Free Web NovelChapter 291: Chapter 290: The Baffled Simmons
"A modern Mage? With a bone-chilling Yin Qi?" Gu Zhao raised an eyebrow. "A foreigner?"
Gu Zhao naturally knew about foreign Cultivators entering Celestial Xia, but he hadn’t expected to encounter one himself, much less catch them right in the act of casting magic.
"Wait!" Gu Zhao called out, stepping forward.
To his surprise, when the young man saw Gu Zhao approaching, he made a preemptive strike by flipping him the middle finger. "Wait, my ass!"
After cursing, he yanked open the car door, got in with his girlfriend, and sped away.
Gu Zhao...
Gu Zhao stopped in his tracks, calmly watching them leave.
’Forget it. It’s not like he’s going to die anyway. The Yin Qi isn’t that strong; it’s a small matter of being drained for a few months. And it will only be an issue of stamina, it won’t affect his normal life.’
With that thought, Gu Zhao looked at the foreigner again. He was an elderly man, looking to be in his sixties. He was stout and heavyset, with a cheerful smile that made him seem kind and approachable, but he also cultivated Yin Qi.
With Gu Zhao’s current level of Cultivation, he could discern the nature of the man’s magic. The foreigner had only cast a minor spell, but even without knowing the specific details of his practice, the type of magic was clear.
The elderly foreigner chuckled and nodded at Gu Zhao. He glanced at Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi, who were following behind, then gave Gu Zhao a thumbs-up and an appreciative look.
Gu Zhao nodded back. Then he saw the foreigner look up at the entrance of Yuanfa Palace and walk inside without hesitation.
Intrigued, Gu Zhao led Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi into Yuanfa Palace after him. He saw the man touring the temple with great concentration, carefully probing his surroundings.
Unfortunately for him, although Yuanfa Palace was an important stronghold of the Dragon Gate Sect in Yangcheng, there was no True Dao master presiding over it. There wasn’t a single Daoist in the entire Taoist Temple who had cultivated Inner Breath True Qi. After wandering around for a long time, he failed to find any Daoists with Magical Power.
He then requested to see a Daoist from Yuanfa Palace. Relying on his status as a foreigner, he asked to tour Yuanfa Palace’s Scripture Pavilion.
"Greetings, Daoist! My name is Bernhard Simmons. I deeply admire Celestial Xia’s culture and am also very fond of Taoist Family culture. Would it be possible to visit Yuanfa Palace’s Scripture Pavilion and admire Celestial Xia’s Taoist classics?"
"I’m sorry," the Yuanfa Palace Daoist politely refused. "Our Scripture Pavilion is not open to the public. The Dharma Items Department also sells Taoist scriptures, which are actually no different from the ones in the Scripture Pavilion."
After all, Yuanfa Palace was an important stronghold of the Dragon Gate Sect in Yangcheng. It had a history of three hundred years—longer than Huaqi Country had even existed. Taoist Yi Hong had once come to Yuanfa Palace to collect Dragon Gate Classics, so its Scripture Pavilion did indeed contain the real deal.
Therefore, they had to comply with the "Administrative Measures for the Inheritance and Preservation of Taoist Ancient Scripture Scrolls" issued by the Taoist Office through the Taoist Association, which prohibited foreign nationals from accessing secret classic texts.
Although the major Taoist Temples didn’t fully understand the reason, they had no objections when they considered the current international situation.
Those ancient secret texts and inherited classics seemed obscure and difficult to understand. It was impossible to practice them in modern society, and people unfamiliar with Daoism couldn’t even comprehend them. Generally speaking, a normal person wouldn’t even give them a second glance.
Even for foreigners who genuinely admired Celestial Xia’s Taoist Family culture, the texts sold at the Dharma Items Department—like the *Tao Te Ching*, *Laozi’s Xiang’er Annotation*, *Cantong qi*, and *Supreme Sensing Chapter*—were more than enough for them to read.
The aforementioned classics are the true foundation of Taoist Family culture. If a foreigner really wanted to see a Cultivation Technique like the *Cave Scripture Upper Pure Cyan Essential Purple Scripture Golden Root Collection of Scriptures* or the *Collection of True Inner Alchemy*, it would indeed seem like they had ulterior motives.
