Longevity Chronicles-Chapter 44 - 42 Cultivator Heroes, Grand Views and Marvels

Tao Qian returned to Seeking Immortal County without any surprises or dangers. Fortunately, being a bachelor who lived alone, no one inquired about his whereabouts after not returning all night.

He naturally entered the city with a crowd of villagers heading to the market and casually bought some fried dough cakes and soy milk for breakfast. Tao Qian had also found out that most Daoists in this world did not have "dietary restrictions"; they did not have to exclusively eat pure food, drink the gentle breeze, or sip dew without roots.

It was the monks who had more dietary restrictions, or perhaps those from heretical or heterodox paths that had some bizarre restrictions.

In any case, practicing the Dao should not affect Tao Qian's desire for food.

"This Seeking Immortal County doesn't have much in the way of gourmet food. Having a meal at Taoran Inn or trying the mutton hotpot isn't that unusual. I'll still have to travel to the provincial city or to Demon City and the Imperial City."

"The Spirit Treasure Method emphasizes the importance of the heart and mind; only by following one's desires can one make progress, which suits my requirements perfectly."

"Having been reborn, I shouldn't mistreat myself."

"Of course, I shouldn't indulge myself too much, otherwise I could make some big mistakes while getting carried away."

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Tao Qian recalled last night's experiences.

Silently, he made a mental note of the "Beautiful Corpse Bodhisattva" in his little black book in his heart.

Fortunately, this did not affect Tao Qian's cheerful mood. He quickly passed through the market, entered his bookstore's compartment through the side door in the back alley off Vegetable Market Street.

After leisurely finishing his meal and washing up and changing clothes, he didn't give it much thought and moved away the board that served as the door. Greeting the bustling noise of the early market, Chengyou Bookstore opened for the day.

After mending the "Spirit Treasure Nine Truths Diagram," Tao Qian considered whether to continue running the bookstore or not.

The conclusion was to keep it going, as he currently had nowhere else to go.

If he wanted to join the Spirit Treasure Sect, his cultivation was still lacking. He needed to step into the Qi Refining Realm and condense the Spirit Treasure Nine Truths Map within his body to know the location of the sect's gate.

Before that, Tao Qian decided to blend in for a while longer.

There wasn't much business early in the morning.

Actually, there weren't many customers in the afternoon either. Selling those magazine girls and vulgar banned books did earn him silver coins twice.

But such income was like a man's virility, not long-lasting.

Even though there were plenty of licentious old men, they wouldn't come every day to purchase such books. After all, too much self-comforting would inevitably lead to a weakening body; they had to rest.

As for another suggestion from Jia Qiang: selling Western Barbarian books.

That was a small mistake. Tao Qian did stock these books, but the two big bookshops on the main street did the same, and given Chengyou Bookstore's small and shabby setup, it naturally had no competitive edge.

Luckily, after receiving a thousand banknotes from Zhang Xian of the Four Beasts of She County, Tao Qian had no immediate desire for mundane silver coins, so he let it be.

In his boredom, Tao Qian wasn't idle.

In his mind, he silently recited the Spirit Treasure Sublime Dharma.

At the same time, he reflected on the difficulty of cultivation.

"The Spirit Treasure Nine Truths Diagram claims to be an introductory method, which in theory should be very simple, but in practice, it's not the case at all."

"Such a thick book, you need to be in a state of concentration and calm to recite the entire thing, and there are even requirements for tone and rhythm."

"One mistake in a word, start over."

"If those mnemonics were ordinary mortal 'words,' it would be fine and just a test of memory."

"Unfortunately, it's not the case; each word has its own special power, not something you can recite at will."

"For an ordinary person to completely recite it once, it would likely take months or even longer... No wonder they dare say that once one finishes reciting it, they would receive the Spirit Treasure Source Qi and directly step into the Energy-Introducing Realm."

"I skipped this step; perhaps after a few recitations, I could advance from the 'Blood Fusion' phase to the 'Fetus Stabilization' phase, and then attempt to break into the Qi Refinement Realm."

Tao Qian was indulging in his cultivation aspirations within his shop when suddenly the light in front of him changed.

He saw two young men dressed in long robes entering the store, one with thick glasses and a generous face, looking to be in his late twenties and always in good spirits, while the other was older, with rough skin, sharp eyes and a black mustache, quite imposing.

The two customers greeted Tao Qian with a cupped-hand salute; the one with glasses jovially said, "Good morning, shopkeeper. We heard that you've got some Western Barbarian books in, and we came especially to look."

Tao Qian glanced at the two men, returned the gesture, and pointed to a section of the bookstore, "Please, help yourselves."

Following the guidance, they quickly went over.

Each picked up books that interested them; the glasses-wearing customer excitedly counted the titles as he read.

"Calendars from various Western countries, records of changes in ruling groups, railway construction methods, Evolution of All Things, Western Alchemy History, a hundred kinds of secret sailing techniques... these are comprehensive, and all of them are quality books. Unlike Shihan Hall or Daguan Hall, which only select trashy foreign books, the shopkeeper has exceptional taste and insight."

"It's just a pity that there's no essential guide to Franco machine gun production or secrets of making explosive gunpowder..."

"Cough, cough!"

As the glasses-wearing customer muttered excitedly, the man with the mustache coughed to interrupt him.

The former quickly realized and lowered his voice, taking a cautious look towards the counter, only to find the bookstore shopkeeper still focused on reading a book, which made him relax.

However, he failed to notice Tao Qian rolling his eyes under his lowered head.

