After hanging up the phone, Zhou Mei seemed to sense what was troubling Li Zhi and said, "Honey, I'm fine now. You don't have to stay home with me every day. The children have a nanny looking after them, so you don't need to worry. Go take care of whatever you need to do."
Li Zhi smiled. "It's nothing urgent. You haven't finished your confinement period yet. How could I leave you and the children at home?"
Zhou Mei smiled. "You're treating me like a child again."
Li Zhi took her hand and smiled. "You'll always be a little girl to me."
Zhou Mei smiled even more sweetly before saying, "Brother Dapeng calls every day to urge you. You should go see him."
Li Zhi seemed unwilling to discuss work in front of Zhou Mei, so he changed the subject. "Mei'er, do you think we should rebuild the house in our hometown? The old house is still livable, but it's nearly twenty years old. My father oversaw its renovation back then. Now that we've carried on the Li Family's bloodline, shouldn't Ji Zu and Xian'er also get to live in the new house their father built?"
Zhou Mei nodded. "I'll listen to you. Once the children turn one, we'll take them back to our hometown for a while. Let them get to know our relatives and friends there. In the future, we'll take them back for part of every summer and winter vacation, so they'll remember the taste of home."
Li Zhi said, "That would be wonderful. Only by living in our hometown from childhood can they understand how the Li Family rose to prominence."
The real reason Li Zhi planned to rebuild the house was to make the old residence impregnable and store some means that could help the Li Family rise again.
The ancestral craft absolutely could not be allowed to die out.
--
Several days later.
Li Dapeng drove Li Zhi to the front of Jing'an Hall, a property of the Xu Family.
Sitting in the car, Li Dapeng introduced it to Li Zhi. "This is the place. That Old Man Xu comes to this clinic almost every day to see patients for half a day."
Through the window, Li Zhi looked the ancient and dignified Jing'an Hall up and down. For some reason, he sensed a desolate air about it and asked, "Who else is in his family now?"
Li Dapeng said, "This Old Man Xu is a ruthless man. To bring down the Yao Family, he refused to compromise even after his eldest son was framed and sent to prison for practicing medicine without a license. In the end, that Yao family suffered a terrible downfall. Word on the street is that the Yao family has a treasure. Whoever can find Yao Le's whereabouts will make a fortune."
Li Zhi nodded slightly. "I'll go meet this legendary Old Man Xu."
Li Dapeng asked, "Why are you looking for him? The old man is being watched closely by the authorities now. He probably wouldn't dare do that kind of business anymore, would he?"
All along, Li Dapeng had assumed that Li Zhi wanted him to keep an eye on those families because he was looking for new sources of cultural relics.
In the relic trade, the goods in one's hands could not always be genuine antiques of obvious provenance. One inevitably had to deal with tomb raiders to maintain a steady supply of new goods.
"Brother Dapeng, wait for me in the car. I'll go speak with Old Man Xu alone." After observing the place from the car for several more minutes, Li Zhi spoke to Li Dapeng.
"I'll go with you." Worried that Li Zhi might run into trouble, Li Dapeng volunteered.
"No need. I'm visiting Old Man Xu, not discussing business with him." Li Zhi refused.
Li Dapeng said nothing more and waited outside in the car for Li Zhi.
Li Zhi entered Jing'an Hall and saw an old gentleman sitting in the main hall, seeing patients.
He was hale and vigorous, his eyes shining brightly.
When he saw Li Zhi enter, he showed no reaction.
Only after Li Zhi sat down in the chair opposite him did Old Man Xu speak. "Young man, you've come to the wrong place."
Whether someone was ill or not, the old gentleman could still tell at a glance.
"I'm not here for medical treatment. I heard that you have a Cultivation Method passed down from the Ancient Era. I intend to buy a copy from you. What do you think?" Li Zhi asked very directly.
"Ten million." Old Man Xu was even more direct. He named a price of ten million at once, as if this were not the first time someone had come to his door seeking to buy a Cultivation Method.
"Deal." Li Zhi was even more straightforward and agreed on the spot to Old Man Xu's exorbitant demand.
A trace of surprise and suspicion appeared in Old Man Xu's eyes. Then he asked, "Who exactly are you?"
Li Zhi smiled confidently. "Someone willing to spend money on a Cultivation Method."
Old Man Xu seemed to have misunderstood something and immediately said, "I only have a printed copy, not the original. If you want the original, you should go find the Yao Family."
Li Zhi said, "I only want the Cultivation Method. Whether it's the original doesn't matter."
Old Man Xu frowned slightly and asked cautiously, "May I ask your esteemed surname and name?"
Li Zhi said, "My surname is Li."
A trace of shock appeared in Old Man Xu's eyes. He seemed to have connected Li Zhi with the powerful Li family above them, and immediately said, "My apologies for my earlier disrespect."
Li Zhi, however, had not thought of that. Instead, he asked, "When can I get the Cultivation Method?"
Old Man Xu said, "Money on one side, goods on the other."
