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"Phew—"

When he opened his eyes and saw the familiar balcony beside him again, Gu Zhao let out a long breath. He subconsciously looked toward the residence opposite, but the young lady who did yoga by the open window was nowhere to be seen.

His second reaction was to "look" at the Five Thunder Token in his mind.

To his surprise, not only were the Five Thunder Token, the lightning around it, and the Thunder Seed circling the token still there, even the Innate Qi he had activated and all the Mana in his body had come back with him.

He formed a thunder seal with his left hand, and a vast, righteous aura surged forth from his body.

"Awesome!"

Gu Zhao's eyes gleamed. The world before him seemed three shades brighter, and at least thirty-six scenarios of displaying his holiness before the masses had already flashed through his mind.

Cultivating the Tao and tempering the heart? Only showing off could keep his Dao Heart flowing smoothly!

He looked back at the clock on the wall. It was already past six in the evening, roughly the same amount of time he had spent in the other world. It also seemed to be nearly dinner time over there.

So this wasn't a rule-based transmigration where time stopped. I'll have to properly allocate and manage my time, or it'll be easy to let the cat out of the bag, Gu Zhao thought as he looked at the clock. Especially when someone might come looking for me at any time over here.

Although that other world was clearly somewhat dangerous, fortunately, he had gained a cheat as well.

He was now a Taoist who could cultivate and possessed Mana. Not only did he have the Five Thunder Token as a portable plug-in, he also had industrial civilization as his foundation. Once he became familiar with that world's circumstances, he would surely be like a fish in water, like a tiger with wings, inseparable as glue...

Gu Zhao stopped his wandering thoughts and tried cultivating. Then he had no choice but to admit that the two worlds truly were different.

In that world, as long as he circulated his Qi and cultivated, he continuously absorbed something akin to the primordial energy of heaven and earth from his surroundings, replenishing his Mana.

But in this world, no matter how hard he worked to circulate his inner breath, the energy he absorbed from outside could not be said to be nonexistent, but it felt like a water pipe leaking one or two drops at a time.

It could not be said to be nonexistent, but it was better than nothing.

Gu Zhao shook his head. "No wonder cultivation is impossible in this world."

In other words, when he cast spells in the modern world, it would be difficult to replenish his Mana by cultivating and absorbing the primordial energy of heaven and earth. He could either slowly grind it out over a great deal of time, or replenish it through eating and refining food.

But that was fine. He could transmigrate to the other world at any time to restore his blue bar.

Then he noticed that the leather boots on his feet, the silver, copper coins, and wooden carving in his pockets had all come back with him too.

Gu Zhao returned to the living room, placed the copper coins and silver ingot in a drawer, then casually set the wooden carving on the entryway shelf.

There were no mages in the modern world. Over here, the wooden carving was merely a well-made piece of craftsmanship, and Gu Zhao did not care about it in the slightest.

Then Gu Zhao began his experiments.

"Transmigrate!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

After several transmigrations, along with the table and sofa in the living room now covered in mud and grass clippings, Gu Zhao roughly figured it out. Aside from bringing Gu Zhao and the things on his person, the Five Thunder Token could actually bring along objects enveloped by his divine sense.

That meant that as Gu Zhao cultivated, the broader his Sea of Consciousness became and the stronger his divine sense grew, the more things he would be able to bring.

Gu Zhao's eyes shone. Tsk, tsk... when great power returns to oneself, with a single thought, I'll directly bring the entire city of Guangzhou down upon the other world. I'll climb to the summit with industrial technology and suppress all ill omens...

"Can't think about it anymore. If I keep thinking, I'll get so excited I won't be able to sleep. I still have things to do tomorrow."

"Eat! Sleep!"

Early the next morning.

The first thing Gu Zhao did after getting up was sense the Five Thunder Token in his mind, confirming that what he had experienced yesterday had not been a dream.

After saying "Awesome!" again, he tidied up, washed, dressed, and headed out.

"There's quite a lot to do today." Gu Zhao picked up his phone and opened his notes app. Inside were several items he had written down yesterday, listed in order of importance and urgency.

[Buy several sets of clothing resembling ancient outfits, so I won't look too conspicuous when I transmigrate again.]

[Buy calligraphy brushes, an inkstone, cinnabar, and yellow paper.]

[Go to the other world and test which spells and talismans from the Taoist Scriptures I've learned can be used.]

[Go to the nearest Xiu Yue County and begin my journey of exploring the world.]

[Find a way to communicate normally with the Female Ghost without having my vital energy drained.]

They were all matters related to the other world. As for the modern world... Zhang Hang's suggestion was not entirely without reason.

He had just graduated, after all. It was understandable to mooch off his parents for a while.

Gu Zhao: ()

While paying his respects to Mother, who was dozens of kilometers away, Gu Zhao bit into a char siu bun and boarded the subway for the City God Temple.

Guangzhou's City God Temple had been very large in ancient times. It was said to have later been elevated into the Metropolitan City God Temple, but by now, it had become quite small—at least, it could not compare to the Metropolitan City God Temples in several other cities.

But no matter what, the City God Temple was a city's historical and cultural center, stretching back through centuries and millennia. Thus, the shops along half the surrounding street mostly dealt in traditional history and culture.

For example, stationery shops, calligraphy and painting shops, antique shops, and jade shops.

Gu Zhao had come here intending to gather brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, and ancient-style clothing all at once.

"What? Yellow paper?"

Inside Guyi Xuan, the owner stared at the solemn-faced Gu Zhao in confusion. "I have raw xuan paper and processed xuan paper, single-layer xuan and layered xuan, white xuan and yellow xuan. You want yellow paper? Did you come to the wrong place?"

Gu Zhao asked, "Then where should I go?"

The owner snorted. "Funeral Street."

Gu Zhao was speechless. "The yellow paper I want isn't the kind used for burning."

"Then what is it for?" the owner asked.

"Drawing talismans," Gu Zhao replied.

This time, it was the owner's turn to be speechless. "Then you shouldn't be coming to a stationery shop. You should be going to a Taoist temple."

Gu Zhao asked, "Isn't the City God Temple a Taoist temple?"

"The City God Temple was torn down over a hundred years ago. Now there's only one main hall left. How does that count as a Taoist temple?" The owner pointed north, then west. "If you want yellow paper for drawing talismans, why not go to Yuanfa Palace or Huangxian Shrine?"

Gu Zhao's eyes lit up. "They sell cinnabar and yellow paper there?"

"At the very least, they sell funeral supplies," the owner answered.

Gu Zhao, "..."

The owner, "..."

Gu Zhao said, "Why didn't you mention Liuke Temple and Guangxiao Temple?"

The owner replied, "They don't sell funeral supplies there."

Gu Zhao was left speechless by that retort. Taoist temples cultivating this life sent people toward the next at their gates, while Buddhist temples praying for the next life asked about this one at theirs. This world truly defied explanation.

Gu Zhao: ╮(╯▽╰)╭

With no other choice, Gu Zhao first bought a set of wolf-hair brushes, then a Huizhou Inkstone. Thinking that he was now a preserver of ancient culture himself, he also bought some varieties of xuan paper, along with Pine Soot Ink and Oil Soot Ink.

Afterward, he went outside and hired an errand runner, asking the young man to deliver the items to his door. Then he turned left and entered another shop, continuing to buy clothes!

Thanks to Fellow Daoist Reading1PleaseDoNotDisturb for the 2222 reward.

Thanks to Fellow Daoist Rogotariveros for the 100 reward.