'A world of difference...'
Chu Mu sheathed his Sword and stood rooted to the spot, the last few swings replaying in his mind.
The first swing had the slightest waver.
The second, third, and fourth swings had similarly minuscule deviations.
It was a massive improvement over before, and a significant gain.
But Chu Mu keenly sensed that completely eliminating even these minuscule imperfections would be incredibly difficult.
He only pondered for a moment before pushing the thought aside. He was already very satisfied with such progress.
'You eat a meal one bite at a time, and you walk a road one step at a time.'
'It's best not to overthink things.'
Looking up at the misty sky, Chu Mu pulled his clothes tighter and strode toward his room.
The moment he entered his room and set down his Sword, Chu Mu subconsciously reached for the Inspection Armor hanging on the wall. It was only when he held it in his hands that he realized—he had the day off today, didn't he?
According to the Inspection Office's rules, there were four days off a month, but the specific days depended on the arrangements within each squad.
But after joining, Chu Mu had discovered that rules... were just rules. Reality always depended on the arrangements made by those in charge.
In the month-plus since Chu Mu joined the Inspection Office, this was his first day off. He was only able to rest because the Inspection Office had completed its expansion and a new Hundred Households transferred from the county seat had finally arrived and settled in.
'What a rare treat...'
Chu Mu shook his head and casually hung the Armor back on the wall. He was about to head out the door when he sensed something and stopped in his tracks.
Chu Mu looked toward a corner of the yard. A puppy was curled up in a ball, letting out soft whimpers.
'Where did this stray come from?'
Chu Mu scanned the yard again, his eyes finally settling on a small gap at the base of a wall. The puppy had obviously squeezed in through that hole.
Seeing the puppy shivering uncontrollably, he figured it had probably been abandoned or had gotten lost.
'Perfect. I could use a dog to guard the house.'
Chu Mu looked around his yard and suddenly thought his idea wasn't bad at all.
He brushed the snowflakes off the puppy, then scooped it up and hurried into his room. The fire in the stove flickered, sending out waves of heat, and the shivering pup seemed to instantly feel more comfortable.
The puppy curled into a ball, lying quietly before Chu Mu's feet. It would twitch every so often, looking quite adorable.
"Let me get you something to eat."
With a chuckle, Chu Mu went into the kitchen, grabbed a warm steamed bun for himself, and stuffed it in his mouth. He then heated up some leftovers, poured them into a bowl, and set it down in front of the puppy.
The puppy gave Chu Mu a timid glance and looked around warily before finally dipping its head into the bowl and gobbling down the food.
Chu Mu glanced out at the snow, which seemed to be falling again, and his desire to stroll around town diminished significantly.
He walked over to the charcoal fire, sat down, and casually picked up a book to read.
While he had initially started reading just to learn the characters, Chu Mu's perspective had slowly changed after nearly a month of study.
Reading was arguably one of the easiest ways to calm the mind and achieve focus. And that undistracted focus, in turn, could increase his Spiritual Radiance. For him, it was a win-win situation.
As usual, time flew by while he was engrossed in his book. Well over an hour passed before Chu Mu finally surfaced from the world within its pages.
He had already read the four elementary books countless times. Although there were still many characters he didn't recognize, the script's semantic system was similar enough to Chinese characters that it didn't greatly hinder his comprehension.
The book he was reading now was a volume of history he had specially purchased from a bookshop a few days ago.
It mainly chronicled the history of the Great Chu Dynasty, which was the most important reason Chu Mu had bought it, despite not being fully literate yet.
After all, what could be better than a history book for getting to know this new era?
The book recorded that, to date, the Great Chu Dynasty had been founded for 693 years, passing through twelve Emperors. The current ruler was the twelfth Emperor of Great Chu, with the reign title of Jingwu; the current year was the twenty-eighth year of Jingwu.
Originally, Chu Mu had assumed that a dynasty established for nearly seven hundred years must have experienced countless twists and turns, with innumerable capable individuals rising to the occasion to save the nation from crisis and ensure the Great Chu Dynasty's survival to this day.
But as he read through the historical records, he found that aside from the tumultuous reign of the founding Emperor—a time of upheaval when heads rolled—the rest was surprisingly placid. It was this founding Emperor who had established things like the Paper Currency that Chu Mu had been so curious about.
The rule that all mines were state-owned and strictly regulated was also established after the founding of the Great Chu.
But the reigns of the eleven Emperors who followed were like a long, monotonous ledger—remarkably dull.
The transfer of imperial power from one to the next was seamless. There was no trace of policy reform, no appearance of the powerful court officials so common in history, and certainly no sign of aristocrats usurping the throne or rebelling.
The few peasant uprisings were like ants trying to shake a great tree; they were crushed with the force of a Thunderbolt the moment they gained any momentum.
Reading through the histories, the nearly seven-hundred-year reign of the Great Chu was a picture of absolute harmony, filled with scenes of peace across the land and accord between the ruler and his officials.
'Is this normal?'
It seemed to be. But clearly, this "normalcy" was the most abnormal thing of all.
Though Chu Mu wasn't a history expert, the thousands of years of division and reunification from his past life had made one truth abundantly clear: nothing lasts forever. The best policies, the most prosperous national fortune—all would inevitably change and decay with the passage of time.
After all, the human heart is fickle.
A single dynasty, a single world order, a single set of rules, enduring for nearly seven hundred years—the very idea felt like a tall tale.
In the thousands of years of history from his previous life, among all the kings, dukes, generals, and heroes, dynasties lasting even three or four hundred years were few and far between.
Let alone one lasting nearly seven hundred years in utter peace, without a single crisis. That was more fantastical than a fairy tale.
Moreover, according to the annals, it wasn't as if the Great Chu reigned supreme over the entire world. Other nations existed on its periphery, their strength and territory not the least bit inferior to Great Chu's. And yet, for more than four hundred years, the Great Chu and these neighboring kingdoms had coexisted in perfect harmony, without a single war ever occurring.
In the nearly seven hundred years since the Great Chu's founding, the only conflicts recorded in the annals, apart from the wars of its establishment, seemed to be the wars against the Barbarians.
And the Barbarians weren't truly external enemies. According to the annals, they were roughly equivalent to the indigenous Alien Races from the history of Huaxia civilization in his past life, dwelling in deep mountains and harsh waters, with cultures and customs completely different from the people of Chu.
However, in the nearly seven hundred years since the founding of the Great Chu, the so-called Barbarians had largely become a thing of the past.
The annals told of seven hundred years of the Great Chu, a time of favorable weather, a prosperous nation, a peaceful people, and an ever-enduring destiny.
'I can't make sense of it...'
Chu Mu shook his head. Since arriving in this world, though he hadn't encountered many things, the number of things he couldn't make sense of was only growing.
A seven-hundred-year national destiny, a prosperous and peaceful populace, twelve Emperors, each reigning for nearly sixty years on average...
This Great Chu... it was as if every generation was ruled by a long-lived, sagely monarch. It was more of a fairy tale than an actual fairy tale.
This era truly was fantastical!
...