To Get Ahead, You Need Plenty of Disguises

With money in hand, of course, one has to spend it; otherwise, what is the difference between oneself and a miser?

Lu Mingyuan certainly couldn't afford that Divine Ability Stone worth ten million, nor was he planning to buy it right now.

Because among the treasures in the Divine Ability Treasury, there was one he needed most at the moment.

It was called "Second Avatar," valued at 10,000 points.

This "Second Avatar" wasn't actually a true second avatar. With it, one could open another identity, account, ID, or what one might call an alias within the Heavenly Dao Virtual Network.

As for his original "Anonymous" account, Lu Mingyuan intended to use it for some major undertakings, and he absolutely could not reveal it to anyone. Otherwise, it would be dangerous.

This "Anonymous" account had to remain hidden; he couldn't let anyone know about it, and he couldn't expose any connection between himself and "Anonymous."

Therefore, regarding the issue of "Anonymous," Lu Mingyuan could only think about it in his heart; he couldn't even speak of it aloud, lest walls have ears.

As for this newly opened account, it would be Lu Mingyuan's public identity from now on, which he named "Road Under Feet."

With an alias, Lu Mingyuan finally felt completely at ease. After all, the things he would do in the future would surely offend many people; using only one account was simply too dangerous.

For these past years, Lu Mingyuan hadn't even said a single word within the Heavenly Dao Virtual Network (the original Divine Ability Treasury had been renamed to the Heavenly Dao Virtual Network) for fear that others might deduce his identity based on his words.

One could say he was cautious to the extreme.

But it was better now; he could finally speak freely within the Heavenly Dao Virtual Network.

With an alias, I can finally purchase items in the Heavenly Dao Virtual Network openly and honestly.

Lu Mingyuan couldn't help but think, feeling a bit eager to try.

He had truly been stifled for too long.

Hmm, let's buy "Chicken and Rabbit in a Cage" first; otherwise, it would be too tragic if I couldn't even openly use the divine ability I created myself.

Thinking this way, Lu Mingyuan flipped to the page for divine abilities, preparing to make his move.

Wait...

Just then, Lu Mingyuan suddenly stopped his hand, patting his forehead with lingering fear.

Logically speaking, wasn't his most important task right now to create divine abilities? Would it be unreasonable to buy one directly?

100 Human Luck points were enough to keep him saving for over two months; he couldn't spend them recklessly, and it didn't fit his usual persona.

Forget it.

Lu Mingyuan shook his head and abandoned the idea.

It seems I can only earn ten million Qi Luck Points sooner, buy a Divine Ability Stone to fill this gap, and only after creating another divine ability can I buy back "Chicken and Rabbit in a Cage."

At this stage, he still had to hold back.

Fortunately, the city was very safe, and he didn't plan on going out, so he shouldn't need it for now.

However, he had to hurry!

Never had Lu Mingyuan been so anxiously hopeful that his divine ability would become a massive hit and sell like crazy.

To be honest, if it weren't for the extreme danger of being exposed, he might have already lost his patience.

Fortunately, this was already Lu Mingyuan's second life; otherwise, few seventeen or eighteen-year-old youths could have held back.

Isn't there a saying: "To return home without wealth is like wearing fine silk in the dark."

After dismissing the urge to shop, Lu Mingyuan checked the sales status of "Chicken and Rabbit in a Cage" once more.

Suddenly, Lu Mingyuan's eyes widened; he felt as if his breathing had stalled at that moment.

He saw that, somehow, the sales share of his "Chicken and Rabbit in a Cage" had reached 11,202—it had suddenly jumped by ten thousand—and his Qi Luck Points had also risen to over one million, which was nearly one-tenth of a Divine Ability Stone.

How did it rise so fast?

This shouldn't be happening, right?

Suddenly, the number jumped by another ten thousand, and the sales share had already reached over twenty thousand.

After a long while, Lu Mingyuan patted his chest: It's a good thing I don't have a heart condition, or I would have surely passed out.

Are these people crazy?

But so uniform? Could it be that some group is buying them?

Forget it, I can't tell anything just by looking at the data. But at this pace, I should be able to scrape together ten million by tomorrow. Then I'll truly break even, and I can start the next part of my plan.

In the blink of an eye, it was the morning of the next day.

Although it was only the third quarter of the Chen hour and the sun had just risen, the streets of Changfeng City were already bustling with people and heavy traffic.

People were doing business, heading to work, laboring in the fields, or going to the market to buy groceries...

In short, it was very lively.

"At the beginning of life, human nature is good. Nature is similar, habits make them distant..."

Suddenly, the sound of clear, rhythmic reading drifted out from Guihua Lane in the east of the city, as if adorning this noisy city with a new hope.

Occasionally, passersby who heard these somewhat childish yet exceptionally uniform voices would smile, their hearts suddenly filled with new strength.

Following the sound of the recitation to find its source, I soon arrived deep within Guihua Lane, where a rather ordinary-looking courtyard stood.

Entering the courtyard, I stepped into the main hall.

In this hall of about twenty square meters, some twenty desks and chairs were arranged, making the space look rather cramped.

At this moment, a group of children around six or seven years old were sitting neatly at their desks, holding paper scrolls in their hands and reciting in unison with rhythmic cadence.

"Clouds to rain, snow to wind, evening glow to clear sky. Arriving geese to departing swallows, roosting birds to chirping insects. A three-foot sword, a six-jun bow, north of the ridge to east of the river. On earth, the Palace of Cool Summer; in the heavens, the Palace of Wide Cold. On both banks, morning mist and green willows; in one garden, spring rain and red apricot blossoms. Frost on both temples, a traveler on an early journey; a straw raincoat in misty rain, an old man fishing by the stream..."

Well, it seems they are reading Enlightenment on Sound and Rhythm.

At the very front of the classroom stood a young girl in a white dress, also holding a book.

Wait, isn't that Jing Zhi!

If she is Jing Zhi, then the figure pacing back and forth in the classroom must be Lu Mingyuan!

Indeed, this place is actually the home of Lu Mingyuan.

After Lu Mingyuan's parents passed away, he was still too young, so he leased all of his family's few acres of farmland to his second uncle, Lu Yi.

During his spare time from his own studies, he would provide basic education to these neighborhood children, teaching them how to read and write.

For one, it helped subsidize his household expenses; for another, it could be considered inheriting his mother's profession; and thirdly, he was bored and wanted something to do.

I remember that Uncle Jing, who was a neighbor at the time, brought his two daughters, Jing Zhi and Jing Yue, to Lu Mingyuan, telling him to carry on his mother's legacy of teaching and literacy.

Of course, Uncle Jing wasn't blindly trusting Lu Mingyuan.

Perhaps because he was living a second life, Lu Mingyuan was precocious. Even though he hadn't awakened his memories at the time, he was already able to read through the Four Books and Five Classics, so teaching young children to read and write was not a problem.

Since he had agreed to teach, Lu Mingyuan thought at the time that since he was already tending to one sheep, he might as well tend to the whole flock, so he took in all the school-age children from the street. That is how it reached its current scale.

Therefore, strictly speaking, Jing Zhi was once Lu Mingyuan's student, his very first disciple, even though they were the same age.

Of course, Jing Zhi has now been promoted to a teaching assistant and occasionally takes over the lessons herself.

So, this rather informal school is actually a joint venture between Lu Mingyuan and Jing Zhi.

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