Chapter 393 Exchange Three of My Things for Two of Yours!
Li Yundong answered disapprovingly, "Oh? What business?"
Du Fei took no notice of Li Yundong"s disinterested expression. He removed a colorful pouch from his pocket and gently pulled at its tied ribbon.
In an instant, the Seven Treasures Sachet emitted a brilliant light. Du Fei put his hand into the bag and s.n.a.t.c.hed at the contents, then withdrew a faded thread-bound book. He tugged the bag with one hand, held the book with the other, and blew air over it. Then, he lifted the book into the air and faced Li Yundong vertically.
Li Yundong took a closer look and could see that the pages of this book had become a little worn due to its age, but the handwriting on the cover was very clear. The two large words on it read: Implement Encyclopedia!
"Implement Encyclopedia?" Li Yundong read it aloud softly. Although he had read a lot of books related to Buddhism and Taoism, most of them had been books on cultivation theories rather than specific magical powers and magical items.
Li Yundong knew full well that the true magical seal hadn"t been able to be printed and inherited by Buddhists or Taoists since ancient times. Even if there had been a way, it was only an extremely secret sect treasure.
So even though Li Yundong had read so many books on Buddhism and Taoism, he was still unaware of what the book in Du Fei"s hand was.
But after a moment, Ruan Hongling and Su Chan, who were on the second floor, stuck their heads in at the same time and exclaimed, "Implement Encyclopedia?"
Su Chan stared at this book and blurted, "Could this be the legendary Implement Encyclopedia written by Taoist Binzhu and his followers in the Ming Dynasty?"
Li Yundong slightly tilted his head and asked, "Do you know about this? Could you explain?"
Just as Su Chan was about to speak, Ruan Hongling cut in, "Li Yundong, you"re the leader of a sect but you don"t even know "Implement Encyclopedia"! Now listen carefully. "Implement Encyclopedia" was written by King Qin Zhu Chengyong, who was the fifth grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang in the Ming Dynasty, along with the followers he had had for over ten years. It records many things such as the magical items used by all of the various sects to date, their attributive characteristics, ratings and patterns."
Li Yundong was shocked, aware that he had suffered greatly at Mount Gezao because of his ignorance over the fairy-tying rope. If a powerful magical weapon was unknown by an opponent, they would be at a big disadvantage in a fight.
Moreover, there were so many magic items in the world. If people didn"t fight, there was no way of seeing the opponent"s magical items and knowing their characteristics.
So if someone had the Implement Encyclopedia, they would be able to gain the upper hand in a fight with anyone!
Du Fei looked up at Ruan Hongling in surprise and smiled sarcastically. "Zhenren Li, does your disciple know more than you?"
Li Yundong smiled faintly and said, "First, she is not my disciple. Second, don"t pretend to know what you actually don"t. The only thing worse than being ignorant is being ignorant and pretending to be wise. Third, I don"t know as much as you do because I have cultivated less than half a year. There"s nothing for me to be ashamed of."
There was a hint of contempt and ridicule in Du Fei"s smile at first, but he grew shocked upon hearing the latter part of Li Yundong"s speech. "Zhenren Li, are you kidding me? You"ve only cultivated for half a year?"
Li Yundong smiled slightly, looked up at Su Chan and said, "Little girl, how long have we known each other?"
Su Chan smiled and winked at Li Yundong on the second floor. She replied sweetly, "More than half a year, right?"
Li Yundong lowered his head and said to Du Fei with a slightly contemptuous smile, "Okay, let me correct myself. More than half a year."
Du Fei looked at Li Yundong in shock. After a while, he cupped his hand respectfully to Li Yundong with an air of disbelief and said, "Zhenren Li, I admire you so much!"
Li Yundong also cupped his hand and said with a smile, "Thank you very much. Shall we continue?"
Du Fei came to his senses and stared at Li Yundong in awe for a moment more before taking out the second item from the colorful brocade pouch. He said, "I believe that with your, Zhenren Li"s, intelligence, you surely already know what the "Implement Encyclopedia" means to a cultivator!"
Li Yundong nodded slowly and said, "Of course I know! You can continue. But what"s this you"re taking out now?"
He smiled and steadied a plain bluish-gray colored glaze bowl balanced on his hand as he said, "If Zhenren Li had the Implement Encyclopedia, he"d know what magic item it is in my hand."
