Volume One: Days in the Shantytown - The Exquisite Gallbladder (Part Two)

Luo Qian had no idea how much time had passed before he woke in a daze. Bright sunlight stabbed at his eyes. Frowning, he pushed himself up and saw that he lay on dry, rocky ground. He stood, brushed off his clothes, and looked around. He was on a high cliff, where jagged rocks jutted out and only a few tufts of dry grass grew in the cracks. To the North, white mist stretched on without end. That must have been the Death Zone where he had been trapped.

Delighted to have escaped, Luo Qian had no intention of going back to investigate. He could not even be bothered to wonder how he had gotten out of the Death Zone. He checked his bundle: it was still there, with every component inside. Then he used the Pathfinding Art, found his way home without trouble, and flew off through the air on immortal magic.

Back at his cave dwelling on Toad Mountain, Luo Qian spent an entire day assembling the massage chair. Destruction was always easier than creation. Taking it apart had been simple; putting it back together was another matter.

Once the massage chair was assembled, Luo Qian took out a battery and connected it to the power cord. The battery held a fair amount of charge, but as soon as the chair started, its charge indicator plunged. Half an hour later, the high-capacity battery was drained. Luo Qian wondered whether he should go down to the Mortal Realm for a car battery.

There was also a rice cooker in the storeroom. Immortals did not eat grain, but some Virtue Immortals who had ascended from the mortal world still wanted to relive the old days. The Immortal Realm had no great chefs to make delicacies, but a rice cooker was handy for making soup or cooking rice. The only problem, again, was power.

Luo Qian felt he could never expand his business unless he solved the power problem. He had thought of an idea long ago, but it required help from an immortal with a particular skill. He was just a small fry in the Immortal Realm and knew no one, so he would have to ask Du Lengning to make the introduction.

After some thought, Luo Qian tucked an elegant gaming magazine he had bought in the Mortal Realm into his clothes, locked his cave dwelling, and set out to find Du Lengning. Distant Hall ranked among the Immortal Realm's top thirty sects and had many disciples. Its gates stood on Ningyao Mountain, one of the thirty-six mountains within the realm and a prime location in the Immortal Realm.

When Luo Qian reached Ningyao Mountain, he sent Du Lengning a Message Talisman. Before long, Du Lengning came rushing out. "Old Luo, what brings you here? Tell me quick—I've got a game paused." Luo Qian grabbed him. "Don't rush. I came to discuss something with you. Let's find somewhere to talk properly." "Oh. All right," Du Lengning said. "Come up the mountain with me."

Though Distant Hall's gates stood on Ningyao Mountain, the mountain did not belong to Distant Hall alone. Immortal Realm City, the Three Heavens and Six Springs, the Twelve Overseas Continents, and the Thirty-Six Mountains Within the Realm were like cities, each home to great numbers of immortals. Visiting such places was easy. Claiming even enough space to plant one's feet there was another matter. Without strength, one needed money; the Immortal Realm was no exception.

Atop a high peak stood a small building: the Rock-Viewing Pavilion, Ningyao Mountain's most famous teahouse. It faced Distant Hall's gates, which loomed above a sheer cliff ten thousand fathoms deep. Du Lengning was a local power on Ningyao Mountain. Though the pavilion's owner was a formidable sixth-rank immortal himself, he still relied on Young Hall Master Du to "look after" him. The moment he saw Du Lengning, he cleared out the finest room upstairs and ushered him and Luo Qian inside.

"Old Luo, what exactly do you want?" Fragrant steam curled from the tea, but Du Lengning was too impatient a man for hot tea. Luo Qian lowered his voice. "I need a favor. Find me someone who knows lightning magic." Du Lengning frowned. "That won't be easy. Lightning magic is difficult and dangerous to cultivate. Not many people in the Immortal Realm practice it."

"I know it isn't easy. That's why I came to you." As he spoke, Luo Qian slid the magazine across the table. Du Lengning's eyes lit up. He ran his hand over its glossy cover twice and chuckled. "Old Luo, I can't believe you thought of me!" "Of course I did. With the friendship we have, when have I ever gone down to the Mortal Realm without thinking of you? Last time there was the five-button optical mouse, the time before that the professional gaming mouse pad, and before that the folding keyboard..."

That was true. Luo Qian took care to cultivate his customers and kept up good relations with them. Besides, Du Lengning was useful. How could Luo Qian not make an effort to befriend him? He earned plenty from Du Lengning anyway. Why wouldn't he spend a little of that money on trinkets to keep him happy?

"Young Master Du, this will benefit you too." Luo Qian sipped the Flower-Rain Trust Peak tea in his cup. Its fragrance lingered between his teeth, and he could not help praising it. "Ningyao Mountain's Flower-Rain Trust Peak truly deserves its fame as one of the Immortal Realm's finest teas." "What does this have to do with me?" Du Lengning asked absently as he leafed through the magazine.

"Do you know why I want someone skilled in lightning magic?" Luo Qian asked mysteriously. "How would I know what you're planning? Unless..." Du Lengning was no fool. He quickly remembered what Luo Qian did for a living. Closing the magazine, he asked in surprise, "Don't tell me you want to make a Generator here in the Immortal Realm?" "Exactly!" Luo Qian slapped the table. "Haha! Young Master Du, you know me best!"

Du Lengning looked troubled. "Old Luo, it's not that I'm a coward, but you know how harshly the Immortal Realm cracks down on unauthorized trips to the Mortal Realm. Your little ventures are one thing. If you make a Generator and they find out, you and I will both be in deep trouble!"

Luo Qian waved a hand, unconcerned. "Relax. I'm not stupid. We'd use immortal magic to produce a steady current. Put plainly, it would still be a Treasure Artifact, not a machine. What's there to fear? Besides, I'm not planning to make a big one. We'll make small ones. I've seen small Generators in the Mortal Realm, no bigger than a chair. Ours would definitely be smaller. No one would notice. Each Treasure Artifact Generator would supply electricity for just one person. Take your computer, for example. With one of these, it would never lose power again. You wouldn't have to come running to me for batteries whenever you were in the middle of a game and noticed the charge was almost gone."

Put that way, Du Lengning was tempted. "You're sure there won't be a problem?" Luo Qian spread his hands. "What problem could there be? Anyone who buys one of these Treasure Artifact Generators will be using our smuggled electrical goods. Would he dare report us to the Immortal Apprehension Office?"

Du Lengning thought it over and nodded. "You have a point. All right, let me think who I know who's practiced lightning magic... Someone trustworthy, too..." Luo Qian chuckled. "Young Master Du, making him trustworthy is easy. Find out what he likes, and I'll bring some back from the Mortal Realm. Once he uses it, he'll be a grasshopper tied to the same rope as us."

Du Lengning glanced at him. "I'm only helping. I have no intention of smuggling with you." Luo Qian hurriedly said, "Of course I understand. If the Immortal Apprehension Office catches me, I'll keep my mouth shut. Don't worry. Besides, if they catch me, I'm as good as dead. Giving you up wouldn't earn me a pardon, so why would I die an immortal ghost who betrayed his friends?"

Du Lengning nodded repeatedly at that, then said apologetically, "Old Luo, don't take offense. That wasn't what I meant." Luo Qian laughed. "Then put some effort into this for me." Du Lengning thumped his chest. "Don't worry. Leave it to me!"