Longevity Chronicles-Chapter 26 - 25: Half-dragon Half-man, Night to Tengshe

The next morning, after a hard night's work, Mr. Tao awoke refreshed, washed up, and opened the door.

Now, endowed with cultivation power and carrying a huge sum of money,

common sense would suggest it was time to close down Chengyou Bookstore and venture elsewhere.

Yet, after much deliberation last night, Tao Qian decided to stay a bit longer in Seeking Immortal County, living as a scholar as he had before and making plans later.

He had thought about seeking the Great Lifebook Scripture last night, but the world was indeed too dangerous.

The tragic tales of Seeking Immortal Hermit Wu Ming were enough to serve as a warning for Tao Qian.

It was best to plan carefully before acting.

With such thoughts, Tao Qian naturally tidied up the bookstore and tasted some street breakfast foods.

Being in the bustling Vegetable Market Street, the marketplace atmosphere was intensely strong.

Tao Qian didn't need to do much, just watching was enough to gradually dissolve the already thin barrier.

However, it was somewhat frustrating that due to the previous day's purchases, various pictorials and books were sold out.

Chengyou Bookstore's business was once again bleak.

But now, Tao Qian knew how to do business, and with over one thousand yuan in cash and silver coins in his pocket, he wasn't the least bit worried.

The morning passed without many visitors,

except for the familiar neighbors, Li Sanyu and Jia Qiang, the owners of neighboring shops.

These two were also idle and seemed to treat Tao Qian's modest bookstore as an essential stop on their wanderings, specially making time to chat.

Their main point was to share some gossip,

such as the two major events that happened last night in Seeking Immortal County.

The two painted a vivid picture, seeming to have some inside information.

"Tao Scholar, I know you scholars talk about avoiding discussions on supernatural and paranormal matters, but last night's event, the whole county heard it."

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"That Dragon Roar sounded like drums from the barbaric lands; even if you slept like a pig, you couldn't have missed it."

"I have another top-secret piece of news for you. I have a distant nephew who works as a constable at the county government. Last night he saw a strange dragon carrying wind, rain, thunder, and lightning across Seeking Immortal County. It seemed to be moved by the heated blood of the heroes on the Soul Summoning Pole, and actually intervened to save their heads and also rescued two heroic thieves with the same intention."

"An omen of a nation's demise is always followed by devils, but who knows whether this strange dragon is a menace or an omen of good fortune?"

"Anyway, today, only a few old officials stayed at the county government. That cowardly official hid early in the morning, clearly terrified of being attacked by the strange dragon in broad daylight, haha."

"Besides that, you definitely don't know about another strange incident last night."

"It's said that Miss Zhou of the wealthy Zhou Family was kidnapped last night by the notorious devilish sorcerer 'Four Beasts of She County.' Fortunately, at the critical moment, a strange person passed by, not only rescuing her but also killing the Four Beasts."

"Early this morning, Zhou Mansion delivered the bodies of the Four Beasts to the county government. Even though the Zhou family is influential, they didn't care about the reward; instead, they announced that as long as the strange savior comes forward to accept thanks, the Zhou Family is willing to pay tens of thousands of yuan."

"As soon as this news came out, the threshold of the Zhou Mansion was nearly broken by a mob of thugs pretending to be the benefactor. These fools almost got smashed into meat pies by the furious Miss Zhou."

"Miss Zhou said, although last night was dark, she clearly saw that her savior was extremely handsome, like a banished celestial being."

"If another crooked guy shows up, she might just hammer him to death."

…

With Tao Qian's competent assistance, the two gossip-sharing shop owners left fully satisfied.

Tao Qian himself, however, was somewhat puzzled.

He was quite sure of how well he had handled the two events last night.

"Miss Zhou definitely couldn't have seen my face, at most she might have seen me walking away."

"She mentioned someone extremely handsome, like a celestial being... probably the benefactor's halo effect."

"Still, there were some oversights, like forgetting to cover my face, which really shouldn't have happened."

"Next time something like this occurs, concealing my identity will be the top priority."

Tao Qian reflected on his experiences of mischief from the night before, passing the morning without much disturbance.

At noon, Tao Qian didn't hesitate to close the shop.

Before leaving, he grabbed a piece of white paper and wrote:

"Out buying books, will reopen in the afternoon. Upcoming: Lady's Pictorials, Mysterious Books, Martial Arts Mysteries, Western Foreign Books... Limited stock, buy quickly if interested."

A bit wordy, but certainly eye-catching.

Tao Qian patted his hands with satisfaction and turned toward the Seeking Immortal Pier's book market, his gaze filled with anticipation.

The day before yesterday, he had scored the Bai Qin Play Fragment and the Immortal Fish Technique at the book market.

It was natural to have some expectations about heading there again.

Unfortunately, finding such bargains, like having "Golden Eyes," requires an external boost,

and even more so, being in the right place.

Though the book market was somewhat related, it was still a place of the Mortal World; finding Cultivation Secret Manuals there wouldn't be so easy.

Throughout the afternoon, Tao Qian watched as customers filled his shop, but he felt incredibly bored.

