Fu Xuan was unaware of the two outsiders' thoughts.
It was clear that she was very proud of the Xianzhou's current development.
Noldrei asked curiously, "Master Diviner, could you show me your local educational institutions? Public transportation services would be good too."
"Huh? Ed... educational institutions?!"
The Master Diviner was taken aback, not expecting Noldrei to suddenly pivot to educational institutions.
"That's right. I see a large number of people coming and going here, including many outsiders to the Xianzhou. So, if an outsider wanted to study on the Xianzhou, or wanted to settle down here and have their children educated, what should they do?"
Noldrei's question truly stumped Fu Xuan.
Qingque had always felt that Noldrei was different from other outsiders. See? Didn't he just manage to stump the Master Diviner?
"Are you saying you want to see the scholomance? That's not a problem, but most of our vocational education takes place after one starts working, gradually deepening under the guidance of a mentor. The scholomance education is only to teach you how to be a proper Xianzhou person."
The Master Diviner pondered for a moment, then explained the purpose of the scholomance as concisely as possible.
"That place is just for adult education!" Qingque, naturally familiar with this, explained, "Because of our lifespan, our adults need to be certified through an examination. So that place just teaches you everything an adult should know."
Noldrei wasn't surprised by this. Just as adulthood in Academy City was defined by the recognition of organizational authority, the Xianzhou clearly had a corresponding educational system.
"What a subtly similar choice," he remarked. "It's very much like our place. Our Emperor over there has implemented a similar system."
"I see. No wonder you were able to venture out from your star system."
Fu Xuan gradually began to understand some aspects of the other party's civilization. She keenly sensed that their civilizational structure was completely different from what she had imagined.
The moment Noldrei thought of the scholomance system here, he immediately thought of the management of reproductive rights. He asked, "Then it seems your Xianzhou must have very strict family planning. Have you centralized reproductive rights? After experiencing a population crisis of that magnitude, you must have implemented very effective family planning."
Fu Xuan was startled by his question.
She and Qingque exchanged looks of utter bewilderment.
'Seizing reproductive rights? What the hell is that?'
Qingque imagined that if she were to fall in love one day, someone would come to her door and dictate when she could have a little Qingque. The very thought of it made her lose her composure completely.
"Er, well... we have reproductive freedom here."
Fu Xuan could only clarify this matter. She had no desire to have her future childbearing dictated by a plan.
"That doesn't make sense... strange..."
Noldrei was slightly puzzled but didn't press the issue.
'What kind of evil empire is that?'
Fu Xuan didn't know how to respond. In her understanding, controlling reproductive rights was an incredibly cruel thing.
It wasn't that the Xianzhou hadn't considered similar policies; after all, they had once experienced a population trap crisis.
But centralizing reproductive rights was an extremely difficult thing to do, and in the end, the policy simply faded away.
In the minds of Qingque and Fu Xuan, they could already picture a terrifying civilization that strictly monitored the reproductive rights of every individual.
Fu Xuan didn't dare to ask any more, afraid she would touch upon some taboo.
Elysia wanted to explain a thing or two about Earth's civilization, to clarify that the centralization of reproductive rights wasn't what they thought. She could clearly see the misunderstanding between the two sides, but in the end, she could only sigh helplessly and give up the idea of explaining.
"This is the Exalting Sanctum, the most prosperous place on the Xianzhou. If there's anything you need to buy, you can tell me. It will be temporarily put on the Divination Commission's tab and calculated along with the compensation later."
Fu Xuan hadn't forgotten about the compensation. The memory of her clothes being shredded was still vivid in her mind.
Noldrei seemed to remember something and said, "Master Diviner, when you buy things, do you divine in advance which place is cheaper?"
Qingque explained, "We have three things we do not divine. One of them is not divining for unjust gains. Things like lottery tickets, market fluctuations—none of those can be included."
Noldrei nodded. "I know that one. That's using the rules to profit for oneself. But if you're buying something for your own use, just to save the extra time of shopping around, then theoretically, divining the shop with the lowest price isn't 'unjust,' is it?"
Qingque frowned, stroking her chin and murmuring, "That... seems to be true..."
Fu Xuan immediately retorted, "How is that possible! Aren't you still divining the market fluctuations?"
Noldrei didn't see a problem with it. He countered, "Don't you compare prices at three different shops when you buy things? Isn't that also knowing the market fluctuations? Isn't that also looking at the price differences? It's just a different way of obtaining the information. Doesn't that mean those people are also being unjust?"
"You're twisting words and reversing cause and effect!" Fu Xuan's face almost turned red with anger.
"Master Diviner, I think he has a point too. Besides, even if someone from the Divination Commission did divine the price, we wouldn't be able to tell if they divined it or compared prices at every shop."
Qingque also felt that Noldrei had a point. It couldn't be unjust to spend your own money on yourself, could it? She wasn't using this method to profit financially.
Qingque believed that how one spent money couldn't be classified as unjust; only making money could fall within the scope of injustice.
"If you save money for yourself, isn't that also gaining a benefit?" Fu Xuan detested this kind of shortcut-seeking mentality.
"No, it's not. I'm not profiting; I'm spending money. Master Diviner, surely you don't want to spend more money, do you? I'm just divining so I don't get scammed by unscrupulous merchants. It's a classic case of seeking good fortune and avoiding disaster. There's nothing wrong with that!"
Qingque felt quite wronged. She had only supported Noldrei's idea. Why was she being spoken to as if she had committed some heinous crime?
Noldrei nodded in approval. "Exactly! If seeking good fortune and avoiding disaster is considered profiting, then using the Divination Commission to divine the course of the entire civilization, to seek good fortune and avoid disaster for the civilization, is in itself profiting the civilization!"
"That's not right! It's not what you think! How can collective interests be the same as individual interests?!" Fu Xuan increasingly felt that this outsider was a heretic, here to lead the civil servants of the Divination Commission astray.
"But... if there were no combination of individual interests, then the collective interest wouldn't exist, would it? Does that mean individual interests don't matter?"
Noldrei's question was a bombshell.
Qingque also thought there was nothing wrong with this idea. The Xianzhou itself belonged to every Xianzhou person. Since there was a collective interest, there would inevitably be conflicts between individual and collective interests.
Even if someone from the Divination Commission did divine the price, could you really storm into their home and arrest them? As a leader, how could you propose a rule that you yourself couldn't enforce?
Elysia tilted her head back and sighed.
Weren't they supposed to be out for a stroll? How did they end up arguing like this over whether to divine or not?