Chapter 28: Perhaps the previous Reincarnations were just giving me a trial run?

Gu Jiangming entered the room, first gathered some firewood, and holding a flatbread in his hand, prepared to continue the Reincarnation in his mind.

Having transmigrated here, thanks to a certain Opportunity, Gu Jiangming found a job at the yamen, ghostwriting for the local Assistant Magistrate Li.

It was fortunate that he came from an archaeology background and had for a time been quite obsessed with the appraisal of calligraphy and paintings.

Especially fond of the handwriting of various literati and poets.

Particularly the calligraphy works of Wen Zhengming.

He admired that brush style of his, which was both firm and gentle, with a natural charm.

Thus, Gu Jiangming practiced with a brush for a while, and coupled with the fact that the archaeology department naturally had a thorough grasp of traditional characters—and this world he had transmigrated into happened to use traditional characters as well—a bit of luck allowed Gu Jiangming to become a clerk in the yamen.

However, it was only a temporary position.

Over these three months, apart from his exploration of 【Mie Changsheng】, Gu Jiangming's focus had been on figuring out the general situation of the world he was in.

First point: some of the things in this place were truly the craftsmanship one would expect from an ancient feudal dynasty; judging by the styles, the level of craftsmanship was very close to that of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.

So when he saw these things everywhere, Gu Jiangming quickly confirmed the information about his transmigration, because objects cannot lie and cannot be faked.

Second point: the level of craftsmanship in this area reached the era of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, but judging by the styles, it was not the style of that era.

Therefore, he basically judged that the craftsmanship level was merely similar, and he had not truly arrived in the chaotic era of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.

If it weren't for the fact that this place was not a well-known dynasty, Gu Jiangming felt that relying on the knowledge he had stored, he might not have been unable to get ahead.

The only thing he currently knew was that the name of the dynasty this place was in was 【Dajing】.

Yes.

That's right.

Gu Jiangming thought for a moment.

It was the Dajing Dynasty that came from behind in his previous 【Mie Changsheng】 simulation.

The name matched, but the background didn't look similar at all; at the very least, he had not yet seen any demons or cultivators.

On the contrary, he had heard rumors about some martial arts practitioners.

However, Gu Jiangming did not think deeply about it; for now, his survival problem was basically solved, and the workplace problem was that he needed to find a way to transition from a clerk to a permanent employee, but his household registration problem could never be solved—strictly speaking, he was an undocumented person.

It would be normal for an ordinary family to have a situation without household registration, but for someone like Gu Jiangming who was literate to be undocumented was very abnormal.

Assistant Magistrate Li had questioned him a few times as if he knew and yet didn't, but Gu Jiangming had brushed it off with some laughter; if it weren't for the fact that Gu Jiangming was literate, could write a good hand, and held his ground with a calm demeanor, he most likely would have been in trouble.

In the other party's view, Gu Jiangming was either hiding something or was out traveling and did not want to show off his background.

But paper cannot wrap up fire, and how to obtain a formal household registration was also a problem Gu Jiangming had to solve right now.

Yet, no matter how much Gu Jiangming thought about it, to get such a registration, he at least needed to have someone in the Imperial Court; as a transmigrator, where was he to find such connections?

He could only stabilize the other party first, keep everything as it was, earn some copper coins to make ends meet, and if any signs were wrong, then consider whether to stay or leave.

However, after the end of yesterday's Reincarnation, he felt an inexhaustible surge of energy in his body, and he seemed to be interested in everything.

Even when ghostwriting for Assistant Magistrate Li, his calligraphy had seen a long-lost improvement, and his copied handwriting had even more of that charm of Wen Zhengming.

Gu Jiangming felt a bit strange.

"Could it be that after the 'Pure Heart' trait is retained, it stays on my own body?" A thought that even he himself found hard to believe popped into Gu Jiangming's mind.

If Reincarnation traits could be retained on his own body.

Then that would be too profitable.

Although no memories were left behind, and although no cultivation from the simulation was saved, being able to retain such Reincarnation traits on his body made its functionality too strong.

"I understand," Gu Jiangming realized with a start, "The reason I cannot keep memories or save cultivation is because this world is just an ordinary ancient dynasty."

"If those two things were left behind, the rules here would be completely messed up."

"Reincarnation traits can be retained simply because these are human qualities, human characteristics, and they won't affect anything, so they can be retained."

"And what I need to do is to trigger a large number of traits, and then leave a heavy mark on the history here."

"The world in the Reincarnation and the real world are perhaps two different worlds; is this a setting similar to a dual-transmigration gate?"

"After I complete my mission in the Reincarnation and receive an upgrade, I can then change my situation in reality by obtaining trait rewards."

Thinking of this, Gu Jiangming felt that he had already figured out his golden finger for the most part, and he immediately switched to the 【Mie Changsheng】 interface to check his character.

Sure enough, above 【Proud Bones Born Naturally】 there was also 【Pure Heart】; the simulation reward from the previous round had been retained on his body in this round.

If there were no benefits at all, this would be a pure toy.

But with substantive benefits, then it was not a toy.

In the shortest possible time, Gu Jiangming grasped all the basic information about the world of this Reincarnation.

Now, the more Gu Jiangming looked at this 【Mie Changsheng】, the more it looked like a web game he played before he transmigrated.

The protagonist played by the player has different backgrounds according to different Reincarnations; you can be of the Demon Race, you can be of the God Race, or you can be of the Human Race.

As a Xianxia-style game, functions like cultivation, romance, and reputation are naturally indispensable.

You can continuously increase your reputation through major events, or choose more high-end gameplay, such as leading the rise of the Human Race or something.

Every major event you create will become a famous scene and be recorded; Gu Jiangming's previous Reincarnation had just triggered two famous scenes.

Looking at it this way, there really were many similarities.

The biggest difference might be that the 【Mie Changsheng】 after transmigration had a higher degree of operational freedom, and the visual realism and sense of immersion were even more intense.

"The world I am in now is the true full picture of Mie Changsheng," Gu Jiangming judged inwardly, "Perhaps the previous Reincarnations were just giving me a trial run?"

"And looking at it now, the entire cultivation system of Mie Changsheng is even clearer." Gu Jiangming's interest grew more and more intense, mainly because there was a trait reward.

This also became the life-saving straw for Gu Jiangming to change his current situation.

It was impossible to be a clerk for others for a lifetime, and an undocumented person whose life was hanging by a thread, right?

By accumulating enough traits, Gu Jiangming would have many options for his path in reality.

"However... how exactly do I get myself a cultivation technique?"

Just as Gu Jiangming fell into thought, the little character on the screen began to act on its own.

【Your personality makes you unwilling to remain mediocre.】

【After the local County Magistrate stated that he was powerless, that he lacked the conditions and had no other way to provide you with a better cultivation method, you began to improve yourself in other ways.】

【You could only temper your physique through your own methods.】

【You strengthened your physique as much as possible, reinforcing your flesh in a manner akin to an ascetic; with your Innate Proud Bones, you were extremely self-disciplined.】

【Through three months of bitter cultivation, you broke through to the Ninth Layer of the Foundation Establishment Stage in an extremely pure way by polishing your flesh.】

【This was breaking the shackles and fetters of cultivation using a strong physique while having only the Basic Cultivation Method.】

Even Gu Jiangming could not help but show surprise.

"Is... is this the Charm of a Golden Word?"

"Or is it that Pure Heart and Innate Proud Bones are too compatible, and after the two combined, they birthed an abnormal product?"

(End of chapter)