Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1386: A Leisurely Half-Day at the Teahouse
I talked with Anses about many things regarding Void Navigation, especially some details about the ancestral fleet ships of the past, like how they used limited technology to maintain a powerful long-term Order Field to ensure the massive Ark Fleet could survive in the Void for an extended period, and about the ecological environment and material circulation on the Ark—since the ancestors didn’t have the technology to create materials, Ark supplies were limited. I’m very curious about what the earliest material self-circulation system in the Xyrin Civilization looked like. I might not understand the actual technical details, but Anses himself is not a scientist either, so he told me about the ship from the captain’s and a layman’s perspective.
For me, it was something from years ago, but for Anses, it was something that happened "just over a month ago."
It seems that only these topics can truly make the ancestor so enthusiastic. Otherwise, things like the future of civilization, the Empire’s government, and the Void’s structure totally fail to capture his interest. Which is understandable, as Anses spent most of his life aboard the Ark. He left the training center as a teenager and joined the ship maintenance crew, working various positions for decades, with everything in his life revolving around the ship. Anses learned about the current strength of the Empire from various sources, knowing that the present Empire Starships can complete information displacement in the Void, equivalent to what took the primitive Arks several months, with just a few breaths. He knows that some powerful Xyrin Apostles can even survive in the Void for a long time alone, and this Void adaptability will further improve after the All Clan Sanctification is completed. He’s amazed by the trans-dimensional network of the Macro World, and interested in things like the Void Quadrant and Divine Realm teleportation. Some of these things he had heard of before, while some were mentioned by me for the first time today. Two not-so-technically-savvy people ended up discussing passionately for half the day, with Anses finally sighing with emotion, "These things were unheard of in our time. Back then, who knew the Void was divided into quadrants? No one even thought about the connections between one universe and another. We were all drifting around cluelessly, just going wherever we ended up. Our scientists speculated there might be many worlds in the Void, but no one ever thought you could set coordinates for them, and just by adjusting the frequency of the Order Field, you could reach your destination in an instant..."
"It wasn’t easy to figure these things out," I nodded, "especially in the early foundation-building years, when all Void-related research projects progressed extremely slowly. Because the Void is unpredictable, whether many theories could be applied was almost entirely up to luck. Before the Xyrin Apostles could achieve immortality, developing a new type of navigator could take several generations’ entire efforts. They integrated the previous generation’s memories into their databases at birth, and devoted their whole lives to verifying one or two constants, then compressed their memories into data discs for the next generation—the first high-speed Void Shuttles were developed this way."
"That’s why I feel uneasy just sitting around being venerated," Anses joked as he poured himself tea, "One reason is that I know your development to this point wasn’t easy. The Xyrin people only planted a seed; the rest was all your doing. Besides, I wasn’t even one of the scientists who created the Original Body back then—I can’t just come back to life billions of years later and freeload just because I’m a Xyrin person, living off the achievements of another group millions of years ago."
"Long live understanding." I lifted my teacup, toasting to him with tea instead of wine. Speaking of which, this special tea from the Elf Clan tastes really unique and quite magical: it tastes one-third like tea, two-thirds like juice, and a bit of tree sap bitterness. It’s completely different from ordinary tea leaves, and after drinking it, you can vaguely feel some beneficial energy spreading in your body. If an ordinary person drank it, the feeling would likely be even more pronounced. I thought it might be something like blended tea, but looking at the teapot, there were only these light green little leaves. So it must be some kind of specialty from a specific world of the Elf Clan.
Just then, the young Elf lass who served the tea passed by, and I casually stopped her: "Where did these tea leaves come from? A specialty of your world? Tastes great."
The Elf lass was quite pleased to hear the compliment from the guest but shook her head: "It’s not from us, the Isawin Elves. The manager recently bought it in bulk from a consortium called the Feiyali Void Consortium, said to be harvested from a nursery blessed by the Life Goddess and painstakingly processed over three days and nights to make."
"Oh... got it, you carry on," I nodded, surprised that the Queen of Vendors had so quickly gotten involved in the specialty food industry, even cooperating with the Church. Such astonishing business acumen is truly admirable. Thinking this, I connected with Philis via communication, "Yo, Philis, business is booming, huh."
"Oh, Your Majesty Emperor?" Philis seemed not yet accustomed to the mental communication network. Though connected, she didn’t know who called her, and only responded with surprise after a moment, "What can I do for you today, Your Majesty? Investment management or buying and selling information? We are not currently involved in hiring assassins, but emotional counseling is available, limited to chatting with me for now..."
The more I listened, the more she sounded like that old pirated salesmaster—but Philis’s business scale is much larger than Sicaro’s.
"Stay on topic—I heard you’re recently in the tea business? Even cooperating with the Church on tea?" I said in my mind while sipping tea. There was a reason for contacting the Queen of Vendors over a cup of tea: Sandora likes tea, so if the Feiyali Consortium has good products, why not order directly from them?
