain it every day. The violet sun at high altitudes is extremely intense; after being exposed, many people have to recuperate under the holy wood fire for a long time before they can go back out to find work..."

"In addition, the sovereign's puppet heaven requires people to provide spirituality. The citizens must offer a portion of their blood every year to nurture the puppet heaven, so that it can sustain the entire domain of Qigong Country and resist the corrosion and assimilation of the wilderness..."

Sa'a counted off several large-scale secret treasures and artifacts on his fingers before finally shaking his head. "We don't want any great artifacts anymore. In recent years, those of us common citizens fear nothing more than some major family inventing another large-scale artifact. Just thinking about it makes my heart ache."

Lin Zhao's scalp tingled as he listened. "Doesn't the shaman god care about a kingdom like this?"

Sa'a blinked in confusion. "What does this have to do with the shaman god? The Shaman Country never interferes in the internal affairs of the vassal states. Qigong Country was founded when Sovereign Qigong and his followers carved out a realm in the wilderness. Our survival and our very lives are bestowed upon us by the sovereign, so our flesh and blood, our souls, belong to the sovereign—they have nothing to do with the shaman god."

Hearing this, Lin Zhao immediately realized that this detestable kingdom had thoroughly distorted the worldview of this poor youth. Though his anger flared and his hostility rose, his mind quickly calmed down.

He took a deep breath and asked gently, "Then, have you ever thought about living somewhere else? Like the Di Country—don't you think life for the citizens of Di Country is much easier and more relaxed?"

Sa'a smiled shyly, politely refusing with a hint of small pride. "No need. Life in Di Country is too miserable. At least in Qigong Country, there's meat to eat, and we can earn more blue-gold shells by crafting parts for secret treasures and artifacts in exchange for spiritual items and resources. Di Country is so barren it lacks even the ores to trade for such things; they can only risk human lives in the Vast Sea, exchanging war for ash and fierce souls. Well, we people of Qigong Country might be a bit tired, but it's still better than being dead."

This...

Lin Zhao couldn't help glancing at Ji Yaoguang, shocked. "What? Di Country is so wonderful, and yet it's still at the very bottom of the contempt chain?"

Ji Yaoguang whispered in explanation, "After all, Di Country is a new vassal state of just over three hundred years. It lacks deep foundations and has few industries. It was originally formed by the proliferation of the garrison legion left behind in the Vast Sea. To have its current strength is already a testament to Ah Li's exceptional ability. Without blood taxes, what else can they do?"

Lin Zhao felt an intense knot in his chest. But after all, he was not the youth before him; since the boy was merely subjected to a grueling routine akin to a modern ninety-nine-six work schedule with no insurance, high pressure, constant whipping, zero dignity, and health hazards—yet managed to scrape by while being better off than some and worse off than others—he wasn't about to shout slogans to overthrow Qigong Country and turn it into Di Country. Thus, he could only listlessly shrink back into the old tree's embrace.

The youth, however, had grown quite talkative and couldn't help telling Lin Zhao about the good aspects of Qigong Country. For instance, you could start working from childhood, and working meant income—unlike in Di Country, where helping out at home brought no money and only invited scoldings. Moreover, outside of their studies, they could help out in workshops, witnessing what true puppets looked like and thereby paving the way to forge their own natal puppets.

Most importantly, he spoke of how after death, they could go to the sovereign's puppet heaven and choose a puppet within it to serve as a body, thus gaining a second life... In the puppet heaven, the sky was blue, the sun was uncorrupted, work was never tiring, and the world was beautiful...

The more Lin Zhao listened, the stranger it felt. Weren't these poor bastards completely mapped out from birth to death?

You idiots, you're being sold and still helping them count the money!

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and he couldn't help pinching Brother Yaoguang's hand hard.

"Why is it called the puppet heaven?" Lin Zhao interrupted. "Is it a puppet bigger than the sky?"

"The puppet heaven is the sovereign's domain totem," the youth said, his eyes filled with excitement and worship. "Within the totem, the sovereign has evolved a world containing endless puppets. He carries an entire puppet army with him everywhere, invincible in the wilderness. No fierce beast can stop this endless army, and enemies can even be trapped within the totem to become nourishment for the puppet heaven. This is the power of a Heavenly Shaman!"

Lin Zhao nodded. "How does its combat power compare to the Sovereign of Di?"

The air fell silent, and a strange, oppressive atmosphere settled around them.

The dozen or so other passengers who had been sitting quietly in their rudimentary seats stared at them with gloomy gazes.

"Well... the sovereign makes secret treasures, he's a production-class professional, how can he compare to a combat-oriented fierce beast totem..."

The youth mumbled in self-defense, retreating into a corner.

Ji Yaoguang whispered quietly, "When it comes to fighting, you can rest assured about Ah Li's combat power. Among all the Heavenly Shamans, he ranks in the top three—and the top two have never beaten him. As for the Sovereign of Qigong, he's been at the bottom of the twenty-four vassal states for many years."

With that, he added quietly as an afterthought, "He can't even beat Si Jin."

Because of Lin Zhao's previous question, the atmosphere on the subway had grown bizarre, and Sa'a no longer dared to speak.

