Chapter 82: Ancient Book! The Raincoat Fisherman’s Legacy
Chapter 82: Chapter 82: Ancient Book! The Raincoat Fisherman’s Legacy
’That’s right, Demon Beasts!’
’Before modern technology was developed, how did the Human Race get any work done?’
’Oxen plowed the fields, horses carried goods, and dogs guarded the homes!’
But now, Zhu Ge didn’t need to find people at all.
This place was teeming with Demon Beasts. Couldn’t he just go and subjugate one or two to help him out?
He couldn’t subjugate a Transformed Demon Beast, but a Spiritual Demon Beast should be possible, right?
A creature like that Black-Horned Bull he’d seen before would be perfect to capture for labor.
He could pick a mountain right here in this valley and replicate the rice cultivation of the Jianshan Terraces.
Once the rice was growing, he would have enough staple food.
"What a shame about that Black-Horned Bull." Thinking of the massive water buffalo from before, Zhu Ge couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret.
That Black-Horned Bull had a huge body. It ate grass, yet it could plow his fields nonstop like a machine. Not only was it strong, but it also had a long lifespan.
An ox like that was perfectly suited to become a beast of burden, toiling for him forever.
’Once I have something to plow the fields, I’ll still need to raise some chickens, ducks, pigs, and fish. Otherwise, hunting every day will be exhausting!’
The more Zhu Ge thought, the more plans he made, designing this valley as his future base of operations.
Once he had finished his designs, he turned his gaze back to the piles of books and weapons he had taken out.
This was all the Raincoat Fisherman’s legacy!
Zhu Ge’s eyes lit up. He sat down right where he was and began reading the books by the light of the morning sun.
First, he quickly leafed through the books.
There were two general knowledge books, eight on cultivation techniques and skills, and three on specialized knowledge.
Of the general knowledge books, one was a travelogue, which could be considered a geography text.
The other was a compendium similar to a newspaper, recording events that had occurred throughout the Da Sheng Dynasty over the past year.
For Zhu Ge, these two books were a godsend!
As an unremarkable farmer from Jianshan Village, the original owner’s knowledge of the world had been limited to "Yuan Yang City has lots of yummy meat."
Zhu Ge desperately needed to understand this world.
As for the books on cultivation techniques and skills, most of them were about the Martial Dao.
The *Xu Family Rain Swift Fist* was the most outstanding among them. The other seven were all low-grade Spirit Level martial arts manuals.
This made Zhu Ge think about the Raincoat Fisherman’s shortcomings.
’The Raincoat Fisherman’s most powerful Spiritual Artifacts were his Flying Boat and his fish basket, both of which were for escape and defense.’
’He also disliked fighting strength-based opponents like that bear demon, and he seemed to have been deliberately collecting these Martial Dao manuals. It looks like close combat really was his weak point!’
The manuals the Raincoat Fisherman had collected were all more or less related to close combat, while he himself always fought enemies with his fishing song and fishhook.
This proved that Zhu Ge’s initial strategy had indeed been correct.
After sorting through those books, Zhu Ge finally turned to the three specialized knowledge texts.
These three books were just as important!
One was titled *Chronicles of Gusu Silk*. On the surface, it recorded the customs and observations within Gusu Prefecture, but it was actually a Cultivation Technique.
A Cultivation Technique for a Sewing Master!
It was just like Yu the Scholar’s *Notes on the Jianshan Terraces*.
To cultivate the Confucian Dao, one would study *Notes on the Jianshan Terraces*, experience and comprehend the Confucian Dao within it, and thus give birth to Literary Energy.
And this *Chronicles of Gusu Silk* was a Cultivation Technique for the path of sewing.
To become a Sewing Master—specifically, a Sewing Master of the silk lineage—one would study this Cultivation Technique, give birth to "qi," and thus begin their initiation.
’No wonder the Raincoat Fisherman’s raincoat looked so extraordinary,’ Zhu Ge thought, recalling the man’s garment.
However, although the raincoat looked extraordinary, it wasn’t a Spiritual Artifact.
Zhu Ge guessed that the Raincoat Fisherman either had no talent for being a Sewing Master or had only just begun to study the *Chronicles of Gusu Silk*.
