It is a capital offense for commoners to cultivate Immortality privately; this is a strict law of Great Xia, known to everyone in Yuyang County.
But at first, Ji You and they had a language barrier…
The world used an ancient Chinese language system, but the pronunciation was very different.
He couldn't understand or speak, so he could only pretend to be mad, striking professional poses like wearing overalls and playing basketball on the street all day long to avoid suspicion.
The Immortal book he found deep in the Cloud Ridge was considered his foundation for survival.
What else could one do without a phone at night in ancient times? Cultivate!
Gradually, he began to acquire some Immortal Dao foundation, and his language skills improved significantly, so he wanted to learn more about this world.
Then he started reading, and from a book called “Xia Law Immortal Rules,” he learned that commoners cultivating Immortality privately was an utterly baffling great crime…
And there were only two paths left for him.
One was to cultivate diligently and reach Junior Third Realm Completion before coming of age, which would classify him as a heaven-gifted prodigy, automatically freeing him from commoner status, allowing him to disregard mortal laws, and join any of the Seven Great Immortal Sects of the current era at will.
The second was a mountain stronghold north of Yuyang County, filled with private cultivators who hated Immortal Sects and the imperial court. They were actively recruiting heroes to expand their influence, and their prospects seemed decent, with a relatively transparent path to advancement.
After much deliberation, Ji You finally decided to go up the mountain next autumn to become a peerless bandit.
The reason was simple: there were too many orthodox cultivators who fed on the people's hard-earned wealth, and he didn't want to be another straw that broke the camel's back for poor families like Old Qiu's…
The next day at noon, with the red sun shining brightly, it was time for the land clear-out in Yuyang County. The constables in charge, holding their intimidating rods, walked down the street in three parallel rows, looking imposing and extraordinary.
“Faster, faster, move quicker, don’t dawdle.”
“This year, with the Immortals' protection, there have been no disasters or harm, making it a bountiful year. And our Great Xia is currently at war with the Barbarian Witches beyond the Northern Plains, with the national treasury long empty. Therefore, the Grand Master has ordered that this year’s taxes and offerings must be paid in full.”
Under the urging of the constables, thousands of households in Yuyang County opened their cellars, brought out six-tenths of their prepared grain, meticulously counted it, divided it into two equal portions, and registered it.
One portion was the Great Xia land tax, and the other was the Immortal Sect offering.
A thousand years ago, the Qingyun World experienced a chaotic war among various states. To forge an eternal hegemony, the Grand Ancestor of Great Xia made an offering pact with various Immortal Sects.
The agreement stipulated that as long as the reclusive Immortals helped Great Xia unify the Central Plains, an additional portion of taxes would be collected annually thereafter to serve as offerings to the Immortal Sects.
In the past, Immortals would descend the mountains to slay demons and monsters, and incidentally treat illnesses and dispel evil for young children in villages. But after Great Xia took control of the Central Plains, those legends became mere refrains in theatrical plays.
Later, a struggle for religious dominance arose in the Qingyun World, and various Immortal Sects widely recruited Disciples. The Immortal offering quotas increased every year, crushing the common people and leaving them unable to breathe.
Meanwhile, they themselves all hid in the Immortal Mountains, comprehending the Dao and cultivating, living off the people's hard-earned wealth, pursuing the elusive Immortal Dao, and remaining aloof from worldly affairs.
To the long-numbed people of Great Xia, this seemed to be a natural order passed down through the ages.
But as an outsider, when Ji You first learned about the relationship between offerings and being offered, only one word came to his mind.
Cancer.
Immortal Sects, Immortal Dao, Immortals, had become like disordered cellular tissues, cutting off the sustainable development of society and ruthlessly draining the vitality of this world.
This is cancer.
Ji You stepped out of the threshold of the Ji Family ancestral home, watching the constables walk down the street, and thought to himself, 'Things have come to this, let's eat first.'
The Yuyang Ji Family nominally no longer existed, and their land had been completely taken over by other families. Although he didn't have to pay taxes, eating was a problem.
Not just food, but beautiful Master, alluring Senior Sister, and loli Junior Sister—the basic configurations for Transmigration—he had none of them.
As for Old Qiu, his family couldn't even scrape together this year's tax offerings and had to borrow from his father-in-law's family. He didn't want to add to their trouble.
Fortunately, the businesses on Paifang Street were all once Ji Family properties, so he still had some influence there. Choosing a shop to work as a laborer would at least guarantee him a full meal.
However, just as Ji You reached the entrance of a restaurant, a sudden sound of horse hooves echoed from the main road of Paifang Street.
Looking up, three richly decorated redwood carriages, adorned with pearls and jade, drove down the street, incredibly luxurious, as if they didn't belong in the same world as the mud-brick houses on either side.
