Chapter 385

Chapter 386: Immortal Yuan Hao’s Worry

Deep in the Valley near the Black Forest, by the spaceport.

With a pile of black tech from the Special Affairs Bureau’s Engineering Team, the construction here moved at a pace that could only be called unbelievable. The bare foundation that Yu Sheng once “grew” out of the ground now finally looked like a high tech spaceship base.

Centered on the Otherworldly Hotel, the huge ship docking platform now had auto running beacon towers and storage depots around it. Power was live, and the two roads from the spaceport to the Black Forest and to Fairy Tale Town had streetlights. At night the platform blazed with light, and holographic guidance markers circled the spaceport in projection. It actually looked pretty legit.

Of course, the Hotel didn’t have the people to run a real spaceport or maintain it long term, even with lots of automation and low maintenance design. The upkeep would have to be outsourced to a technical crew sent by the Special Affairs Bureau.

Now Yu Sheng’s group and the Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain group stood together on the platform, all craning their necks to stare at the towering Otherworldly Hotel.

The ship had been repainted and had its hull reworked. It kept a solemn black as the main color, but the old ominous dark red trim was changed to white. Wide white lines were added across the mid hull plates so it at least looked like it belonged to a righteous Organization. The jagged, dark spikes on the prow and atop the tower couldn’t be pulled off, because they were stuffed with antennas and Hyperspace generators. Some spikes were even part of the Antenna Array itself. So Engineer Sun and Engineer Liu, who led the hull refit, decided not to remove them. They added a continuous shell like rooftops over those obviously evil looking spikes, turning the spikes into little “mini towers” between the roofs.

After all that, this ship, which already had a church vibe in its gloomy style, simply went all the way and leaned into being a “cathedral.” When it stood on the ground it felt like a church had been warped and stretched by odd ratios into a Giant Tower, with a chapel perched on the tip.

The secondary towers that had floated around the main tower on Antigravity Devices, carrying the Shield Generator and Hyperspace subsystems, also got the Sun and Liu treatment. They were repainted and re-shelled, becoming bell towers orbiting the “church ship.”

Maybe it was just coincidence, but when Yu Sheng looked at the refit Otherworldly Hotel, the first thing he thought of was Luna’s Flame Warden Cathedral out in that Sheltered Wasteland: they had clearly used the Holy Revere Hermitage design sense as a base, and the result kept a very consistent aesthetic.

The main feature of that style was this: you’d feel like stirring background music could break out at any time, and then a ridiculous boss health bar would suddenly appear over something’s head.

He wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

“I swear I saw something like this in a game I played lately,” said Irene, who was sitting on Yu Sheng’s shoulder and craning her neck, “the first scene had this exact look. I half expect a super nasty thing to come stomping out of that tower any second, the kind with feet taller than a person, and I’ll be rolling around under it while holding a toothpick to trim its nails. I’ll hack away forever and its health bar won’t even move.”

Her rambling was so vivid it felt painfully real, and Yu Sheng couldn’t help commenting: “You speak from experience.”

Luna stood quietly to the side, looking up for a long time before letting out a soft sigh: “Now it is much easier on the eyes.”

“The Featherwing sector’s star chart and navigation parameters are synced to the main System,” reported a Special Affairs Bureau tech in uniform, holding a very sci fi looking Transparent Tablet as he faced Yu Sheng, “also, because the control core was reset, all subsystems on the Otherworldly Hotel are still offline. That includes the weapons subsystems. Please take this seriously and avoid danger.”

“Relax, we’re not taking this thing to fight,” said Yu Sheng, waving, “this ship’s main job is to carry me to places I haven’t been so I can open Coordinate Anchors. Once we arrive, we’ll disembark and act on our own.”

The Bureau tech with the tablet opened his mouth, wanting to add more reminders from a technical point of view. After all, the ship really wasn’t in a state for long voyages. With subsystems offline and the main System reflashing unfinished, it was basically a drum Washing Machine with an engine bolted on.

But after a moment of hesitation, he stayed quiet.

Director Bai Li Qing’s reminder still echoed in his ears: the Hotel’s people were all Earth Spirits and talents in their own way. They each had their style of doing things. Best not to pry into their business.

While Yu Sheng talked with the Bureau techs, Yuan Ling and the others who had come along to “visit” were amazed at this Valley that served as the Hotel’s base.

