The contents of these books were extremely rich, featuring strange terrains as well as pictorial scrolls detailing the customs of different cities.
Li Jun flipped through them rapidly, his gaze jumping between the text and the illustrations. Although the speed at which he turned the pages was astonishing, every word and every picture seemed etched into his mind.
In recent years, through his Training Experience alongside Pan Zhuanghe, Li Jun’s mind had become much sharper. Perhaps it was simply due to growing up, but this ability was particularly prominent when studying knowledge about Medicinal Materials.
But more crucially, the Pinecone inside his body nourished him every night by absorbing points of light, something he was completely unaware of.
Huang Zidong had witnessed Li Jun’s photographic memory before and had even jokingly envied him for being born with such a good mind. If Li Jun had been this quick-witted back when he was in Shu He, he probably wouldn't have been kicked out of his family home.
Looking at the contents of the book, Li Jun’s expression gradually grew solemn.
He had lived in Kefeng City since childhood and had never truly encountered the outside world. This book before him, however, was like a door opening to a vast unknown, revealing an extremely broad and dangerous landscape.
The contents of the book made him realize that his understanding of this world was merely a drop in the ocean.
The Xia Kingdom was only a part of the Territory he resided in.
Besides it, there was the Ning Kingdom, the Faji Kingdom, the Song Qing Kingdom, and others. Furthermore, there were regions sparsely populated by humans, all occupied by Fierce Beasts.
The Xia Kingdom where Li Jun lived had many cities, but most were small cities lacking Spiritual Qi. Those major cities rich in Spiritual Qi were under the control of the Ning Kingdom or the control of certain Cultivation Families.
These Cultivation Families and these nations, beneath their prosperous facade, concealed hidden conflicts.
Various factions fought against each other, not hesitating to engage in major conflicts over resources, leading to frequent warfare.
Mortals often chose to migrate to remote small cities to avoid disaster, daring not approach those large cities that were full of strife, rich in resources, and abundant in Spiritual Qi.
The book also mentioned that every year, countless young people, filled with ambition and dreams, traveled from various small cities to the large cities, hoping to find opportunities there and join an Immortal Sect.
Among these young people, some were lucky enough to be born with an Immortal Root, allowing them to sense the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, enabling them to become Cultivators and pursue the path to longevity; while the majority were ordinary Mortals, unwilling to live a mediocre life, eager to secure a place in the large cities through their own efforts.
Some among them chose to become members of merchant caravans, traveling everywhere with all sorts of rare exotic goods, even crossing the Nimu Inner Sea, Wutong Mountain, and the Faji Desert, bringing precious Medicinal Materials and treasures to various places to earn substantial profits...
Reading this far, Li Jun was deeply shaken; this world was far more magnificent than he had imagined. At the same time, an idea ignited within him—he wanted to see this world, he wanted to explore the Immortal Sects mentioned in the book.
"I must go see the large cities!" Li Jun secretly vowed in his heart, his eyes shining with determined light.
Li Jun then took out another volume, the Immortal Dao Records, and began reading. It truly mentioned Immortals who cultivated the Immortal Dao; those people were collectively called Cultivators.
The path of cultivation for Cultivators was long and arduous, with realms starting from the initial Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, then Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, extending to Void Refining, Body Integration, Great Accomplishment at the peak, and finally the legendary Becoming Immortal.
Every step forward on this path was a life-or-death test for the Cultivator. And the division of each realm signified a deeper understanding of the rules of heaven and earth by the Cultivator, as well as a leap in power.
Seeing this, Li Jun felt a burning excitement, but he had been in Kefeng City for so long without ever seeing a Cultivator, even though he stayed indoors at the Medicinal Cuisine Workshop year-round.
A few years prior, a youth riding a flying leopard appeared atop the city wall, causing a sensation throughout the entire city.
That youth only stayed in the city for two days before flying away, yet it caused the major powers of Kefeng City to vie for contact, as if they had encountered an unattainable existence.
Regarding Kefeng City, he had lived there for three years, but the book’s contents gave him a completely new understanding of it. Kefeng City was just a small city in the Xia Kingdom, primarily surviving by selling medicine. It was surrounded by mountains and water, and the Spiritual Qi was not abundant, yet it frequently produced Spirit Herbs, which was astonishing.
Cultivators here were few; Kefeng City was basically populated by Mortals. However, due to the Medicine Immortal Sect, quite a few Spirit Tools and books flowed into Kefeng City. The cultivation world generally did not interfere with the nations of Mortals, but it was quite difficult for Mortals to enter the Immortal Cities of the cultivation world, as many Immortal Cities were not open to them.
