Chapter 40: Tongzhou City

More than ten days later, by the side of a river not far from the official road.

Wang Yu watched the small boat in the river grow distant until it gradually became a black shadow, yet his mind could not help but recall the words Yin Linglong had spoken when she left.

"Wang Lang, I need to handle the matters of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion's secret guards first. Besides, there are also some urgent affairs on the Yin family's side. It is not convenient for you to return to the Yin family with me right now. Just cultivate well here in Tongzhou City. Once you condense your Spirit Root at the third level of Qi Refinement, you can go to the Guangyuan Market three hundred miles northeast of Tongzhou City and look for a 'Blacksmith Wu.' He is an old servant of my Yin family and will bring you to the Yin family."

Behind that Guangyuan Market is the Four Symbols Sect. Only cultivators at the third level of Qi Refinement or above are permitted to enter. Before you condense your Spirit Root, you must not go there.

Additionally, I no longer have use for these few bottles of low-grade Spirit Gathering Liquid, so I am gifting them to you for your daily cultivation. There are also a few defensive talismans..."

Wang Yu touched the bulging small package in his bosom, the corners of his mouth unable to help but curl up slightly.

Having a wealthy and beautiful fiancée really feels quite good.

This "eating soft rice" is actually quite pleasant!

Going to see Tongzhou City, which is said to be inhabited by a million mortals, is also not bad.

After all, during the exchange meeting on the Iron Arrow, Yu Bintian had mentioned in casual conversation that this city is one of the four major prefecture cities under the Great Ming Prefecture of the Wu Nation. Not only are there mortals, but low-rank cultivators also appear occasionally.

This time, there is finally an opportunity to properly collect detailed information about this world.

Thinking of this, Wang Yu no longer hesitated, turned around, and walked with long strides toward the official road.

Half a year later.

On a clean and tidy street in Tongzhou City, inside an antique bookstore, a tall youth who appeared to be seventeen or eighteen years old was focused on flipping through a thick book in his hands.

"Brother Wang, if you keep reading, this "Compendium of Common Herbs" will be finished by you." Inside the bookstore, another blue-clothed youth who was wiping the surrounding bookshelves with a rag couldn't help but shout after finishing the last shelf.

"Brother An, why make such a fuss? Could the book money for you possibly be missing? You know that when Wang Mou encounters something he likes, he will definitely buy it back to read carefully." Wang Yu put down the book in his hand, said with a chuckle to the blue-clothed youth, and then fished out a small string of copper coins from his bosom and tossed it to him.

"Brother Wang is truly a bookworm; you can read any kind of book with relish. The various miscellaneous books in my bookstore have almost all been bought by you." After the blue-clothed youth received the copper coins, he became beaming with joy.

"Indeed, so starting tomorrow, Wang Mou might have to consider other bookstores and not come to Brother An's place." After Wang Yu tucked the "Compendium of Common Herbs" into his bosom, he replied with a smile.

"Don't do that, Brother Wang. You are now the biggest customer of my Book Fragrance House. A new batch of miscellaneous books will arrive in a few days; you must come to patronize them again." The youth surnamed An hurriedly tried to persuade him to stay.

"Hehe, let's talk about that in a few days. If I have time, I might come to take a look again." Wang Yu replied with a laugh, then left the bookstore under the blue-clothed youth's reluctant gaze.

An incense stick of time later, Wang Yu arrived in front of a residence on a secluded street, took out a key to open the door lock, pushed the door open, and walked in.

Behind the door was a simple courtyard composed of three tile-roofed houses. The courtyard was not large, but in the center sat two half-person-high giant stone locks. At the same time, in front of one of the tile-roofed houses, there was a simple weapon rack, on which only some wooden knives and swords were inserted.

Wang Yu ignored the stone locks and other items in the courtyard and walked directly into one of the tile-roofed houses. Inside, there were rows of bookshelves, all of which were stuffed with books of varying thickness.

Wang Yu fished out the "Compendium of Common Herbs" from his bosom, shouted "Overclock" in his mouth, and then crystal light emerged from the depths of his eyes, and he began to flip through it rapidly.

After a sound of "Swish," "Swish" as the pages flipped rapidly, Wang Yu closed the book in his hand and closed his eyes.

