Translator: YHHH Editor: Book_Hoarder
He had to admit that the flower hawk's meat was very fresh. In addition, the aroma of the roasted meat assailed his nostrils. After consuming the meat, he felt nice and warm all over.
It was said that the flower hawk's meat was full of nourishment.
Unfortunately, sharing two flower hawks among so many people was just enough to tease his palate. Otherwise, he truly wished he could keep a piece of meat in his fridge on Earth to eat later on.
When they were out of the mountains, everyone found a small town to rest for a day, and Ren Baqian used this opportunity to take a trip back to Earth.
First, he went to talk to the physics expert regarding the progress of the solar furnace. The portable version, which could melt a small piece of iron in a short time, was almost ready and would be done in a few days.
He was relieved to confirm he could bring it along when he got back to Lan City.
Following which, he directly drove home. The last time he went home was about four or five months ago. He didn't even spend the Lunar New Year at home, and it was high time for a visit.
Home was still somewhat the same. The only change was probably his father's purchase of a new car for 200,000 yuan to fulfil a long-awaited wish of his.
As for the rest of the savings, it was still kept with his parents. If Ren Baqian lacked money, he could take it out or use the savings to finance his marriage in maybe ten thousand years' time.
"Who was the lady that time?" During dinner, Ren Baqian drank some baijiu with his father. His father, after two glasses of wine, popped this question about the lady in red that he'd seen that day.
[baijiu- a spirit usually distilled from sorghum]
It wasn't only him, but his mother and Ren Wannian also pricked up their ears.
"As I have mentioned before, she's just a business partner who consulted me on some matters, don't over imagine. If I have a girlfriend, I will bring her back," Ren Baqian fibbed without changing his expression.
Ren Baqian recalled that he was still a honest gentleman this time last year. Now, he could spout nonsense without batting an eyelash, was good at manipulating people, and his public morals were degenerating further with each passing day.
After staying at home for two days, Ren Baqian returned to his rented apartment before going back to the other world.
"Is everyone ready? Let's set off." Ren Baqian opened the door and announced to the crowd waiting outside.
A few days later, Ren Baqian saw the faraway tall city wall getting nearer and nearer. At long last, he was back.
This time, he had been out for more than half a month. Basically, he had been constantly on the move day after day. He only managed to rest when back on Earth and was already exhausted earlier on.
Furthermore, he somewhat missed that person in the palace.
The winged cavalry sandwiched the two carriages and entered the city. Ren Baqian put down the curtain and closed his eyes in repose inside the bumpy carriage.
Inside a shop that wasn't far away, a man looked at the winged cavalry and carriages entering the city. He sized them up for a long time before turning into the winding alleys and finally reaching a yard.
The yard was silent, but after knocking on the wall behind the door a few times, a few indifferent looking young men came out from the room.
"That guy is back, the carriages have just entered the city."
"Is there anyone else?"
"There is also a hundred of Qi Zixiao's winged cavalry to protect him all around."
"He is accompanied and guarded by the wing cavalry on his recent trips, you can see how Qi Zixiao values him. We do not know when will he come out of the palace again. Moreover, he will not be alone. We might as well take the risk, after all, it is impossible to go back alive if you want to accomplish this mission."
"Taking a risk is alright, but you must be able to kill him..."
"He is just an ordinary man. Even with the winged cavalry around, we have four crossbows and can shoot enough to make him look like a hedgehog in a split second."
"It is too soon to go after him now, carefully monitor the situation, and wait until the next time he comes out to take action, and kill with one strike," the man who was silent all this while spoke up, and the rest nodded their heads, no longer disputing anymore.
However, while in this unfamiliar city surrounded by people different from them, it was very hard to do surveillance from this place without appearing suspicious.
As for life and death, they were as good as dead. Of course, they didn't expect to make it back alive. All they needed to do was to die together with their target.
…
When the troops stopped in front of the palace guards, Ren Baqian came down from the carriage and stretched. He then saw the palace gate open and a guard in front of the door announcing, "Imperial Deputy Prefect, Ren Baqian, Overseer of Military Arms, Tao Jiyuan and Colonel of Winged Guards, Teng Ji entering the palace to seek an audience with Her Majesty."
