Chapter 489: Small Talk

Lu Zheng rarely had a chance to sleep by himself in ancient times, and when he woke up in the morning, he was fully awake.

He pushed open the door and saw an old beggar lying on a lounge chair under the persimmon tree, with a cup of fragrant tea by his side, steaming warmly. The old beggar swayed gently, enjoying the rays of sunlight filtering through the tree crown.

"Young Lu, you sure know how to enjoy life."

Lu Zheng chuckled, "Senior, if you like, you can stay for a few more days."

The old beggar shook his head repeatedly, "Can’t stay, can’t stay. An old beggar like me is a miserable soul and can’t enjoy this immortal life. A good meal is enough for me to savor for half a year."

He beckoned Lu Zheng over to sit close and casually tested him with a few questions.

Lu Zheng responded fluently, explaining his understanding of cultivation.

The old beggar nodded, "Rare, truly rare. No wonder your progress is so fast, you’re indeed a born cultivation seed. White Cloud Temple is fortunate to have you, no wonder they passed on the ’Innate Cloud Transformation Qi Method Scripture’ to you so quickly."

Lu Zheng grinned and did not pretend to be modest.

"I see you’ve also studied Jinhua Sect’s ’Nine Heavens Golden Palace True God Transformation Technique.’ Where did you acquire it?" the old beggar asked.

Lu Zheng had learned many things, not only cultivation techniques but even more spells. However, the most notable was Jinhua Sect’s ’Divinity Transformation Technique,’ which had made his Divine Soul True Spirit shine brightly, as firm as a fortress. In the eyes of top experts, it was as conspicuous as a firefly in the night.

This piqued the curiosity of the old beggar.

White Cloud Temple and Jinhua Sect are both first-class Daoist sects. Even if they exchange ideas, they wouldn’t hand over their core techniques. So Lu Zheng’s access to Jinhua Sect’s techniques must have been an accident.

Lu Zheng then explained how he accidentally obtained a Wooden Divine Monarch Statue and his visit to Jinhua Sect during the New Year.

However, Lu Zheng only mentioned playing chess with Jinhua Sect disciples and making mutual progress, without mentioning his chess play with Master Peng Yu.

"I must thank Master Peng Yu for his generosity in teaching me the adjunct techniques, allowing me to cultivate both divine and qi energies." Lu Zheng bowed towards the east to express his gratitude.

"I see, I didn’t expect you to be quite skilled at chess." The old beggar was very curious, then his eyes twinkled, "Didn’t old Peng Yu test you?"

Master Peng Yu is fond of chess and is well-known in a certain Daoist circle. If Lu Zheng could benefit the Jinhua Sect disciples with his chess skills, wouldn’t Master Peng Yu be tempted to challenge him?

With a composed expression, Lu Zheng shook his head, "No, he didn’t."

The old beggar glanced at Lu Zheng, not being too familiar with Master Peng Yu, he didn’t notice any flaws in Lu Zheng’s story.

"It seems the current generation of Jinhua Sect disciples isn’t that impressive," the old beggar shook his head, "but that’s expected from young folks in their twenties or thirties, their skills aren’t quite matured yet."

Lu Zheng nodded silently.

There was no saying here about being hopeless in life if one wasn’t a grandmaster by twenty.

Due to the ability to cultivate, the elderly did not suffer from a lack of energy or cognitive decline; they instead displayed deep dao practice and considerable dormant strength.

For instance, the Wansong Daoist.

Of course, there were definitely many gifted young individuals too, Lu Zheng had seen two at Jinhua Sect, and the most typical example was himself.

Lu Zheng: (◔◡◔)

...

The old beggar and Lu Zheng chatted casually, and soon it was noon.

Lu Zheng cooked personally. Instead of preparing elaborate dishes, even a few simple home-cooked dishes displayed the skills of a national banquet chef.

Although they were described as simple home-cooked meals, they were colorful, aromatic, and flavorful, using fresh vegetables and various seasonings, cooked in different styles. The flavors far surpassed those of the Great Jing Dynasty’s restaurants.

Otherwise, Liu Qingquan wouldn’t set a life goal of eating dishes cooked by Lu Zheng every day.

The old beggar was curious about how Lu Zheng had so many fresh vegetables, but he figured Lu Zheng probably had a plot of land around a hot spring or geothermal area in a remote mountainous region, growing vegetables for personal use.

This kind of thing was impossible for ordinary people, but for cultivators concerned with quality of life, it was no difficulty at all.

Thus, the old beggar didn’t mind, even if some dishes were unknown to him due to the current state of transportation being inconvenient, he didn’t take it to heart.

"Young Lu, you are only an outer disciple of White Cloud Temple. Aren’t you interested in defecting and joining my Celestial Escape Sect?"

The old beggar, while chewing on a five-spice chicken leg, smiled at Lu Zheng, "At Guanzhou, you can learn both Celestial Escape Sect’s and Chunyang Palace’s techniques, and when you cultivate a Pure Yang Golden Core, the world will be yours to explore!"

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Lu Zheng almost choked on his wine, "Is it even possible to poach people within the Daoist sects?"

"Of course, you haven’t learned the ’Innate Taiqing Rootless Cloud Qi Scripture,’ if you’re interested, I’ll talk to your Temple Master about it," the old beggar replied.

Lu Zheng waved his hands repeatedly, "Forget it, forget it, I’m quite happy at White Cloud Temple."

Although he realized the old beggar was joking, Lu Zheng didn’t dare to go along with the conversation.

"Not only have they let me, as an outer disciple, learn the ’True Scripture of Innate Cloud Transformation Qi Method’ and ’Cloud Walking Technique,’ but they’ve also allowed me to study various other techniques, which is sufficient for me," Lu Zheng said.

The old beggar nodded, "For most people, that would certainly be enough, but if you only cultivate the ’True Scripture of Qi Technique,’ you’d eventually have regrets."

"Not greedy, just enough," Lu Zheng acted nonchalant.

In truth, he had a hunch that if he truly reached the pinnacle of this world in a dozen years, White Cloud Temple might offer him the ’Innate Taiqing Rootless Cloud Qi Scripture’.

However, the old beggar wasn’t aware of Lu Zheng’s thoughts, and there truly wasn’t any precedent of sects passing on undisclosed secrets to outer disciples. Additionally, the old beggar couldn’t even fathom Lu Zheng’s rapid growth.

So...

"Not bad, not bad, your temperament is commendable. No wonder old Peng Yu also took a shine to you, gifting you secret techniques at first meeting," the old beggar laughed, "And since I’ve had two meals with you, I surely can’t just eat for nothing, a greeting gift is a must, feel free to tell me what technique you wish to learn."

"No, no!"

Lu Zheng waved repeatedly, "It’s merely two meals, just a small gathering between friends and family. It’s already our honor to have you here and receive your guidance, how can we ask for more?

Besides, senior has already given me a life-saving talisman before, how could a mere few meals compare to such a talisman?"

"That’s different. Last time, our acquaintance wasn’t deep, it was a fair exchange. Now, with our friendship deepened, how could a senior take advantage of a junior?" the old beggar said, "This greeting gift has to be given, just tell me what you want to learn."

"Truly nothing!" Lu Zheng replied earnestly.

"You definitely have something," the old beggar’s beard puffed up, "White Cloud Temple might be great, but your master is just average, how much can he teach you?"

One insisted on teaching, the other insisted on not learning.

Uncle Li was serving on the side, finding this a peculiar situation.