Pursuing Immortality

Early morning, Bai Town.

The county-level city had quite a few small morning fairs but only a single big one, which was opened right outside the western ring of the town. All year round, for the three hours between five and eight in the morning, the street several hundred meters long was jammed by the busy market.

Small tradespeople and peddlers gathered here from the suburbs, and one would not be surprised to find any odd thing sold here. Of course, that was before everything had happened. Starting from the middle of last year, this morning fair was going into recession.

Phoenix Mountain could take care of the vicious creatures, but there was nothing they could do about the general decline of natural conditions. The vegetable plots were taken over by strange grass, fish tore into one another in the fishponds, and the orchards were infested with insects—and it didn’t stop there. Pork, chicken, duck, tofu, sweet potato noodles, spring onion, ginger, garlic… you name it. Even rice and soya-bean oil were harder to find these days.

The scarcity of resources was hitting the country as a whole. It was like staring at an hourglass nailed down at one end. The sand was dropping fast, while you could do nothing but watch it emptying itself.

Snuffle…

Liu Ziming sniffed a little and strolled the street wearing a pair of old-school padded mittens.

Thanks to the help of certain sky-turning patriarch, their project had been shortened by twenty days and the workers were paid proportionately less. All plans were thrown off the rail—the construction materials for the next stage had yet to arrive when they were ready to move on!

Old Shui had to make emergency arrangements to make only part of the construction site in operation. Hence, the workers took turn to take half a day off. Since that wasn’t enough for him to go back home, Liu Ziming thought he could buy something and asked Old Shui’s freight company to take it back for him.

After a little while, he spotted a shop by the bleak street was open, selling grains and cooking oil. He entered it and asked, “Any rice?”

“Rice? Do I look like I have rice?”

The shop owner was a bold guy and not the most polite man.

“How about flour? Or cornmeal?”

“That’s everything we’ve got. See it for yourself!” The shop owner pointed around the shop.

Wiping his nose, Liu Ziming scanned the room. The shop was barely running a business. There was no rice, no flour, nor any soya-bean oil. A thin layer of sorghum rice hardly covered the bottom of its container and there were some soya beans and red beans in other containers.

The shelf looked emptier. Even dried noodles were sold out, and a handful of Sichuan pepper and aniseed took the place. Surprisingly, there were quite a lot of potatoes, as well as several bags of strange-looking powder.

“There, there’s nothing left. What do you eat, then?” asked Liu Ziming in confusion.

“You’re not from around here, aren’t you?” The shop owner darted him a look and said, “Guess what? We all need a permit for the stock now; there’s a ration for all of us. We aren’t even allowed to raise the price—no more than 30%! What a load of sh*t! We get like a mouthful and there’s barely anything left to sell after we take out our own food. How am I supposed to run a business with the little money we sell it for?”

“Ha, that’s right…” Liu Ziming smiled obsequiously, then asked, “So, when do you stock up again?”

“The beginning of next month, probably. Why, you wanna order some?”

“Yes. How much is rice and flour?”

“Forget about the flour. No one can get it. The cheapest loose rice is 6.4 yuan a kilo. The better one is sold in five-kilo bags, and that’s 70 yuan a bag.”

That was not too bad!

The cheapest loose rice was about 4 yuan a kilo before. Liu Ziming did the math in his head and asked, “How much am I allowed to buy?”

“Why, you’re a smart guy!” The shop owner was a little surprised at the question. “You’ll need a permit too. Grown men like you can buy 9 kg a month at most.”

“In that case, I’ll have 9 kg.” Liu Ziming nodded and looked at the potatoes and the bags of powder. “How much are the potatoes?”

“2 yuan a kilo. This is pure potato flour. It doesn’t taste so good, but it’s food.”

“Oh, I’ll have some of those each.”

Hence, Liu Ziming bought a bag of potatoes and a bag of the potato flour, both very cheap.

Even with the legendary Professor Yuan, time was still needed to cultivate the new hybrid rice and release it to the market, but people had to eat during this transition period, hence the implementation of the government control over the food—similar to the economic regulation during wartime. After making sure that all citizens were provided with the basic amount of food and clothing, all the other resources were focused onto the cultivation and development of new food sources.

People of this country had been eating rice and wheat flour for thousands of years; that was a habit very hard to change. The relative prices of rice and potato were to give the people an incentive to change that habit.

After Professor Yuan finished his work on the hybrid rice and the agricultural bases all over the country were completed, food resources would be plentiful again.

Liu Ziming left the shop with his prize and passed a meat stall a short while later. It occurred to him that his wife had not had a bite of meat for days, so he went up to the stall and asked, “Any pork?”

