I have Immortality In The Cultivation World

The chill of spring was biting.

As the wind blew down the streets, it brought with it the choking scent of coal dust.

Pedestrians all covered their mouths and noses, hurrying on their way, according to the Imperial Physician from the Imperial Medical Bureau, excessive inhalation of smog could damage one's kidney qi, affect one's fertility, and only the pills sold by the Imperial Court could cure this.

"What a damned era this is, even the Imperial Medical Bureau is corrupted!"

Shopkeeper Hu from Dong Sheng Grain Shop spit out a blob of saliva, tightened his newly cut narrow-sleeve brocade robe, and covered his nose as he parted the tavern's door curtain.

The melodious twang of the pipa, the blind singer's resonant and piercing vocals, guests chatting in various accents, the creaking of chairs and tables, the clinking of wine glasses—all these sounds mingled and filled his ears.

Outside and inside the door curtain seemed like two different worlds, transforming in a heartbeat from quiet and desolate to noisy and bustling.

"Shopkeeper Hu, it's been a while since you've been here."

Bai Shiyu bowed and welcomed him inside, smiling, "We're fully booked today, how about sharing a table with Mr. Xu?"

Shopkeeper Hu was already acquainted with Mr. Xu, so he greeted him with a bow, agreed to share the table, ordered a pot of wine and two dishes, and glanced at the newspaper on the table.

"Oh wow, the Imperial Court has won another battle?"

"We might as well congratulate you in advance, Shopkeeper Hu, you're about to make a fortune."

Mr. Xu said, "The Imperial Court has smashed the defenses at the Northern Border of Xuan Country, capturing a hundred thousand prisoners, who are said to be demoted to penal citizens to fill the workshops."

"That is indeed great news, I might buy a few myself; our peasants are becoming more and more disobedient."

After reading the newspaper, Shopkeeper Hu said enviously, "We just get the scraps, but in the future, the workshops will be able to sell goods to Xuan Country without having to pay taxes, and they are about to make a fortune again!"

Sitting beside him was a wealthy elder whose ancestors were officials for eight generations, but who himself was left with nothing but money; he scoffed upon hearing this.

"I'm just waiting for the Red Alliance to create more trouble, to teach those worthless fools a lesson!"

"Mr. Cui, one must be cautious when speaking of state affairs!"

Bai Shiyu turned the wooden sign on the table over and bowed, saying, "These days are tense, the Imperial Court is investigating the remnants of the Red Alliance every day, please bear with us."

Shopkeeper Hu laughed, "In the entire capital, this tavern is the only place where you can speak freely; I wouldn't dare to discuss these matters anywhere else."

There Is a Tavern had been operating in the capital for three years and had become a well-known place for entertainment where people from all walks of life with money would come for an experience.

The wine was good, the food delicious, and the music exquisite.

This only satisfied the cravings of the palate, but being able to speak one's mind could make a person feel at ease from the inside out.

Mr. Xu, whose ancestors had thousands of acres of land supplying cotton and hemp to the cloth shops, looked worried, "This Red Alliance causes trouble every day, and the remnants seem endless. One group is wiped out in the east today, and another pops up in the west tomorrow; could this lead to greater trouble?"

Bai Shiyu, busy greeting guests, didn't let his feet touch the ground, but his ears remained pricked up to the customers' conversations.

The tavern was the only place where one could openly talk about the Red Alliance. The city patrols, the capital officials, the military commissioners, and even the Imperial Court's undercover agents had all come to investigate openly and in secret, but never found any accomplices among the remnants.

Since that was the case, they might as well accommodate Shopkeeper Sun, whose influence as a Martial Arts Grandmaster the Imperial Court was well aware of!

"The Red Alliance is merely a minor ailment; have you ever seen peasants emerge victorious from a rebellion?"

Mr. Cui, coming from a scholarly family that was a branch of an ancient clan, said, "Truly, even if dynasties change, they are just the vanguard for the king. In the end, it's still people like us who will sit on the throne!"

Just as Bai Shiyu came over to refill the drinks, he asked as if unintentionally, "You are a master of history, do you know why this is?"

