Chapter 40

More than ten days later, beside a river not far from the official road.

Wang Yu watched the small boat drifting downstream shrink into a distant black dot, his mind involuntarily recalling the words Yin Linglong had spoken when she left.

“Wang Lang, I must first settle matters concerning the Black Guards of Baizhen Pavilion, and there are urgent affairs at the Yin family as well. You’re not yet ready to return with me to the Yin household—stay here in Tongzhou and cultivate diligently. Once you’ve consolidated your spiritual roots at Qi Condensation Third Stage, go to Guangyuan Market, three hundred li northeast of Tongzhou, and find a man called ‘Wu the Blacksmith.’ He is an old servant of my family and will guide you to the Yin household.”

“Behind Guangyuan Market lies the Four Symbols Sect; only cultivators above Qi Condensation Third Stage are permitted entry. Do not go there until you’ve consolidated your spiritual roots.”

“Also, these bottles of inferior Spirit Gathering Elixir are useless to me now—I give them to you for daily cultivation. And here are a few protective talismans…”

Wang Yu touched the bulging small bundle in his robe, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

Having a beautiful, wealthy fiancée feels pretty good.

This soft meal tastes delicious!

It wouldn’t hurt to visit Tongzhou, said to house a million commoners.

After all, during the exchange fair on the Iron Arrow, Yu Bin had casually mentioned that this city is one of the Four Major State Cities under Wu’s Great Ming Prefecture, home not only to commoners but occasionally to low-level cultivators.

This time, he finally had a chance to gather detailed information about this world.

Thinking of this, Wang Yu no longer hesitated and turned to stride toward the official road.

Half a year later.

On a clean, tidy street in Tongzhou, inside an antique-style bookstore, a tall young man who looked seventeen or eighteen was intently flipping through a thick book.

“Wang Brother, if you keep reading like this, you’ll finish that copy of ‘Comprehensive Guide to Common Herbs’ entirely.” The blue-clad youth, who had been wiping the bookshelves with a cloth, finally finished the last shelf and called out.

“Why the alarm, An Brother? Do you think I’d skip paying you? You know I always buy books I like to study at home.” Wang Yu set down the book and smiled at the blue-clad youth, then pulled out a small string of copper coins and tossed them over.

“You’re truly a book addict—anything you lay eyes on, you devour with delight. I’ve practically sold you every miscellaneous text in my shop.” The blue-clad youth caught the coins and beamed.

“Indeed. So from tomorrow, I may need to consider another residence—I won’t be coming here anymore.” Wang Yu tucked the ‘Comprehensive Guide to Common Herbs’ into his robe and replied with a smile.

“Don’t go! Wang Brother, you’re my biggest customer. A new shipment of miscellaneous texts arrives in a few days—you absolutely must come back!” The young man with the surname An hurriedly pleaded.

“Heh, we’ll see in a few days—if I have time, I might drop by again.” Wang Yu laughed it off and left the bookstore under the blue-clad youth’s lingering gaze.

An incense stick later, Wang Yu arrived at the gate of a secluded courtyard, unlocked the door with a key, and stepped inside.

Behind the gate stood a simple courtyard of three tiled rooms. The yard was small, but in the center rested two stone weights, each half a man’s height. In front of one room stood a simple weapon rack, holding only wooden swords and knives.

Wang Yu ignored the stone weights and other objects in the yard, walking straight into one of the tiled rooms, where row upon row of bookshelves were crammed with books of varying thicknesses.

Wang Yu pulled out the ‘Comprehensive Guide to Common Herbs,’ muttered “Overclock,” and in his eyes, a faint crystalline glow appeared as he began flipping through the pages at blinding speed.

“Swish” “Swish”—the sound of pages flipping rapidly ceased as Wang Yu snapped the book shut and closed his eyes.

He sat still for a moment, then opened his eyes. The crystalline glow was gone; he casually shoved the book onto a nearby shelf.

“Three bookshops, one hundred fifty-seven books—this is all the useful miscellaneous texts I can gather in a short time. If I keep collecting from other shops, I’ll draw too much attention.” Wang Yu stepped out of the room, looked up at the crimson sun hanging high in the sky, identical to the one on Blue Star, and murmured softly.

Through these books, he now had a comprehensive understanding of basic facts about this world, all of which he had memorized perfectly using his Overclock-enhanced photographic memory.

For instance, he now knew that besides Wu and Yu, this world had a far more powerful nation called Feng. Combined, Wu and Yu were less than half the size of Feng.

Yet Wu’s territory alone spanned ten million li, divided into twelve prefectures and forty-eight state cities; Tongzhou fell under the jurisdiction of Great Ming Prefecture in the far west.

The territory governed by Tongzhou was five or six times larger than that of Huangshi City.

The customs and people of Tongzhou were similar to those of Huangshi City.

But the commoners’ standard of living here far surpassed Huangshi’s—at least no household had to rely on “bean gruel” as a staple; rice and flour were common, and few people on the streets wore patched or tattered clothes.

Wu was nominally ruled by the imperial Shi clan, but in reality, apart from the two or three prefectures directly controlled by the Shis, all other prefectures and states paid lip service but acted independently.

What puzzled Wang Yu was that according to the books, all three nations had recorded histories stretching back ten thousand years, with frequent dynastic changes and alternating royal houses—but their names and territorial sizes had remained virtually unchanged, with no trace of primitive technological evolution, as if human civilization here had sprung into existence fully formed ten thousand years ago.

Moreover, the books mentioned two vast regions beyond the three nations: Donghuang and Beihai. All texts agreed that Donghuang and Beihai were boundless, and no one had ever escaped them.

Some books specifically described Donghuang as an endless expanse of mountains, forests, and seas, teeming with countless ferocious beasts and demonic entities.

Deep within Beihai, hurricanes raged perpetually; ships and crews perished within ten thousand li of the shore, and some had even witnessed colossal sea monsters a hundred zhang tall and numerous humanoid-fish hybrids along the coast.

Had this world not contained cultivators, Wang Yu would never have believed these accounts.

Yet books contained almost no information about cultivators; the few that mentioned them bundled them with myths and legends, collectively calling them “Immortal Masters,” and glossed over them in a few brief lines.

This gave Wang Yu the feeling that some force deliberately prevented commoners from learning too much about cultivators.

Beyond that, through these miscellaneous texts, he had further confirmed that this world must have some connection to Blue Star—certain anecdotes, poetry, and calendars felt strikingly familiar.

Even illustrations and names of flora and fauna in the books bore strong similarities to those on Blue Star.

Had he been able to return to Blue Star, the information in these books would have made him famous and wealthy.

Wang Yu sighed at this thought.

He missed Blue Star’s cuisine and the sheer joy of surfing the internet even more.

But after a moment, he stepped out of the room and walked to the two stone weights in the courtyard.

He bent down, grasped one in each hand, and with a slight flex of his arms, hurled both three-hundred-pound weights into the air, where they crashed back down.

“Thud” “Thud”

Wang Yu reached up, caught both weights effortlessly midair, but the impact drove his feet deep into the soil, burying his calves halfway.