“Yea, but I don’t think you can afford it,” the stall owner replied without even looking up as he scraped his knife noisily along the knife-sharpener. He then began to cut a strip of odd-looking meat that had more fat then lean parts and was of a blackish red color.

After what he had seen in the shop, Liu Ziming knew better this time and asked directly, “What’s cheap?”

“This!” The owner dumped the strip of meat on the scale, showing that it weighed about 1.5 kg. “This is rat meat, 5 yuan a kilo. Oh, not the gross rat. It’s from something called a yellow-fur rat. I’ve tried it myself. It’s pretty tender.

“Meat processing factory said this is what we’re all gonna eat from now on. This, and the meat of some big rabbit. Forget about pork, beef, and lamb. That’s not what people like us can afford.”

“…”

Staring at the meat, Liu Ziming hesitated for a minute and finally said, “I’ll have a kilo.”

“Right away. If only all the customers were like you! I got this granny just then, and she nagged me for half an hour for some donkey’s meat ¹ . Where the heck am I supposed to get a donkey for her?” The stall owner cut the meat skillfully and said, “You know what, if I really have a piece of donkey’s meat, I’m not selling it to anybody, not for a million yuan. I’ll keep it safe in my storage. Who knows? In a hundred year, the kids probably won’t know what a donkey is, and that meat will turn into the treasure of my family… There you go!”

Pursing his lips, Liu Ziming did not reply to that. Something ticked in his head as he turned to leave the stall.

His heart sank a little at those words, but with the limited education he had, he couldn’t describe that feeling.

Walking with his head lowered, he went through the street from one end to the other, buying a big bag of mushrooms and a big bag of a very green vegetable that was said to be a mutated type of cabbage.

The bags were heavy and the fair was quite far from the construction site, but Liu Ziming didn’t want to spend money on the bus, so he gritted his teeth and kept walking.

Money was too unreliable and prices too high these days. The inflation rate that used to be calculated by years was now calculated by days. Common people might not know the technical term, but they could see it in their daily life.

He had seen none of the food he had bought in Shengtian, so they should have hit the market in the past month only. His wife was used to living frugally, and would never have spent money on the new things herself. He would send these back and go back home after earning his money…

Hoho!

Liu Ziming tittered despite himself. The blowing wind was freezing cold, but sweat covered his forehead, trickling down the side of his face and soon evaporating. The cold sensation left behind was boring into his bones.

As he walked, the things in his hands seemed to grow heavier and his legs grew weaker. He was almost at the bus station when he stumbled and collapsed to the ground.

“Ah!” a frightened little girl cried out at this and the others gathered around. They dragged him to the platform first so that he wouldn’t block the traffic.

“What happened? Is he breathing?”

“I am not touching him!”

“Anybody knows anything about first aid? What’s that called? CPR?”

For a moment, everyone was talking at the same time. One of them had sharper eyes, and suddenly raised his voice. “Hey, Priest! Priest, here! Someone has fainted!”

The crowd turned in the direction he was shouting and saw a young priest walking on the other side of the street. Hearing the call, he approached them with a gait so light and swift that his feet seemed to barely touch the ground.

They saw his face once he was close enough: what a handsome priest!

The crowd made room for him and ignored the incoming bus. Everyone was much more interested in what was going to happen. The young priest crouched down and felt Liu Ziming’s pulse. “I need a bowl of water.”

“Um, will this do?”

The girl hastily fumbled out a vacuum flask and removed the cap, which could work as a little cup.

“Yes, that’ll do.” The priest took it with a smile and poured some water into the bottle cap. He then took out a talisman and gave it a shake. Poof! The talisman burst into flame by itself and was then pressed into the cup.

Sizzle!

White smoke rolled out of the cup right away, but there was no black ash, and the water remained as clear.

He fed the water to Liu Ziming after the talisman burnt up. Seconds later, the man slowly woke up, and thanked the priest repeatedly after hearing about what had happened.

“Your Qi was deficient and stagnant. With the cold you caught, you suffered from a sudden blockage of your energy. You’ll be fine after a few days of rest.”

“Thank you, Priest! Thank you!”

Liu Ziming was so overwhelmed with gratitude that he almost prostrated before the priest. He was not afraid of himself falling ill, but his family would be doomed if he did.

The priest did not linger, but left promptly after that. Several smarter fellows tried to shadow him, but lost track of him after a few turns.

***

Phoenix Mountain, the manor at the northern slope.

After all information had gone public, they had no scruples left. Zhang Qianqiu was kicked out and was back in Shengtian. Back then, Li Dong, Yan Han, and he had snuck into the mountain’s enclosed area together, and he was the one with all it took to become the protagonist of the three. As it turned out, it was just the other way around.

