Shinji: So Journey to the West really is about cultivating immortality?

[Then your family's antiques and those old fogies in the Clock Tower must get along very well.]

Shinji mentally muttered a complaint.

It seems that Mysterious forces around the world are all quite similar, with both stubborn older generations and young people who want to make a difference.

Unfortunately, Qian Xuliang did not continue the conversation on this topic, but instead avoided the subject of the Mysterious forces.

Shinji wasn't in a hurry, and he and Qian Xuliang ate together while chatting about film and entertainment.

Qian Xuliang a very interesting person; he can talk about movies, TV series, and even music.

Shinji said he invested in Mission Impossible: Impossible, adding that spy movies are exciting and the action scenes are thrilling.

Shinji said that there are many myths and legends in your area that could be filmed, and he said that they could indeed be filmed, but none of them could be filmed because he didn't have the skills and ability like Shinji.

Shinji said that maybe one day I'll be filming a movie in Lin'an, and this guy patted his chest and said that if needed, he would guarantee to find the most beautiful scenery in all of Lin'an to match Shinji 'Shinji great movie.

Shinji felt very comfortable with the Shinji without it being obvious, which showed that Qian Xuliang must have done his homework beforehand.

Finally, after some conversation, seeing that the dishes on the table had been almost finished, Qian Xuliang cautiously spoke up.

"Speaking of which, Shinji? What exactly were Type-Moon's considerations regarding this collaboration?"

"That depends on what you're willing to do. But the content of the cooperation will definitely fall into two categories: one is inanimate objects like Ley Lines, and the other is talent."

Shinji, with a smile on his face, blatantly lied.

How could he not have thought of a draft for cooperation? But who tells their opponent what cards they have in the first round of a card game?

"Talented... I heard from Mr. Kariya that your Type-Moon is currently training a group of Magecraft from scratch?" Qian Xuliang hesitated for a moment, but still asked cautiously.

"Yes, that's true." Shinji didn't deny it. "Because Type-Moon has a group of Magecraft to maintain the company's Magecraft- related operations."

"But..." Qian Xuliang pinched the bridge of his nose helplessly, unable to say what he wanted to say.

Shinji said with a smile, "Brother Xuliang, you can ask me anything. I won't mind."

Qian Xuliang was a little stunned; the address "Brother Xuliang" really gave him goosebumps.

Shinji didn't think anything of it, because he felt it was his own dishonest act to train Magecraft; it was Qian Xuliang who should be bothered.

His actions were like opening a Taekwondo training class in front of a karate gym, or like Hua Qiang buying melons – it was blatant harassment.

If someone doesn't rush out and kill you outright, they're already considered civilized.

Chapter 287 Shinji: This Journey to the West allows you to cultivate immortality?

Perhaps because Shinji remained polite throughout, Qian Xuliang's initial nervousness subsided.

He rubbed his thumb together and explained with a smile, "Some Magecraft tricks are secretive, which everyone understands. The only question is, Shinji, how many Magecraft are you planning to train?"

"Well... it's hard to say."

Shinji tentatively said, "The number of Magecraft I need depends on the size of my company, so I can't give you a definite number right now."

"Oh?"

A hint of disappointment flashed in Qian Xuliang's eyes.

Shinji found the other person's expression somewhat strange; it didn't seem like dissatisfaction with Shinji's answer, but rather more like... disappointment?

"Brother Xuliang, do you have any good suggestions?"

Upon hearing Shinji's words, Qian Xuliang immediately perked up and said with a smile, "That's right, Shinji, have you considered training Fangshi native to the Celestial Empire?"

"Um?"

Shinji raised his eyebrows.

What's this all about? A karate gym doesn't disrupt a taekwondo training program; instead, they send people to train there?

"Brother Xuliang, you'd better speak clearly. If you keep beating around the bush, I can't make a judgment."

Upon hearing Shinji's question, Qian Xuliang immediately replied, "Actually, it's nothing. I just wanted to find a way out for the young men. After all, these days, even jobs for Fangshi are hard to find."

"You want to make money? Isn't that simple?"

Hearing Shinji say this, Qian Xuliang gave a wry smile, "Making money with Fangshu is certainly easy, but most of the methods of making money coincide with the articles in the criminal law."

Shinji thought about it and realized it made sense. The police in China weren't as useless as those in Japan. Anyone who thought they could get away with anything just by using a few tricks would only end up with a "silver bracelet plus 24-hour guard duty" package.

