When Chu Mu flashed his token, the chatty bookshop owner froze, then broke into an even wider grin.
"Well, look at that—a gentleman from the Patrol Division! Forgive my blind eyes…"
"Here's the deal: those items you want, normally eighteen silver. For you, sir, I'll knock it down to fifteen. Sound good?"
Chu Mu gave the owner a long look, his tense face easing into a warm smile.
"Then… I'll take your kind words, boss!"
With that, he pulled out a few paper notes and set them on the counter.
"You're a man of action, sir! Come back anytime, and I'll give you a ten percent discount, my call."
Chu Mu's eyes flickered with a smile, but he shifted gears. "I've got a nephew hitting school age. Any idea what the official academy charges for tuition?"
"The academy?" The owner blinked, then answered, "It's steep. Scholar Chang's private school costs forty silver a year. The academy? Sixty."
"But you get what you pay for. The academy's got Master Wang, a court-registered scholar. If a county magistrate spot opens up, he's in line. A teacher-student tie with him? That's worth way more than the twenty-silver difference."
Chu Mu nodded, didn't press further, made some small talk, and left with his new brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.
"Knowledge is priceless…" he muttered, glancing back at the shop. He shook his head. Priceless? Hardly, with study costs like that.
The thought flickered and faded. Chu Mu pushed it aside.
Big-picture world issues? Not his problem.
If they came knocking, he'd dodge them.
He was a small fry, and small fry needed to know their place.
On that front, Chu Mu figured he had a decent grip.
Still, this era was intriguing. Cheap grain on one hand, sky-high education on the other. Medicine wasn't cheap either.
And those paper notes? They hinted at some impressive craftsmanship for this world.
Lost in thought, Chu Mu made his way back to his little home.
He glanced at the "Spirit Radiance Value" on his mental screen. A few hours of wandering had bumped it up about two percent. Standing in the courtyard, he eyed the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone in his hands.
After a moment, he shook his head. Spirit Radiance was hard to come by. For now, whether hitting the books or training in martial arts, stacking up that value was priority one. Details could wait until he officially took up his Patrol Division post.
This world was still a mystery to him, shrouded in fog.
He thought back to that night, boosted by Spirit Radiance, and his heart raced.
Standing at such heights showed him how small he was.
That kind of clarity—it was intoxicating.
Snapping out of it, Chu Mu steadied himself. No arrogance, no rush. Stay sharp, stay careful.
Outside tools were great, but he couldn't slack off.
He stowed the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone and got to work. The previous owner of this body—and his father—weren't exactly neat freaks. The bedroom and courtyard were a mess.
Chu Mu wasn't obsessive about cleanliness, but a tidy home made life more comfortable.
Especially this standalone house with its own courtyard. In his past life, drifting through city apartments, he'd dreamed of a place like this.
How many times had he fantasized about earning enough to retire to a quiet hometown house?
Never thought that dream, unfulfilled after years of grinding, would land in his lap like this.
This life starts here.
Broom and bucket in hand, Chu Mu looked at his courtyard home, his smile growing.
He worked all day until dark. The place wasn't spotless yet, but it was a lot better—cleaner, more open.
After a break, he downed his brewed medicinal broth and ate some leftover lunch to tide him over. Then he dragged a reclining chair into the courtyard and sprawled out.
Autumn air was crisp, edging toward late fall's chill. But just after dusk, the day's warmth lingered, blending with the night's coolness—perfectly balanced.
The sky was clear, stars blazing across it, deep and dazzling.
Living in city shoeboxes in his past life, he hadn't seen a sky this stunning in years.
Staring at the glittering stars, Chu Mu's mind wandered. Was this world a planet, part of a universe?
It had a moon, a sun.
The Big Dipper shone clear as day.
What tied this place to his old Earth?
Or was it all a dream, like Nanke's tale? Was his past life the dream, or this one? Relaxed, his thoughts danced freely.
After a while, he shook off the daydreams, rested a bit more, and got up.
He grabbed his saber from the house and returned to the courtyard.
Spirit Radiance came from pure, undistracted focus. Focus was easy; shutting out distractions was the hard part.
Most of his Spirit Radiance these days came from accidental focus, not deliberate effort.
But after some experimenting, he'd found a trick: let your mind wander, then zero in on one thing.
After a round of stray thoughts, calming down to focus could bring that pure concentration.
Right now, his mind held only one image: practicing saber forms under Spirit Radiance that night.
One figure, a handful of moves, looping endlessly in his head.
After a long pause, Chu Mu's half-closed eyes snapped open. He raised his saber.
No fancy flourishes—just lifting, slashing, retracting, swinging, retracting, thrusting.
Basic forms, one after another.
Soon, he stopped, not by choice but because his body ached all over.
With his past life's smarts, he knew better than to push too far.
"Night and day," he sighed, running a hand along the blade. Practicing normally versus under Spirit Radiance? The gap was massive.
Simple as that: a few minutes now, and he barely improved. Under Spirit Radiance, progress was lightning-fast, plain as day.
The chasm between genius and ordinary? No amount of sweat could close it.
Chu Mu's lips tightened, a pang of frustration hitting him.
After a moment, like he'd worked something out, he let out a long breath, sheathed the saber, and headed inside.
"Geniuses work hard too," he muttered. "Slow birds… they've gotta take off first."
His voice faded into the night breeze as he walked.
…
*(End of Chapter)*