After a quiet moment, he opened his eyes, but the crystal light in them had already disappeared, and he casually stuffed the book into a nearby bookshelf.

"Three major bookstores, one hundred and fifty-seven books; this is already all the useful miscellaneous books that can be collected in a short time. If I go to other bookstores to continue collecting, I fear it would be too eye-catching." Wang Yu walked out of the tile-roofed house, looked up at the fiery red sun hanging high in the sky, which was exactly the same as the one on Blue Star, and muttered a few times.

Through these books, he now had a comprehensive understanding of some common knowledge about this world, and the information recorded in these books had been firmly memorized in his mind using his photographic memory ability under overclocking.

For example, he now finally knew that besides the Wu and Yu nations, this otherworld also had a more prosperous Feng Nation. The combined area of the Wu and Yu nations was not even half the size of the Feng Nation.

But the territory of the Wu Nation alone was ten million miles wide and was divided into twelve prefectures and forty-eight prefecture cities. Tongzhou City was under the jurisdiction of the Great Ming Prefecture in the far west.

The area under the jurisdiction of Tongzhou City was five or six times wider than the Huang Shi City region.

The customs and practices of Tongzhou City were similar to those of Huang Shi City.

But the living standards of the common people in the city far exceeded those of Huang Shi City. At the very least, every household did not have to take "bean porridge" as a staple food; they could eat normal rice and flour food. Moreover, walking on the street, it was rare to see people wearing patched and tattered clothes.

Nominally, the Wu Nation was ruled by the imperial Shi family, but in reality, except for the two or three prefecture cities directly governed by the Shi family, most other prefectures and states only listened to orders but did not heed summons.

What made Wang Yu strange was that, according to the records in the books, all three nations had historical records starting from ten thousand years ago. In between, there were frequent changes of dynasties, and the royal families and imperial courts of various nations had been replaced in turn, but the names and territorial areas of the three nations had never changed much. Furthermore, there were no changes in the technology of primitive civilizations, as if the human civilization of this world was born overnight ten thousand years ago.

And according to the books, outside the three nations, there were two major regions: the Eastern Wasteland and the Northern Sea. All books said that the areas of the Eastern Wasteland and Northern Sea were infinite, and no one had ever been able to walk out of either.

Some books specifically mentioned that the Eastern Wasteland was a continuous expanse of great mountains and forests, with countless fierce beasts and monsters.

In the depths of the Northern Sea, hurricanes raged all year round. Often, leaving the coast for no more than ten thousand miles would result in ships being destroyed and people dying. Some people had even witnessed giant beasts reaching a hundred feet tall and a large number of aliens with human heads and fish bodies by the sea.

If it weren't for the existence of cultivators in this world, Wang Yu certainly would not have been able to understand these things.

But there were very few books recording matters concerning cultivators. Even if there were a few that mentioned them, most were placed together with some mythological biographies and stories, and they were collectively referred to as "Immortal Masters," and only briefly mentioned in a few strokes.

This gave Wang Yu the feeling that there seemed to be some power deliberately preventing mortals from knowing too much about cultivators.

Besides this, through these miscellaneous books, he once again confirmed that this world definitely had a certain connection with Blue Star, because some of the allusions, poems, and calendars recorded in the miscellaneous books gave him an unusually familiar feeling.

Even many of the pictures and names of animals and plants recorded in the miscellaneous books overlapped and were similar to those on Blue Star.

If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't return to Blue Star now, the information recorded in these miscellaneous books would be enough for him to achieve fame and success after returning.

Wang Yu thought of this and sighed.

He seemed to miss the food of Blue Star and the wonderful life of surfing the internet even more.

But a moment later, he still walked out of the room and came to the two stone locks in the courtyard.

He bent down, grabbed one three-hundred-jin stone lock in each hand, exerted a little force with both arms, and tossed both stone locks into the air at the same time, only for them to fall heavily.

"Puff," "Puff."

Wang Yu scooped up with both hands in the air and caught the two stone locks lightly, but under the impact of the giant force, both feet sank into the soil at the same time, and the mud even submerged most of his calves. ===== CHAPTER 41 =====