Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 231 - 222: Golden Fluid Shape Refining!

Chapter 231: Chapter 222: Golden Fluid Shape Refining!

Zhang San was walking along the main street of Fuling City when he encountered a beggar, to whom he gave a few coins.

Soon, Zhang San came across another beggar holding a bamboo pole and, approaching him, dropped a copper coin into his bowl.

The man said impatiently, "You just bamboozled Hu Feipan this morning, so are you short of these few words?"

Twisting his mouth, Zhang San nodded and then threw another copper coin into the bowl.

Xia Chenglong looked at Zhang San with dissatisfaction.

"We are staying in Fuling City tonight, so let’s not make any moves tonight."

Xia Chenglong nodded slightly, then said in a low voice, "We had heard earlier that Hu Feipan converted a lot of his money into gold and hid it. But we haven’t found out where exactly."

"Alright, I’ll go and look. However, if I find it and then pass the message on to you for retrieval, I’m afraid there might not be enough time."

Xia Chenglong sneered with disdain, "Cui Jiu had already mentioned that once you hear about a large sum of gold, you would definitely try to swallow it all yourself. I didn’t believe it then, now I do."

Zhang San chuckled; his earlier comment about running out of time was indeed an excuse to monopolize it himself.

"We’ve also been tracking that gold for a long time and can’t possibly give it all to you, so here’s this, and when it comes to the gold, we’ll need to split half of it."

As Xia Chenglong spoke, he fumbled around his waist and finally produced a dirty jade scroll.

Zhang San knew it must be a jade scroll capable of imparting a secret technique, just that it was dirty from being cherished by Xia Chenglong for a while.

"So this gadget exchanges for half the gold, huh? Hu Feipan has exploited Fuling City like this, I guess he has made a good amount throughout Lingzhou. That batch of gold must be worth a fortune!"

Xia Chenglong laughed and said, "How do you know Hu Feipan won’t have the gold cast into something so large that you cannot fit it into your Storage Magical Treasure?"

Zhang San knew that Storage Magical Treasures also had size limitations.

So not everything could be accommodated in a Storage Magical Treasure.

Otherwise, armies wouldn’t need to set up camps; they could simply use a Storage Magical Treasure to bring out houses and take them back again more conveniently.

"Okay, I’ll give you guys half when the time comes. But you’re not going to trick me, right?"

Xia Chenglong looked at Zhang San with a face full of disdain.

Zhang San nodded and said, "Alright, alright, I trust you. Let’s go."

Saying this, Zhang San got up, pondering over the few copper coins in his hand, and turned to leave.

Xia Chenglong watched Zhang San’s retreating figure, unable to understand why someone as wealthy as Zhang San was still so petty about money.

Then Xia Chenglong looked down and found out that Zhang San had taken back all the copper coins he had just given while talking to him.

As if taking back his own coins weren’t enough, he even took the three coins that were already in Xia’s bowl!

How outrageously mean!

Zhang San returned to his residence and, through the Jade Scroll, discovered that it contained a very special secret technique named "Golden Fluid Shape Refining."

Zhang San learned that it was a technique for Casting a Golden Body, storing Samadhi True Fire within oneself to refine everything external into gold, using gold as a barrier to resist all external demonic interferences.

Of course, if one already possessed gold, it naturally eliminated the initial step of harboring Samadhi True Fire internally, allowing for the rapid construction of one’s own golden body.

At that moment, Zhang San somewhat understood why the Buddhist Sect was keen on casting golden statues for the Buddha; it might be related to this secret technique of Golden Fluid Shape Refining.

That night, Zhang San dreamt about this secret technique, and after eight years of practice, he felt that now upon touching gold, he could rapidly forge a golden body to fend off external attacks.

All along, Zhang San had been pursuing powerful offensive capabilities, with relatively few defensive means.

Now possessing the Golden Fluid Shape Refining technique, his defensive power had increased significantly.

If he encountered a strong enemy from whom escape was impossible, he could at least rely on his enhanced defensive power to withstand for a while.

Still, Zhang San had never seen Samadhi True Fire; although he could imagine it within himself, the fire he imagined was only more potent than his own fire movement capability.

Thus, although in Zhang San’s view his crafted golden body significantly enhanced his defensive power, in reality, it was probably still far from a true golden body.

Early the next morning, as soon as Zhang San got up, he received an invitation delivered by Hu Feipan’s butler, saying Hu Feipan wanted to host a dinner for him at his residence that night.

Zhang San knew this must be because the previous night the members of the Heavenly Punishment Sect hadn’t made any moves, leading Hu Feipan to believe it was due to the presence of the Town Martial Office’s personnel in Fuling City that the Heavenly Punishment Sect members did not dare to act recklessly, hence the dinner invitation as a token of thanks.

Of course, if it was just a casual meal, it could have been held at noon or in the afternoon.

The choice of evening time likely stemmed from Hu Feipan’s worry that Zhang San might lead people out of the city again tonight, creating an opportunity for the Heavenly Punishment Sect.

After all, Hu Feipan had promised to help find Lv Dagen, but still hadn’t found him to this date.

Although it was framed as a courtesy dinner, it was actually to keep him as a bodyguard.

Little did Hu know, Zhang San’s attendance at the banquet was not just about enjoying a few dishes from the Hu family.

My appetite, Zhang San, has always been large.

It wasn’t even evening yet, and Zhang San had already brought a few key members of the Town Martial Office to Governor Hu’s mansion.

This time upon arrival, the guards at the door greeted Zhang San with extra enthusiasm.

After all, he was a distinguished guest of their master.

As soon as Zhang San entered the mansion, Governor Hu himself came out to greet him.

"Military Chief Zhang, come in, let me show you around my courtyard,"

Saying this, Governor Hu came over, affectionately took Zhang San’s hand, and began showing him around his property.

While touring, he shared with Zhang San the political achievements he, Hu Feipan, had accomplished over the years in Lingzhou.

"Military Chief Zhang, you wouldn’t believe it, but one year Lingzhou experienced a severe drought! The people had no harvest at all, but the Imperial Court couldn’t just forego its revenue! I had no choice but to turn to the wealthy merchants of Fuling City for a solution. In the end, these wealthy merchants bought up the farmlands of the poor farmers who had lost their crops, and some kind-hearted rich people took in their wives and daughters to provide for them at home, thus enabling the farmers to pay their taxes. Tell me, as a governor, thinking so much for the people, is it easy for me? These thieves from the Heavenly Punishment Sect, it’s bad enough they steal my money, but to target my wealthy friends as well, that’s utterly heartless."

Zhang San repeatedly agreed, "Indeed, utterly heartless!"

Seeing Zhang San react this way, Governor Hu continued to talk about the difficulties he faced while in office.

"Initially, they said someone insulted the soldiers of the Great Sui, I thought they were just joking, but then some troublemakers under the instigation of the Heavenly Punishment Sect cursed me daily. Eventually, I had no choice but to say I would firmly uphold the honor of the Great Sui soldiers. After all, they protect us! Then people accused me of being inconsistent! I bet it’s that damned Heavenly Punishment Sect, always scrutinizing kind-hearted people like myself for faults!"

Zhang San continued to echo, "Indeed, the Heavenly Punishment Sect is too much, let’s ignore them. Governor Hu, when are we eating? For this meal, I didn’t even eat at noon."

Governor Hu grinned, Zhang San sure knew how to save money.

"Since Military Chief Zhang is hungry, let’s dine now,"

Governor Hu led Zhang San and the other key members of the Town Martial Office.

After all, Zhang San couldn’t admit himself, such a good chance to freeload a meal wasn’t to be missed.

While everyone was feasting and drinking, Zhang San suddenly realized, Wen Ruchu had disappeared, not knowing what that boy was up to.

Had he drunk too much?

Such a small capacity, that bladder really isn’t up to much!

At that moment, Governor Hu stood up, bowed to Zhang San and smiled, "Apologies, I’ve just received some official documents, I need to handle them quickly and will return soon."

Zhang San naturally couldn’t stop him.

After Governor Hu left, Zhang San secretly used the Ghost Summoning Method to call forth a few small ghosts, and had them search around the mansion to find where Governor Hu had hidden the gold and Lv Dagen.

Although there were many people in Governor Hu’s mansion, there were quite a few protective formations, so Zhang San figured there were likely many clandestine places in there.

Before he could find the gold, however, he discovered that Governor Hu and Wen Ruchu had gathered together.

At that moment, Wen Ruchu was sitting in the main seat, with Governor Hu next to him, extremely respectful in demeanor.

Uncle Liu coldly said, "Governor Hu, when Zhang San leaves, the Heavenly Punishment Sect appears, and when Zhang San returns, the Heavenly Punishment Sect vanishes. Don’t you think there might be something suspicious here?"

"Moreover, we have already investigated Zhang San’s weakness."

"If you can find a way to keep Zhang San from finding the person he’s looking for, and help us stall for a few days, the experts from the Wen Family from the Capital will arrive, and then dealing with Zhang San will be easy!"

With a smile, Governor Hu said, "But, this Zhang San does have some tricks up his sleeve, to say I’m not scared would be impossible. Why not also tell me Zhang San’s weakness, to put my mind at ease. Otherwise, I don’t have any real experts under me, and naturally wouldn’t dare to fool Zhang San!"

Uncle Liu looked towards Wen Ruchu, and with a nod from Wen, Uncle Liu then said, "Zhang San has a few good friends in the Town Martial Office, one of them named Xu, a Military Chief, and they are as close as family. We’ve had someone covertly watch him, and this man is a living corpse. If there are living corpses hidden within the Town Martial Office, and Zhang San doesn’t know, then Xu is done for. If Zhang San knows, then he will be guilty of failing to report it. Zhang San values loyalty highly, so by controlling Xu, we control Zhang San!"

Upon hearing this, Governor Hu’s faced lit up with delight.

"If that’s the case, then I will join the Wen Family and fight against this Zhang San to the end!"

Meanwhile, Zhang San, through the little ghosts who overhead the entire conversation on Governor Hu’s side, not only found out what Wen Ruchu had discovered but also learned the location of the gold and Lv Dagen.

Governor Hu, oh Governor Hu, with that brain of yours, collaborating with that fool Wen Ruchu trying to trick me, aren’t you just delivering a gift right into my hands!

Thinking this, Zhang San ate even more heartily.

"This roasted leg of lamb is excellent, steward, serve me three more! I’ve been working too hard lately, I need to replenish,"

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[Note71] Citation Explanation

The Gold Liquid Returning Core mentioned in the book, is derived from Taoism’s external alchemy terminology of the Golden Core Technique, and internal alchemy terminology of the Fire Movement Refinement.

In the Historical Records·Sealing Ceremony, it is recorded: "By offering a sacrifice to the stove, objects are obtained, with which cinnabar sand can be transformed into gold. Consuming dishes made of gold prolongs life, seeing the immortals of Penglai after prolonging life in the sea, presenting sealing ceremonies to them grants immortality, that was the Yellow Emperor."

Thus, Taoist alchemists regard the formation of gold as a step in the process of becoming an immortal.

Fire Movement Refinement involves the inner observation of the Samadhi True Fire rising, driving off demonic obstacles from within, achieving the goal of Shape Refining.