Jiang Ning

Luoshui County.

Early morning.

Strands of dawn pierced the clouds and fell upon the ancient city walls.

Luoshui County, once so quiet, had long since come alive. The wide roads that ran in every direction through the county were already filled with vendors' cries. Everywhere was bustling with noise and the clamor of merchants hawking their wares.

In a small courtyard enclosed by a fence in the eastern part of Luoshui County.

Jiang Ning sat cross-legged on a wooden chair, facing the sun, his elbows resting on his knees and his chin propped in his hands. At that moment, he was holding a book and quietly reading.

[Record of the Mythic Era]

It was a miscellaneous book that recorded stories about the gods.

According to the book, before the Great Xia Dynasty, the world had been one where gods and humans coexisted.

There were gods in the rivers, gods in the mountains and rivers, and gods everywhere.

Though this was a seemingly absurd book, Jiang Ning was reading it with exceptional seriousness, utterly absorbed.

[Literacy experience +1]

[Literacy experience +1]

After a long while, Jiang Ning reached the last page. He slowly lifted his eyes from the book and closed it completely.

[This reading session increased Literacy experience by 8 points in total.]

The next moment.

A panel appeared before him in an instant, one that only he could see.

[Name]: Jiang Ning

[Source Energy]: 13.5

[Skills]: Literacy (Perfected 968/1000) (Trait: None)

"I'm finally close to maxing it out! I wonder what kind of changes this Literacy skill will undergo once it reaches its maximum."

Looking at his panel, Jiang Ning felt quite exhilarated.

A few days ago, he had pored over every book in the house. He had read all of them, from ancient histories and general chronicles to all kinds of classic texts and important writings.

Thanks to those books, he had finally raised this skill step by step from beginner to proficient, then to minor mastery, and finally to great mastery.

With every breakthrough, he felt his mind grow clearer, his thoughts move faster, and his senses sharpen.

As far as he knew, these were clearly the effects of his spirit growing stronger.

In the Great Xia Dynasty, the Confucian path held that reading could nurture the spirit!

After this period of diligent reading, he had discovered the wonders of the panel.

The panel possessed the power to turn the rotten into the miraculous. As long as he focused on reading, his Literacy skill would continue to grow, and every gain would be permanent.

Now, every book he had ever read was vividly recorded in his mind. With but a thought, he could recall everything in it.

And at this moment, he was only a little over thirty experience points away from breaking through once the skill reached perfection. At his current pace, he only needed to read a few more books to grind out those thirty-odd experience points.

With his current knowledge, he could easily take the imperial examinations and pass as a licentiate or even a scholar.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ning felt even more expectant.

Earning a degree next year could completely change his circumstances.

"Dudu!"

"Dudu!!"

Just then, a soft, sweet voice reached Jiang Ning's ears.

Hearing that tender voice, Jiang Ning immediately came back to himself.

He looked toward the sound and saw a little girl, as adorable as a painted doll, with big eyes and two little tufts of hair tied up on her head, toddling toward him. Her chubby cheeks were especially striking.

Seeing his five-year-old niece, Jiang Ning came fully to his senses.

"Little Doubao, slow down!"

A faint smile appeared on his face.

In this family, the person closest to him was this five-year-old niece of his, Jiang Yuanyuan, whose nickname was Doubao.

From his little niece's delicate, dainty features, he could tell that she would certainly grow up to be a beauty. It was also clear that she had inherited good looks; her mother must have been exceptionally beautiful.

"Dudu, this is Guoguo's book. I brought it for Dudu to read!"

As Little Doubao spoke, she struggled to lift her head and look at Jiang Ning.

Even though Jiang Ning was only sitting upright in a chair, the five-year-old Little Doubao still had to tilt her head back to see his face clearly.

Jiang Ning smiled and took the book Little Doubao was struggling to hold. He couldn't help feeling delighted.

To him, it didn't matter what kind of book it was. Any book he hadn't read before would increase his Literacy experience.

With this new book, he was sure to max out the experience for this skill today.

He took the book but didn't bother looking through it. Instead, he set it aside and ruffled Jiang Yuanyuan's little head.

"Little Doubao is such a good girl!"

"Dudu is so handsome!" Little Doubao was just as generous with her praise.

At her words, Jiang Ning couldn't help smiling to himself. He ruffled her little head and said, "What do you know about handsome?"

"Handsome means handsome! Dudu is handsome! Just as handsome as my daddy!" Little Doubao stood her ground.

Hearing that, Jiang Ning merely smiled without comment.

Just then, a woman's voice drifted casually from the nearby kitchen.

"Food's ready!"

Her voice was blunt and cool, without much emotion, yet it carried a naturally gentle quality.

Jiang Ning looked up and saw a woman of about thirty standing in the kitchen doorway. Both her bearing and her looks were those of a refined lady. The moment she noticed Jiang Ning looking over at her, the strikingly beautiful woman gave him a cool glance, then looked away, seeming somewhat displeased.

At this, Jiang Ning could only smile awkwardly.

How could he not know that his sister-in-law resented how his former self had lived in his elder brother's home for more than ten years?

After all, his sister-in-law had been married to his elder brother for over a decade, and the two of them now had a son and a daughter.

Their eldest son, Jiang Yiming, was now fourteen. He studied both literature and martial arts and had great ambitions. But he had been immersed in books since childhood, and he had also been tempering his body for martial arts training, both of which cost a considerable amount of silver.

Under these circumstances, his former self had spent more than ten years doing no work and loafing about, with his elder brother shouldering all his expenses.

And his elder brother was only a constable in Luoshui County, with a limited income. How could his sister-in-law not resent him?

Especially lately, grain prices had been climbing steadily. With five people in the household, the family was feeling the pinch even more, and her resentment toward him had grown.

Thinking of all this, Jiang Ning felt rather helpless.

He knew perfectly well that his sister-in-law didn't think much of him, and he could completely understand. It was only human nature.

He had been leeching off his elder brother and sister-in-law all along.

But now, there was nothing he could do. His former self had no savings, and during the two months since he had transmigrated here, he had spent most of his time recovering from his injuries. So even if he wanted to move out, he was powerless to do so.

"For now, I can't avoid continuing to leech off them. Luoshui County isn't very peaceful these days!" Jiang Ning thought to himself.

He had already made plans for the future.

Over the past few days, based on his elder brother's work at the county yamen and his own reading about the shifts in the broader world, he had come to understand what was happening.

The Great Xia Dynasty he now lived in was clearly a kingdom in its final years, beset by turmoil.

And even in the small county of Luoshui, several forces were stirring beneath the surface.

Having studied history in his previous life, he understood this kind of situation all too well.

History always turned in endless cycles. Nothing was ever exactly the same, but the same patterns inevitably repeated.

So he knew perfectly well that the Great Xia Dynasty, founded more than eight hundred years ago, was at risk of collapsing. Disasters were striking everywhere, refugees were fleeing, rebellions were breaking out one after another, and all kinds of bizarre, deformed cults were springing up.

In a time like this, only strength of one's own could ensure survival in the final years of a dynasty.

Otherwise, once the surging tide of events arrived and the land fell into chaos, with warlords fighting for supremacy, what chance would an ordinary person have? Especially in a world where the Martial Dao was flourishing and dazzling: the weak could take on ten opponents, the strong could command an army alone, and the mightiest could stand against an entire nation.

If an ordinary citizen were swept up in that surging tide, how could they survive?

His elder brother was just an ordinary county constable. In the sweep of history, he was no more than a grain of sand.

"I'll still need to rely on my elder brother's strength for a while. As for my elder brother and sister-in-law, I'll have to repay their kindness later!"