Chapter 283: The Lacquer-Horn Building

Fifteen minutes later, a middle-aged uncle wearing slippers and holding a palm-leaf fan appeared.

He looked at Lin Chao, a look of joy appearing on his face: "Handsome, you want this shop?"

Lin Chao's gaze was calm.

He remembered what Huang Zhongqian had said, that the owner of this bookstore was a young man.

Clearly, it was not this uncle.

"Mr. Jiang, isn't this shop managed by Jiang Weizhi? Where is he?" Lin Chao asked.

To find clues, he had to find Jiang Weizhi.

A look of grief flashed in the middle-aged uncle's eyes: "Jiang Weizhi was my nephew. My older brother and sister-in-law passed away early, and he was all alone, managing the bookstore by himself with no one to look after him. He died suddenly a few months ago."

Upon receiving this news, Lin Chao was slightly stunned, and at the same time, there was a trace of sorrow in his heart.

Humans are social animals.

If one walks alone and suddenly encounters something, with no one to look after them, then if they are gone... they are just gone.

Perhaps this is also the reason why many people love freedom when they are young and cannot bear the heavy burden of a family, but when they get older and their health is not very good, they want to settle down and find a companion.

Jiang Weizhi was dead.

This meant that his trail of clues had been interrupted somewhat.

However, Lin Chao felt no great fluctuation in his heart.

He had great patience.

"This shop... how much to transfer it?" Lin Chao inquired.

He would take this shop first, then slowly investigate the Golden Cloud Sword Technique.

This Mr. Jiang might also know some clues.

"Not much, just... 150,000. I have the property deed; it's legal and official, and the hygiene has already been cleaned up." Mr. Jiang quickly emerged from the previous grief, looking every bit the businessman.

Even if a relative passes away, life must go on.

This is helplessness, and also something everyone must experience.

"Fine." Lin Chao agreed directly.

This was not a transfer of a thriving business; this was a direct purchase.

Before he left Linhai City, Huang Zhongqian had prepared many identity documents for Lin Chao, as well as a general-purpose bank card with 30 million in deposits inside.

Lin Chao did not refuse.

The night was deep.

Lin Chao sat in the bookstore, examining it carefully.

The bookstore was not large, with an area of about forty-some square meters.

In the depths, there was a staircase leading to the second floor.

The second floor was not a bookstore, but a simple house with one room, one living room, and one bathroom.

Inside the house, there was some dilapidated furniture.

If not for Jiang Weizhi dying suddenly here, the price of this house would likely be even higher.

Turning on the light, the white glow filled the room.

Lin Chao looked at the rows of books on the shelves, flipping through them casually.

The books here were very miscellaneous; there were storybooks, geography books, supplementary teaching books, and some messy, colorful little picture books.

One hour later, Lin Chao stopped his footsteps.

"Jiang Wenshui said that all the books in the bookstore were stocked from Wang Jian."

This afternoon, Lin Chao had gone to see Wang Jian.

Wang Jian was just an ordinary supplier.

The books he supplied were all ordinary books.

Lin Chao had looked at Wang Jian's supply list, and there was no secret manual for the Golden Cloud Sword Technique either.

He had specifically asked Wang Jian, and the answer he received was also negative.

"If the problem does not lie with the book supplier, then it lies with Jiang Weizhi."

It was very likely that Jiang Weizhi had obtained the Golden Cloud Sword Technique from somewhere else.

Then, where could that place be?

Lin Chao had an urge to dig up Jiang Weizhi's grave, but thinking that he had already been cremated, he suppressed this urge.

Lin Chao came to the second floor, which was Jiang Weizhi's room.

He closed his eyes and sensed carefully.

The Innate Realm uses Innate Power.

Innate Power is very special, erupting from the human body.

This kind of power can also be used to find things.

Not long after, Lin Chao opened his eyes: "Sure enough, there is something unusual."

Anything involving the Golden Cloud Sword Technique certainly wouldn't be a simple matter.

Lin Chao walked toward the bedroom and opened a hidden compartment in the corner.

In the compartment, there was a small box.

The box was opened, and a porcelain bottle and two books appeared in Lin Chao's eyes.

He took the porcelain bottle and opened it to look; a bloody scent wafted out: "This is... a medicinal pill?"

Lin Chao sensed it carefully; this pill was blood-red all over, seemingly refined from the fresh blood of an unknown creature.

"Its function is... to stimulate some potential? Similar to a stimulant, injecting some hormones?"

Lin Chao instantly judged the effect of this medicinal pill; it was truly a bit minor.

It could probably allow a person's strength to briefly increase, but it really had no great use.

"Dragon Form Fist Technique?" Lin Chao flipped open one of the books.

Inside the book was, unexpectedly, a martial arts manual for a fist technique.

Lin Chao took one look at this martial art and realized it was different from the system of the Wu Kingdom, focusing more on Body Refining.

"Strange, why does this world have these things? Is it because of the Outsiders?"

Lin Chao still knew that the Outsiders and this world had already made contact.

Three years later, the main force of the Outsiders would truly enter this world and then conduct resource exchanges.

It was no exception that some Outsiders had entered this world in advance.

Lin Chao's gaze finally fell upon the last notebook.

"This is Jiang Weizhi's diary?"

Lin Chao was slightly stunned.

Who writes a diary if they are a serious person?

"Apologies, I read your diary. In a few days, I will go burn some paper for you as compensation."

Lin Chao flipped open the diary; the pages inside were severely damaged.

