Chapter 122: Does Stealing Knowledge Count as Stealing? (Combined Chapter)

Zhou Bai still intended to attend this exchange gathering, and by the way, he could ask Old Rat to prepare the materials needed for the True Monster Body to undergo the heavenly tribulation.

Over these past few days, he had also looked through some records concerning the True Monster Body and discovered that the records of the Underworld Secretariat did indeed mention someone who had awakened two types of monster path divine abilities.

That person's True Monster Body was related to the first divine ability they awakened, though they ultimately fell on the path of the True Soul.

This made Zhou Bai feel somewhat uneasy. He always had a lingering sense that his monster path divine ability "Bind a Chicken's Strength" was a massive trap. Could it be that he ultimately could not escape the destiny of becoming a chicken monster?

However, the True Monster Body still had to be mastered. Since it was an internal gathering of the Underworld Secretariat, there shouldn't be any mortal danger—especially since Zhou Bai had repeatedly used his Yin-Yang Eyes to confirm that there were no True Soul realm practitioners in Wancheng.

This exchange meeting would begin tomorrow, so he could take advantage of this time to organize his gains.

The Xu Family Chamber of Commerce was unknown in Yangzhou, but it was extremely famous in Xuzhou. However, due to heavy losses from a recent disaster, they had no choice but to relocate to Wancheng.

In the early stages of its development in Wancheng, this chamber of commerce grew extremely rapidly. But after all, it was located in a relatively desolate area, and settling the Xu Family Chamber of Commerce here was a helpless choice. Further development could only consider heading towards Hangzhou or returning to Yangzhou.

Zhou Bai pushed open the front door and walked in, immediately smelling a waft of sandalwood mixed with the earthy scent of fresh wood.

It was evident that the shop had only been established in the last few months, yet the interior decoration was done with great care. The walls were adorned with calligraphy and paintings by renowned masters, and the materials used for the wooden chairs and tables were far from cheap.

Upon seeing Zhou Bai, a clerk of the Xu Family Chamber of Commerce immediately hurried forward and skillfully brushed the dust off his shoulders with the white cloth hanging around his neck.

"Esteemed guest, please come inside."

Zhou Bai clicked his tongue; this service was rather interesting. However, had that clerk known that his instinctive reaction was to throw a punch, he probably wouldn't have remained so calm.

The clerk was extremely sharp. He ushered Zhou Bai to a chair and then served a cup of tea.

Although the tea was ordinary, it had the advantage of being fresh.

"What services does your chamber of commerce offer?"

"Replying to the esteemed guest, we offer storage for money and goods, and we can also assist in escorting relatively valuable items."

Zhou Bai nodded slightly, feigning the action of searching his bosom while actually retrieving the receipt from his storage bag and handing it to the clerk.

After receiving it, the clerk examined it carefully twice. Confirming there were no issues, he bowed respectfully.

"Are you here to retrieve an item?"

"Mn."

"The items are all kept in the back room. Please step this way, esteemed guest."

The clerk made a gesture of invitation and walked ahead, with Zhou Bai following closely behind.

Although the chamber of commerce was not large, the interior had been partitioned into a dozen or so rooms of varying sizes. The two stopped at the doorway of one of them.

After the clerk unlocked it, Zhou Bai saw a wooden cabinet placed inside the room, featuring several dozen small drawers.

"The Xu Family Chamber of Commerce has an immortal elder from the Underworld Secretariat as an honorary guest, ensuring your items remain foolproof."

He pulled out a key, opened one of the drawers, and then turned and retreated outside.

Zhou Bai glanced at the wooden cabinet; the owner of this chamber of commerce indeed had some tricks up their sleeve. A spiritual talisman was pasted upon it. If the drawer wasn't opened with the key, it would release a layer of spiritual light to envelop the entire wooden cabinet.

In this way, mortals wouldn't dare harbor evil intentions, while cultivators wouldn't take any interest in such ordinary wealth.

Yet Zhou Bai was no ordinary person. He understood the principle that a thief never leaves empty-handed; instead, his interest was piqued. He first retrieved the items from his own drawer and then summoned the Ghost Tree.

Once the Ghost Tree received his command, countless roots burrowed through the gaps in the wooden cabinet. Finding books in the other drawers, it cleverly picked the lock cores without triggering the spiritual talismans.

Seeing things go so smoothly, Zhou Bai had the Ghost Tree continue. It extended its roots into a rat hole in the corner of the room, branching out into the other chambers.

Meanwhile, he began sorting through the items left behind by those bandits. Aside from dozens of taels of silver coin, there were some gold and silver jewelry plundered from unknown places.

There were three martial arts manuals in total, along with one that somewhat resembled a Daoist scripture.

Zhou Bai flipped through them. Only one martial arts manual was recognized by the system, while the Daoist scripture was upgraded into the "Pulse-Seeking Method."

He did not rush to record them onto the system panel. After all, the system would strip away the dross from the books and retain only the essence. When it came to Daoist methods, it was better to be cautious; otherwise, some important information might be missed.

