socalfunplaces Chapter 545: A Powerful Source of Intelligence
Chapter 545: A Powerful Source of Intelligence
Soon, Zhang Lei began to stroll around and tour the Qingxuan Temple.
The entire Taoist temple appeared dilapidated, with its mottled exterior walls and old courtyards, but inside, the carved beams and pillars, the displayed statues, and the layout of the halls all revealed meticulous craftsmanship and a rich cultural heritage. Xuan Yangzi also told him about the temple's history; this Qingxuan Temple had a history of three hundred years. Upon learning this, Zhang Lei couldn't help but feel a renewed sense of admiration.
Then, led by Xuan Yangzi, the two arrived at the library in the backyard.
The room was filled with bookshelves, with ancient books neatly arranged on each shelf. Zhang Lei stepped forward and carefully pulled out a scroll to look through it. The Heart-Cleansing Mantra, basic Taoist methods, basic swordsmanship, and foundation-strengthening fist techniques came into view one by one.
With his special abilities, he could clearly see that every original ancient book passed down from his master was surrounded by a faint spiritual light, indicating its extraordinary depth.
Then, he walked to the other side of the bookshelf, glanced at it casually, and found that all the books in this row were dull and without any glow, completely different from the original classics he had just seen.
Zhang Lei, puzzled, turned to Xuan Yangzi and asked, "Master, why is there such a large difference between the books on these two shelves?"
Xuan Yangzi looked in the direction he was pointing and explained frankly, "The batch on the right is a copy that my junior brother and I made by hand in our spare time. The ones on the left with spiritual light are all original, authentic ancient books passed down from our ancestors."
Zhang Lei suddenly understood.
The original version, imbued with the essence of Taoism, possesses its own spiritual radiance; the hand-copied imitations lack the blessing of the original source and are naturally unremarkable.
After browsing through a number of classic texts, Zhang Lei found many cultivation terms obscure and difficult to understand, leaving him unable to comprehend many parts. Xuan Yangzi patiently and meticulously explained each term to him, gradually elucidating the intricacies. After his explanation, Zhang Lei finally understood much of the difficult content.
After a moment, Zhang Lei smiled wryly and asked, "Master, what do I need to do to reach your level of cultivation and mastery?"
Xuan Yangzi was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and asked with a hint of surprise, "Mr. Zhang, do you perhaps intend to join my Daoist sect and cultivate within the temple?"
After a moment's thought, Zhang Lei slowly nodded in agreement.
Xuan Yangzi said solemnly, "If you want to devote yourself to the Dao, you must do your morning and evening practice regularly, hone your magic, fist techniques, and swordsmanship day and night, temper your physique, and strengthen your body. You must also purify your mind and reduce your desires, eliminate distracting thoughts, and guard a pure and firm heart devoted to the Dao."
After hearing these requirements, Zhang Lei immediately felt overwhelmed.
He simply couldn't purify his mind and eliminate all distracting thoughts. The mundane world, the seven emotions and six desires, were things he couldn't let go of.
He smiled and clasped his hands in thanks, saying, "Thank you for your candid guidance, Master."
Zhang Lei stayed at Qingxuan Temple for an entire afternoon.
As he was about to leave, he looked at the old Taoist temple hidden deep in the mountains, which had retained its ancient and simple appearance, and felt a deep sense of emotion.
Indeed, it is absolutely true that true masters of the world are always hidden among the common people and in the mountains.
But not everyone can renounce worldly life and bear the austerity of a reclusive hermit. Zhang Lei, at least, cannot. With several beautiful women at home, he would never stay in the Taoist temple for solitary cultivation.
However, he had already made up his mind that there was plenty of time in the future, and there would always be other ways. He didn't need to become a monk and cultivate asceticism to learn one or two practical spells and personally experience the ability to slay demons, exorcise evil spirits, and suppress evil.
Inside the Taoist temple, Yun Jizi was staring intently at his mobile phone account balance. He was stunned as he watched the one million yuan repair fund that had just arrived in his account. His face was full of disbelief, and he was too excited to come back to his senses for a long time.
When Zhang Lei got home, he immediately saw people coming and going at the entrance of Pawnshop No. 4, with countless packages of all sizes piled up. He slowly walked forward.
Upon seeing Zhang Lei, Ye Shuqin asked, "Master, did you have these things collected and bought by yourself?"
Zhang Lei glanced down at the sender's address on the package and slowly nodded. He hadn't expected his subordinates to be so efficient, gathering so many items in such a short time.
Seeing him engrossed in examining the package, Ye Shuqin casually opened one of the packages and flipped through it. Upon seeing it, she was immediately dumbfounded. Inside were "The Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms," "Nine Yang Divine Skill," "Buddha's Palm," and various versions of "Classic of Mountains and Seas" and other miscellaneous books.
Ye Shuqin couldn't help but complain, "Honey, do you really think these random, unorthodox martial arts techniques and bizarre tales are useful?"
Zhang Lei looked slightly embarrassed and chuckled awkwardly, "I only gave them a broad scope to collect whatever they wanted, I didn't expect them to gather so much. Let's keep it for now, it might come in handy someday."
Ye Shuhua, standing nearby, was engrossed in reading a colorful picture book, a pictorial version of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas," filled with strange and bizarre ancient beasts.
She looked up at Zhang Lei and joked, "Honey, according to what these books say, we'll probably have to wait hundreds of millions of years until the world returns to its primordial state. Then we can become powerful beings and be revered as ancestors."
Zhang Lei raised his hand in annoyance and gently tapped Ye Shuhua's forehead.
