In the courtyard.

Li Nianfan held a blue and white porcelain cup in his hand, with tea in it. He carefully drew a line with the cup lid, blew a breath into the cup, and then took a sip slowly.

He sighed, "In the winter, it's still comfortable to drink a cup of hot tea. This season is basically goodbye to popsicles and happy water."

Of course, this sentence is naturally not applicable to the two little kids, Nannan and Long'er. They were holding a popsicle in their mouths and licking it happily.

At this time, Long'er seemed to remember something and said, "Brother, the gourd vine in the backyard has produced another gourd."

"Oh, really?"

Li Nianfan put down the teacup and then walked to the backyard.

"It's really fruited!" He smiled as he walked closer and saw a golden gourd hanging on the gourd vine.

The golden halo reflected the light in the sun. It was about the same size as the purple gold gourd on Li Nianfan's waist, but the appearance was different. This golden gourd looked great. At first glance, you would definitely think it was a gold ornament.

Li Nianfan took it off and weighed it in his hand, but he didn't feel much weight.

"This gourd vine is amazing at growing gourds. Could it be some kind of powerful spiritual plant?"

Li Nianfan suddenly had an idea. "This is the seed that the ancient fairy gave me. It's normal for the gourds it grows to be a little extraordinary. It's cool, but it shouldn't be too awesome."

Back in the courtyard, Li Nianfan was thinking about what to do with the golden gourd.

"Squeak."

The door of the courtyard opened.

Daji and Huo Fengjing walked in quietly.

Li Nianfan couldn't help laughing and said, "You two, did you sneak out to have fun so early?"

"Hehe, young master, we brought you something."

Daji smiled charmingly, then raised her hand, took out the golden stone, and handed it to Li Nianfan.

"Gold?" Li Nianfan was slightly stunned, took the stone in his hand and looked at it.

"It's quite heavy, even denser than gold!" Li Nianfan frowned slightly, then turned the stone in his hand and looked at it carefully under the sun.

The surface of the stone was very smooth. Although it had no edges, it was not regular at all. The lines were crooked and undulating, but it didn't look messy, and it looked comfortable.

Li Nianfan asked curiously, "Where did you get it?"

Daji said, "I thought it was interesting, so I exchanged it with someone."

"It is indeed interesting. I don't know if this stone was formed naturally or artificially." Li Nianfan smiled and nodded, "It's quite amazing."

He put the stone away and couldn't help but said, "Little Daji, I found that you can't sit still after you started cultivating immortals."

Daji blushed and said shyly, "I just want to do more things to relieve your boredom."

"Hahaha, it's human nature. Not to mention you, even I can't sit still now." Li Nianfan laughed heartily and said, "Now that I'm powerful, I naturally don't like to stick to one place. If I stay in this courtyard all the time, it's not good."

The transportation in the world of cultivation is not well developed, and there are dangers everywhere. Before, he was just a mortal, so naturally he could only stay in one place, and he was active around the courtyard, Jingyue Lake and Luoxian City. Now that he has become a member of the Youyun Clan, no one can sit still.

Thinking of this, Li Nianfan couldn't help but feel lucky. Fortunately, he became a meritorious saint body, otherwise it would be a bit unreasonable to force Daji to stay with him in this small courtyard.

Daji said immediately, "Sir, this courtyard is the most beautiful place in the world. Even if I have to stay here forever, I am willing and happy!"

Her tone was sincere and her voice was extremely real.

Long'er and Nannan were also startled. They thought Li Nianfan was going to chase them away. Tears welled up in their eyes. They ran over and hugged Li Nianfan's thighs. "We are the same. Brother's courtyard is a hundred times better than the rest of the world combined! We will definitely not run around anymore!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Li Nianfan was amused and touched. He rubbed the two people's noses and said with a smile: "How can a small courtyard compare with the vast world outside? Even a canary trapped in a cage is depressed, let alone people like us who can soar into the sky?"

He stood up and continued: "Actually, I can't sit still either. Why don't we go out and have some fun together?"

This is just like ordinary people having a car or not. When you don't have a car, you can only stay in one place, but when you have a car, it's convenient. How can you be idle?

"Go out and play? That's great!"

Nannan and Long'er suddenly became energetic again, laughing so hard that their teeth were bared.

Li Nianfan smiled and said, "Let me think about where to go first."

In the past, he had to wait for guests to come to him, but now he can take the initiative to go out and play. This moment shows the importance of personal connections, because with a wide range of friends, there are more places to go, and he can also visit old friends.

I just went to the Liyu Palace some time ago, so I won't go there again. The Qianlong Immortal Dynasty is too close, so I won't go there either. And... Linxian Dao Palace, Qingyun Valley, or Xia Dynasty.

