Golden

Whoosh— Another ripple spread across the water, and the eight-hundred-year river of time abruptly narrowed, thinning out until it reverted into a seed inscribed with arcane runes. The seed transformed into a streak of flowing light and slipped into Huang Tian’s glabella. Zhang Jiao, Zhuge Kongming, He Ting, Xie An, Wang Xizhi, Li Shimin, Li Jing, Wu Daozi, Zhao Kuangyin... The life deeds, cultivation experiences, methods, and Daoist arts of one person after another flashed through Huang Tian’s mind. After a long while, he opened his eyes, a glint of divinity and the weight of ages lingering in his gaze. Eight hundred years! He had witnessed eight centuries of worldly change. Innumerable heroes and prodigies had risen, streaking across the sky like brilliant falling stars. Mystical cultivation methods, wondrous Daoist arts, the booming rise of technology, the vast expansion of the Daoist Court... "To think that later generations actually fleshed out the *Huang Tian Mountain-Suppressing Spirit Scripture* all the way through the Golden Core chapter. I was just fretting over how to obtain what came next..." He smiled faintly. That touch of divinity gradually faded, and human warmth returned to his eyes. In truth, with his comprehension, deducing the subsequent realms of the scripture on his own was entirely within his power. However, without other techniques as references, it would have consumed far too much time. How could that compare to harvesting the fruits directly right now? What was more, there was not just one Golden Core cultivation method, but nine whole manuals! There were also three hundred Dao Foundation manuals and an innumerable array of Qi Refinement arts! These methods and arts alone were enough to rival many an immortal cultivation sect. "The only pity is the absence of any Soul realm methods. But that is only natural. In a mere eight hundred years, deducing Golden Core methods is already an incredible surprise. The Soul realm is far too distant; it would be strange if they could deduce it..." Collecting his thoughts, he cast his gaze around the palace chamber and found a thick layer of fine dust gathered on the floor. "It seems quietly observing the river of time took quite a while..." He toggled the switch of his ability, and a flood of voices poured into his ears. "Holy Sovereign above, please bless our family's fields with a bountiful harvest this year..." "The Daoist Court has ruled for nearly two years now. The realm is at peace, bandits have ceased to stir, and Guangzong, as the birthplace of the Holy Infant, grows wealthier by the day. Doors need not be bolted at night, items dropped on the road are left untouched, and the people remain pure and honest..." "Wenruo, you are the clan’s brightest talent, possessing the talent to govern a nation. Though the Daoist Court redistributed our Xun clan’s lands, do not harbor resentment. Devote yourself wholeheartedly to assisting the immortals and the Daoist Court in governing the localities. Should you one day receive the immortal arts and elevate our Xun clan into an immortal lineage of Yu Province, enduring through eternity, wouldn’t that be wonderful?" "Hahaha! To think that I, Yuan Benchu, actually survived the Moth—ahem, survived the Daoist Court! But then again, I never broke the law of the land. When they assaulted Luoyang, I even passed them intelligence, so I deserve some credit for defecting. "Granted, the clan's lands are gone, but gone is gone. Most of those lands belonged to Yuan Ji and Yuan Shu anyway, so what does it have to do with me? I, Yuan Benchu, will enter the Daoist Court to become an able minister of good governance. I will cultivate immortality and become an awe-inspiring, unfathomable god!" "..." Following several voice lines for a while, Huang Tian not only glimpsed the myriad faces of living beings, but also learned that his seclusion had lasted two whole months. "Two months in the late Han world is two days on Blue Star. Professor Feng should have finished polishing the paper by now." With a slight stir of thought, his consciousness instantly returned to Blue Star. Inside his apartment, he opened his email on the computer. Sure enough, he found the revised manuscript sent by Feng Zechun. After clicking it open for a brief glance, he submitted the paper to *Inventiones Mathematicae*. Having checked that task off his list, Huang Tian was about to treat himself to a mandarin orange when his expression suddenly paused. A radiant golden voice line pierced through the endless void and linked directly to his ear. "Gold! A voice line from another world!" A surge of delight stirred in his heart. Without hesitation, he followed the stretching golden line, "looking" toward a world situated an unfathomable distance away. Whoosh— As though the sound of rippling water echoed, an ordinary scene appeared before him: Inside an elegant yet aged bedchamber, an ashen-faced youth lay on a wooden bed. His chest barely rose or fell, his breathing so faint it was nearly imperceptible. "I beg the immortal gods and buddhas of the four directions, please let the Fourth Young Master recover from his illness and regain his health soon..." Beside the bed knelt a young girl of twelve or thirteen. Her hair was styled in double hair buns, and she wore a plain, narrow-sleeved cross-collared top over a high-waisted skirt. A sweat cloth embroidered with lotus blossoms hung at her waist, and clean cloth shoes covered her feet. Her hands were pressed together in prayer as she whispered with reddened eyes. "Sigh, silly girl. Anyone can see Young Master Huang Tian isn't going to pull through. We’d better start thinking about another way out. How about I go beg Steward Fang? Once the Fourth Young Master dies, the two of us can go serve some other master so we aren't left without support and thrown out of the Huang residence." Over in the corner, a sturdy woman dressed in coarse hemp clothes saw her daughter weeping so bitterly that she could not resist sighing and rambling on. "I thought being assigned to serve the Fourth Young Master was a cushy job. Who knew those folks were just taking advantage of the fact that I'd just arrived at the Huang manor and didn't know the inside story? Turns out this Fourth Young Master was born of a lowly maidservant, and his mother died of illness several years ago. "Neither the master nor the mistress cares for him—unloved by his father, neglected by his mother. He's even constantly bullied by the Second and Third Young Masters. If the servants didn't have to keep up appearances because he's technically a master and occasionally dole out some grain and cloth, life here wouldn't have been livable at all. Honestly, if you ask me, it might be better for the Fourth Young Master to pass away. He won't have to suffer being bullied anymore, and the two of us will be freed from this misery..." "Mother!" Hearing this, the young girl grew somewhat upset. Her tears flowed even more profusely, until she was sobbing uncontrollably. "All right, stop crying, Mother won't say another word," the woman said, slightly embarrassed. "Truth be told, I want the Fourth Young Master to get well too. It's just that this illness came out of nowhere. In only a day or two, he deteriorated into this state, and even the physician shook his head after examining him..." Realizing what she was doing, she quickly slapped her own mouth twice. "I really won't say any more. Not another word!" Back in his apartment, Huang Tian frowned slightly. He had no interest in the messy life story of the youth on the bed. What caught his attention was that, to his discerning eye, none of the three people in the chamber bore any traces of cultivation, including the youth who shared his name. However, judging from the woman's rambling, the Fourth Young Master was thoroughly out of favor. Even if a cultivation system existed in that world, the boy might not have had access to it. Huang Tian shifted his gaze, and the perspective moved out into the courtyard beyond the chamber. The courtyard was not large, but it was fairly quiet. The ground was paved with square bluish-gray bricks, through whose crevices sprouts of deep green grass poked out. A pomegranate tree grew in the corner of the wall, its lush foliage casting a cool canopy of shade. In the center of the courtyard sat a stone table flanked by two square stone stools. Beneath the eaves stood a weathered bluestone water vat holding clear water, with a few tiny leaves floating quietly on the surface. He attempted to pull his perspective upward to survey the surroundings outside the courtyard, but the image remained completely still, as if indicating that his view was presently confined to this limited range. "The information I can gather is still far too sparse. I wonder if extraordinary power truly exists in this world..."