The Long Journey to Immortality

Finally, just like when she said goodbye to Wen Xiaonan, Han Lu deliberately left behind a feather as a cry for help.

The explanation was the same as the promise made to Helian Ren: Helian Ren should give the feather to the head of the He family, and in a moment of crisis, he could light it to send a distress signal to Han Lu.

Han Lu did not add the phrase "reserves the right of final interpretation" to Helian Che's words.

She genuinely wanted to do something more for the old man to repay his kindness in teaching her swordsmanship for seven days.

She turned around and jumped from the sky, feeling the old man's gaze, which had been fixed on her back, disappear, feeling the wind whistling past her ears, and the not-so-comfortable feeling of weightlessness during freefall.

When she was still three or four hundred meters above the ground, Han Lu summoned her spirit sword from her storage bag, stepped on the sword, and flew away gracefully, completely unlike the ordinary girl she had been a few days ago.

After flying for a while, Han Lu, who was planning to return to Zhengyi Gate before noon, suddenly remembered something.

"I remember promising my senior sister to wander around the mortal world of the Southern Dynasty to see how well the three volumes of 'Common Sense' were selling and whether the knowledge recorded in 'Common Sense' had been promoted and applied," Han Lu said, slowing down and stepping on her spirit sword back to the ground. "It's about a three-and-a-half-day journey from here to the Zhengyi Sect's mountain gate. I'll just spend half a day walking towards the sect and gathering information along the way."

"This way, I can not only cleanse my mind in the mundane world, but also conduct some small investigations along the way to fulfill my senior sister's request."

As the main person in charge of the adaptation, revision and sale of the three volumes of "Common Sense" in the Southern Dynasty, Princess Wen Erya of the Southern Dynasty naturally received feedback from the officials in charge of this matter every few months.

This was true both during the revision process and after the book was printed and distributed.

Good news kept coming, but this did not completely put Wen Erya, who spent more than 350 days a year cultivating in the Zhengyi Sect, at ease. He wondered if his subordinates were only reporting good news and not bad.

Compared to the congratulatory reports from officials, the results obtained by Han Lu, as the initiator, through on-site investigations were naturally more trusted by Wen Erya.

With this matter on her mind, Han Lu quickly devised a simple investigation plan in her mind, figuring out where she should go and what she should look for in order to obtain the information and data that Wen Erya desired.

He took out a map of the Southern Dynasties that he hadn't used in a long time from his storage bag.

Han Lu first located the approximate location of Helian Che's hermitage on the map, then determined her current approximate location, and then used this as a center to search for nearby villages or cities.

The three volumes of "Common Sense" contain knowledge applicable to all walks of life.

Therefore, even in simple mountain villages like the one where Xiaowen lived, Han Lu would make a trip to find out if the three volumes of "Common Sense" existed in the village, and whether the villagers were using the knowledge in "Common Sense" to change their lives.

The map showed that there were two villages not far from Han Lu, so Han Lu didn't think much of it and made those two villages her first stop on this trip.

The two villages are named Hexi Village and Hedong Village. As their names suggest, the two villages are adjacent to each other and are separated by a river.

When Han Lu used her lightness technique, which allowed her to run at a speed far exceeding that of ordinary people, and arrived at the mountainside outside the two villages, she saw nearly a hundred people gathered on both sides of the river, busy at work.

Slowing down, Han Lu reverted to her ordinary human form and strolled closer to the crowd, wanting to see what was going on.

On the riverbank, villagers from two villages gathered together. There were about sixty or seventy women, the elderly, and children, who stood on the outermost edge of the crowd as spectators.

In the center of the crowd, two young men, mostly scholars, were directing a dozen fellow villagers and three craftsmen to work together to install a waterwheel that was five meters high.

Seeing this scene, Han Lu felt a surge of joy.

The agricultural section of the three volumes of "Common Sense" records several methods for making waterwheels.

Clearly, one of the two scholars or the three craftsmen had read "Common Sense," which is why they were able to build this waterwheel and make good use of the power of water to benefit the village.

Han Lu asked a woman holding a child nearby, and the woman's answer confirmed her guess.

Hearing fellow villagers boasting to Han Lu, an outsider, several other elderly people who were watching the waterwheel installation also gathered around, chatting away, hoping to find a sense of pride in Han Lu.

