Lin Tianlu walked leisurely down the town's streets, occasionally glancing over the shops and residences he passed on either side and nodding secretly.
The buildings and pedestrians' clothing here differed little from those of the Tang and Song Dynasties in his memories. There was nothing especially unusual.
Although Changling County was not wealthy, the public order seemed fairly good. The marketplace was orderly, the people simple and honest—in short, it could be called a place where one could settle down.
However, having a beauty walking beside him along the way naturally drew plenty of sidelong glances.
"This scholar looks so miserably poor. Even the boots on his feet are full of holes..."
"Could he have been robbed by bandits?"
"How pitiful..."
Whispers like these continued without end.
Lin Tianlu paid them no mind, but Hua Shuya frowned repeatedly. At last, she gave a soft snort and quickly led him to the local cloth shop.
Unfortunately, there were hardly any finished garments in the shop. Most of the stock consisted of various silks and fabrics. If he wanted high-grade clothes, they would still need several days to be custom-made and sewn. Lin Tianlu simply chose a scholar's robe that fit him reasonably well and changed out of his faded, tattered clothes.
When she saw him walk out of the cloth shop, Hua Shuya's beautiful eyes lit up, and she secretly marveled.
The man before her had a face as handsome as jade and an elegant bearing. His clean white scholar's robe was not luxurious, but it lent him an abundance of carefree charm. His straight posture made anyone praise him as handsome. If the former Lin Tianlu could only be called extraordinary in bearing, he now seemed completely renewed, like the young master of a wealthy household.
"Senior, this scholar's robe really suits you."
"After all, I'm a scholar to begin with. No matter what I wear, this is ultimately what fits me best." Lin Tianlu shook out his sleeves.
After hesitating for a moment, Hua Shuya still spoke softly:
"Senior, back at the restaurant... it seemed you had something you wanted to explain to me?"
"Miss Hua is quite attentive."
Lin Tianlu raised his brows slightly, then chuckled. "It was nothing major. I only wanted to remind you that handing a tael of silver so generously to a beggar and a child could easily cause conflict. If they started fighting over it, how could such a young child possibly protect this windfall from heaven?"
Hua Shuya's expression changed at once.
"You needn't worry, either. That child was clever enough to spend all the silver in public. He managed to exchange it for food to take home, so your generous gift was not wasted."
"I... did indeed fail to think it through." Guilt showed on Hua Shuya's face.
"You're so young, yet you already possess such kindness. That alone is worthy of praise. Why blame yourself?"
Lin Tianlu smiled faintly and cupped his hands. "Rather, I should be thanking you properly. If you hadn't taken such careful care of me, I would have arrived in Changling County a stranger with no idea where to go. I'm afraid I would have been drinking the northwest wind here for quite some time."
Hua Shuya waved her hands repeatedly, flustered. "Senior, what are you saying? You saved my life. This small repayment is only right and proper."
Seeing how interestingly the girl reacted, Lin Tianlu stopped declining and smiled. "Enough. Let's go take a look at the residence you rented for me first."
"Senior, this way."
A short while later.
Lin Tianlu suddenly stopped and stared into the distance, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.
"You said this repayment was really only 'this much'?"
Looking at the broad residence before him, brimming with ancient charm, he nearly thought he had come to the wrong place.
This is more like a tiny bit of a lot, isn't it?
Hua Shuya nodded with a beaming smile. "Since you'll be staying in Changling County for a while, naturally I had to choose a suitable residence for you.
"I spoke with the local brokers for quite some time. They said this residence had the best feng shui and scenery in Changling County. Its previous occupants were a scholarly family, and the house still contained all its furniture, along with quite a few writing implements and works of calligraphy. With only a little cleaning, you could move in tonight. So I simply bought it."
Bought... it?
Lin Tianlu froze.
This residence was far from low-grade. Ordinary people would probably struggle even to afford its rent, let alone buy it outright.
He was just about to politely refuse, but when he saw the girl beside him gazing at him with shining eyes and an expectant expression, he could only helplessly accept her heartfelt offer.
"Senior, please come inside..."
A small firework suddenly rose in the distance and quietly burst open.