There were only a few sparse pages, and they were written with incomplete handwriting.

"June 17th, I have been here for three days already; I really cannot take it anymore."

"July 18th, Wang Qian is dead; she died right in front of me. I want to leave this place."

"July 20th, I finally survived, thank God."

"July 21st, this lousy reward is completely useless; I might as well have sold it!"

"July 30th, I was chosen again."

Looking at the handwriting above, Lin Chao was slightly stunned, and a familiar feeling washed over him.

Missions, rewards, leaving, life and death, being chosen...

"Could it be...?"

For some reason, this was related to some elements he knew from his past life.

"It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?" Lin Chao was astonished.

He finished reading the diary but did not find any new, useful clues.

He sat in the bedroom, closing his eyes to rest his mind.

Since he was here, he would settle in.

Moreover, for some reason, as he looked at this room now, he felt that the room also seemed to possess some strange aspects.

Lin Chao continued to cultivate.

Nowadays, his strength was already comparable to a Pseudo-Eighth Rank.

He was only one step away from the Main God Realm.

Of course, with his methods, battling gods was already not a problem.

However, after cultivating for so many years, he had discovered the unique nature of the Qi-Blood Martial Dao.

Gods cultivate Rules, mastering Rules to subsequently strengthen themselves.

Whereas the Qi-Blood Martial Dao cultivates the self, constantly strengthening the physical body, eventually devouring ten thousand worlds with one's own body.

Therefore, while the Innate Realm is comparable in strength to a Seventh-Order Transcendent, those exquisite methods—such as controlling Fire, summoning rain, invisibility, and so on—are inferior to those of Immortal Cultivation and the Transcendents of the Qiyuan World.

But in terms of combat power, it is not weak; it is even stronger.

The strength of the Qi-Blood Martial Dao lies in the physical body, a path where no techniques can touch the body.

This made Lin Chao feel that it was somewhat similar to the Ancestral Witches in the Mythical legends of his past life.

"I wonder how the Qi-Blood Martial Dao compares to the World-Destroying Buddha when cultivated to the Main God Realm?"

Both paths can reach profound heights.

As for which is stronger, I am afraid it still depends on the person.

Lin Chao closed his eyes and continued to cultivate.

Night slowly descended, and Wang City fell into darkness.

Suddenly, Lin Chao opened his eyes.

The light in the room was flickering constantly.

He could perceive that a layer of black fog seemed to be slowly shrouding the room.

"This is... spatial displacement?"

Lin Chao felt the fluctuations of spatial displacement.

It was as if a great being was casting a spell on his house, dragging it into a special place.

Lin Chao narrowed his eyes slightly, remaining vigilant.

One breath of time passed, and this feeling of spatial displacement vanished.

Lin Chao looked around and saw that his room had undergone tremendous changes.

The furniture in the room had all become brand new.

And on his wall, a giant screen appeared, with many small characters on the screen.

"Welcome, new Resident No. 2013, to Qijiao Building."

"In Qijiao Building, you will experience a different life journey and enjoy thrills and excitement."

Complete the Building's missions and survive, and you will receive huge rewards."

"Please name yourself, new Resident."

Lin Chao looked at the screen before him, a look of surprise appearing on his face.

"Xu Ling."

"Naming successful."

"Do you accept the Newcomer Mission?"

"No."

"Refusal is not possible. Please accept the Newcomer Mission, otherwise erasure will commence.

Do you accept the Newcomer Mission?"

"No."

"Commencing..."

Bang!

Lin Chao punched the screen.

Instantly, the screen shattered in response, and a peculiar fluctuation emanated from it.

Innate Power surged; Lin Chao moved his hand, and suddenly, a powerful, special energy entity was restrained by him.

"Law Power? It has no master?"

Lin Chao grabbed this special energy entity, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.

"No, it still has a master; it's just that its master likely cannot wake up."

Through this strand of Law Power, Lin Chao was able to discern the state of its master.

It was likely no different from those divine projections in the Qiyuan World.

Lin Chao restrained this strand of Law Power.

His connection to this Building vanished instantly.

"Better keep it connected." Lin Chao smiled, forcibly grabbed the Law Power, and crudely linked it back to the Building.

"In other words, a god has already cast their gaze upon this world?"

"What could this world possibly have that is worth a god's attention?"

Lin Chao pondered.

After all, in his view, this world was very Ordinary; it was merely a Small Thousand World where even Spiritual Qi had not yet recovered.

To gods, this world had no great utility.

Of course, for those low-level practitioners of Immortal Cultivation, some resources might be useful.

Those mortals with the talent for Immortal Cultivation were, to them, also resources and labor.

"Was the Golden Cloud Sword Technique obtained from the Qijiao Building?

What connection does this Qijiao have with the Wu Kingdom?"

"It is a pity that I cannot leave this world for now.

The main body of this building does not seem to be in this world either.

Otherwise..."

Otherwise, he would definitely go and have a talk with Qijiao.

"Let's first see why this Qijiao has cast its gaze upon this world."

Thanks to 【ljhuiopp】 for the two-thousand reward; thanks to 【Huan Shi Ren Sheng】 for the thousand reward; thanks to 【Bo Er 3】, 【Ping Yin】, 【Wei Yi ing】, 【Shu You 20190421121521848】, 【Shu You 20220222111147149】, 【【Ming】】, 【Yu Zhou Di Wang Gong】, 【Qiao Xia Chun Bo】, and 【Mos—Chen】 for their tips, thank you everyone!

(End of chapter)