The Fengluan Mountain mentioned in the book was inhabited by Demonic Beasts that had developed Spiritual Intelligence, which were extremely ferocious and cunning.
Every twenty years, the Demonic Beasts would launch a Beast Tide, sweeping through the entire Kefeng City and assaulting any living being that stood in their way.
Kefeng City had suffered the Beast Tide countless times over a thousand years but had rebuilt after each battle, surviving tenaciously.
Calculating the time, the Beast Tide mentioned in the book was due to arrive again in about eight years, which gave Li Jun an ineffable sense of crisis.
Could the Guard strength of Kefeng City withstand the next Beast Tide? If a large-scale Beast Tide truly occurred, what could he possibly do?
A firm thought began to form in Li Jun’s mind—he had to grow up quickly.
He recalled his years at the Medicinal Cuisine Workshop. Although he had been studying medicine and Medicine Refining, he vaguely felt that it was not enough for his growth.
After all, capable individuals like Zhao Hongping, Xiao Mingqing, and Pan Zhuanghe were his goals—people who could hunt Demonic Beasts and Pick Medicinal Materials.
Just as Li Jun was pondering, the sound of Huang Zidong arguing outside reached him, pulling him back from the world of the book. He quickly closed the book and looked toward the direction of the medicinal materials shop.
Huang Zidong, who had gone to the medicinal materials shop to pick up medicine, had run into trouble.
As soon as Huang Zidong entered the door, he walked straight toward the Inner Hall. The shop owner was a thin old man past fifty, wearing a patched gray robe, standing by the counter in the Inner Hall organizing Medicinal Materials. Huang Zidong nodded to him: "Boss Zhang, I'm here to collect the Profound Ice Vine."
However, the atmosphere in the shop changed, and a middle-aged man’s cold voice sounded from behind them.
"So it's Huang Zidong. Our Thousand Herbs Hall wants this Profound Ice Vine; you had better not interfere."
Huang Zidong raised an eyebrow, turned to look at the middle-aged man, and sneered: "I wondered who it was—it's Gu Labei. When did your Thousand Herbs Hall become so overbearing?"
Gu Labei remained unmoved, his eyes chilling, and he slowly spoke: "Overbearing? So what? This Profound Ice Vine is a Medicine Refining material Venerable Simu needs. Do you dare oppose Venerable Simu?"
"Venerable Simu?" Huang Zidong snorted dismissively, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. "Never mind Venerable Simu; even if an Immortal came, I, Huang Zidong, wouldn't let him have it!"
The atmosphere in the medicinal materials shop was like a drawn bowstring, seemingly ready to snap at any moment.
Boss Zhang of the shop wore a forced smile, rubbing his hands back and forth, his eyes darting between Gu Labei and Huang Zidong. Sweat had broken out on his forehead. He swallowed a few times but couldn't utter a sound.
The few customers in the outer hall had already noticed the dispute. Some pretended to look at Medicinal Materials while actually listening intently; others simply leaned against a pillar, craning their necks to look into the Inner Hall.
The air was thick with gunpowder.
Huang Zidong wore a cold smile, one hand resting on the counter, the other tightly clutching the roll of Profound Ice Vine, his gaze like a knife, staring fixedly at Gu Labei opposite him.
His voice wasn't loud, but it was aggressive:
"What, is the Thousand Herbs Hall not even observing the deposit rule anymore? You can openly demand robbery and still speak so boldly—it's quite an eye-opener."
Gu Labei wore a dark green robe, had a high nose bridge, and a hint of Baleful Qi between his brows. He could no longer hold back and sneered:
"Huang Zidong, I advise you not to get too smug. Do you think this little bit of Profound Ice Vine is that rare? If I truly wanted to snatch it, I would have done so when you left the building."
"Heh, so you know enough to be afraid of acting openly in public?" Huang Zidong narrowed his eyes and continued to provoke, "What, aren't you always boasting about being the Thousand Herbs Hall's 'External Affairs Master'? And now you're choked speechless by a single sentence from me, a Menial Laborer Steward? If this gets out, you'll lose face!"
Gu Labei's eye twitched violently, his fingers moving slightly, as if he were about to draw the saber hidden in his sleeve the next moment. He slowly turned his head toward Boss Zhang, his voice low and sharp:
"Boss Zhang, I'll ask one more time: how much deposit did he give you? I will give you triple that amount, and then I'll add ten Fire Sun Ginseng on top to compensate you. Give me the Profound Ice Vine."