Chapter 355: Chapter 251: All the Good Names Have Been Taken by Dogs
Zhang Ze’s intelligence network is quite mixed.
There are tidbits from Brother Feng and little essays from Song Qingpao.
He has his own intelligence channels through the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, and information from the Sword Sect and Dragon Tiger Mountain is partially shared with him.
Recently, Zhang Ze has gained a new channel.
That’s the system.
Zhang Ze always felt there’s something off about his system, unsure if it’s his problem or the system’s.
Other people’s systems work in perfect harmony, forging gold. They plot a clear route for the protagonist, always causing trouble if the protagonist doesn’t—Foundation Establishment against Golden Core, Golden Core assassinating Divinity Transformation...
But his own system is like a hit-or-miss club.
Just like a cat: you forget about me, I meow a few times, then sneak off somewhere else.
Think I’m gone, but alas, touch anything at home and it’s all covered in cat fur.
With Zhang Ze’s own laziness as well—he was enthusiastic at first but has become lazier over time.
For those long-term tasks, besides writing that lousy book, he manages them with a single click, automatically reaping the benefits.
He’ll do a few short tasks when bored, but they’re not worth boasting about.
Most used is the trial space, where Zhang Ze sustains his exploitation, turning the mall fitting room into Zhang’s Wonder House.
It’s probably embarrassing, so the system, after Zhang Ze stopped seriously hunting Primordial little beasts and stopped climbing towers, developed a new feature.
Daily Intelligence.
When Zhang Ze saw this new module, he thought the system is also a patchwork monster.
He’s so good at patching, the system must bear half the responsibility.
But more daunting is this: possibly out of displeasure at being ignored, Zhang Ze has no choice but to look at the daily information.
Because it pops up a little red dot, and he can’t get rid of it without looking.
Zhang Ze absolutely can’t tolerate this.
But if that’s all, it wouldn’t be too bad. The most maddening part is, this intelligence starts from five hundred years ago.
Over three hundred thousand pieces of outdated information truly frazzled Zhang Ze.
Because now his cultivation is Golden Core, with multi-core operation, he can handle these obsolete messages.
By filtering out some, like the useless intel about five taels of silver under the bridge at Xiaoguan Village, Da Tou Cai being on sale in Gazi Town, or Brother Wang picking up a Clear Heart Pill, Zhang Ze actually gained some harvest.
During the period hiding with his junior sister inside the Beast Taming Ring, he found intelligence related to that disconnected Hundred Demons Sect Dark Helm.
This piece of information is forty years old.
[Rumors of a Secret Realm in Wind Chime City, Wooden Fish Sect, Wooden Fish True Man holding key clues]
The Wooden Fish Sect is that disconnected Hundred Demons Sect’s inconspicuous Dark Helm.
Wooden Fish Taoist is their sect leader, an open Golden Core friend but in secret, the Nascent Soul Helm Leader of the Hundred Demons Sect.
Forty years ago, Wooden Fish Taoist discovered that Secret Realm, but seemingly did not report it to the Hundred Demons Sect Main Helm.
According to Song Qingpao’s essay, Wooden Fish Taoist’s last contact was last year, during the Hundred Demons Sect Main Helm’s ordered dormant period.
Afterward, all communications ceased.
Zhang Ze thinks they might have slipped into the Secret Realm in Wind Chime City.
Wind Chime City is not a city, nor in Ling State, but in a no man’s land next to Ling State.
Influenced by the Central State, it’s barren, though not as harsh as the Central State; within a few hundred miles of Wind Chime City are barren sands and giant rocks upheaved by shifts in the earth vein.
These giant rocks, under the influence of fierce winds, are blown into various shapes, appearing ghostly from afar, with the wind causing eerie cries.
This large area was named Wind Chime City.
As to why it’s Wind Chime City and not Ghost Bell City, it’s because a Saintess from the Celestial Sect, who named it, found Wind Chime to be a pleasant name.