Mr. Cui pointed to his head, "Here, it's different!"

"Well said."

Bai Shiyu smiled and shifted the topic, "What you say is interesting, but our great Zhou's military might is powerful, and its sword points at the world, surely it doesn't seem like the end of a dynasty!"

In the past few years, Zhou had swept across the nations of the Cloud Continent with the might of the cannon, avenging the humiliation of being besieged by allied forces in the past.

Cloud Continent was unmatched, its formidable military blade complemented by the dumping of machine-made products.

The Imperial Court and the workshop owners grew increasingly wealthy, and the workers' conditions correspondingly improved, their work time extending from eight to ten hours.

When domestic consumption was not enough, they plundered populations from neighboring countries, ensuring the machines turned day and night. The Great Zhou, with a hundred years of machine development, had awakened like a gluttonous behemoth, starting to devour everything without restraint.

"The Imperial Court is naturally thriving..."

Mr. Cui looked stunned for a moment, and even he, a financier left behind by the times, had to admit—based on descriptions in ancient texts—that the Imperial Court had the momentum to swallow the world.
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"I just can't understand the ways of the world!"

His tone carried a tinge of sorrow; a lifetime of pride in his learning now hit a wall at every turn in this new era.

The branch of the Cui family certainly did not have the heritage of the main family; the thousand acres of fertile farmland at home were just enough to maintain the ancestors' dignity. Indeed, should they fall into ruin one day, they would have to add a bit of blood to the machines just to eat and drink!

In front of the counter.

Zhou Yi was aware of everything around him, catching every word spoken by the patrons without missing a single one.

Every so often, a patron would come over to greet him. He would put down his storybook to chat for a moment. No matter the original topic, the conversation would eventually shift to the Imperial Court, machinery, and the Red Alliance.

The first two were trends of the era, undefeated in battle; the latter was obviously more forbidden, the more fiery it became.

At that moment.

Two figures entered from outside the door, the old artilleryman Jin Cheng, with a black-clothed guard wielding a sword following him.

Voices in the tavern paused for a moment, then rose in a wave of discussion; just by their attire, they were not from Great Zhou, with some well-informed patrons suggesting they came from beyond Cloud Continent.

Jin Cheng approached the counter, with his right hand over his chest, bowing in salute.

"Golden God above, may I ask if there are any rooms available?"

"Of course, there are."

Zhou Yi smiled and nodded, instructing, "Xiao Bai, take the guests to the second floor and attend to them well."

A moment later.

Bai Shiyu returned to the counter and said, "Shopkeeper, do you know their origins?"

Zhou Yi said, "The Hundred Thousand Mountains, Moyun City."

"Moyun City is the ancient name; it is now Divine City, rumored to be in correspondence with Xianjing."

Bai Shiyu glanced around, lowering his voice, "This Jin Cheng is ostensibly an envoy from Divine Country to Great Zhou, but he's actually scheming to get the machines. He's bought quite a few parts from here and even thought about stealing machine blueprints!"

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and asked, "Has the Red Alliance, with its various branches spread throughout Great Zhou and in contact with the machines, not figured it out over the years?"

"It's difficult; they only know the surface."

Bai Shiyu shook his head, "The Imperial Court is extremely vigilant about the machines; anyone daring to pry is charged with treason. Besides, we despise machines, wishing we could smash them all and return to the past where we farmed the lands and wove fabric!"

Zhou Yi asked, "Have the machines changed much in recent years?"

"They seem more precise and their applications more widespread, yet the changes are not significant."

Bai Shiyu scoffed, "Ever since Ancestor Zhou passed away, the Imperial Court has been both reliant on and wary of machines. They are solely focused on squeezing the common people's sweat and blood, causing machine development to lag far behind what it once was."

Zhou Yi slightly nodded. Such was human nature, after all; a new class driven by those behind the scenes quickly fell into a comfort zone, with no competitors challenging them.

Great Zhou's machine technology was advanced from the outset, with strong support from the emperor. Yet, after one hundred and twenty years, they had only just developed the train.

"What's needed is a catfish to stir the situation in Cloud Continent!"