Chapter 9

Qi Xiang played with the tortoise shell, feeling very puzzled...

In his mind, the tortoise shell should have other uses, but when he tried to delve deeper into its secrets, he found that it seemed to have a thick barrier that kept him out.

He thought he had cracked the mystery, but it turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg.

After much more research, he found no further progress.

Qi Xiang grabbed the tortoise shell, and it instantly disappeared. He mused that if he ever lost his job and had no food, he could easily become a magician and never worry about starving.

Of course, it wasn't entirely fruitless; at least he had a direction to explore. He suddenly remembered the mutated jade stone on the rooftop...

Qi Xiang carefully recalled the situation that day, then hurriedly opened the safe and took out a few high-quality jade carvings. These were his treasures, the best of his collection, and quite expensive.

Suddenly, Qi Xiang felt a stirring in his heart, and the tortoise shell reappeared. He hesitated for a moment, then slowly brought the jade carvings close to the tortoise shell. He was mentally prepared, but to his surprise, nothing happened when the tortoise shell and the jade carvings touched; there was no abnormal reaction at all.

"What's wrong?" Qi Xiang was taken aback, feeling that the tortoise shell was not following the usual pattern.

Yesterday, no, the day before, he had made a jade stone disappear. Now, with several jade stones nearby, it remained inactive. What was going on?

Qi Xiang frowned, then decided to bring the jade carvings into direct contact with the tortoise shell to see if anything would happen. However, he was disappointed. After a few minutes, he opened his hands and saw that everything was normal, with no unusual changes.

"Never mind, I'll continue researching later." Qi Xiang sighed, put away the tortoise shell, and returned the jade carvings to the safe. He then decided to climb up.

At that moment, he suddenly felt something was amiss. He looked around and his gaze focused on a wall.

"Huh?" Qi Xiang walked over quickly and, upon closer inspection, was shocked to find that the wall had cracked, revealing a hidden space behind it.

"Hidden wall..." Qi Xiang's breathing quickened as he hurriedly moved the broken bricks and cleared some debris. As expected, he saw an iron box.

The iron box was not large and had a big copper lock. Due to being in a sealed space for a long time, it was covered in rust. When he picked it up, rust flakes fell off.

The iron box was heavy, indicating that it contained something.

Realizing this, Qi Xiang was both surprised and delighted. He took a deep breath to steady himself. After some thought, he concluded that the cracked wall must have been caused by the tortoise shell.

When he had casually thrown the tortoise shell, it seemed to have hit the wall...

Logically, his strength should not have been great, yet the wall had silently collapsed, which was indeed puzzling.

Qi Xiang was deep in thought, but his attention was more focused on the iron box.

In the secret basement, there was an even more hidden box. To say that the box contained no secrets would be hard to believe, even for a three-year-old.

Qi Xiang was excited. After checking the hidden space and confirming there was nothing else, he carried the box out of the basement and turned on the room light.

The light was intense, and the dust on the box was clearly visible.

Qi Xiang glanced at the copper lock and saw that the keyhole was clogged with rust, making it impossible to open with a key. Seeing this, he simply grabbed a hammer and, with one strike, broke the lock.

The box opened, and a musty smell immediately filled the air.

Qi Xiang waved his hand to clear the air and eagerly looked inside.

"What's this?" Qi Xiang was taken aback. Instead of gold or treasure, he saw only a few neatly arranged books, which left him somewhat stunned.

Despite his surprise, Qi Xiang was still pleased. Knowledge is wealth, and this saying was especially true for ancient books. In the collectors' market, the price of ancient books and manuscripts was getting higher every year.

Especially for rare and valuable editions, the phrase "a page of paper is worth its weight in gold" was not just a metaphor but a concrete fact.

However, when Qi Xiang picked up a book and flipped through it, he was disappointed again.

The books in the box were not printed but handwritten.

Strangely, in the world of ancient books and manuscripts, handwritten copies were not as highly regarded as printed ones.

Was this due to copyright issues?

Perhaps in the common perception, handwritten copies that were not printed were not considered books. Only those who published physical books were considered authors, inherently more noble and of higher status than those who did not.

Qi Xiang pursed his lips and casually flipped through the handwritten book.

From the yellowed pages, it was clear that the book was quite old. The handwriting was very neat and regular. The text was clear and free of stains, making it very pleasant to read.

So Qi Xiang firmly believed that any ancient scholar, if transported to the modern world, would easily outshine all the famous calligraphers. The writing, the brushwork, the content...

