Chapter 1: Li Yuan

In the 1452nd year of the Great Fortune, in the Prefecture of the Crouching Dragon, Gaoliu County.

Creak~

Glancing back at the messy communal bed behind him, Li Yuan pushed open the door and stepped out, not waiting to be the last one to leave the room.

The fog of the late autumn dawn had not yet fully dispersed, yet wisps of cooking smoke were already rising within Gaoliu County town; faintly, human voices could be heard.

What came into view was a small courtyard, where six or seven youths, about his own age, dressed in hemp clothes and fifteen or sixteen years old, were busy with their tasks.

Washing up, chopping wood, fetching water, lighting fires, preparing meals...

"Hah!"

Tightening his thin gray hemp robe, Li Yuan took a deep breath and joined in amidst the calls of several apprentices.

A day as an apprentice at the 'Weapon Forging Shop' began with chopping wood and fetching water.

"Only one month and three days in; how am I supposed to endure twelve years? This is too hard... Learning something in my past life wasn't easy, but this life is even harder!"

Working briskly with his hands and feet, Li Yuan couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

In his past life, learning from his rogue Daoist master the arts of building graves, performing superstitution rituals, and assisting in difficult births had taken him only two or three years.

Yet here, being an apprentice at this 'Weapon Forging Shop' required a full twelve years!

Three years of miscellaneous chores, two years as a helper, and seven years of service!

Li Yuan grumbled in his heart, yet dared not slow his hands even a fraction, only sighing that he had 'awakened' too late; one moment he was asleep, and the next he had 'sold himself' to the 'Weapon Forging Shop'.

And because his body was too frail, he hadn't even been assigned to the front courtyard...

"Bang!"

Suddenly, a dull thud came from the kitchen area.

The fat man holding a large ladle kicked a gray-clad apprentice to the ground, the flesh on his face quivering as he shouted:

"You son of a bitch, you little whelp! Do you know how much suffering I endured to learn this skill of tossing the ladle and cooking? And you dare to steal my techniques?!"

"Master Sun, I was wrong, I won't dare again, I won't dare..."

The apprentice hugged his head and wailed, yet dared not dodge, enduring a brutal beating head-on.

The apprentices in the small courtyard fell silent as cicadas in winter; Li Yuan kept his head down, his expression wooden.

If an apprentice made a mistake, the masters were naturally free to beat and scold them at will; this was written in the 'Indenture Contract'.

"Apprentice, apprentice, three years a slave"—these words were not merely said for effect.

That Fat Sun, who tossed the ladle, counted as half a master; he managed over ten of them apprentices and oversaw the food and drink for the hundred-odd people of the Weapon Forging Shop. His temper was vile, and beating and scolding apprentices was a daily occurrence for him.

When Li Yuan had first arrived a month ago, he had nearly had his skull cracked by that very rice ladle...

"Move your hands and feet faster! The masters in the front courtyard will be up soon; if you delay their meal, it won't just be a few kicks you'll have to worry about!"

That Fat Sun weighed the ladle in his hand, cursing under his breath.

The apprentices dared not lift their heads, yet their hands and feet moved even faster.

Only after the fat man returned to the kitchen did the beaten apprentice climb silently to his feet; despite the excruciating pain throughout his body, he dared not delay his work.

Li Yuan's expression remained wooden.

The Weapon Forging Shop was one of the largest blacksmith shops in Gaoliu County town, supporting guards, masters, helpers, and apprentices, numbering around a hundred or eighty people.

Apprentices, naturally, held the lowest status; not only was their pay meager and their food poor, but they were also prone to beatings and scoldings. To enjoy better treatment, one had to endure at least until becoming a helper, or even a master.

"Twelve years..."

When the four-wheel sun rose above the sea of clouds, the meal was finally ready, and some smiles finally appeared on the faces of the busy apprentices.

Apart from meal times, the apprentices truly had no leisure throughout the day.

Chopping wood, carrying water, preparing charcoal, moving various iron ingots, wiping weapons, sweeping...

Yet even so, whenever the Weapon Forging Shop recruited apprentices, there was no shortage of people coming forward.

The reason was none other than this: the treatment at the Weapon Forging Shop was the best among all establishments in Gaoliu County that recruited apprentices.

Not only was there a monthly wage of thirty copper coins, but the food was also much better than that provided by herbal shops, carpentry shops, and the like.

Blacksmithing was extremely strenuous work; one could not do it without substantial food in their belly.

Of course, apprentices did not enjoy such treatment; only once every seven days could they see a bit of oil and meat. Even so, the apprentices were already extremely satisfied.

