Master of Strange Dao

He was the type of person who specialized profoundly in one field, excelling particularly in that area.

Back then, I also had the opportunity to read his works, from which I benefited greatly.

"Yes, I understand."

Yu Ziqing nodded, apparently used to Yang's way of speaking.

Magical Treasure, Formation, and rune—these three combined are referred to as specializing in one field in their circles.

But to be praised by Yang, the professional level must certainly be beyond doubt.

What the person was like, however, I didn't know.

Yu Ziqing pointed at the list in his hand.

"You only gave me the numbers, but you probably have an idea of what kind of content each one pertains to, right?"

"Not really. The two books placed together might be unrelated, but there could be complementary aspects that make it convenient for reference when placed side by side."

In the Langya Bookstore, indeed, many books of the same type are placed together.

There are also some completely different types of items placed together; there is a lot to consider in between, and it can't be generalized.

If it were as simple as you think, I wouldn't need to look at the contents listed, I would just need to know a name to guess some of the content inside."

Yang shook his head, effectively blocking Yu Ziqing's path.

Yu Ziqing wasn't disappointed and pointed to the list again.

"Not all of them, just point out the ones you can roughly guess. What type of content they contain, mark those for me."

I mean even if I want to borrow books, I can't just give them the entire list, right?

There ought to be a sequence, book by book.

If you could guess the approximate content from the titles of adjacent books, that would help me choose better."

"Yes, you make a good point." Yang nodded, looked at the list, and added some notes next to some of the numbers, indicating what type of content those books might contain.

The annotated ones were not many, only about one-third.

However, at the initial stage, it was certainly enough.

At the very least, it allowed Yu Ziqing to know which books contained less sensitive content and which ones would likely be borrowed more frequently without attracting undue attention.

Similarly, he could now filter out books that might be sensitive and unpopular.

Yang went back to his tasks while Yu Ziqing flicked the list in his hands, made a backup copy, and memorized its contents.

This information was going to be extremely important.

Next, he needed to see how to use it.

Going to Daqian, he certainly wouldn't do so lightly; he always felt Daqian was somewhat dangerous.

On the surface, Daqian was the strongest, with the best natural environment, abundant resources, and flourishing commerce; resources produced everywhere could be found there, and it had most cultivators and powerful figures.

But internally, the strife was also the most intense.

Struggles in the court, among sects, families, and all three combined.

All sorts of conspiracies and tricks could be found there.

And not to mention the infamous Jinyi Wei, whose reach spanned every corner of Daqian.

Along with Yang's experience, Yu Ziqing always felt that appearing in Daqian without sufficient strength could end disastrously without even knowing how one died.

Just outside the locust forest at the southern part of Jinlan Mountain stood a glaring example.

A once exceptionally talented prince had fallen into such a state; to say that the affairs of Han Dong back then developed naturally without any external influence or push was, in Yu Ziqing's opinion, an insult to one's intelligence.

Oh right, speaking of this matter, I must find time to chat with You Zhen.

It's better to let You Zhen know first, lest there be any special situation where You Zhen meets Han Dong, and they recognize each other's identities at that time, which might make things awkward for everyone.

Although Yu Ziqing felt that the chance of their meeting was almost non-existent.

One in the south, one in the north, separated by the entire Jinlan Mountain and the surrounding locust forest, the straight-line distance between them is also several hundred to nearly a thousand miles.

And even if they did meet, they might not recognize each other.

One was dismembered and sealed over two thousand years ago, and the other left Daqian over a thousand years ago, at that time, Han Dong would have still been young.

Maybe when You Zhen was being sealed, Han Dong hadn't even been born.

Nominally, during the ordering of seniority, Han Dong was the eighteenth prince, which doesn't sound too far to the back.

Especially for an Emperor Qian who seemed to play around living thousands of years, having hundreds to thousands of sons was trivial.

But the competition in Daqian is fierce, not just externally. Most of Emperor Qian's own sons don't even qualify to be listed in the family register; they can't be recognized as princes until they die.

These men, confined within certain limits, are bound to that predetermined fate through life and death.

Just because they are sons of Emperor Qian, apart from not worrying about starving to death, in other aspects, they might indeed be less free than ordinary people.

This world is extremely dangerous; some very harmful spells and secret techniques can be performed using blood relations.

Emperor Qian would never allow so many "vulnerabilities" with no self-protection ability to wander outside.

In earlier years, Emperor Qian used to have more children, but in the last two to three thousand years, he has done so increasingly less, and for the past millennium, not even one.

This already has the highest childbirth rate among the Three Divine Dynasties, much more than the other two combined.

Today, those who can retain the title of prince are either because their maternal families are strong, or the princes themselves are outstanding in some way, considered geniuses.