Divine Tang Era

The book "The Legend of the Azure Lotus Sword Immortal" is indeed about Li Bai, but it has some fantasy elements.

The book states that Li Bai was a descendant of royalty, whose ancestors were exiled to foreign lands due to the power struggle within the imperial family. After several generations, the situation calmed down, and his ancestor returned to Sichuan with his family. Li Bai was born in Sichuan during that period.

He was intelligent and exceptionally gifted from a young age, and could recite the Six Classics at the age of five.

During one of his travels, he was spotted by his master, who was also traveling, and became a disciple of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect.

Later, he followed his master to fight evil, and because his sword transformed into a blue lotus, he gained the reputation of the Blue Lotus Sword Immortal, which gradually rose to fame and spread throughout the land of Sichuan and Chongqing. Years later, he completed his studies and descended the mountain, his footsteps reaching beyond Sichuan and Chongqing, and the name of the Blue Lotus Sword Immortal spread throughout the entire world of the Divine Tang Dynasty.

In this legend, besides being famous for his poetry, Li Bai also has many fantastical and dreamlike stories.

In the Sichuan and Chongqing region alone, there are stories of people entering ghost tombs, slaying demons with their swords, suppressing evil spirits, and bestowing titles upon deities. Outside of Sichuan and Chongqing, there are even more stories, as if the whole world is full of demons and monsters.

However, the book is very well written and captivating.

When Xu Dan flipped to the end, he found that Li Bai's ending was different from the historical records he had read. The records said that Li Bai drunkenly killed a dragon whale and then hid in the springs and forests with a beautiful woman.

This is clearly a sensationalist and perfect ending. Li Bai died at the age of sixty-two. How could he possibly retire with a beautiful woman at that age? Did he want a pear tree to suppress a crabapple tree, or a beautiful young woman with a sword at her waist to kill an old man?

But there's no denying that this book is indeed well-written.

In particular, the exquisite color illustrations in the book depicting the Azure Lotus Sword Immortal slaying demons and monsters in various places are so lifelike that they seem to be real.

This book is very good. Xu Dan plans to buy it and read it in his spare time.

The study contained a wide variety of books, including Confucian classics, works by various philosophers, Taoist and Buddhist scriptures, agricultural and martial arts texts, astronomical and geographical texts, and legendary tales.

Xu Dan felt he should buy a martial arts manual to train his body; otherwise, relying solely on brute strength wouldn't suffice. So he stopped at the bookshelf displaying martial arts manuals. There weren't many manuals on the shelf, only a handful such as Divine Monkey Fist, Eight-Section Strength, Heavenly Net Fist, Vajra Hammer, Mighty God Fist, and Yaksha Iron Sand Palm. Those sold in the store were undoubtedly common, mass-produced items.

Fortunately, he was just training his body and never thought that he could dominate the world with his boxing skills just by learning them casually.

Hercules Fist, that's a good name. Xu Dan jumped up, pulled out the book, and started reading.

"This book isn't suitable for you." The man who had been engrossed in reading in the corner, who was also the owner of the study, appeared beside him at some point.

"Oh..." Xu Dan wondered, there was something unsuitable about this thing.

The man brought over a chair, took a brocade box from the top of the bookshelf, opened it, and took out a book. "This is the foundation-building boxing technique passed down to the younger generation of the Qin family, Qin Qiong, the Duke of Qin, who was one of the twenty-four meritorious officials of the founding of our Divine Tang Dynasty and listed in the Lingyan Pavilion. Although it is not a top-level martial art, it is superior in its gentleness and will not harm the body, which is just right for you."

"Qin Qiong, didn't he die of illness later?"

That was a very famous figure, ranked sixteenth among the heroes of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

How could Xu Dan not have heard of him? He just died of illness later. This shows that the martial arts he practiced were not good for his health, otherwise how could he have died of illness?

"If you bleed like him, you'll die of illness just as easily."

The study owner said irritably, "The Duke of Qin was able to return victorious from countless battles precisely because he laid a solid foundation. It's only because his descendants were unworthy and leaked his techniques that you could never learn them."

Xu Dan wasn't one to ignore advice, so he bought the book after hearing what he said.

He had just looked around but couldn't find the book he wanted. Luckily, the man was there, so he asked, "Do you have any simplified history books here? Preferably ones that can briefly recount the events of each dynasty from ancient times to the present."

