Chapter 434: Fourth Hundred and Thirty-Second Chapter: Clear Tea Years

The seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, the sky cleared after snow.

At the time the snow melted, it was early morning, the coldest time of all; Chen Shu was dressed thinly, sitting in the courtyard with a pot of hot tea in front of him—an ordinary glass pot containing bright, translucent red Yuanzhou black tea—and he was holding the Autobiography of Shengzu, reading it for the third time.

The first time, he finished reading the life experiences of his fellow countryman, found the subtle hints intentionally written for him within, and completed a communication that spanned across time and space.

The second time, he read the helplessness his fellow countryman expressed.

The third time, he saw his loneliness.

This fellow countryman seemed to have been passed down through the ages and praised by generations; if one were to speak of a winner in life, perhaps no one in the past few thousand years had won more than he had.

Yet, he himself might not necessarily think so.

He had transmigrated to an ancient, barbaric era.

Although he could practice as a Cultivator and could fly through the sky and burrow into the earth, it was only novel at the very beginning, and he soon found it boring and dull.

Moreover, it was full of danger.

At that time, there were no unified dynasties; various countries, tribes, and clans fought each other, and even if you climbed to the very pinnacle of power, it was very likely that one day another group would break in and kill you. Even though he had fought his way through, founded the Xia Dynasty, and reached the peak of power and personal status in history, the realization of enjoyment was far inferior to that of later generations.

It was a very boring era.

There was no internet to connect to the world, no brightly lit cities, one could not easily eat delicacies from across the country, and one could not observe the affairs of the world without stepping out of the house; even the top-tier Cultivators, the smartest strategists, and the greatest thinkers of that era lacked the necessary common language with him.

Even if there were young ladies, no matter how good-looking they were, with backward makeup techniques and insufficient variety in clothing and hairstyles, didn't it lose a bit of its charm?

Most importantly, he was very homesick.

Shengzu must have had family on Earth, right? It was very likely he had already married and had children, right?

Chen Shu thought as much.

By comparison, he was undoubtedly lucky to have transmigrated to a more advanced era; while it might be difficult to establish a great hegemony in this era, it was clearly far superior to that era in terms of life. Different people might have different thoughts, but for Chen Shu, he definitely preferred this era.

He wondered if Shengzu would think the same.

He wondered if he would still be so homesick if he had arrived in this era.

Chen Shu poured himself another cup of tea.

The weather was too cold, and the tea had already turned lukewarm.

Footsteps came from behind.

Qingqing walked over carrying a pot of hot water, lifted the lid of the glass teapot, and poured in half a pot of hot water; for a moment, steam rose, and the winter morning became even more pronounced.

"Thanks, Qingqing~"

Ning Qing pursed her lips and turned to leave.

She didn't even know how to say "you're welcome."

Chen Shu shook his head, sighing that he hadn't taught her well, then continued flipping through the ancient book.

This set of the Autobiography seemed to be Shengzu's proactive communication with him; he had written down half his life to tell those who would follow in his footsteps. He wondered if, while writing this book, he felt a sense of pouring out his heart and expressing himself.

"Click..."

The main gate was suddenly pushed open.

The young girl walked in, holding her hand up with a fountain pen spinning at her fingertips, and said to her brother-in-law inside:

"I'm back!"

"Finished your exam?"

"Yes."

"How did you do?"

"Don't know."

The young girl walked in with big strides, looking to be in a very good mood; the main gate closed automatically behind her, and the bolt slid into place by itself. She walked over, stood behind her brother-in-law, and leaned over to look at the book on the stone table, the fountain pen still spinning at her fingertips:

"What are you reading?"

"A book."

"What book?"

"An ancient book."

"What's it called?" The young girl was very patient.

"The Autobiography of Shengzu."

"Okay."

The young girl stretched her hand out toward her brother-in-law's face: "Look, the new pen-spinning technique I learned."

"I can spin it too."

"Then you spin it."

"Heh..."