In comparison, the Japan police are truly incompetent.

Shinji used to think that the portrayal of the police's incompetence in "Conan" was an exaggerated way to highlight the protagonist, but reality is a hundred times more absurd than fantasy stories.

Even if Detective Conan isn't a documentary about Japan crime investigation, it's not that far off.

However, this made Shinji a little curious.

Where do the Daoist Fangshi in China get the funding to research mystical arts? For some well-known reasons, most Daoist Fangshi in China do not have the large ancestral wealth that Magecraft families in Japan possess.

As a result, Qian Xuliang's answer almost made Shinji throw up his back, "What else? Ask the government for subsidies."

"Puff----!"

The Second Master spat out his tea, and asked speechlessly, "A subsidy?"

Seeing that Shinji was completely clueless about the routine here, Qian Xuliang quickly began to explain.

At least two-thirds of the Fangshi in the Celestial Empire rely on subsidies from the government to make a living.

The subsidies here are divided into two parts. One part is that some local Fangshi apply for subsidies from higher authorities in the name of intangible cultural heritage for their Fangshu.

This is not surprising, after all, the scope of intangible cultural heritage is very broad, and even jokes can become local intangible cultural heritage.

Of course, this joke is definitely not a Soviet joke, but a joke from Wanrong (county name).

Basically, as long as a group of "craftsmen" can form an association and make a living from this craft, they can at least apply for county-level intangible cultural heritage status.

Another way to apply for subsidies is through religion.

When it comes to religions in China, many people first think of Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, and Islam.

While there are indeed many people practicing esoteric arts within these four major religions, the majority of those practicing these arts, in terms of the proportion of Fangshi and Magecraft, are actually secular believers.

This does not refer to the traditional religions of ethnic minorities, but rather to places like temples dedicated to Guandi Temple or the City God Temple.

Indeed, the temple keeper of the City God Temple who negotiated with Shinji was a representative of the secular religion in Lin'an.

As an aside, because of the novel Investiture of the Gods and the primordial concept it spawned, many modern people tend to associate the Heavenly Court with Daoism.

In reality, the Jade Emperor, Thunder God and Lightning Mother, Dragon King Yama, and other deities in the Heavenly Court are all folk secular beliefs and have nothing to do with Daoism.

The Jade Emperor, Laojun, and Buddha are theoretically on equal footing; there is no question of one being of higher status than the other.

This is similar to the heads of railways, highways, and aviation under the Ministry of Transport. Regardless of the people they supervise or how much power they actually wield, on the surface, all three are at the same level.

Of course, there are differences in wealth between people, and there are also differences in religions.

The four major religions—Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, and Islam—are undoubtedly the wealthiest.

As for temples like Guandi Temple and City God Temple, it depends on the location. Qian Xuliang, the keeper of the City God Temple in Lin'an, is no exception and is not short of money.

It's worth noting that the City God of Lin'an is none other than Wen Tianxiang. With such a revered deity as its boss, the Lin'a City God Temple will never lack tourists or incense offerings.

However, some local City God Temple are not doing so well. The city god they worship is not famous and has no special features, so they naturally end up relying on subsidies from higher authorities to make a living.

That would have been fine in the past, but it's not the case these past two years.

The economy is developing rapidly, but how can the increase in government funding possibly keep up with inflation?

Qian Xuliang, as the temple keeper of the City God Temple, naturally had no worries about food and clothing, but he still had to consider the needs of his subordinates.

The reason why Shinji didn't encounter much resistance when he rented Ley Lines in China to hold film screenings ultimately comes down to money.

After hearing Qian Xuliang's explanation, Shinji couldn't help but sigh and say that Magecraft all over the world aren't doing very well in modern society.

Whether it's Japan, Britain, North America, or China, there's always a group of Magecraft who are so poor they're practically penniless.

However, what Xu Liang said did give Shinji some inspiration.

These mysterious test members, scattered throughout the country, are arguably the perfect candidates in Shinji's mind for installing, maintaining, and repairing the Magecraft projection equipment.

They are widely distributed, numerous, and possess basic Fangshu skills. As long as they can understand the Magecraft formulas, they are perfectly skilled workers.

"Brother Xuliang."

After pondering for Shinji asked, "How different are your Celestial Fangshu from our Magecraft? Can you handle our spells?"

