Chapter 61

In the scorching summer, the blazing sun was like a raging fire, and no matter what era it was, summer was always so hot.

Under the blazing sun, Chang'an City stood like an ancient and eternal imperial palace, towering on the earth. The city walls, which were about seven to eight zhang high, resembled a cliff, giving people an overwhelming sense of awe. This largest city in the world at the time was enveloped in a lazy atmosphere under the summer sun. Apart from the soldiers patrolling the city walls and the guards of the imperial city and the palace, the rest of the people of Chang'an were now huddled in the shade, waiting for the hottest part of the day to pass.

However, in this scene of laziness, there was a place in Guanglu Fang that was bustling with people, with countless Chang'an residents flowing through it. It was a tavern that had just opened last year, and the wine it sold was now the best in Chang'an, fragrant and clear, as if one could smell it from a distance. In the past year, countless people of Chang'an had tasted the best wine of their lives here, and compared to this wine, what they had drunk before was like slop.

This was a three-story building, with eaves arching up on all sides. Bells hung from the eaves, and a large banner with the character for "wine" in bold letters fluttered in the wind. At the entrance was a large archway, which was not a road sign or a monument to chaste women, but the tavern's sign. A plaque was embedded in the archway, with the three large characters "Jiuxianju" (Wine Immortal Residence) and the character for "wine" written in the same style, indicating they were from the same hand. The brushwork was powerful and vigorous, though not as refined as that of famous calligraphers like Yu Shinan and Ouyang Xun, it still had a certain style and a touch of the flying white technique.

After passing this large sign, one would see a stone stele, which was about ten zhang high and weighed no less than ten thousand catties. It was unknown how it was erected, as this was not a remote mountain but the Guanglu Fang of Chang'an City, close to the imperial palace. To erect such a stone stele without disturbing the surrounding residents was no easy task. However, when the tavern erected the stele, the surrounding residents were completely unaware, and there was no record of the stele being transported into the city at the city gate. This became a topic of conversation for the people of Chang'an after their meals.

The stele was engraved with a poem, which an old gentleman who could read volunteered to recite for the surrounding people: "If heaven did not love wine, the wine star would not be in the sky. If earth did not love wine, there would be no wine spring on earth. Since heaven and earth both love wine, loving it is not a disgrace to heaven. It is said that the clear is like a sage, and the turbid is like a virtuous man. Since the sage and the virtuous have drunk, why seek immortals? Three cups lead to the great way, one dou harmonizes with nature. As long as one understands the pleasure of wine, do not tell the sober."

After reciting the poem, the other people did not feel much, only thinking it sounded good. However, the old gentleman who recited the poem pulled out a few of his own beard hairs in pain and then shouted loudly, "Good poem, good poem, I must drink a large cup of wine!" Saying this, he strode into the tavern and called out, "Waiter, bring me two jars of the strongest wine. Today, I will surely savor the pleasure of this wine, hahaha..."

Although he spoke with great enthusiasm, after the wine was served, the old gentleman drank just one bowl and fell drunk to the ground. This was because he was used to drinking weaker wine, and he drank too quickly for the first time at Jiuxianju, especially since he had ordered the strongest wine. However, this also served as a live advertisement for Jiuxianju. In this era, who among the wine lovers could drink a jar without changing their expression? This single bowl that could knock someone out aroused the strong curiosity of the onlookers, and thus the second, third, and countless people of Chang'an went to Guanglu Fang's Jiuxianju after that day to try this strong wine that could knock someone out with just one bowl. Gradually, it began to spread in Chang'an that the wine at Jiuxianju was brewed by immortals, and immortals, with their divine powers, could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, while mortals would be knocked out with just one cup.

In short, after that, Jiuxianju firmly established itself in Chang'an, and business was booming. Countless people lined up to taste this immortal's wine, and the price of a jar of wine rose from 300 coins to 1000 coins, but it did not dampen the enthusiasm of the people of Chang'an. This made Changsun, who was behind Jiuxianju, very happy. She managed the entire princely household, and the silver in her hands was often insufficient, but now with the daily gold income from Jiuxianju, her financial crisis was greatly alleviated. However, thinking that half of the profits belonged to a child who was only seven or eight years old, Changsun could not help but worry about her two sons. But she could not bring herself to use underhanded means against the child.

So, Changsun had been in a dilemma for a year, not knowing what to do and not daring to confide in Li Er, as she did not want to put him in a difficult position. She just watched the child grow stronger, which made her uncomfortable, and her illness began to recur. Since the Daoist Sun Simiao gave her a prescription to control her illness, she felt better day by day, but as Jiuxianju became more profitable, her condition worsened again.

Li Kuan was completely unaware of all this. Even if he knew, he would not think it was a big deal. He had never thought about becoming an emperor or competing for power with his brothers, which would be a waste of life. Even with the system on his body, Li Kuan was not very enthusiastic about collecting energy. As long as he was comfortable, what difference did it make whether he had energy or not?