In any case, this Cultivation Technique was quite good.
If he could craft a piece of low-grade Spirit Level clothing, he wouldn’t have to worry so much about being ambushed by a Transformation Realm hedgehog like before.
After all, if he hadn’t been of the Body Refining Lineage, he would have died when the hedgehog attacked him from a distance with its flying quills!
’Huh? This book also talks about clothing grades?’
’Spirit Level, Elemental Level, and Power Level?’
As Zhu Ge casually flipped through the *Chronicles of Gusu Silk*, he saw a description of clothing grades.
He immediately recalled what the Raincoat Fisherman had said about the grades of things like Spirit Medicines and fishhooks.
The low-grade Spirit Level fruit Zhu Ge had eaten earlier, the Raincoat Fisherman’s fishhook, Flying Boat, and fish basket—they were all low-grade Spirit Level items.
And clothing used the same grading system.
This led Zhu Ge to a hypothesis.
Evidently, the grades for artifacts, clothing, Spirit Medicines, weapons, and so on were all divided into Spirit Level, Elemental Level, and Power Level!
And within each level, there were further divisions of low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade.
A low-grade Spirit Level item cost at least one gold piece!
The rarer the item, the more expensive it was; the higher the grade, the more expensive it was!
For example, in Gusu Prefecture, a low-grade Spirit Level silk product would definitely be cheaper than one from Red River Prefecture.
He estimated that a silk garment that could be bought for one gold piece in Gusu Prefecture could be sold for as much as two gold pieces in Red River Prefecture.
And that was just for low-grade Spirit Level; mid-grade was even more expensive.
Scarcity creates value!
’That’s easy enough to understand.’
Now that Zhu Ge understood these grades, he also realized that the Raincoat Fisherman’s set of equipment could be considered completely luxurious.
In a place like Jianshan Village, neither the teacher nor Yu the Scholar possessed a single item that was even low-grade Spirit Level.
They were so poor!
’I can learn this in the future when I have the chance. For now, I’ll forget about it.’
Zhu Ge felt a bit regretful.
No matter how much money he could make as a Sewing Master, he had to be alive to earn it.
What he needed now was to seek a breakthrough and increase his lifespan.
He could study this *Chronicles of Gusu Silk* in the future.
’This other one is a Cultivation Technique for the painter and calligrapher lineage, which counts as a branch of the Confucian Dao. I can ask the Scholar if he’s interested in it later.’
’And this one is a Cultivation Technique for the mender lineage, for repairing items made by Artifact Refiners. Quite interesting.’
These three specialized technical manuals had really opened Zhu Ge’s eyes.
He originally thought this world was like those in novels, with only things like Artifact Refining and Alchemy.
But this made sense. It was a real world, not a novel.
So, just like a real world, it had developed a wide range of thriving and prosperous professions.
An Artifact Refiner would create a weapon, and if it was damaged, you would find a mender to repair it.
Forging Masters forged armor and metals, Sewing Masters stitched clothes and garments. Each had their own role and specialization.
Moreover, they weren’t dealing with ordinary mortal items, but with Spiritual Artifacts.
Of course, no matter how good these three books were, just like the two general knowledge books from before, Zhu Ge carefully stored them away in the grass bowl.
These were all things he would need in the future, not his immediate priority.
His immediate priority was to study those Martial Dao manuals!
*Xu Family Rain Swift Fist*.
*Thirty-Six Paths of the Giant Pendulum*.
*Tea Swordsmanship*.
*Lighting Incense*.
*Waist and Horse Skill*.
*Furious-Eyed Vajra Palm*.
These six books were the key!
Every book was damaged or incomplete to some extent. The most complete one was the *Xu Family Rain Swift Fist*, which was also the highest level, at mid-grade Spirit Level.
The most incomplete one was the *Furious-Eyed Vajra Palm*.
This was normal. Back then, the Raincoat Fisherman had given Zhu Ge the worst one; it was obvious he wouldn’t have given him the best.
And what he had to do now was learn the other Martial Dao manuals one by one, and hopefully, find the path that suited him best among them!
"Time to start learning!"
"First up, *Waist and Horse Skill*!"