The Qian Kingdom, the Zhou Residence.
In a room furnished with antique elegance, Zhou Qing opened his eyes.
"Two months already."
Zhou Qing sighed.
Zhou Qing was a transmigrator from Blue Star. Two months ago, he had crossed over into this world.
He had become the young master of the Zhou Residence.
The Zhou Residence belonged to a great lineage of the Qian Kingdom that had produced three prime ministers. Zhou Qing's father in this life, Zhou Shizhong, served as commander of the imperial guard in the kingdom's capital.
The imperial guard protected the palace, and its commander led the entire force. One could well imagine Zhou Shizhong's standing in the Qian emperor's heart.
The current emperor was growing old. The eldest prince excelled in both civil affairs and military strategy and was universally regarded as the Qian Kingdom's next emperor. Zhou Shizhong had grown up alongside him and belonged to his core circle.
With that connection,
the Zhou family would enjoy immense prosperity for decades to come.
Born into such a family, and as its most doted-on third son at that,
Zhou Qing could have practically anything he wanted.
"The time will be up tonight."
Zhou Qing looked toward the bottom of his field of vision.
Lines of illusory text kept changing.
[Time until activation: 00:08:33:25]
The illusory text had appeared the moment Zhou Qing crossed over into this world.
After studying it, Zhou Qing had determined that it represented a countdown.
At first, the countdown had shown sixty days.
Now, only eight hours remained before it reached zero.
Zhou Qing eagerly anticipated what would happen when the countdown ended.
Just as Zhou Qing was watching the illusory countdown at the bottom of his vision,
"Knock, knock, knock-"
a knocking sound came from the door.
Immediately afterward, a deep voice rang out.
"Young master, we found something. Something big!"
Hearing that voice, Zhou Qing naturally pictured a sturdy, honest-looking man.
Zhou Dachun.
Zhou Dachun had not originally borne the surname Zhou. Born with extraordinary strength, he had been taken in by the Zhou Residence as a child and granted their surname.
After Zhou Qing was born, Zhou Dachun had been assigned to protect him.
Zhou Dachun was not particularly bright, but he was utterly loyal and deeply trusted by Zhou Shizhong.
"What did you find?"
Zhou Qing rose and opened the door, revealing Zhou Dachun.
"Young master, you told us to keep an eye on Lin Peiqin. Just now, that young master of the Lin Household lost so much at the gambling house that his eyes went red. He said he would put up his family heirloom for ten thousand taels of silver..."
Zhou Dachun spoke with a broad grin.
"Lin Peiqin? The Lin Household?"
Zhou Qing immediately understood what had happened.
The Lin Household was another lineage in the Qian Kingdom, though it had declined over the past few decades.
Zhou Qing had taken an interest in the Lin Household because he had heard that an immortal had once appeared among their ancestors!
That was right.
Immortals existed in this world.
They were the immortal cultivators of legend.
However, these cultivators lived in seclusion and rarely showed themselves.
As a transmigrator, Zhou Qing was naturally fascinated by immortal cultivators, so he had instructed Dachun to watch the Lin Household.
Their young master, Lin Peiqin, was an ignorant wastrel addicted to gambling.
Thus, Zhou Qing had ordered one of the Zhou family's gambling houses to set a trap specifically for him.
That had led to the scene Zhou Dachun described.
"Where's the heirloom?"
Zhou Qing asked at once.
The gambling house Lin Peiqin frequented was a Zhou family business. As the family's third young master, Zhou Qing naturally had the final say there.
"Right here."
Zhou Dachun immediately produced a wooden box.
"The gambling house's manager checked it. There's a book inside, and it's quite old."
Zhou Dachun handed the wooden box to Zhou Qing.
"A book?"
Zhou Qing took the box and opened it for a look.
There was indeed a book inside.
Its pages were aged, and the first page bore the words "Qi Introduction Art."
Zhou Qing vaguely sensed that this book was no ordinary object. It was not some martial arts manual from the rivers and lakes; perhaps it was connected to the immortal among the Lin Household's ancestors.
"What else has happened lately?"
Zhou Qing casually asked as he studied the ancient book.
Drawing on his experience from his previous life, Zhou Qing paid close attention to news from the outside world and had instructed Zhou Dachun to keep an ear out.
"What else?"
Zhou Dachun thought for a moment, then immediately said, "The northern barbarians have invaded several times lately. At court yesterday, the eldest prince volunteered for the campaign. He said he wanted to go to the northern frontier himself and lead the army to drive them back."
"The eldest prince excels in both civil affairs and military strategy. He drove back the barbarians many times ten years ago. Now that he's heading north in person, he's sure to return victorious!" Zhou Dachun's voice brimmed with excitement.
This affair had won the eldest prince tremendous prestige. Not only had he gained the support of many officials, but even the common people had responded favorably.
"What?"
"The eldest prince is going to the northern frontier himself? At a time like this?" Zhou Qing froze, then frowned.
The Qian emperor was already over sixty. As the heir to the throne, the eldest prince had chosen this moment to leave the capital?
Zhou Qing sensed something was wrong.
In his previous life, Zhou Qing had been deeply interested in history and had studied the rise and fall of successive dynasties.
Many dynasties had declined because the transfer of power had been unstable.
The succession to the throne was crucial. Now that the Qian emperor was old, who knew when he might die? And the eldest prince had chosen this moment to go on campaign?
What would he do if someone stole his home base while he was away fighting?
If the Qian emperor suddenly passed away while the eldest prince was absent from the palace, heaven only knew what might happen.
Zhou Qing's brow furrowed tightly. The Zhou family was now deeply tied to the eldest prince.
If someone other than the eldest prince ultimately took the throne, the Zhou family was unlikely to meet a good end either.
"Young master?"
Noticing the change in Zhou Qing's expression, Zhou Dachun spoke in confusion.
"It's nothing."
Zhou Qing shook his head.
He would remind his father, Zhou Shizhong, about this in a few days.
Perhaps he was overthinking it. Since the eldest prince dared to go on campaign at such a time, he must have had confidence in his position.
Besides, although the Qian emperor was old, he probably still had some time left before his death.
After sending Dachun away,
Zhou Qing resumed studying the ancient book.
Time slipped by.
In the blink of an eye, evening arrived.
After spending much of the day studying it, Zhou Qing determined that the ancient book recorded a profound breathing method.
Through breathing, one could draw in the "qi" that existed unseen and gather it within the body.
This was qi refining.
Once a tangible strand of "qi" condensed within the body, one could enter the Qi Refining Stage.
The Qi Refining Stage?
Anticipation stirred in Zhou Qing's heart.
The Qi Refining Stage mentioned here should mark the beginning of immortal cultivation.
But according to this ancient book, drawing in that unseen "qi" requires spiritual root aptitude. Without it, never mind drawing in "qi"-you can't even sense it.
Zhou Qing thought to himself.
Spiritual root aptitude must have been very rare. Otherwise, the Lin Household would not have gone so many years without producing a single immortal cultivator.
I wonder whether I have spiritual root aptitude...
Zhou Qing silently pondered.
"It's time."
Zhou Qing gathered his thoughts and closed the ancient book in his hands.
Although he very much wanted to try sensing the unseen "qi" using the method in the book,
there was something more important to attend to right now.
At that thought, Zhou Qing immediately looked toward the bottom of his field of vision.
The illusory countdown kept changing.
[Time until activation: 00:00:00:10]
The countdown formed by the illusory text had reached its final ten seconds.
In a fleeting moment, those ten seconds passed.
Under Zhou Qing's watchful gaze, the illusory countdown finally reached zero.