These words made Qian Xuliang's eyes light up immediately.

However, Qian Xuliang did not speak directly. Instead, he looked at Shinji with a probing gaze, afraid that he might have misunderstood the other party's meaning.

Shinji then shared his idea of having the Daoist Fangshi serve as the installers and repairmen of the national projection equipment.

"That's good; it can at least solve the employment problem for a large number of people."

Qian Xuliang nodded repeatedly, seemingly very satisfied with Shinji's suggestion.

"I have a question: can you provide that many people?"

Shinji asked seriously.

"It's definitely not possible in the short term, but we can train them. We can go to each place one by one. I don't think you, Shinji, are thinking of opening branches all over the country tomorrow, are you?"

Qian Xuliang waved his hand and said with a carefree expression.

If this matter can be accomplished, my reputation will be greatly enhanced, and Lin'an may very well become the core area for Fangshi in the new era.

Seeing Qian Xuliang taking on so much responsibility, Shinji hesitated.

"There must be a big difference between Magecraft and Fangshu, right? Can your people understand this?"

"Of course," Qian Xuliang said with a smile. "Actually, Fangshu aren't as mysterious as people say. They're not that different from Magecraft in essence, just that they focus more on external things, unlike your Magecraft which mainly rely on the use of Magic Circuits."

"The work that Shinji will be involved in involves Magecraft related to Ley Lines. These array formations and barrier spells are exactly what we Fangshi excel at."

Shinji took a sip of tea and said, "That sounds interesting. I think we can learn from you when we study projection technology in the future."

Qian Xuliang replied directly, "Then Shinji, you can go and read 'Journey to the Journey to the West,' which mentions a very comprehensive range of Fangshu. You can use it as an overview of Fangshu."

"..."

Shinji's lips twitched slightly.

Recalling the rumor that a Qing Dynasty Daoist priest in his previous life believed Journey to the West Qiu Chuji that it contained the essence of alchemy, Shinji couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.

So, is Journey to the Journey to the West really about cultivating immortality?

Qian Xuliang shook his head. "It doesn't count as cultivating immortality, it's more like a concise overview of Chinese Fangshu, similar to a children's encyclopedia in a bookstore."

"Even so, you guys are quite open-minded," Shinji said gratefully. "You actually showed this kind of mysterious thing to ordinary people directly."

"Do you think we wanted this? Before we even realized it, the book had already spread. There was no way to stop it."

This time it was Qian Xuliang's turn to complain, "I guess that author knew he was being unethical, so he deliberately didn't leave his name, otherwise countless Fangshi would definitely dig up his grave."

"It shouldn't be that bad, right?"

Shinji awkward laugh.

However, after hearing Qian Xuliang say this, Shinji believed that Journey to the West was not actually written by Wu Cheng'en.

That makes sense, considering the original title of the book "Journey to the West" was "Journey to Exorcise Demons".

The current evidence proving that Wu Cheng'en is the author of "Journey to the West" is that an official Ming Dynasty bibliography records a book by Wu Cheng'en called "Journey to the West".

But actually, what's the connection between your "Journey to the West" and "Journey to Exorcise Demons"?

It's important to know that the other books included with Wu Cheng'en's record are all geography books; it's impossible for him to include a novel on his own.

Wu Cheng'en's "Journey to the West" is very likely his own travelogue of the west, and has little to do with the "Journey to the West" of the Four Great Classical Novels.

This is somewhat similar to the theoretical basis used by Qing Dynasty Daoist priests to claim that Qiu Chuji was the author of "Journey to the West".

The Daoist priests also believed that Qiu Chuji was the author of the novel "Journey to the West" because Qiu Chuji had written a travelogue called "The Journey to the West of Changchun Zhenren".

Judging from the perspective of inheritance, "Journey to Exorcise Demons: The Tale of Exorcising Calamities" can be considered a fan fiction work based on the Yuan Dynasty drama "Journey to the Journey to the West".

Because this book was so popular after its publication, it directly replaced the Pinghua version of Journey to the Journey to the West, and even caused the Pinghua version of Journey to the Journey to the West to be lost.

This isn't just fanfiction turning into the main story; it's fanfiction destroying the main story.

If the storytelling version of Journey to the Journey to the West were a person, it would definitely utter that classic line:

Oh no, I've become a stand-in.