In an unknown place…
The area was extremely cold. It was snowing, and everything was covered in white.
In one spot, the snow was dyed blood red. The blood belonged to a holy mammoth—a ferocious and powerful beast. It was gigantic and emitted a deadly aura, but it was already dead. Before it sat a half-naked man, sitting by a campfire and eating a large piece of monster meat.
While he was enjoying his meal, a warrior approached and said, "Sir, it's time to return," handing him a warm cloth.
__
__
__
"What did you mean by my 'father' being my doom?" George asked cautiously.
The mysterious voice replied, "From what I can see about this family, it may be the strongest—or at least one of the strongest—families in this entire world. And your so-called father is the patriarch of this family."
"So if my guess is not wrong, he would be a cultivator at the Astral Manifestation level."
"But didn't you say that to reach the Astral Manifestation level, one needs heaven-defying talent?"
"Yes, I did. And I think your 'father' has that heaven-defying talent. To be the patriarch of such a powerful family, he must have his own means."
"Okay… let's say he has a cultivation level at the peak of this world. But what does that have to do with him being my doom? As I said, he is extremely strong, and I'm currently possessing the body of his precious son. So what do you think? Wouldn't it be a piece of cake for him to figure it out?"
"Oh no… then what should I do now?"
"What can you do? Wait for your death? Ahahaha…"
"Please, this is not the time for jokes."
"Fine. As I can see, your compatibility with this body is very high, so if nothing goes wrong, you should be fine. But heaven knows what may happen."
"Okay, so I don't need to be afraid for now…"
"Yes."
"Okay… and I almost forgot. How should I address you?"
"Hmm… what should you call me? You can call me Master. But seeing your reaction, you're not going to call me that, so you can just call me Bao."
"Okay then, Bao… let's go and see the wonders of this new world."
"But wait…
I am still tied…"
"Hey… is there someone who can help?
Hellooo… hellooo… is there someone?"
A maid came. "Yo—miss… you people forgot to untie me."
"Oh, sorry, Young Master."
She helped George untie himself.
Finally feeling the joy of freedom, he said to the maid, "I am going for a stroll outside."
"Okay."
George left the house.
When he got outside, he was shocked to see how massive the estate was. There were large mansions here and there. He still didn't have any clear idea about this world, but he was certain the timeline was ancient.
He kept walking without knowing where to go, but suddenly he found something interesting—
"A market "
He decided to go to the market. When he entered, he saw many shops—an inn, vegetable stalls, food shops, weapon shops, clothing shops, restaurants, etc. It was just a normal market. For information, a restaurant would be the best place, so he decided to go to a restaurant.
After walking for some time, he found a very crowded restaurant and entered it. He casually grabbed a seat in a corner of the restaurant.
He didn't know how or fron where they came from, but there was some money in his pocket. He called a waiter and ordered a dish,then showing a golden coin and saying, "If you answer my questions, you will get this." The waiter was shocked and said he didn't know any great secret that would deserve such a massive payment. George said he didn't want any secret either—he just wanted general knowledge about this world, so the waiter could tell him everything he knew.
After an hour of brief conversation, the waiter explained everything he knew to George. George gave him the golden coin. The waiter left happily, thinking George was probably a fool to give him a golden coin for knowledge that even a kid knew. On the other hand, George thought he had spent his money well.
Totally… giving a Stradivarius to a donkey.
From their conversation, George found out many things. The estate was actually like a whole big city under the family of Van der Meer. George was shocked to learn that the family shared the surname from his previous life, but he didn't show it on his face.
He also found out that, though the waiter had traveled the world much, he had read in books that the world was divided into two
continents:
The Wild Continent: Viridion
The Human Continent: Aethelgand
The Wild Continent was a natural habitat for ferocious beasts, where many strong creatures resided, and it was considered a forbidden area. The Human Continent was the only habitable place for humans in this world. This continent was ruled by four of the strongest families, each governing a part of the land:
Southern Part: Van der Meers
Northern Part: Kovacs
Western Part: Sterlings
Eastern Part: Xing Zhaos
There were also some more information that didn't matter much. So after his meal ended, he decided to explore the market further, and he immediately left the restaurant.
While walking on the streets, he found a small shop with a sign saying,
"Wanna change your life? You came to the right placi"
He was just going to ignore it, as he thought it was some kind of cheap scam. He was only curious about how they dared to scam people within the territory of a powerful tycoon family. But just as he was about to leave, a voice spoke—
"You should try it out. Maybe fate has arranged something for you there."
It was Bao.
When George heard Bao suggesting that he go there, his interest was piqued.
George didn't know anything about Bao's background—where he came from or what his cultivation level was. But from Bao's tone of speech and the way he effortlessly explained the world's cultivation levels just by sensing some kind of spiritual energy in the air, it was clear that he was definitely not some kind of weak fellow in his past life.
So, since someone like Bao suggested going there, George decided to go in.
He entered the shop. Unlike his guess that this scammer's shop would be empty, this small shop was actually bustling with people.
When he entered, the shopkeeper came running, saying, "Welcome, Young Master, welcome. I am so honored to be in the presence of the Young Master. May I know why Your Excellency came to this garbage yard of this lowly one?"
George gave him a shocked gaze.
But the shopkeeper misunderstood, thinking George was angry because of his question, and quickly said, "No need, no need. Your Excellency probably came just to check this lowly one's garbage yard. I didn't dare—"
But George was actually just shocked by how much the shopkeeper was bootlicking him, and he had definitely recognized him. When George thought about it again, it was actually quite normal. This was a city under the Van der Meer family, and George resided in this city and was an heir of the Van der Meer family—one of the leading families of this world. It was usual for a small shopkeeper to bootlick and recognize him.
When George came back to reality from his deep thoughts, he realized that everyone's attention was on him, and the shopkeeper was still in a greeting position.
He could hear the murmurs of people, saying, "Who is this person that the shopkeeper is acting so polite toward?" The shopkeeper was known as an asshole who was very rude to his customers, As his shop was very famous in the city.
Hearing their chattering, the shopkeeper got angry and screamed, "Everybody, shut up! And if you can't stay silent, just scram from here!" He then bowed again to George, saying, "Sorry, I have let Your Excellency see something shameful."
George didn't give any mind to the other customers in the shop and said, "Shopkeeper, could you please explain what this shop of yours is providing?"
"Ir Would be better to explain while you see for yourself…"
"Ok… show the way."
"Young Master, our shop may look small, but it is actually just a small branch of our industry. We have many shops throughout the whole continent. And you may not know, as you stay away from your family business, it is actually an industry under your family. Though it couldn't be said it is completely owned by the Van der Meer family, let's put it like the family owns a higher portion of the shares."
"So that's the reason he was so polite… not because I am Young Master of the Van der Meer family. No, it was actually because I am Young Master of the Van der Meer family, but not because I am the Young Master of a powerful family. Rather, it is because the industry is actually owned by the family… what the heck,Ahhhh! why am I even confusing myself?" George mused.
(It took him a slight amount of time to think all of this through.)
"Ok, I understood… now without stretching the conversation, directly say what is your specialty."
"Young Master, we provide a total of three types of items."