Chapter 154: Cultivation Knows No Years

In the densely populated port of Fang Ting, passengers and cargo moved along their respective routes in orderly fashion. Beneath this scene of prosperity, no one noticed a pitch-black figure seamlessly blending into the crowd.

Yuan wore her tattered Taoist robe, a bundle tucked in the crook of her arm, with the fairy she called "Semi" perched on her shoulder, wandering aimlessly through the port.

"It really doesn't look like a small place, Fang Ting."

She spoke as if to herself: "I heard it was a small city in the southern region of the Eastern Hua Province, yet it's hardly different from the great cities of my memory."

"How many years has it been since you last visited a city in the Material Realm?"

Semi glanced at her: "Thirty years? Fifty? Human cities don't stop developing; after so many years, the scale inevitably expands."

"Hmm... I forgot."

Yuan blinked dazedly: "But I feel it must be even longer than you say. Indeed, I don't even know if my hometown still exists."

"You really are too thick-skinned."

Semi sighed helplessly: "I'm starting to worry whether you can survive normally in a city. Human cities aren't simple things; every so often, the way of life within them undergoes earth-shattering changes. If you want to complete the mission with as few errors as possible, basic common sense is essential."

"You can rest assured on that point; after all, I am a human born and raised in the Material Realm."

While striding forward, Yuan unconsciously yawned: "No matter how secluded my cultivation has been, my childhood was spent in human cities, so my basic common sense is certainly not an issue."

"Really?"

Semi looked suspicious: "You've been back in the Material Realm for so many years, yet you've almost never left the base, have you? The Material Realm today is vastly different from before."

"Rest assured, I know. Isn't this a port? A place where land vessels dock; we had those in my era too, just not as... as..."

Yuan glanced around, surveying the shops in her field of vision, and suddenly paused: "What kind of shops are these? They look magnificent. Money banks? Pawnshops?"

"They are stores."

Seeing her describe a fast-food joint as a "money bank," Semi felt her heart sink to the bottom: "It's a place that sells things; what you're looking at now is a restaurant."

"So it's a wine house?"

"Yes, but also no."

Semi pushed Yuan's shoulder: "Anyway, hurry up and move forward; don't embarrass yourself here."

The human and the fairy continued onward, leaving the port and entering the city's districts. Along the way, they saw towering buildings piercing the clouds and highways clogged with traffic. Gazing at the bustling street before them, Yuan fell into confusion once more.

"... Are people this wealthy now?"

She said with slight astonishment: "Everyone can afford cars?"

"That's ancient knowledge from your era; cars have long been the most common means of transportation!" Semi couldn't help raising her voice.

"What about tricycles and motorcycles? Have they been phased out?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

"Truly, human cities change with each passing day," Yuan said, stroking her chin with a sense of novelty.

"Why is it that you, a proper human, know less about cities than I, a fairy?"

Semi sighed: "I think I need to ask you one more thing. After arriving in this city, what do you plan to do?"

"Anyway, first find a place to take a bath, eat a meal, and get a good sleep?" Yuan was still surveying the surroundings.

"I agree with that, but then what? How will you obtain the Beast Source?"

"Hmm... Create an incident, then lure all the Magical Girls over."

Yuan pondered: "First find a crowded place, figure out how to get a Remnant Beast out. When the Magical Girls come to subdue the Remnant Beast, I'll jump out and confront them. Once Cornflower and that girl named Bai Jingxuan are both present, I'll defeat them and take both them and the Beast Source away."

"A direct confrontation?"

Semi was startled by her words: "Are you serious? Just openly fight Cornflower like that?"

"What else?" Yuan looked at her strangely: "I should have told you this yesterday morning."

"I thought you were talking about a situation where a direct confrontation was unavoidable. Who told you to just show up and pick a fight?"

Semi spoke with frustration: "You were a Flower Card before, but Cornflower is a Flower Card too. What if she has some extraordinary trump card and defeats you outright? How will you report back then?"

"Rest assured, the me of now cannot be compared to the me of back then."

Yuan crossed her arms, speaking with some confidence: "To defeat the me of back then, the me of now only needs one hand."

"I didn't ask you that..."

Semi's voice dropped: "I mean, your plan is far too crude. I don't think it's appropriate."

"Why is it inappropriate? Open and upright, I think it's fine. Even my subordinates do it this way, and none of them have objections." Yuan looked at Semi strangely.

