Divine Tang Era

"Come on, try my cooking."

Xu Dan didn't take He Rong out to eat; instead, he bought groceries and cooked at home. Although his skills weren't as good as a professional chef's, they were still quite good.

"Um"

He Rong picked up a piece of food, tasted it, and nodded, saying, "I didn't expect the young master to have such skills. Impressive."

"These are just ordinary dishes; feel free to eat more if you like," Xu Dan said modestly. He picked up the wine pot and filled He Rong's wine cup, then poured himself a cup of tea. He raised it and said, "I'm very grateful for your help these past few days, otherwise I would have been completely lost and confused when I first arrived here, not knowing anyone or anything. I'm still young and can't drink alcohol, so I'll use tea instead. Thank you, sir."

"It was nothing, no need to be so polite."

Seeing Xu Dan finish his tea in one gulp, He Rong also raised his wine glass and drank it all in one go.

Seeing him pick up the wine pot, fill his teacup, and then try to urge him to drink more, she quickly grabbed his hand and said, "Young master, there's no need to persuade me anymore. I can't hold my liquor well, and drinking so fast will make me drunk easily. Let's drink slowly!"

Seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, Xu Dan stopped urging him to drink and instead urged him to eat.

"We're so familiar with each other, young man, you don't need to call me 'young master' anymore. My surname is Xu, my given name is Dan, and my courtesy name is Gongzu. From now on, just call me Gongzu!"

This character was carefully considered by Xu Dan because he was tired of being called names like Ah Dan, Dan Dan, or Dan'er. So he chose this grand and advantageous character for himself.

He Rong's face twitched slightly. He asked, "Grandfather, is this word you used real?"

"Of course it's true."

Xu Dan said in a serious tone, "My family was worried that I would miss the coming-of-age ceremony because I've been away for too long, so they gave me a courtesy name in advance, hoping that I will bring honor to the family in the future. Don't misunderstand, I'm not the kind of person who likes to take advantage of others."

As it turns out, that was him.

"So it's because of the elders' kindness, then there's nothing more to say."

Perhaps because Xu Dan was young and looked so sincere, He Rong actually believed his lies. The two drank and talked until it was almost dark before He Rong finally said goodbye and left.

Xu Dan tidied up briefly, lit incense for Xuanwu Zhenjun, then closed the shop and returned to his room.

It's still early; it's impossible to go to sleep so soon.

Xu Dan lit an oil lamp in the room and took out the three Buddhist scriptures he had bought from Donglai Palace to read.

I've been busy renovating the inn these past few days and haven't had a chance to properly read these three books. Only today, upon closer inspection, did I realize how extraordinary the writing is; every stroke, every word, carries a power to soothe the heart and awe the soul. No wonder when the ghostly claws struck recently, the scriptures emitted a CD player ghost.

It seems that what the chubby little Taoist boy Wang Shouyi said about the scriptures having magical power was true, only that the power was a little weak.

The scriptures were very long. Xu Dan flipped through them once and put the book down.

This kind of book is suitable for reading aloud. Reciting scriptures can purify the mind and remove troubles. If you read it for a long time, you will remember it.

He picked up the books he had bought from the Three Provinces Study. He had already read the Divine Tang Era and the Legend of the Azure Lotus Sword Immortal, but the only one left was the boxing technique that Qin Qiong had passed down to his younger generation to build a foundation.

The boxing manual was blue with gold powder applied to the edges, giving it a touch of nobility.

There are no words on its surface, but when you open the cover, the four powerful characters "Taibao Divine Fist" are clearly written on the white paper inside.

Upon seeing the words "Taibao," Xu Dan recalled reading in a historical novel that Qin Qiong was one of the thirteen Taibao under Yang Lin, the Prince of Kao Shan, though this was never recorded in official history. Now that these two words appeared in the boxing manual, could it be that the historical novel was true?

Turning to the next page, there was no introduction to the origin of the name "Taibao," only a brief explanation of the origin of Taibao Divine Fist, followed by a description of the fist technique.