The calm and collected Ye Shuqi picked up a pile of old weapons and examined them, gesturing back and forth a few times before shaking his head slightly: "These objects have a sinister aura and look like old goods unearthed from an ancient tomb."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Lei was startled and quickly sealed up all the disassembled items, frowning and cursing under his breath, "What a damn bad luck."
Ye Shuqin pondered for a moment, then smiled and defused the situation: "You only gave a general range at the time, without specifying the exact categories, so the subordinates naturally searched for everything within that range. You can't blame them."
Zhang Lei thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "Alright, my personal space is big enough to hold all the stuff. Let's store it all first. If even one out of ten thousand items is usable, then it won't be a waste of time."
Ye Shuqin responded, "Alright, I'll mobilize my own people to gather more intelligence from all sides and help you fill in the gaps in your information."
Zhang Lei looked at her and nodded slightly.
Each of them has their own trump cards and hidden forces at their disposal, but their roles are completely different:
Ye Shuqin was in charge of intelligence and informants, and her information network was extensive.
Ye Shuqi is in charge of assassinations and acts ruthlessly.
Ye Shuhua was in charge of the public businesses and managed the daily mundane affairs;
Zhang Lei's foundation is the most extensive, relying on the 50,000 bionic robots awarded by the system in its early years to weave a global economic, political, military, and technological intelligence network. These robots change their identities every few decades, forming a vast and stable system. Even Zhang Lei himself cannot say exactly how large his forces have expanded, only that they will only grow larger over time.
Before long, Zhang Lei picked out a number of ancient books and classics, and lay down on the recliner in the pawnshop to slowly flip through them.
Just as I was engrossed in watching, a soft, chubby little face suddenly appeared in front of me; it was Xiao Nuomi running over.
Zhang Lei pinched her soft little face and casually asked, "What are you doing here? Did you secretly eat my food again?"
Little Nuomi quickly covered her mouth and shook her head frantically, "No! I didn't steal your milk cake!"
Zhang Lei looked at her with a half-smile: "Really not?"
Little Nuomi nodded vigorously, looking very serious.
There's still some crumb on the corner of your mouth.
Little Nuomi hurriedly raised her hand to wipe the corner of her mouth, her clumsy yet adorable appearance making Zhang Lei laugh out loud.
The little one puffed out her cheeks, her mouth agape, ready to pounce and bite him. Zhang Lei scooped her up in his arms, picked up a piece of baby formula from the plate, and said, "Eat less, or you'll get cavities."
Little Nuomi said nonchalantly, "Grandma said I'll get my baby teeth later, so I'm not afraid of cavities."
As she spoke, she deliberately grinned, revealing her missing teeth.
"Even if you lose your baby teeth, you can't be greedy and become chubby, then you won't be pretty anymore."
"No way! My deskmate, Little Fatty, says I'm the best-looking one, and he even says he likes me."
Zhang Lei recalled the little boy who walked home from school with Xiao Nuomi, weighing over 50 pounds, and couldn't help but laugh, "Little girl, don't be fooled by boys. Boys are the best liars."
Little Nuomi blinked her big eyes and asked, "Brother Zhang Lei, are you lying?"
"I never lie."
"You're lying!" Little Nuomi retorted confidently. "If you didn't lie, how did you manage to bring home three wives?"
Ye Shuqin, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but laugh. She reached out and hugged Xiao Nuomi, laughing as she chimed in, "That's right, he's the best at lying. All three of us were tricked into coming here by his sweet talk."
Zhang Lei's face immediately darkened, and he thought to himself, "We're an old married couple, and she's still deliberately undermining me."
Little Nuomi nodded emphatically and said seriously, "Sister Qin is right, Brother Zhang Lei is a big bad guy, he lied to you."
Ye Shuqin teased her, "Little Nuomi, tell me, how should we teach this bad guy a lesson?"
Little Nuomi tilted her head and thought for a moment, then looked at Zhang Lei and whispered, "Then don't let him eat anything, and give me all his good food."
Zhang Lei laughed in exasperation: "So you've been eyeing these snacks of mine for a long time, haven't you?"
"Good idea," Ye Shuqin chimed in with a smile. "Not only should we take his food, we should also beat him up."
Upon hearing that someone was going to be hit, Xiao Nuomi softened and pleaded softly, "Then just take the food, don't hit Brother Zhang Lei."
Zhang Lei said helplessly, "I didn't realize you were such a kind-hearted girl."
Ye Shuqin smiled, her eyes crinkling: "Then let's listen to Xiao Nuomi and let him off this time."
After saying that, she sat down next to Xiao Nuomi, holding her, and slowly ate her milk cake.
Zhang Lei watched the two children playfully joking around, said nothing more, and lay back down on the recliner to rest with his eyes closed.
After an unknown amount of time, Little Nuomi obediently left.
The pawnshop quieted down, and Ye Shuqin walked to his side, gently massaging his temples to relieve his fatigue.
Zhang Lei opened his eyes and looked at her, teasingly saying, "Didn't you just say you were going to teach me a lesson?"
Ye Shuqin smiled and said, "Of course, I've already promised Xiao Nuomi."
Zhang Lei reached out and grabbed her wrist, a deep smile on his face: "Alright, let's see who teaches who a lesson tonight."
Ye Shuqin gently slapped his hand away, showing no sign of weakness: "I'm not afraid of you. After so many years of cultivation and refinement, my physique is already more than ten times stronger than before."
"We'll see then. Don't beg for mercy tonight."