Upon hearing this, the owner of the study walked to a bookshelf and pulled out a book. "Here, this is it."

"The Divine Tang Chronicles"

Recalling the man's words about the founding of the Tang Dynasty and his respectful address of Qin Shubao as Duke, Xu Dan's mind raced. Could he possibly be in the Tang Dynasty, only with the word "god" added before it? What on earth was that?

Xu Dan had many questions in his mind and hoped that this book could provide him with the answers.

When he paid, the three books cost him fifty-six taels of silver, a price that left him speechless.

Yesterday, that cow only sold for fifteen taels of silver, okay? No wonder the bookstore isn't doing much business; selling at such high prices, nobody would want to buy it. And the most expensive item isn't even a history of martial arts, but the Legend of the Azure Lotus Sword Immortal. Xu Dan has no idea how the bookstore sets its prices; it's outrageous.

Fortunately, he had money on him and wasn't short of cash, so he paid the money readily.

He secretly vowed that if he ever stepped into the study again, he would write the name Xu Dan backwards.

Three books for fifty-six taels of silver! My goodness, the steamed buns I just ate were only five coins each. This is worse than robbery!

Thinking about this, Xu Dan was very puzzled by the prices in Jingning City. A cow cost fifteen taels, a steamed bun cost five coins, a flower-tailed snake cost one hundred spirit stones, and there was also gold. Four currencies coexisted in the world, something he had never seen in any dynasty he remembered. Had he come to a fantasy world?

Yes, I was really stupid.

It's not a fantasy world, so how did I shrink? And what about earth milk, dragon blood, wisdom-enhancing fruit, and a moving jade dragon?

But what on earth was this "Divine Tang" that the man in the study was talking about? The more I thought about it, the more confused I became, so I simply stopped thinking about it. What's done is done; I couldn't escape anyway.

After grabbing the pottery jar and taking the black bear with him, Xu Dan continued to wander around the city. The area near the study was a relatively quiet but bustling area. Not far away, there was a "Nine Thoughts Study," from which the sounds of students reading aloud could be heard.

The "Nine Thoughts" in Jiusi Abode is taken from a line in the "Ji Shi" chapter of the Analects:

"A gentleman has nine things to consider: when seeing, he considers clarity; when hearing, he considers discernment; when displaying a countenance, he considers gentleness; when exchanging pleasantries, he considers respect; when speaking, he considers loyalty; when acting, he considers reverence; when in doubt, he considers asking; when angry, he considers the consequences; when seeing gain, he considers righteousness."

The meaning is: "A gentleman has nine things to consider: when looking, he should think about whether he has seen clearly; when listening, he should think about whether he has heard clearly; when expressing himself, he should think about whether he is gentle; when looking, he should think about whether he is respectful; when speaking, he should think about whether he is honest; when acting, he should think about whether he is cautious; when in doubt, he should think about whether he should ask for guidance; when angry, he should think about whether there will be any consequences; when he sees something gained, he should think about whether it is rightfully his."

The owner of the study was known as "Master Ku," and his real name was Mo Li. He made a living by teaching in Jingning Border Town.

Hearing the sound of reading aloud coming from inside, Xu Dan couldn't help but move closer.

The teacher saw a figure outside the window and stepped down from the podium. Xu Dan saw this and quickly slipped away.

He was joking; he had no desire to be forced to attend school. Having lived two lives, he felt the knowledge gained from nine years of compulsory education was sufficient for his needs here, and there was absolutely no need to go to school for no reason. Besides, buying some books to read was fine, but sending him to school was practically the same as killing him. So, even if the old man came kneeling and kowtowing three times to beg him to study, he wouldn't go.

Suddenly, Xu Dan realized that he seemed to have forgotten to buy a copy of "Shuowen Jiezi" (a dictionary of Chinese characters), otherwise what would he do if he couldn't understand traditional Chinese characters?

Relying on guesswork is not a good approach.

Forget it, I'll just buy it later; I don't want to make another trip.

Not far from Jiusi Abode is a temple with the three large characters "Donglai Palace" on the plaque above the gate, indicating that it is a Taoist temple. Xu Dan used to be from Fujian Province and loved visiting temples and monasteries. It wasn't that he was particularly devout, but rather that the carvings, paintings, and other artifacts inside these religious temples were very interesting to see.

Of course, you should also offer prayers; maybe they will bring you blessings?