Chapter 323: Stone Book

On the main street, people came and went.

Lin Chao walked alone on the road, his figure desolate and quite lonely, as if he were out of place in this world.

He did not know how long he had stayed in this world.

Yet, to him, it was so unfamiliar.

He stopped on the road; there were many people gathered ahead, and someone was giving a speech in the Square, impassioned and gaining much applause.

This person was speaking about a governing philosophy, representing a certain faction; it seemed that, according to his governing policy, the wealth gap would truly decrease, everyone would be able to obtain maximum fairness, and the future would be even better.

Lin Chao lingered for a while, then finally disappeared.

How many such Elite figures who wielded power and influence could ultimately not escape the slaughter of time?

The philosophies he proposed might truly be as he thought in his heart, or they might merely be a means for profit; regardless, after the precipitation and cleansing of time, there would always be later generations standing on the long river of time, mocking his ignorance.

In the world, there has never been perfection.

There is no one who does not harbor regrets.

"I am still too concerned with gains and losses."

Lin Chao sighed slightly.

Having cultivated for so many years, he still possessed the most simple human emotions.

He could not achieve true heartlessness of the Dao.

For a Longevity Being, to still be concerned with such gains and losses, one's life would surely have endless regrets.

Perhaps it was that an old dog raised for several years had died; perhaps it was seeing countless people sacrifice themselves for an ideal, only for that ideal to become a matter of profit, not allowing others to share in it.

At this moment, Lin Chao raised his head to look at the sky.

Above the Heavenly Vault, clouds rolled, and the sky was clear for ten thousand miles.

"The weather is about to change."

A rain suddenly began to fall.

People trotted along one after another; some opened umbrellas, and some young men took off their jackets to shield their partners from the rain.

Lin Chao suddenly smiled.

Such a mood was very suitable for looking up; at the other end of the road, there was a friend from the past, smiling gently.

Unfortunately, there was not.

……

In the research institute.

Qin Zhengfang looked up: "Yaoyao, you've come."

"Yes, Uncle." Qin Yao walked over, a smile on her face, "How is the relic excavation site recently?"

"There are new discoveries." Mentioning this, a trace of a smile appeared on Qin Zhengfang's face, "Originally, we thought this relic should be from the Zhonglian period."

"But according to the latest Ke-13 Isotope Detection Method, we discovered that another relic exists within the relic; I fear it must be traced back to the Daxing period."

"Daxing, is that the period when Martial Arts were legendarily prosperous?" Qin Yao asked in return.

After Daxing came the Wu Kingdom, after the Wu Kingdom there was the Shang, and it was a long time later that the Zhonglian arrived.

Between these, much time had passed.

"However..." Speaking of something, Qin Zhengfang frowned.

"What is it?" Qin Yao asked.

"There is one artifact among them that is very special." Qin Zhengfang said slowly, "That is... a book."

"A book?" Qin Yao continued, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes, "After so many years, a book could still be preserved, that impressive?"

"It is a Stone Book." Qin Zhengfang also wore a look of confusion on his face, "The manufacturing technique of that book is truly rare; it was actually able to make stone into pages and bind them together, just like a real book, and flipping through it was not affected."

If what had been excavated from the relic this time were an iron book, Qin Zhengfang could have accepted it more easily; a Stone Book was just too strange.

"It could actually be like that!" Qin Yao was also exceptionally surprised.

"Yes, such a method, with the technological level of that time, was fundamentally impossible to achieve."

"I am now willing to believe that the cultivators recorded in ancient texts truly existed."

"The Renaissance was not entirely forged either." Qin Zhengfang said with a chuckle.

"Are there characters carved in the Stone Book?" Qin Yao continued to ask.

"There are, but... for the characters in the Stone Book, we compared them to all ancient languages and did not find any identical characters."

"You know, there are many scripts in our world, but they all originate from pictographs, and this kind of script does not belong to pictographs."

"It is as if this script is independent of the scripts of our world."

"This is truly strange... of course, this is not the strangest part."

"Ah?"

"I suspect that the characters on the Stone Book are... changing." Speaking of this, Qin Zhengfang's expression became grave.

Currently, only he was studying this Stone Book.

As a result, he discovered that compared to the first time he saw the Stone Book, the characters on the Stone Book had actually increased by some.

Even if he installed a camera on the Stone Book to monitor it 24 hours a day.

Nothing changed on the Stone Book.

However, once he observed it face-to-face, there were some more characters on the Stone Book.

Yet under surveillance, there was no change at all.

"It could actually be like this." Qin Yao frowned, not knowing what she was pondering.

Beep! Beep!

Suddenly, a shrill alarm sounded.

Qin Zhengfang's expression changed drastically.

"Not good, there is a problem with the ruins." Qin Zhengfang's expression changed drastically, "Hurry and enter the ruins."

