"Empty stones," the search and rescue team said, "but they are not for sale." ”

What they are talking about is naturally the three empty batteries that Wu Xiaoqing brought out from the room of the space station - they were originally intended for energy storage, and they are also the core of their mission.

The shopkeeper's eyes were nailed to this void stone, as if he had screwed it on, and he couldn't let go of it anymore, he didn't seem to hear what the search and rescue team had just said, and directly said: "This empty void stone, if Brother Dao intends to sell it, I can sell 20 spirit stones!" 20 pcs! ”

As he spoke, the shopkeeper repeatedly compared the number with gestures, as if he was worried that he would not know how to count.

Wu Xiaoqing directly took the bag back: "8 empty stones, give you three more, just fill these three." ”

"Brother Dao," the shopkeeper only regarded Wu Xiaoqing as air, stared at Yan Xiu and said, "20 spirit stones, you can ensure that you are in the limelight at this spirit inspection conference, and maybe you can win some rare magic weapons, and this empty void stone, even if it is a collection of the strength of the nine major sects, within a hundred years, I am afraid it will be difficult to fill it." It's just an ornament. ”

Yan Xiu put all the empty batteries in front of the shopkeeper: "Let's charge these three first, but how many hours does it take?" ”

"Just two hours...... This is a void stone...... Alas, come with me. ”

The shopkeeper waved his hand, and his stall was put away in an instant, and then the shopkeeper pinched the sword trick, and a black flying sword came out of the wall, and then flew forward with the shopkeeper. Wu Xiaoqing hurriedly went back and tied himself to the flying carpet, and then Yan Xiu took him and chased after the shopkeeper.

After flying for 20 minutes, they finally entered a narrow alleyway, where the shopkeeper stopped in front of a large void meditating people, and then shouted to them: "Filled with spirit stones, which of you are coming?" ”

Someone in the crowd asked, "How much?" ”

"Three."

It seems that some people dislike this number is too small, and after hearing it, everyone's response is not very enthusiastic.

A group of teenagers who were talking in the corner turned their heads at this time and said in unison, "Leave it to us." ”

The shopkeeper flew to those people, took out three empty batteries and handed them to a few people, whispered a few words to them, and then took out six empty batteries and handed them to them - Wu Xiaoqing only saw clearly at this time that the number of these people was a total of six - each of these six empty spirit stones, each of them took one.

Looks like that's what they get paid for.

Then they start charging.

The process of charging, like the use of electricity, is to put your hand on the spirit stone, but when you use electricity, you take out the electricity from the battery, but charging, it is to put the electric energy stored in the body again. This kind of process is obviously the first time he has seen it - he has heard from the master that there are similar exercises, but for immortal cultivators, this method is extremely uncost-effective - the loss is huge.

Generally speaking, after a spirit stone is fully charged, the spiritual power it contains is probably equivalent to Yan Xiu's current level of practice for more than a month, but if Yan Xiu wants to fill this battery in turn, it may only be enough to charge one-third. Such a waste of spiritual power, but not increasing one's own cultivation, is a huge waste of time for immortal cultivators.

And time ...... Well, immortal cultivators really don't have to care too much about this thing in this world, and it's really not a wealth.

It can be seen that the taste of charging is definitely not as comfortable as using electricity, and the three teenagers who are charging are tightly locked on their brows, as if they are struggling. This expression made Wu Xiaoqing a little sympathetic: "It feels like constipation." ”

In fact, not to mention, in terms of Yan Xiu's explanation, charging and constipation have a lot in common - the same is to transfer some things from one space to another, and the process also requires a lot of energy, and these things themselves, to some extent, are an important part of the human body.

The shopkeeper had already left at this time, according to his explanation, after charging, he only needed to take the three spirit stones directly from here, and this would be fine - before leaving, the shopkeeper also mentioned the matter of turning into virtual stones, and raised the price again - 23 spirit stones, which is the highest price he can offer.

Of course, the search and rescue team would not agree, dozens of spirit stones were not too tempting for them.

According to the estimation of the search and rescue team, the amount of electricity contained in each ordinary spirit stone is at most a few thousand kilowatt-hours of electricity, and as long as they go back to the space station, it is not difficult to replenish this electricity. But antimatter batteries - even if you search all over the earth, it is impossible to find one, even for previous search and rescue teams, this kind of thing is still a high-end reserve energy source, not easy to use.

The most important thing is that even after this mission, they will not leave empty batteries - these things will be very important in future missions.

While waiting, Wu Xiaoqing found that the entire street seemed to be specially used to fill spirit stones—to some extent, this street was like a simple electricity trading station. It can be seen that many people come here from time to time, take the empty batteries from others, and start charging them like the teenagers in front of them. When that's done, they'll leave with their pay—either empty or some half-full batteries.