Picking up the "Pulse-Seeking Method," Zhou Bai read it at a glance, finishing it in a moment. His expression turned somewhat complicated.

He actually recognized the author of the book: Clear Wind Vagrant of Hangzhou. This person had traveled across the Nine Provinces for years, all for the purpose of using the Pulse-Seeking Method to locate the existence of spiritual qi between heaven and earth.

He had searched back and forth for nearly thirty years without finding a shred of spiritual qi, yet he still persisted in trying to find the reason.

Zhou Bai had anticipated the matter of spiritual qi long ago, but the end of Clear Wind Vagrant was somewhat poignant.

"It seems the feng shui of Hangzhou really isn't great. The Daoist priest of Clear Wind Temple was ambushed and killed by bandits, and the entire Clear Wind Monastery... wait, the entire Panshan Temple was wiped out by corpses..."

At the very end of the book, Clear Wind Vagrant had jotted down a few methods for utilizing spiritual qi found in ancient texts. Chances were, those bandits had managed to comprehend the means of utilizing vital energy based on this.

From this, it was evident that no single person could be underestimated. That unremarkable bandit possessed unexpectedly decent talent; if he had been born with a different background, he might have been able to enter the orthodox Daoist sects.

The Ghost Tree was still continuously moving books from other rooms. Before long, nearly a hundred books had piled up in front of him like a small mountain.

Zhou Bai examined them one by one. Most were account books, with martial arts manuals occupying only a minority. He picked out the ones that could be recognized by the system—thirteen in total.

Next, Zhou Bai took out paper and brush and handed them to the Ghost Tree. The latter wrapped its roots around the writing brush and began copying at a speed rivaling a printer.

Once the copying was finished, those books became completely useless, and Zhou Bai had the Ghost Tree put them back neatly.

After recording all the martial arts techniques onto the system panel, counting the ones obtained from the bandits, there were fifteen in total.

Although Zhou Bai's points were not abundant at the moment, as long as they weren't Buddha, Dao, or Demon divine abilities, the cost to upgrade Ghost, Monster, or Human divine abilities was only around 4 points each, which was more than enough.

After all, the Xu Family Chamber of Commerce was not a tranquil place, so Zhou Bai turned and left.

Having discovered such a treasure trove, he had already secretly made up his mind. From now on, whenever he entered a town, he would seize the opportunity to visit various chambers of commerce and see if there were any loopholes to exploit.

These manuals were obtained far too easily. Besides, Zhou Bai deeply understood one thing: stealing knowledge was not stealing at all; this was clearly a positive and proactive attitude.

Tomorrow's exchange meeting would take place on the top floor of the best restaurant in Wancheng, so he found a decent inn nearby.

The skinny horse was boarded in the courtyard, while Ah Huang was locked in the woodshed. Initially, both were somewhat reluctant, but under the influence of the Dragon-Tiger Bone-Strengthening Wine, they immediately raised no further objections.

Zhou Bai instructed the innkeeper that neither the horse nor the dog was to be tied with ropes. Being generous with his money, the boss readily agreed—even if asked to give up his own room, he probably wouldn't have uttered a single word of complaint.

Once the array formations inside the room were fully set up, Zhou Bai finally opened the system panel.

The fifteen martial arts techniques had each upgraded into divine abilities: among them were eight monster path divine abilities, six ghost path divine abilities, and that Pulse-Seeking Method had transformed into a human path divine ability named "Pulse-Shifting."

Although there were quite a few divine abilities, apart from Pulse-Shifting, only a monster path divine ability called "Underwater Breathing" was somewhat useful; the rest were chicken ribs to Zhou Bai.

The prototype of the Underwater Breathing divine ability was likely some sort of deep-sea fish monster. As long as Zhou Bai cast this divine ability in the water, fish gills would temporarily grow on both sides of his cheeks, allowing him to breathe underwater.

The changes in the salted fish and the Ghost Tree were minimal, merely featuring some patterns appearing on a few leaves or growing a small number of fish scales.

The human path divine ability "Pulse-Shifting" was also of limited utility. Its function was to locate spiritual veins between heaven and earth and move them elsewhere.

If a large quantity of miniature spiritual veins were piled together, they could form small spiritual veins, then medium, large, and perhaps—by continuously upgrading the divine ability—one could even create an immortal realm among mortals.

Yet it was all idle talk; chances were, not a single shred of spiritual qi remained across the entire Nine Provinces, otherwise the tide of the world would not have fallen to this Underworld Secretariat composed of demons and monsters.

Nevertheless, Zhou Bai used his remaining few points to upgrade the Pulse-Shifting divine ability once.

Ever since his dantian turned into a miniature world, further expanded by the Ghost Tree, it currently felt a bit too empty. The pond and the island had grown several times larger, but the living creatures inside were sparse.

Within the dantian's miniature world, the Pulse-Shifting divine ability transformed into a palm-sized turtle, lounging lazily on the shore of the island and drawing a saber-toothed fish in the water to swim closer.