After a moment, Qi Xiang's eyes gradually showed surprise. The books were written in traditional Chinese characters, but for him, this was no different from simplified characters, and he could understand them clearly.

The key was the content of the books, which described the process of making incense blends.

Of course, incense blends were not unfamiliar to Qi Xiang. He knew that incense blends were not rare. He often purified the impurities of antiques and burned incense for ancestors during festivals, which were types of incense blends.

Additionally, the perfumes, essences, and oils displayed on cosmetic counters in malls were also genuine incense blends.

However, the incense blends described in the book were different from those produced by modern chemical processes. They were made through traditional, manual procedures.

However, what surprised Qi Xiang was that the incense blends in the book seemed to be more than just ordinary blends.

As he flipped through the pages, he found that not only were the processes for making the incense blends unusual, but the ingredients required were also strange. Moreover, the uses of the incense blends were... extraordinary.

For example, one incense blend he saw was called... Fetal Breath Incense?

The method for making this Fetal Breath Incense was very peculiar.

Using agarwood, colorful lipid stones, and black mica as the main ingredients, and adding peony bark, cloves, sweet-scented valerian, lingzhi, and cassia twigs as secondary ingredients, the mixture was ground into a powder, water was added, and it was boiled in a furnace to form a paste, which was then shaped and dried to become incense.

This was a simplified description. The actual process for making this incense blend involved at least a hundred detailed steps, making it very complex.

Qi Xiang read through the text, and while he had heard of agarwood and peony bark, he had no idea what colorful lipid stones and black mica were.

This confusion was not significant, but as he continued reading, more and more strange and bizarre ingredients appeared, making Qi Xiang feel that his years of education had been in vain, leaving him feeling ignorant and ashamed.

Qi Xiang shook his head, skimmed through the books, and finally finished reading them. Closing the books, he was lost in thought, his worldview on the verge of collapse.

He was not stupid. From some unique terms in the books, he realized that these were not just simple incense blend recipes but cultivation manuals... or more accurately, manuals to assist in cultivation.

From clearing the mind, entering a meditative state, focusing on one point, fetal breathing, embracing the elixir, cultivating the yin spirit, leaving the body, and finally ascending to immortality, there were corresponding incense blends for each stage.

Immortality?

Qi Xiang's eyes were hazy, his thoughts drifting into a blank state.

A few days ago, if he had seen these books, he would have laughed and dismissed them, then put the handwritten books on a high shelf and ignored them.

But now, Qi Xiang was confused, somewhat believing and doubting. After all, stranger things had already happened to him, so what was there to doubt?

Qi Xiang's mind stirred, and the colorful, glassy tortoise shell appeared in his hand.

The mysterious tortoise shell, along with the ethereal, grand palace in his "dreams," naturally shifted the balance in his mind...

"Could there really be immortals in the world?" The confusion in Qi Xiang's eyes slowly turned into a burning light.

What are immortals?

On the mountain of Miaogu, there lives a divine being. Her skin is as white as snow, and her figure is as graceful as a maiden. She does not eat grains but feeds on the wind and dew, rides on clouds and dragons, and travels beyond the four seas.

She may ascend to the highest heavens, soar through the purple skies, visit the mystic continents, or rest on the board of a pine tree, listening to the music of the heavens, enjoying the nine kinds of mushrooms, carrying the pine and the envy of the world, and feasting in the jade halls.

She treads on the void, rides the clouds, drinks the dew of the morning, absorbs the essence of the universe, drinks the jade liquor and golden nectar, eats the green mushrooms and red flowers, lives in the jade halls and precious rooms, and wanders freely in the highest heavens, hearing from afar and seeing the future.

In short, in the minds of people, immortals are beings of great power, living as long as the heavens and the earth, shining as brightly as the sun and the moon, immortal and all-powerful.

Thinking of this, Qi Xiang's heart was filled with passion, his blood boiling, as if he had been electrified, his soul trembling.

But after a while, his enthusiasm gradually cooled.

A new doubt arose in his mind.

If there were really immortals, where were they? At least in modern society, with the advanced technology of today, no trace of immortals had ever been found.

Qi Xiang knew very well that in the vast land of China, atheism had taken root in people's hearts, and all supernatural beings had been defeated. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, no one was allowed to become a spirit, which had become a rule.

Even if there were some remnants of feudal beliefs, they could only struggle in the corners, barely surviving, and could not form a significant force.

If there were really immortals, would they allow such a situation to occur?

If there were no immortals, how could the tortoise shell be explained?

For a moment, Qi Xiang was in a dilemma, tossing and turning, unable to sleep all night...