In Ancient Luoyang, palaces stood in intricate arrangements, while pavilions and towers dotted the landscape like a forest.
In the eastern part of the city, inside the imposing and rustic Octagonal Four-Sided Tower, a young but exceptionally handsome Lu Xuan was meticulously organizing scrolls of bamboo slips. He carefully and methodically brushed away the dirt and dust from each one.
Not far away, an old man and a middle-aged man sat facing each other. The old man, dressed in simple, ancient robes, looked profoundly learned, yet also like a scruffy neighborhood elder, possessing little in the way of an imposing aura.
The middle-aged man had heroic features, but his face was fixed in a roguish grin, giving him a rather flippant air.
"Teacher, it's not that my foundation is weak. My Jade Tower may be imperfect, but my Divine Ladder is towering, and my Celestial Gate is majestic..."
"Enough!" The old man huffed, his beard twitching in indignation. "You don't even have a clear grasp of the nature of [Innate Essence]. You brat, you'll pay for this sooner or later!"
"Then could you explain it to me again?" Zhang Ling chuckled, a fawning smile spreading across his face.
The old man fell silent for a long moment, looking at him with a mix of frustration and disappointment.
"Look at your senior brothers, then look at yourself... Fine. I'll explain it to you one more time!"
"Alright!" Zhang Ling's face lit up. Then, as if remembering something, he called out to the young man organizing books in the corner.
"Little Lu Xuan, come over and listen in. It might be good for you in the future!"
"Oh, coming."
Lu Xuan set down the bamboo slips, answered obediently, and quickly walked over. He bowed to each of them in turn.
"Grandpa Li, Brother Zhang."
"Sit down and listen!" Zhang Ling pressed on Lu Xuan's shoulder, making him sit. "You don't need to be so strict with all those tedious formalities," he said, slightly exasperated. "How many times have I told you? It's not necessary."
Lu Xuan obediently nodded, then just as obediently shook his head. He neither argued nor complied.
"You little rascal!"
"That's enough." The old man, Grandpa Li, finally spoke in a slow, mild tone. "Listen to my Dharma."
Zhang Ling's expression turned serious. Lu Xuan lowered his head, ready to listen with utmost attention.
"[Essence] is the foundation of the human body, the source of the physical shell. Postnatal Essence exists in all things and is variable. But Innate Essence is a constant. If you are born with three taels and three mace of it, you will also die with three taels and three mace. It neither increases nor decreases..."
Lu Xuan became completely engrossed. By the time he came to his senses, the old man before him had vanished. In his place was a dilapidated ceiling with a single dim lightbulb hanging from it, swaying gently and creaking.
He was awake.
He had been having this dream for seven years.
Every two or three days, whenever he fell asleep feeling calm and rested, Lu Xuan would dream of that great tower full of books, of Grandpa Li and Brother Zhang.
What's more, the dream was continuous, like a television series. He had been dreaming for seven years, and seven years had also passed within the dream.
'Innate Essence, Postnatal Essence...' Recalling the old man's words from the dream, Lu Xuan stretched, feeling refreshed and invigorated.
Yes, every time he listened to one of Grandpa Li's lectures, he would wake up feeling as if his entire being had been cleansed by the waters of the Celestial River—from head to toe, body and soul.
He steamed a large, leftover steamed bun, carefully squeezed out a pinch of pickled mustard greens, and ate, taking large bites of the bun and small nibbles of the pickles. After finishing, Lu Xuan tilted his head, listening to the sound of the spring rain outside. Only then did a smile appear on his face.
'It's raining. There shouldn't be many people on the streets, so no one will be competing with me.'
He glanced around the small but tidy room, and after confirming he hadn't forgotten anything, Lu Xuan grabbed a woven plastic sack, opened up an old umbrella, and pushed the door open.
The sight that met his eyes was the same as always: a filthy street reeking of a sour stench. Even with the spring rain turning the dirt to mud, there was no pleasant, earthy fragrance, only an even stronger sour smell.
The long street outside and the tiny room within were two different worlds. One was dilapidated and filthy, the other spotless—like a pale Cyan Lotus growing from the muck.
The young man carried his woven plastic sack and held his old umbrella, his steps steady and calm. Before long, he reached the Boundary of the shantytown.
"Lu the Kid, heading out to collect scraps again?"
Butcher Zheng, who also lived in the slum and was pushing a cart piled with pork, called out in a loud voice.
"Are you going to the protest march tonight?"
