Divine Tang Era

Xu Dan bought the book and returned to the inn. Before stepping into the inn, he suddenly saw a large "For Sale" sign hanging high at the entrance.

Curious, I couldn't help but ask the innkeeper, "Are you planning to sell this inn?"

"That's right."

The shopkeeper, looking worried, said, "My eldest son is doing business in Liangzhou, and my daughter-in-law is pregnant. They wrote to us earlier, asking us to come over. But the inn is here, how can we just leave it? We originally planned to sell it before leaving. But business at the North Gate isn't good, and there aren't many willing buyers, so it's been delayed again and again. Alas..."

Upon hearing his words, Xu Dan left the inn, wandered around the area, and then glanced at the inn from a distance along the road.

He walked back and asked, "Shopkeeper, how much are you planning to sell this inn for?"

"Young master, you want to buy?" The shopkeeper perked up immediately upon hearing his words.

Xu Dan nodded. "I just arrived here and have nowhere to stay. Your inn is nice. If the price is right, I can buy it and save myself the trouble of buying another house."

"That's good."

The shopkeeper said, "To be honest, young master, business here at the West Gate isn't very good, and we're in a hurry to leave, so we haven't dared to charge too much. If you're really interested in buying, I can lower the price a bit more; it will only cost 130 strings of cash."

At five coins for a steamed bun and fifteen taels for a cow, the inn's price of one hundred and thirty strings of cash wasn't too expensive.

Xu Dan thought about it for a moment and accepted the price.

Seeing that he really wanted to buy the inn, the shopkeeper immediately went out to call a broker and went to the county government office to invite a clerk to act as the contracter. When the clerk heard that Xu Dan was new and had nowhere to stay, he helped him register in Jingning City.

This wouldn't be so convenient in other places.

It was only because Jingning City was located in a remote and desolate area with a sparse population, and because Xu Dan was quite capable, that the county government was eager to keep him there, which is why it was so simple.

Whether the innkeeper was truly in a hurry or not, after selling the inn to Xu Dan, he quickly packed up and immediately took his valuables and his wife, boarding a caravan bound for Liangzhou and leaving the city.

The process was so fast that Xu Dan was still a little bewildered when he held the contract and citizenship documents in his hands.

In such a short time, I have a house and a status here?

This is too frivolous.

In the afternoon, the tailor from the clothing shop came with people to appraise the fur, and he finally came to his senses. The fur was indeed of high quality; a single pair of trousers fetched a high price of seventy-five taels. To be honest, after receiving the silver, Xu Dan suddenly felt a little confused about the prices here.

One inn costs 130 strings of cash, which is equivalent to 130 taels of silver.

Now a pair of trousers and two pieces of fur of who-knows-what kind are selling for seventy-five taels of silver? It doesn't add up no matter how you calculate it. I don't even know if the fur is more valuable or the inn is.

I was stunned for a moment.

He was also new to Jingning and didn't know much about the situation there.

Jingning City is located in a remote and sparsely populated area. Its main consumer base consists of merchants traveling from the north and south, as well as adventurers, treasure hunters, and other travelers. These people mostly enter the city through the east gate, reside there, and spend their money there. The west gate sees very few people, and even fewer reside there.

So the inn, located here, basically doesn't have much business.

The shop owners, a husband and wife, are only barely managing to stay afloat because the shop is their own property; otherwise, they would have gone out of business long ago.

Business was bad, and the location wasn't great, which was why the inn hadn't been sold. The owners were in a hurry to leave, partly because of their son and daughter-in-law, and partly because of some things they couldn't say. Xu Dan was new and unaware of these things.

After selling the furs, Xu Dan hung a sign at the entrance of the inn that read "Resting, No Guests Served" and closed the door to prevent anyone from staying there.

The shop owners left, and there's no one to cook.

He didn't want to do it, so he simply bought a bunch of food and then started inspecting the inn.

When the shop owners left, they took nothing with them except valuables and personal clothing; everything in the shop was given to Xu Dan. After wandering around and seeing that the shop had everything and lacked nothing, he nodded in satisfaction.

He bought the shop partly to have a place to stay, but also partly with the intention of starting a business.

After all, I can't just loiter around here forever.

That night, Xu Dan leaned against the bed, reading the concise history book he had bought, "Chronicles of the Divine Tang Dynasty," by the light of the lamp. Starting with the Yellow Emperor, "Chronicles of the Divine Tang Dynasty" recounted the history of this world from top to bottom, essentially no different from the history books he had read before.

It only changed after the Qin Dynasty; it was no longer the Han Dynasty, but the Yu Dynasty.

Moreover, the kingdoms here had existed for an exceptionally long time—a thousand years for the Qin Dynasty and a thousand years for the Yu Dynasty. Towards the end of the Yu Dynasty, strife erupted, various kingdoms fought amongst themselves, and the people suffered greatly, ultimately leading to its fall to the Sui Dynasty. Just like the history books he had read, the Sui Dynasty didn't last long before being replaced by the Tang Dynasty.

But this Tang Dynasty was completely different from the Tang Dynasty he knew. This Tang Dynasty had a divine court, extraordinary people descending to earth, legends of immortals, numerous sects, and demons and monsters.

It looks fantastical, and it seems wrong from the very beginning. It's completely unlike the history he knows; it's practically mythology. No wonder it's called "Divine Tang."

According to historical records, the story of the falling out between Li Shimin and his two brothers, leading to the Xuanwu Gate Incident and fratricide, is actually a hoax. The real reason was a great upheaval in the world, causing a loss of spiritual energy and making cultivation difficult, forcing cultivators to find alternative methods.

The Li family of the Divine Tang Dynasty cultivates the True Dragon Secret Technique and relies on the dynasty's fortune. The loss of spiritual energy has a great impact on them.

Therefore, from the very beginning of their nation-building, the Li family father and son planned to bestow titles upon the gods of heaven and earth, and to forge a divine court to correspond with the official positions in the mortal world. The divine Tang Dynasty would then use human incense offerings to continue the negative consequences caused by the loss of spiritual energy.

Nature responds to things; where there is yin, there must be yang.

In addition to the divine court, there must also be a underworld to collect the souls of the dead.

That's why Xuanzang went to the Western Regions to obtain Buddhist scriptures, bringing back secret Buddhist teachings to perfect the underworld. As for Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, the main characters who disappeared in the Xuanwu Gate Incident, one ruled the Divine Court and the other ruled the Underworld. The three brothers dominated heaven, earth, and humanity, stabilizing the Tang Dynasty.

Upon seeing this, Xu Dan exclaimed, "Wow, wow! Could this be the truth behind the Xuanwu Gate?"

What I saw was several brothers turning against each other because of power, harboring murderous intent.

How did it turn into three brothers joining forces to rule the three realms of heaven, earth, and humanity? Are you kidding me?

Xu Dan didn't know if what was said above was true or false, but according to the book, the Divine Tang Dynasty had been passed down for 1,350 years. Most of the Tang emperors were similar to what he knew, until the Later Tang Dynasty fell, when a member of the Li family rose to power, pulling the dying Divine Tang Dynasty back on track and creating a new golden age.

History changed drastically afterward, and Xu Dan never saw it.

I flipped through it and couldn't believe what was in the book.

I can't believe it! It's clearly written in the book, but it's so confusing and I don't understand it. It gave me a headache, so I just threw the book aside and went to sleep hugging my black bear.