However, the moment I asked, Philis’s voice immediately sounded flustered before awkwardly laughing it off, "Ah, ahaha, just a small sideline, nothing like cooperation with the Church really..."
I suddenly had a bad feeling: "...to be frank, what exactly is this tea you claim is harvested from the Goddess nursery?"
Philis hedged and hawed, but my curiosity was piqued and wouldn’t let it go easily. After some prodding, she finally mumbled like a mosquito hum, "...there are lawns under the World Tree..."
I spat the tea in my mouth with a "pff": "What?!"
"It’s not consumer fraud," Philis quickly explained, "though it doesn’t sound good, but don’t they say taking a brick from near the Goddess Temple can work like a Sky Flipping Seal! These grasses can cure more than thirty diseases when juiced..."
I tried to calm down, thinking it made sense, but my curiosity grew even stronger: "Let’s skip the raw materials issue—how did you get inside to pull grass? There are Church Knights and Combat Monks guarding the vegetation around the temple."
Philis proudly answered, "Business requires a sharp mind—we have a garden maintenance project, and mowing lawns is very affordable, deeply discounted for church service. We trimmed all the lawns around the Tree of Life for just over two thousand, incredibly fast and clean, and..." At this point, Philis finally realized, "Oh my, Your Majesty Emperor, you must believe in my sincere heart devoted to religious causes and consumer rights!"
Me: "..."
No wonder some people are destined to succeed—look at that business talent, it’s not something just anyone has. Poor Archbishops of the temple, still had to fork over four thousand, and you can’t even say Philis operates illegally—it’s all about strategy, you see. Should I tell Lilina about this? Given their skills, these two would surely have each other scampering around in chaos.
But thinking they might first cause Shadow City itself turmoil, I thought better of it.
Anyway, after contacting the Queen of Vendors, I recognized one thing: I might never be a businessman since my conscience won’t allow...
Then I noticed someone was looking at me from across the way and suddenly remembered the presence of Anses. Surely my earlier "pff" must have startled him. I awkwardly waved at the ancestor: "No, I’m fine, just made a call with an acquaintance, got a bit carried away learning of her illness..."
Anses definitely didn’t buy that, just kindly offering to pour me more tea: "There’s still some left..."
I hurriedly refused: "No, no more..."
By then it was getting late. Although I felt I could stay out a bit longer, Anses had work concerns and bid farewell. I understood his character naturally wouldn’t detain him, so I ordered some snacks for him to bring back to the other ancestors. After Anses left escorted by a few Royal Guards, I too exited the teahouse to head home. Just as I started to step, I raised my head to see someone familiar approaching... oh, bouncing actually.
It was a girl who seemed barely twenty, very pretty. She wore a lightweight vest that looked like it was woven from seaweed and some fish leather, exuding a youthful charm. Her lower half, however, was a shiny fish tail, decorated with butterfly ornaments and shiny accessories. She moved mainly by bouncing, so even from afar, I could hear the "plop plop" sound of her tail hitting the ground—an old acquaintance, Isana, the Mermaid, and an envoy of the Salvation Army to Shadow City, member of the Shadow City Water Quality Protection Society, and spokesperson for the "Care for Marine Life, Protect Ecological Balance" organization...
But speaking of acquaintances, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen her—this Fish Girl usually resides in Avalon’s lake, with her main office at the Moat. I generally don’t swim well, so I rarely visit her.
Behind Isana were two old men with white beards dressed in purple starry mage robes. They both looked like seasoned Magic Scholars. Although the combination of two old men and a Mermaid Princess seemed a bit odd, it was clear the three of them were together.
From far away, the three of them spotted me. The two Old Mages froze for a moment, while Isana immediately showed a happy expression and then... started hopping towards me. Seeing her excited yet laborious look made me feel tired for her, so I quickly took a couple of steps forward to meet this mermaid: "Hey, Isana, long time no see—by the way, aren’t you a mage? Casting yourself a simple floating or wind-riding spell would make things much easier. Doesn’t your tail hurt?"
"I’m dieting, need the exercise," Isana replied cheerily, bouncing in place twice to keep her balance. "I’ve put on a bit of weight recently; my tail has grown a whole circle thicker."
I really wanted to remind her that the thick tail is because hopping on the ground has made it swell...
"How come you have time to come ashore today?" I supported this mermaid who was struggling to stand on the ground, appearing on the verge of collapse. "Who are these two?"
"I went to give a lecture at a school, promoting the importance of reasonable development of ocean resources and seabed conservation," Isana answered. I knew this energetic Mermaid Princess participated in a lot of impressive-sounding ocean protection organizations, so I wasn’t surprised. Then she pointed to the two Old Mage Scholars behind her, "These are two old mentors I met during a mission to the Otherworld; they’re the most respected Magic Masters in that world. We happened to run into each other at the school, so we came out together."
"In this place, it’s not humble to mention the word ’Master,’" the older-looking (because of the longer beard) Old Mage hastily waved his hand, "We are just students seeking knowledge now. You are... the Emperor?"
