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The scorching sun blazed overhead.

In the field, a cool shelter had been erected, where Zhou Yi lay on a soft chair.

He sipped some chilled sour plum soup and casually flipped through a storybook called “Legend of the Three Heroes.”

“Chapter three hundred and nine, love turns sour, and who shall endure the cruel torture… well written, huh? Why is there nothing more!”

Zhou Yi sprang up from the chair, and after checking repeatedly, realized the author had left the story unfinished. Perhaps the writer had earned enough Spirit Stones or had passed away due to old age; it was quite regrettable not to see the ending.

The owner of Jing Xu’s Abode had a varied collection of books, and Zhou Yi was not picky, borrowing all kinds of books to read.

Including notes and essays, biographies, strange tales, and even storybooks from the Cultivation World, as well as critically reading some Spring and Autumn Annals.

This volume of “Legend of the Three Heroes” was among the gems of storybooks, depicting battles and spell fights with gripping clarity. Of course, the heroes in the books were all formidable figures, while the real Cultivation World was close at hand.

Not far away, Gu Chen from the neighboring land, having depleted his mana, comfortably made his way over for a cold drink.

There were two lounge chairs under the cool shelter, one of which was reserved for Gu Chen.

“Comfortable.”

Gu Chen gulped down three large cups, exhaling a long breath.

Cultivators were not affected by the cold or heat of the seasons, but the taste of something sweet, sour, and ice-cold was still appreciated; otherwise, they might as well have turned into stones.

Then he glanced at the storybook on the table and shook his head: “Such idle books are of no use, no matter how many you read. The author must be a cultivator, but he’s probably gone mad.”

Zhou Yi laughed and said, “Brother Gu, if you divide everything into what’s useful and what’s not, don’t you find life too exhausting?”

Gu Chen fell silent for a while before slowly speaking.

“You are still young. When you reach my age, you will realize that life is short and there are too many things to do. You would wish each day could be stretched into two.”

“That’s called living with a purpose.”

Zhou Yi didn’t quite know how to comfort him. The two had known each other for four years, meeting almost every day in the fields, and had become quite familiar with each other’s past.

Gu Chen’s cultivation was based on a family legacy technique. He was over thirty when he entered Xiao Dan Mountain and was now over eighty but was still stuck at the third level of Qi Refinement, with almost no hope of advancing further on the path.

The fourth level was the middle stage of Qi Refinement, representing a bottleneck that was not really a bottleneck.

For cultivators with a Three Spirit Root or even better innate abilities, this stage was crossed without much trouble, yet it had troubled Gu Chen for more than twenty years.

Of course, this was also largely due to Gu Chen’s years of tirelessly farming, leaving him almost no time to dedicate to arduous cultivation.

“A purpose? Hah, a cultivator’s destiny is set by their Spirit Root!”

Gu Chen’s laugh was bitter, his voice tinged with sorrow: “Am I not aware that reading is good? But even borrowing books costs Spirit Stones. It’s better to save them, pay off the debts of the cave dwelling sooner, and once I have the deed, it becomes a family heirloom.”

If a cultivator in Xiao Dan Mountain paid off their cave dwelling debt before death, the deed could be passed on to a descendant or disciple with a Spirit Root.

Spirit Roots are rare, one in ten thousand among the common folk.

Gu Chen had married many wives in the secular world, and it was only a few years ago that he had a grandson with a Four Spirit Root, which led him to start farming desperately to earn Spirit Stones.

Xiao Dan Mountain’s cave dwellings did not forbid cohabitation of cultivation partners, but they did not allow family clans to live together. This policy boosted cave dwelling sales while effectively preventing family powers from influencing the disciples of the Dan Ding Sect.

Once Gu Chen had paid off the debt on his dwelling, he could move to another cave dwelling to continue his cultivation, and his grandson would not be burdened with debts.

“We’ve been exploited by this cave dwelling for most of our lives; we can’t let our grandson suffer the same fate.”

“Brother Gu makes a good point.”

Zhou Yi nodded: “Family legacies passed down through generations, maybe someday a Two Spirit Root or even a Heavenly Spiritual Root will appear, directly join Dan Ding Sect, and become the master of Xiao Dan Mountain.”

Gu Chen laughed: “Like the Ling family?”

The Ling family was similar to Gu Chen’s situation; they had two cultivators in Xiao Dan Mountain working the fields when a granddaughter with Dual Spirit Roots was born, becoming an official disciple of the Dan Ding Sect.

Her uncle and grandfather, riding on the granddaughter’s coattails, no longer needed to farm, having secured jobs at the administration office.

“Things change; nobody can say for sure.”

Zhou Yi spoke thoughtfully: “Isn’t this mysterious unpredictability the charm of the Cultivation World?”