Chen Shu took the pen from her hand, made the fountain pen dance freely at his fingertips, spun it for a good while, then put it down and said to the young girl: "If your sister sees this later, she's going to say we're both childish again..."

"Mm..."

"Want some tea?"

"No."

"Your sister brewed it; if you drink it, she'll come over to pour more water again."

"Then I want some."

The young girl ran back into the house, brought out a cup, and poured away more than half of the tea in the teapot.

Not long after, the sister indeed came out again with the water kettle; she didn't say a word, just topped off the brother-in-law's teapot with half a pot of water, and left again. The young girl suspected that when she had nothing to do, she would stare at her brother-in-law from somewhere, and as soon as the tea was empty, she would immediately run over to top it off.

The tea grew weaker with each refill, and his stomach felt bloated.

The book in Chen Shu's hand had also reached the last page.

The third time was finished as well.

There was an inexplicable sense of melancholy and emptiness.

Chen Shu carefully closed the book, put it away, and walked back into the house, only to find Qingqing standing by the living room window, turning her head to stare at him; yet judging by her posture, she had been facing the direction of the stone table the whole time, so he couldn't help but grin at her.

Ning Qing withdrew her gaze and continued to face out the window, thinking about the future.

In the afternoon, the neighbor next door returned.

It was said that she had already resigned from the skydiving club; she had originally expected to earn tens of thousands in wages, but because the weather had been poor over the last month and business was dismal, and the contract she signed based her main salary on performance commissions, she only received a little over ten thousand yuan.

A little over ten thousand was considered quite low in Yujing.

The average salary in Yujing last year was twenty thousand, and the median was eighteen thousand, but the purchasing power of the currency was high; aside from expensive rent, the cost of living was very cheap, especially the prices of vegetables and meat, which were relatively low, thanks to global supply.

Damned imperialism.

The neighbor surnamed Zhang used her salary to treat them to a meal, finding a restaurant that specialized in Buddha Jumps Over the Wall and choosing the most expensive set menu at 1,599 per person; for five people and one cat, a single meal cost her half a month's salary, yet she was incredibly happy about it.

This reminded Chen Shu of before the global anti-terrorism efforts, when after the security guard Zhang quit his job, he also treated them to a seafood feast, spending over half a month's salary.

The previous delivery job was the same.

It was estimated that they would be able to improve their diet every month or so from now on.

As for how high the standard of the improved diet would be, it depended on this neighbor's work and the salary she received that month.

……

Mid-twelfth lunar month, Lingzhou, Spirit Sect.

Chen Shu had spent several days soaking in Phoenix Tower, looking up many spells and historical materials he was interested in, and finally caught the Vice Sect Master when he was free, so he hurriedly ran to the Vice Sect Master's courtyard to pay his respects to the old man.

The Vice Sect Master was still feeding the mountain birds, looking at him with a smile:

"What is it this time, coming to find me?"

"Of the artifacts obtained from the Tesseract Secret Realm previously, I kept one, which is the Autobiography of Shengzu. I kept it and read it several times, and now I've finished researching it." Chen Shu smiled sheepishly, "I was truly interested and wanted to finish reading it as soon as possible. Now it is time to hand it over."

"Shengzu's Autobiography?"

"Yes."

"What does it talk about inside?"

"Shengzu's life experiences."

Seeing that the Vice Sect Master was also very interested, Chen Shu said: "It includes his early years of fighting north and south, establishing the Xia Dynasty, creating the writing system, setting the common language, unifying weights and measures, and reforms in military, politics, taxation, and ideology, as well as helping to establish the Spirit Sect, the Buddhist Sect, and the Daoist sects. In any case, everything before Shengzu became a god is basically recorded on it. I believe it is very likely authored by him personally."

"If this thing gets out, its weight in the historical academic circle will likely be heavier than all other artifacts combined," the Vice Sect Master said.

"Indeed, if my father saw it, he probably wouldn't even want to look at his stocks anymore." Chen Shu smiled and explained further, "I originally only intended to keep it for a few more days and read it one more time before handing it over, but I couldn't help myself and read it over and over again."