“I didn’t expect Yu Sheng to have a ‘cave estate’ that is a world of its own,” said the tall, lean Immortal Yuan He as he stroked a strand of beard and looked toward the Black Forest, “I’d heard Xuan Che mention it, but I never imagined the Valley would look like this. I can faintly sense a dozen different cycles of qi moving across the Valley Floor. They are linked, yet separate like ten little heavens. Wonderful. If we could rent this place to breed Spirit Beasts, it would make experiments so much easier.”

“Stop dragging your brood of pests everywhere,” said Immortal Yuan Ling with a sideways look at his junior brother, “besides, this Valley used to be an Otherworld. It takes Yu Sheng’s power to keep it like this. As I understand it, every living thing that breeds here is bound by Yu Sheng’s Blood Curse and becomes part of the Hotel. If you’re really willing to hand over those rare beasts you finally raised, then by all means bring them.”

Yuan He froze at that, then lowered his head to think. He leaned closer and muttered: “Second senior brother, that doesn’t sound like orthodox cultivation.”

“People in the Borderland don’t fuss over that,” said Immortal Yuan Ling with a stern face, “and if we’re being honest, your lousy students who raise roaches and mosquitoes look more like Evil Cultivators.”

Yuan He said, embarrassed: “I’ve already punished them, already punished them. Anyone who uses that method to pad their finals again gets a D minus.”

Elsewhere, Immortal Yuan Hao stood with Xuan Che. The senior uncle and junior nephew whispered as they studied the flying cathedral, then finally walked over. Yu Sheng finished with the techs just then. Immortal Yuan Hao stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said: “I just discussed it with Xuan Che. For this trip to the Border, I need to go with you.”

He had barely said that when Yuan Ling showed a face full of objections, so Yuan Hao quickly raised a hand to stop him and added: “I won’t bring Che to cause trouble this time. Junior brother, you can rest easy.”

“That’s not the problem,” said Immortal Yuan Ling in a rush, his tone full of distrust, “I’m worried you’ll suddenly get the urge to ‘travel the world’ again and vanish for years once you enter the Border.”

Immortal Yuan Hao’s face turned awkward: “Now now, junior brother, that’s unfair. When has your senior brother ever lacked a sense of the big picture?”

“One hundred and twenty years ago you went down the mountain to buy two jugs of wine and disappeared for seven years,” said Immortal Yuan Ling, eyes wide, “then a message came from a Bamosian star outpost telling me to fetch you. You had dug up someone’s ancestral grave.”

“Ahem, let’s not bring up the past,” said Immortal Yuan Hao, coughing twice. This old hunk usually looked like a refined immortal lord, but in front of his second junior brother he couldn’t keep any dignity or momentum, “I do have reasons for this journey. Hear me out. Do you remember what that Black robed Cultivator said? Yun Qing Zi is in seclusion in the Border, but not on the planet Sentinel Silence. He’s on another planet, similar to Sentinel Silence, where it rains year round. I’ve been thinking about this all day. No matter how I think it over, there is no such place near Sentinel Silence.”

Seeing the serious look on his senior brother’s face, Yuan Ling finally reined back his doubt. He frowned slightly and said: “You mean…”

“Ancient experts who survived the history-recast era have all kinds of strange methods,” said Immortal Yuan Hao. “Yun Qing Zi vanished a thousand years ago. No one knows what he has done in that time. That region is far from the Grand Void, so news is slow. I’m worried that after years of work on his side, the planet Sentinel Silence and its surroundings may no longer be what we think.”

Yuan Ling didn’t speak. He gave a slight nod for his senior brother to continue.

“I’ve dealt with eerie, twisted realms for years and understand illusions and secret-domain methods. I don’t claim I can outdo the great Forebears, but if Yun Qing Zi really built an unobservable ‘secret realm’ near Sentinel Silence as a base, I should be able to find it,” said Immortal Yuan Hao, face grave. “Also, ancient masters are extremely hard to handle. Yu Sheng and his friends are very capable, but they lack experience fighting top cultivators, especially when it comes to weird tricks. If I go with them, I can help.”

He paused, looked up at the ship on the platform, and hesitated: “Last, there is another reason.”

Seeing the old hunk hold back, Yu Sheng couldn’t help asking: “What reason?”

“…I have a lot of experience with navigation accidents.”

“…?” said Yu Sheng.