The residence at No. 8, Dingtiao Hutong, behind Guiyuanfang in the western part of the capital city of the Great Li Dynasty.
A two-courtyard siheyuan with a lotus pond in the backyard.
It was late autumn, and the lotus pond was covered with withered lotus leaves and roots, which made a particularly jarring sound as they clattered like ice crystals in the autumn wind.
A gust of autumn wind swept by, blowing open the withered lotus leaves and roots in the center of the lotus pond, revealing a young man standing amidst the lotus leaves and roots.
The boy was frozen solid on the surface of the lotus pond, his lower body half-submerged in the water, with only his chest and above partially exposed on the lotus leaves and stems, frozen into an ice sculpture.
At first glance, the boy's face was pale and bloodless, and even his long hair was frozen and dyed blackish-blue. Paired with the grayish-white robe half-exposed in the ice sculpture, if you didn't look closely, he would just look like an ice crystal work of art, not a real person.
A man in black robes stood on the east bank of the lotus pond, hands behind his back, staring at the image of the boy in the ice sculpture. He snorted coldly, then turned and leaped into the air, his figure transforming into a black phantom as he flashed away towards the east outside the central courtyard: "Whoosh!"
With a "whoosh," the lotus pond, illuminated by the rising sun, suddenly brightened, its silvery light shimmering.
Zheng Ya's naked body was revealed in the air, gradually becoming clearer and more distinct. However, after the Tower of Babel helped people cross the boundary, he searched for a suitable local person as a template to reshape his appearance.
Zheng Ya's first experience with facial reconstruction made her feel that this trans-dimensional body sculpting was novel and unique.
The last time I was reborn in another world, it was purely a rebirth through the combination of three superpowers, a complete transformation into an adult.
This time was different. Zheng Ya experienced the Tower of Babel mark emitting an energy that directly dissolved the body of the ice sculpture boy in the lotus pond, leaving only the boy's black and white robes. The boy's essence then merged into Zheng Ya's body.
The robe covered the body, avoiding an embarrassing situation.
This made Zheng Ya feel much better. He felt the essence of the young man's spirit flowing into his body, and his whole body felt slightly cool. Along with the addition of some information to his memory, he digested everything about the young man in less than ten seconds.
The silver energy emanating from the Tower of Babel mark dissipated. Zheng Ya, having used his spatial power to possess the body, landed lightly on the frozen lotus pond, treading on the ice and bathing in the sunlight as he walked towards the east bank, where he could see a dark shadow flying away in the distance.
That was a cultivator who used ice magic to murder a young man: Fu Ya!
Fu Ya was fast asleep in his bedroom when he was suddenly awakened by a masked man in black using ice magic. The man then controlled Fu Ya's body and led him to the lotus pond, creating the scene of him falling into the water and freezing to death.
To avoid making a mistake, the masked man in black used ice magic to freeze Fu Yan into an ice sculpture, causing Fu Ya to suffocate and die, thus witnessing the entire process of the masked man in black's murder.
Why would a cultivator murder ordinary people?
Zheng Ya walked to the east bank of the lotus pond with great surprise, then turned and headed towards the master bedroom, searching through Fu Ya's memories and analyzing the situation as he went.
This is a world of cultivation.
Three hundred years ago, amidst constant warfare, the Great Li Dynasty was established. After a 127-year struggle, it overthrew the Hongli Dynasty.
Historical records and accounts from war survivors tell of the flourishing of various schools of thought during the Hongli Dynasty, the existence of countless cultivators, the power of various great beings who could shatter mountains and rivers with a wave of their hand and cause the earth to tremble with a stomp of their feet, triggering sinkholes and volcanic eruptions, and the existence of countless strong individuals.
However, powerful figures emerged in great numbers, and wars for resources broke out frequently. In order to ascend to immortality, they joined forces with their respective factions to fight the enemy, resulting in an unprecedented war in which countless people died.
The land was shattered, and three-fifths of the continental plates were destroyed.
