A Glimpse of the Tip of the Iceberg

A Glimpse of the Tip of the Iceberg

"What exactly can this thing do?"

The Light of Luck was clearly a consumable, so Lu Zheng had a guess. Recalling how the Jade Seal had carried him between two worlds, he thought directly in his mind, I want to cultivate immortality!

No response...

Lu Zheng: "..."

"I want to become stronger!"

Still nothing—wait, the Light of Luck twitched slightly.

Lu Zheng's eyes lit up. There was a way!

His thoughts raced, and Lu Zheng issued his next command.

"I want to become... a little stronger!"

"Buzz!"

The Jade Seal trembled gently, and a wisp of Light of Luck vanished in an instant.

Then Lu Zheng shuddered violently. The fatigue brought on by staying up all night abruptly disappeared. He clenched his fists and felt power filling every inch of his body.

He reached down and felt his stomach. It seemed firmer by several degrees, as though he even had abs now.

Lu Zheng had always kept himself in decent shape, but he had never trained deliberately. Before this, he could only be called an ordinary man.

With just one wisp of luck, he had become a fitness fanatic?

"Damn!" Lu Zheng's eyes shone brightly. "I want to keep getting stronger!"

"Wuu..." The Jade Seal trembled, but the Light of Luck did not disappear. Instead, it conveyed the meaning that he should slow down.

With such a sudden enhancement, Lu Zheng's body would not be able to bear it for the moment.

Then, perhaps because he had completed the full process of obtaining and consuming the Light of Luck, the Jade Seal fed Lu Zheng information about it as well.

By influencing the rise and fall of others' luck, he could draw some of it out and feed it back into himself.

Moreover, because of the Heavenly Dao Laws, he could only obtain the Light of Luck in this world.

The Light of Luck could be consumed to strengthen himself, but its target had to be precise and something that could be changed through acquired means. There was another prerequisite: he had to already possess it; it could not be created from nothing.

In other words, there had to be a foundation.

Put another way, Lu Zheng could improve his physical qualities, but he could not suddenly become cleverer out of thin air or increase his wisdom.

He could improve skills he had already learned, such as driving, but he could not enhance skills he did not know, such as vocal mimicry.

For example, Lu Zheng did not know how to cultivate immortality, while becoming stronger was far too vague.

Only when he specified becoming more robust did it consume a wisp of Light of Luck, flowing into Lu Zheng's marrow, internal organs, muscles, meridians, and every other part of his body, comprehensively strengthening his physique.

"A hexagonal warrior!" Lu Zheng's heartbeat quickened again.

Originally, the Jade Seal had only been able to transport him between two worlds. Yet after he encountered the Old Beggar, it had unlocked a new function.

Since that was the case, would it gain more new functions in the future? Lu Zheng's expectations soared to the heavens.

"Young Master!"

Just as Lu Zheng's entire body twitched from time to time, Uncle Li called him back. "Young Master, Liu Butou is asking you something."

"Hm? Ah, what?"

Lu Zheng jolted awake and saw Liu Butou from the county town standing before him, looking at him strangely. "Young Master Lu, the criminal has already been brought to justice. You need not be afraid."

"Mm, oh, yes, yes." Lu Zheng came back to his senses and nodded hurriedly.

So Liu Butou had mistaken Lu Zheng's intermittent shudders—caused by his body struggling to adjust to its sudden increase in strength—for trembling in fear.

Well, that was fine too.

Having suddenly discovered that this world was not simple, Lu Zheng wanted even less to draw attention to himself.

But... why had someone suddenly targeted him? He still needed to get to the bottom of that.

He hoped it was merely a coincidence.

"May I ask Liu Butou, who is this man, and why did he target me?"

When Liu Butou heard Lu Zheng's question, his expression turned even stranger. He looked Lu Zheng over from head to toe several times.

Delicate brows and clear eyes, fair skin, a tall, upright figure, and a calm bearing—he was the very picture of a cultured man whose scholarly learning gave him an air of refinement.

He was also taller than most commoners, so Liu Butou had to tilt his head upward to speak with him.

"Liu Butou?"