It turns out that Taibao Divine Fist was created by Qin Qiong himself after he achieved fame and success, as a foundational martial art for the younger generation.

This style of boxing can be both forceful and gentle. The gentle style can strengthen the body and is suitable for all ages; the forceful style can crush mountains and split rocks, and its momentum is unstoppable.

Although Xu Dan has never actually practiced martial arts, he has watched many videos of martial arts training. Just from reading the first few pages of the boxing manual, he knew that the Taibao Divine Fist was extraordinary. No wonder the owner of the Three Provinces Study said that Qin Qiong's descendants were unworthy, which is why the technique was leaked out.

In this era, this boxing manual could absolutely be passed down as a family heirloom.

Xu Dan read and memorized the text, making sure he remembered every word and action so he wouldn't have to refer to the book when practicing.

To his surprise, he discovered that his memory had improved considerably. He used to be someone who could remember everything but forget everything. It seemed his transmigration had been quite successful, even offering some perks. He felt a surge of satisfaction.

After reading the boxing manual, he took out the chubby box containing the jade dragon. He hadn't looked at it for so many days, hadn't eaten or drunk anything, and didn't even know if the jade dragon was dead or alive.

Upon opening the box, I was surprised to find that this guy was eating cordyceps.

Fatty seemed surprised when he opened the box. He still had some cordyceps in his mouth, but he quickly swallowed it when he saw him. Then he looked at Xu Dan with his big, dark eyes, looking completely innocent.

Xu Dan never expected this guy to eat Cordyceps sinensis. Putting it together with Cordyceps sinensis is no different from putting a mouse in a rice jar.

Wait, something's not right. Didn't I put it in a separate box?

How did you end up here?

He quickly took out the box containing the jade dragon seeds, opened it, and saw that the number of seeds remained the same; it seemed that cannibalism was still a taboo. Xu Dan glanced at Fatty, picked it up, placed a jade dragon seed in front of it, and asked, "Would you like to eat this?"

Yu Longzi shook his head innocently, saying he wouldn't eat that stuff.

But the truth is, it has already eaten, so eating it again is useless.

Besides, there are only a few of these things, and it's afraid of being discovered. Don't think it's stupid; this little thing is quite clever.

Seeing its appearance, Xu Dan put the jade dragon back in the box, then picked up a golden cordyceps and asked, "Will you eat this?" Fatty nodded; it also needed to eat, otherwise it would be hungry.

Xu Dan frowned as he looked at it; raising this guy was going to be expensive!

You should know that a single Golden Cordyceps can sell for 100 taels of silver on the market, while a single Jade Dragon Seed can sell for 100 spirit stones.

This guy wasn't eating golden cordyceps; he was eating a huge pile of silver.

After thinking for a moment, it put down the golden cordyceps and picked up a regular cordyceps, asking, "Will you eat this?" Fatty shook its head, no, no. Actually, it's not that it can't eat when it's hungry, but there's a whole bunch of golden cordyceps here, how could it possibly eat this stuff?

This guy is too picky; he only eats Cordyceps sinensis.

He put down the cordyceps and took out a snow lotus he had picked from the snow-capped peaks, asking, "Will you eat this?"

The Snow Lotus of Xuefeng is truly extraordinary; Fatty has tasted it and really enjoys the flavor. Hearing his words, he nodded repeatedly.

Xu Dan breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, this guy was an omnivore. If he only ate golden cordyceps, he would have to consider whether to continue raising him. Wait a minute! Weren't there ten snow lotuses? How come there are only nine?

Xu Dan looked at the chubby little thing, who was staring at him innocently, as if to say that it knew nothing.

Xu Dan didn't care whether it was innocent or not. He put it in the box and said, "Show me how you got into another box. If you do well, I'll give you a golden cordyceps. If you don't, I'll lock you up and not give you anything to eat."

Fatty looked at Xu Dan with an innocent expression. Seeing that he wasn't moved at all, he was enveloped in a layer of light, passed through the box, and climbed into another box.

Afraid of making him angry, she stuck her butt out.

"Thump, thump, thump," a few insect pills were pulled out and pushed in front of Xu Dan.