The two immediately joined the others in the queue to enter Fenghuang Town. Although the line was quite long, the processing actually went swiftly. All it took was registration and a quick inspection before entry.
While they were waiting for their turn, Chen Xuan took the time to appreciates their building here. Most of the building designs were actually similar to those older buildings back from where he came from.
Chen Xuan had a moment where he felt that he had returned to the ancient dynasties period. But the thought vanished like smoke when he saw a bird about the size of a truck flies straight into the Fenghuang Town.
That was not the only surprise.
It was already Chen Xuan and Yanran Liuli's turn before he finished appreciating the stone walls erected to deter the zombie from entering the settlement. The two soon moved closer to the guard that would handle their entrance process.
"Bring out your token." the guard with identical uniforms to the others asked.
Yanran Liuli immediately presented her identity token. But not Chen Xuan. As if the sun was setting faster than usual, the sky had started to turn darker when the guard began to inspect her belongings.
After her inspection process was completed, Yanran Liuli quickly spoke.
"My friend here lost his token. I know it's pretty late, but can we get a new token made for him, please?" Yanran Liuli said. It seems she's pretty well versed and spoken in these situations.
"Than would be ten Yang Yuan Pearls to replace a new entrance token." said the guard. His face obviously turned darker after hearing that Chen Xuan did not have an entrance token with him.
Staring at Chen Xuan with a scorning gaze, the guard opened his hand to collect the ten glowing pearls Yanran Liuli took out from her waist pouch.
'Looks like the glowing pearl used in the lanterns here is considered a part of trading currency...' Chen Xuan talked to himself. It seems that the sense of money here and how the trades work here were about the same as where he came from, and the only difference was the format of currency they were using.
"Name." the guard asked after he kept the payment in one of the few pouches hanging on his belt. As it was getting darker, the registration process would have to be done swiftly before the nearby Jiangshi were attracted to this area.
The guard's word made Chen Xuan quickly wrote down his name on a paper before handing it over.
Bringing out a wooden token from another pouch, the guard also brought out a special brush where the ink on the tip was golden in color. He quickly wrote down Chen Xuan's name on the token before using a unique stamp on the side without words.
The symbol from the magical stamp made the wooden token seems to be alive. After the emblem was printed on the wood, it got significantly brighter.
They were allowed to enter Fenghuang Town after the process, but that's not before Chen Xuan gets scolded by the guard with a hardly welcoming tone.
"Come earlier and get your token replaced if you lost it, not before nightfall. Don't you know that the entrance would get very busy at this time?" the guard said before turning his back and left.
Chen Xuan was going to apologize to the guard after hearing what he said. But Yanran Liuli suddenly pulled his wrist and took him away before Chen Xuan did what he had in mind. She seemed to be extremely unhappy with the guard instead.
The two of them continued to walk further into the town until they arrived at the central intersection that connected the main road to east, south, west, north together.
"You don't need to show respect to these parasites. They sound mighty, but in the end, taking care of the gate is all their job is. If the Jiangshi really attacked, all they could do was hiding behind the walls waiting for us from Guangming Sect to their rescue."
"They're just picking at you on purpose because you looked like an easy target." Yanran Liuli said.
"I see... I'll remember that. I won't know what to do if I don't have you by my side. Thank you so much for everything you've done for me, beauty Yanran." Chen Xuan's smooth reply came out of nowhere. He had no idea to a blooming youth like her, such sentences were irresistible.
"S - Stop talking nonsense! Who's beauty? Who's with you?" Yanran Liuli's cheek blushed while she tried to deny all the happy thoughts clouding her mind.
"I'm leaving. Keep this with you and learn it. If fate brought us together again, let's meet and befriend by then." Yanran Liuli said. Afraid Chen Xuan would notice she was blushing, Yanran Liuli quickly left after tossing a bag at Chen Xuan.
"THANK YOU!" Chen Xuan yelled towards Yanran Liuli that sprinting away from him. He then looked at her until Yanran Liuli was gone from his sight.
Gently opened the bag to see what was inside, Chen Xuan smiled as he felt pampered by Yanran Liuli's generosity. There were a scroll, a book, and ten Yang Yuan Pearls inside.
If his guesses were not wrong, the ten Yang Yuan Pearls would be more than enough for him to feed himself for over a week. But still, the scroll and the twenty-page book are what interest him the most.
'I should get a place to sit down before taking a look at the books...' Chen Xuan talked to himself again. Walking around to familiarize himself with the area, he quickly found a spot beside a rusty statue.
And located behind the statue was a well-decorated pond with living fishes swimming inside.
Chen Xuan noticed that the passerby seemed to pay their respect or bow to the statue whenever they walked past. But that was the least in his mind right now.