"Oh, this man is a major criminal wanted by the Prefecture. Since Young Master Lu captured and delivered him to us, we have benefited from your good fortune." Liu Butou gave a vague reply. "By tomorrow, I imagine the County Magistrate will order that you be commended."

This so-called commendation meant posting a notice outside the County Government Office, having a minor official read it aloud, and giving him a verbal word of praise.

Being in ancient times, Lu Zheng naturally had enough sense not to ask whether there was a monetary reward.

"A commendation or not makes no difference." Lu Zheng waved his hand. "It is the duty of us commoners under the County Magistrate's governance to share the burdens of the County Magistrate and Liu Butou."

A glint flashed through Liu Butou's eyes. He nodded thoughtfully. This young man understood the ways of the world.

"I merely wish to know why this man targeted me, and whether there will be any hidden trouble afterward."

"It is nothing. He is merely a lone drifter. The Prefecture has been pursuing him closely of late, so he fled into our county." Liu Butou paused, then gave Lu Zheng another strange look. "As for what he did..."

"What? Is it inconvenient to say?"

"There is nothing inconvenient about it. He is merely a Flower Plucking Thief who has ruined the chastity of several families' daughters in the Prefecture."

Lu Zheng froze again. He had seen clearly that the night prowler had been a man. Not quite a hulking brute, perhaps, but still broad and powerfully built.

A Flower Plucking Thief, and instead of seeking women, he had come after him...

〣(Δ)〣

Lu Zheng stared blankly, his rear tightening.

Seeing Lu Zheng's expression, Liu Butou knew that although Lu Zheng looked delicate and refined, he did not fancy that sort of thing. Liu Butou cleared his throat. "Right, Young Master Lu, this way please. That lecher has not fully regained consciousness yet. Please tell us how you captured him."

Lu Zheng considered it and decided to tell the truth. If that lecher gave his own account, he might spread rumors that Lu Zheng's home possessed some treasure capable of releasing ten thousand rays of golden light.

"An Extraordinary!"

After hearing Lu Zheng's account and seeing the ordinary Wine Cup, Liu Butou looked full of envy. "Young Master is kindhearted indeed, and your fortune is truly good. One meal and a jug of wine spared you from disaster."

"So that Old Beggar was an Extraordinary with Dao Comprehension!" This was also Uncle Li's first time hearing Lu Zheng recount what had happened that night. Remembering how he had brandished his large broom, he felt somewhat guilty.

Lu Zheng could not help blinking. He suppressed the doubts in his heart and did not ask at once.

By the time they left the County Government Office, the sun had risen in the east, piercing clouds and scattering mist, its path blazing with light.

After returning home, Lu Zheng had coaxed from Uncle Li information about these so-called Extraordinary people.

Extraordinary was merely a general term for people with abilities beyond the ordinary. Monks, Daoists, swordsmen, and wandering heroines could all be called Extraordinary.

However, Uncle Li's knowledge was limited, and he did not know much. He had only heard that some swordsmen could take a man's head from a thousand miles away, while some Daoists could summon wind and rain, subdue demons and capture ghosts. The tales were so fantastical they seemed almost divine.

But Uncle Li had never seen any such thing before. Today was his first experience of it.

Lu Zheng recalled the storytellers at Qing Sheng Teahouse speaking of Daoists in this or that prefecture praying for rain, monks in some other prefecture ferrying demons across, romances between ghosts and fox spirits, immortality, immortals gathered in the capital, and supernatural wonders spread across the four seas...

He had once taken them for strange tales like Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, absorbing mainly the customs and human sentiments within the stories.

Now it seemed that, tucked away in a tiny Tonglin County, he had truly been fearless through ignorance.

"Quick! Find that Old Beggar!"

Lu Zheng and Uncle Li went home, then immediately headed out again. They split into two groups and searched the entire county town for the Old Beggar from yesterday.

It was one thing not to know. But now that he had encountered him, how could Lu Zheng possibly let this opportunity slip away?

Once he learned divine arts and spells, and added his Light of Luck to the mix, Lu Zheng hardly dared continue thinking further.

Yet from dawn until dusk, the two of them searched until they had nearly turned the entire county town upside down, but they never found a trace of that Old Beggar.