After walking a considerable distance, Lin Jin saluted Chen Xuankong and said, “Thank you!”
Chen Xuankong asked confusingly, “Taoist Lin, what are you thanking me for?”
“We’ve inconvenienced your sect by letting my friends read the books here.” Lin Jin spoke subtly, but Chen Xuankong understood him.
He waved his hand nonchalantly and replied, “Had this been in the past when the difference between sects is vast, we would never have allowed an outsider to have access to our books so easily. Even for the disciples of our sect, only those with specific rankings were granted access. Unfortunately, those days are long gone. After the downfall of our era, the sects have lost most of their disciples, and the number of loose immortals took a hit too. In most cases, we would never have agreed, but today is different. Since they’re your friends, it’s fine to let them read our books. This is the order we’ve received from our leader.”
Lin Jin now understood why.
The current situation didn’t favor them, and sometimes, there was no need to abide by old rules. When the time came to change them, they had to boldly embrace it.
After completing a tour around the sect, Chen Xuankong escorted Lin Jin back to his quarters before leaving. Lin Jin made himself a pot of tea in his floating house and then sat down to rest.
Some of the Mystery Dao Sect’s cultivation books were also placed on his table. These were instructions passed down by Miao Yan Zhenren. It was intended to demonstrate to Lin Jin their sect’s willingness to accommodate his needs.
These cultivation books were unlike those found in the Moving Library.
These were much more interesting and could be considered the sect’s core teachings.
Most immortals would go for each other’s necks should these books be left outside the sect. These were the secret arts that were passed down through generations since the peak of the immortals’ era.
In any case, this was the cream of the crop in terms of literature.
The only problem was the fact that Lin Jin wasn’t in the mood for cultivation right now.
In the past, he was devoted to it. After all, once he achieved immortality, he could overwhelm regular human enemies without moving a single muscle. Lin Jin even practiced the Exhale-Inhale Technique before so he had a fairly sturdy foundation.
But cultivation to immortality? Forget it.
The mere existence of the immortal devouring beast made it such that achieving immortality was a dance with death. Or, he could forget about stepping foot into the mainlands again, and Lin Jin didn’t want that. As such, even if an immortality cultivation method was placed right in front of him, Lin Jin wouldn’t take it.
He had to eliminate the immortal devouring beast first.
To do that, he needed a pet beast that could fight it.
From there emerged another problem. If he attained a pet beast that could fight the immortal devouring beast, why would he need to achieve immortality?
For a longer lifespan?
That was one reason. One could never complain about being able to live for up to thousands of years. However, that wasn’t something Lin Jin urgently needed.
He could consider this at a later date.
So, instead of reading the cultivation books, Lin Jin picked up the annals of exotic beasts and relished it.
The exotic beast annals possessed by immortal sects recorded millenniums’ worth of data, and they were supplemented by the knowledge of the sect’s ancestors. There were thousands of immortal beasts archived in the annals, and many of them came with vivid illustrations, painted by the hands of immortals.
Lin Jin immersed himself completely in the reading session. Soon, the tea he had prepared was gone, and only then, Lin Jin realized he had drunk it all.
“Immortals have really nice tea.” Lin Jin licked his lips. Although he only drank one pot, Lin Jin grew fonder of the tea they served here.
He made a mental note to take some tea leaves back as a souvenir.
Miao Yan Zhenren probably wouldn’t be so petty as to deny him that.
Lin Jin got up, wanting to get water from the spring outside to brew another pot of tea. However, when he opened the door, he found an old man standing outside his mansion. This man had a head full of white hair and was believably a hundred years old.
Despite their appearance, they were mostly the ‘young disciples’ in the Mystery Dao Sect. Lin Jin had come across many of them while he was exploring the sect grounds. Judging by his outfit, this man seemed to be one of them.
Sure enough, upon seeing Lin Jin, the old man hurried over to salute him.
“Greetings, Mr. Lin. My name is Qing Zhi.”
Then, he bowed respectfully.
Lin Jin was the type of man who respected his elders and dotes on his juniors. Although the old man was a ‘junior’ of the sect, he was undoubtedly older than Lin Jin.
Thus, Lin Jin responded quickly.
“There is no need for you to bow to me. Uhm, Qi-Qing Zhi, what are you doing here?”
When he asked the question, Lin Jin somehow already knew the answer.
“In response to Mr. Lin’s question, I have received an order from Senior Xuankong to remain here, in case Mr. Lin has any instructions.” The old man had keen eyes. Noticing the metal pot in Lin Jin’s hand, he swiftly grabbed it.
“Mr. Lin, leave menial tasks like making tea to me.” Having said that, without even waiting for Lin Jin’s response, he hurried away to make tea.
After thinking about it, Lin Jin decided to let him be.
This was the Mystery Dao Sect’s way of hosting their guests so Lin Jin wouldn’t want to comment on that. Moreover, he would have to ask where he could get water anyway, so it was best to let Qing Zhi do it instead.
“Finally, I get to indulge for once!” Lin Jin muttered to himself.
However, he knew that the Mystery Dao Sect was being so kind to him and treated him like a VIP all because he could cure Mr. Qi. What made Lin Jin worry was the fact that even with the Purple Thunder Needle, the task was still incredibly challenging.
Lin Jin needed time to consider his treatment plan, and fortunately, he had a few days to do that.
And so, he went back to reading. A knock soon came, indicating Qing Zhi’s return. Lin Jin called him in, and the old man worked his hands skilfully, boiling and brewing tea before retreating outside.
Being able to experience being waited on by an immortal was considered a luxury to LIn Jin.
It was a pity the sect didn’t have many female immortals. He figured it might feel better to have fairies serve him instead. After thinking a bunch of nonsense, Lin Jin shifted his attention back to the exotic beast annals.
Before he knew it, the sky outside turned dark.
Qing Zhi brought in an oil lamp and set it on the table. The lamp looked old, and it seemed to be made from bronze. The lamp’s fire was too big, but it was bright enough to illuminate the entire house.
“I heard that in ancient times, immortals used to pluck the stars out of the sky for light, so everywhere we went, it would be bright as day. It sounds really mysterious. What a pity this place is covered in miasma so we can’t even see the sun or moon, never mind the stars,” lamented Qing Zhi.
Lin Jin mused, ‘This miasma is a barrier for you immortals. Without it, the immortal devouring beast would come and all immortals would go extinct.’
Qing Zhi didn’t leave immediately.
Instead, he seemed hesitant, as if he had something to ask.
Lin Jin took the initiative and raised a query, to which the old man answered, “I heard that Mr. Lin comes from the mainlands. I was only four years old back then when I left that place, and in the blink of an eye, two thousand years have passed. Now that we can’t return to our hometown, I wonder what happened to my tribe from back then.”
Lin Jin smiled and told him how different the mainlands are today, compared to millenniums ago. The place was now divided into continents and then further separated into countries.
