Rendezvous

"Only Concentrated Spirit can interfere with Concentrated Spirit."

Xu Songnian explained, "Our School of Heavenly Principle emphasizes bitter cultivation of a single intent, seeking nothing from the outside, and we have achieved much in body tempering and Concentrated Spirit. The Concentrated Spirit cultivated by my sect is capable of disturbing the Concentrated Spirit of others."

"This object was left behind by my predecessor; he spent decades tempering it with his own Concentrated Spirit. If I use the corresponding sect technique to activate it, I can release that stored Concentrated Spirit to disrupt your own, Excellency."

"That's quite impressive..."

Chen Wu's eyes were opened; he found the ingenuity of this item to have some common ground with the Heaven-Intercepting Dao-Exposition Method.

"It is not as formidable as you imagine." Seeing Chen Wu's keen interest, Xu Songnian hurriedly added, "The Concentrated Spirit on this seal is, after all, water without a source. It will be useless after a few activations, and it requires my sect's specific techniques to trigger."

Seeing Xu Songnian's nervous expression, as if he feared Chen Wu might snatch the jade seal, Chen Wu couldn't be bothered to continue discussing martial arts with him.

"How truly dull," Chen Wu said. "What kind of person do you take me for? Do you think I would rob you?"

"It is my own petty heart measuring the belly of a gentleman," Xu Songnian apologized hastily.

"Enough, enough. Be off with you!"

Hearing this, Xu Songnian let out a long sigh of relief, bowed immediately, and prepared to leave.

Chen Wu suddenly felt something was missing and quickly called out, "Wait a moment!"

"Does Your Excellency have any instructions?" Xu Songnian's expression turned tense once more.

"I'm delivering goods for Shopkeeper Qin, and he promised me a large raft. You want me to deliver a letter for you, yet you expect me to do it for nothing but empty words?"

Chen Wu had just remembered: if he didn't collect a fee, wouldn't he be getting played for a fool?

The Great Shun already had stock exchanges; with capitalism flourishing so vigorously, how could he allow himself to be taken for a free ride?

"This..." Not having expected such a high-level expert to speak in such mercenary terms, Xu Songnian was momentarily speechless. He steadied himself before replying, "Your Excellency is right, but I do not have many banknotes on me. If I were to offer them, I fear it would be an insult to you."

"I am not short on money," Chen Wu said, suddenly recalling what Old Ma had told him earlier. "I am, however, quite curious about that method the School of Heavenly Principle uses to temper Concentrated Spirit by nourishing weapons."

Xu Songnian's expression softened immediately: "It is not that other schools cannot use this method, but rather that they have no need for it."

"For the martial arts of other schools, once the Concentrated Spirit is manifested, it is complete and cannot be altered," Xu Songnian said. "But our School of Heavenly Principle emphasizes the slow, grinding work of bitter cultivation. The Concentrated Spirit we manifest is a seed, not a finished product; it must be tempered bit by bit, hence the existence of this nourishing and tempering method."

"A Concentrated Spirit seed?" Chen Wu recalled the Concentrated Spirit he had borrowed; could it also be considered a type of seed?

"Exactly so," Xu Songnian nodded. "Therefore, the Concentrated Spirit of our School of Heavenly Principle is weaker than other schools in the early stages, but after ten or twenty years of tempering, it becomes slightly stronger than theirs."

"Your Excellency is already a master of Concentrated Spirit; you have no use for this method!"

"Never mind whether I have a use for it or not." Chen Wu's sword let out another hum.

"Then please listen carefully, Excellency."

Xu Songnian immediately began to recite a secret technique.

After listening, Chen Wu made him recite it two more times to ensure there were no omissions before putting away his sword and sauntering off.

Xu Songnian felt his entire body relax, only to discover his back was soaked with sweat. He hurriedly used his light-foot technique to rush back to his Dark Cloud Steed, mounted it, and rode away.

By the campfire, Shopkeeper Qin and his assistants were huddled together, staring in the direction Chen Wu had left, not daring to blink for even a second.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps crunched on the ground ahead. Before Shopkeeper Qin could confirm who it was, Chen Wu spoke: "Shopkeeper Qin, are you alright?"

