As a young woman of several hundred years, Qingque could only follow them back to the courtyard and keep a temporary watch over the three of them.
Later that evening, Noldrei invited Elysia for a 'long talk.'
"I've observed the attire of the local leadership. They've basically maintained a lifestyle similar to that of Earthlings. Their clothing is analogous to our fabrics, but their overall protection no longer seems to be a function of the clothes themselves."
"The jewelry and other adornments they wear are also similar to those on Earth. I also saw paper products in their offices. Although there's a clear process of digitalization, they haven't tried to replace it with something like the anti-counterfeit memory fragments from our Stigma Space."
"And it's not just that; it's also how their leaders hand over their work. They don't seem to have popularized any corresponding long-range communication technology. They still rely on phone-like communication methods, and while they have holographic projections, they're only used for things like advertisements, forums, and meetings in their daily lives."
"Those starskiffs on the road—the flying wooden boats. You all saw them. I was taken for a ride in one on my way back. There are no remote-control mechanisms on them, nor are there any special tools to disable them directly."
"Based on my observations, the traffic management personnel don't have any special means to stop a starskiff directly."
Elysia's account was very detailed. She had traced the trajectory of each technology's application and development through the Xianzhou's daily life—their food, clothing, housing, and transportation.
Just as the power of the Stigma permeated every aspect of the new civilization Noldrei had brought, the Xianzhou exhibited many dissonant elements.
Elysia's head was still full of questions. She was, in essence, a country girl who had never left the solar system.
Everyone had entered the cosmos, and they had clearly seen a civilization with a high rate of energy utilization, yet it didn't exhibit the phenomenon of having "no weak links" that Noldrei often spoke of.
The current situation on the Xianzhou was different from what Noldrei had told Elysia. Not only did these people have weaknesses, but their weaknesses were all in different areas.
Noldrei had also made some gains. He recalled the information he had coaxed out of Qingque.
"I asked the young lady about their local history. I found that in many areas, their development follows a traditional master-apprentice system, somewhat like the relationship between a graduate student and their advisor back on Earth."
"But there's also a very clear personal dependency. Most of the historical structures they display are based on pre-determined appointments rather than broader competition."
"Even I pre-ordained Kiana as my successor, but that's because Kiana not only possesses the Kaslana Stigma, but I also modified her body to be the same as mine. But even so, I still found her many competitors with the same abilities. Even if these rivals haven't matured yet, they are all qualified enough to vie for the highest position. If such a new power were to appear one day, it wouldn't matter whether Kiana held that position or not."
"However, this place called the Xianzhou is a bit off. It seems as though the power of some 'Aeons' has constructed a relatively loose civilizational framework. Whether it's the so-called Xianzhou or other civilizations outside it, they should all be uniformly called 'Aeon Civilizations.'"
Just from the Xianzhou's history, Noldrei could see that the Paths constructed by the Aeons were the true framework for advancement. All other so-called titles and competitions did not surpass the societal structure woven by these Paths.
Elysia thought of something and said, "On my way here, I also saw bookstores and places that sell music. I can understand bookstores; if the habit of reading has been passed down through a civilization, it's not impossible for such a traditional way of reading to remain."
"If it's truly as you say, and the power of the Paths has permeated every aspect of this civilization, with everything else being merely an accessory for Path transformation and advancement, then the scene we're witnessing now is not so surprising."
"Speaking of which, what exactly are these 'Paths'? Why don't we have them back home?" Elysia asked Noldrei curiously.
Noldrei shook his head. "I'm not sure. We can just ask them again tomorrow. Judging by what that young woman Qingque said, it's clearly not a taboo topic, but something everyone knows."
After the two of them briefly compared their findings, Elysia was kicked out the door by Noldrei to go to sleep with Senti.
Senti had been busy for a long time, all her energy focused on repair work.
Elysia and Noldrei, on the other hand, had gathered a lot of information about the Xianzhou civilization, only to discover that this universe was not quite what they had imagined.
After taking a shower, Elysia climbed into Senti-Mobius's bed.
Her syrupy-sweet voice immediately jolted the nearly asleep Senti awake.
"Little Mei, make some room for me. I'm going to rest now, too."
"There's so much space in this room, and you just have to sleep with me, don't you?!" Senti was about to be driven insane by this woman.
"Don't be so angry. Let's deepen our relationship a little."
"In your dreams! I have no interest in deepening any relationship with you. You should go deepen your relationship with Mobius, not with me, the Herrscher of Sentience!"
Because Senti had accidentally taken Mobius's memories, she had completely adapted to Mobius's image. But in some ways, she was still different from Mobius. For example, her enthusiasm for scientific research was a notch below Mobius's.
"I saw some interesting things today! Don't you want to hear about them?"
"Nope!"
"Then tell me how the repairs on the Cosmic Juggernaut Train are going."
"We're missing a lot of parts and need to find a lot of substitutes. And this stuff is hard to find in the first place. Everything on the Cosmic Juggernaut was specially made with Honkai factors. Honkai alloy is also difficult to adjust here. Although we could use the Cosmic Juggernaut's core to re-forge the Honkai alloy, we're on someone else's turf, so it's better to think of a safer way."
Elysia listened intently to Senti's explanation, cross-referencing the information with what she had seen of the Xianzhou civilization.
Based on the operational logic of the starskiffs, the Xianzhou civilization's method of interstellar travel was likely very different from what she had imagined.
She just didn't know how big the gap was.
"Little Mei, have you noticed?"
"What?"
"I mean... that we could still find a place like this outside of Earth. They seem to adhere to a 24-hour cycle. And I even saw ginkgo trees from Earth here. Do you know what that means?"
Senti's eyes snapped open, and she stared at Elysia.
Of course she knew what it meant.