Cultivation Knows No Passing Years

In the bustling port of Fangting City, passengers and cargo moved in an orderly fashion along their respective routes. Amidst this prosperous scene, no one noticed a dark figure seamlessly blending into the crowd.

Wearing her tattered Daoist robe, with a bundle tucked under her arm and the Fairy she called "Semi" perched on her shoulder, Iris wandered aimlessly through the harbor.

"It really doesn't look like a small place, Fangting."

She spoke as if talking to herself, "I heard it's a small city in the southern Eastern Hua Prefecture, but it's already about the same size as the big cities I remember."

"How many years has it been since you last visited a city in the Material Realm?"

Semi glanced at her. "Thirty years? Fifty years? Human cities aren't incapable of development; over the years, their size will inevitably expand."

"Hmm... I forgot."

Yuan squinted, a little confused. "But it feels like it's been even longer than you said. Indeed, I don't even know if my hometown still exists."

"You know, there's a limit to how oblivious you can be."

Semi with a hint of helplessness, "I'm starting to worry about whether you can survive normally in the city. Human cities aren't simple things; the way of life there changes drastically every now and then. If you want to complete the mission as smoothly as possible, some basic life skills are essential."

"You can rest assured about that; after all, I am a human being born and raised in the Material Realm."

As she strode along, Yuan unconsciously yawned. "Even if I were to live a secluded life of cultivation, I still spent my childhood in human cities, so I certainly don't have any problems with basic common sense."

"Really?"

Semi asked suspiciously, "You've been back in the Material Realm for so many years, and you've almost always stayed in the base and never left, right? The Material Realm is very different now than before."

"Don't worry, don't worry, I know. Isn't this just a port? A place where Landship dock. We had these in my time too, just not like this..."

Yuan looked around, surveying the shops in her field of vision, then paused inexplicably. "What kind of shops are these? They look so grand and luxurious, are they money exchanges? Pawnshops?"

"It's a shop."

When she pointed to a fast food restaurant and described it as a "money exchange," Semi felt his heart sink. "It's a place that sells things. What you see now is a restaurant."

"It's a restaurant, right?"

Yes, but no.

Semi nudged Kite's shoulder. "Let's hurry up and move on, don't embarrass ourselves here."

The human and the Fairy continued their journey, leaving the port and entering the city streets. Along the way, they saw towering buildings and highways teeming with traffic. Gazing at the bustling streets before her, Yuan once again felt lost.

"... Are people all this rich now?"

She asked, slightly taken aback, "They can all afford cars?"

"What kind of outdated understanding do you have? Cars are the most common means of transportation now!" Semi couldn't help but raise her voice.

"What about tricycles and motorcycles? They've already been phased out?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

"Human cities are changing so fast," Yuan said, stroking her chin with a hint of amazement.

"Why is it that you, a proper human, are less familiar with the city than I, Fairy?"

Semi sighed. "I think it's necessary to ask you one more question: what are your plans now that you've arrived in this city?"

"Let's find a place to take a shower, have a meal, and get a good night's sleep first?" Yuan was still looking around at the scenery.

"I agree with that, but then what? How are you going to get the Beast Source?"

"Hmm... Let's create an incident and lure all the magical girls here."

Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "First, find a crowded place and figure out how to get an Aberrant Beast out. When the magical girls come to hunt down the Aberrant Beast, I'll jump out and confront them. Once Cornflower and that girl named Bai Jingxuan are both there, I'll defeat them and take the Beast Source with me."

"A direct confrontation?"

Semi was startled by her words: "Are you serious? You're just going to fight Cornflower head-on like this?"

"Otherwise what?" Yuan looked at it with some confusion. "I should have told you that yesterday morning."

"I thought you were talking about a situation where you had no choice but to confront them head-on. Who told you to come here and cause trouble?"

Semi said with exasperation, "You used to be Flower Card, that's true, but Cornflower is also Flower Card. What if she has some incredible trump card that defeats you? How are you going to explain that?"

"Don't worry, I'm a completely different person now than I was back then."

With her arms crossed, Yuan said confidently, "To defeat my past self, I only need one hand now."

"I didn't ask you that..."

Semi's voice lowered. "I mean, your plan is far too rudimentary. I don't think it's suitable."

