Mihe Town

There were hundreds of cultivation families, large and small, surrounding Zhenjiang City.

However, only thirty-six of them possessed Golden Core cultivators, and they were known as the Thirty-Six Great Cultivation Families of Zhenjiang.

The Lu Family, where Lu Qingshan's previous life resided, was one of these thirty-six great cultivation families.

The Lu Family was located on Mihe Peak, the main peak of the Qianzhou Mountain Range.

Even cultivation families needed secular influence.

Mihe Town was a secular town situated at the foot of Mihe Peak, subordinate to the Lu Family.

The family business that his previous self was responsible for often required him to travel between Mihe Town and Zhenjiang City, and he was quite familiar with the roads.

Following his memories, Lu Qingshan traveled for a day with practiced ease and entered Mihe Town.

Having occupied Mihe Peak for a long time, the Lu Family had developed over many years, and Mihe Town was actually quite prosperous.

The town's roads were paved with bluestone, clean and tidy. The long streets, wide enough for two carriages to pass, were bustling with pedestrians, making it exceptionally lively.

The houses along the roadside were mostly two or three stories tall, with many featuring carved beams and painted pillars, exuding an air of luxury.

The western district of Mihe Town was home to numerous businesses, boasting good public order and an elegant environment.

In the western district, there was a clothing shop owned by the Lu Family.

"I only gave you such a small task, and you're still so slow. How can I trust you with the clothing shop in the future!" Lu Qingshan heard the familiar scolding voice from afar and couldn't help but smile.

He looked inside through the doorway.

Inside the shop, a white-haired elder stood with his back to him, holding a feather duster. He was spitting as he berated a boy no older than fourteen or fifteen.

The boy, with his head bowed and a look of obedient submission, was actually rolling his eyes, clearly not paying attention to the elder's reprimand.

Suddenly, the boy's darting eyes caught sight of Lu Qingshan at the doorway. His pupils widened abruptly, and he pointed a trembling finger outside, stammering, "Lu Lu..."

"What Lu Lu!" Seeing the boy dare to get distracted while being scolded, the elder puffed out his beard and glared, raising his voice further. "Lu Xun, you little brat, you dare to lose focus, don't you!"

"Grandpa, it's Lu Qingshan!" Lu Xun finally managed to catch his breath.

"What Lu Qingshan?" The elder instinctively turned in the direction Lu Xun was pointing and saw Lu Qingshan standing at the doorway with a smile on his face.

Bang—

The elder's grip loosened, and the feather duster fell to the ground.

The elder, named Lu Zhi, was a collateral descendant of the Lu Family with a cultivation base at the sixth level of Qi Refining. After growing old, he retired from the mountains and took charge of this clothing shop.

Lu Xun was his grandson, a mere mortal without any cultivation.

Lu Qingshan had previously worked at this clothing shop.

Lu Qingshan's father, Lu Bei, was one of the only three Golden Core cultivators in the Lu Family.

Therefore, even though Lu Qingshan lacked any cultivation talent and was just an ordinary mortal, he held a respectable position in this large clothing shop, serving as a middle-management supervisor.

In a side room in the backyard of the clothing shop.

"What's going on? What happened four months ago? We all thought you were dead, and Lu Xun was heartbroken for a long time," Lu Zhi said, looking at Lu Qingshan's face, unable to believe it.

Four months ago, Lu Qingshan, along with three shop assistants, was escorting a large batch of cloth to Zhenjiang City. However, the four of them mysteriously disappeared on the way.

He had reported the matter to the family immediately, and the family had dispatched people from the Disciplinary Hall to investigate, but they found nothing.

After so many days, they had all assumed that Lu Qingshan had met with misfortune.

Unexpectedly, Lu Qingshan had reappeared alive and well at this moment.

"Grandpa, you're blaming me? Who was it that hid in their room drinking alone every day during that time?" Lu Xun said disdainfully, exposing him.