For Wu Xiaoqing and the search and rescue team, this model is easy to understand - is it work for money.

However, Yan Xiu didn't seem to be able to understand the behavior pattern of these people, and he asked the few teenagers in front of him who were charging for them strangely: "Why do you waste your cultivation efforts and do such things?" ”

"There is no flying sword, there is nowhere to stay," replied the young man who was about to take the turn, "the world is difficult, but it is not what we were born again." At the beginning, if you found a random sect to join, you could get free spirit stones and flying swords—now, you need to bring everything yourself. The equipment is insufficient, and I can't even find a place to live, so I have to come to the Spirit Island to recharge for people to live. ”

"But I see that the price of the flying sword has not increased."

"The price of the flying sword has not risen, but the sect's reserves are running out. Brother Dao still doesn't know, since 15 years ago, the nine major factions have stopped selling spirit stones, flying swords and magic weapons, which has made spirit stones increasingly scarce, and many small sects and small sects have gradually reached the point where there are no swords to use and no stones to store. ”

Speaking of this, the young man couldn't help but sigh again: "After that, there may be great changes in the Ascension Realm. ”

The search and rescue team did not feel the slightest surprise at this: "The Matthew effect of wealth, this is the state of course...... The free economy of more than 1,000 years ago was only because these sects were not yet in the climate and were too scattered. ”

"If you do what they say, I'm afraid that in a few hundred years, those who are later reborn will have to face the situation of becoming slaves - flying swords and spirit stones may be completely monopolized, just like the state has a monopoly on violence. At that time, the weak side in the competition can only become a charger for the strong. ”

Wu Xiaoqing didn't understand economics, and he asked, "These immortals are not afraid of death...... How could he be willing to be a slave? ”

"Enslavement is not necessarily due to violent coercion," the search and rescue team explained, "On your planet, people enslave each other with money, and you all willingly accept it, why?" Money gives you hope. ”

"It's the same here, as long as you promise them some flying swords, magic weapons, and the like, they'll be willing to recharge their batteries - otherwise, there's no better way to live. This is the inevitable outcome of the game. On this planet, the current state of society is inherently unstable, and changes are certain. ”

The first man was only half full, and he gave up continuing, and then the second man came up to take over. The first teenager did not leave quickly, but meditated on the spot and regained some aura a little.

Because there was no flying sword, when this person left, he could only do the same way Wu Xiaoqing did when he first came to the space station, using the bouncing force of his feet along the wall to provide speed. Compared to the flying immortals, his movements seemed so clumsy and slow, as if a beetle had fallen into a honeycomb.

"Judging from the behavior pattern only, they are now two creatures, one can fly, the other can only jump," the search and rescue team asked Wu Xiaoqing a question, "Wu Xiaoqing, give you a question to use your brain, if we don't come, these two classes will definitely have a confrontation in the future." You say, "If you fly, will you win?" The one who jumps will win. ”

Wu Xiaoqing can understand this metaphor: "It's jumping, there are many of them." ”

"You're thinking of the history of the earth, analogous to the peasant uprising...... But you are wrong, it must be the victory of flying, and I am sure that in the current mode, in the end, the whole world, there will only be one person who can fly, and that person will control all the power supply in this world. ”

"Impossible, right?" Wu Xiaoqing subconsciously denied it.

"If it weren't for the destruction of the fuel ship, which led to the current crisis...... This is the inevitable result. Then the search and rescue team said: "Of course, if this is the case, it also means that the lifespan of this sub-civilization itself will not be too long." Any idea what that means? ”

Wu Xiaoqing nodded as if he didn't understand, and then the search and rescue team said the answer: "It means that we saved them twice, went to the hospital once, checked out two diseases, and operated on them once." ”

Wu Xiaoqing smiled: "Then their luck is really good." ”

"Okay?" The search and rescue team looked at Yan Xiu in front of him, as well as those who were suspended in the air, meditating, and this time he did not speak again. The fact that two diseases can be detected in one examination largely means that the condition of the patient himself is extremely poor, and even more so for civilization. The civilization in front of us is like a drowning patient who is sent to the hospital and found to have lung cancer.

Drowning is easy to treat, but lung cancer is ......

Three hours later, their spirit stones were finally filled, and Yan Xiu took Wu Xiaoqing and left the Spirit Island almost impatiently. Like the search and rescue team, the "new thing" that happened on the Spirit Island was also extremely shocking to Yan Xiu - the familiar world in the past seemed to be undergoing some irreversible changes. Although he couldn't understand what the search and rescue team said, the intention was clear - the Ascension Realm was deteriorating.

And Wu Xiaoqing, apparently known to Yan Xiu, is the only person who has a way to stop all this from happening.