At this moment, Zhang Ze and Chen Qin, posed as an old couple, floated downstream on a boat, half a day away from reaching Wind Chime City’s border from another direction.
According to Zhang Ze’s prediction, the Sect Leader and his wife must be lurking in Ling State, if the Wooden Fish Sect remained there; a small move from the sect leader would suffice, eliminating any need for personal concern.
If they’ve hidden in Wind Chime City, then he and his junior sister will explore over here.
Whether it’s earning little merit or biding time until the sect leader’s wrath subsides, it’s all good.
But speaking of Secret Realms, Zhang Ze still has a question—why are there endless Secret Realms to excavate in the Four Continents?
From ancient times to now, after tens of thousands of years, why are there still so many Secret Realms to dig?
"I say, old partner, why are there endless Secret Realms?" In the upper cabin of the big ship, Zhang Ze poured tea for Chen Qin.
Hearing Zhang Ze’s address, Chen Qin giggled, pinching her white hair, "You old fool, Secret Realms can’t be completely excavated."
She’d asked her father about this before.
The reason they’re endless is simple—the passage of Secret Realms spans generations, people leave but the realms remain.
A newly uncovered Secret Realm may have passed through untold hands.
Today it’s called Moon Emperor Shrine, a few hundred years ago possibly Joyful Cave Heaven, and thousands of years ago maybe the pig farm of some Great Power.
Secret Realms come in two kinds.
One is shaped by the world’s creation, some change location over time or reset.
The other arises from idle experts crafting them by hand.
These handmade Secret Realms make up eighty percent of the world’s Secret Realms.
The sect leader often makes Secret Realms for fun and fills them with items named Ten Great Divine Weapons or small Magical Treasures, waiting for those destined.
Heard some even put Sound Transmission Jade and similar magical treasures inside, pretending to be grandfathers in rings, pointing remotely.
However, these handcrafted secret realms vary in quality; they might be gifts from the elderly of the Six Sects, or they could be bait set by some not-yet-dead evil cultivator.
It all depends on luck.
As for why these actions are taken, according to the Sect Leader, it’s for sustainable development.
Because everyone came up this way, it’s only fair to leave something for future generations.
Nowadays, the Six Sects’ path for the Human Race has been improved through countless iterations by geniuses, making resource consumption different from the past.
The time of needing a single Foundation Establishment Pill for Foundation Establishment and a billion Foundation Establishment Pills for Nascent Soul is long gone.
The role of those heavenly materials and earthly treasures is more for external enhancement in the later stages, to make magical artifacts, heal injuries, or assist in the practice and enlightenment of Taoist techniques.
If you can’t use it all up yourself, it’s better to pass it on to disciples and future generations.
Achieve a situation where the first Nascent Soul helps pave the way for the subsequent ones, striving for a hundred flowers to bloom, and open new roads for the Human Race once more.
Of course, this is the thought held by most people in the Six Sects, but certainly, there are others who disagree, like the Hundred Demons Sect and some evil cultivators.
However, this doesn’t matter much, because the Six Sects have bigger fists.
If you play by the rules with the Six Sects, they will do the same with you.
But if you try to play double standards or act unruly with the Six Sects, they’ll show you what it means for whoever has the bigger fist to be right.
"That’s how things are." Chen Qin stood behind Zhang Ze, squeezing his shoulders, just like an old married couple.
...
Ling State.
The Sect Leader, who had changed his appearance, was standing over a ruin, which seemed to be the site of a former sect’s gate, and it looked quite new.
Ling State is vast and sparsely populated, with few resources; if it were governed by Medicine King Valley or the Beast Taming Sect, they might have turned it into a botanical or zoological garden.
But unfortunately, Ling State is under the jurisdiction of the Celestial Sect.
The people of the Celestial Sect match the image of those cultivators in Zhang Ze’s traditional beliefs very well.
That is, everyone appears cold and aloof, like walking human-shaped air conditioners. This has nothing to do with their original personalities; after taking the Celestial Sect’s path, everyone becomes like this.