This alarm sound meant someone had broken into the ruins.

Qin Zhengfang immediately understood that this must be the work of the Yinyuan Society.

The Yinyuan Society was an organization that appeared two hundred years ago.

This organization was very mysterious.

It is said that the Gold backers behind this organization are some of the country's financial magnates and high-ranking officials.

This organization specializes in searching for the ruins of Immortal Cultivators, seemingly wanting to crack the secrets of Immortal Cultivators to seek longevity.

Some time ago, Qin Zhengfang received news that the Yinyuan Society had set its sights on the ruins he was in charge of.

He did not expect the people of the Yinyuan Society to be so bold as to actually come.

"Okay." Qin Yao agreed hurriedly.

She had to enter the ruins together with her uncle.

"Let's go." Qin Zhengfang entered in a hurry.

There were many cultural relics in the ruins.

Those relics were not important; the most important thing was that Stone Book, which must absolutely not fall into the hands of the Yinyuan Society.

The two of them hurried toward the inside of the ruins.

The other guards also entered the ruins in a rush.

Inside the ruins, the lights were bright.

The ruins could be considered an underground city, with complex and ever-changing passages and many forks in the road.

Regarding the location of the Stone Book, only Qin Zhengfang knew.

He had not yet moved this Stone Book away; it was currently only for private research.

He had not publicized the matter of the Stone Book, telling only a limited number of people.

Qin Yao was his niece and his future successor, so he naturally did not hide it from her.

"The Stone Book must absolutely not be obtained by the Yinyuan Society.

If this group of people obtains the Stone Book and happens to actually research something..." Qin Zhengfang's expression was grave.

The country has great thieves.

This matter was something everyone tacitly acknowledged.

1% of the people control 99% of the wealth.

Nowadays, there are many domestic conflicts.

But at least time is fair; everyone has one death.

Once the Yinyuan Society is allowed to obtain the Stone Book and research the so-called secret of longevity.

And let those people obtain it.

Then, the great thieves will be true great thieves.

When they act, they will certainly have even fewer scruples.

In the past, they might have still cared about so-called face, but later...

"Okay." Qin Yao was also very urgent.

The two of them took many detours, walking toward the depths of the ruins.

Finally, the two stopped in front of a stone chamber.

"Thankfully, the Stone Book is still here." Qin Zhengfang let out a sigh of relief and entered the stone chamber.

The layout inside the stone chamber was very simple.

Among it, the most conspicuous thing was a Stone Book.

Qin Zhengfang prepared himself, getting ready to take the Stone Book away.

Tap, tap, tap!

The sound of rhythmic footsteps came.

A group of five people entered the stone chamber.

Immediately following, a crisp voice came.

"Thank you, Professor Qin, for leading us to find the Stone Book."

These five people were all wearing masks.

The person speaking had a rat mask on their face, looking exceptionally sleazy.

Seeing these five people, Qin Zhengfang's expression changed drastically.

He finally realized that he had been schemed against by the other party.

The other party did not know where the Stone Book was, so they deliberately triggered the alarm just to make him panic and go to the stone chamber to find the Stone Book.

"Yinyuan Society?" Qin Zhengfang's expression was extremely ugly as he clutched the Stone Book, "If you want to get the Stone Book, crawl over the corpse of this old man."

He did not want to give the Stone Book to the Yinyuan Society.

"Professor Qin, you are Councilman Wang's person, so we naturally will not do anything to you.

If you hand the Stone Book over to us, we will not do anything to you." The man wearing the rat mask spoke, his voice unhurried.

Hearing the name Councilman Wang, Qin Zhengfang's expression changed slightly.

He had only told a limited number of people about the Stone Book, and that included Councilman Wang.

"How could this be?" Qin Zhengfang knew that someone might have connections with the Yinyuan Society, but he did not expect it to be Councilman Wang.

Councilman Wang was born Ordinary and was a spokesperson for the working class.

At the same time, he is also a close friend of Qin Zhengfang.

"Professor Qin, although Councilman Wang advocates for sharing benefits with the people, his policy proposals over these years have also allowed many Ordinary people to profit.

But he... is human after all.

Being human means having desires and needs," said the person from the Yinyuan Society.

"Impossible!" Even now, Qin Zhengfang still could not accept it, clutching the Stone Book tightly.

If the other party dared to snatch it, he might just smash the Stone Book to pieces.

"Professor Qin, as a high-ranking official who thinks so much of the people, don't you want Councilman Wang to live longer? To plan for more welfare for the people?" The person from the Yinyuan Society spoke with a smile, his demeanor appearing very confident.

Qin Zhengfang's expression was very ugly; he gritted his teeth and said, "I will not give you the Stone Book!"

