Nightmare Immortal Era

Chapter 30: Lin Yuanxi

The benefits brought by the establishment of the Cloud Mist Information Matrix were experienced by Yang Ning in less than ten minutes.

A large amount of information began to appear on the Deep Blue Eyes in front of him, including but not limited to the names of roadside plants, the names, ages, personalities, hobbies, cultivation techniques, and injuries of pedestrians on the roadside.

Due to the short amount of time, the collection was not comprehensive, but the information was rapidly becoming richer. It is believed that it won't be long before Yang Ning can establish a big data model of all the residents of Ocean Cloud City!

By then, not to mention collecting information, Yang Ning could become the biggest intelligence merchant in the entire Ocean Cloud City!

"Huh?" Yang Ning stopped in front of a flower shop.

"Hey young man, do you want to come in and try?" The madam at the door of the flower shop saw Yang Ning and immediately smiled, reaching out to grab Yang Ning's arm and lead him inside.

"I'm only 12, can I go in?" Yang Ning asked in astonishment.

"With your height and build, who would believe you're 12? Everyone would think you're 18!" the madam laughed.

As the Minister of the Ministry of Works, Yang Ning naturally didn't lack money for food and drink. Due to paying attention to his diet and taking calcium supplements, Yang Ning's height was indeed not low.

Coupled with being in the developmental stage and the effect of martial arts training, Yang Ning's height had been increasing day by day. He had already reached 172 centimeters.

Yang Ning smiled and didn't refuse the madam's kindness. He was directly pushed into this flower shop called Tianxiu Fang.

After entering, the madam extended her hand and greeted, "Xiaoyu, come and take care of this young master. Oh, how should I address you, young master?"

"My surname is Yang!"

"Xiaoyu, take good care of Young Master Yang!"

"Okay!" The girl named Xiaoyu, who was about eleven or twelve years old, had an ordinary appearance and was wearing a maid's dress. She had a sincere smile on her face. "Young Master Yang, is this your first time here?"

"Yes!" Yang Ning nodded. "I've seen ordinary flower shops, but I haven't seen a flower shop for cultivators. I want to see and experience it!"

"Then you must take a good look!" Xiaoyu smiled. "The food and wine here are incomparable to ordinary flower shops, not to mention the girls here are all cultivators. Their figures and skin are incomparable to mortal women!"

Why did they no longer consider themselves mortals as soon as they stepped onto the path of cultivation?

But it was also normal. Even D-list celebrities no longer considered themselves ordinary people, let alone cultivators.

In the mortal world, it was indeed the term used by cultivators to refer to mortal countries and villages, regardless of how big the country was or how large the army was.

"Would you like to sit on the first floor or go to the second floor?" Xiaoyu asked. "The first floor is for guests to sit together and watch the performances up close, while the second floor has private rooms and is more prestigious!"

"Go to the second floor!" Yang Ning said.

"Alright!" Xiaoyu's smile grew even brighter. She happily walked towards the stairs.

"Don't rush, let me take a look at the furnishings here," Yang Ning said while looking around.

Xiaoyu heard this and slowed down.

As time passed, he collected more and more information.

It seemed that Ocean Cloud City had a connection with the number eight. There were eight major mining merchants over there, and there were also eight major flower shops here. Tianxiu Fang was one of them.

Tianxiu Fang was not large in size, but it was able to rank among the top due to the advantage of its operator.

It was an industry under the Extreme Eternal Sect's Puppet Control Gate. The Puppet Control Gate inherited a Heaven Level puppet technique. In addition to studying puppets, the disciples of the gate also created a puppet dance. Once it was introduced, it immediately became popular in the cultivation world. As a result, Tianxiu Fang, which was originally unknown, stood out among many flower shops because of its exclusive puppet dance performance and became one of the eight major flower shops in Ocean Cloud City.

In this day and age, every family had beautiful women. To stand out, it depended on who could live a better life.

Yang Ning deliberately slowed down his pace. As expected, when he reached the second floor, he saw that the only empty seat had been taken. His face immediately showed a hint of regret.

Xiaoyu was also taken aback, then quickly turned her head and said, "Um, Young Master Yang, the flower shop is busy today, it seems that all the seats are taken. Do you want to go downstairs or share a seat with someone?"

In addition to having fun, flower shops were also good places for socializing. There was a saying that went, "Brothers are like floating clouds." The friends made here were sometimes more reliable than those made in school.

"Of course!" Yang Ning nodded, then pointed to a vacant seat nearby. "I see there's a seat there, why don't you go and ask?"

A private seat can accommodate four people, but there are only a man and a woman sitting there, and they seem to be a young master and a maid, without any attendants.

"They should be here to drink vegetarian tea," Xiaoyu said, "Are you sure you want to sit there?"

"Yes, I'm here to watch the performance too!" Yang Ning nodded decisively.

"Okay!" Xiaoyu nodded and went over to negotiate.

Yang Ning saw Xiaoyu pointing towards this side and nodded at the young master.

