Going to the Mysterious Bookstore

The sudden appearance of the strange old man left Da Niu and his companions bewildered. They watched with puzzled and curious eyes as the old man slowly approached, drawing ever closer...

Qin Xiaoqian and Qin Shou's two horses were positioned on either side of the official road, with a two-meter- Da Niu standing in the middle. At the edge of the road knelt the rogue Zhang San. The official road was not wide, and the group of people had basically filled it. The strange old man was walking in the middle of the road, and if neither of them chose to give way, they would inevitably collide.

However, judging from the strange old man's appearance, he didn't seem to have any intention of turning around, which made Qin Xiaoqian and Qin Shou exchange glances, unsure of what to do.

I can't bring myself to give in... I'm too proud to admit it, after all, I'm a local warlord.

If we don't let them pass... they don't seem to be planning to give way anyway, so we're bound to bump into each other eventually.

Just as they hesitated, the Da Niu in the middle moved aside and stepped next to Zhang San; because Zhang San was so big, he still took up a lot of space in the middle, enough for two people to pass side by side, and the strange old man could pass through without any obstruction.

'Da~'

'Da~'

The strange old man drew closer, and the atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive. The two unicorn horses seemed to be suffering greatly from this oppressive atmosphere, sneezing from time to time and fidgeting restlessly with their hooves.

Finally, the strange old man walked Horse-Face.

'Pfft~' The horse's sneezing became more and more severe, and the two brothers on horseback could only secretly squeeze the horse's back and pull on the reins, their brows furrowed as they looked at the strange old man.

It was so strange. He was like a walking corpse, hunched over, his face obscured. Every step he took was rhythmic, regular, and even the distance was perfect.

The bare torso engraved with Goldenrod City characters, the black Exquisite Pagoda in the palm of his hand, and the large, antique book on his back—all these elements evoke a sense of Rattled deep within one's heart.

Human fear stems entirely from the unknown.

Zhang San, the rogue, knelt on the ground and secretly watched everything. When he saw the strange old man walk past the Da Niu, he rolled his eyes, reached out and gave the Da Niu a push.

Although Da Niu was a strong man, he was caught off guard by the sudden, powerful shove from behind. He stumbled, his body leaning forward, the large vat on his shoulder tilting, water gushing out and spraying straight at the strange old man.

The Qin brothers on horseback were taken aback. They reached out and used their Spiritual Power to try to stop the water from being splashed, but unfortunately, the incident happened too suddenly and the distance was too close, so the two of them were unable to stop it in time.

Da Niu was not a cultivator, so his reaction speed was slower than that of the Qin brothers. His face was filled with panic, and he instinctively reached out a hand to try to catch the splashed water. However, before he could even reach out, the water was already about to splash onto the strange old man.

Just when everyone thought the water would surely hit the old man, a slight tremor occurred, and then the water that had been splashed flowed upstream and back into the large vat!

"Hiss!" The Qin brothers looked at each other, both seeing shock on each other's faces.

Just now, they didn't sense even the slightest bit of Spiritual Power emanating from the strange old man. He didn't even move his hand; the water Sheer Force simply flowed upstream and back into the large vat.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to." Da Niu was panicked. He didn't understand how this was done, but anyone who could do it must be a cultivator. In Da Niu's mind, cultivators were like gods in the heavens. Now that he had offended a god, he was naturally very scared. Da Niu put down the large vat and was about to kneel down to apologize to the strange old man.

'Snap!' A withered, shriveled hand grabbed Da Niu's arm, preventing him from kneeling down.

The man, who had been hunched over, straightened up slightly, revealing a withered, aged face. His eyes, though hunched, gleamed with a strange light as he looked at Da Niu and asked, "Can you read?"

Da Niu was taken aback, wondering why this strange deity would ask him if he could read, but he still answered honestly, "I can read. My mother taught me; my mother used to be a maid in a wealthy family's household, and she learned to read with the young lady."

"Do you want to cultivate?" the old man asked, enunciating each word clearly.

Upon hearing this, the Qin brothers subconsciously looked at Da Niu, their surprise revealing a hint of envy.

The two of them couldn't fathom the old man's cultivation level, but judging from his skill in going against the current, his cultivation must be unfathomable. If the old man was willing to guide Da Niu to become a cultivator, then Da Niu's future achievements would certainly be remarkable.