Li Yundong smiled thinly. "Since you are well aware that I don"t have the Implement Encyclopedia yet, please just tell me."
Du Fei explained with a smile, "This is a burning thumb pot!"
"A burning thumb pot?" Li Yundong was confused and didn"t know what kind of magic item it was.
But Ruan Hongling and Su Chan both exclaimed at the same time, "Burning thumb pot?"
And this time it was Cao Yi and Zhuang Yating who could not help poking their heads in surprise from the second floor and crying out involuntarily, "This is a Buddhist magic item! The burning thumb pot?"
Li Yundong saw them looking at the dirty grey colored glaze bowl with shocked expressions. He spread his hands and asked them, "Who wants to explain?"
Su Chan said first, "Yundong, this is Fahai"s magic item!"
"Fahai?" Li Yundong was awestruck. "Is that the same Fahai as is in Legend of the White Snake? Is there really such a person? Does he still have any magic items left in the world?"
Ruan Hongling began explaining quickly, "Fahai is the disciple of Huineng, who was the sixth ancestor of the Zen Sect of Buddhism. He is also the son of Pei Xiu, who was the Tang Xuanzong"s Minister of Personnel during the Dazhong Period. After becoming a monk, Fahai lifted the burning thumb pot to make a pledge to the Zexin Temple. Therefore, the carried magic item was called the burning thumb pot!"
Li Yundong was shocked and looked at the burning thumb pot in Du Fei"s hand in amazement. "F*ck, is this the magic item that subdued Bai Suzhen?"
Du Fei said with a smile, "Zhenren Li, you must be joking. Legend of the White Snake is just a legend mixed up with some romance! Don"t take it seriously."
Li Yundong"s lips curved slightly. "You"re right. It"s said that Zhu Bajie is The Canopy Marshal In The Journey to the West."
They laughed and suddenly their vigilance and grievance began to fade away.
Du Fei lifted the burning thumb pot in the air and let it float abreast the Implement Encyclopedia. He said, "Zhenren Li, I won"t say too much here, but since it"s Fahai"s personal magic item, it must be powerful. And I believe they understand that very well!"
Saying that, he pointed at Su Chan and the others, who still had their heads poking out from the second floor.
Li Yundong looked up and saw the girls ogling the burning thumb pot curiously, looking awestruck. Cao Yi and Zhuang Yating wordlessly looked at the magic item with complicated, strange expressions. Meanwhile, Liu Yuehong, who was the senior master of the Fox Zen School, looked at them with a blank expression, unaware of how shocking this magic item really was.
Li Yundong transferred his gaze to Du Fei and said, "Since this is Fahai"s magic item, how did it fall into your hands?"
Du Fei smiled mysteriously and said, "That"s our sect"s secret. Zhenren Li, if you"re interested, please wait until I have taken out the third item, which will be the last."
Li Yundong felt a little curious and expectant after seeing Du Fei take two items out in succession, the latter even more amazing than the first. What would the third item be?
Seeing Li Yundong"s interest, Du Fei smirked and pulled the ribbon of the treasure bag, which immediately sent out hard, navy-blue, thread-bound books one after another.
Li Yundong saw these books flying out. After a short while, they occupied almost half of the hall and had piled up into a mound. He was unable to stifle a laugh and said, "What is this? Are these the Siku Quanshu [TN: Collection of books gathered during the Qing dynasty]?"
Du Fei revealed a proud expression. He opened the first book and shoved it towards Li Yundong, saying, "Zhenren Li, please read it!"
Li Yundong saw that there were four big golden characters written on this book in a golden seal script and he whispered, "Dao Fa Hui Yuan?"
"What? Dao Fa Hui Yuan!!!" Apart from Li Yundong, all the others exclaimed in unison and craned their necks even further.
Hearing this, Zi Yuan changed her expression, rushed over to Li Yundong in a flash, stared at the scripture in front of him, and said in a trembling voice, "Is this really the Dao Fa Hui Yuan written by Zhao Yizhen during the turn of the Yuan and Ming Dynasty?"
Li Yundong and Zi Yuan had been living together for a long time. Even though he knew that this fairy could lose her composure sometimes, he had never seen her be so shocked that she was taken aback like this. He wondered to himself, "What kind of treasure book could it be to cause Zi Yuan to be so shocked?"
Du Fei also knew that Li Yundong didn"t know much about these things because of his limited cultivation experience and explained, "Zhenren Li, you see..." As he started speaking, he pointed to the pile of books in front of him and said, "There are a total of 268 books here. These books record the most glorious period of Toaism, including almost all of the Taoist Magic and secret history from the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty."