This made things easier for Han Lu, as she not only helped the villagers find a sense of pride, but also learned about the general situation of the promotion of the three volumes of "Common Sense" in the village.

After the three volumes of "Common Sense" were introduced to the village three years ago, the village chiefs of the two villages began to use the daily and agricultural knowledge recorded in them to try to improve agricultural efficiency and change the daily lives of the villagers.

The small-scale efforts continued for two years. After the villagers saw the benefits of "Common Sense", the idea of ​​building a watermill using the river between the two villages was put on the agenda.

Han Lu arrived at just the right time, witnessing this historically significant moment for both villages alongside the other villagers.

In the future, the village chiefs of the two villages reportedly want to study and learn the skills of weather prediction from "Common Sense" so as to provide more assistance to agricultural activities in the villages.

Two other children came to Han Lu's side and sang a self-composed song praising "Common Sense" and the thirteenth princess Wen Er Ya who promoted common sense.

The lyrics were monotonous and uninteresting, and the melody was not particularly pleasant, but Han Lu memorized them all perfectly.

She planned to sing the song in front of Wen Erya, which would surely make Wen Erya happy.

Han Lu was quite surprised that two small villages nestled in the mountains and by the river valued the three volumes of "Common Sense" so much.

In a good mood, she thought of using her own strength to help, so that the villagers in the two villages could better appreciate the benefits of common sense and make the two villages model villages for the promotion of common sense.

Upon finding the two village chiefs, Han Lu proactively revealed her identity as a cultivator.

Then, she used her "water divination" technique to predict the local temperature and weather for the next three months, so that the intellectuals in the two villages could enjoy the benefits of having "weather forecasts" for farming before they learned the skills of "meteorological observation".

In gratitude, the two village chiefs presented Han Lu with the first bag of flour produced by the water mill as a gift.

It wasn't very valuable, but it was quite memorable, so Han Lu naturally accepted it with a smile.

Chapter 586 A Long and Arduous Journey

In less than half an hour, the "weather forecast" that Han Lu had deduced was recorded, copied, and posted in the two villages by the village scholars. It would guide the farmers in the two villages and assist in production for the next three months.

When Han Lu walked out of the village, in addition to the bag of flour, her storage bag also contained a lot of fruits and melons given to her by the villagers.

These fruits and melons were all new products grown from seeds that Han Lu and Wen Erya had transported from the ancient cultivation secret realm.

The Ministry of Works of the Southern Dynasty spent three years breeding and experimentally planting the new species obtained from the Zhengyi Gate, and achieved good results.

These crops, which had never appeared in the Central Plains before, were promoted and spread throughout the Southern Dynasties under the impetus of the official forces of the Southern Dynasties.

The crops in Hexi Village and Hedong Village have been planted for almost half a year, and now is the time for them to flower and bear fruit.

It's not surprising at all that these new things were given to Han Lu as gifts to show off.

Savoring the sweet and sour lemon in her mouth, Han Lu strolled along the mountain path, her heart filled with emotion.

In this somewhat remote mountain village, "Common Sense" had already spread, and the ordinary people of the Southern Dynasty truly felt its benefits.

What about in slightly larger cities? Han Lu was very much looking forward to it.

However, at the same time, Han Lu also felt a little regretful, regretting that she had forgotten Wen Erya's instructions for a moment in Dongyang City.

Otherwise, Dongyang City, a major city with frequent business travel, would definitely be a good place to conduct the investigation.

However, it doesn't matter. As a cultivator, Han Lu can travel a thousand miles a day, so finding a bustling city to go to is not difficult.

After opening the map again, Han Lu's gaze lingered on it for a while before settling on a small town called "Minlan Port," about a hundred miles away.

Minlan Port is a port built on the back of a water source.

Due to its unique commercial attributes, a sizable city developed around the port within a century of its establishment.

Although the number of merchants traveling to and from Minlan Port is less than 30% of that in Dongyang City.

However, during the Southern Dynasties, it was considered one of the top ten major cities.

In addition, due to its unique geographical location, Minlan Port was one of the most frequent ports for trade between the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

If Han Lu were to investigate here, she would not only be able to learn about the promotion of the three volumes of "Common Sense" in the Southern Dynasty, but also whether these three books, which were brought back and revised by ordinary people throughout the Central Plains, have helped the ordinary people of the Northern Dynasty, thus enabling Han Lu and Wen Erya to establish a great merit that truly benefits all ordinary people in the Central Plains.