Even Zhang San, who was lying on the ground, couldn't help but show a look of envy in his eyes, but more than envy, it was jealousy.

To everyone's surprise, Da Niu didn't hesitate at all after hearing this, and shook his head directly, saying, "I don't want to, I just want to get married."

"You idiot!" Qin Shou couldn't help but scold in a low voice, saying, "Once you become a cultivator, you'll have any kind of wife you want."

Qin Xiaoqian, looking at him with exasperation, said, "You like the daughter of Widow Liu in town, don't you? Let me tell you, as soon as you become a cultivator, Widow Liu will immediately send her daughter to your doorstep, you idiot!"

"Really?" Upon hearing that becoming a cultivator would allow him to get married, Da Niu immediately changed his mind and said, "Then I want to become a cultivator."

Upon hearing this, the strange old man's expressionless face broke into a rare smile, and he said, "Alright, I have a book here from the Mysterious Bookstore called the Diamond Sutra. If you can comprehend its entirety, you can become a cultivator and soar to the heavens."

"The Mysterious Bookstore?"

"Diamond Sutra?"

The Qin brothers muttered to themselves, heads bowed in deep thought.

Zhang San lay on the ground, his eyes darting around, mentally memorizing the words "Mysterious Bookstore" and "Diamond Sutra".

Da Niu listened, puzzled. "Can reading books really make you a spiritual practitioner?"

I've heard that the Scholar Wang in town is well-read and incredibly learned; wouldn't he also be a spiritual practitioner?

Just as Da Niu was wondering what was going on, the strange old man suddenly grabbed Da Niu's arm and flung him into the air.

"Ah~!" Da Niu didn't react for a moment, was completely stunned, and screamed loudly.

The Qin brothers frowned. Qin Shou pushed off with both legs, wanting to fly up and save Da Niu, but Qin Xiaoqian stopped him and pointed at the strange old man.

Qin Shou looked down and discovered that the strange old man's bare upper body, adorned with small golden characters, had somehow fallen off and Levitate around him.

The large book on his back began to emit a faint golden light, which grew brighter and brighter, causing Qin Shou to squint slightly.

'Buzz~'

A golden pillar shot into the sky, piercing directly Infiltrator the Da Niu in mid-air.

'Ding ding ding~'

At the same time, the small golden characters Levitate around the old man Levitate with the light, completely surrounding Da Niu.

'Whoosh~'

The black, Exquisite Pagoda in the old man's palm flew out, its center facing upwards, and into the air, directly swallowing up the Da Niu and the small golden characters.

'Whoosh~'

The black, Exquisite Pagoda flew back into the old man's palm, the large book and golden pillar on his back disappeared, and everything returned to normal, as if the scene from just now had never happened.

"I will walk ninety-nine steps. If you cannot comprehend the Diamond Sutra within the Exquisite Pagoda in those ninety-nine steps, then you are not destined to be with my Mysterious Bookstore," the old man said slowly, gazing at the black Exquisite Pagoda.

"Thud~" The old man had barely finished speaking when he took a step forward.

The Qin brothers were completely bewildered, unsure of what to say, but the supernatural powers the old man had just displayed stirred something within them.

Finally, Qin Xiaoqian couldn't hold back any longer and asked, "May I ask, senior, what exactly is this Mysterious Bookstore?"

The old man walked forward step by step, and slowly said, "That's a Bookstore that can change your destiny."

"Destiny?"

"Bookstore?"

The Qin Xiaoqian brothers, Qin Shou, lowered their heads and muttered to themselves, lost in brief thought.

At this moment, the old man, with steady steps, said again, "You are not destined to read the Diamond Sutra. If you are interested, go to the Great Chu Dubian Town; perhaps the Mysterious Bookstore there will have a book suitable for you."

Just as Qin Xiaoqian was about to speak, the distinctive sound of a unicorn suddenly came from afar, followed by a magnificent black carriage pulled by two unicorns speeding towards them.

Qin Xiaoqian looked at the carriage with a surprised expression and said, "This is the carriage of the Yan State family."

Qin Shou looked at the carriage driver, his eyes widening in shock, and said, "The carriage driver seems to be Yan Gexing, Second Rank General of the Yan State."

Instinctively, the two Qin brothers turned to look at each other and exclaimed in shock, "The God of War Luan Feng!"