Ren Baqian walked in the familiar palace at a brisk pace. He had achieved half of his quota and brought a gift for the empress, which was considered as not too bad. The most troublesome thing was being the jinx and causing the death of his teammate. He didn't know what the situation was now.
In the throne room, the empress sat above and gazed down at these few people, asked them about the incidents that happened on their journeys, and then waved the extra two people away.
"You saw the bichi?" The empress frowned slightly at Ren Baqian.
"Yes." Ren Baqian nodded, this came out from his own mouth. It was better for him to say it straightforwardly than for others to say so.
From Tao Jiyuan's posture, it seemed to be quite serious.
However, he did not encounter any more mishaps on the road these few days, and he was quite carefree. But, the question asked by the empress made him wary once again.
"Forget it, just be more careful in future." The empress sighed slightly. "Walk with me and tell me about your adventures on the road."
Ren Baqian followed the empress to the garden, and they sat down in a pavilion.
He briefly narrated the incidents that happened during this trip, which in reality, wasn't really much to talk about. He talked about Mount Liucui in a few sentences, but what he actually wanted to know from the empress was about the thing inside the mountain.
After listening to him, the empress casually mentioned, "There was a legend about a monster inside there. The first generation emperor had been there, but returned after sustaining serious injuries. Since then, it has been a closely guarded secret, and I am also not clear about the matter.
If there is an opportunity in future, I would like to take a look and find out what is really there. According to the legend, the thing has existed since at least a thousand years ago."
Ren Baqian was rendered speechless. There was really such a thing inside.
To exist for more than one thousand and yet still be alive—it was really hard to imagine. Could it be some creature like the kirin?
Suddenly, a question popped into Ren Baqian's head, something he never asked or thought of before. But, if this world had a creature that existed for thousands of years, then, the lifespan of the people here was probably different from those on Earth.
At this juncture of thought, Ren Baqian raised the question about this issue.
The empress looked at him with astonishment, "You actually don't know? Ordinary aboriginals have a lifespan between 70-90 years old. Those who cultivate up to Kismet Heaven can live to 120-140 years old, and those who attain Cardinal Heaven can live to 180-200 years old. After which, there is Longevity Heaven. It is said that one can live more than 300 years if they can attain that level. The first generation emperor cultivated until Longevity Heaven, but he was emperor for only twenty years before simply disappearing."
Kismet Heaven, Cardinal Heaven, and Longevity Heaven. In actual fact, these were the cultivation realms of the aboriginals. In front of all these, there was also the Four-way Heaven.
As long as ordinary aboriginals were of age, with some cultivation, they would be able to attain the Four-way Heaven which was equivalent to the Man Wheel level. Compared to Great Xia, which produced one Man Wheel practitioner out of one hundred people, it was not a small advantage. Kismet Heaven was equivalent to progressing from Earth Wheel to Heaven Wheel because Heaven Wheel was also known as breaking through the Celestial Gate and ascending Heaven. As the name implied: breaking through meant boundless space while failure to break through implied that one would fall back to the peak of Earth Embryo Level.
The Cardinal Heaven was equivalent to the Spirit Wheel. As for Longevity Heaven, it only existed in legends. According to Great Xia's legend, there were levels above the Spirit Wheel, which ordinary people weren't clear about.
It was roughly divided in this way. In reality, the aboriginals were much stronger when compared to the practitioners of other nations. This was entirely due to them having very strong bodies.
Before knowing about this classification, at the time when Ren Baqian was learning [Ruyi Visualization], he had already found out and understood a little from Lin Qiaole. But, he did not think that the life expectancy here would be much longer than that on Earth.
Originally, he assumed that it would at most be about one hundred years old.
To sum it up, he had been teleporting between two worlds and the time span was not equivalent. According to the decay based on the amount of time the body experienced, if he lived for 60 years on Earth, it would be equivalent to 40 years in this other world.
What would happen if he practiced [Ruyi Visualization] and wasn't able to lengthen his life expectancy? When the empress was 60 years old, wouldn't he be gradually approaching old age? At the very least, the empress could live to about 180 years old.
Thinking about this immediately spoiled his mood.
"Your Majesty, what is the life expectancy of a Great Xia practitioner?" Ren Baqian harbored a glimmer of hope as he asked.