"Professor Qin, we only gave you a chance to live out of respect for Councilman Wang.

If you don't know what's good for you..." The tone of the person from the Yinyuan Society became impolite, turning directly to threats.

"We even dare to kill the Speaker if they dare to block our great progress!"

The person from the Yinyuan Society spoke with a fanatical tone.

"Even if you kill me, all you will get is a broken Stone Book." Qin Zhengfang looked righteous, unmoved by the threats.

"Professor Qin, is there really no one in this world you care about?" The person from the Yinyuan Society was unhurried.

"For example, your niece Qin Yao; she seems to be only 22 years old this year.

For example, your son, who seems to be in middle school now.

For example, your father..."

The person from the Yinyuan Society threatened.

"We will not only kill, but we will also ruin your reputation.

For example, inside the ruins... the famous Professor Qin actually committed incest with his own niece?

Has the moral climate of modern academia become this poor?"

"You..." Qin Zhengfang was furious.

"Professor Qin, everyone is an Ordinary person, and everyone has selfish motives.

Your own cultivation is quite extraordinary, so why insist on going against us?

You are also qualified to use the fruits of our Yinyuan Society's labor; why must you stand up for those peasants?"

"Everyone is human, and selfish desire is human nature.

Why must we suppress our own nature?

Even someone as upright as Councilman Wang wants to live longer to create more welfare for more people.

And take Professor Qin, for instance; your father has worked diligently for the country for over forty years—you surely don't want him to carry a bad reputation in his old age, do you?"

Professor Qin thought of his father.

His father had truly risen from humble beginnings.

He had dedicated his whole life to the country and made many contributions.

It would not be an exaggeration to call him a peerless national hero.

Letting his father be buried under a bad reputation was something he was unwilling to see.

He held the Stone Book, feeling incomparably conflicted and pained.

Suddenly, tears welled up in his eyes.

"I'm sorry."

He took the Stone Book and threw it hard toward the ground.

In an instant, the Stone Book would be shattered.

The expressions of the people from the Yinyuan Society changed drastically.

They had not expected such a result.

The probability of Qin Zhengfang destroying the Stone Book existed, but it was definitely not high.

Yet, Qin Zhengfang was about to do just that.

"Stop him quickly."

Five people rushed over rapidly.

However, they were still some distance away and could not stop it at all.

Killing intent spread among the five.

If the Stone Book shattered, their mission would be considered a failure.

Yet, the scene they anticipated did not appear, and the sound of the Stone Book shattering did not ring out.

In the stone chamber, a young man appeared abruptly.

He reached out his hand, and the Stone Book that should have shattered on the ground was now in his hand.

This man appeared abruptly, which was very strange.

Who was he?

The five people from the Yinyuan Society were somewhat surprised.

And at this moment, Qin Yao widened her eyes: "Xu Ling?"

Wasn't the young man who appeared before her eyes the same Xu Ling she had met in class a few days ago?

Xu Ling glanced at Qin Yao, his gaze calm: "What a coincidence."

Beside him, the person from the Yinyuan Society looked at Lin Chao with vigilance: "Little brother, hand that Stone Book to me, and I can give you endless wealth."

Although he said this, the movements of his hands did not stop.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out within the ruins.

The people from the Yinyuan Society had actually used a Spear.

Yet, a scene that shocked him appeared.

The bullet landed on that young man's body and actually came to a stop.

The expressions of the five people changed drastically.

"Im... Immortal Cultivator?"

Could it be that the Immortal Cultivator they had been pursuing all along was still alive?

Was it not said that Spiritual Qi had declined and there were no more Immortal Cultivators in the world?

"This lord, I am willing to serve you!" Without any hesitation, this person from the Yinyuan Society immediately cowered.

Lin Chao looked at these five people, his gaze calm.

He raised his hand.

On the ground, there were five more corpses.

He could not be bothered to waste words with these five people and Slayed them with a flick of his finger.

Lin Chao looked at Qin Zhengfang: "I am taking the Stone Book."

Qin Zhengfang looked at the Lin Chao before him, his heart incomparably shocked.

The scene before him was also something he had not expected.

"If you want to take it... then take it." Qin Zhengfang sighed.

The young man before him was clearly no ordinary person.

It was very likely that he was the legendary Immortal Cultivator.

Do Immortal Cultivators still exist?

He did not know if this was good or bad.

However, it was better for the Stone Book to fall into the hands of an Immortal Cultivator than into the hands of the Yinyuan Society.

Beside him, Qin Yao had originally wanted to say something, but unfortunately, she did not say it.

"Farewell." Lin Chao said, and holding the Stone Book in his hands, he left this world.

This Stone Book... was as old as Xu Ling of Yangyue Prefecture.

Lin Chao knew that this book represented many things.

(End of this chapter)