[San: What’s the deal with the Tiandi Society?]
[Jiu: The Tiandi Society is an evil cult that has long coveted our Earth Sect’s magical treasure. Hehe, this treasure is also called the Earth Book. It can transmit messages over thousands of miles.
[I received a distress message from Senior Brother Jinlian a while ago, knowing he went to the capital of Da Feng. Only by entering the capital could he escape the Tiandi Society’s pursuit.
[But when I arrived in the capital, I lost contact with Senior Brother Jinlian. So I sent messages through the Earth Book, and that’s how I learned he had passed the “Earth Book” to you. Senior Brother must have been in a very dire situation to have to abandon the Earth Book for self-preservation.]
What the… You mean he passed the hot potato to me?!
Xu Qi An was dumbfounded.
[Jiu: I just don’t know who you are, to make Senior Brother Jinlian feel comfortable entrusting the Earth Book to you.]
I’m just a small runner, no, just a lowly night watchman… Xu Qi An felt his heart sink.
[San: Why does abandoning the Earth Book help with self-preservation? Can the Tiandi Society locate the Earth Book’s position?]
The deduction master Xu Qi An keenly caught this question.
[Jiu: This matter involves a secret of our Earth Sect, which this poor Daoist cannot disclose. The Earth Book is our sect’s greatest treasure. I hope you can return it to this poor Daoist. This poor Daoist will surely reward you generously.]
[San: Alright, how do I return it to you?]
Xu Qi An was a bit reluctant to part with it, after all, it was a treasure that could serve as a storage ring. But considering the risks that came with it, he chose to play it safe.
[Jiu: This poor Daoist is in the capital and can come to meet you at any time. If you don’t trust this poor Daoist, you can choose the exchange location. Hmm, what do you want?]
Boobs, I want warm, soft boobs… Xu Qi An almost blurted out.
[San: Daoist, you’re too kind. Returning property to its rightful owner is my duty. It’s just that when the Daoist Jinlian gave it to me, he said it was a supreme treasure of heaven and earth, and sold it to me for five hundred taels of gold.
[I’m certainly not asking for money, but since the treasure is being returned to its owner, the gold should naturally be returned to its owner as well. An equal exchange, right?]
[Jiu: …That’s how it should be.]
…
Xu Qi An put away the mirror, dreaming of five hundred taels of gold as he fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, he changed into his night watchman uniform, hung his waist token and sword, and tied the newly exchanged bronze gong to his chest.
He jumped over the wall to have breakfast at Second Uncle’s house.
Leaving the Xu mansion, he took the reins from Old Zhang at the gate and rode towards the inner city to the Night Watchmen’s office.
This horse was Second Uncle’s mount, now belonging to Xu Qi An. Of course, to appease his aunt, Xu Qi An had given Second Uncle fifty taels of silver.
It was necessary because the Night Watchmen’s office was in the inner city, too far from the Xu mansion. If Xu Qi An walked, he’d arrive at the office just in time for lunch.
Rushing to the Night Watchmen’s office, he entered the Spring Wind Hall where Li Yuchun was having tea with a Silver Gong.
“Is this your recruit?” the Silver Gong casually asked upon seeing an unfamiliar face.
“Mm,” Li Yuchun nodded.
“What’s his rating?” the Silver Gong inquired.
Before Xu Qi An could speak, Li Yuchun quickly said, “B-minus.”
The Silver Gong was quite surprised and praised, “Not bad, not bad. The office needs young people with potential like this. You’ll be the pillars of the Night Watchmen in the future.”
The latter half was directed at Xu Qi An.
Xu Qi An bowed respectfully before stating his purpose: “Chief, I’d like to go to the archives.”
He didn’t know where the archives were or what the corresponding permissions were.
“In the future, if you have any questions, you can directly ask the clerks,” Li Yuchun said.
“Understood,” Xu Qi An withdrew from the Spring Wind Hall.
When leaders are chatting and socializing, subordinates shouldn’t disturb them unless it’s urgent. He had enough sense for that.
Catching a clerk to ask about the archives’ location, Xu Qi An arrived at a large courtyard.
He handed his waist token to a black-clad clerk, who checked it and returned it, saying:
“The archives are divided into four areas: A, B, C, and D. Bronze Gongs can only access the D area to view documents.”
Xu Qi An pondered for a moment and asked, “How do I know which archive room has the information I need?”
The black-clad clerk smiled respectfully and said, “Go to the ‘D’ archive room.”
Of the “A, B, C, D” archive rooms, D was the basic level and also the largest, conforming to the pyramid principle.
The more confidential the documents, the fewer they were.