Zhou Bai withdrew his consciousness and rested simply on the bed.

He woke up punctually early the next morning. After eating a simple meal at the inn, he went out to buy a large amount of paper and brushes.

Time was almost up. Zhou Bai donned his mask and prepared to head toward the restaurant. As for his height, there was no need to deliberately conceal it; compared to before he mastered his true form, he had undergone earth-shaking changes.

The Tang sword and the Sea-Receiving Gourd were put away, and the salted fish was tucked away as well, ensuring absolute foolproof security.

Guards from the yamen patrolled outside the restaurant. When curious passersby summoned the courage to ask, they were simply told that the fourth floor was being used to host distinguished guests of the government.

People nearby speculated endlessly about which prominent dignitaries had arrived in Wancheng, never imagining it had anything to do with the Underworld Secretariat.

Zhou Bai walked straight in. There were few guests inside, and as he made his way up, he was stopped by yamen guards at the entrance of the fourth floor.

Upon displaying his token, he was smoothly granted passage. He could distinctly sense that he had stepped into some sort of array formation, likely serving isolation and warning purposes.

The fourth floor of the restaurant had been specially cleared out, featuring a simple circle of chairs where five people were already seated.

These individuals showed no grand reaction upon seeing Zhou Bai arrive. It seemed they were all invited by Old Rat and were currently chatting idly amongst themselves.

Each sat maintaining a subconscious distance from the others, and Zhou Bai did the same, choosing a chair near a corner.

This allowed him to better observe his surroundings, and with a window right beside him, he could evacuate promptly should danger arise.

Zhou Bai recognized Old Rat at a glance. Not for any other reason, but because he was too conspicuous; even wearing a mask couldn't hide the sneaky demeanor exuding from his entire body.

Since the host of the exchange meeting had yet to arrive, they had no choice but to wait patiently.

After waiting for a long time—nearly two hours—there was still no movement.

Zhou Bai was fine, but some people were already growing impatient.

The burly man who sat closest among the five let out a cold snort, glanced around, and said, "Does anyone know who started this gathering, making us wait like this? They certainly think very highly of themselves."

A thin, gaunt man sitting closest to Zhou Bai said with a sinister tone, "Naturally, it's someone you cannot afford to offend."

"If we can't afford to offend them, does that give them the right to trifle with us at will?" The burly man's tone was filled with dissatisfaction, though it had already softened slightly.

Old Rat chuckled and said, "Heh, say what you will, but when they arrive, they'll apologize of their own accord."

The gaunt man asked with some curiosity, "Old Rat, you're a grave-robber wandering the mountains; how on earth do you know people like them?"

Old Rat froze for a moment, then snatched the mask off his face. "Damn it, who are you looking down on? Don't forget, if it weren't for my invitation, how would you lot ever encounter such a good opportunity?"

The burly man fell silent, while the others offered awkward, forced smiles.

Realizing his words were a bit much—mostly because the exchange meeting originally scheduled for a few days ago had been dragged out until today—Old Rat helplessly offered an explanation: "The True One Sect didn't mean to make us lose face; they truly had some matters to attend to. But rest assured, this trip will definitely be worth your while."

Zhou Bai was slightly startled. Why would the True One Sect suddenly be involved? This filled him with profound curiosity.

He had to remember that after Daoist Hou committed those outrageous deeds, he originally assumed this orthodox Daoist sect had already perished.

Zhou Bai had even planned to visit Mount Hulong once his cultivation improved, hoping to find a few Daoist cultivation manuals.

At that moment, heavy footsteps echoed from outside, and a middle-aged man of around forty walked in briskly. His limbs were slightly stiff, and his gait was rigid and mechanical.

"I am Shen Wuchen, a second-generation disciple of the True One Sect of Mount Hulong."

Seeing this so-called Shen Wuchen, Zhou Bai instantly felt something was rather odd. Although he looked no different from an ordinary person, an extremely subtle sensation welled up in his heart.

This made him want to activate his Yin-Yang Eyes, but doing so might trigger hostility if detected, so he had to dismiss the thought.

Shen Wuchen walked up before the group, nodded slightly toward Old Rat, and said, "Our True One Sect has indeed failed you all. We will offer our apologies shortly."

Old Rat smiled with a hint of complacency. In the past, this would have been utterly unimaginable. After all, even in the decline of the Daoist sects, the True One Sect, serving as a pillar of prestige, would never have deliberately interacted with someone of his background.

This made Zhou Bai even more curious. Could it be that during the dramatic upheaval on Mount Hulong, Old Rat happened to pass by and lend a hand, saving the True One Sect's lineage?

Yet thinking about it, that was impossible. Based on his understanding of Old Rat, taking advantage of a fire to loot was more his style.

Could it be that after a long time apart, the notorious Old Rat of the dark sector had now turned over a new leaf and taken up chanting scriptures to follow the Buddha?

What on earth was the True One Sect up to?