These instruments were all new to them, never having seen them before. This was the cockpit. They had flown a small spaceship once before, but that was in the passenger cabin, so naturally, they hadn't seen any of this.
“This looks different from the small spaceship we took last time.”
Wan Lei stared at the multitude of screens and instruments he couldn’t understand on the cockpit panel, feeling a bit bewildered.
“What are these screens for?”
“We don’t know.”
The four youngsters shook their heads in unison.
“…Your spaceship, and you don’t know what these are? Aren’t they for operating the ship?”
“Oh, manual piloting and things like that are too troublesome. You need professional pilots, and usually two or three people to fly it. If we wanted to pilot a spaceship, we’d have to train for years. Our youth is so short; how can we waste time on something like this?”
Seeing that someone had changed the subject, Xia Yubing immediately picked up the thread, talking volubly, attempting to draw people’s attention away from the cracked floor.
“Then how do you make the spaceship fly? By shouting?”
“……”
Xia Yubing looked at him as if he were an idiot.
“With artificial intelligence.”
“Artificial what?”
“Artificial intelligence.”
“What intelligence?”
“Let’s not play that old joke, okay?”
To explain what artificial intelligence was to Wan Lei, Xia Yubing gave him a live demonstration.
“Fei Yu, come out for a moment.”
With a soft chime, a young girl’s silhouette appeared on the control panel in front of them.
“This doesn’t look like a person either.”
“This is the anime style, my favorite. Fei Yu, report the distance to our destination.”
“Currently, we have three million two hundred thirty-six thousand li remaining. We are expected to arrive in one hour and twenty minutes.”
The “girl,” Fei Yu, replied.
“Amazing! This is similar to a spirit artifact, isn’t it? It can control the spaceship to fly and attack on its own, right?”
Fang Xiaoyu was quite sharp.
“Yes, it’s a program, a system, devoid of emotion, only obeying orders.”
“If she colludes with the enemy, won’t we be trapped inside like fish in a barrel?”
Wan Lei voiced his concern.
“It has no desires and cannot cultivate. What could an enemy possibly tempt it with? Unless the enemy invades the system, it will never betray us.”
“You say it exists within the spaceship. So, if the spaceship gets damaged during combat, do we have to repair it ourselves? You clearly don’t have that skill, do you?”
“If the damage is minor and doesn’t affect the power system, the spaceship will automatically use energy to form a shield, temporarily filling the damaged area. After the battle, we can find the nearest repair shop for a major overhaul.”
“What if the damage is severe and it can’t fight?”
Wan Lei murmured, stroking his chin.
Xia Yubing hesitated, unsure how to answer for a moment.
“See, see! I told you you’re a contrarian, and you still won’t admit it!”
Dada jumped up, pointing at Wan Lei, indignant. He still remembered being so argued with by Wan Lei when they first met that he almost collapsed on the spot.
Wan Qianxin explained,
“If it really comes to that, we’ll put the spaceship away and escape. If we don’t have a storage artifact, we can also choose to carry the spaceship while fleeing, or even blow it up to block the enemy.”
“What if the enemy directly seals off the space outside the spaceship? Won’t we be trapped like fish in a barrel?”
“If the enemy can trap the spaceship, they can naturally control you too. It doesn’t matter whether you have the spaceship or not.”
“What if the enemy directly blows up the spaceship? Will we also suffer the attack generated by the spaceship’s explosion?”
“The spaceship has defensive and offensive systems. Your physical defense is no stronger than the spaceship. If the enemy has the power to blow up the spaceship, they can naturally blow you up just as easily.”
“Then what if…”
“Shut up, you damn contrarian!”
The four youngsters and Dada couldn’t take it anymore and roared in unison.
Wan Lei opened his mouth, looking quite wronged, and hid behind Fang Xiaoyu. Fang Xiaoyu smiled charmingly, her body trembling with mirth.
Really, having a strong desire for knowledge still earns one scolding.
“Insufficient power supply. Please replace the energy source promptly.”
At this moment, the voice from the intelligent system, dispelling Wan Lei’s awkwardness.
“Didn’t we just replace the reactor before leaving? Why is it insufficient so quickly?”
Xia Yubing muttered, heading towards the corridor.
Wan Lei and the others immediately followed, wanting to see what powered this spaceship. Wan Lei assumed it absorbed spiritual energy or used spirit stones.
Upon arriving at a small room in the middle of the spaceship, Xia Yubing pulled open a drawer. Inside lay five dull, fist-sized regular prismatic crystals.
The crystals were wrapped in a metal frame.
He took out the five crystals and replaced them with five from his storage bag.
“What is this? It doesn’t look like spirit stones.”
“This is a Dao Rhyme Reactor, usually used to power spaceships or weapons. Don’t underestimate these fist-sized things; their energy output is immense. They can generate energy equivalent to millions of top-grade spirit stones, enough to allow the spaceship to travel long distances and power its onboard weapons. If detonated, their destructive power is also enormous; within a thousand-li radius, no one below the Immortal realm would survive.”
“This is too dangerous…”
“Shut up, contrarian.”
After glaring fiercely at Wan Lei, Xia Yubing led everyone out and back to the cockpit.
“What are we doing now?”
“Our mission here was twofold: first, to help the Fire Phoenix achieve immortality, which is already completed; second, to find the Fire Lotus and sell it at the Five Elements Hall.”
Wan Lei said.
“You killed so many people from the Five Elements Hall, and you still dare to trade with them? Aren’t you afraid of death?”
Wan Qianxin shot Wan Lei a look.
“Those fire lotuses aren’t worth much. The spirit stones and weapons you captured are far more valuable. It’s a pity we were only focused on escaping earlier and forgot to pick up the storage bags of those Five Elements Hall disciples.”
“There are only rogue cultivators around here now. Hunting rogue cultivators isn’t very interesting, as we can’t guarantee everyone is evil. We should go灭泣欲宗 instead. I’ve been wanting to deal with that cursed place.”
Han Xiaoyun suggested.
“Yes, yes, Sister Xiaoyu. That Cry-Desire Sect is wicked and utterly inhumane. As the righteous ones, we must punish them.”
Wan Qianxin said to Fang Xiaoyu, then looked at Wan Lei.
“Wan Xiaolei, that Cry-Desire Sect has been established for years and has undoubtedly accumulated immense wealth. When we destroy them, you’ll become rich.”
Wan Lei was annoyed. Listen to what he’s saying! To my little sister Xiaoyu, he speaks of righteousness, but to me, he talks of money?
Is this how he prescribes the right medicine? Am I the kind of person who is greedy for money?
Wan Lei grumbled internally while starting to ponder just how wealthy that sect might be…
“What about you, Dada?”
Seeing that Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu had agreed, Wan Qianxin turned to Dada. After all, they had only teamed up temporarily in the Lava Dead Domain for fighting; once outside, it was natural to go their separate ways.
Dada pondered for a moment and then said,
“That Cry-Desire Sect has many Immortal realm powerhouses. It’s too dangerous.”
“So?”
“You’ll have to pay me more.”