The manor was now mainly run by Old Shui’s helpers. The place was so swarming with visitors and vehicles that they never seemed to have enough people to deal with all of them. Everyone was here to meet the owner of the mountain, though Xiaozhai ignored most of them. Not everyone gave up easily; some simply decided to take up residence in Bai Town.

“Tap! Tap!”

Right now, someone was tapping the knocker; he turned out to be that young priest.

“Who’s there?”

“This is Chao Kongtu!”

Creek!

The gate was soon opened, and a man greeted him. “What brought you here, Priest Chao? Welcome!”

This priest was sort of a friend of the mountain, and the employees dared not take him lightly. After showing him into the inner hall and served the tea, they promptly informed those up on the mountain.

Chao Kongtu had only sat there for a little while when a voice that could give him a headache rang out. “Yo, yo, who do we have here? Why, you still haven’t reached the innate state yet?”

‘Damn you!’

Chao Kongtu fought to keep the smile on his face. Ignoring Xiaojin, he bowed to Xiaozhai behind her directly. “Hello, Laywoman Jiang.”

“I wasn’t expecting you. Have a seat!” Xiaozhai took her seat first, then got straight to the point. “What do you need?”

“We heard that you’re building a market town down the mountain so that cultivators can trade freely with the common people. The monastery admires you greatly for that idea, and would like to ask for a favor.”

“You want to open a shop yourself?” Xiaozhai hit the mark right away.

“That’s correct.”

“Tianzhu Mountain is a node as well and is densely populated. I think it’ll be more suitable for your shop.”

“There is a government base and a spiritual stone mine in Tianzhu, which means we can’t open it up entirely. The best we can do is a small market, which is nothing in comparison with your great market town.”

He wasn’t exaggerating by calling it a great market town. With a circumference of 16 km, the ancient city was worth that name. Although it was a combination of residential and trade districts, it was still rather sizeable.

Xiaozhai did not beat around the bush. Opening up a planning map, she said, “The shop won’t be a problem. These are not booked yet. Take your pick.”

Chao Kongtu glanced at the map and saw that half of the buildings on the chessboard-like plan had already been marked, indicating that they were taken. Instead of choosing their place, he asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, who reserved all these places?”

“Ha, who do you think? From Liaodong and the capital city all the way to the south of Yangtze River, all the families worth mentioning have signed up. You’re here at the right time. This is the last opening left. The rest I’ll reserve for future use.”

“May I ask for whom?”

“A fifty-fifty split between the riches and the commoners.”

“Half each… with due respect, with the number of cultivators we have now, once the market town is open for business, it’ll set the rules of game for the foreseeable future.”

“Play games all they want, but forget about the rules. No one talks about rules here. Plus, someone has to do it one way or another. It’s just a matter of time.”

“You have my true admiration for that!” Chao Kongtu cupped his hand and then pointed at an area with a smile. “I’ve made my decision. We’ll take this spot.”

‘Oh?’

Xiaozhai saw that it was a separate three-story building with quite a large ground area. Once the house was built, it would be a landmark.

She was also glad. “Great. You’re a friend, but we still need to charge you fair and square. For others, the rent is 4 million a year and 200 million if they want to buy it. With you, we don’t do rent. We’re selling you for 100 000 spiritual stones.”

‘Ouch!’

The corner of Chao Kongtu’s eye twitched. The woman knew how to set an offer—the price couldn’t be more exact.

With the discovery of the mine in Tianshan, the government had loosened the control of the spiritual stones a little. They believed that, given time, more mines would be created, which was only the law of nature.

And 100 000 was the bottom line they had agreed on earlier.

“If we do buy it, is there a tenure of use?”

“You should ask your people, not me.” Xiaozhai chuckled.

With no business or trade of its own, the monastery did not seem to have much money. However, it was supported by the most superior organization of the country, and money would come to them as easily as if they were printing it in the future.

“Do bear with our vulgarity. We’re closing off the front mountain, so we won’t be having any income from there in the future. Got to keep the pockets filled. It’s only this price while money still works. After the spiritual stone is widely adopted, it’ll be a different story.”

After quickly reaching an agreement, Xiaozhai did not rise to her feet to see the guest off. Instead, she made some more tea and seemed ready for a formal negotiation. “All right. The foreplay is over. Tell me why you’re really here.”

“Haha, nothing passes through you.” Tilting his head, Chao Kongtu tried his best to ignore the stare of certain fellow, who dared not act out because of the presence of her sister. “Well, the second thing is, we heard that Phoenix Mountain is collecting all kinds of Taoist skills, and we just happen to have a few. How about we make an exchange?”

“Exchange?”