"Why wouldn't it be appropriate? It's all aboveboard and honest, I think it's great. Even my subordinates do the same, and they don't have any objections." Yuan looked at Semi with some curiosity.

"Your subordinates... ah, so that means Sparrow was here too..."

"Hmm, they probably got defeated after going to the Cornflower' house in a straightforward manner."

Yuan nodded. "Upright conduct, impartiality, and upholding the standards of our generation—even in defeat, it is an honorable thing."

Semi fell completely silent.

It began to question whether accepting this assignment and following this dullard who spent all his time holed up in the base practicing martial arts was a wise choice.

However, this trip was a very important mission specifically assigned by the leader White Wolf, and the deputy leader Black Cat. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent a high-level combatant like Yuan to a small place like Fangting. Even if she wanted to refuse at that time, she probably wouldn't have had any room to maneuver.

Thinking this through, it realized that its hesitation was pointless, and feeling somewhat relieved, it spoke again, "Fine, let's do it your way."

Pointing to the traffic in the distance, Semi continued, "Let's find a car and leave from here. We've been standing on the roadside for too long; people have noticed us."

Only after she said that did Yuan realize that her short pause had already attracted the attention of many passersby. Perhaps because of her shabby clothes and strange words, many people mistook her for a beggar.

"Oh, I thought dressing like this wouldn't attract attention."

Yuan blinked innocently. "So, are we leaving now? Where to?"

"How am I supposed to know where you should go? I've never been to Fangting City before."

Semi said helplessly, "Let's find a more bustling place to stay first. Let's flag down a car on the street."

Want to hitch a ride?

Yuan gazed at the traffic in the distance, her eyebrows slightly raised. "What if they're not going my way?"

"It means you need to take a taxi..."

Semi tried to keep his voice from sounding too excited. "Just look for those cars with lights on the roof and a sign that says 'Taxi,' if you see a sign that says 'For hire,' then you can..."

"Doesn't that red and blue light look more artistic? Shall I go ask about that car?"

"Red and blue? Oh, you idiot, don't go there! Those are police cars! Come back here!"

It took a long time to stop Yuan. Semi, panting, said, "Don't overdo it! Just find a taxi stand with a sign on the roof!"

"Oh."

Yuan nodded obediently in agreement and waited by the roadside for a while. Finally, she saw the 'empty car' that Semi had mentioned earlier. After waving her hand to flag it down, she went up to the car, talked to the driver through the window for a while, and then looked up and watched the taxi drive away.

Then, she turned around and walked back to where she was.

"The driver said he needed to make a reservation using his phone, as his car had already been booked by someone else."

Yuan looked thoughtful. "They also said we came at a bad time, that we shouldn't have come during working hours, because it's hard to get a taxi at this time."

"Leaving aside the rest, making an appointment via mobile phone is indeed a method."

Semi nodded. "So, where's your phone?"

"I don't have a cell phone," Yuan tilted her head.

"Ha?"

Semi's eyes widened immediately. "Didn't the leader provide all of you with personal cell phones? Why don't you have one? Did you break it?"

"That's not the reason... It's probably not broken; it's still intact."

Yuan gave a light, cheerful smile, "I just couldn't figure out how to use it, so I simply left it at the base to avoid losing it."

Semi froze on the spot, as if struck by lightning.

"So, where do you plan to stay and eat?"

After a long pause, it finally spoke again, but its voice trembled slightly. "Without a cell phone, how do you plan to live in the city? You didn't even bring any money, did you?"

"How could that be? I brought money with me."

The old man replied calmly, "I usually don't have anywhere to spend money, so I've been saving it up. It'll definitely be enough."

Are you sure you're carrying money from the Material Realm?

Semi asked worriedly, "Could they be carrying silver coins from another Kingdom?"

"I'm just practicing spiritual cultivation without the passage of time; I'm not suffering from dementia."

Yuan rolled her eyes at it. "It must be the currency from the Material Realm. I left it with me when I left the city, and I just happened to bring it all with me this time."

"Oh, really? That's true. Even someone who lacks common sense wouldn't stoop to this level."

Semi breathed a sigh of relief, "I thought we were going to have to sleep on the streets of the city from now on."

"Actually, sleeping on the streets isn't a big deal; it's not like I haven't experienced it before."

Yuan tightened her grip on the package, a hint of nostalgia on her face. "My memory is excellent; many of the experiences I summarized back then should still be applicable. Why don't we give it a try?"