"Your subordinates... Ah, so back then, Sparrow was also..."

"Hmm, probably went to Cornflower's door openly, got defeated, and that was it."

Yuan nodded: "Upright conduct, unbiased, not falling short of our style. Even losing is glorious."

Semi fell completely silent.

It began to ponder whether accepting this assignment and accompanying this dull wood who only knew how to hide in the base cultivating the Dao and practicing martial arts on missions was truly a wise choice.

However, this mission was specially entrusted by the Leader Bai Lang and the Vice-Leader Black Cat; it was extremely important. Otherwise, they would not have dispatched a high-level combatant like Yuan to a small place like Fang Ting. Even if she had wanted to refuse at that time, there would have been no room for it.

Thinking of this, she realized her hesitation seemed meaningless, felt somewhat relieved, and spoke again: "Fine, let's do it your way."

Pointing at the traffic not far away, Semi continued: "Anyway, find a car first and leave from here. We've been standing by the roadside too long; people have already noticed us."

Upon hearing this, Yuan realized that in just this short pause, she had attracted the gaze of many passersby. Probably seeing her tattered clothes and hearing her strange words, many people had mistaken her for a beggar.

"Ah, I thought dressing like this wouldn't draw attention."

Yuan blinked innocently: "So are we leaving now? Where to?"

"How would I know where you should go? I've never been to Fang Ting City before."

Semi sighed helplessly: "Anyway, go stay somewhere more bustling first. Stop a car on the roadside."

"You mean hitch a ride?"

Yuan looked at the traffic not far away, her eyebrows slightly raised: "What if they aren't going in the same direction as me?"

"I mean for you to take a taxi..."

Semy tried hard to keep her voice from sounding too excited: "Just look for those with lights on the roof that say 'Taxi'. If you see the sign on the front light board saying 'Empty', then you can..."

"Isn't that red-and-blue light more atmospheric? Let me ask that one?"

"Red and blue? Ah, idiot, don't go! That's a police car! Get back here!"

It took a long while to stop Yuan. Semy, panting, said, "Stop adding drama to yourself! Just look for the roof light that says 'Taxi'!"

"Oh."

Yuan nodded obediently and waited by the roadside. Finally, she saw the 'Empty' car Semy had mentioned earlier. After raising her hand to hail it, she walked up, communicated with the driver through the window for a while, then stood up and watched the taxi drive away helplessly.

Then, she turned around and walked back to her original spot.

"The driver said he needs to book via mobile phone; his car has already been booked by someone else."

Yuan looked thoughtful: "He also said our timing was bad, that we shouldn't have come during work hours, as it's very hard to get a taxi at this time."

"Let that last part go for now; booking via mobile phone is indeed a method."

Semy nodded: "So, where is your mobile phone?"

"I don't have a mobile phone." Yuan tilted her head.

"Hah?"

Semy's cat eyes instantly widened: "Didn't the Leader equip every cadre with a personal mobile phone? Why don't you have one? Did you break it?" Kan Shu Lian

"That's not the reason... I probably didn't break it; it should still be intact."

Yuan gave a somewhat cheerful, faint smile: "I just never figured out how to use it, so I simply threw it in the base to avoid losing it."

Semy instantly froze in place, as if struck by lightning.

"Th-then, how do you plan to find accommodation and eat?"

After a long while, it spoke again, but its words now carried a slight tremble: "Without a mobile phone, how do you plan to live in the city? You didn't happen to bring no money, did you?"

"How could that be? I brought money."

Yuan sat with an air of calm assurance: "Since there was nowhere to spend it usually, I've been saving it. It must be enough."

"Are you sure you brought money from the Material Realm?"

Semy worried: "Could it be silver coins from the Domain?"

"I may have cultivated without counting the years, but I'm not senile."

Yuan rolled her eyes at it: "It's definitely the currency of this Material Realm. I kept it with me when I left the city back then, and this time I just happened to bring it all along."

"Ah, is that so. True, no matter how lacking in common sense one is, it shouldn't be to this extent."

Semy finally let out a long sigh of relief: "I thought we were going to have to sleep on the streets of the city next."

"Actually, sleeping on the streets isn't a big deal; we've experienced it before."

Yuan tightened her grip on the bundle in her hand, a hint of nostalgia on her face: "My memory is very good. The many experiences I summarized back then should still be applicable. How about we try?"