Xu Qi An entered the “D” archive room and approached the reception desk, saying, “I need to find information on the Dao School.”
The clerk at the reception desk took out a thick register, searched for a while, then looked up and said, “Sir, please wait a moment.”
He went into the inner part of the archives.
Shortly after, this black-clad clerk came out holding a scroll, handing it to Xu Qi An while taking his waist token.
Xu Qi An said, “Bring me a cup of hot tea.”
He turned and went to the side hall with tables and began to read the Dao School materials.
The origin of the Dao School came from the Dao Ancestor, whose era is untraceable. Legend has it that the Dao Ancestor was an extraordinary figure from ancient times who created the Three Pure Ones: the Celestial Venerable of the Primordial Beginning, the Celestial Venerable of the Numinous Treasure, and the Celestial Venerable of the Way and Its Virtue.
This corresponds to the three talents of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity.
This is the origin of the Dao School’s “Heaven, Earth, and Human” three sects.
Among them, the Heaven and Human sects are like fire and water, both claiming to be the orthodox Dao School, wishing they could beat each other’s brains out.
The Earth Sect is the most bland, with its members having a very low-key style, not seeking fame or profit. People unfamiliar with this think the Dao School only has the Heaven and Human sects.
So laid-back it’s heartbreaking.
“These days, the struggle for orthodox lineage is probably the biggest conflict,” Xu Qi An silently added in his heart: Mature women are invincible.
Continuing to read, he discovered that the Earth Sect’s laid-back attitude had its reasons.
The Earth Sect worshipped the Celestial Venerable of the Way and Its Virtue, cultivating boundless merits. They wandered the world, kept a low profile, did good deeds without leaving their names, and left after gaining merit.
“Merit…” Xu Qi An frowned in thought.
In some sense, merit is of the same origin as luck. People often say: Do good deeds and accumulate virtue, good people will be rewarded.
Merit means blessings, and blessings are the same as luck.
So that old Daoist from the Earth Sect could see my special nature? Knowing I was a lucky star, he felt at ease passing the hot potato to me… Damn, aren’t you supposed to cultivate merit? Why are you doing such unvirtuous things…
Xu Qi An grumbled internally.
This led him to wonder if the strange luck he possessed was also a kind of merit.
But the Xu family’s ancestors for eighteen generations were all common people. Only in Second Uncle’s generation did they see a slight improvement, with the two brothers being rough characters who wielded kitchen knives to cut electric wires, sparks flying all the way.
They hadn’t done many good deeds, but they had cut down quite a few people on the battlefield.
At this moment, the administrator brought over the hot tea and casually chatted, “Sir, are you researching information on the Human Sect?”
No, I’m looking into the Earth Sect… Xu Qi An asked back, “Human Sect?”
“Our country’s Imperial Preceptor is the current head of the Human Sect,” the clerk said. “Master Wei greatly dislikes that female Dao leader.”
Female Dao leader… Ah, that legendary beautiful Daoist nun?
Xu Qi An suddenly realized. Before, he only knew that the current emperor was obsessed with Daoist cultivation, seeking immortality. He had appointed a heavenly beautiful Daoist nun as the Imperial Preceptor.
He never expected it to be the Human Sect!
The Astrology Bureau’s diviners, the Dao School’s Human Sect, the Night Watchmen, the Confucian Yunlu Academy, the Da Feng military, the court’s civil official group… The capital was like a small pond, yet crowded with dragons.
No wonder “Number Nine” said the Tiandi Society’s people didn’t dare enter the capital.
Daoist Jinlian: Just try coming in.
Tiandi Society assassin: Try and die.
Hahaha… Xu Qi An’s mouth twitched into a smile as he said, “Can you find me some information on the ‘Tiandi Society’ as well? Oh, and the Earth Book. Do you know about the Earth Book? It’s a supreme treasure of heaven and earth… Um, if I want to go to the A, B, or C archive rooms, what channel should I apply through?”
Hearing this, the clerk smiled and said, “The B and C archive rooms correspond to the Gold Gongs and Silver Gongs respectively. As for the A archive room, you need Master Wei’s written permission to enter. But the Tiandi Society and Earth Book information you’re looking for is available in the D archive room.”
Seeing Xu Qi An’s slight surprise, he explained, “The Tiandi Society sounds like just a jianghu organization and the Earth Book is a legendary ancient treasure. Neither of them is particularly confidential things. I’ll check the manual to see where they are.”
With that, he went to the reception desk.
Xu Qi An stared at his back for a while before understanding.