It was just like those characters in martial arts novels who insisted on going to the Shaolin Scripture Pavilion to copy the *Lankavatara Sutra*.
In the past, people might not have cared. After all, no one could successfully practice these techniques in modern society. Some abridged versions had even been included in various editions of the *Daoist Canon* and were already shared throughout the country.
But with the increasing number of unverified rumors online, and the fact that the system had previously registered True Dao cultivators and issued the "Administrative Measures," everyone was feeling a bit on edge. Thus, they began to pay more attention. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
So, upon hearing this foreign friend Simmons’s request, the Yuanfa Palace Daoist decisively but politely refused, giving him a thoughtful look.
Simmons’s heart skipped a beat. He feigned innocence and shook his head. "I don’t like those superficial things. The martial arts novels published in Celestial Xia all say that the real treasures are in the Scripture Pavilion!"
The Daoist shook his head and chuckled. "That’s all just fiction from martial arts novels. If you want to pursue Martial Arts Training, the Dharma Items Department also has Tai Chi Boxing Manuals. Of course, you could also go to Zhenwu Mountain. They specialize in teaching Martial Arts there."
Simmons smiled and shook his head. "I just entered the country from Port City. I haven’t been to Zhenwu Mountain yet."
Glancing at the many newly installed security cameras in the Taoist Temple, Simmons didn’t act rashly. Instead, he bid the Daoist farewell, bought some souvenirs at the Dharma Items Department, and left.
Gu Zhao’s curiosity was piqued. With a light flick of his finger, he sent a strand of True Qi to land on Simmons, where it transformed into a mark and silently concealed itself.
Gu Zhao didn’t follow him. Instead, he continued to tour the Taoist Temple with Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi, then went out to shop, eat, and buy some fruit before heading home, ending a normal and pleasant day.
...
Later that night, the moon reached its zenith.
Simmons silently appeared outside the main gate of Yuanfa Palace. He stared quietly at the temple’s mountain gate and the various halls hidden in the darkness, his eyes flickering with eagerness, yet also with a hint of indecision.
After standing outside for a full hour, Simmons finally sighed, turned, and walked away.
At the same time, a black sedan not far away started its engine silently. As it turned a street corner, it passed by Simmons and slowly drove off.
Gu Zhao’s Divine Sense had been monitoring the area. Seeing this, he couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle. ’Even if I hadn’t happened to run into him, Simmons wouldn’t have been able to stir up any trouble in the country.’
Just then, Simmons’s phone suddenly rang.
"Hello? Nancy?" Simmons answered the phone. "Calling me in the middle of the night? Did something happen?"
"Dear Simmons, it’s ten in the morning here," said the woman’s voice on the phone.
"Right, I forgot about the time difference," Simmons said with a shrug.
"Here’s the deal, the FBI called me. They’re inviting us to join the country’s newly established Superpower Special Service Bureau," Nancy said, getting straight to the point.
Simmons blinked. "This isn’t about dealing with those flying Daoists from the Berkeley video, is it?"
"You’re so smart, you got it!" Nancy teased with a laugh. "The compensation they’re offering is substantial, and they’ve promised a lot of benefits."
"But I don’t want to die yet," Simmons said, shaking his head. "We went to Berkeley. We saw that collapsed building. You should know the gap between us and those people."
"Of course I know. If that bolt of Thunderbolt had been aimed at me, I might not have even left ashes behind," Nancy replied.
"Then why do you care about the compensation?" Simmons asked.
Nancy replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "We take the pay, we enjoy the benefits, but if a real mission comes up, who says we actually have to carry it out?"
"Huh?" The old-fashioned Simmons was a bit baffled.
"A ninety-thousand-dollar bushing, a six-million-dollar goat, a forty-million-dollar gas station," Nancy said with a laugh. "You take the money, but when it’s actually time to do the work, you can just make up any excuse, can’t you?"
"Huh?" Simmons was still baffled.
"I have friends in Celestial Xia. As long as you don’t have any malicious intent toward them, they’re actually very friendly. Worst case, we just treat it as a sightseeing trip to Celestial Xia," Nancy said, having clearly thought this through. "Or we could just abandon the darkness for the light and go seek refuge with the guy who got the Five-Star Card at Zhenwu Mountain."
"Huh?" Simmons was completely baffled.
