"Junior Brother, show the Daoist priest inside!" a voice called from the Southern Lands.
"Yes, Senior Brother!"
"Thank you, Abbey Master!" Shi Yongheng smiled and nodded toward the Southern Lands.
"No need to thank me, fellow Daoist. We're both disciples of the Dao Sect, so forget about owing me a favor!"
"In that case, forgive my presumption. Consider this my gift."
He tossed a book into the void. It slipped through a rift in space, and before long, the Abbey Master's excited voice rang out.
"Thank you, fellow Daoist! You're welcome to read the Heavenly Books as well!"
The Abbey Master had read the cultivation system Shi Yongheng had given him and found it deeply illuminating. He was now confident he could advance straight to the Shangqing stage, break the Dan, and form an infant.
"The Heavenly Books..."
Led by the middle-aged Daoist, Shi Yongheng followed in his wheelchair along a path paved entirely with pebbles. He paid no attention to the humble thatched cottages around the abbey; his gaze was fixed on the light deep within it.
Deep inside Zhishou Abbey lay a great lake. Seven thatched huts stood in a scattered arrangement along its shore.
Unlike ordinary thatched huts, these looked magnificent. Their roofs were covered in grass, but that grass gleamed like gold and jade, untouched by years of dust, wind, or rain.
Grass was cheap and humble. It should have had no air of splendor or solemnity, yet this thatch was rich in Yuan Qi. It could ward off wind, rain, and bitter cold, and help people clear and calm their minds.
That was because this thatch was among the rarest things in the world. It had grown naturally, but had long since vanished from the wild.
The fourth of the seven huts, however, was different.