Arrived in Song

Three feet above one's head dwell the gods; this was something Lu Bian had already verified.

Mountains have mountain gods, lands have earth gods, and waters have water gods.

Although they are gods of a single locality, their abilities are far too meager. Even mortals can call them minor deities, and when they encounter even slightly formidable demons, they can only hide in the ground and bury their heads like ostriches.

When demons run rampant and commit evil within their territories, the mountain and earth gods have no way to stop them. These minor heavenly deities cannot ascend to the heavens, so they can only hope that some great god will pass by one day and help them eliminate the demons.

Lu Bian realized that he seemed to be regarded as such a great god by these earth and mountain gods.

He continued his journey eastward. Along the way, whenever a mountain god temple or earth god temple existed in his vicinity, the Earth-Shrinking Jade Talisman in his bosom would emit a faint prompt, hoping he would go over to take a look.

Lu Bian would always go to the small temples of the earth gods to have a look, cleaning up for the incompetent earth and mountain gods by removing the dust, fallen leaves, and spiderwebs to make the small temples clean again.

In return, the earth and mountain gods would fill Lu Bian's Old Gourd with the wine they brewed themselves; it was the only thing they had to offer.

Whenever the Earth-Shrinking Jade Talisman emitted a crisp "Ding~!" sound, Lu Bian knew he could have the local mountain or earth god use the Earth-Shrinking Method to bring him before the temple in front of him.

Lu Bian had obtained the Earth-Shrinking Jade Talisman and had used the Earth-Shrinking Method once or twice himself.

The map given to him by the old master of the Gao family could no longer guide Lu Bian's way. Lu Bian now watched the sun by day and the stars by night, using celestial phenomena to guide his path.

The two times he used the Earth-Shrinking Method to return to a temple were because he had lost his way and headed in the wrong direction, forcing him to return to the previous temple to start over.

One man and one donkey trekked through the desolate mountains and wild ridges. A month later, he entered the territory of the Great Song Kingdom...

The Great Song.

Lu Bian could not remember much of the history of the Song Dynasty.

Although this was a world after the Journey to the West, with the current Great Song succeeding the prosperous Tang, the Song history from Lu Bian's original world could not necessarily be reconciled with this "Great Song."

The Tang Taizong Li Shimin in the Journey to the West lived several years longer than the Li Shimin of his original world.

Lu Bian did not want to dwell on this problem.

Having transmigrated into this world, he would integrate into it and live his life.

The events that occurred in the history of his original world might not necessarily happen here; they only represented a greater possibility.

With immortals, demons, Buddhas, and devils, there would always be some strange things emerging to stir up trouble.

Lu Bian felt there was no need for him to worry about any particular possibility.

He would first see what the situation was like in this Great Song before deciding anything else...

Bianjing was the capital of the Great Song.

After entering the densely populated civilized lands, the roads were smooth and extended in all directions. Lu Bian easily traveled with his donkey into the most prosperous capital of the Great Song and successfully spent his first winter New Year within the borders of the Great Song Kingdom.

Having walked all the way from Gao Family Town to the Great Song, Lu Bian had turned traveling into a skill, quickly crossing most of the Great Song's territory to reach the capital, Bianjing.

Upon entering the Great Song Kingdom, Lu Bian had many things to consider, such as his household registration and identity.

Magnetic field power could alter and distort the thoughts and memories of those weaker than oneself. Lu Bian used his level-nine magnetic field power to have the Great Song officials process his household registration and identity, making him a local of the capital, Bianjing.

Lu Bian: [Friends, I am a Beijing local now. Look at my new home in Dongjing.]

Lu Bian: [Why is no one replying?]

Shi Tianwu: [Greetings, Beijing local.]

Lu Bian: [Brother Tianwu is the only one who gives me face. Greetings to you too, leader of the Silver Capital.]

In the Chat Group, the members gradually discovered that the flow of time in their respective worlds was not consistent.

When they were all online chatting together, the time flow of the group members would temporarily synchronize, but once they went offline, their time would move at its own pace.

Lu Bian had spent more than half a year traveling to the Great Song, and now the time flow on his side was faster than that of the other group members.

However, originally, the time flow in Shi Tianwu's world had been the fastest.

The speed of time flow meant nothing to Shi Tianwu, who had completely mastered time. He manipulated the time in his own world to synchronize with the time flow of Lu Bian's world, so as to facilitate his guidance of Lu Bian's magnetic field cultivation.

Because the time flow was synchronized with Lu Bian, Shi Tianwu was always the first person to reply whenever Lu Bian sent a message in the group.

Shi Tianwu: [Honestly, I find it hard to believe that you are living in ancient times, Lu Bian.]

Lu Bian: [Yeah, I'm starting to find it hard to believe myself.]

The prosperity of Bianjing was beyond anything Lu Bian had imagined in the past.

When he was in high school, the description of the Song in his history textbooks was that of a feudal dynasty, with exam topics focusing on the handicraft industry, the prosperity of the commodity economy, and the development of thought and technology. Yet, the Great Song Kingdom he saw now, after the Journey to the West, shocked him to his core.

This is absolutely not the "Song" I know!

Cut it off! Cut it off!

Lu Bian chose to cast the "stereotypes" of the Song in his brain to the side of the road.

Bianjing was also called Dongjing, and Lu Bian liked to use Dongjing to refer to this strange yet familiar capital of the Great Song.

Traveling eastward, Lu Bian had seen many villages and towns, and after entering the Great Song, he had passed through many cities, but Dongjing was the place with the best quality of life he had ever seen.

The streets of Dongjing crisscrossed like a chessboard, and the architectural planning was neat and reasonable. The water transportation was convenient and developed, with ports gathering and dispersing an endless array of dazzling goods from all over the world. The population was dense, and scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants were all busy with their own affairs...

While eating at an inn, Lu Bian listened to the people at the next table chatting. He heard someone boasting that although the current territory of the Great Song was only one-third of the Former Tang, its national strength had already far surpassed that of the prosperous Tang.

The Liao Kingdom in the north was allied with the Great Song, and Western Xia in the northwest was powerless to resist the Song-Liao alliance. They were living in a happy and prosperous age; what else was there to worry about?

Lu Bian began to worry.

The locals of Dongjing were singing the praises of the Great Song, but at a single glance, Lu Bian could tell that this person had never even stepped a hundred miles outside of Dongjing.

As for some of the more hackneyed questions, Lu Bian only pondered them in his mind without voicing them aloud.

Lu Bian's focus was actually more on the true scriptures brought back by the Tang Monk and his three disciples.

In the twenty-seventh year of the Zhenguan era of the Former Tang, Tang Xuanzang returned to Chang'an with the true scriptures, and the current prosperity of the Great Song seemed to be the lingering influence of those scriptures.

In Lu Bian's estimation, the standard of living for the people of this Great Song was quite high compared to other ancient dynasties. He corroborated this by observing that the bowls of the beggars on the street were filled to the brim every single day.

This Song State was in the midst of a flourishing era where even a destitute beggar could eat their fill every day.