Xiaozhai paused a little while she waved her hand and set up a confinement, blocking Xiaojin out. “What do you want to trade with?”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The corner of Chao Kongtu’s eye twitched again as he saw the other fellow kicking and banging outside, raising a thunderstorm. However, no sound came through.

“Since it is an exchange, we think it should be frank and aboveboard. The monastery is very sincere about this trade. Let me give you a brief explanation first. Last year, we found an underground palace left behind by Priest White Crane of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. After some digging, we managed to find quite a few Taoist skills, including escaping skills, Dan methods, talismans, instrument, spells, etc. They cover a wide variety, and apart from a number of things we kept for ourselves, everything else is here…”

With that, he swept his wide sleeve across the table and there was a thick booklet.

“…”

Xiaozhai remained silent, but understood why the man was here after scanning his face.

The monastery chose to make this move because, for one, like Phoenix Mountain, they no longer tried to keep everything to themselves, and wanted to adopt a more open-minded attitude. Ancient cultivators were all-rounders that knew something about everything, but now, with gaps in the heritage of all sects, everyone was limited to a single aspect of knowledge that had been reduced to fragments.

In order to recover the prosperity of the ancient cultivation society and rebuilt the cultivation system, they needed to communicate with and educate one another.

After the tentative moves of the preliminary stage, they had all chosen their sides by now and all connections had been established. Only those that could think in the long term could make it that far.

For another, since Old Gu had risen to the Human Immortal state, the monastery had sent Chao Kongtu here as a gesture of goodwill.

Hence, she took out a few jade slips, and said, “Here’s everything we’ve got, but you can’t read it yet without reaching the innate state…”

“That’s ok. I can wait.” Chao Kongtu did not mind at all.

Xiaozhai then waved her hand and let her sister in. “I’ve got things to handle. You keep Priest Chao company.”

“Pffft!”

Chao Kongtu jolted and almost spilled his tea. ‘She did it on purpose, right? Right? Right?!’

Ignoring the bantering and squabbling duo, Xiaozhai began to flip through the booklet.

Beast-controlling Technique: through an occult skill, a master-servant relationship was established between the cultivator and the spiritual beast. With their minds connected, the cultivator could train, ride, and command the spiritual beast. Priest White Crane had travelled wide and far on the back of a giant crane, which was what this technique able to achieve.

Edict Sword Skill: a random invention of Priest White Crane. It was not a sword skill, but an unorthodox trick. Sword energy was not required; cultivators of the acquired state could use it with even a common sword. The skill consisted of one stance only, which was a dashing sword attack that was fast enough to become a blurry shadow and was rather powerful.

This was exactly the skill Zhang Shouyang used to cut off Zhang Ziliang’s arm during their duel on the Longhu Mountain. The incantation was as followed.

“The black sword comes out accompanied by heavenly soldiers and encouraged by the stars. This is a humble skill that summons the flying sword so that the evil man will be annihilated. The divine weapon, obey this order now!”

Rising Manual: an escaping skill. The effect differed with the different cultivation level of the practitioners.

With a leap, those of the acquired state could rise tens of meters above the ground or dash out for hundreds of meters with a light kick of the ground. Those of the innate state could glide briefly in the air with the help of their energy as swiftly as a sparrow and change direction easily; one push and they would be miles away.

“Hm?”

Xiaozhai blinked. She was mildly interested in the Beast-controlling Technique and not interested in the Edict Sword Skill at all. This Rising Manual, though, was kind of useful.

Old Gu had figured out his own escaping skills already. Be it the Void Air-controlling Technique or turning into a flash of light, they both sounded better than this manual. However, he was a Human Immortal with his unique system, and the others were still in the innate state.

Phoenix Mountain had a shortage of escaping skills. All they had now was the Void-arranging Technique, which was to move at an extremely fast speed with both feet centimeters above the ground. It was ideal for travelling long distances, but there was no room for improvement and it did not do well in turning and dodging.

She made a mental note of this and read on.

Lucky Smoky Gourd: refined from a gourd about 15-20 cm long. The cultivator would be covered inside a cloud of blue smoke with a wave of the gourd, which could keep evil spells, poisonous undead insects, blades, water, and fire out.

This was a refined instrument which was on the border of being redundant. Xiaozhai moved onto the next one and her eyes remained fixed on it.

Small Cloud & Rain Technique: it helped with things in the bedroom, could prolong the performance and get you there with more pleasure … ² stop! This is not that kind of novel!

Small Cloud & Rain Technique: with it, cultivator could raise water into the air and make it rain in a small area. It seemed to be a creation of Priest White Crane, who used it specially for watering his herb garden.

She didn’t need to read anything else. This one alone was good enough for an exchange.