Green Skill

Kraun visualized the Silver Moon shining silently over his entire body. Then he imagined the moon entering his brain through the Heavenly Eye Acupoint between his brows, traveling straight through the Mud Pill Palace to the Danzhong Acupoint, then moving into his left chest and entering his heart.

Taoism held that the moon was yin, the yin essence within yang, and that yin moved first; the sun was yang, and yang followed in motion.

The brain was the residence of the spirit and belonged to yin; the heart was the organ of the spirit and belonged to yang.

Yin and yang moved in sequence, regulating the workings of the spirit until they harmonized as one.

At this moment, he turned his inner gaze toward his heart in his left chest and visualized it expanding from small to large, radiating golden light like a rising sun. Countless rays of Golden Light illuminated every organ within his chest.

After visualizing this for two or three minutes, he slowly moved the red sun into the Danzhong Acupoint. After pausing briefly, he lowered it from the center to his Dantian, one inch and three fen behind his navel, where it remained.

Then he imagined the countless rays of Golden Light continuously expanding, filling his entire body and spreading outward through every pore in the shape of a sphere.

With the foundation from his previous life, he did it with great proficiency.

And with an unprecedented level of focus.

This concerned his last shred of dignity. If it still failed to become a skill, it might mean he had lived half his previous life for nothing!

And so, Kraun continued his devout visualization over and over again.

He had no idea how much time had passed when an inexplicable thought suddenly rose in his heart.

He persisted until he completed the cycle, then summoned the Golden Wall.

His breathing immediately quickened.

A line of green text appeared on the wall.

[Golden Light Incantation: 3/10000; Tier 0] (You become clear-headed and sharp-eyed, your five viscera cool and your six bowels balanced, your strength abundant, and your sleep more restful. Note: Cultivation easily causes hunger.)

Haha, his previous life hadn't been wasted. It was a green skill, and even at Tier 0 it had special effects!

Grrr...

A rumble came from his stomach.

It was already past noon. Time to eat!

Kraun rose to his feet and walked out in high spirits.

Getting started was enough. He just had to grind.

Tavern Street, mill.

"Five pounds of flour, ten pounds of white rice, and two cloth sacks free of charge. That'll be eight Silver Coins."

The mill owner set the bags on the counter, his face full of a kind smile. This was a big sale.

Kraun, who had been brimming with enthusiasm moments ago, felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head. His happiness vanished in an instant.

White rice and flour were this expensive?

And he still hadn't bought vegetables or meat!

The Faruk Kingdom's currency system was very simple. The highest denomination was the Gold Shield.

One Gold Shield equaled one hundred Silver Coins, and one Silver Coin equaled one hundred copper coins.

If he ate without restraint, he didn't know how many days these supplies would last. The Golden Light Incantation clearly consumed a great deal of energy.

Improving Marksmanship and Herbalism would both require plenty of practice, which meant another huge expense.

As for the debt he owed Father, it was too much to think about. He would ignore it for now; he couldn't repay it anytime soon anyway.

Kraun took a Gold Shield from the lining of his clothes and placed it on the counter.

Carrying the sacks of grain, Kraun continued onward. After turning a corner, he arrived at the entrance of a shop on another street.

A butcher's block stood outside the shop, with several cuts of pork hanging nearby.

"Boss, ten pounds of pork belly. Slice it into pieces half a finger thick."

"Sure thing. That'll be twenty-six Silver Coins."

Kraun tilted his head and pointed to a shop across the street. "What happened over there? Why is there a Patrol Squad seal on it?"

The butcher's hand paused as he cut the meat. He sighed. "Kao didn't open for business this morning, and no one answered no matter how hard people knocked. The neighbors called the police. There were seven people in the family. When the patrolmen carried them out, I saw white spots growing all over the bodies. Everyone says they were killed by an Evil Spirit."

"This place is getting more dangerous by the day. An Evil Spirit harmed people on Skunk Street a few days ago too. No one survived."

Another victim of an Evil Spirit incident? Was this world really so dangerous?

Kraun could not help but stare in astonishment.

As far as the original owner's memories went, there had only been around ten Evil Spirit incidents in total, averaging fewer than one a year.

Yet only days after his transmigration, two supernatural incidents had occurred in little Zack Town.

He frowned as he recalled the past, and his heart jolted.

More Evil Spirit incidents had occurred in the past three years than in the previous decade or so.

A terrifying suspicion formed in his mind. This world was becoming increasingly unsafe.

"Damn!"

Kraun glanced at the Golden Wall and cursed.

All morning, he had racked his brains and tried all sorts of things, yet only the Golden Light Incantation had formed into a skill.

Who would have thought that simply cooking some white rice at noon and making a pot of dried-vegetable pork stew would produce a new skill?

[Cooking: 16/1000; Tier 1] (Clearly, you have the ability to turn raw rice into cooked rice.)

Could it be that, because he had been born in a great foodie nation in his previous life, he had naturally received a bonus to cooking even after transmigrating?

Thinking it over, it really was possible.

They ate glutinous rice balls during the Lantern Festival, pancakes on the twenty-third day of the first lunar month, green rice balls during Qingming Festival, zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival, and mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. During the Spring Festival, the whole country mobilized, with leaders at every level inspecting food-related work.

It seemed that every lunar holiday in his previous life was connected to eating.

Perhaps the memory of hunger ran too deep, and eating well had been engraved into the nation's collective memory.

He took a savage bite of the pork and muttered, "That works too. If I become a good cook, at least I'll be able to eat freely and comfortably."

After stuffing himself, Kraun left home and headed straight for the Patrol Squad. On the way, he also picked up a box of cigars.

While eating, he had already made a short-term plan.

Among his current skills, he would practice the Golden Light Incantation in the morning, go to the Patrol Squad to practice Marksmanship in the afternoon, and study Herbalism at night to begin brewing potions.

Marksmanship was currently his only means of attack. The Golden Light Incantation seemed like a highly promising support method, while Herbalism was the skill that would put food on his table.

As for Language and Cooking, he would leave them to fate.

At the Patrol Squad, Yalu sat upright, his brows heavy with concern.

Another Evil Spirit incident had occurred last night.

The victim's injuries were exactly the same as those suffered by the victims on Skunk Street.

Could the Evil Spirit responsible be planning to stay here instead of leaving?

"Hello, Officer Yalu!"

The sudden voice gave the fat patrolman a fright.

A trace of anger appeared on the patrolman's face, but once he saw who it was, he looked slightly awkward. "Kraun, why aren't you gathering herbs in the mountains? What are you doing here?"

Was this brat here to demand his belongings back?

Hmph. No one was taking away meat that had already entered his mouth!

Kraun smoothly offered him a cigar and said with a smile, "Officer, I'd like to ask you for a small favor."

The fat patrolman naturally accepted the cigar, though his expression immediately turned reserved without seeming out of place. "What is it? Let's hear it first."

"I'd like to buy some bullets and rent the squad's shooting range."

"There are regulations in the squad. That's a difficult matter."

Yalu held the cigar and tapped it against the table.

Kraun concealed a Silver Coin in his palm, placed it on the table, and pushed it over.

He took out a match and cheerfully lit the patrolman's cigar.

Yalu swept the coin from the table with his hand, clamped the cigar between his lips, and leaned over. Taking a deep puff, he let his fat face disappear into the smoke. "We're so familiar with each other, after all. I'll take you there. Next time, don't be so polite."