Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest-Chapter 698 - Preparation

Chapter 698 -698 Preparation

A flurry of heavy snow turned Yongle Immortal City into a world clad in silver.

This was the first snowfall since the onset of winter.

Although the city of cultivators possessed a large protective array, capable of keeping out wind, frost, rain, and snow, maintaining a spring-like warmth all year round, and even negating the distinction between day and night,

the controllers of the Immortal City believed in the way of nature and wouldn’t adjust weather patterns unless in special circumstances.

In a small hall on the third floor of the Scripture Pavilion, Wang Chen, sitting in a lower seat, cradled a steaming cup of tea and sipped the scalding Spiritual Tea.

...

He felt utterly relaxed.

Regrettably, there was some annoying noise in his ears.

“You all need to organize the archival materials requested above as quickly as possible, you have at most three days…”

Currently sitting in the main seat was Cao Ke, the Director of the Scripture Pavilion.

The work at the Scripture Pavilion was usually quite leisurely, but sometimes they would receive task assignments from above.

That meant overtime.

Several managers exchanged looks, one of them spoke with a pained expression, “Three days is just too short.”

Most of the archival materials in the Scripture Pavilion were recorded and sealed on Jade Slips, similar to digital storage from Wang Chen’s previous life.

In fact, searching and arranging them was still quite quick and convenient.

But if the materials involved were too extensive, then the Pavilion would be short-handed.

After all, looking at Jade Slips for too long could strain the spirit.

Moreover, organizing and copying was a laborious task.

With one Director and five managers in the Scripture Pavilion, and a number of ordinary staff members, most of whom were complacent slackers, receiving an unexpected rush job all of a sudden, naturally, there would be some complaints.

“There’s no room for negotiation on this.”

Cao Ke said sternly, “If you don’t want to do it, then go home, and don’t bother coming back!”

He knew well the temperament of his subordinates, hence he laid down the harsh words directly.

Sure enough, several managers shrank their heads and no further objections arose.

After all, being a manager in the Scripture Pavilion was also considered a “civil servant” within the Immortal City system, though the salary and benefits were low, the work was easy, and it had a respectable image.

Unless absolutely necessary, who would want to give up such a job?

Even if they, like Wang Chen, were sent here by other departments to idly pass the days.

And as for orders from above, those were even less likely to be defied.

The Scripture Pavilion was affiliated with the Thirty-Six Departments’ Miscellaneous Affairs Department, which had a very low rank, and naturally, the Scripture Pavilion wasn’t much stronger, and these few managers had neither the right nor the courage to disobey orders!

“Get back to work.”

Cao Ke waved his hand, then added, “Manager Wang, you stay behind.”

After the other managers had left, the Director of the Scripture Pavilion asked gently, “Manager Wang, you’ve been in the Scripture Pavilion for a while now, have you adapted to the work here?”

Wang Chen responded, “Thank you for your concern, Director, I have indeed adapted.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Cao Ke nodded, “Your situation is different from the others; they have no future or hope, they are just biding their time here, one day at a time. It would be better for you to leave sooner if you have the opportunity!”

Actually, it’s quite nice here…

Wang Chen said with gratitude on the surface, “I understand, Director.”

“Mhm.”

Cao Ke looked pleased, “You may go as well. If you encounter any difficult issues, come and find me; I will certainly help if I can.”

Wang Chen wasn’t sure if the Director was showing special regard for him, or if he was treating everyone similarly, so he just repeatedly expressed his thanks and then left the hall as well.

He didn’t take Cao Ke’s words to heart, continuing his duties as before.

After three days of busyness, Wang Chen resumed his “normal” life.

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However, the focus of his reading had shifted.

Over the past two or three months, Wang Chen had taken advantage of his position to borrow a large number of books from the Scripture Pavilion.

These books covered a wide range, including previous cultivators’ notes, local customs, records of anomalies, and experiential insights, from which he had gleaned much useful information.

Armed with an immortal cultivation panel as a cheat, Wang Chen’s cultivation progress far outstripped that of ordinary cultivators, and his realm was advancing rapidly.

But as he ascended too quickly, his foundation was inevitably weak, and his experience and knowledge also fell short.

By reading these books and notes, Wang Chen was able to make up for some of his lack of experience.

However, they didn’t help much with his cultivation.

Wang Chen had no intention of hiding away in the Scripture Pavilion forever; he planned to reach the peak of the Purple Mansion within three years, gather all the Condensing Core Treasures, and finally make a breakthrough into the Golden Core Realm.

Wang Chen’s goal was a third-grade Golden Core!

Having learned from past lessons, Wang Chen not only didn’t tell anyone about his goal, he also worked even harder to conceal himself, unwilling to catch the eye of certain individuals once more.

A while ago, Wang Chen had first redeemed the Purple Lightning Flying Boat from the pawnshop, then sold the flying magical treasure.

Together with a few other items and the saved Spirit Stones, he had finally exchanged for the pre-ordered Condensing Core Treasures from the Myriad Treasures Pavilion as agreed.

As a result, Wang Chen now had empty pockets, and the number of Spirit Stones had dwindled to four digits.

It was just barely enough for him to live on.

He even had to crunch numbers just to eat something nice!

The problem was that among the Eight Treasures of Core Condensation, the Thousand-Year Spirit Pearl, Seven-leaf Mysterious Ginseng, and Ten-Thousand-Year Star Sand were not only out of stock at the Myriad Treasures Pavilion but even if they were available, the prices were beyond what Wang Chen could afford.

These three rare heavenly materials were the scarcest and most expensive.

Wang Chen had previously inquired about them at the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, and the answers he got were quite discouraging.

Of course, he could lower his standards, like exchanging a thousand-year Spirit Pearl for a hundred-year one, the Seven-leaf Mysterious Ginseng for a four-leaf version, or reducing the amount of Ten-Thousand-Year Star Sand by a third, which would naturally bring the purchasing cost down significantly.

But doing so would also decrease the probability of condensing a third-grade Golden Core!

How could Wang Chen tolerate that?

With a panel cheat in hand, he feared no formidable threshold that others saw as insurmountable; if he were to simply make do, he would be better off buying a block of tofu and knocking himself out with it.

Too embarrassing!

Since the three rare Condensing Core Treasures were neither available for purchase nor affordable, Wang Chen thought about collecting them himself.

In fact, many Purple Mansion cultivators, upon reaching the pinnacle, traveled far and wide in search of Condensing Core Treasures, both to temper their Taoist foundation and will and to save costs.

Wang Chen wanted to give it a try as well.

Therefore, he specifically gathered materials related to this aspect.

For example, he needed to know where to find a Thousand-Year Spirit Pearl and what particular techniques and taboos were involved in its collection, all of which were knowledge he needed to understand and master.

Otherwise, even if he were lucky enough to find these treasures, he could cause damage due to improper harvesting, and that would truly make him spit blood in frustration!

It turned out that reading many books was indeed very useful.

In one of the previous cultivators’ notes, Wang Chen actually found detailed records about the Spiritual Pearls and Mysterious Ginseng.

Including the locations!

This was extremely rare, as most people with knowledge of heavenly materials and earthly treasures would hide it and definitely not disclose it to the public.

But the writer of these notes clearly did not cherish the broom as his own!

Definitely deserving of thumbs up.

——–

Here’s the second update.