"No way! I've been walking in the Wasteland for half a month, and my wings are covered in dust!"

Semi shook his head repeatedly. "I want to take a shower!"

"Pity."

Yuan could only shrug. "Fine, let's find a breakfast stall to fill our stomachs first, then find a place to stay. I'm also feeling a bit like taking a shower."

Unable to hail a taxi, the two had no choice but to walk along the main street. During this time, Yuan kept looking around, showing great interest in the familiar yet unfamiliar human civilization. It was only by being dragged along by Semi that they could continue walking.

Before long, they finally found a breakfast shop that was still open by the roadside and went inside, looking travel-worn.

Since the shop owner couldn't see Fairy, Yuan specially ordered several extra teas and snacks, and led Semi to a corner of the shop to sit down. Then, she drank half a bowl of soy milk with considerable gusto, and immediately ate half a steamed bun.

Like a ravenous ghost, she devoured the entire breakfast table. Ignoring the somewhat surprised looks from those around her, Yuan strolled back to the counter and called out, "Boss, the bill!"

"Okay."

The owner, still busy preparing food at the shop entrance, took a break to check Yuan's table and used a calculator to calculate a number. "Miss, you have quite an appetite. You ate 5 steamed buns, 4 baskets of dumplings, and two bowls of soy milk, totaling 53 yuan."

"Give me your change." Yuan Yun casually took out a hundred-yuan bill from inside her Daoist robe and placed it lightly on the counter.

The shopkeeper took the banknotes she offered, intending to examine them closely to see if they were genuine. However, before he could even look at them closely, he sensed something was wrong. "Miss, these banknotes aren't valid. Do you have any other kind?"

"Can't be used? How is that possible?"

Yuan pulled out another banknote from her Daoist robe. "All the money I have on me is like this, it's definitely real."

"But no... this money of yours is too old, it's at least forty years old."

The shopkeeper wiped his forehead. "I only saw this kind of banknote when I was a kid. Now the exchange period has passed, so it's definitely unusable."

"Expired?"

Yuan couldn't help but take the banknote back, shake it in front of her eyes, and then hand it out again. "But even if it's old money, someone will still want it, right? I'll give you this, you can go exchange it with someone, I won't give you change."

"It's just a small business, beautiful lady, don't tease me."

The shopkeeper awkwardly smiled and said, "The bank can't exchange it right now, and if I accept it, I'll have to find another way. Besides, I can't tell if your money is real or fake. You should just give me cash. If that's not possible, you can transfer it to me via mobile phone."

What should I do if I have nothing but this money?

Yuan tossed the banknotes onto the counter. "Since you don't want them, I have no other choice."

"You, this..."

Seeing that Yuan was about to give up, the boss wiped his sweat anxiously and was thinking about what to do when his gaze suddenly turned to the sidewalk not far away.

At that very moment, a patrolling police officer was passing by.

At noon, Lin Yun put down the documents in her hand, closed the computer in front of her, and closed her eyes wearily.

He reached out and rubbed his shoulder, feeling that the inflammation that had finally eased was showing signs of recurring. Just as he was wondering if he had been working too hard lately, he heard a soft knock at the door.

"Please come in."

As he said this, he secretly pulled the thread at the door, and a female employee from the intelligence department cautiously walked in.

"Hello, Director, sorry to bother you."

She greeted them softly before picking up her phone and getting to the point, "We just received a report of a disturbance Magic Side. A Mage was caught dining and dashing at a breakfast stall in the Dawnstar District, and then used Spell Formula to cause trouble in order to avoid paying... He has just been arrested by the police."

"A free meal?"

Lin Yun raised an eyebrow. "It's not that egregious, is it? Give them a period of reprimand and education, then urge the mage to compensate the merchant more, conduct a follow-up investigation after a while, and the case should be closed."

"Yes, that was the original decision made by the bureau, but after the interrogation room received the person, they insisted that you come and take a look."

The employee said cautiously, "They said that only you can make this decision."

"Why? Does this involve Black Ash Dawn?" Lin Yun subconsciously speculated.

"No, it's not Black Ash Dawn."

The employee shook his head, looked at Lin Yun's expression, and slowly said:

"They say the one who was arrested doesn't seem to Mage, but rather... a magical girl."