Du Fei pointed to a pile of books which were nearly as high as an average human being and said, "The 1st to the 55th volumes are all about the Taoist Magic of Qingwei Sect; the 56th to 154th volumes are all on the Taoist Magic of Shenxiao Sect; the 155th to the 268th are about the Taoist Magic of Zhengyi Sect, Tianxin Sect, Donghua Sect, and Jingming Sect, as well as all the Taoist Magic of the small sects!"
Du Fei"s tone was understated, but the effect of his words was no less powerful than detonating an atomic bomb amongst Li Yundong and the others!
The shock made Li Yundong"s scalp tingle. He stared at the book, dumbfounded, and said, "Do you mean that almost all Taoist Magic is in here?"
Du Fei said with a light smile, "Exactly!"
Li Yundong was stunned. Although he had won every battle since reaching the Zhuji phase, he knew very well that what he needed the most now was Taoist Magic. It was like someone had just sent him a pillow when he was feeling sleepy!
"Isn"t this nuts? Almost all Taoist Magic?"
Zi Yuan looked at Du Fei disbelievingly and asked, "Isn"t this the scripture that was lost? How do you have it?"
Du Fei explained with a congenial smile, "It"s not I that owns it, but our Quanzhen Dragon Sect! Ever since the Tartar entered the pa.s.s and the Taoists were suppressed, this scripture has been constantly s.n.a.t.c.hed away and damaged. For the future of Taoists, our Quanzhen Dragon Sect did everything we could to preserve this scripture from being destroyed. However, in modern times, especially during the Great Cultural Revolution, Taoists have suffered a great decline. Our grandmaster"s bones have been gouged out, the ancestral temple of Zhengyi Sect has been destroyed, and the cultivation world has suffered a devastating blow."
"At this time, the head of Quanzhen Dragon Sect decided to transfer the sect"s forces to foreign countries. Therefore, he dismissed many disciples and asked them to take away some of the scriptures of the Dao Fa Hui Yuan. At the time of the Reform and the Opening-up Revolution, the head of the sect ordered his disciples to reconnect with the disciples who had left previously and regather this scripture."
Du Fei was proud as he said, "Ever since the Reform and Opening-up Revolution, every sect has shown signs of revival. Zhengyi Sect is busy dominating the Cultivation World, Gezao Sect is busy refining elixirs of life, and our Quanzhen Dragon Sect is busy collecting Taoist scripture in order to preserve their bloodline and make an extra effort for the Cultivation World."
With a solemn expression on her face, Zi Yuan cupped her hands in admiration and said, "Zhenren Du, you"re so broad-minded. I truly admire you!"
Du Fei cupped his hands and said with a smile, "It"s nothing. I"m just a p.a.w.n in a bigger game and don"t have the right to receive such praise. However, some disciples of the sect have hidden deeply and they were in a hurry back then. Our sect had to struggle for nearly thirty years before we finally managed to bring Dao Fa Hui Yuan to the world!"
Li Yundong was shocked when he heard that. He was sure that it had been a huge project to find things which had been scattered all over the world forty years ago! How much manpower and material resources would something like that have taken?
Li Yundong could hardly imagine. He had been quite proud of the beauties of the Fox Zen School before, but now he knew what a real sect and real power was like!
At the moment of crisis, they could immediately scatter all over the world and hide away like undetected dragons staying in underground lairs. Now that was a sect!
At the peak of their prosperity, they could find intact people and things that had scattered outside and been hidden under the ground for decades. Now that was power!
Moreover, the Dao Fa Hui Yuan, painstakingly collected by Quanzhen Dragon Sect over thirty years, was now placed in front of him and ready to be exchanged!
He would have to offer something seriously good to get such an important item. What did Du Fei want?
Li Yundong looked at the books piled up into a hill. He calmed himself and asked seriously, "You have taken out three things, each of which was more shocking than the last. So the thing you want must be even more important. What is it you"re after?"
Du Fei laughed, clapped and said, "Zhenren Li is really straightforward! Well, I"ll get straight to the point! I"d like to exchange two items with you, Zhenren Li. That is, for the books including the Implement Encyclopedia, the burning thumb pot and the Dao Fa Hui Yuan. To exchange three of my things for two of yours. I promise you you won"t lose out!"