My experience of grinding in another world

Chapter 669 Plan

Tianguan City, Yangdu Ward in the east of the city.

In the courtyard with its white walls and black tiles, a long table is placed in front of the screen wall.

An elderly man with snow-white eyebrows and beard, and no hair on his head, sat expressionlessly behind a desk.

Chen Mu stepped forward, bowed slightly, and handed over the identity jade token issued by the Hundred Illusions Sect. At the same time, using his body to shield himself from the view of others behind him, he quietly slipped a small gray cloth bag into the other person's hand.

The old man raised an eyebrow slightly, flipped his wrist, and with a few clinking sounds of white jade, the gray cloth bag disappeared from his wide sleeve.

"Senior, I don't like socializing and would like to stay somewhere quiet," Chen Mu said in a low voice.

"These houses were all arranged long ago, it's not your place to be picky," the old man scolded impatiently, but secretly nodded slightly at Chen Mu.

"You're right, senior. I'll stay wherever you arrange for me to stay," Chen Mu said, feigning fear.

"That's more like it. Take your things and go to Room 16 in the east wing." The old man nodded slightly, took out a small wooden box from under the table, and handed it to Chen Mu along with his identity jade token.

Chen Mu clasped his hands in a fist salute again, took the things and walked around the screen wall. The three two-story buildings to the north and on both sides came into view.

Chen Mu arrived at the east wing, and went up the central wooden staircase to the second floor. Following the small wooden sign hanging at the door, he found the room located at the southernmost end.

Pushing open the creaking door, a rather spacious room came into view.

"Not bad." Chen Mu looked around and nodded in satisfaction.

Before entering the courtyard, he had already used his supernatural ability to listen to the surroundings to scout the way. This house, the sixth room in the east wing, was considered a rather nice house within the entire courtyard.

"These twenty white jade flowers are worth it." Chen Mu chuckled as he opened the wooden box the bald old man had given him.

Inside were two palm-sized leather talismans and a fist-sized white porcelain bottle.

The porcelain bottle contained fasting pills, enough for him to consume for half a month.

The leather talismans are two types: dust-repelling and sound-blocking. They can keep the room clean and isolate internal and external sounds, and can also be used for half a month.

This is a perk for new Dao soldiers. If you want it again later, you'll have to exchange it for Dao merit or white jade.

He casually activated two talismans and pasted them behind the door.

The dust that had accumulated in the room was immediately driven out of the room through the gaps in the doors and windows.

The chatter and discussion at the entrance to the courtyard downstairs were also shut out by the Absolute Sound, and the room quickly returned to silence.

Chen Mu came to the window on the south wall, looked through the jade window at the towering watchtower in the distance, and let out a long sigh.

"We have finally arrived safely on Tianguan Star."

The discovery of either the Heavenly Gourd or the Jade Cicada Dao Foundation Diagram could cost him his life.

He had been living in fear for days.

Fortunately, the journey went smoothly without any major setbacks or troubles.

……

The Thousand Machines Sect did not disperse the Dao soldiers. In the Jiwei Courtyard of Lane 96 where Chen Mu was currently located, the people of the Hundred Illusions Sect accounted for more than half of the people.

Other acquaintances were also scattered in the surrounding courtyards, not far apart.

In the afternoon, after the room allocation and registration were completed, the Thousand Machine Sect members left the gate, and the newly arrived Dao soldiers began to bustle about in and out of the courtyard.

Some went out to stroll around Tianguan City, buying bedding, wooden basins, wooden buckets and other daily necessities, while others gathered around a stone table on one side of the courtyard to chat.

"I plan to visit Tiangongfang in a few days," one person said.

"You want to infuse the Awakening Bell with sealing magic power? Haven't you had enough of this tedious work yet?" the other person asked in surprise.

"It's all because we don't have enough cultivation." The man said helplessly, "According to Senior Brother Lu, the Thousand Machines Sect will only give us half a month to learn how to exorcise demons. If we can't learn it, we'll have to spend our cultivation to ask for guidance."

"I'm not confident that I can learn how to exorcise demons in half a month, so I can only do some hard labor to accumulate Taoist skills first."

"Isn't there any other way to earn Dao merit?" another person asked.

"I've heard that drawing talismans and crafting artifacts can lead to spiritual attainment, but I don't know how."