"Ha, no need for formalities in private," I shook hands with the two old gentlemen, knowing they were newly arrived scholars from the Otherworld studying in Shadow City. Despite their white hair and elderly looks, over at the Military Academy, you commonly see transfer students who look old enough to be the parents of the entire faculty and students. Little Baobao even has a classmate who’s an Old Master with a beard longer than Gandalf’s. He’s in first grade and even a team leader on duty...
"Are you shopping too, Your Majesty?" Isana pulled my arm enthusiastically. "There’s a teahouse run by the Elf Clan right here. Isawin Elf specialty tea is excellent. Let’s go; my treat today..."
"Wait..." I was about to say I just came from there, but this enthusiastic Mermaid Princess went ahead hopping. I shrugged and followed, with the two Old Mages somewhat nervously trailing behind us. So within minutes of leaving the teahouse, I found myself back in the same seat, with the Elf Waiters looking particularly surprised.
I waved at them: "Haha, new group, same experience again..."
"Have you been here before, Your Majesty?" Isana asked curiously.
"Uh... not too long since my last visit..." I nodded with an awkward smile, quickly changing the subject to avoid any embarrassment for the Fish Girl. "Order whatever you like, but don’t pick that temple-special XXX, I’m... allergic."
Isana glanced at me, likely puzzled as to how anyone could be allergic to something divine. But she probably remembered that a Xyrin Apostle is a type of God, so she didn’t press further. She simply ordered two pots of tea and some snacks. I checked what she ordered and felt reassured: they were all Isawin Elf Clan specialties, likely not herbs...
"Drinking tea is beneficial to health," after the tea arrived, Isana poured herself a cup and gingerly touched it with her lips, immediately grimacing, "Ow, hot—actually, I never knew tea was meant to be brewed. Although we got tea leaves from land, we always ate them as snacks..."
I thought for a moment, figuring the first person to sell tea leaves to the mermaids might be related to Sicaro—can you brew tea underwater?! No wonder Isana always thought tea leaves were meant to be eaten. Growing up in the sea, she never really had the concept of ’beverage’...
The two Old Mages sat across from me and Isana, looking somewhat nervous. I guessed they hadn’t been in Shadow City for long and were unfamiliar with the local customs, let alone having experienced the spectacle of the First Family raiding the market together. A few encounters with them, and they’d remain calm. I chatted with the two old gentlemen a bit to ease the atmosphere, but we still didn’t know each other well enough to chat much, so I turned to Isana to inquire about ocean ecological conservation. She enthusiastically introduced the various public activities she had been involved in recently, especially the initiative she personally spearheaded. It involved an Aquatic Race Rights Proposal jointly signed and published by wisdom aquatic species from twelve worlds, addressing issues like skinny dipping and indiscriminate bathroom use by riverbanks—this mermaid’s extracurricular life was indeed colorful and diverse.
"Oh, Grandpa Lu Qia’en, did you and Grandpa Duncan resolve that issue you were debating?" Isana suddenly remembered something mid-conversation and turned to look at the two Old Mages across the table, then explained to me, "The two of them have recently been debating endlessly over an issue. Both are stubborn and insist on deriving the answers themselves, refusing to look at the correct answers in the Imperial Database."
I immediately felt reverent and intrigued: these two gentlemen looked like the classic scholarly type with profound accomplishments in the magical field. Such people might be stubborn, but their attitude towards academic research was impeccable. I wondered what issue they encountered at the Imperial Military Academy that had them so worked up at their age. Could it be Advanced Arcane theory? Natural Magic? Or Alchemy Theory?
Then I saw the Old Mage with a longer beard smile and shake his head slightly: "Regarding the experiment of adding an object with infinitely large mass in open space to distort and close part of the area’s space, I think it’s feasible, based on gravity’s effect on space..."
The other Old Mage promptly struck the table with his Magic Wand: "Your experimental attitude is not rigorous because you cannot confirm that the space you’re experimenting in follows the ideal foundational rules. Also, you haven’t limited the object with infinitely large mass to possessing finite volume. Moreover, the scope of General Relativity is the third type of classical universe, as Einstein rightly said..."
Old Mage #1 slammed the table: "You are too rigid in your thinking! We need a flexible scientific attitude; adjusting parameters based on the experimental environment, and even redefining them is possible. Language doesn’t always have a unique meaning. As Pythagoras famously said..."
Me: "..."
Watching two Old Mages who look like Gandalf and Dumbledore, respectively, blowing their beards and glaring at each other while discussing theoretical physics almost shattered my worldview. Isana leaned closer and explained softly: "They’re enrolled in the Science Department at the school..."
At this moment, the two mage gentlemen realized their commotion had drawn the attention of the surrounding teahouse guests, so they flashed embarrassed smiles around and agreed: "Let’s go back for further discussion...""Yes, let’s discuss further at home..."
Isana giggled, then remembered something and patted my arm: "By the way, Your Majesty, have you heard about the Ghost Ship affair?"(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to visit [Qidian](qidian.com) and vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)
