Mihe Town

There were hundreds of cultivation lineages of all sizes around Zhenjiang City.

Yet only thirty-six lineages possessed Golden Core cultivators, and they were known as Zhenjiang's Thirty-Six Great Cultivation Lineages.

The Lu Family, where Lu Qingshan's former self had belonged, was one of those thirty-six great cultivation lineages.

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

Even cultivation lineages always needed mortal forces.

Mihe Town was a small mortal town at the foot of Mihe Peak, under the Lu Family's jurisdiction.

The family business his former self had been responsible for required him to travel frequently between Mihe Town and Zhenjiang City, so he was extremely familiar with the road between them.

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

The Lu Family had occupied Mihe Peak for a long time. After years of development, Mihe Town had become exceedingly prosperous.

The roads in town were all paved with bluestone. Not only were they clean and tidy, but the broad streets, wide enough for two carriages to pass side by side, were packed with pedestrians and bustling with life.

Most of the buildings lining the streets were two- or three-story structures, and many featured carved beams and painted rafters, displaying every inch of their luxury.

Mihe Town's western district was home to a great many merchants. Public order was good, and the surroundings were tranquil and elegant.

A garment shop under the Lu Family's name stood in one corner of the western district.

"I only gave you such a small task, and you still dragged your feet! How am I supposed to trust you with the garment shop in the future?" From far away, Lu Qingshan heard that familiar scolding voice, and an involuntary smile appeared on his face.

He looked inside through the door.

An elderly man with graying hair stood with his back to him, clutching a feather duster as he berated a boy of fourteen or fifteen, spittle flying everywhere.

The boy had his head lowered, looking obedient as he accepted the scolding. Yet his eyes kept darting about, making it clear that not a word of the old man's rebuke had entered his ears.

Suddenly, the boy's wandering eyes caught sight of Lu Qingshan at the door. His pupils widened sharply, and he pointed outside, his voice trembling. "Lu... Lu..."

"Lu what?!" Seeing that the boy still dared to lose focus while being scolded, the old man blew his beard and glared, raising his voice several notches. "Lu Xun, you little bastard, you still dare to let your mind wander?"

"Grandpa, it's Lu Qingshan!" Lu Xun finally managed to get the words out in one breath.

"What Lu Qingshan?" The old man instinctively turned in the direction Lu Xun was pointing. At a glance, he saw Lu Qingshan standing in the doorway, smiling broadly.

Bang—

The old man's hand went slack, and the feather duster fell to the ground.

The old man was named Lu Zhi. He was a collateral descendant of the Lu Family with Qi Refining Level Six cultivation. After growing old, he had stepped down from the mountain and taken charge of this garment shop.

Lu Xun was his grandson, merely a mortal with no cultivation whatsoever.

Lu Qingshan had previously worked at this very garment shop.

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

Therefore, even though Lu Qingshan possessed no cultivation talent and was merely an ordinary mortal, he still held no low status in this enormous garment shop, having secured himself the position of a mid-level manager.

A side room in the garment shop's rear courtyard.

"What happened? What exactly happened four months ago? We all thought you were dead. This brat Lu Xun was heartbroken for ages..." Lu Zhi stared at Lu Qingshan's face, unable to believe it no matter how he looked.

Four months earlier, Lu Qingshan had taken three shop assistants to escort a large shipment of cloth to Zhenjiang City. Yet all four had mysteriously vanished along the way.

Lu Zhi had reported the matter to the family immediately, and the family had sent people from the Disciplinary Hall to investigate, but they had found nothing.

After so many days, they had all tacitly accepted that Lu Qingshan must have met with disaster.

Yet now, Lu Qingshan had appeared before them alive and well.

"Grandpa, you're one to talk. Who was it that hid in his room every day during that time, drinking alone?" Lu Xun exposed him with a disdainful expression.

"You little bastard, think you're so clever? Your grandpa is talking to Qingshan—what are you interrupting for?" Lu Zhi scolded, slapping Lu Xun on the back of the head.

The familiar people and things before him made an inexplicable emotion surge through Lu Qingshan's chest.

They were the feelings that belonged to the Lu Qingshan of this world.

His father was a notorious philanderer with many children. Lu Qingshan was insignificant among them, and from the day he was born, he had never seen his father even once.

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

Thus, he had never held particularly deep impressions of either of his parents.

He had grown up in this garment shop. Though Lu Zhi shared no blood ties with him, he had treated Lu Qingshan as his own grandson, while Lu Xun had revered him as an elder brother.

In the memories of the Lu Qingshan from this world, they were the two people closest to him.

"Big Brother Qingshan, that's right. How did you disappear for so long? And what about A-Long and the others? Why did only you return?" Lu Xun scratched the back of his head and asked with concern.

A-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 the Great Xia prohibition and were capturing commoners everywhere to refine Corpse Puppets."

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

He was a cultivator, after all, and knew something of the Corpse Puppets' notorious reputation.

"What's a Corpse Puppet?" Lu Xun asked blankly from the side.

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

Evil Cultivators employed vicious methods. He could not imagine how Lu Qingshan had escaped after falling into their hands.

"That Evil Cultivator had been active near Yuanshan City. Somehow, he was discovered by an organization in Yuanshan City called Zhishou Tower. The cultivator lords of Zhishou Tower wiped out the Evil Cultivator and happened to rescue me as well.

"But A-Long and the others didn't hold on until then. I was also badly injured, so I recuperated in Yuanshan City for a long time. Only a few days ago did I return to Zhenjiang City with a merchant caravan."

This was also the explanation Lu Qingshan had prepared to deal with the family cultivators afterward.

Lu Xun listened with his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

As a cultivator, Lu Zhi understood the danger even more clearly. He was immensely relieved. "Thank heavens, thank heavens. If that Zhishou Tower cultivator had arrived any later, the consequences would have been unthinkable..."

"Big Brother Qingshan, Grandpa never saw your body, so he always insisted that you weren't dead. He even kept your manager's position for you!" Lu Xun suddenly remembered this and said proudly.

Lu Qingshan looked at Lu Zhi.

Lu Zhi nodded firmly at Lu Qingshan. "Lu Xun is right. I kept your manager's position for you. Rest for a few days first, then continue handling your previous duties."

Lu Zhi had intended for Lu Qingshan and Lu Xun to jointly manage this garment shop in the future.

Lu Qingshan shook his head slightly. "Grandpa Lu, I may not be able to continue working at the garment shop."

Lu Zhi froze. "What do you mean?"

Lu Qingshan raised his right hand and circulated the spiritual energy within his body. Soon, a hazy layer of white light appeared over 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. By a stroke of luck, I cultivated spiritual energy."

"Good! Good! Good!" Lu Zhi exclaimed three times in excitement. "Survive a great calamity, and blessings will surely follow!"

Lu Xun's face was equally full of excitement. "Big Brother Qingshan, you've become a cultivator!"

A cultivator's status was worlds apart from that of a mortal.

After becoming a cultivator, Lu Qingshan could enter the Lu Family's Blessed Land to cultivate.

If he achieved success in cultivation and secured a position as a family deacon, then in Mihe Town, his word would carry the weight of nine tripods.

Even if he failed to become a high-level cultivator, he could still be assigned to manage family properties, just like Lu Zhi, should he lack the ambition to cultivate further.