The chat came to an end. It wasn't until they were getting off that Sa'a whispered to Lin Zhao, "My home is in the underground dormitory by the entrance of the Academy. If you have time, you can come visit."

Lin Zhao nodded, watching as the youth touched the small pouch at his waist, and smiled. "Inside there... that seems to be one of Si Jin's feathers?"

He could sense the aura, though it was extremely, extremely faint.

"It should be. The Sovereign of Di is thrifty and runs a tight household; a Heavenly Shaman's feathers, bones, and blood are very precious materials, so selling them is normal." Ji Yaoguang couldn't help smiling. "It's just that your current identity isn't convenient to expose; otherwise, a single feather of yours would probably be worth even more than my marrow-wood, easily enough to trade for an entire city."

Not wishing to dwell on his own feathers, Lin Zhao promptly changed the subject. "A single feather of Si Jin's has that kind of value?"

Ji Yaoguang smiled gently. "A-Zhao, have you been with me for so long that you've forgotten what you were like when you were just a little shaman?"

Lin Zhao suddenly came to his senses and couldn't help looking at his own hands. When he had first time-traveled, the version of himself who could be scared to death by a single roar from a Bo beast was from a very, very long time ago.

He too had known a time of weakness—though brief. In those weak days, attacks delivered with all his might couldn't even scratch Brother Yaoguang's skin, and he hadn't even possessed the qualification to approach the shadow of Xuanwu.

Back then, when he was blown away by the aftermath of the battle between the old tree and the divine remains of Xuanwu, his resilience had almost given way to the despair of never wanting to fight such a boss again.

At that time, his shamanic power might have been even lower than that of the feather-buying youth.

And this youth named Sa'a lacked his own terrifying cheats; he could only trade ten years of bitter labor for a single feather of a Heavenly Shaman.

"Alright, let's get out!" Not daring to dwell on it further, Lin Zhao tugged the old tree out of the subterranean palace. "Let's go find the Di..."

His words cut off abruptly.

For right at the exit of the crowd, a tall, handsome, and striking young man stood quietly, dressed in a slender white skirt-armor with long hair cascading down. Meeting his gaze, the youth hooked the corners of his lips slightly, while ordinary shamans around him completely failed to sense his presence, eerily parting to walk around him.

"Ah Jin said you were coming," Si Li's beautiful vertical pupils gazed fixedly at Lin Zhao and Yaoguang, "so I waited here."

Ji Yaoguang smiled slightly and led A-Zhao forward to greet him. "With you here, I'm relieved."

Curiously examining his attire, Lin Zhao asked, "Is this outfit of yours a battle armor transformed from your totem?"

It looked truly stunning—at first glance, it was god-tier war-god equipment, the kind that would sell for top dollar as premium gear in a video game.

Si Li chuckled softly. "No, it's clothing made from a Basilisk's shed skin. I wear it to sell goods here in Qigong Country."

Lin Zhao was startled. "Sell goods?"

"A Basilisk's shed skin is massive and counts as a fine material," Si Li said casually, reaching out to stroke the armor. "Most of it is supplied to the Shaman Country, but I kept a small portion to wear as a sample, and Qigong Country is willing to buy it at a high price."

"This is clearly live-streaming e-commerce promotion," Lin Zhao marveled in admiration. "Weren't you supposed to come to Qigong Country to help out with a job? I heard it was quite troublesome—is it finished?"

"Not quite," Si Li smiled faintly. "That matter is rather troublesome. The sovereign's puppet heaven is acting up again, and he needs me to help suppress it during maintenance. It will take a little time."

"Suppress it?" Lin Zhao didn't understand.

"Mhm, the puppets in the puppet heaven have rebelled," Si Li shook his head helplessly. "Over a hundred million puppets... how could one possibly tell which ones are the rebels? Yet this is the foundation of Master Qigong, so they can't all be destroyed. But I can't stay here long either, so I'll still have to leave after a few days."

With that, he smiled. "Putting that aside, I already know about the dream you told Ah Jin."

As he spoke, he produced a dozen or so memory light spheres. "This kind of secret treasure isn't a complex spell array, nor does it require profound incantations; it only needs simple shamanic connection. Imagine—any ordinary person, as long as they possess this secret treasure, could instantly communicate with friends and family anywhere... This concept was actually proposed a long time ago, and quite a few ritual shamans have even built prototypes, but they've never been popularized. I asked Qigong for these models; take a look and see which one suits your wishes best."

Flustered, Lin Zhao caught the ping-pong-ball-sized spheres, and when his hands weren't enough, he even pulled at the old tree's skirt to use as a pouch.

Smiling, Ji Yaoguang helped him catch them. He couldn't directly solve A-Zhao's problem himself, but his connections were vast.

"Wait, you're this efficient?" Cold sweat broke out on the forehead of Lin Zhao, the sponsorship seeker, as he felt the mounting pressure.

Si Li's vertical pupils slowly flattened and rounded, the cold-blooded predatory look receding while the intelligence within them gradually heightened. "Is there a problem? The stronger my power, the lower my intelligence—the arrangements just now were made while I was in a semi-combat state. If there are any flaws, I can go adjust them. Do you need me to go drag Qigong here for you?"