"Oh, oh, I'm fine, I'm fine," Shopkeeper Qin replied in a flurry, seeing Chen Wu as increasingly mysterious.

He had originally thought Chen Wu was just a raftsman who knew a few amateur tricks and had enough guts to take on his delivery job.

Now, seeing the man return with his sword, he knew he had inadvertently visited a temple and invited a true deity.

"Get some rest!" Chen Wu pulled up his blanket and slept in his clothes.

The next morning.

The group loaded the goods onto the raft again and traveled downstream. After ten days or so, they arrived at their destination: Jiuyuan Prefecture.

Chen Wu watched as Shopkeeper Qin unloaded the goods and found a familiar business partner to sell off the medicinal herbs. Ignoring the shopkeeper's profuse thanks, Chen Wu bid him farewell and left.

Jiuyuan Prefecture was the essential gateway for traveling beyond the Great Wall to the various Mongol tribes. With the exchange of northern and southern goods, merchants came and went like clouds.

Ever since the Great Shun defeated the Dzungar in a single battle, they had gained total control over the Mongol tribes, demarcating pastures and forbidding private conflicts, which made the trade routes even more prosperous.

Chen Wu asked a few merchant caravans for directions to Yan'an Prefecture and set off southward.

Traveling through Shang Prefecture and finally reaching Yan'an Prefecture, he arrived dusty and weary, finally catching sight of the pagoda on Jialing Mountain.

Chen Wu knew he had reached his destination.

After the Great Shun was established, they did not undertake massive construction projects in Yan'an Prefecture. After all, the Ming Dynasty's Central Capital, Fengyang, had been burned down by Li Zicheng after he captured it. Now that it was his turn to rule, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt.

Mindful of how the construction of the Ming Central Capital had exhausted the people, Taizong of Great Shun, Li Guo, made the final decision not to build palaces in Yan'an Prefecture, but only a few structures like the Imperial Temple and the Merit Temple, where officials were sent to perform sacrifices during the four seasons and festivals.

However, since this was Li Zicheng's hometown, the locals felt they were the Emperor's fellow countrymen and tended to look down their noses at others. Chen Wu asked for directions twice, but people just gave him perfunctory answers, too lazy to explain.

Fortunately, the third person he asked had a better attitude and pointed out the way clearly. Chen Wu finally understood the route and, after several twists and turns, arrived at his destination.

It was a three-story building facing the street. On the ground floor was a shop, and as Chen Wu glanced at it, he saw a sign hanging above the door: Jinheng Watch Shop.

Chen Wu pushed the door open and stepped inside to find the room filled with cabinets, displaying all manner of clocks and watches, large and small, in a dazzling array.

In terms of form, there were mantel clocks and pocket watches. In terms of decoration, there were portraits, flowers, birds, animals, geometric patterns, Western styles, Eastern motifs, and even some that looked like Indian or Persian artistic styles.

Behind the counter sat an elderly master of about fifty. A magnifying glass was perched over his left eye, making it look like he was wearing a miniature telescope. In his hand, he held a screwdriver, meticulously dismantling a pocket watch.

"Customer, what would you like to buy?" A voice interrupted Chen Wu's observation.

It turned out to be a man around forty standing nearby, who had greeted him enthusiastically the moment he stepped through the door: "My humble shop carries every type of clock and watch imaginable. We have Guangzhou-made, Suzhou-made, and Western-made pieces; which would you like to see?"

It seemed he was the proprietor of the shop.

"Ahem—" Chen Wu steadied himself. "I don't want to buy anything. I am here to have a watch repaired."

As he spoke, Chen Wu took out his Cloud-Pattern Pocket Watch and handed it to the proprietor.

The proprietor took the pocket watch and gently pressed the spring, causing the cover to flip open. He saw that the hands had long since stopped, all pointing toward three-quarters past the Hour of the Monkey.

Upon seeing this, the proprietor's expression changed.