Flying on her sword, Han Lu headed straight for Minlan Port, arriving at her destination in just over fifteen minutes.

Riding her spirit sword and hovering in the air, Han Lu gazed at the large and small boats traveling north and south in the calmest part of the source water, appreciating the bustling world with the eyes of a cultivator.

She silently looked down for a while before slowly landing and walking into Minlan Port.

Following the crowds heading from the port to the city, Han Lu spent a little time before finding her first target.

A bookstore occupying two floors and three storefronts along the street is called "Zhu Lan Bookstore".

Go straight into the bookstore, see how well the three volumes of "Common Sense" are selling, and ask the bookstore owner a few questions. This is undoubtedly the quickest and most convenient way to understand the actual situation of the promotion of the three volumes of "Common Sense" in this area.

Upon entering the bookstore, Han Lu immediately spotted the three volumes of "Common Sense" prominently displayed on the bookshelf.

In front of the bookshelf, two book lovers dressed as businessmen were browsing through "Common Sense".

The two knew each other well, and exchanged a few words while flipping through the book.

Han Lu moved a little closer to the two of them and picked up a copy of "Common Sense" from the bookshelf, flipping through it casually while eavesdropping on their conversation.

Merchants pursue profit.

These two merchants from the Northern Dynasties came here in search of three volumes of "Common Sense" in order to discover ways to make money from them.

The emergence of "Common Sense" brought many new things and methods to improve productivity to the Central Plains, naturally allowing some astute merchants to make a fortune.

A merchant learned about the method of contraception using sheep intestines from a book on common sense. He then sought out craftsmen to manufacture a contraceptive product, which he marketed throughout the Central Plains. In just one year, he earned a fortune.

Some merchants learned the methods of metal forging from "Common Sense" and used them to produce alloys and improve tools, successfully making their first fortune before "Common Sense" became widely known.

Some merchants went even further, directly copying all three volumes of "Common Sense," which were temporarily listed as embargoed items, in the Southern Dynasty, and then having them reprinted and pirated in the Northern Dynasty to earn gold and silver.

Forced to relax the ban, the Southern Dynasty emperor, who had originally hoped to enhance the country's strength within a few years by promoting "Common Sense," encouraged imperial merchants to promote the genuine version in parts of the Northern Dynasty, allowing the three divine books to spread more quickly across the Central Plains.

Now, these two merchants are planning to buy and sell these not-so-expensive books to remote towns and even the Western Regions and Southern Xinjiang, driven by monetary interests, in order to make a profit.

Hearing about this crude way of making money, Han Lu couldn't help but feel that "thieves look down on robbers."

After putting down the book, Han Lu took a few steps and went to ask the shopkeeper for more information.

Beautiful and with an extraordinary air, and having taken the initiative to strike up a conversation, even if Han Lu were to ask about some business secrets, the bookstore owner would probably be willing to chat for a while and tell her everything she wanted to know.

Fifteen minutes later, after Han Lu bought several cultivation novels and left "Zhu Lan Bookstore," she learned a lot from the bookstore owner about the sales and promotion of the three volumes of "Common Sense" in Minlan Port.

As expected, the situation was not as optimistic as Wen Erya had known.

Only the merchant class and a few intellectuals recognized the value of "Common Sense".

Most ordinary people are in a passive acceptance stage; very few actively buy, read, or absorb knowledge from books.

In villages like the two ones Han Lu visited before, if it weren't for the village chiefs and scholars helping to promote and utilize "Common Sense," the farmers and other lower-class residents would certainly not have been able to enjoy the convenience brought by "Common Sense."

During the five years that "Common Sense" was printed and sold, Zhu Lan Bookstore in Minlan Port sold only three thousand copies, far less than the number of cultivation novels that Han Lu had recently added to her storage bag.

If it weren't for the vigorous promotion by the Southern Dynasty government, these books, which would have been considered ordinary in terms of sales, wouldn't have been placed in such a prominent position.

This situation was actually within Han Lu's expectations.

After all, the technological level of this world has not made any great leaps or progress in the past 100,000 years.

The minds of mortals become even more stubborn because of the matter of cultivating immortality.

If it weren't profitable, I doubt any businessman would actively help promote "Common Sense".

Changing traditional thinking is no easy task, even with the help of the government.

A long way to go.

Such a process may take ten, twenty years, or even one or two generations before the results are significant.