Two Paths of Cultivation

"Not bad."

Shen Lang wrote down the appraisal result.

Beside him, Xu Hongtao took out a wooden box, sealed the green jade inside, labeled it, and handed a bamboo tally to Chen Shaojun.

"Thank you, Uncle Xu!"

Chen Shaojun thanked him.

This bamboo tally was essentially like the tokens used by dock laborers. At the end of every month, he could use it to collect his wages.

Although Chen Shaojun had signed a contract of sale and was merely an Appraiser Apprentice, he still received wages every month. They were based on the tallies earned after appraising items.

Though the amount was not much. Each tally was worth only thirty copper coins.

Even with one every day for a month, it would only amount to nine hundred copper coins—not even a tael of silver.

Only then did he turn and head toward the rear courtyard.

As he turned, however, his gaze could not help drifting toward an arched gateway beside the side hall.

It connected to the main hall and led to the Lin Clan Pawnshop's storefront.

A pawnshop counter stood there, blocking his line of sight and, in a sense, sealing him inside the pawnshop.

Though the pawnshop did not restrict their movements, the Lin Family Pawnshop had a storefront in front and a rear courtyard behind. High walls enclosed the rear courtyard, forbidding anyone from leaving, and pawnshop staff could only exit through the front entrance.

As people who might come into contact with pawned goods, they had to report to the shopkeeper before going out. They also had to endure body searches, item inspections, and questioning...

The questioners were stern, and those conducting the searches were rough. Unless absolutely necessary, no one truly wished to go out lightly.

In Chen Shaojun's memories, his former self had not left for three months.

The pawnshop's rear courtyard was very spacious, somewhat like a traditional courtyard residence. There was a broad open space in the middle, surrounded by rooms of varying sizes.

Chen Shaojun entered one of the rooms. What met his eyes was a large communal sleeping platform stretching from one wall to the other.

Several cabinets stood crammed along the bed's edge, leaving barely enough room to move.

This was his living quarters.

There were twelve sleeping spots, lined up one after another. Including him, seven people now lived there, all Appraiser Apprentices from the pawnshop.

Several Appraiser Apprentices had returned before him and were gathered together.

"Brother Chen, you're back. Nothing happened, right?"

Seeing Chen Shaojun return, a short young man hurried over and asked with concern.

"I'm fine."

Chen Shaojun shook his head. He recognized the man as Zhao Hu. They had only barely known each other before, both having served as workers at the Lin Family Old Residence.

Half a year ago, they had been assigned to the Lin Family Pawnshop together. Only then had they grown familiar.

The others had also previously worked for the Lin Family, either as menial servants or as descendants of household servants. They simply had not known one another before.

At that moment, every one of them looked utterly listless, as though they had gone three days and nights without sleep.

Some had bloodshot eyes and excited expressions, while others looked ashen-faced, with eye bags black as charcoal, utterly exhausted.

From this alone, one could see just how draining the Divine Gaze Technique was.

Had Chen Shaojun not swallowed an Essence-Nourishing Pill, cleansing his marrow and refining his essence, replenishing his qi and nourishing his spirit, greatly increasing the strength of his essence, qi, and spirit, he likely would not have fared much better than them.

"Brother Chen, did you hear? Zhang Wang ran into trouble today."

Zhao Hu leaned closer, his face full of mystery and tension.

"Trouble?"

Chen Shaojun froze, a suspicion stirring in his heart.

"During this appraisal, Zhang Wang was tainted by evil qi. It entered his body, and by the time they carried him out, he was already close to dying."

Zhao Hu did not beat around the bush and said it outright.

"Zhang Wang may usually be arrogant, but among us, he truly has the strongest treasure-appraising ability and the deepest mastery of Spirit Sight. Now even he has met with disaster. Then what about us..."

One person's tired face was filled with worry, and even a hint of fear.

People feared mishaps, incense feared two short sticks and one long stick, and pawnshop appraisers feared nothing more than accidents during treasure appraisal.

Because any accident could endanger their lives.

Not to mention that every one of them had personally witnessed the five Appraiser Apprentices who had fallen before.

No one wanted to become one of them.

"This batch of raw goods really is different. Most of them are old materials that have been around for years.

"The older the material, the more evil it becomes. No one knows what these old materials went through before reaching our hands.

"Actually, when I was appraising treasures, I vaguely felt a surge of evil qi rushing out. Fortunately, it was not very strong. My head only spun for a moment before I recovered..."

A rather tall Appraiser Apprentice spoke as well, still shaken by the experience.

Chen Shaojun could not help glancing at him, doubts rising in his heart.

He had always harbored suspicions about his former self's death.

Recalling the scenes revealed in the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror during his own appraisal, he could not help but think further.

"Do you remember how Zhang Wang offended Mr. Shen before?"

Suddenly, someone spoke.

Everyone's expressions immediately changed.

"You mean..."

"Watch your words!"

"Do not speak nonsense without evidence."

The sharper-witted among them immediately barked warnings to stop him.

Yet a shadow could not help but rise in everyone's heart.

Many things required no evidence at all.

Although this batch of raw goods had been selected by Certified Appraisers, with most of the more dangerous items already removed, the one arranging the appraisals was ultimately Shen Lang, Shen Piaotai.

If he truly wanted to tamper with things, he would not even need to do so deliberately. He only needed to hand relatively "dangerous" raw goods to a particular Appraiser Apprentice to make that person suffer a crushing loss.

But the matter had already happened. Even if they knew, what could they do? They had no power to change anything.

Some were even thinking of finding an opportunity to curry favor with Shen Piaotai, so that life might be easier for them in the future.

The life of an Appraiser Apprentice was actually exceedingly dull. Aside from appraising treasures in the storeroom, the rear courtyard was the only place where they could move about.

After forcing themselves to finish dinner, the Appraiser Apprentices all eagerly lay down on their beds.

Their snores began almost the instant they touched the bedding.

Chen Shaojun had taken the Essence-Nourishing Pill, and his essence, qi, and spirit had not been depleted in the slightest. His spirit was clear and full, his energy abundant, and he felt no drowsiness at all.

Though he lay in bed now, he was thinking more about the life ahead.

Without question, with the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror at his side, the pawnshop was indeed the most suitable place for him to remain for the time being.

But that did not mean he intended to settle for the status quo.

Since he had come to this world and knew that Demon Ghosts roamed freely here, and that Dao Martial Arts experts could soar over roofs and walls, he naturally did not wish to live an ordinary life.

Become stronger.

Only by becoming stronger.

Could I survive freely in this perilous world.

Chen Shaojun knew that this would not be easy.

The word freedom had never come easily.

As far as he knew, to truly achieve this, one had to master Dao Martial Arts.

What was Dao Martial Arts?

It was cultivating the Dao and practicing martial arts.

These were also the two paths of cultivation this world used to contend against all manner of strange demons and fiends.

No matter which path one chose, one could become a powerhouse in one's own right and gain the ability to slay demons and banish evil.