Confucian and Taoist Cultivation Starting from the Equipment Slot

Chen Zhuo changed his clothes and pushed open the door to the side hall.

The people standing inside were younger than he had expected.

It wasn't the kind of youthful exuberance, but rather a youth that had been suppressed for a long time by something.

He looked to be in his mid-twenties, wearing a faded dark blue robe with frayed cuffs, but his hair was neatly combed.

He stood by the window, holding an old hat in his hand.

"Young Master Chen." He turned around, his voice more steady than Chen Zhuo had expected.

"sit."

Chen Zhuo didn't exchange pleasantries. He sat down in the main seat and waited for the other party to speak.

After serving two cups of tea, Qingluo left, leaving only the two people in the side hall.

The man did not sit down immediately, but took out a palm-sized iron plate from his pocket and placed it on the table.

There were several cracks along the edge of the iron plate, and engraved on it a pattern that Chen Zhuo had never seen before, an abstract symbol composed of three engravings.

"My surname is Tong, and my given name is Yue." Tong Yue bowed slightly after sitting down. "I have come to ask Young Master Chen to support our gang."

Chen Zhuo picked up his teacup but didn't reply.

"Our gang currently has dozens of members, all of whom are locals from Qingshan County. The gang has no official name and is temporarily operating under the old name of 'Tongxin Alliance'."

Tong Yue's voice wasn't loud, but every word seemed to have been carefully considered before being uttered.

"We've heard about Young Master Chen's deeds in defending the city walls in the outer city. Most of the brothers in the gang have also read your essay 'The Long Night'."

"We need a respected person to help us stabilize the situation. They don't need to do anything specific; just publicly expressing their approval of our gang is enough."

Chen Zhu blew away the tea foam and said softly.

"The Alliance of Unity is dead."

Tongxin Alliance was a guild that existed before Gongyuan Gang, but it disappeared after Gongyuan Gang rose to prominence.

The numerous books Chen Zhuo had consulted indicated that the Tongxin Alliance had disappeared at some point.

Tong Yue's eyelid twitched.

"As far as I know, the Gongyuan Gang has now seized control of the entire outer city's intelligence and supply lines." Chen Zhuo put down his teacup and looked at him.

"You need to re-establish the banner of the Tongxin Alliance, which means you will appear as a competitor of the Gongyuan Gang."

Asking me, a mere novice, to endorse your gang is tantamount to openly standing against the Gongyuan Gang.

There are dozens of of you now. How many people are you willing to help? What conditions can you offer that would make it worthwhile for me to take this risk?

Although he didn't know the details of the Gongyuan Gang's storyline, the Tongxin Alliance's situation was clearly recorded in the county annals.

"The gang's power is so great that it can be considered the uncrowned king of the underworld."

Tong Yue was silent for a few moments, then said, "We have intelligence about Originium."

Chen Zhuo didn't stop holding the teacup, but a thought flickered in his mind—sure enough.

"Before the Tongxin Alliance was destroyed, someone discovered a mineral vein deep in the green mountains, which contained a mineral whose grade could not be identified."

Tong Yue said, "After the Tongxin Alliance was destroyed, most of the mineral vein data fell into the hands of the Gongyuan Gang, but we preserved a small portion. The 'Qingshan Mine Records' is one of those copies."

Chen Zhuo did not respond immediately after hearing this.

"The Tongxin Alliance is an old gang," Chen Zhuo slowly began. "You lost to the Gongyuan Gang in the gang competition, losing your name, mineral vein data, and territory in the outer city. Now, if you want to regain your strength, you need someone who can represent you and help you rebuild your reputation."

He looked into Tong Yue's eyes. "I want to know, did you choose me because I'm really suitable, or because you had no other choice?"

Chen Zhuo already understood the other party's intentions: they simply wanted to rise to prominence.

Chen Zhuo instinctively wanted to get up and see the guest out.

What he has no shortage of right now is trouble. The Long Night is still fighting, the demon race is still lurking in the city, and the secret of the source stones has not yet been figured out.

He didn't have the resources to support a dying gang, especially since that gang's rival was the Gongyuan Gang.

According to my father, the person behind Gongyuanbang is the county magistrate.

Even if you are a disciple of Song Juren, you can't do whatever you want.

"Young Master Chen!"

Chen Zhuo stood there without turning around.

"There's another batch of stones." Tong Yue's voice was quick, as if he was afraid that once he left the door, he would be unstoppable. "We not only have mineral vein data, but also a batch of materials dug out from deep in the mountains."

Chen Zhuo turned around again.

A thin layer of sweat appeared on Tong Yue's forehead, clearly indicating that this was not part of his original plan and that he had been forced to use it as a last resort.

"What materials?"

"Young Master Chen should have heard of the jade gambling game in Qingshan City."

"Their outer layer is an ordinary stone shell, but no one can see what's inside. They can yield jade and other valuable items, or they can yield worthless stones."

"We have a batch of raw stones that were dug out from deep in the mountains. They come from the same place as the mineral vein data. Source stones have been found in that mountain before."

Upon hearing this news, Chen Zhuo sat down again.

He only recently learned that Qingshan County had this special way of playing, but he didn't know the specific origin of it.

"How many pieces?"

"A few dozen pieces. They come in various sizes, the largest being as big as a human head."

"The gang doesn't have enough resources to authenticate them one by one right now. If Young Master Chen is willing to stand up for us, all of these stones are yours."

Chen Zhuo picked up the teacup that had gone cold.

The source stone was of blue quality, and even Song Zhiyuan couldn't discern its true nature.

Its origin is deep in the mountains, but no one else can provide clues as to which mountain or which vein it is located in.

Ding Xiuyuan asked him to investigate the Gongyuan Gang, and the information Tong Yue gave him happened to draw a connecting line between the Gongyuan Gang and Yuanshi.

Most of the old mine data of the Tongxin Alliance fell into the hands of the Gongyuan Gang, while the Tongxin Alliance had once discovered unidentifiable ores deep in the green mountains.

The "unnamed ore" recorded in "Qingshan Mine Records" is very likely the Originium.

Ding Xiuyuan and Tong Yue possess different fragments of the same mineral vein.

"There's one more thing," Chen Zhuo said, looking at Tong Yue. "Before you came today, Ding Xiuyuan, the manager of Chunfenglou, came to see me. He gave me the information about the source stones, which pointed to the Gongyuan Gang."

Chen Zhuo's words were a test; he had already understood some of it.

Originium is a rare specialty of Qingshan. The Tongxin Alliance mined some but did not report it, or reported it to the county magistrate but the Academy of Literature was unaware of it.

This is why these lower-level gangs knew the information, while the Literary Academy faction was completely unaware.

Tong Yue's expression did not change significantly, but his fingers pressed down harder on the edge of the table.

"Manager Ding... When our gang first started operating, we had a few intelligence exchanges with him. He was very interested in mineral vein information and asked him about minerals."

He paused, then continued, "I'm not sure if he's reliable. As an information broker, his intelligence is very accurate, but nobody knows what he really wants."

Chen Zhuo nodded and did not continue the topic.

"When the time comes, I will send someone to the outer city to inspect the goods," Chen Zhuo said. "Until we see the actual items, this matter will not be disclosed to the public. I will neither hinder nor publicly support your gang's activities."

Tong Yue opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he just nodded vigorously.

He knew this was the best outcome he could get at the moment; it wasn't a promise, but an opportunity.

Whether the opportunity can be turned into a promise depends on whether Chen Zhuo can be satisfied with that batch of stones.