Chapter 69

"Take care of... what a load of crap!"

Tian Shi cursed inwardly, but on the surface, he wore a warm smile, as if basking in a gentle breeze. "Daoist Qi, since we are all fellow practitioners, things should be easier to handle. Look at this piece of danmu..."

"It's mine." Qi Xiang cut him off directly, clarifying, "It was you who didn't want it and let me have it."

"Uh..."

Tian Shi was speechless, filled with regret. If he had known it was danmu, he shouldn't have been so generous. In this situation, he wanted to save face and couldn't contradict, so he looked at Young Master Hai with an expression that said, "It's your turn now."

"Ahem!"

Young Master Hai was also conflicted, stammering, "Daoist Qi, what you said is correct. According to reason, since the two of us chose to withdraw, the danmu should indeed belong to you. But..."

"No buts, it's mine." Qi Xiang emphasized, "I led you to the Temple of Wealth, where we found the item. After you didn't want it, I carried it back alone. So, both morally and legally, it is my personal property, isn't that reasonable?"

"Not... unreasonable!"

Young Master Hai and Tian Shi exchanged a wry smile, unable to utter a single word of objection.

"Good, if it's not unreasonable, then that's fine." Qi Xiang nodded in satisfaction, then smiled, "Speaking of which, I should thank you for your guidance, which helped me identify what this is. Don't worry, according to the rules, I will pay you for your expertise..."

What expertise fee? Young Master Hai and Tian Shi couldn't help rolling their eyes. Did they look like they were short of money?

"Daoist Qi, let's be straightforward." Young Master Hai said decisively, "We want to buy this item. What's your price?"

Tian Shi didn't want to beat around the bush either, saying directly, "Right, the danmu is yours, but we want to buy it. How about giving us some face?"

Qi Xiang's eyes flickered, and he suddenly asked, "May I ask, what do you plan to use this danmu for?"

Tian Shi frowned, quite dissatisfied, "Daoist Qi, once we buy it, whatever we use it for is our business. Isn't it too much to ask?"

"Brother Shi, Daoist Qi is just concerned about us." Young Master Hai smoothly defused the tension.

"It's not that I'm overstepping." Qi Xiang shook his head, "The main reason is... I also need the danmu. If your use for it is not significant, then I don't have to part with it painfully."

"You also need danmu?" Tian Shi was highly skeptical, "For what?"

After all, the origin of danmu was something they had told Qi Xiang. Before that, Qi Xiang didn't know the specific use of danmu. Now, saying he needed it, who was he trying to fool?

"I use it to make incense." Qi Xiang said, resting his chin on his hand, "I suddenly remembered that danmu seems to be a primary ingredient for making incense. When mixed with cinnamon, lily, mica, and other materials, it can form a compound incense..."

"Make incense?" Tian Shi's expression changed, surprised, "You follow the path of incense and divine fire?"

Qi Xiang smiled but didn't answer, maintaining an air of mystery.

Well, in fact, he had no idea what the path of incense and divine fire was.

Anyway, he understood that the more you talk, the more likely you are to make mistakes. It's better to stay silent and adapt to the situation.

"The path of incense and divine fire is even less reliable than our path of consuming elixirs. Is there really someone who studies it seriously?" Tian Shi muttered, his frown deepening.

"Consuming elixirs?" Qi Xiang, with his sharp hearing, caught this and raised an eyebrow, "Can danmu be eaten?"

"Why not." Young Master Hai said frankly, "All kinds of rare treasures in the world, as long as they contain spiritual energy, can be eaten. Of course, how to eat them is our unique skill."

"Consuming elixirs, eating..."

Qi Xiang pondered, a light bulb going off in his head, "Young Master Hai, are you surnamed Zhang?"

"Hey, how did you know?" Young Master Hai was surprised. He didn't remember revealing his surname. He was always cautious in his travels, usually just calling himself Young Master Hai or Lord Hai, rarely revealing his real name.

Very few people knew his full name, and Qi Xiang shouldn't be one of them.

Instantly, Young Master Hai's gaze became wary, more guarded.

Qi Xiang laughed, waved his hand to signal Young Master Hai not to be nervous, and then asked, "Consuming elixirs first, cultivating qi second, eating for a better future... is that your work?"

"Ah!"

Young Master Hai's face changed, but his body relaxed, and he smiled broadly, "Now I can finally be sure that Daoist Qi is truly a fellow practitioner..."

"A rambling article, a bit of shallow insight, not really a great work, I apologize for any offense."

Young Master Hai was very humble, but there was a hint of pride in his eyes.

Most importantly, his guard was immediately lowered by half.

After all, his article only circulated in secret circles and couldn't possibly leak out. Since Qi Xiang knew his full name and the article he wrote, it was almost certain that they were fellow practitioners.

For true fellow practitioners, what was there to worry about?