Currently, more than half of the cultivation traditions have been severed, and the remaining small portion is extremely scarce due to the fragmented landscape and lack of cultivation resources.
Therefore, after the Dali Dynasty achieved final victory and established its dynasty, it adopted the name Dali to establish its country, which meant that the people were disloyal and alienated from heaven and earth, and that they were apologizing to the heavens and seeking protection!
A shattered world of cultivation?
However, it suppressed the range of supernatural perception by a hundred times.
Zheng Ya's perception distance, which was originally over 20,000 meters, has now decreased to over 200 meters. He found the bedroom, opened the large red wooden box, took out Fu Ya's clothes, and put them into his ability space for modification.
Straight-leg pants and underwear, cotton jackets with pudding buttons—all were replaced with modern underwear, which immediately dispelled the chill of late autumn when worn.
He was only at level 1 of the second tier of planning ability, and his time and space abilities were still at level 11 of the first tier. Before he could upgrade, he was robbed by a mysterious old man and became penniless.
Apart from a courtyard house containing some precious seeds and a sea anemone, there was nothing else in the supernatural space.
Zheng Ya was filled with rage at the thought. After more than a decade of hard work, he was back to square one. His top priority was to make money.
Fu Ya was born into a collateral branch of the Duke's family. He lived a frugal life, relying on his parents' hard work managing the Duke's family affairs and earning three to five taels of silver a month, which allowed them to accumulate some savings.
Before the Lunar New Year, Fu Ya's parents went out to buy New Year's goods for the Duke's mansion. On the way, they were attacked and killed by bandits. The Duke's mansion symbolically gave Fu Ya one hundred taels of silver, but to save face for the Duke's mansion in comforting its clan, the matter was dropped.
Fu Ya was sixteen years old. From then on, he relied on himself and lived a life of ridicule and bullying from his clansmen, maids, and servants, barely surviving.
In less than a year and a half, their entire fortune was plundered and stolen.
In order to survive, Fu Ya sold most of the furniture and belongings in his second courtyard, which caused the maids and servants who originally served him to run away.
For the past two weeks, people have been coming to buy this two-courtyard house at low prices.
Fu Ya gritted his teeth and refused to budge, insisting on selling for a good price. He then took the money and went south to seek refuge with his mother's maternal uncle, hoping to find a way to make a living.
Unexpectedly, he was murdered by masked men in black in the early hours of the next day.
Zheng Ya put on modern underwear, then slipped on a blue robe to cover it up, and sat on the only double bed in the master bedroom, pondering ways to make money.
Merchants are considered lowly in this half-crippled world of cultivation.
Once someone is labeled as working in a lowly profession, their descendants will also be relegated to that profession, making it difficult for them to rise above others.
Unless their offspring possess the spiritual root for cultivating immortality, they will be welcomed into the dynasty's immortal cultivation sects, or they will be born with divine power to join the army and fight their way to the heavens.
The key issue is that making money through business is impossible without getting past the Duke's mansion.
Living in an old society where family and filial piety governed the country and national law was secondary, every move was monitored by the clan members.
Making money in business requires a powerful backer. The Fu family, once dukes of two states, has now inherited the title of viscount, the lowest rank of nobility. They have long since fallen into a state of outward appearance but inner decay, and are completely unreliable.
Zheng Ya got up and left the bedroom. When he went to the kitchen, he found a pot, a pan, and a bowl, but nothing else.
I can't live like this anymore.
Having just transmigrated and shaped his body, combined with the previous exertion, Zheng Ya was already starving. He had endured the thin spiritual energy and the chill of late autumn in this world. With his first-tier spatial ability physique and time ability assistance, he was particularly sensitive to the cold and hunger due to the enhanced perception of his second-tier planning ability.
Unable to bear it any longer, Zheng Ya stepped out of the second courtyard gate, only to be greeted by five clansmen who had been bullying Fu Ya: "Duck, hurry up and pay back the money you owe us..."
"Three thousand taels of silver, pay me back..." Fu Ping rushed up to Zheng Ya fiercely, grabbed Zheng Ya's collar and scolded him.
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