Do You Want a Big One?

"Handsome, want a big one? The latest men's accessory—just plug it into your nerve interface and it's ready to use!"

"Uh, no thanks. My original equipment is still quite powerful."

"A handsome man like you is bound to have beauties in both arms sooner or later. Even immortals can't withstand the physical drain, so why not—"

To get rid of the honest little vendor, Ji Qinglin still bought a set of Big Steel Cannons and tossed them onto the shelf.

The General Store fell quiet as well. Ji Qinglin leisurely lifted his steeped Baby's Breath tea and took a small sip, then looked out through the glass window.

At nine in the evening, all of Bangkok had cooled down.

Beyond the alley outside the shop, vendors who had not yet packed up were still calling out for business.

The words on the holographic advertising boards at the stalls kept scrolling: "Safe, non-toxic cracked versions: Golden Bell Shield, Tablet Splitting Hand, Flying Curtain Kick."

There really were a few thickheaded fools unafraid of viruses squatting there, picking out cultivation techniques they could install.

The electronic billboard at the street corner displayed constantly changing images of beautiful women. Beneath them, bold words read: "One Customized Dao Companion a Day" dual cultivation simulator, limited-edition resources! There were clearly far more gentlemanly customers gathered below.

In the blink of an eye, two years had passed. Xin Dong Street was still just as it had been when he first arrived.

Vroom, vroom—

The roar of a motorcycle approaching from afar interrupted Ji Qinglin's thoughts.

A man in a Plain Daoist Robe parked his bike outside the door, its headlights shining on the sign for "Ji's General Store."

The man got off cleanly and efficiently, pushed open the door, and entered. Upon seeing Ji Qinglin, he impatiently cupped his hands in greeting.

"Elder Ji, the disciple adoption ceremony started ages ago. The president sent me to take you there."

At the center of the yin-yang fish pattern on the chest of his Plain Daoist Robe was the character "Xin Dong"—a Qi Practitioner from the Xin Dong Street Merchant Association.

Qi Practitioners were fairly respected in this era, but most cultivated under the sponsorship of merchant associations or corporations. Thus, they were generally quite polite toward association members.

"Wait a moment. I'll change clothes."

Though he was an elder, Ji Qinglin had not the slightest air about him. The Qi Practitioner could only wait helplessly while idly looking around.

The General Store's layout was simple enough. The first floor held only a desk on the left and several rows of shelves on the right. The upstairs area was probably where he lived.

The shelves were stocked with all kinds of Cultivation Accessories: outdated prosthetic arms, Artificial Meridians that could still be connected and used. But why was there a Big Steel Cannon here too?

This Elder Ji seemed rather improper.

Judging by the revenue Ji's General Store reported, Ji Qinglin truly had little say within the Xin Dong Street Merchant Association.

Never mind adopting disciples and funding their cultivation—outsiders probably thought that this shop owner could not even afford high-end Cultivation Accessories for himself.

If not for the fact that he had once saved the merchant association president's son, along with Old Hu's influence, this tiny shop would likely have struggled even to secure him an elder's seat.

The disciple adoption ceremony was an event organized by the merchant association, providing each member organization with quotas to adopt and sponsor disciples.

Ji's General Store clearly had no capital to speak of, yet Ji Qinglin attended every time.

On one hand, he used his status as a merchant association elder to freeload on the goodwill of potential disciples. On the other, he tried to find people or objects that also belonged to the Old Era.

For some reason, the ceremony had suddenly been scheduled for nighttime this time, and the location was rather mysterious as well. Ji Qinglin had not made it in time, so the president had sent someone to bring him to the venue.

As Ji Qinglin changed into the association uniform, the Qi Practitioner also studied this youngest and most layabout elder in the association.

In most people's memories, this elder seemed to always wear a dark blue hoodie, with the brim pulled low.

Yet when he removed the hood, he revealed a fair, handsome face, a high nose bridge, gently curved brows and eyes, and a smile that filled his face.

He really was good-looking. No wonder there were rumors in the association that he had seduced the president's daughter to become an elder.

With that face, he could probably achieve impressive sales even at a Yin Yang Dual Cultivation establishment.

He was tall and straight-backed. Aside from the obvious modifications to his right hand and the nerve interface exposed at his chest, he was no different from an ordinary person.

Someone actually had a nerve interface opened in his chest? Shouldn't they all be at the back of the neck?

Then again, he had even seen Qi Practitioners with their interfaces opened down below. Different people had different tastes, perhaps.

Ji Qinglin put on a raincoat and, while the Qi Practitioner was not paying attention, glanced at his jet-black right palm.

The white "lifeline" in his palm was complete, indicating that the "phone" was fully charged. This disciple adoption ceremony was a little unusual, so he still had to be careful.

Ji Qinglin had possessed that modified right hand from the moment he woke up. An Old Era smartphone had been integrated within it, though all the phone's data and programs had been deleted.

In his previous life, his phone had never left his side. In this life, after transmigrating, the phone had been embedded directly into his body. He did not know whether Heaven was playing a joke on him.

Programs from this new era could not be installed on the phone. Ji Qinglin had originally thought the antique useless, but after accidentally entering the wrong password twice in a row while setting one, his palm gave a slight vibration. Immediately afterward, every smart appliance and network-connected device within three meters of him automatically shut down.

After experimenting, Ji Qinglin discovered that this move was equally effective against Qi Practitioners equipped with ordinary Cultivation Accessories or prosthetics, and the other party could not lock onto the source of the attack at all.

Its only drawback was that it consumed a great deal of power, and the shutdown effect lasted only around eight seconds.

He could not understand the principle behind it, but to Ji Qinglin, it was already an exceptionally valuable means of self-defense.

The Qi Practitioner pulled his helmet low to cover the association emblem on his clothes, as if afraid of being recognized. He twisted the throttle hard, and the motorcycle gradually disappeared into the narrow alley.

The cold wind blew across Ji Qinglin's face, and the past flashed before his eyes like a movie.

Back then, he had already been in the late stages of liver cancer. His parents had tried every possible method, yet none could slow his march toward an early death.

In the end, he had come to terms with it as well and voluntarily applied to donate some of his organs after death. At least then, his parents could receive some compensation.

But he had never expected that when he woke again, he would already possess a healthy body and be in this unfamiliar era.

According to Old Hu, the previous owner of the General Store, a Garbage Collector had brought a truckload of old goods to sell there that morning. He was a new face and looked somewhat panicked. Without haggling much, he had sold the entire truckload to Old Hu.

Old Hu guessed that the fellow had probably not been in the country long. He must have stolen a truckload of junk from somewhere and dragged it over to sell.

That was nothing unusual in modern Bangkok. But after Old Hu sorted through most of the junk, he discovered a cylindrical pod among it. Fearing it might be medical waste, he pushed it beside the drainage ditch and used the shop's tools to open it.

Then Ji Qinglin flowed into the ditch along with a large amount of pale liquid.

At first, Old Hu had thought he was a corpse. He had been praying that a few healthy organs might remain so he could sell them for a good price, but he never imagined Ji Qinglin would sit up on his own.

Ji Qinglin had reacted quickly enough. His years of reading webnovels had not been for nothing. The instant he realized something was wrong, he pretended to have a headache and amnesia first, lest anyone notice anything amiss.

Thinking about it now, he was truly grateful that Old Hu had not butchered him and sold him to organ traffickers.

Compared to arriving in another world, Ji Qinglin felt it was more like he had arrived in another time and space. According to information he found online, the era he had once lived in was already called the "Old Era." But if this truly was the future, how had his consciousness—

As he was lost in thought, the Qi Practitioner had already taken Ji Qinglin through twists and turns into a remote factory building.

Why was this disciple adoption ceremony being held in such a remote, shabby place? Had the merchant association's Bangkok real estate investments gone bust?

Ji Qinglin cautiously observed his surroundings. Just as he was wondering whether he should steal the motorcycle and make a run for it if anything happened, the warehouse's side door opened without a sound.

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