Not only did Young Master Hai smile broadly, but even Tian Shi, who was standing beside him, completely let down his guard, chuckling, "Ah Hai, you have a good sense of self-awareness, knowing that your writing isn't up to par, yet you still charge for it..."

"Get lost!" Young Master Hai rolled his eyes, "I'm being modest, understand?"

"You don't look modest at all now." Tian Shi mocked, then turned to Qi Xiang, "Daoist Qi, after reading his article, didn't you find it full of nonsense, with very little substance?"

Qi Xiang didn't speak, but Young Master Hai was already anxious.

"Who says it has no substance..." Young Master Hai defended, "In the current era of declining spiritual energy, cultivation is in decline. Whether it's mystic cultivation or martial cultivation, achieving any significant results and breaking through the mortal realm is extremely rare, almost impossible."

"The main reason, as everyone acknowledges, is that in ancient times, the connection between heaven and earth was severed, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the essence of the sun and moon, gradually declined and dissipated, leading to the current great depression in the cultivation world."

Young Master Hai sighed, "Think back a few thousand years, when consuming elixirs was the mainstream. The ancients didn't need to cultivate much; as long as their luck wasn't too bad, they could easily encounter a celestial opportunity, eat some rare flowers or fruits, and immediately ascend to immortality."

"The problem is, those rare flowers and fruits required vast amounts of spiritual energy to grow and form. Once the spiritual energy of heaven and earth collapsed, various celestial treasures and rare items became endangered or even extinct."

Young Master Hai was very sad, "All the delicious things disappeared in an instant. What are we, the later generations, supposed to do?"

"There's no choice, we have to seek change... Young Master Hai spread his hands, "That's why, during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, besides the path of consuming elixirs, various other methods like guiding qi, cultivating essence, and using talismans emerged. Eventually, the methods of alchemy and talismans became the mainstream."

"Poor us, the great consumers... cough, the great consumers of elixirs, have become mere supporting roles."

Young Master Hai clenched his fists, "Brother Shi, if it were you, could you be content?"

"Not content." Tian Shi's expression was serious.

"Right, I'm not content either." Young Master Hai nodded heavily, then said dejectedly, "But no matter how discontent we are, what can we do? After all, over thousands of years, the things we can eat have become increasingly scarce."

"Moreover, with the rapid development of society, it's a great transformation unseen in a thousand years. I reckon that in a few decades, the entire Earth will be covered in steel and concrete."

"At that time, it will be hard to find even a single naturally grown herb. Everything will be artificially cultivated and grown with chemical fertilizers..."

Young Master Hai sighed, "When that happens, what will we talk about consuming elixirs? We might as well change our path now, start anew, and avoid starving to death in the future."

"Nonsense!" Tian Shi sneered, but his expression was very serious. He knew that the situation Young Master Hai described was not impossible, and the likelihood of it happening was high.

"Whether it's nonsense or not, if you don't think ahead, you'll have problems soon." Young Master Hai said seriously, "Isn't it better to prepare in advance?"

"Preparing in advance is fine, but you're selling dog meat under the sign of mutton." Tian Shi said irritably, "The title of your article has nothing to do with the content, and you force them together."

"The longer the title, the more people will read it." Young Master Hai was not ashamed at all, instead, he was quite pleased with himself, "And I do stick to the topic. While explaining the future crisis, I also provide some solutions, which are the substance."

"Bullshit solutions." Tian Shi was highly contemptuous, "Telling people to fence off a few mountains and transplant herbs, what's the difference from artificial cultivation?"

"There's a big difference." Young Master Hai argued, "Free-range and caged are fundamentally different. Besides, you're deliberately misinterpreting my meaning... I didn't mean fencing off a few mountains, but finding the legendary grotto-heavens and blessed lands..."

"Grotto-heavens and blessed lands!"

Tian Shi's eyebrows twitched, and he had a bit of longing, "The Ten Continents and Three Islands, the grotto-heavens and blessed lands, who wouldn't want to find them? But you know the results of the searches."

"Let's not talk about the past. Just in the last few decades, various schools and sects have rarely united to organize large-scale search operations, turning the country upside down, but found nothing."

Tian Shi said dejectedly, "So some people speculate that the Ten Continents and Three Islands, the grotto-heavens and blessed lands, and the four seas, either disappeared with the great sages in ancient times or collapsed and ceased to exist with the decline of spiritual energy."

"There must be some that slipped through the net." Young Master Hai said dryly, feeling very guilty.

"Heh, even if there are some that slipped through, it won't be your turn."

Tian Shi sneered, "From the severing of the connection between heaven and earth to the current era of declining spiritual energy, at least four to five thousand years have passed. During this period, which of the sages and elders was a pushover?"

Today's update is a bit late, please bear with me, and continue to support and follow.

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends