256

After a long and arduous journey, Feng Xue and Old Li finally set foot on the land of the New World. The language used in this world was a variant of Yan Country Language, similar to a dialect with a heavy accent. This allowed the two of them to successfully learn the language using only the knowledge attached to the [Yan Guo] Tag.

If we have to be honest, this isn't really a coincidence. After all, most Wuxia World originated in Yan Kingdom, and it's not surprising that Feng Xue was True Thing a Chinese sword and speaking Yan Country Language when she opened the door.

After two crossings, it was already the morning of the second day when we arrived here. There were quite a few pedestrians on the street, but most of them looked like they were dressed in coarse clothes and had pale faces. Looking at the low houses on both sides of the street, we didn't even see any vendors hawking their wares, so we knew that this place was probably not a wealthy area.

"Let's find a tavern or teahouse first," Old Li said without hesitation, sounding very experienced. Feng Xue knew he wanted to find a well-informed place to gather information, so she didn't object. The two of them then set off in a certain direction.

However, this isn't exactly wandering around randomly. Logically speaking, there are usually more Rich Person in the direction where buildings are taller.

In this city, this pattern clearly remained unchanged. As the buildings along the street gradually grew taller, the streets became more lively. However, perhaps due to the time of day, there were still few martial arts practitioners carrying weapons on the streets.

"Let's take this one." Lao Li looked around and fell in love with a two-story restaurant. There was a signboard of "Caitong Inn" hanging in front of the restaurant. The whole restaurant was made of brick and wood, and the mottled wooden doors looked quite a bit Jianghu.

Attracted by the fabric of their clothes, the waiter greeted them warmly, launching into a familiar set of trade jargon:

"Are you two guests here for a meal or to stay the night?"

"Bring us a table full of your signature dishes." Feng Xue casually flicked a gold coin. Although she didn't know what currency was used in this world, she figured that a meal shouldn't require spirit stones or anything like that.

The waiter didn't seem to have much skill, but he was quite nimble. He reached out and caught the gold coin, but felt that the weight was wrong. Looking down, he could not recognize the pattern on it, but he knew that it must be gold.

"Alright, please come in, sir!"

Knowing this customer was no ordinary person, the waiter strode towards the kitchen. Feng Xue and Old Li found a seat by the window in the lobby and casually looked around at their surroundings.

The inn looked no different from the restaurants in period dramas, but since it was still early, there weren't many customers, so there was no way to hear the idle chatter of the martial arts world.

"Miscalculated, didn't you?" Feng Xue gave Old Li a teasing look, but Old Li ignored her and instead spoke to the waiter who came over carrying a teapot:

"Waiter, do you know of any strange or unusual things happening in the martial arts world lately?"

The waiter, who was about to serve the two distinguished guests a fresh pot of tea, was taken aback by the question and gave a somewhat surprised, apologetic smile:

"Sir, you jest. How would Little Figure like me know about matters of the martial world?"

"This junior class is no good!" Lao Li sighed in his heart, but at least it showed that there is indeed a "jianghu" in this world, so he breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately put on a kind smile and said:

"It's alright, just say what you know. Aren't there any experts around here?"

"This..." Upon hearing this, the waiter's expression became slightly uneasy, but he still whispered:

"Our Sizhou is a nice place, but martial arts are not flourishing. There is a sect called the Golden Crow Sect, but as you know, these days, no one from any major sect can leave the mountain without becoming a Grandmaster. If we're talking about any experts, there are only a few Grandmasters supported by the government, and we can't even see them a few times a year."

At this point, the waiter shut his mouth and changed the subject:

"Why haven't your dishes arrived yet, gentlemen? I'll go and check on them."

After saying that, the waiter disappeared in a flash.

Old Li and Feng Xue exchanged a glance. Although they only exchanged a few words, the content was quite substantial.

Putting aside the baseless claim that this small town belongs to "Sizhou," the statement "The place is nice, but martial arts are not thriving" is quite strange.

Shouldn't Wuxia Novel always depict places with outstanding people and beautiful scenery as places where martial arts flourish?

However, from another perspective, if everyone could live and work in peace and contentment, without so much fighting and killing, it might be understandable that martial arts would not flourish.

But the real problem lies in the fact that martial arts are not flourishing, so why is there such a strange rule as "one cannot leave the mountain without becoming a grandmaster"?

Or is it that becoming a "master" in this world is actually quite easy?

The more I think about these things, the more confused I get, but it also seems like common sense, and asking about it casually might attract unnecessary attention.

Although the two of them were aiming for fame, they decided to avoid becoming famous through foolishness.

"What should we do?" Feng Xue asked in Mandarin, which was somewhat different from the language of this world. Old Li for a moment before replying:

"There are three paths: either go and see the so-called Golden Crow Sect, or go to the government office to meet the so-called official grandmasters, and as for the third one... naturally, it's to Kaiji and find a place where martial arts flourish."

"We have too little information. We have no idea what level a so-called grandmaster is. If we accidentally trip and fall in this godforsaken place, then..."

Feng Xue suddenly stopped talking, and then the waiter came over with several colleagues carrying trays.

The waiter was honest; he said one table, and that was it—eight dishes and a soup, four meat and four vegetable, served with a small bowl of fragrant rice. It looked quite appetizing.

Feng Xue, who hadn't used the [Chef] Tag for a long time, immediately activated it, and the details of the dishes were gradually revealed.

"The steamed fish is freshly killed wild river fish, and the vegetables and bamboo shoots were picked no more than two days ago. Several dishes were specially selected from varieties that are easy to eat, which means this restaurant has quite a few signature dishes..."

As Feng Xue muttered to herself, she picked up a piece of fish with her chopsticks. The meat was as tender as garlic cloves, fragrant and delicious, but Feng Xue's expression grew increasingly serious.

"This doesn't look like the kind of food you'd find in a small town."

"You'll get used to this kind of thing eventually. I once saw a waiter serve up a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast in a small shop in what was probably the Song Dynasty, on two separate tables!" Old Li scoffed, giving him a "you're making a fuss over nothing" look.

"Different worldviews mean that some things cannot be generalized. Scientifically speaking, factors like soil fertility, oxygen content, geographical location, and crop domestication can be considered. Metaphysical perspectives might include issues like the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. It's not uncommon for a small plot of land to feed an entire city's population."

"Hmm..." Feng Xue was taken aback by what Old Li said, but then she suddenly looked up, pointed out the window, and deliberately said in a cute and confused tone:

"Isn't it unusual for government officials to block your door while you're just having a meal?"

Regarding exchanging pure [consciousness] to sell and achieve unlimited [consciousness]... this shows a complete lack of understanding of market economics.

That's right, exchanging [Knowledge] and selling it can yield a return of ten thousand times, but the problem is that this market is limited because it is a resource that only newly created Weird Tale need, and a newly created Supernatural Tale Itself generally has limited purchasing power and will not buy too much at once.

Aside from the Hundred Tales, the number of Weird Tale in Infinite City is just over five figures. Even without considering the inflated average during the resource-rich early Pastoral Era, there are only about three hundred new Weird Tale each year. In contrast, the residents of the Tower of Babel, even if we only consider the first ten floors, number five hundred. There wouldn't even be enough for one ghost story for each person.

Therefore, although this business seems to have high profits, the market is extremely easy to saturate, and it is impossible to sell indefinitely.