"Protest march?" Lu Xuan was a bit surprised. "Uncle Zheng, what happened?"
"You don't know yet?" Butcher Zheng spat on the ground. "What else could it be? Demolition! And none of us are willing to go along with it!"
Lu Xuan grew even more confused and asked softly,
"Uncle Zheng, why is everyone against it? Isn't this a good thing? Even if the developers are a bit crooked and the compensation is low, at least everyone can move to a better place..."
"Who said they're demolishing the shantytown?" Butcher Zheng said irritably. "Those sons of bitches want to tear down the cemetery behind it! They want to tear down all our ancestral graves!"
Lu Xuan reacted instinctively, blurting out,
"They can't!"
"Damn right, they can't!" Butcher Zheng said indignantly. "It's one thing to demolish the graves, but the compensation they're offering is peanuts! Disturb our ancestors' peace for such a pittance? I spit on that!"
After a pause, he added,
"So, are you going to the protest tonight or not?"
Without a moment's hesitation, Lu Xuan said,
"Of course I'm going!"
"Good, I knew you would!" Butcher Zheng smiled. "You're a good kid. I figured you'd be the last person to want the graves demolished. After all, Old Chu was only just buried..."
Seven years ago, a nine-year-old Lu Xuan had fled here to East Sea City all by himself. If it weren't for Old Chu from the shantytown taking him in, he would have starved to death on the streets long ago.
After all, the Federation had clear regulations prohibiting anyone from hiring underage workers. Even now, Lu Xuan couldn't find a proper job and could only survive by selling scrap for a meager income.
Back then, Old Chu had adopted Lu Xuan. The two of them depended on each other for seven years, until two months ago, when the old man passed away peacefully in his sleep. It was a good death, and he even left Lu Xuan this dilapidated house.
At the time, Lu Xuan was penniless. He had to borrow a shovel from Butcher Zheng's family and dug for half the night to bury Old Chu in the cemetery. Afterward, he slept by the grave for seven days, holding a seven-day vigil.
Perhaps there truly was a spirit watching over him from the heavens. It was the dead of winter, yet Lu Xuan, sleeping on the ground in the cemetery, didn't even catch a cold. He was just terribly frozen, but he was spared from a serious illness.
"Alright, I've got to get to the market." Butcher Zheng looked at the clean-cut young man before him and couldn't help but sigh to himself. 'This kid doesn't look like he grew up in a slum at all. He's too kind, too clean.'
'What a shame. If he'd been born into a wealthy family, he definitely could have gotten into a top high school. He could have become a Cultivator in the future, a great master...'
Shaking his head, Butcher Zheng sighed wistfully for a moment before pushing his cart and hurrying away.
Lu Xuan didn't linger either. After leaving the shantytown, he wandered around the Lower City District. As expected, the streets were empty because of the rain, which meant none of the old ladies who usually competed with him for aluminum cans were around.
In just a few hours, he had collected a full sack of flattened aluminum cans, which he exchanged for a crumpled fifty-yuan bill at the scrapyard.
He glanced at his phone, and his eyes lit up slightly.
'It's about time.'
He hurried all the way from the Lower City District to the Upper City District, running until he reached East Sea High School.
East Sea High School was the best high school in East Sea City and one of the few schools that offered cultivation classes.
Even though it was only one class a week, the parents of East Sea City were desperate to get their children in. This was cultivation, after all!
He stopped at the back gate of East Sea High School, ran into the little shop there, and spent forty yuan on a pack of cigarettes. Of the fifty yuan he had worked all morning to earn, only ten remained.
Lu Xuan walked forward cheerfully.
"Sir!"
The gatekeeper jumped, startled. He said gruffly,
"I'd forgotten you were coming today, you brat... Go on in. Same old rules: if you get caught, don't you dare say I was the one who let you in!"
"Thank you, sir!" Lu Xuan put down the pack of cigarettes and thanked him profusely.
"I told you, you don't have to, you brat!" the gatekeeper grumbled. "I've told that rascal at the shop several times not to sell you cigarettes, honestly... If you keep this up, I'm going to have to quit smoking!"
"Then I have even more reason to buy them for you!" Lu Xuan said with a smile.
"Alright, alright, hurry up and get in!" the gatekeeper said irritably, opening the iron gate just a crack. Lu Xuan thanked him again, opened his old umbrella, and slipped inside in a flash.
As he ran, excitement swelled in his heart. After listening to a full year of cultivation theory, today, they were finally going to teach an actual Cultivation Skill!