In the other shops, one might only see a trace of meat on the first and fifteenth of the lunar month, and in some places, one might not see a drop of oil or meat all year round...

By the time the sun was high in the sky and the clanging sounds of hammering iron could faintly be heard from the front courtyard, the apprentices finally ate their breakfast, gaining a brief moment of rest.

"It takes three years of endurance just to become a helper..."

The apprentices squatted in groups of two or three along the wall corners; Li Yuan squatted in a corner holding his rice bowl, clutching a steamed bun with arms sore from fatigue, feeling a certain bitterness in his heart.

In his past life, although he was an unregistered, non-ordained rogue Daoist priest, wandering the countryside with his master had allowed him to scrape together quite a bit of profit; even in the worst of times, he had never been this miserable.

At this moment, he couldn't help but miss his past life again.

Beer, soft drinks, small skewers, air conditioning, television, sofas, mobile phones... even that master of his who, until his dying breath, had been obsessed with becoming registered and ordained.

"How did I transmigrate?! Can I still go back?!"

Swallowing the steamed bun with rice soup, Li Yuan looked up at the sky where one large and three small red suns hung, nearly moved to tears.

How did I transmigrate?

Over the past month and more, Li Yuan had thought about this question more than once, recalling his memories from before transmigration again and again.

As an unregistered rogue Daoist priest, after his master passed away, he could barely secure even wedding and funeral gigs in the villages; forced to change professions, he had opened a small supermarket in his hometown county town. Though he had no money, at least it was quiet.

"That day I was curled up on the sofa playing on my phone, and then... wait, the Ordination Ritual!"

As if lightning had pierced through the fog, Li Yuan trembled all over, nearly spilling half his bowl of rice soup onto the ground!

"Yes, the Ordination Ritual!"

Suppressing the throbbing in his chest, Li Yuan squatted back down; attracting no attention from the others, his thoughts nevertheless began to scatter uncontrollably.

In his past life, his master, who had died without ever achieving ordination, had left behind half a scroll of Daoist scripture.

He had read that scripture a few times, but was not particularly interested in it, and regarding his master's lifelong obsession with 'achieving immortality through ordination,' he had been entirely dismissive.

Until the day before his transmigration, for some reason, he had suddenly remembered the ritual recorded in that book.

And then...

"Was it really because of that ritual?"

Gulping down the remaining half of the steamed bun along with the half bowl of rice soup, Li Yuan still muttered to himself.

He did not believe that some so-called Ordination Ritual could cause his transmigration, but apart from this, he truly could not think of any other possibility.

"Ordination, the Blue Heaven bestowing the register..."

Li Yuan murmured in his heart.

Ordination was naturally not unfamiliar to him.

The Daoists believed that talismans were formed naturally by heaven and earth, transcribed by immortals, and transmitted to the mortal world.

Only after a Daoist priest received and accepted the talismanic register, having their name entered in the Heavenly Bureau and granted a divine position, could they command the talismans, thereby possessing unimaginable Daoist arts and supernatural powers such as summoning and commanding ghosts and spirits, stabilizing the five directions, subduing demons and suppressing evil, and curing illnesses and eliminating disasters.

"The old man was obsessed his whole life with 'achieving immortality through ordination'; could it actually be true?"

Li Yuan murmured in his heart.

He had originally not believed in the old man's obsession; in this day and age, who still believed in that nonsense of ordination leading to ascension?

In his past life, he had known several Daoist priests who had received ordination, yet he had never seen any of them possess any Daoist arts or supernatural powers.

Especially since the half-scroll of Daoist scripture recorded nothing of the orthodox ordination.

One must know that an orthodox ordination ritual not only involved receiving the register but also included scriptures and precepts; it required transmission, and furthermore necessitated a Register Altar Supervising Master, a Transmission Master, a Recommending Master, and so on.

Whereas the so-called 'Blue Heaven Bestowing the Register' recorded in that scripture was truly simple, one could even say crude...

But now...

"I've already transmigrated; what else is impossible? Even so... but what if?"

Li Yuan's thoughts scattered.

Reason told him this was unlikely, yet in his heart he still harbored a hope.

What if?

"What if I, no, what if Daoist Master Zhen truly has the destiny to achieve immortality through ordination?"

The more he thought, the more Li Yuan felt an uncontrollable throbbing in his heart; if not for knowing the timing was wrong, he would have rushed to perform the ritual immediately.

What the hell about apprentices, helpers, masters, or shopkeepers?

Daoist Master Zhen wants to go home!

Daoist Master Zhen wants to become an immortal!

(End of Chapter)