CHAPTER 66: CHAPTER 34: A SUDDEN TURN

The "Secret Technique" of He Kao exists right on his phone. He immediately added Lin Qingshuang as a friend, shamelessly, and sent this set of secret manuals to both Old Qian and Lin Qingshuang’s phones, then explained the origin.

Both sorcerers were dumbfounded. Qian Guran asked, "If you want to find a secret manual, why don’t you just buy it from a roadside stall?"

He Kao: "Ah, where can I find such roadside stalls?"

Seeing that he was still energized about it, Old Qian replied grumpily, "At the local Confucius Temple, there are quite a few old book stalls, including some selling fake ancient texts, where you can find so-called Immortal Techniques."

Lin Qingshuang couldn’t help but laugh, "Hmm, I once bought a copy of ’Supplement to the Book of Ten Thousand Cultivation Immortals’ there, which includes methods for ’Planting Immortal Peaches.’ You plant a peach pit, and a peach tree grows, yielding a basketful of peaches in no time."

He Kao: "Is there really such a technique?"

Recently, due to the death of a disciple, Lin Qingshuang had been feeling heavy-hearted, yet she wanted to laugh at this rare moment. Qian Guran chided He Kao playfully, "Of course there is! It’s the technique of the Alchemy Sect. I’ve even eaten peaches grown by them."

Lin Qingshuang finally smiled, "Stop teasing the clueless kid!"

Then she explained to He Kao, "The Alchemy Sect indeed has similar secret techniques, but they’re not as exaggerated as ’Planting Immortal Peaches,’ and they are Tier Six techniques, requiring at least Elder Level to perform.

If you really follow the method described in that book to plant immortal peaches, it’s purely comedic."

Qian Guran teased again, "If you think the Confucius Temple isn’t enough, now with easy transportation, you can buy a high-speed train ticket and reach Pingjing in three and a half hours. There’s a place called Pan Garden where you can find quite a few secret manuals."

He Kao naturally knew that the two masters were teasing him, yet he stubbornly said, "Those secret manuals should all be available online."

Lin Qingshuang shook her head, "That’s not necessarily true! I once saw a collection of ancient poetry with sewn binding, based on the annotations and style; it should have been written by a woman four hundred years ago. The poems are quite well-written.

Sadly, the ancient text lacked a cover, leaving the author’s name unknown. I searched online for some of the verses but found nothing. A lot of things can’t be found online; at least not in public databases."

Qian Guran nodded, "Yes, yes, yes, I once searched online for the names of several grand masters and some technique content, but also found nothing."

Lin Qingshuang frowned, "Have you done such things?"

Qian Guran admitted sheepishly, "I was young back then, newly entered the Magic Sect, curious about many things... A few years ago, the Magic Sect issued a new regulation prohibiting disciples from doing such searches. I haven’t done it since."

He Kao accidentally heard some gossip: A few years ago, the Magic Sect’s Hall of Sect Rules issued regulations prohibiting disciples from searching non-disclosure information like technique contents online.

Thinking about it, this is normal because the search keywords themselves become recorded data, hinting at leaks. Why didn’t ancient times have such regulations? Because there wasn’t even a concept of the internet back then!

He Kao interjected, "I heard Zhao Hai Zhen mention the Hall of Sect Rules yesterday; can you tell me what it is?"

Qian Guran: "You can think of it as the Elder Joint Meeting, or the Magic Sect’s Decision Committee..."

At this moment, in Old Qian’s eyes, He Kao seemed equivalent to a Magic Sect disciple, so he didn’t hide anything and gave a brief introduction.

The level of the Hall of Sect Rules was still far from He Kao, so Lin Qingshuang brought the topic back with a smile and a shake of her head, "Though there is a lot of information online, if you consider completeness and reliability, it’s not as good as the roadside stalls."

After saying this, she feared He Kao might misunderstand, so quickly added, "Of course, the secret manuals on roadside stalls can’t truly be considered secret manuals either!"

In a certain sense, what she said is right. Although there are many "Secret Techniques" online, most are fragmented pieces of information, altered through misleading schemes countless times, and the sources of this information largely come from those roadside stall manuals.

He Kao went on with his earnest explanation, looking rather adorable, "Finding secret manuals at roadside stalls, flipping through them one by one, then editing and organizing them, must wait till eternity to achieve that?

Times have advanced, so we should use the latest technical means.

I’m utilizing my professional skills, with my own written program, capable of automatically collecting information, then using artificial intelligence for editing and comparison, creating an integrated version."

Qian Guran and Lin Qingshuang laughed out loud, amused.

Old Qian took a sip from his teacup and said, "This is what I call Cultivation through big data! I see you’re engaged in AI instructor work!"

He Kao: "Old Qian, you do understand technology!" Saying this, he poured more tea for Qian Guran and said, "Please take a look at the secret technique I’ve organized while I roast some meat.

The ones I roasted earlier have gone cold, everyone forgot to eat. Let’s eat and look at the same time... This tea is cold too, I’ll go rebrew it."

He got up from the pit without calling the waitress, picked up the pot and went out to personally brew tea. Qian Guran and Lin Qingshuang looked at their phones, watching the "secret manuals," the more they looked, the more peculiar their expressions became, occasionally exchanging glances.

He Kao returned with the brewed tea and continued roasting meat. This time, everyone picked up their chopsticks, watching and eating at the same time.

Seeing Lin Qingshuang finally put down her phone, He Kao hurriedly asked, "Elder, is there a problem with this secret technique?"

Lin Qingshuang: "What page are you on in practice?"

The secret technique that He Kao once printed is on A4 paper, font size five, incomplete with some illustrations, totaling twelve pages.

He Kao: "Page one, I keep practicing, it’s always the things on page one."

Guran Qian laughed heartily, "If you follow what’s described here, by the time you reach page nine, you could soar on clouds!"

He Kao: "I know the latter parts are too far-fetched, but feel that the first two pages should be practical, it’s just visualization entry-level... Is there anything wrong in it?"