The Vice Sect Master of the Misty Sect, named Fu Qingfeng, was a middle-aged man with a five-willow beard beneath his cheeks, appearing to be somewhat over forty years old.
With a face like flawless jade, he wore a green robe, idly toying with a string of prayer beads in his hand, looking exceedingly dashing.
At this moment, after the two Outer Sect Disciples finished speaking, he spoke gently, "Senior Brother Sect Master and I have cultivated the Dao together for thousands of years, but the scene described in the message, of that Exotic Treasure being born, is something neither seen nor heard of before."
"This matter has even alarmed several Grand Elders!"
"Although this matter sounds absurd no matter how you look at it, Deacon Zhang Qianren has served the sect diligently for decades and has never once made a mistake."
"Whether by reason or by sentiment, we should treat this matter seriously."
"Steward Yue Yang, I must trouble you to lead a few disciples into the city to investigate this matter of the Exotic Treasure. While you're at it, pay a visit to this city's Heavenly Secrets Pavilion and see whether there have been any changes to the Divine Weapon Compendium."
The one named 'Yue Yang' was an elderly man with a sallow complexion and a hunched back. Although his Cultivation Level was profound, he always leaned on a green bamboo cane.
From time to time he had to cover his mouth and cough, looking nothing like the dashing figure of a cultivator, but rather like an old man suffering from a severe illness.
After Fu Qingfeng finished speaking, he casually picked out a few Inner Sect Disciples and slowly descended the wooden ladder, walking into the street.
……
Beneath the East Sea, where undercurrents surged, Zhang Qianren's entire body was enveloped in an oval-shaped Energy Shield.
From time to time, sea fish would collide with the Energy Shield and be bounced away.
He extended his Divine Sense, seemingly searching for the 'Exotic Treasure', but in truth searching for 'Metal'.
Zhang Qianren understood clearly that the appearance of the Ruyi Jingu Bang had to be reported to the Sect, even if doing so would plunge him into crisis.
It wasn't that he hadn't considered simply taking the Ruyi Jingu Bang and leaving the Sect behind, to roam free with the sky high and the sea vast.
But whenever he thought of the terrifying Cultivation Level of the Sect Master and Vice Sect Master, both at the Nascent Soul Stage, and of the Life Tablet made from his Essence Blood upon joining the sect, an indescribable fear would well up in his heart.
With the means those two possessed, even if he fled to the ends of the earth, they could use the Life Tablet to curse him to death with a Divine Ability.
As for handing the Ruyi Jingu Bang over to the sect... that thought had never even crossed his mind!
As the old saying goes: what heaven grants and you do not take, you will instead suffer for it; when the time comes and you do not act, you will instead be met with calamity!
In his view, the Ruyi Jingu Bang was an opportunity that belonged to him!
Since he had obtained this opportunity, he had to bear the risk.
So... what troubled him most right now was how to keep the people the sect sent from discovering the Ruyi Jingu Bang.
The Ruyi Jingu Bang could not be stored in a Storage Ring, yet it could still be detected by Divine Sense.
"Should I hide it somewhere in Guanhai City?"
Watching the sea fish leisurely swimming before him, Zhang Qianren began to ponder to himself.
"No good. Given the sect's speed, they might have already arrived at Guanhai City by now."
As this thought crossed his mind, a sudden idea struck him.
"Perhaps this old man should take the chance to return to the sect and steal the Life Tablet?"
Just as this thought occurred to him, his Divine Sense, which had been spread out investigating his surroundings, suddenly detected a patch of Metal.
In an instant, his pair of turbid eyes abruptly widened.
"Is that... Iron Ore?"
Realizing that he had unexpectedly discovered a seabed Iron Ore deposit, Zhang Qianren dared not hesitate for even a moment, swimming toward the deep, pitch-black sea canyon at nearly the fastest speed of his life.
At the same time;
After wandering around and finding no business opportunities whatsoever, Qin Mu had already returned home with a few books in hand.
He sat at his writing desk, flipping through a book titled 《Hundred Ridges Monster and Ghost Records》.
This was one of the Zhao Family Bookstore's best-selling books over the past few months, reportedly bringing in over three thousand taels of profit a month for the Zhao Family Bookstore.
Calculating at six hundred coins per book, this book had sold six thousand copies within a single month.
Compared to Guanhai City's population of over a hundred thousand, six thousand copies wasn't actually all that many.
But among such a large population, not many people were literate.
And among those who were literate, not many had the money to spare for this kind of leisure reading.
Once converted this way, the sales figures became terrifying.
"Over three thousand taels, that's truly terrifying. I wonder if it's true or not..."