"You little brat, you think you're so clever, don't you? Grandpa is talking to Qingshan, why are you interrupting!" Lu Zhi smacked Lu Xun on the back of the head, scolding him.

The familiar people and surroundings stirred an inexplicable emotion within Lu Qingshan's chest.

These were the emotions of the Lu Qingshan of this world.

His father was a notorious womanizer with many children, and he was insignificant among them. He had never met his father since birth.

His mother had died of illness when he was five years old.

Therefore, he had no deep impression of his parents.

He had grown up in this clothing shop since childhood. Although Lu Zhi was not related to him by blood, he treated him like his own grandson, and Lu Xun also respected him as an elder brother.

They were the two closest people in the memories of the Lu Qingshan of this world.

"Brother Qingshan, that's right! Why were you gone for so long? And what about Ah Long and the others? Why did you come back alone?" Lu Xun scratched the back of his head and asked with concern.

Ah Long and the others were shop assistants who had escorted the goods with Lu Qingshan.

Lu Qingshan chuckled, "It's a long story... We were attacked by Evil Cultivators. Those Evil Cultivators violated Great Xia's prohibitions and were capturing civilians everywhere to refine them into Corpse Puppets."

"Corpse Puppets!" Lu Zhi's expression changed.

After all, he was a cultivator, and he was aware of the notorious reputation of Corpse Puppets.

"What are Corpse Puppets?" Lu Xun asked, confused.

"Don't interrupt," Lu Zhi reprimanded, then looked back at Lu Qingshan. "Then how did you..."

The evil cultivator's methods were sinister; he couldn't imagine how Lu Qingshan had escaped from the clutches of an evil cultivator.

"That evil cultivator was active near Yuanshan City. Somehow, an organization in Yuanshan City called Zhishou Tower discovered him. The cultivators from Zhishou Tower eliminated the evil cultivator and, in the process, rescued me.

However, Ah Long and the others didn't make it until then. I was also severely injured and recuperated in Yuanshan City for a long time. It was only a few days ago that I returned to Zhenjiang City with a merchant caravan."

This was also the story Lu Qingshan planned to use to deal with the family's cultivators later.

Lu Xun listened, dumbfounded.

Lu Zhi, being a cultivator himself, understood the danger even better and felt immense relief. "That's good, that's good. If that Zhishou Tower cultivator had arrived any later, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

"Brother Qingshan, Grandpa always insisted you weren't dead because your body was never found, so your position as manager is still being kept for you!" Lu Xun suddenly remembered this and said proudly.

Lu Qingshan looked at Lu Zhi.

Lu Zhi nodded in affirmation to Lu Qingshan. "Lu Xun is right, your manager position is still being kept for you. Rest for a few days, and then you can resume your previous responsibilities."

Lu Zhi intended to have Lu Qingshan and Lu Xun jointly manage the clothing shop from then on.

Lu Qingshan shook his head slightly. "Grandpa Lu, I don't think I can continue working at the clothing shop."

Lu Zhi was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

Lu Qingshan extended his right hand and channeled the spiritual energy within his body. Soon, a hazy white light appeared on his hand.

As a cultivator, Lu Zhi naturally recognized what it was.

"Spiritual energy?! Qingshan, you've become a cultivator?"

Lu Qingshan pursed his lips. "Yes, I was fortunate enough to cultivate spiritual energy."

"Good! Good! Good!" Lu Zhi exclaimed excitedly, saying "good" three times. "To survive a great disaster is to find future fortune!"

Lu Xun, standing beside them, was also filled with excitement. "Brother Qingshan, you've become a cultivator!"

The status of a cultivator was worlds apart from that of a mortal.

After becoming a cultivator, Lu Qingshan could enter the family's blessed land to cultivate.

If he achieved success in his cultivation and secured a position as a family steward, he would be an influential figure in Mihe Town.

Even if he couldn't become a high-level cultivator, like Lu Zhi, who had no ambition for further cultivation, he would still be assigned to manage the family's businesses.