Collecting the clinking, shiny silver coins, he thought to himself:

"It seems unrealistic to expect to find bargains at the book market; I should probably try Tengshe Town instead."

"With my acute Extraordinary Perception and the odd format of information, there might be a higher chance of finding Cultivation and extraordinary items in such a convergence of Cultivation and supernatural affairs."

"As described in the Secret Book, Tengshe Town is truly a place of indulgence, with all sorts of spectacular shows… I can hardly wait."

Hours passed quickly as Tao Qian collected money and dreamed away.

As the sky began to darken, Tao Qian ruthlessly ousted a group that tried to finish reading those pictorial magazines in his shop.

Freeloading, this had now become Tao Qian's forte.

Others thinking they could freeload off Mr. Tao was wishful thinking.

After closing the shop, Tao Qian turned back to his partition, placing the brightly polished copper mirror on the narrow table.

Tonight he was set to head to Tengshe Town, a place unlike the book market, truly a transcendent territory.

The Nameless Secret Manual described the town as filled mostly with cultivators of heresy and heterodoxy, and also inhabited by demons, ghosts, and all manners of strange creatures.

Though there was some order, it was faintly pitiful.

Newcomers with little experience could easily lose their belongings without careful attention.

For instance, all their essence blood.

Or even their own life.

Learning from last night's lessons, Tao Qian decided to apply makeup before leaving.

Though he had no cosmetics, nor knew any sorcerous transfiguration techniques, he had his own subtleties.

Facing the copper mirror, Tao Qian began to concentrate, willingly guiding the "Bo Dragon Driving Origin Qi" inside his body.

He was currently in one of the Nine Cultivation Realms, the Body Refining Stage.

As Source Qi flowed with his will, any part he focused his spirit on underwent corresponding transformations.

For example, passing through the skin would slowly grow Bo Dragon scales.

If it lingered on his face, soon his pupils and teeth would turn golden, and his hair and whiskers would emanate a cyan glow.

This same principle applied to the hands, feet, chest, abdomen, or other hidden areas.

Honestly, Tao Qian was quite familiar with this sort of play.

Except unlike playing games in his previous life, this was real operation.

Moreover, the transformation of the body by the Bo Dragon Source Qi was not without cost; besides the continuous consumption of the Source Qi itself, it also brought pain, itching, and more.

Such immediate costs were not something Tao Qian's special ability could exempt.

Within moments, he lost his playful mood.

Enduring some discomfort, Tao Qian made some "modifications" to ensure no one could recognize him as the sour scholar owner of Chengyou Bookstore.

After Seeking Immortal County truly fell into night, a vague mist arose in a dark alley of Vegetable Market Street, blending into the sky with the night breeze.

About a few minutes later, outside Seeking Immortal County.

Beside a mountain path leading to distant dark mountains, a figure suddenly descended from the sky.

By the moonlight, one could vaguely see his appearance.

His height had surged to nearly two meters, and though he wore the long robe of a scholar, the muscles beneath the robe could not be fully concealed.

Not the bulky, overlaid kind of muscle, but a form filled with terrifying explosive power and primal allure.

But what truly caught the eye was his face.

He had human-like "facial features," but many more resembled... a dragon?

His skin toughened by embedded dragon scales, golden vertical pupils, decidedly prominent dragon teeth, and exceptionally elegant, cyan-lit hair and whiskers.

And most distinctly, an almost palpable faint aura of might, unique to a stronger life form.

Any normal person who saw Tao Qian at this moment—

The first thought would undoubtedly not be that he was human.

Rather, they would guess that this was either a demon or some type of alien creature.

"Whether it's the narratives inside the Nameless Secret Manual or what Lin Xiaohua, the Rigui Daoist, said, it's clear that although the Cultivation World is mostly human cultivators, there are also not a few non-human life forms."

"There are countless strange creatures, endless demons, exotic beasts, ghosts, and evil objects."

"Additionally, there are originally humans who later transformed into indescribable, incomprehensible immortal gods."

"My half-human, half-dragon appearance would cause a sensation in the mortal world, but it's probably nothing unusual in the Cultivation World."

"Too many conditions could lead to such life forms."

"Like cultivators whose Secret Cultivation Methods go out of control, humans who have swallowed alien objects, or demons trying to transform into humans."

…

Letting his thoughts surge, Tao Qian, in this monstrous form, utilized the cover of the night wind to venture deeper into the mountains.

Although Tao Qian had extensively studied the Nameless Secret Manual and knew roughly where Tengshe Town was as well as the many rules for entry,

It was still his first visit without anyone to guide him.

It took him a full hour, but with his "Extraordinary Perception," after he crossed over a mountaintop, he saw flickering lights not far ahead.

There, unmistakably, was a town of modest scale, many structures built against the mountains, stretching from the foot of the mountain to its darkest summit.

The dark summit, in shape and contour, indeed resembled the legendary exotic beast, "Tengshe."

And those buildings, from a distance, seemed almost like parasites residing within the armor of Tengshe, the flickering lights eerily suggestive of sucking on flesh and blood, invoking an inexplicable sense of disgust in onlookers.