Thinking this, Qin Mu began reading the contents of the book carefully.
"Four hundred fifty li southeast of the city, there is a mountain by the sea, bare of grass and trees. There dwells a beast there, shaped like a great tiger but with four ears, its face resembling that of a human, its cries deafening, feeding on humans—utterly terrifying, utterly dreadful."
"There is a city named Baizhou, four hundred li south of the city..."
After spending a dozen or so minutes flipping through the entire book, Qin Mu leaned back, clicking his tongue in amazement.
He suspected that whoever bought this book was treating it as some kind of "survival guide."
This 《Hundred Ridges Monster and Ghost Records》 was mainly about where ghosts could be found, where demons and monsters lurked, and every single monster or ghost that appeared within it had human flesh as its goal.
It seemed that, in the author's eyes, anything that wasn't human was bound to be after eating people.
Thinking about the book's contents, Qin Mu subconsciously shook his head.
This world did indeed have demons, monsters, ghosts, and ghouls, but surely nothing as terrifying as what this book described.
After all, aside from the countless Cultivation Sects, the mortal world also had an incredibly formidable, unified Dynasty that controlled the Four Seas, Eight Desolations, and the entire Nine Provinces Land.
And this Dynasty was currently at the height of its power.
Its name was 'Great Yu'.
Because it had several Earthly Immortals Residing in the World stationed within it, Great Yu had always been dominant on the international stage.
Every Immortal Sect under heaven was required to periodically dispatch its disciples to serve in certain departments of the Imperial Court for a period of time.
Furthermore, all sects were required to pay taxes to Great Yu.
Any who refused would face the thunderous wrath of the Great Yu Dynasty.
Because of this, even the Misty Sect, situated in a Remote place like the East Sea, far from the Dynasty's core Continent, had to hold an event resembling a celebration called the "Ascension Ceremony" when recruiting disciples in Guanhai City.
Rather than simply waiting for mortals seeking Longevity to travel across countless mountains and rivers to participate in the sect's assessment.
If they dared to act arrogantly and condescend to bestow blessings upon the civilians, they would quickly face reckoning from the Great Yu Imperial Court.
And within the Great Yu Dynasty, there was also a department similar to the Six Doors or the Embroidered Uniform Guard, called the Demon Suppression Division, which had branches established throughout the Eight Desolations, Four Seas, and every region of the Nine Provinces.
Although its main duty was to subdue demons and eliminate evil, it was also responsible for monitoring the sects in every region.
Even within Guanhai City, there existed a branch of the Demon Suppression Division.
Therefore, wherever demons, monsters, ghosts, or ghouls caused trouble, the people of the Demon Suppression Division would rush there immediately.
Whatever they could handle, they would eliminate on the spot; whatever they couldn't, they would report to the Imperial Court, which would then dispatch someone with a higher Cultivation Level to deal with it.
And this kind of "common knowledge" was something anyone with some standing in society would know.
So, he could conclude with certainty that this 《Hundred Ridges Monster and Ghost Records》 was definitely a work of pure fantasy by its author.
As this thought crossed his mind, Qin Mu suddenly felt a thought strike him.
"I read so many novels in my past life—could I try writing one myself?"
"Guanhai City doesn't seem to have ever had a proper novel before."
"What if I followed the novel format, using a few stories from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio as a template, and wrote a full-length novel of a hundred-some thousand words? I wonder if it would sell well?"
"After all, even 《Hundred Ridges Monster and Ghost Records》 managed to sell over three thousand taels."
Thinking about this, he abruptly sat up straight, preparing to grind his ink.
Although Qin Mu lacked the refined literary style of a true scholar, he was confident in his own ability to write a story in plain, straightforward language.
But just then, a Prompt Sound suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Your Ruyi Jingu Bang has devoured Iron Ore, Experience +1."
"Your Ruyi Jingu Bang has devoured Iron Ore, Experience +1."
"Your Ruyi Jingu Bang has devoured Iron Ore, Experience +1."
Upon hearing these Prompt Sounds, Qin Mu's Expression lit up with delight.
According to the settings he'd given the Ruyi Jingu Bang, the next time it leveled up, the feedback would go to him personally.
Once he had a Spiritual Root, he could go cultivate immortality just like Zhao Gaijing, whom he'd met that morning.
"Cultivation!"
"Longevity!"
Thinking of these things, a look of longing couldn't help but surface in Qin Mu's clear eyes.
Anyone who was human wanted Longevity, and he was no exception.
（ps: thanks to 【Wu Zhan173】 for the ten thousand reward!）
Newcomer, new book, asking for everything!
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