"That doesn't matter; it was said from the start that you could keep whatever you wanted to keep."

"Mm."

Clearly, they had also guessed that since only he could take these things out of the Tesseract Secret Realm, it meant they were left for him by Shengzu... but too much time had passed, and five thousand years had endowed these items with a heavier value and significance, to the point where Chen Shu could no longer claim them as his own just because they were left for him by a fellow countryman.

He couldn't get past that hurdle himself.

After all, he came from a family of historians.

"Give it to me."

The Vice Sect Master said to him.

"Alright."

Chen Shu took out the set of ancient books: "If possible, could you let my father participate in the study and analysis of it, so he doesn't stare at stocks all day?"

"I will mention it, but I cannot make the final decision on this; it is for the National Historical Relics Bureau to decide."

"Understood."

The Vice Sect Master was clearly also very interested in this set of books, bending down to look at them closely.

Chen Shu said beside him: "I also improved a Tracer Technique, using the Reverse Rune Principle; I call it the High-level Tracer Spell. The original intention was to allow it to have decent attack efficacy even at a high tier, and the effect is quite good."

"Oh? Let me see."

A moment later, the Vice Sect Master held the tablet, staring at the spell.

"I feel this spell is already very mature; I can't find room for improvement for the time being, only to slowly improve, adjust, or add functions in the future based on the progress of rune principle technology and the needs of future generations."

"That is because I consulted Teacher Shi Qian."

"Shi Qian, his level is indeed quite good." The Vice Sect Master returned the tablet to him and said to him, "Write it into A Book, organize the spell structure, add the creative thought process, technical points, learning methods, usage techniques, and so on, compile it into A Book, and include it in Phoenix Tower."

"Emm..."

Chen Shu immediately felt a bit of regret.

"Haha..."

The Vice Sect Master laughed immediately and added: "No rush, just do it when you have time later; there is plenty of time in the future."

"Is that so..."

"Perhaps..."

"Then I will try."

"Writing a book is an extraordinary thing."

"What have you been busy with lately?"

"Upgrading the Defense Array around the Forbidden Land," the Vice Sect Master said helplessly. "You have been to Xixiao, and you know that whether it is distance to Godhood or distance to death, Cao Ci only has a few years left. His source is also almost collected, and afterwards, he will need a Forbidden Land to accommodate the source and himself."

"It is unlikely he would choose a Forbidden Land within Dayi, right?"

"Who knows? In any case, the Forbidden Land Formation is also outdated; it should have been upgraded long ago."

"I see..."

Chen Shu nodded, falling into thought.

Although the Forbidden Lands within Dayi accounted for more than half of the total, Dayi was also full of experts, and he still felt that even if he were to do the opposite, Cao Ci would not choose a Forbidden Land within Dayi; that would be equivalent to looking for trouble.

A Forbidden Land abroad was more likely.

"How much longer will it be?"

"It might be within next year."

"Next year, huh..."

Chen Shu repeated the Vice Sect Master's words.

After spending some more time feeding the mountain sparrows with the Vice Sect Master and chatting about knowledge regarding the Reverse Rune Principle, Chen Shu left and headed to Phoenix Tower, preparing to look up more information about the Forbidden Land.

In the days that followed, he continued to spend his time immersed in Phoenix Tower every day, coming to consult the Vice Sect Master whenever he had questions; sometimes he could find her, and sometimes he could not. The rest of the time was spent eating at the cafeteria, returning to his small courtyard to cultivate, chatting with Qingqing for a bit or having a video call, and occasionally going to the ancient town at the foot of the mountain to find snacks or get a fish spa, watching the little fish suck and suck on his feet, yet unable to suck anything off, which had its own unique charm.

This kind of life was a bit more tiring than his usual days, but it was also more fulfilling.

It was not until the latter part of the twelfth lunar month that he left the Spirit Sect.

By this time, it was already time to return to Yuanzhou to celebrate the New Year.