"By the way, let's go to Xia Dynasty! Let's go on a spontaneous trip."

Li Nianfan's eyes lit up slightly, "See what Zhou Yunwu has done to the country, and Meng Junliang, didn't he go to open a school? I have to go and see it!"

Moreover, Xia Dynasty is a mortal country, and seeing the people there will make Li Nianfan feel more intimate.

Long Er and Nan Nan didn't care where to go, they nodded without thinking, "Okay, okay."

Daji also smiled and said, "I'll listen to you, sir."

"Then let's go." The light of merit began to gather around Li Nianfan, "Come on, come on, get on the cloud, take off."

The golden auspicious cloud flew out of the courtyard and shot straight into the sky.

Everyone is one of us, so Li Nianfan naturally can't treat them badly, so the golden auspicious cloud rose very high, it can be called a room cloud, so that everyone can lie down.

With merit, you can be willful.

On the cloud, Li Nianfan's mind moved slightly, and he said with a smile: "Little Daji, you gave me a golden stone, and a golden gourd just happened to grow here. This is fate. Do you like this gourd?"

Daji looked at the golden gourd, and a light flashed in her beautiful eyes. She could feel that this gourd was extremely important to her, and said, "I like it."

Li Nianfan smiled, "Glad that you like it, I'll give it to you."

"This..." Daji took the gourd in surprise, and said with emotion: "Thank you, thank you, young master."

Her eyes were very beautiful, but at this time they were narrowed into a line when she smiled, and her eyeliner was very long, which made her look suddenly more charming, and immediately made Li Nianfan's heart beat faster.

Li Nianfan said with a smile, "Why are you being so polite to me?"

After a pause, he continued, "Okay, since you have nothing to do, why don't you play the game I invented?"

As he spoke, Li Nianfan took out a stack of square wooden strips from his arms. The wooden strips were very thin and finely made. Moreover, they were not made of hardwood, but soft wood that could be bent, and they felt very good.

In recent days, everyone knew that Li Nianfan was playing with this thing, but after looking at it for a long time, they couldn't figure out what it was. They just guessed in their hearts that this thing must be extraordinary.

Nannan asked curiously, "Brother Nianfan, what game is this?"

She looked at the wooden strips and found that there were very strange stripes engraved on them, which she couldn't understand at all.

Li Nianfan smiled and said, "Poker, a very simple game, you will be able to play it once I teach you."

He was helpless to say that.

Li Nianfan had never met an opponent in chess. Even if Daji played chess with him now, it was not enough to make him take it seriously. This was very annoying. He had to develop a new game, and that was how poker cards were born.

Due to limited materials, the production of poker cards was much more complicated than chess pieces, but fortunately it was finally completed.

Not long after, bursts of playful laughter began to come from the golden auspicious clouds.

The speed of the auspicious clouds was neither fast nor slow. When it reached the Xia Dynasty, it took more than half an hour. In order not to cause a sensation, Li Nianfan still stopped outside the city and then walked into the city.

The Xia Dynasty had undergone great changes since the last time he came, and the level of prosperity was a world of difference.

The last time Li Nianfan came here, the whole city seemed to be in a dead silence due to the plague and war. Only people escaped from the city, but no one entered the city, and there was no hope on everyone's face.

Now, even if the weather is cold, the caravans and people coming and going at the city gate are still endless, and it is not difficult to see from their eyes that they love this country deeply, and when they talk, they all have expectations for the outside world. There

are still some soldiers standing on the city wall, but the number is much less, just maintaining a simple order. From time to time, there are immortal cultivators' escape lights passing through in the sky, obviously they have a good relationship with the Xia Dynasty.

Even the city gate has been renovated and is majestic. The city gate is wide open, and there are two gatekeepers standing at the gate. You can enter the city after a simple questioning.

Entering the city, the streets were crowded with people and stalls were set up on both sides, making it extremely lively.

This kind of liveliness was different from the liveliness of Luoxian City. The stalls were not arranged randomly, but mostly shops, which seemed more standardized and neat. The roads were clean and smooth, and there was probably something similar to "urban management" managing it.

Along the way, Li Nianfan kept nodding and couldn't help but praise: "Zhou Yunwu is really good at managing it."

Today's Xia Dynasty actually gave Li Nianfan a feeling of a big city in the world of immortal cultivation, prosperous and thriving.

As he walked, Li Nianfan paused slightly, and a look of interest appeared on his face. "Xia Chao Bookstore? What is a bookstore in the world of immortal cultivation like?"

He smiled and walked into the bookstore.