Therefore, they are generally apathetic about many things in their jurisdiction, especially in sparsely populated places like Ling State.
"Was this the Wooden Fish Sect before?" The disguised ordinary Sword Sect disciple Chen Qianhu asked.
Behind him stood a male disciple who looked sick, "That’s right, this is indeed the former site of the Wooden Fish Sect. They were a sect for artifact refining and left last year, leaving the mountain gate abandoned overnight. The remaining things were scavenged by nearby loose cultivators."
Although this disciple looks cold-faced, he talks quite a lot.
"Brother from the Sword Sect, are you here to buy wooden fish? I’ve got a few left; if you need it urgently, I can give them to you at a hundred spirit stones each."
"Wooden fish?" Chen Qianhu didn’t understand.
He thought Wooden Fish Sect was just a random name, didn’t expect real wooden fish.
After all, the Four Continents are too vast, with too many people, and good names got taken by dogs quite often, so some sects were left with only random names to choose from.
"Alas, aren’t you here to buy wooden fish?" Seeing Chen Qianhu’s confusion, the Celestial Sect disciple explained, "Wooden fish are indeed wooden fish. They are magical artifacts refined by Wooden Fish Sect which, when held in hand, can cause the surrounding spiritual qi to vibrate, assisting cultivators in perceiving the changes in the surrounding spiritual qi."
"No need. Do you know where the Wooden Fish Sect has gone?" Chen Qianhu asked again.
The Celestial Sect disciple shook his head, "I don’t know."
...
Wind Chime City’s outskirt town.
Although there are few living creatures in the Wind Chime territory, the mineral deposits are plentiful, and there are a few bizarre demon beasts in the desert, so some loose cultivators come here to try their luck.
This unnamed small town is full of cultivators, and the town marketplace within the city primarily sells various magical artifacts and materials.
The two split up, and Zhang Ze, disguising as an old man, stopped at a stall. He looked at the wooden fish wriggling on the stall and asked.
"What is this?"
The owner of the stall was a middle-aged man with twitching mouse whiskers; seeing a business opportunity, he quickly stood up and greeted Zhang Ze.
"You have a good eye, this thing is a treasure I found in Wind Chime City; it can cause spiritual qi vibration, aiding in cultivation, making rapid progress! If you like it, I’ll let you take it at a cheaper price."
This thing looked odd, so Zhang Ze thought he’d let Thousand Mechanism Pavilion analyze it, maybe alter the shape, and possibly sell it as a new product in a novelty chain store...
"How much?" Zhang Ze asked.
"Two hundred spirit stones!" the middle-aged cultivator replied.
"Too expensive, goodbye." After saying that, Zhang Ze turned and left.
"Hey! Senior, don’t leave; we can negotiate. If you’re not interested in this, take a look at something else." The middle-aged cultivator got up to try to grab Zhang Ze’s sleeve but was blocked by an invisible wall of energy.
Seeing that this person’s cultivation level was far beyond his, the middle-aged cultivator chuckled awkwardly and gave up on the idea of taking advantage of outsiders.
"Senior, don’t leave; let me give you some inside information."
Hearing this, Zhang Ze turned his head back, signaling the middle-aged cultivator to continue.
"This thing is Wooden Fish Sect’s merchandise. While it’s not particularly valuable, it can be used for that... you know what I mean, that thing.
"So, this item is in high demand; it’s usually sold for thirty spirit stones each, but since the Wooden Fish Sect moved last year, no one knows where, so any new wooden fish are getting rarer as they’re sold.
"Now, they’d normally sell for fifty spirit stones, but to make a friend, I’ll sell you my last new piece for twenty spirit stones as a friend fee.
"Just look out for my business in the next few days."
After giving the cultivator twenty spirit stones and putting the wooden fish into the Hundred Treasures Bag, Zhang Ze spoke.
"You sure know how to talk. Tell me about any interesting happenings in Wind Chime City recently." He said as he picked up a dusty rock from the ground.
"You’re here at the right time; there’s indeed something strange going on in Wind Chime City lately."