Situated by the side of the large opening—that is on this floor of the building, there is indeed an elevator.
However, compared to a traditional elevator—
"…I suppose they do need something of this size, if they want to move those animals around?"
Saying this, Long Hua finds the sight rather laughable.
The size of the elevator platform, it's more than capable of fitting 100 individuals at once, and wrapped around the platform itself is a tubular wall.
Hitting the button that is marked with a ten, the elevator seals its doors and begins to move upwards.
Arriving on the tenth floor after a few moments, and getting off the elevator, the group of three immediately sees the pale white tree's crown—that is covered in golden leaves.
Drawing closer to the tree, Long Hua asks—
"So then, who exactly are you?"
As a ripple appears on the tree's body, a figure dressed in a white lab coat over a white changpao emerges from within the tree.
"Long time no see."
"Hm?"
Having only met once, and only for a brief period, Long Hua has a difficult time recognizing Jiu Sheng to be the one that he had drawn his ballot from—especially so when the latter's long black hair currently has a few shades of deep green in them.
"Ai, the ballot drawing, does that ring any bells?"
"…Kind of?"
Towards this reply, Jiu Sheng heaves another sigh, as she adjusts her eyewear, whereas Long Hua continues to say—
"In any case, answer the question already."
Pressing a hand to her chest, Jiu Sheng says—
"My name is Jiu Sheng; I am the founder of Nine Lives. During my practitioner life, I was a Half-Monarch from the Primordial Star Realm."
"…"
(…)
Hearing this, the Tai Xuan Emperor narrows her eyes within the dreamscape—for she is quite familiar with the Primordial Star Realm, during her life as the ruler of Planet Ji Jing.
"Calling you here through Jing Yao is because I have something to request of you."
Chuckling aloud, Long Hua replies—
"Sounds like a pain in the ass, so I'll have to refuse."
Having been informed of Long Hua's personality ahead of time by Xu Tian Kun, Jiu Sheng isn't surprised to be refused outright, as she replies—
"I'm sure we can work something out."
"Hmm. I want three magic treasures—filled with the power of the wood, fire, and earth elements."
"…"
Hearing this, Jiu Sheng's expression stiffens, as she mutters—
"Truly, a lion opening its maws—when asking for compensation…"
"If you can't even give me anything that I'd be interested in, I don't see the need for me to give you my time of day."
As footsteps approach their direction, as indicated by the sound of crushed grass, a voice says—
"Hmph, a lion opening its maws can be seen as a majestic sight, but him… He's only just opening his maws like the venomous snake that he is."
Wearing a pair of wooden sandals, while dressed in a black qipao is Xu Tian Kun, and turning to her, Long Hua remarks—
"Oh? Not a ghost no more, huh? I don't mind changing that for you right now."
Towards this remark, Xu Tian Kun raises another cold snort, as she folds her arms beneath her chest, and says—
"Fire and earth are out of the question. However, wood is possible."
"Oh?"
Taking out a stool, Long Hua falls onto it—indicating that he's willing to listen to their request.
"…"
"…"
Simultaneously, Jiu Sheng and Xu Tian Kun showed evident displeasure.
Holding back the urge to complain about Long Hua's attitude, Jiu Sheng says—
"In the interconnected ruins, there is a third ruin beneath the first two. That place, it's the first city to ever exist in the Leng Bing Realm; we call the place—Hope City. It was constructed to be used by the future generation—because the people at the time…- Ai, no point in bringing up such ancient history."
Scratching her head, Xu Tian Kun gets directly to the point by saying—
"Beneath the grounds of that city, there is a massive pool of Spirit Extracts. The city itself, it was designed to spread that pool of extracts out into the entirety of the Leng Bing Realm. However…"
An awkward expression appears on Jiu Sheng and Xu Tian Kun's faces, as they avert their eyes—seemingly ashamed.
"When everyone was focused on designing the city's mechanics…"
"Un, well, the thing is…"
"…"
Narrowing his eyes, Long Hua is able to guess what the issue is, as he says—
"There's a design flaw, isn't there?"
In the same instance, Jiu Sheng and Xu Tian Kun turned silent.
"…"
Taking a step forward, Tian Cheng says—
"A practitioner is required to operate the mechanics, correct?"
"…Basically. Ai, weapon spirits—not having a proper way to manipulate spirit Qi, it's quite a pain."
As Xu Tian Kun dejectedly answers as such, Jiu Sheng heaves a sigh, and explains—
"Can't be helped. We were all pressed for time back then; so, we all just agreed upon the idea that we'll figure something out when we get to that bridge, since attempting to design something that can be operated by weapon spirits alone—on a city-wide scale is… You know."
Not understanding what it is that they are talking about, Jing Yao asks—
"Can I just leave? I'm starting to feel awkward…"
Towards Jing Yao, Jiu Sheng says—
"I do have business with you, Jing Yao. It's related to your older sister."