The bookstore was not big. The owner was an old man with half white hair. He stroked his beard with one hand and read a book with the other hand. He seemed leisurely and comfortable.

Seeing Li Nianfan and others coming in, he smiled and stood up to greet them and said, "Welcome, are you buying books or reading books?"

Li Nianfan said, "Just take a look."

He noticed that many people in the bookstore were sitting on the floor holding books, reading them fascinatedly.

This bookstore gave him the feeling of a free library. The owner was not afraid of losing money by doing this.

Li Nianfan asked curiously, "Old man, since you offer books to people for free, aren't you afraid that they will just read and not buy?"

"Hahaha, I'm really not afraid."

The old man smiled and said, "Only local people can stay here for a long time to read books. Now that the Xia Dynasty is prosperous, there are constant stream of merchants coming and going. They don't have time to stay here all day to read. So if they want to keep reading, they can only buy books and take them back. And I guarantee, old man, that after reading the books here, 80% of them will voluntarily pay for them."

Unexpectedly, this old man is such a business man. He knows how to give away books first and then charge for them. He's amazing.

Li Nianfan raised his eyebrows slightly, "So confident?"

"Of course, who gave me the books here?" The old man smiled, "You are all outsiders, I might as well take you on a tour."

The old man looked old, but he was quite energetic. He quickly took Li Nianfan to the bookshelf.

There were many duplicate books on the bookshelf, and there were not many types of books.

"Sir, take a look at this book Journey to the West. The author of this book, Wu Chengen, must be an immortal. Otherwise, how could he write such a fascinating story about gods and ghosts?" "

There is also this book Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica. This Shennong is a saint of the time. I don't know how many lives he saved. If it weren't for him, how could the Xia Dynasty be in its current state? It would have become a dead city long ago! Buy this book, it will definitely be of great use and worth the money!" "

This book is needless to say, Taigong's Art of War, written by a god named Anonymous, is the key to my Xia Dynasty's victory in all battles. Buy it back and let your children learn it. They will definitely become generals in the future!" "

And this book Journey to the West, written by my Xia Dynasty's military strategist, a contemporary great scholar, about his insights and gains from the journey to the west. Reading it will also benefit people a lot."

...

The old man highly praised these books, introducing them one by one with great interest. I wonder if he would introduce them to everyone he met, with a glimmer of pilgrimage in his eyes.

Li Nianfan breathed a sigh of relief. He noticed that most of the books on the bookshelf were related to him, either he told them, or Meng Junliang processed them based on what he said. However, he also followed his own instructions and did not mention his own name, knowing to use anonymous instead. This young man is teachable.

The old man finally sighed and said excitedly: "It was these books that saved the Xia Dynasty and the people! They are the foundation of inheritance!"

Li Nianfan nodded in agreement and exclaimed: "Old man, you are right."

The old man struck while the iron was hot and said: "Then would you like to buy a few books? I will give you a discount."

"Haha, that's not necessary." Li Nianfan shook his head.

The old man suddenly fell into a stagnation, obviously not expecting Li Nianfan to refuse.

He was stunned, and could not help but say: "Young Master, respecting the old and loving the young is a virtue that everyone praises. I am so old, and I am so tired of being told by you. I have no merits, but I have worked hard. If you don't buy some, it will really make it difficult for me."

"Old man, just kidding." Li Nianfan laughed, and then said: "Give me a set of each of these books, support genuine products, and start with me."

"Young Master, you are generous and open-minded! I can see at first glance that you are not an ordinary person!"

The old man's spirits suddenly became more full, and he started to wrap them up excitedly.

Li Nianfan accepted the book as a souvenir, and prepared to go out.

At this time, an old man stepped in and said to the bookstore owner, "Old Lin, school is almost over. Let's go pick up our grandson!"

The bookstore owner smiled and said, "Let's go together."

"Wow, you've done a big business." The old man laughed and joked, then looked at Li Nianfan, and suddenly his whole body was shocked. He stared blankly at Li Nianfan and others walking out.

The bookstore owner frowned slightly, "Old Sun, what's wrong with you?"

"It's him, it's him, it must be him!"

Old Sun rushed out quickly, constantly looking for him in the crowd.

"Who is he?"

"It's Shennong! There's no mistake. It was here that my son was arrested and quarantined. I refused, and he showed up!" Old Man Sun's eyes were red with excitement, and he murmured, "He told me that he is not an immortal, but a mortal, but he can save the plague!"

"Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

Old Man Lin's pupils suddenly widened, and goosebumps suddenly appeared all over his body. He looked at the direction where Li Nianfan disappeared like a statue, feeling both regretful and excited. "I actually talked to Shennong, and I actually took money from my benefactor. I... Hey!"