Jiang Ning

Luoshui County.

Early morning.

Streaks of dawn pierced through the clouds, casting light upon the ancient city walls.

The once-tranquil Luoshui County had long since stirred to life. The thoroughfares of the county seat were already filled with the cries of vendors, a scene of bustling, noisy commerce.

In a small courtyard enclosed by a wicker fence in the east of Luoshui County.

Jiang Ning sat cross-legged on a wooden chair, facing the sun. With his elbows on his knees and his chin resting in his palms, he held a volume of books, reading quietly.

[Record of the Mythic Era]

This was a miscellaneous book, recording stories about gods and spirits.

According to the text, before the Great Xia, it was a world where gods and men coexisted.

Rivers had gods, mountains and streams had gods; gods were everywhere.

Although this appeared to be an absurd collection of myths, Jiang Ning was reading it with extraordinary seriousness, his focus absolute.

[Literacy experience +1]

[Literacy experience +1]

After a long while, Jiang Ning turned to the last page, slowly withdrew his gaze, and closed the book completely.

[From this reading session, Literacy experience has increased by a total of 8 points.]

The next moment.

A panel instantly appeared before him, a panel only he could see.

[Name]: Jiang Ning

[Source Energy]: 13.5

[Skill]: Literacy (Perfect 968/1000) (Trait: None)

Finally, I'm almost at the cap! I wonder what kind of changes will occur once this Literacy skill reaches its limit.

Looking at his panel, Jiang Ning felt quite invigorated.

In the past few days, he had scoured all the books in his home, from ancient histories to various classics and essential texts, reading them all from cover to cover.

Relying on these books, he had finally ground this skill step by step from Entry to Proficiency, Minor Achievement, and finally to Great Achievement.

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

As far as he knew, this was clearly the effect of a strengthened spirit.

In the Great Xia, among the Confucian scholars, reading could nourish the spirit!

Through this period of diligent study, he had discovered the marvelous utility of the panel.

This panel possessed the power to turn decay into magic; as long as he focused on reading, the skill of Literacy would continue to grow, and once mastered, it was mastered forever.

Now, every book he had read was vividly recorded in his mind, and he could recall everything within them with a single thought.

At this moment, he was only thirty-some experience points away from the breakthrough that would follow the perfection of this skill. With his current efficiency, he could grind out those points after reading a few more books.

With his current level of learning, to say nothing of more, taking the imperial examinations to become a child scholar or a licentiate would be as easy as turning over his hand.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ning was filled with anticipation.

Earning a degree in the coming year would completely change his current situation.

"Dudu!"

"Dudu!!"

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

Hearing this tender sound, Jiang Ning instantly snapped back to reality.

Following the voice, he saw a little girl with a doll-like face, large eyes, and two pigtails running toward him unsteadily, her chubby cheeks particularly eye-catching.

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

"Slow down, Little Doubao!"

A faint smile could not help but appear on his face.

In this household, the person closest to him was this five-year-old niece, Jiang Yuanyuan, nicknamed Doubao.

From the delicate, petite features of his niece, one could tell she would surely be a beauty in the future, and it was also evident that her genetics were excellent; her mother's appearance was certainly outstanding.

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

As she spoke, Little Doubao tried hard to lift her head to look at Jiang Ning.

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

Jiang Ning smiled, took the book that Little Doubao was struggling to hold, and felt a surge of joy.

To him, the content of the book didn't matter; as long as it was a book he hadn't read, it would increase his Literacy experience.

With this new book, he would definitely be able to max out his skill today.

He didn't look closely at the book in his hand, simply placing it to the side before rubbing Jiang Yuanyuan's little head.

"Little Doubao is amazing!!"

"Dudu is so handsome!" Little Doubao was not stingy with her praise in return.

Hearing this, Jiang Ning couldn't help but chuckle, rubbing her small head as he said, "What do you know about being handsome or not!"

"Handsome is handsome, Dudu is just handsome! As handsome as my daddy!" Little Doubao, tiny as she was, refused to back down.

Hearing this, Jiang Ning gave a noncommittal smile.

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

"Time to eat!"

The voice was direct and cold, devoid of much emotion, yet it carried an innate gentleness.

Jiang Ning looked up and saw a woman of about thirty, with the poise and appearance of a lady from a noble family, standing at the kitchen door. The moment she saw Jiang Ning looking over.

The woman, whose appearance was quite striking, cast a lukewarm glance at him before withdrawing her gaze, seemingly with a hint of disdain.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning couldn't help but offer a sheepish smile.

How could he not know that his sister-in-law had complaints about his predecessor having lived in his elder brother's house for over a decade?

After all, his sister-in-law and his elder brother had been married for more than ten years, and they now had a son and a daughter.

The eldest son, Jiang Yiming, was already fourteen, studying literature and practicing martial arts with great ambition. However, having been well-read since childhood and needing to nourish his body for martial arts, he had spent a significant amount of silver.

Under these circumstances, his predecessor had spent over a decade being unproductive and idle, with all expenses borne by his elder brother.

Since his brother was only a bailiff in Luoshui County with limited income, how could his sister-in-law not have opinions about him?

Especially recently, as grain prices rose day by day, the household of five found things increasingly strained, and her opinion of him had only grown worse.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ning felt quite helpless.

He was well aware that his sister-in-law didn't care for him, and he could fully understand it; it was only human nature.

He had been living off his brother and sister-in-law's family all this time.

But as things stood, he had no other choice. His predecessor had no savings, and in the two months since he had transmigrated, he had spent most of his time recovering from injuries, so even if he wanted to move out, he had no way to do so.

For now, continuing to live off them is unavoidable. Luoshui County is not peaceful right now! Jiang Ning thought to himself.

He already had a plan for the future.

These past few days, based on his brother's duties at the county office and his own diligent reading, he had come to understand the changing tides of the world.

The Great Xia Dynasty where he now resided was clearly in the midst of the turmoil of a dying dynasty.

And in this small Luoshui County, there were also undercurrents of several forces at work.

Coming from a background in history in his previous life, he understood such situations all too well.

History was always in a constant cycle of repetition; there were no absolute similarities, but there were inevitable, identical trajectories.

Therefore, he was very clear that the Great Xia Dynasty, which had been established for over eight hundred years, was facing the risk of collapse amidst the rise of natural disasters, fleeing refugees, constant rebellions, and the eruption of various strange and distorted cults.

Faced with such a situation, only by possessing one's own strength could one survive in the final days of a dynasty.

Otherwise, once the great tide arrived and the world fell into chaos with heroes vying for power—especially since the martial arts of this world were brilliant and prosperous, where the weak could fight ten and the strong could become an army, while the supreme could rival a nation—how could an ordinary person survive if caught in such a tide?

His elder brother was currently just an ordinary county bailiff, no different from a grain of sand in the great tide of history.

I still need to rely on my brother's strength for a short time. As for my brother and sister-in-law's family, I can only repay them in the future!

(End of chapter)