(Standard-Tier Record)
'Huh? What a typical title. What might be inside the book?' Chen Xuan's quickly turned to the following page.
He was immediately greeted with the page on how to produce the Yang Yuan Pearl. And to his surprise, there are a few methods to manufacture this kind of resource.
And because of how commonly used it was, the Yang Yuan Pearl becomes an essential commodity that everyone living in this Lingyu Realm needs. But from the book's record, it seems that the Yang Yuan Pearl was just the beginning.
And the Yang Yuan Pearl wasn't the only thing written in this book. It is also listed with twenty-nine other collectibles that can be found all over this Lingyu Realm. From medicinal plants to strengthen a physique to the material to resist a Jiangshi, there's almost one item in every category you can think of.
Almost every collectible was listed, from herbs to fruits, wood, metal, ore, and even possible treasures.
'Well... I guess I have something else to thank Yanran Liuli the next time we meet. I won't be thinking that this Yang Yuan Pearl was actually the lowest grade cultivation resource in this realm without reading this Standard-Tier Record.' Chen Xuan nodded on his own.
By the time he was done skimming through the twenty-page book, Chen Xuan's stomach was growling in hunger.
"Hmm... I should start looking for something to eat now. There's no point for me to look at the scroll if my stomach keeps growling while I'm trying to study the content." Chen Xuan keeps the book back into the pouch and prepares to search for food.
He knows he likely has to pay for the food, but this would be a good start for him to get used to living in this Fenghuang Town. Furthermore, the book has all the methods of producing the Yang Yuan Pearl written. All he needed was to put some effort into what he was doing before he was out of them.
"Hmm... Looks like you're doing quite well in this world. By the way, congratulation again on surviving through the first day in this Lingyu Realm." a familiar voice echoed right beside Chen Xuan's ears.
The voice made Chen Xuan quickly turned his head around and look at this mysterious individual who appeared out of nowhere beside him. And he was stunned because this person was precisely the same one everyone prayed and worshipped when they walked past.
"High God Shen-Ming? Is that you, your excellency?" Chen Xuan formally addressed the High-God. Although the god doesn't mind how he was called, listening to how Chen Xuan appropriately addressed him still made him somewhat happy.
But the weird thing is, it seems only Chen Xuan could see the High-God and not the passerby.
"You can ignore the others. Unless I allowed it, nobody in this Lingyu Realm is capable of seeing me." the High-God could easily guess what's inside Chen Xuan's mind from looking at him.
It seems like the visibility of his divine presence was the same between this Lingyu Realm and the Earth Realm.
"As for the reason you could, was because you have a hint of divinity from me before you come to this realm. In a way, you're considered somewhat like an apostle of a god. There's only benefit if you can turn the divinity I've given you to good use." the god added.
"Anyway... How do you feel about here? Was seating near my statue make your heart at ease?" the High God Shen-Ming asked. The way he talked was no different from how a friend speaks with his friends and family.
"Your excellency must be jesting. How can nobody feel at ease while seated beside the statue of a god? But I think I was a little unworthy of accomplishing the mission I've been given." Chen Xuan replied.
After what he's been through last night, Chen Xuan realized that it was not easy for him to accomplish the mission he was given by the gods. As a mere conman from where he came, in what capability he had to try and fulfill a task given by the gods?
"Mortal Chen Xuan. Do not question why Middle God Yuan-Ling and I choose you. If you're not confident, then take your time to grow up until you can do it. Be it only exorcising one Jiangshi or a hundred, it's still a contribution."
"Don't worry about how to accomplish the task. Furthermore, you have no time limit, so won't you enjoy this new life of yours while giving a hand to help the gods?" High God Shen-Ming said.
"I remembered that back in the other realm, you've been reading quite a lot. Am I correct? Why not you try if you can live like the main lead from the books you've read before?" he continued.
"Then... This Chen Xuan will try to do as much as he can for this Lingyu Realm." he immediately cupped his fist and bowed earnestly towards Shen-Ming.
"En. That's the spirit." the High-God nodded.
"Have some confidence in yourself. I can see a person unwilling to give up even when forced into the most hopeless situation from you. And that's precisely what Yuan-Ling and I were searching for."
"Anyway, my time here is about to over. Until next time. By the way... Go and look at Yuan-Ling later. I'm sure she has something to talk about with you, and she still owes you an apology." the High-God vanishes after he finished what he had in mind.
"This mortal will follow your guide." Chen Xuan cupped his fist for the second time and left after he bowed at the statue again. He might not realize it, but the figure was apparently cleaner than before after Shen-Ming's divinity presence appeared here for a mere hundred seconds.
His mind also received considerable enlightenment from that short conversation with the god.
"Now... Where is Middle God Yuan-Ling's statue?" said Chen Xuan as he got up from the statue and getting ready to look around.