So, Li Kuan played and fooled around with Li Lizhi and Xiao Nianwei without a care, with no proper form. Initially, he just wanted to make money from Jiuxianju to buy coal mines and oil fields, but after learning that the death of miners would deduct points, he thought it was not worth it and stopped paying attention. He just gave the wine recipe to Changsun and became a hands-off manager. He never expected that Changsun would think of giving him half of the profits! If Changsun knew what Li Kuan was thinking, she might feel ashamed, but since they were not biological mother and son and Li Kuan was from the future, the invisible barrier between them made Changsun very anxious, even affecting her health. If he knew, he might have explained it long ago, but life is full of "ifs"!

Li Kuan was completely unaware that in the more than a year he spent focusing on his health, he had already become a wealthy little tycoon. Changsun kept Li Kuan's share of the profits separately and only gave it to him at the end of the year. Last year, due to business expansion, she did not give Li Kuan his share. This year, Jiuxianju opened several branches in Chang'an, and the speed of earning money was comparable to minting copper coins, no, not copper coins, but silver.

As the sun set and the heat gradually dissipated, people began to go out to work. Li Kuan also got up from his reclining chair and started his afternoon training. Since the last extreme training outside the city, Li Kuan had set a plan to maximize the potential of this training, combining it with the pills produced by the system, aiming to restore his previous cultivation and even break through to the hidden strength level.

His body was active, his muscles stretched, and he assumed the three-body stance. Li Kuan began to squeeze every bit of strength out of his body. He was not afraid of injury or hardship. What could be more terrifying than what was going to happen in a month? For Li Kuan, who had already died once, living and living well was the greatest wish, so he was very strict with himself.

Punch after punch, his fists tore through the air, making a sound like tearing silk. His entire skeleton ached, his muscles were very painful, and sweat streamed down his young face, forming lines and dripping onto the blue stone slabs beneath him. Li Kuan gritted his teeth, not daring to relax for a moment, as he felt he was about to reach his limit. If he relaxed now, all his efforts would be in vain.

When the last bit of strength in his body was squeezed out and consumed with the swing of his fist, Li Kuan collapsed on the ground, completely exhausted, his limbs aching. He could only slightly turn his head, open his mouth, and swallow the pill that was already prepared on the low table. Then, he silently followed the breathing and inhalation techniques taught by his master in his previous life, slowly adjusting his disordered breathing. He kept the pill in his mouth without swallowing it, pressing his tongue against the roof of his mouth. With each breath, the medicine slowly spread and was absorbed by Li Kuan's muscles and bones.

At this moment, Li Kuan's muscles and bones were like dry sponges, crazily absorbing the medicine. Compared to the gentle absorption before, it was now a robbery, a plunder. Li Kuan could even feel his muscle tissue gradually becoming stronger, and his strength slowly recovering. As soon as he could move, he changed his posture to sit cross-legged with his five points facing the sky, the most suitable posture for practicing breathing and inhalation techniques, whether in Daoism, Buddhism, or the internal martial arts.

The body absorbed the medicine, like a sponge absorbing water, and at the same time, the toxins in Li Kuan's body were expelled with the sweat. Over the past two years, Li Kuan had taken medicine as often as eating, and medicine was always toxic to some extent. Although the system had adjusted the medicine to the best state, there were still many harmful impurities in Li Kuan's body. These impurities could only be expelled by the body itself, and the system did not have any detoxifying and beautifying capsules to give Li Kuan.

In other words, with each extreme training, Li Kuan's body would become purer. If this continued, he would eventually reach the legendary state of purity, which in Daoism is called the innate body, in Buddhism the Bodhi Golden Body, and in the internal martial arts, the Grandmaster level.

Of course, these were still far off. Li Kuan now only wanted to increase his chances of survival. Unbeknownst to him, he had already embarked on a different path. Even without the system, he could rely on the existing conditions to gradually reach the peak and eventually the innate state of purity.

Days passed, and Chang'an City quietly became tense. The number of patrols by the soldiers increased, and the figures lingering outside the palace gates quietly increased. Li Yuan's health was getting worse, and recently, news from the palace said that the emperor was coughing up blood every day, and the imperial physicians were at a loss. A dark cloud began to hang over the entire Chang'an.

PS: This volume has ended. I originally wanted to write about the children without mothers, such as Lanling, Gaoyang, and Qinghe, but the timing was off. Many of these children were born during the Zhenguan era, and the events at Xuanwu Gate had already been planned. Not writing about them felt incomplete, and this plot would lay the groundwork for later developments. So, this volume ends here! My thoughts are a mess, and this chapter is a bit chaotic and hard to express. For now, it will be like this, and I will revise it when I have time and ideas. ——From a recluse

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