Hogwarts

Since discovering that the Old Man was loaded, Li Mu had already begun to fantasize and even planned a series of strategic measures.

A black and white TV at this time would cost at least four or five thousand, right? Sell it and scrape together a bit more, and it would be enough to buy a small house in this era. Keep this house for ten or twenty years, and its value will increase dozens of times... Moreover, since the Old Man can afford a TV and a rotary phone, he must have even more assets in hand—a standard "Ten Thousand Yuan Household." No, perhaps a "Hundred Thousand Yuan Household"!

When the seemingly decrepit Old Man passes away, he can completely use these inheritances to start a business, invest, and create his own Yi Da, Heng Da, Ali Mama Group, transforming into a business tycoon, a national husband, marrying a rich, beautiful woman, and reaching the pinnacle of life...

For quite some time, Li Mu woke up laughing almost every night in his dreams.

Unfortunately, this dream hadn't even truly begun when, around his second birthday, reality shocked him once again.

On this day, the Old Man solemnly called Li Mu in front of him and said, "You're almost two years old, and you remember things now. You're intelligent and more outstanding than other children, so I think it's time."

Time for what? Was he in such a hurry to pass on the inheritance? Li Mu chuckled, but saw the Old Man just snap his fingers...

The newspapers, magazines, teacups, porcelain bowls, dining knives, and melons in the room all floated up, slowly spinning in the air.

"Holy crap?!" Li Mu immediately disregarded the image of a two-year-old and the dignity of a college graduate, blurting out a catchphrase.

Eight years have passed since then, but he still remembers the scene at that time and the words of the old geezer—"I see that you have a surprising imagination and extraordinary talent, and you are a material for cultivating immortality and learning magic. Do you want to learn magic? Join my Shushan Taoist Academy to cultivate, and I will teach you."

Li Mu also remembered his answer at the time.

"It's clearly a bizarre imagination... Pui, it's excellent aptitude, okay?!"

*********

Li Mu began to cultivate under the Old Man's guidance.

Cultivating immortality and seeking the Dao was actually far more boring than imagined. The Old Man said that a good foundation must be laid in the early stages, so Li Mu got up at the crow of the rooster every day, ran around the mountain, carried water with weights, and plowed the fields... At the end of the day, he soaked in medicinal water and meditated under the moonlight. At first, he felt that the Old Man was simply using him as a free bricklayer... Chopping firewood, planting vegetables, and jumping into the water, how could this be called cultivation? And he was only two years old.

Employing child labor is illegal!

However, after persisting for four years, the effect was surprisingly good. Four years later, Li Mu was only "6 years old" and felt that his small body was particularly strong. He could sprint from the top of the mountain to the foot without panting, and carrying two buckets of mountain spring water weighing a total of twenty kilograms didn't feel heavy. He would have never imagined these situations before the transmigration.

Encouraged by all kinds of magical performances, Li Mu was even more motivated.

Also in this year of "6 years old", the old geezer didn't know where he found a bundle of bamboo slips, threw them to him, and only said three words: "Memorize it."

Large characters were written on the bamboo slips in thick ink. He stared at them, and the characters were square and upright, actually traditional characters, but at least they weren't more special fonts like seal script, so he could still recognize them. He saw that there were three large characters "Banish Evil Incantation". Behind it were dense small characters: "Thirteen total postures must not be taken lightly, Qi forces the body to condense, each posture is in the heart to think of its meaning, the abdomen is relaxed and quiet, and the Qi soars..."

Before Li Mu could look more, the old geezer dropped another sentence: "If you can recite it word for word and backwards, you will be able to sense Qi. Then you can enroll."

Li Mu hummed. Reading all the way down, it was completely a seven-character long poem. That mere bundle of bamboo slips had at most a thousand words, and he recognized almost every word, but what these words meant together was very obscure. He even used the effort he had put into studying texts in his previous life, making himself dizzy and his eyes blurred before he could barely memorize it.

Several years passed in a hurry until now. After the Old Man dropped that seven-character poem formula, he only occasionally taught him two tricks of talisman spells. In the blink of an eye, he was already "10 years old".

The time also came to 1991.

Finally, three days ago, the Old Man called him in front of him and handed him a piece of kraft paper.

"It's time. Your age and ability are enough to enter the magic academy. Where do you want to go?"

Over the years, he had already known that the unremarkable Li Jianmin Old Man in front of him was one of the consultants of the current Shushan Taoist Academy, and also served as the Sword Immortal Department Director of the Shushan Taoist Academy. It seemed that he had a considerable reputation in the magic world—but he didn't know why he was so idle, and most of the time he stayed at home and didn't go out.

Li Jianmin's meaning was naturally to let him take the opportunity to worship in the "Shushan Taoist Academy". Li Mu didn't have any other ideas either. His basic skills were all based on the authentic Xuanmen Taoist techniques, and it was natural to embark on the path of cultivation from then on.

The key lies in... since he was picked up by Li Jianmin, he had only spent the last ten years with this old geezer day and night. He had tried to sneak down the mountain, rushing left and right along the roads in all directions. Whenever he felt he was about to reach the foot of the mountain, he would see the roads surrounded by lush greenery and shrouded in mist, either circling around and unknowingly returning to the hut, or getting lost in it until Li Jianmin found him.

This is because the mountain is surrounded by maze formations, and clever boys cannot escape. Ten years of mountain life, if it weren't for the support of television, telephone, newspapers, and the novelty of cultivation, Li Mu was afraid that he would have become a long-haired savage.

"Then of course I'll choose..." Li Mu said, his gaze continuing to scan the list below.

He didn't expect there to be so many magic academies in this world. Further down were listed "Kunlun Taoist Academy," "South Sea Putuo Academy," "Songshan Buddhist Academy," and so on, a dense collection.

Turning the page over, the back of the paper actually had more, but it listed magic academies outside the Celestial Dynasty.

They were: "Yingzhou Yin Yang Spirit Academy," "Shanyue Sorcery Academy," "Tianzhú Brahman Academy," "Roman Christian Academy," "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"...

Eh?!... Hogwarts!

Li Mu's eyes lit up. He was a fan of the Harry Potter books, and the moment he saw this name, he couldn't help but let his thoughts run wild—could it be that Hogwarts?!...

If it was that Hogwarts, and it just so happened to be 1991, then wouldn't that mean...

Li Mu swallowed the words he was about to say. He took a deep breath and then asked, "Um... is there someone called Voldemort in Britain..."

The Old Man in front of him was also stunned, raising his eyebrows and saying, "You're talking about that demon... how do you know about him?"

It really is...!

The Old Man continued, "That fellow used to be very famous, but he was subdued ten years ago. Don't mention him, he has nothing to do with us."

Sure enough, it was ten years ago...

In other words, far away in the west in Britain, things were developing exactly as described in the Harry Potter books. That is to say, if he chose to study at "Hogwarts," he could become a classmate with Harry Potter and the others.

Li Mu put down the thin piece of paper, furrowed his brows, and took another breath.

"Let me think... give me three days," he said.

Three days later, Li Mu took the initiative to ask Li Jianmin for a game of chess. Halfway through the battle, he told the Old Man his decision.

He had decided to go to Hogwarts!

(End of this chapter)