He had fallen into a thinking trap, believing that the more ancient something was, the more confidential it would be. It wasn’t. The more ancient things were, the less valuable they were… Well, not in terms of monetary value, as antiques are still valuable, but in terms of confidentiality level.
The real secrets were things closely related to the present, such as military intelligence, border defense layouts, gunpowder formulas, siege equipment shipbuilding blueprints, and so on.
I believe that in the future, there will be another confidential file in the A archive room: “The Secret Manual of Human-Beast Hybridization”.
Authors: Song Qin; Xu Qi An.
Soon, the clerk found the information related to the “Earth Book” and the Tiandi Society.
Xu Qi An eagerly began reading. The Tiandi Society was linked to his safety, so he chose to learn about this organization first.
…
There were thousands of organizations in the jianghu world, with sects everywhere, nothing particularly worth noting.
They engaged in some gray income, were still obedient, and were willing to submit to government control. A few jianghu forces with particularly deep foundations didn’t quite buy into the government’s authority.
But their existence also played a role in stabilizing their areas, and they would occasionally take it upon themselves to eliminate bandits.
The Tiandi Society was just one of these inconspicuous jianghu organizations.
The earliest record of it appeared sixty years ago, when there was a great drought in Yun Province, and refugees became bandits, looting everywhere.
Natural and man-made disasters ran rampant.
Local jianghu forces joined with the government to eliminate the bandits, and the Tiandi Society was one of them.
“It seems to be quite a chivalrous organization… Hmm, sometimes those who do good deeds aren’t necessarily good people, just like those who do charity aren’t necessarily sincere about it.”
It might also be to gain a reputation… Xu Qi An took a sip of tea and continued reading.
The Tiandi Society wasn’t an active organization, being semi-secretive, with very few related records.
Xu Qi An finished reading without gaining much information.
“It’s normal to not have much information. The fact that it can force an Earth Sect expert to flee into the capital shows that it’s a very large and powerful organization…”
“For such an organization to be able to keep information from the Night Watchmen’s intelligence network is also reasonable. Should I report this to Brother Chun to enrich the Night Watchmen’s archives?”
“Uh… I’ll hold off on that for now.”
He decided not to report this matter to the office. Although it might earn him some merit, it couldn’t compare to five hundred taels of gold.
A treasure like the Earth Book would make anyone envious. What if some Gold Gong took a liking to it and directly ordered him to hand it over to the national treasury…
Xu Qi An closed the book and opened the information related to the “Earth Book”.
The Earth Book was an ancient supreme treasure, its origins untraceable. It was only known to have been left behind by the Dao Ancestor, whose era was also untraceable.
The information didn’t even mention the functions of the Earth Book.
However, there was a note saying that such ancient supreme treasures were often born from the nurturing of heaven and earth, beyond human ability to forge.
They had a common characteristic: blood recognition for ownership.
Blood recognition… Xu Qi An thought to himself that he understood this trope. After all the twists and turns, it turned out to be blood recognition.
The magical tools given to him by Song Qin and the Night Watchmen’s bronze gong only needed to be infused with qi to use, without the concept of recognition. They were essentially tools that could be used by anyone who held them.
Xu Qi An felt that blood recognition didn’t exist in this world.
He took out the small jade mirror from his pocket and placed it on the table, drew his sword two inches, and gently pressed his fingertip on the blade.
Crimson blood immediately seeped out, and Xu Qi An smeared it on the surface of the small jade mirror.
That smear of blood stayed on the mirror’s surface for a few seconds before slowly disappearing, absorbed by the mirror.
The next moment, the scenery before Xu Qi An’s eyes began to blur. The books, tables, and teacups faded away, replaced by chaos.
In the hazy chaos, he saw eight points of light suspended in the chaotic world.
Do these eight points of light symbolize the other mirrors? Including mine, that makes exactly nine mirrors… Xu Qi An’s gaze swept across, trying to find [Number Nine].
But he didn’t know which light point belonged to Number Nine.
Hmm… I’ll just randomly pick one to add as a friend!
Xu Qi An raised his hand, attempting to point at the light point closest to him.
That point of light immediately rippled like water, the ripples spreading throughout the chaotic world.
Xu Qi An felt as if he had just woken from a dream. The scenery before his eyes returned to normal, and he was still in the reception hall of the archives, with books and teacups in front of him, as well as that ordinary-looking small jade mirror.
But he knew it wasn’t a dream, because after the blood recognition, the small jade mirror had formed some kind of mysterious connection with him.
A mystical sense of belonging.
At this moment, a line of text slowly appeared in the mirror:
[Liu: Don’t trust Number Nine, don’t respond, don’t respond, don’t respond…]