The black steamed buns looked coarse, but once in the mouth, they didn’t feel rough at all. Instead, they had a unique sweet fragrance, and that flavor came from the grain itself. Sure enough, in a place where the spiritual qi of heaven and earth is dense, even the crops taste amazing.
After finishing two black steamed buns, Ian Song contentedly patted his stomach and gave the old man a grateful smile.
The old man pointed to the bowl of water, motioning for him to drink.
Ian nodded, picked up the bowl, and took a sip. But as soon as the water entered his mouth, he sensed something off. Still, he didn’t let it show and swallowed it anyway.
At that moment, a strange, sinister smile appeared at the corner of the old man’s mouth.
Ian immediately sensed the medicinal power in the water spreading through his body, causing a slight numbness in his nerves.
However, his internal sword essence merely rippled once and instantly shattered the medicinal power inside him.
“You’re the one who broke the rules first, so don’t blame me!” Ian looked at the old man, smiling as he spoke.
The old man froze, shocked that Ian wasn’t mute. But he couldn’t understand Ian’s words and instinctively panicked, scrambling to run outside.
Of course, Ian wouldn’t let him escape. With a casual grab, he pulled the old man in front of him, tapped his brow, and enslaved him with the Puppet Mastery Divine Art.
An hour later.
Ian Song walked out from the old man’s house and left the village called ‘Riverside Village.’
After enslaving the old man, Ian learned the local language through spiritual connection, and also gleaned some basic information about this world.
As for why the old man tried to poison him, it was because he was a retired con artist from the jianghu, who had returned to the village to live out his old age.
After years in the jianghu, even as a low-tier hustler, his eyes were sharp. He immediately noticed that Ian’s outer robe was of exceptional workmanship and quality. Seeing Ian was a deaf-mute, and therefore seemingly harmless, the old man decided to make a move. He lured Ian home and secretly slipped a colorless, tasteless anesthetic—strong enough to knock out a martial expert—into the water.
But he had no idea that Ian was not only not a deaf-mute, but actually a highly skilled cultivator.
Not far from Riverside Village, Ian spotted an official road.
Following the road east for three hundred kilometers would lead to a city called ‘North River.’
North River City belongs to the Tang Dynasty and is just a small city.
The old con man, being only a low-level wanderer, knew little about the world. He only knew that besides the Tang Dynasty, there were two neighboring countries: the Song Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty.
The three dynasties are constantly at war with each other.
As for cultivators, maybe there simply aren’t any in this world, or maybe the old con man’s status was too low for him to ever hear anything about them.
Still, Ian was convinced: with Core Formation-level demonic beasts and such dense spiritual qi, it would be strange if there were no cultivators here.
So, Ian decided to head to North River City to gather more information.
On the way to North River City, Ian neither used the Silverglow Skiff nor flew on his sword. Instead, he ran along the official road using only body movement. Since everything in this world was unfamiliar, it was better to keep a low profile.
After running more than a hundred kilometers, he encountered a group of people driving ox-carts loaded with goods. Judging by their dress, they were likely villagers from a nearby village. Among them were armed martial artists, but their cultivation was low: two at Postnatal-mid stage, one at Postnatal-late stage.
Ian’s appearance made the villagers wary.
But when they saw Ian didn’t stop and quickly disappeared ahead, the villagers relaxed again.
“Uncle Lin, that guy was really fast—he must be a Postnatal-great-perfection martial artist, right?” The dark-skinned youth sheathed his broadsword and asked the middle-aged man beside him.
“Probably.”
Uncle Lin nodded gravely. "He’s so young, and he’s got short hair. He’s probably an outer disciple of the Diamond Body Sect."
“Wow! Diamond Body Sect—if only I could join!”
“Stop dreaming, Niu. The Diamond Body Sect only takes people under sixteen, and you have to be at least Postnatal-late stage. You’re already twenty, so there’s no chance!” Another youth teased him with a laugh.
The dark-skinned youth called Niu blushed. “Brother Zhou, I was just saying.”
Diamond Body Sect, huh? Interesting.
Ian, still running, muttered to himself—he had overheard the conversation between the three martial artists.
In this world, martial artists are also divided into Postnatal and Innate tiers.
The old con man he enslaved was a Postnatal-mid stage martial artist. Thanks to the rich spiritual qi in this world, anyone with basic skills can easily reach early Postnatal.
Reaching Postnatal-mid stage is much harder.
As for Postnatal-late stage, almost every village has at least one expert—sometimes three or five.
If you reach Postnatal-late stage before age sixteen, you qualify to join a martial sect.
Likewise, the government’s recruitment standard for soldiers is also Postnatal-late stage.
The Tang Dynasty treats its soldiers well—even the most ordinary soldier gets a base salary of one hundred taels a month, and there are extra payments for missions or combat.
So being a soldier is a highly desirable profession.
Ian kept running.
Along the way, Ian encountered several more convoys transporting goods to North River City—mostly grain, hides, and medicinal herbs.
Though the herbs were all common varieties, if brought to the real world, they would cause a sensation.
For example, Ian used his clairvoyant divine art to inspect their cargo—decades-old ginseng and polygonum multiflorum were everywhere.
After running for over an hour,
Ian finally arrived in front of North River City.
There were twenty-five armored guards at the city gate: one at Postnatal-great-perfection, likely the squad leader given his slightly different armor, and the other twenty-four were all Postnatal-late stage.
Ian noticed that everyone entering the city had to present something like an identity token for inspection by the city guards before being allowed through.
Just as Ian was wondering whether to hypnotize the guards, the two responsible for inspections greeted him respectfully, "Please come in, young master."
"No inspection?" Ian asked curiously.
"You’re a distinguished disciple of the Diamond Body Sect—of course you don’t need to be checked." The two city guards smiled, their expressions full of flattery.
"You handle things well. Here’s a reward!"
Ian took out two gold leaves from his storage spirit ring and tossed them to the pair, then swaggered into the city.
The two guards who received the gold leaf grinned from ear to ear, calling out behind him in unison, "Safe travels, young master!"