"Alas, it's a pity that Senior Brother Lu and the other elders have all been transferred, otherwise we could have asked if there were any other connections."

"Who says it's not..."

The crowd chattered excitedly about how to earn cultivation points. Chen Mu, who was staying in his room on the second floor, listened to their conversation using his supernatural ability of listening, while also secretly pondering how to establish himself in cultivation in the future.

He sat at his desk by the window with his eyes half-closed, his mind first sinking into the Thousand Lanterns City's grotto-heaven. With the aid of his Shadow Eyes, he immediately discovered that the faint yet immense aura still permeated the grotto-heaven.

In front of the three-story wooden building, Chengtian Gourd stood obediently next to the rocking chair, but Meng Qingchan did not appear.

"I wonder how long it will take her to recover." Chen Mu frowned.

He could not have complete peace of mind as long as Meng Qingchan remained.

Although he desperately wanted to kick Meng Qingchan out of Thousand Lanterns City immediately, it was clearly impossible to do so in the short term. He could only wait for her to revive on her own and leave the cave on her own.

"Fortunately, Thousand Lanterns City is secluded enough." He breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Even the Divine Bone-Illuminating Mirror couldn't detect it, and other secret techniques basically couldn't peek into the cave.

"Try to minimize the opening of the Thousand Lanterns City gates to prevent Meng Qingchan's aura from leaking out; that should avoid causing any trouble," Chen Mu silently calculated in his mind.

After glancing at the Heavenly Gourd again, Chen Mu withdrew his attention from the Shadow Eye and focused on the Jade Seed.

Three or four days have passed since the jade's mutation was discovered, and the golden pattern on the inner wall remains unchanged.

But Chen Mu was well aware that his jade had been affected by the "Jade Cicada Secret Manual," undergoing irreversible shaping and changes.

"In the end, we still couldn't guard against Meng Qingchan's methods." Chen Mu couldn't help but shake his head.

He came to the Thousand Machine Sect as a Dao soldier for the sake of the Dao Foundation Record, and spent nearly two years in Haizhou trying to achieve this.

Before the Dao soldiers even started their work, they began practicing the Dao Foundation Secret Techniques.

"On the other hand, this can be considered a wish fulfilled." Chen Mu shrugged helplessly.

Although he was tricked by Meng Qingchan and had no choice but to practice it, as Meng Qingchan said, the Jade Cicada Secret Manual is at least a proper foundational Dao technique.

If I were to try to find a secret technique of the same level on my own, it would take many years.

"I've already practiced, but my cultivation has stagnated for many years. It's time to start the fifth stage of Qi Refining."

Chen Mu's thoughts began to change.

“Lord Lü usually stays at the Thousand Machine Sect in Leizhou and rarely comes to the outer heavens.”

"Even if he came, he wouldn't make a special trip to the auxiliary troops' camp to check."

"As long as I stay outside the heavens, my cultivation of the Jade Cicada Secret Manual will basically not be discovered by the other party."

"As for the tricks Meng Qingchan played in the secret manual..." Chen Mu's thoughts stirred, and a gray wall appeared before him.

A new entry appears below the wall.

Jade Cicada Secret Manual: 9/10000/Tier 1;

"With the feedback from the gray wall, I'm really not afraid that she'll tamper with the secret technique." Chen Mu smiled.

I didn't expect the transmission of the Heart Seal to be so effective; I was tricked.

But once Chen Muzhen starts practicing, any backdoor methods left by Meng Qingchan will be fed back and supplemented by the gray wall.

"It was just a matter of letting Meng Qingchan hitch a ride, and she got a fairly good Dao Foundation Manual."

"When you think about it this way, this deal is actually quite worthwhile." He chuckled, having made up his mind.

The secret method has already begun; instead of resisting and rejecting it, it's better to actively cultivate it.

Moreover, Tianguan Star is ultimately outside the heavens, and there are demons from beyond the heavens causing trouble. Only by being stronger can one be safer.

“Earning Dao merit isn’t so urgent,” Chen Mu secretly calculated.

Others earn merit for the sake of secret techniques and resources.

He now possesses the Jade Cicada Dao Foundation Diagram and is not lacking in secret techniques.

We haven't officially started building our foundation yet, and we don't know exactly what cultivation resources we need.

"Go with the flow and hide among the crowd."

"Once things settle down and Dao Foundation cultivation is on the right track, we'll make other plans."

(End of this chapter)