"I would indeed like to buy those books on essential machine gun production, explosive gunpowder secrets, and secret techniques of producing strange machines... but that would require others to be willing to sell them. Indeed, the translation bureau organized by the Governor of Southern Yue has translated these books, but they are all for internal use; how could they allow a small bookstore owner like me to buy them?"

While Tao Qian grumbled, he also vaguely guessed the identities of the men.

If there was no surprise, both were the type of heroes who sought to resist the court and overthrow tyranny.

Someone else, had they speculated this, might have gone to the government office to report and claim a reward.

But Tao Qian, of course, would not do so.

He pretended to hear nothing and only waited for the two men to buy their books and leave.

However, what he ended up waiting for was a third person who surprised and astonished Tao Qian immensely.

The light in front of the store changed again, when a tall middle-aged man wearing an indigo Daoist robe walked in.

His appearance could not be considered handsome, and his hair was half black, half white, lending him an air of abnormality. However, he had a pair of profound eyes, thick eyebrows that extended towards his temples, and a prominent nose, all of which gave him a particularly heroic bearing.

As he stepped through the door, he nodded to the bookstore owner who was looking at him and then addressed the two who were picking out books, "Xian Yong, Ming Tai, so you two are here, I've been searching for you."

The two addressed looked up and immediately dragged the middle-aged Daoist over with surprise and delight.

"Zhichang, come take a look at this 'Evolution of All Things' and this 'Western Alchemy History'... If what's described here is true and not fabricated, the Western barbarians truly have some impressive skills."

"Hmm, and this railway construction method—if we follow it, our nation's people could also travel a thousand miles in a day, just like transcendent beings among mortals."

The middle-aged Daoist initially listened to their introductions with skepticism until he took the two books and quickly skimmed through them.

Afterward, his expression subtly changed, and a hint of light flashed in his eyes as he said,

"The methods of these Western barbarians are indeed distinct from ours; it's as if they can disseminate great power among countless mortals through machinery and other such mediums."

"This is worth learning from, it's really worth borrowing."

"Is this what Ji Xianxian and several others from the Young and Strong Group are trying to accomplish? Attempting to replicate the methods and secret skills of the Western barbarians in full so that ordinary humans can also possess the power to contend with strange and transcendent entities?"

"And it seems they have already made some initial achievements."

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As the Daoist spoke, the air in the bookstore seemed to sharpen.

This, in fact, was not an illusion.

Tao Qian still looked like any regular bookstore owner with a penchant for lewdness, his head buried in a magazine of girls from the provincial city, seemingly uninterested in the conversation between the three.

But at this moment, a tidal wave of emotions surged in Tao Qian's heart, a strong sensation continually reminding him that the middle-aged Daoist not far away was a genuine human cultivator, and his cultivation was much higher than Tao Qian who was currently at the Energy-Introducing Realm.

"Is this sharp aura from a Daoist cultivator, or is he a powerful warrior who has trained in martial arts?"

Tao Qian pretended not to care, but he was actively guessing deep down.

However, he did not have to speculate for long, as the answer soon came.

The slightly excited middle-aged Daoist stretched out his hand and pointed to the pile of translated Western books, then said to the bookstore owner, "Please give me a total for these books; I'll take them all."

"Alright!"

Tao Qian's performance, once in character, had always been natural.

He stood up to neatly package the books and handed them over while saying, "I've rounded the change down for you. The total comes to fifteen silver coins."

Tao Qian did not actually care about the money.

His enthusiastic service was only to touch the middle-aged Daoist as he handed over the money.

The next moment, Tao Qian got what he wanted.

After all, who could have imagined that there was such an anomaly like Tao Qian in the world, who could sense many hidden messages with just a touch, and therefore, no one would be on guard.

The exchange of silver coins and books happened, and the instant Tao Qian received the fifteen silver coins, his mind immediately felt a sensation.

A mess of information emerged, about to form a strange pattern.

But before Tao Qian could peruse it, a change occurred.

"Dang dang dang"

Outside the store, on the street, a constable could suddenly be heard rushing by, ringing a copper gong as he went.

At the same time, he shouted out a message,

"To protect Seeking Immortal County from the attack of the Devil God Chaos Army, the county magistrate has sent a special request to the court, asking for military support."

"The Governor of the province agreed to this request today and has dispatched several thousand troops to be stationed in Seeking Immortal County, to safeguard the livelihood and well-being of tens of thousands in the county."

"Moreover, the Governor has also sent a super battleship named 'Demon Suppression' to escort them, along with the experts from the Forbidden Immortal Hall."

"They're about to dock at Seeking Immortal Pier, an incredibly magnificent sight. You may only get to see this once in your lifetime, so hurry and take a look."

This message was straightforward but contained a large amount of information.

The people from Forbidden Immortal Hall had arrived.

The new and powerful troops stationed in Seeking Immortal County had arrived.

And of course, the most eye-catching were the words "super battleship."

The common folk loved to witness such wonders and giants.

As the constable said, they might only get this one chance in their lifetime, and after seeing it, they could boast about it for a lifetime.

Thus, as those constables roamed the streets, beating gongs and drums to spread the news,

Soon, all of Seeking Immortal County was abuzz.

Crowds of people flowed from the streets toward Seeking Immortal Pier, clearly all eager to see what the legendary super ironclad, capable of carrying thousands of people to sail the vast oceans, looked like.

Inside Chengyou Bookstore, the four exchanged glances.

Finally, the bespectacled man, with a face full of excitement, suggested, "Shall we... go take a look as well?"

He was obviously addressing his two companions.

But unexpectedly, before the two could respond, Tao Qian had already replied.

He very naturally placed the fifteen silver coins into his pocket, and with a smile and a nod, he said to them, "Let's go have a look, such a grand spectacle is indeed worth witnessing for ourselves."