Li Zhi glanced at the computer on the counter beside them. "Then I'll transfer the money."
Under Old Man Xu's astonished gaze, Li Zhi transferred ten million in cash to Jing'an Hall's account.
When he saw the money arrive and realized that Li Zhi did not seem worried about him reneging, Old Man Xu confirmed the guess in his heart.
He then went to the back hall and brought out a photocopied edition of the "Longevity Sutra," handing it to Li Zhi.
He still had three more copies of the same book.
After receiving the Longevity Sutra, Li Zhi flipped through it briefly and realized that it was a complete cultivation method for the Wheel and Sea Scroll.
Then Li Zhi gave Old Man Xu a slight cupped-fist salute and said, "The money and goods have changed hands. Farewell."
After seeing Li Zhi off, Old Man Xu sat in the main hall for a long time. Only when his eldest granddaughter, Xu Miaomiao, called him home for dinner did he let out a deep sigh.
It was as if he had awakened from an ethereal dream of immortality.
The march of time would never stop and wait for the arrival of one person.
Nor would the river of time flow backward because of something that had happened.
The sorrow of parting always belonged to those who could not forget the past.
Only those who kept looking forward could gain the protection of time.
After successfully obtaining the Wheel and Sea Scroll of the "Longevity Sutra," Li Zhi began cultivating with single-minded focus.
Unfortunately, the thin Heaven and Earth Essence made cultivation exceptionally difficult.
The West Mountain Villa area where he lived was not a place where Spiritual Veins converged, and Li Zhi was no cultivation prodigy capable of opening his Bitter Sea without instruction.
Although he had made no progress in cultivation, he gradually developed insights of his own into the Longevity Sutra of the Wheel and Sea Scroll.
The "Longevity Sutra" was broad, profound, and extraordinary. It seemed to focus on cultivating the Wheel of Life, pursuing its flawlessness and purity so that cultivators could preserve their youth forever.
Simply mastering the Wheel and Sea Scroll could grant someone a Lifespan of five hundred years.
Li Zhi did not yet know how much Lifespan an ordinary cultivator who mastered the Sea of Wheels Realm could possess, but it certainly would not exceed five hundred years.
Unless they were Ancient Cultivators who cultivated a single Secret Realm.
The Longevity Sutra excelled at vitality, but it was not very suitable for combat.
The scripture summed up this characteristic in one sentence: against others of the same rank, it was three parts weaker.
As for whether the "others" referred to cultivators who practiced an Emperor Scripture, cultivators who practiced Saint scriptures, or cultivators who practiced ordinary methods, Li Zhi was not entirely sure.
After all, he had yet to enter the cultivation world or come into contact with other cultivators. He had no samples for comparison.
Although he still could not enter the path of cultivation, Li Zhi was filled with anticipation for the later scriptures of this Longevity Sutra.
How could a Cultivation Method with such astonishing vitality be ordinary?
Perhaps it was even a Great Emperor Scripture.
Since he could not make progress in cultivation, Li Zhi devoted his energy to studying the exquisite patterns on the Rubbing.
By chance, he glanced from a distance at the enormous satellite map hanging on the wall.
He suddenly felt that, when viewed from high above, some of the mountain ranges in the Qinling Mountains looked remarkably similar to certain patterns on the Rubbing.
Li Zhi immediately became interested. He copied those patterns onto transparent tracing paper and began comparing them with the mountains and rivers of the Qinling Mountains.
At last, he discovered a clue in a place called the Worship Terrace in the central Qinling Mountains.
To the west of the Worship Terrace lay a mountain range with an extremely unusual orientation. Only when covered in thick winter snow could one see that the range seemed to be a giant dragon lying across the Qinling Mountains. The Worship Terrace was located precisely where the Dragon Pearl was.
Based on the rudimentary Feng Shui Secret Art Li Zhi had mastered, that was where the dragon soul ascended to Heaven.
Could the later cultivation method be hidden there?
This unexpected discovery delighted Li Zhi. If that place had been the secluded residence of an Ancient Cultivator, it was certainly a Treasure Land. Perhaps cultivating there would allow him to sense the existence of the Bitter Sea.
After informing Zhou Mei, Li Zhi immediately packed his things and set off for the Qinling Mountains.
This time, he was traveling alone, and he brought along all the family heirlooms.
A Luoyang Shovel, an Oil Lamp, a small Brush, a Small Flat Shovel, a compass, and that exceptionally sturdy Snakeskin Bag that even bullets could not penetrate.
Li Zhi planned to tie it around his body and wear it as a bulletproof vest at a critical moment.
If necessary, he could also crawl into the bag temporarily to evade danger.
Just as Li Zhi set out,
Yao Le, who had hidden abroad for more than half a year, saw that the attention had died down and secretly returned.
This time, he had not returned alone. He had brought back a group of foreigners proficient in Chinese.
Moreover, all those foreigners had yellow faces.
They had even reached the Worship Terrace deep in the Qinling Mountains one step ahead of Li Zhi.
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