After a while, Xiaoyu ran over and smiled, "It's settled!"

"Thank you!" Yang Ning took out a few pieces of silver from his pocket, "You don't need to serve us anymore."

"Uh, okay, if you need anything, just let me know!" Xiaoyu nodded quickly, feeling a bit disappointed.

Serving those fat and arrogant pigs is a painful thing, and not being able to serve this handsome and charming young man is also a painful thing!

"Hello, young master. I am Yang Ning, a lost little scholar from Immortal Ascension Academy!" Yang Ning politely bowed.

"Yang Ning?" The young master had narrow eyes and a small nose and lips, giving off a somewhat androgynous vibe. His eyes flickered, "I seem to have heard this name before. Did you write a poem with the line: 'Chang'e should regret stealing the Spirit Medicine, the blue sea and sky haunt her every night'?"

"Oh?" Yang Ning was taken aback, "You've heard of my poem?"

The young master smiled and said, "The world sees poetry as a trivial matter, but I quite like it. However, there are not many people who can write good poems. In all these years, the only one who caught my eye is you!"

"This..." Yang Ning quickly bowed, "I dare not accept such praise. There are many talented people in the world, but their aspirations lie elsewhere!"

"Perhaps," the young master nodded and asked again, "But who is Chang'e in this poem? What did she steal and why does she regret it?"

"Oh, she is a character from a story I wrote when I was young. By the time I wrote this poem, it had already become widely known, so I used it directly!" Yang Ning quickly explained, "Chang'e's husband obtained an elixir of immortality from an immortal, but because he couldn't bear to be separated from Chang'e, he didn't take it. However, out of curiosity, Chang'e stole and consumed the elixir, which made her body become weightless and uncontrollable. In the end, she flew to the moon and could only be accompanied by the moon rabbit."

"The meaning of this poem is that Chang'e may regret stealing the elixir, as she can't be with her beloved and can only look at the blue sky every day, reminiscing about the loneliness of the mortal world!"

"So that's what it means!" The young master nodded and asked again, "So does Mr. Yang think that immortality is a bad thing?"

"I am not an immortal, so how would I know if immortality is good or bad!" Yang Ning shook his head, "But I think if one becomes immortal but still remains alone, then immortality is nothing but torture!"

"Is that so?" The young man nodded as if he understood but also seemed to have thought of something. He quickly said, "By the way, I know your name, but you don't know mine. My surname is Lin, and my name is Yuan Xi. I should be around the same age as you. How about we address each other as brothers from now on?"

The face of the little maid next to him visibly darkened at a rapid pace.

But Yang Ning didn't pay any attention to her. Instead, his eyes lit up. "Yuan Xi? What a great name. I actually wrote a poem called Yuan Xi, but it has never been published. Would you like to hear it, Brother Lin?"

"An unpublished one?" Lin Yuanxi's eyes instantly sparkled. "I want to hear it, I want to hear it!"

"The east wind scatters flowers in the night, blowing down stars like rain. The streets are filled with luxurious carriages and the sound of phoenix flutes. The jade pot shines, and all night long, there is a dance of fish and dragons."

"This describes the scenery of Ocean Cloud City, right?" Lin Yuanxi didn't believe that this was something Yang Ning had written before and not published. How could there be a dance of fish and dragons in a bordering small country? This clearly depicted the magnificent view of Ocean Cloud City!

However, why was this poem named after me?

He opened his eyes and looked at Yang Ning, only to see Yang Ning smiling as he recited the second half.

"The moth flutters, the willow is covered in snow, and golden threads shine. Laughter fills the air, and a hidden fragrance lingers. I search for him among the crowd countless times, but suddenly, when I turn around, he is there, in the dim light."

Lin Yuanxi's heart trembled. What did it mean to search for him among the crowd countless times? What did it mean that when I turned around, he was there, in the dim light?

"Yang, Brother Yang, I'm not that kind of..." Lin Yuanxi quickly explained, "Of course, I'm not against you."

"You don't need to explain, and neither do I!" Yang Ning laughed. "As I said, this is a poem I wrote before. The Yuan Xi in it refers to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. It just happens to have the same name as you!"

"Is that so?" Lin Yuanxi finally nodded. Somehow, his mood calmed down a lot, but he also felt a little disappointed. For a while, he lost interest in speaking.

He remained silent, and Yang Ning didn't ask either. When he heard the music below, he enthusiastically turned his attention to the performance.

This puppet dance was somewhat similar to the mechanical dance from his previous life, but because it was performed by cultivators in the Physical Body Realm, it surpassed the mechanical dance in terms of strength, posture, and difficulty.

However, Lin Yuanxi completely lost interest in watching the performance. He thought about the poem while wondering if his identity had been exposed. In the midst of his chaotic thoughts, he noticed that Yang Ning was actually engrossed in watching. This made him somewhat angry. Without waiting for the dance to finish, he directly took the little maid and hurriedly left the building.

(End of this chapter)