"No way! After walking half a month across the wasteland, my wings are already covered in dust!"

Semy shook her head repeatedly: "I want to take a bath!"

"Regrettable."

Yuan could only shrug: "Very well. Let's find a breakfast stall to fill our stomachs first, then look for a place to stay. I also want to take a bath."

Unable to hail a taxi, the two could only walk along the main street. During this time, Yuan constantly looked around, greatly interested in the familiar yet strange human civilization. Only Semy dragging her allowed them to continue moving forward.

Before long, they finally found a breakfast stall still open for business by the roadside and walked in, covered in dust and wind.

Because the shop owner couldn't see fairies, Yuan specifically ordered several extra portions of tea snacks, took Semy to a corner inside the shop, and sat down. Then, quite freely, she drank half a bowl of soy milk and, opening her mouth, directly gnawed off half a steamed bun.

Devouring the breakfast on the table like a reincarnated hungry ghost, Yuan, ignoring the somewhat surprised glances from those around, walked calmly back to the counter at the shop entrance and shouted: "Boss, settle the bill!"

"Okay."

The boss, still preparing food at the shop entrance, took a break from his busy work, counted the items on Yuan's table, and tapped away on a calculator. He calculated a number: "Miss, you have quite a big appetite. You ate five steamed buns, four steamer baskets of dumplings, and two bowls of soy milk. That's a total of 53 yuan."

"Give me the change." Yuan, with an air of indifference, pulled a hundred-yuan note from her Taoist robe and lightly placed it on the counter.

The boss took the bill she gave him and wanted to examine it closely for authenticity, but before he could look carefully, he noticed something was wrong: "Miss, this money can't be used. Do you have anything else?"

"Can't be used? How is that possible?"

Yuan pulled another bill from her Taoist robe: "All the money on me is like this. It must all be real."

"But, no... this money of yours is too old. It's at least money used forty years ago."

The boss wiped his forehead: "I've only seen this kind of banknote since I was a child. Now, even the exchange period has passed; it definitely can't be used."

"Expired?"

Yuan couldn't help but take the banknote back, shook it in front of her eyes, and then handed it out again: "But even if it's old money, surely someone will want it? I'll give this to you. Go exchange it with someone. No change needed."

"Small business, miss. Don't make fun of me."

The boss awkwardly smiled in apology: "The bank can't exchange it now. If I take it, I'll have to find another way. Besides, I can't tell if your money is real or fake. Please just give me cash. If that's really not possible, just transfer it to me via mobile phone?"

"What should I do if I have nothing but this money?"

Yuan threw the banknote onto the counter: "Anyway, you don't want this, and I have no other way."

"You, this, this..."

Seeing Yuan's attitude of simply giving up, the boss wiped his sweat anxiously again. Just as he was thinking about what to do, his gaze suddenly shifted to the sidewalk not far away.

At this very moment, a patrol police officer was passing by there.

At noon, Lin Yun put down the documents in his hand, closed the computer in front of him, and tiredly closed his eyes.

He reached out to rub his shoulders, feeling that the inflammation, which had just barely eased, was showing signs of recurring. Just as he was wondering if he had been working too hard recently, he heard a gentle knocking sound at the door.

"Come in."

He said this, secretly pulling the silk threads at the door, and saw a female employee from the Intelligence Department walk in cautiously.

"Good morning, Director. Sorry to disturb you."

She first greeted him softly, then picked up her phone and got straight to the point: "We just received a magical incident report—a magician skipped out on his breakfast bill at a stall in Li Xing District and used a spell to cause a disturbance to avoid paying... He's already been arrested by our team."

"Skipped out on the bill?"

Lin Yun raised an eyebrow: "That's not exactly severe. A period of criticism and education, plus ordering the magician to pay extra compensation to the vendor, followed by a follow-up inspection after a while—should be enough to close the case."

"Yes, that was originally our decision too, but after taking him into custody, the interrogation room insisted you come take a look."

The employee said cautiously: "They say only you can make the decision on this matter."

"Why? Is this connected to Black Ash Dawn?" Lin Yun instinctively speculated.

"No, not Black Ash Dawn."

The employee shook his head, watching Lin Yun's expression, and spoke slowly:

"They say the one arrested doesn't seem to be a magician at all—but a... Magical Girl."

(End of Chapter)