Hua Shuya froze when she saw it, but soon turned solemn and cupped her hands toward Lin Tianlu. "Senior, please forgive me for taking my leave for now. That firework is an urgent notice from the local authorities. I must go and lend them a hand."
"An urgent matter?"
"Probably... the capture of some escaped criminals."
"Then go help them, Miss Hua." Lin Tianlu smiled and waved his hand. "I'll take care of cleaning up this residence myself."
"Thank you for your generous understanding, Senior."
Hua Shuya bowed gracefully, then immediately turned and hurried away.
The afternoon slipped quietly by, and the sky had already darkened.
"Whew—"
After tidying up for a while, Lin Tianlu wiped his hands clean and looked at the magnificent main hall of the residence, nodding with great satisfaction.
It truly was an impressive and refined courtyard, worthy of the enormous price paid for it.
The only problem was that, within this vast residence, he was now completely alone, making it seem somewhat cold and deserted.
"Although there are no servants to help with the cleaning, having such a quiet environment isn't bad."
However, once he returned to the room, his expression quickly grew more serious.
Several items he had unearthed on Taiyi Mountain were now arranged one after another on the table.
"At last, I have some private time. I can sit down and properly figure out what's going on."
First of all—
Himself.
Lin Tianlu sat cross-legged on the bed with some awkwardness, slowly closing his eyes as he tried to adjust the rhythm of his breathing.
Neither the impoverished scholar whose body he had transmigrated into, nor the ordinary university student he had been before transmigrating and reincarnating, had ever come into contact with any method of cultivating immortality and the Way.
For now, he could only try imitating the "entering meditation" techniques from some fantasy and xianxia novels.
But the moment he sank his thoughts, his mind suddenly became clear and transparent. He immediately sensed the tiny specks of light flickering faintly within his body, like little stars in the night sky.
Even without watching them with his eyes, he could still feel everything inside his body reflected completely in his mind, as clear as day.
"Could these things... be the so-called Spiritual Energy?"
Lin Tianlu was overjoyed.
After considering it for a moment, he tried observing more deeply, peeling back the dark and unfathomable clouds.
Boom—!
A roar rang out in his mind, like an ancient bell being struck, its distant echo reverberating without end.
The strange meridians and eight extraordinary vessels that had originally been dim and lightless were completely illuminated at that moment. Countless dazzling points of light surged and flowed like waves, seeping minutely into every bone and every piece of flesh, seemingly changing every part of his body without pause and bringing about a transformation akin to shedding his mortal shell and replacing his bones!
"This, this..."
Lin Tianlu was utterly shaken.
He had no idea when his body had undergone such a bizarre transformation!
The spiritual power rushing through his body was warm and abundant. It coiled and circled, forming an exceptionally perfect cycle of return, as if it would flow endlessly without ever stopping.
Not only that, but within his spreading, faint perception, the surrounding environment had also begun filling with large amounts of hazy Spiritual Energy. It seemed to gather from the earth beneath his feet, condensing into mist. In the blink of an eye, it shrouded the entire room, making it seem as though he had entered a dreamlike immortal realm.
With every breath, he inhaled vast amounts of Spiritual Energy into his lungs. The circulation of that energy made his body even more vigorous.
"Where exactly did this Spiritual Energy come from?"
Lin Tianlu was deeply puzzled.
If he were some unparalleled cultivation genius found once in ten thousand people, perhaps it could still be barely explained.
If an expert from an immortal sect had instructed him, and he had spent several days or weeks cultivating such Spiritual Energy, that would not be entirely unreasonable.
But his memories contained no cultivation whatsoever. He had not even known whether there was Spiritual Energy inside his body. Where had this astonishing cultivation come from?
"Could it be... that while I was unconscious, I accidentally swallowed something from that cave?"
Lin Tianlu pondered briefly, then gathered his mind once more.
He teased apart the layers of Spiritual Energy within his body, peering toward its deeper reaches.
As he parted the sea of clouds—
A mountain peak ten thousand zhang tall suddenly floated inside his body!
Mist dragons churned, rays of light enveloped it, and countless immortal auras and radiance spilled outward. At a glance, it seemed like the abode of an immortal god, ethereal as a rainbow.
The mountain was so familiar that he recognized its name at once.
Lin Tianlu stared wide-eyed.
"...Taiyi Mountain?!"
Before you continue