In the first two carriages sat an old man and a woman, both dressed in white robes embroidered with gold, with luxurious long swords at their waists. Their spiritual light flickered faintly around them, and their faces were expressionless, exuding an air of Immortal grace and Daoist bone.
The third carriage followed, carrying another woman. She wore a smoke-gauze scattered-flower dress, her eyes like water, her posture dignified, with a hint of arrogance, displaying the demeanor of a noble Young Miss.
However, upon seeing Ji You by the roadside, the woman in the carriage slightly frowned and reached out to lower the beaded curtain.
After this fleeting glance, the three carriages drove down the street towards the county yamen.
“It seems the Immortal from Tianshu Academy has arrived to take Fang Ruoyao to Shengjing. Why isn't Young Master Ji going with her?”
“Young Master Ji's demeanor is exceptional; naturally, he wouldn't care for an Immortal Sect like Tianshu Academy.”
Ji You regained his senses and looked in the direction of the voices, seeing two diners in the restaurant staring at him with ill-intentioned expressions.
These two were named Jia Sicong and Dong Wei, both former classmates of the original Young Master Ji.
When his family fortune was still intact, Young Master Ji was a profligate who would curse even a dog he saw on the street, so he had made many enemies among his peers.
Jia Sicong walked up to him: “Young Miss Fang is setting off for Shengjing the day after tomorrow, and she specifically hosted a banquet for guests the night before. We all went, but why didn’t we see Young Master Ji? Your role as a fiancé is truly disheartening.”
“Brother Jia is confused, didn't Fang Ruoyao already break off the engagement with him?”
Shengjing is the capital of Great Xia, and Ni Mountain Tianshu Academy, the foremost of the Seven Great Immortal Sects, is located there. It is said that Emperor Taizu himself was a Saint from Tianshu Academy, and after establishing his imperial dominion, he naturally built the capital near Ni Mountain.
Legend has it that Shengjing City was extremely prosperous, with towering pavilions, captivating countless literati and poets, who composed timeless works such as “Shengjing Fu” and “Ode to the Capital.”
Fang Ruoyao has now been chosen as a Disciple of Tianshu Academy, so going to Shengjing naturally means enrolling. It's not an exaggeration for the county's common people to say she has risen to prominence overnight.
“Ji You, don’t pretend to be deaf to me.”
Ji You leaned against the counter: “Shopkeeper, this Young Master wants two cage of fresh dumplings.”
Jia Sicong was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage: “What two Cage of fresh dumplings? I finished eating long ago!”
“I'll eat it for you.”
Ji You watched as the steaming fresh dumplings were brought over and said, “You're talking so much, surely you're not too poor to pay?”
Jia Sicong's face flushed after hearing this: “Do you think I'm like a wild dog like you? What's two Cage, even ten Cage, what then?”
“Then I'll have ten Cage, meat ones. Serve three Cage first, and keep the remaining seven. I'll go home later and get a basket to take them away.”
Dong Wei stared for a long time, and the more he thought about it, the more something felt off. This son of a bitch wasn't making fun of them; he was scamming them for food.
Seeing that Jia Sicong was about to open his mouth again, Dong Wei immediately pulled his elbow: “Stop talking, he's already drooling.”
“?”
Once his ears were clear, Ji You found a window seat, picked up a pair of bamboo chopsticks from the holder, and began to enjoy this gift from nature.
Of the ten Cage of fresh dumplings, he would eat three himself, and planned to put the remaining in a basket to take back to the Qiu Family. That girl, Qiu Ru, was always so silly, she'd certainly enjoy them.
As he sat there, the leisure of noon quickly passed.
Ji You calculated the time and figured Old Qiu should be back from his father-in-law's house in Thirty Li Pu, so he planned to go home to get a basket.
However, just as he stood up, the conversation of a few diners at the entrance caught his attention.
“Have you heard? Something happened to the third house east of Nanya River outside the city.”
“What happened?”
“A five-year-old girl was noticed by an Immortal from Fengxian Mountain Manor. They said she had… luminous Qi and boundless Immortal potential? They want to use her as a medicinal ingredient.”
“When did this happen?”
“This morning, at Chen Shi. I heard the father and daughter were borrowing grain at Thirty Li Pu then…”
“Our county hasn't produced an Immortal in a thousand years, how could a five-year-old girl have that troublesome Immortal potential?”
“How would we know about the Immortals' affairs? In short… that Qiu Family girl… alas…”
Coincidentally, Old Qiu's family was the third house east of Nanya River, Qiu Ru was also five years old this year, and Old Qiu's father-in-law was in Thirty Li Pu.
Ji You walked, listened, and thought, and gradually, his legs froze at the threshold.
(Please give the newcomers some continuous reads and monthly votes. These two data are very crucial during the new book period. I humbly beg…)