Version Update

"Lu Yan! Go move the talisman paper from the warehouse. Remember to clean it thoroughly with a Dust Removal Talisman."

"Lu Yan! Why is there twenty percent less cinnabar for drawing talismans today? I pay you one Spirit Stone every month, is it just so you can be lazy?"

"This piece of talisman paper is actually damaged. What are you good for? I'm deducting half a Spirit Stone from you to compensate for the loss!"

Inside the Spirit Talisman Shop, the pot-bellied shopkeeper Chu Hao constantly let out shouts of scolding, berating the only employee in the shop.

This employee looked to be only around twenty years old, with a thin build and a handsome face that carried a hint of scholarly air. However, his attire of coarse cloth and hemp clothing ruined his temperament.

He simply lowered his head, silently following the shopkeeper Chu Hao's orders to organize materials and mix cinnabar.

It was already evening, and there weren't many cultivators coming and going in the market to buy spiritual items. Shopkeeper Chu Hao's scolding immediately attracted many shopkeepers and employees from the surrounding shops to watch.

One shopkeeper couldn't stand it anymore and couldn't help but speak up to advise:

"Shopkeeper Chu, just say a little less! I think this young man Lu Yan is diligent and honest. If you really scold him away, where will you find such a suitable employee?"

The pot-bellied Shopkeeper Chu glared upon hearing this and said loudly and impolitely:

"Three-legged toads are hard to find, but aren't two-legged people everywhere? If he doesn't do it, there are plenty of people who will!"

"What's more, these mortals are all ungrateful fellows who will try to run away sooner or later."

"Do I have to treat him well and provide him with good food and drink like those other heartless employees, only for him to steal my family's cultivation technique and Spirit Stones and quietly run away in the end?"

As soon as Shopkeeper Chu said this, the surrounding people immediately fell silent.

The Bamboo Forest Market wasn't very big, and everyone had heard about what happened to Shopkeeper Chu.

A few years ago, Shopkeeper Chu found an employee with cultivation talent and planned to train him as a successor. He not only provided cultivation techniques but also personally taught him the skill of drawing Spirit Talismans.

As a result, not long after that employee entered the Qi Refining Stage, he took advantage of Shopkeeper Chu being out and absconded with the cultivation technique and Spirit Stones from the Spirit Talisman Shop, causing Shopkeeper Chu heavy losses.

Since then, Shopkeeper Chu has been full of distrust towards the employees he hires, often arbitrarily beating and scolding them.

In just four or five years, the Spirit Talisman Shop has had over twenty employees run away, the shortest of whom only stayed for half a month.

Thinking of this, the other shopkeepers in the market could only shake their heads secretly and disperse.

Shopkeeper Chu, standing at the door, glanced at the dim sky outside, left a sentence, and then left the shop in a hurry.

Inside the Spirit Talisman Shop, only Lu Yan remained, tidying up the shop.

Lu Yan was brought into the Spirit Talisman Shop by Shopkeeper Chu three months ago. He worked diligently every day but was also constantly nitpicked.

That fat-headed Shopkeeper Chu said he would pay one Spirit Stone every month, but in reality, often within less than three days of work, the one Spirit Stone would be completely deducted.

Damaged talisman paper in the warehouse would result in a Spirit Stone deduction, poor quality cinnabar would result in a Spirit Stone deduction, poor shop business would result in a Spirit Stone deduction, and even customers bargaining would result in a Spirit Stone deduction from Lu Yan.

After three months, Lu Yan even owed the Spirit Talisman Shop twenty-seven Spirit Stones.

This number of Spirit Stones was even more than the entire wealth of most early-stage Qi Refining cultivators. Compared to this Shopkeeper Chu, capitalists were considered generous.

"No, it's twenty-seven and a half."

Lu Yan, who was organizing the talisman paper, silently added a note in his heart.

To outsiders, Lu Yan was an employee randomly selected by Shopkeeper Chu from a mortal city, but only Lu Yan himself knew that he did not belong to this world.

Lu Yan came from Earth, a world only he knew. His soul had crossed time and space, descending upon a person with the same name.

Initially, the world Lu Yan saw was also a bustling metropolis. Its technological level and cultural development were almost indistinguishable from 21st-century Earth.

It wasn't until three months ago that Lu Yan experienced a version update.

At that moment, Lu Yan finally realized the truth of the entire world.

It was as if some supreme power had turned the entire world into a game, and the world directly transitioned from a metropolitan version to a Xianxia version.

In just a brief instant, the original bustling metropolis disappeared, replaced by an ancient and charming Xianxia world.

Those complex and exquisite technological creations vanished, the original order was erased in an instant, and cultivators who could fly through the nine heavens and enter the netherworld became the masters of the Xianxia version.

Amidst these earth-shattering changes, all living beings seemed unaware, merely instinctively going with the flow.

Even the power holders of the metropolis and the high and mighty cultivators could only follow the changes in the world's version.

In this drastically changing world, only Lu Yan, as an outsider, became a being independent of the world's version updates.

He personally witnessed tall buildings turn into low houses, bustling metropolises become mortal cities, and a large number of familiar faces disappear. Even if there were occasionally one or two familiar faces, their identities had changed.

Amidst these changing myriad things, only Lu Yan himself was the eternally unchanging individual, able to retain memories from different versions and keep items from the previous version.

This was originally a good thing, but Lu Yan, who had just experienced the version update, hadn't even had time to adapt to the changes before he was spotted by Shopkeeper Chu, who was going to the mortal city to select shop assistants.

Shopkeeper Chu forcibly brought Lu Yan to the Bamboo Forest Market, forcing him into endless hard labor day and night.

In the early stages of the version update, Lu Yan still had fantasies about the so-called cultivation techniques and the Xianxia world.

But as he was exploited day and night by Shopkeeper Chu, only able to sleep on a cold, hard bed and eat unpalatable food every day, most of the fantasies in Lu Yan's heart had dissipated.

Even if there truly was a cultivation life of entering the netherworld and roaming freely, it didn't belong to someone like him, a shop assistant at the very bottom of the market.

The harsh living environment and difficult life were secondary. More importantly, there was no stable order in this Xianxia version.

Even in the metropolitan version, despite differences in power and wealth, everyone was just human. A gun or a dagger could level all differences.

But in the Xianxia version, mortals and cultivators were completely different life forms, and the difference between them had reached an immeasurable degree.

This was a man-eating world!

This wasn't capitalist exploitation, but literally eating people.

Constant silence couldn't protect oneself. To avoid being eaten, one could only fight back.

After placing the last stack of talisman paper on the shelf, Lu Yan walked to the counter, took the remaining thirteen Spirit Stones from the drawer, and the few remaining finished Spirit Talismans.

Then, under the surprised gazes of the surrounding shops, Lu Yan closed the door of the Spirit Talisman Shop and walked towards the back courtyard of the shop.

A string of illusory text popped up before Lu Yan's eyes.

[Current Version: Xianxia

Version Update Progress: 99.3%]