“Haha! I have cultivated for nearly a century, and yet I am not as insightful as you, the younger generation.”

As Gu Chen chatted, he didn’t forget to operate his Cultivation Technique, restoring some of his mana, then stood up to water the Spirit Rice fields.

Zhou Yi drank another cup of sour plum soup, leaving the rest of the large pot behind, and, taking the storybook with him, he left.

…

The trading area.

Zhou Yi strolled with his hands tucked away, wandering the streets and alleys for a while.

When he encountered monks he knew, he nodded with a smile and exchanged some small talk, mostly the usual banalities like “How are you doing recently?” or “Just getting by”.

He looked around the various shops, inquiring about prices, accurately gauging market dynamics.

The items displayed on the street stalls were secondhand, and the prices were about twenty to thirty percent lower than those in the shops, but the quality and authenticity were mixed, and without a keen eye, one was just asking to be duped.

Now and then there would be rumors that some cultivator had found a great bargain at a street stall, turning a few Spirit Stones into hundreds or even thousands.

Zhou Yi just listened and laughed about these stories for fun—anyone who believed them was a real fool!

Eventually,

he came upon a Daoist hawker selling wine, his hair tinged with white and his robe emitting a strong smell of wine lees, with two big front teeth showing when he spoke.

There were about twenty jars of wine on display, sealed with red mud and labeled with numbers ranging from one to twenty.

Regular customers knew that the Daoist only brewed one kind of Spiritual Wine, “Crimson Rainbow.” When poured into a cup, the wine looked just like a crimson rainbow hanging in the sky, shining with flowing radiance, hence the name!

Zhou Yi squatted in front of the stall and asked, “Old Hu, how come you’re willing to sell twenty-year-old Spiritual Wine today?”

Old Hu grinned and said, “Heh heh! I’m just happy, but I’m not telling you why!”

“Fine! Sell me this jar of twenty-year-old Spiritual Wine for five Spirit Stones.”

Zhou Yi’s offer wasn’t low at all; it practically emptied his entire savings. Fortunately, he had an unlimited lifespan and had no need to use Spirit Stones or Spirit Pills to advance his cultivation.

Old Hu hesitated for a moment but, out of respect for a regular customer, said, “Sold.”

Zhou Yi paid with Spirit Stones and left with the jar of wine.

He made his way to the southeast corner of the trading area.

Jing Xu’s Abode.

Zhou Yi entered and saw two cultivators haggling over a price.

What was sold here were Cultivation Techniques and Spell jade slips; the collection of books was merely the hobby of the owner of Jing Xu’s Abode.

The owner, going by the Taoist name Jing Xu, was one hundred and one years old but still had a full head of black hair, no different from someone in their thirties or forties. It was said that in his youth, he took Youth-Retaining Pills that allowed him to maintain this appearance until the end of his life.

Only after the cultivators had paid with Spirit Stones did they leave the shop together.

Zhou Yi approached the counter with his wine, placing it beside the “Legend of the Three Heroes.”

“Senior, is there a second half to this book? It’s itching my heart not to know.”

“Is it really that good?”

Jing Xu said, “Instead of reading those absurd stories in the book, it would be more useful to read a few farming notes. You might even harvest a few more liters of Spirit Rice.”

“Now, that would be truly dull!”

Zhou Yi laughed and said, “With my personality and talents, I’m probably fated not to be like the characters in the book, but can’t I at least dream a little?”

“Hahaha, you’re right!”

Jing Xu immediately burst into cheerful laughter, he lifted the seal from the wine jar and, after taking a sniff, began to guzzle directly from it.

Glug glug glug!

After half a jar was downed, Jing Xu wiped his mouth and passed the remaining wine to Zhou Yi.

“That fellow Hu Dao is not so good by nature, but when it comes to brewing Spiritual Wine, each batch grows increasingly intense and mellow!”

“Naturally, otherwise Old Hu wouldn’t be so carefree!”

Zhou Yi drank the rest of the half jar in big gulps. The Spiritual Wine flowed into his limbs and bones, circulating the Guiyuan Technique, refining it into Mana, comparable to the result of more than ten days in seclusion.

“Exhilarating!”

“You’re a funny guy, using a whole year of farming just for that exhilarating moment.”

Jing Xu took a book from under the counter, “The author of that storybook hasn’t written the rest yet, but I’ll personally go push him. Take this book back and read it yourself, just don’t share it with others.”

“Hmm?”

Zhou Yi’s expression became slightly focused. He had borrowed hundreds of books from old Jing Xu, but this was the first time he had been expressly cautioned.

He took the book with both hands and saw the name on the cover.

“Pure True Monarch’s Casual Notes on Spiritual Energy Analysis.”