Chapter 89: A Misaligned Vision of National Revival through Technology, Part Four

After selling the game she had taken in the mountains, Mu Yin earned more than ten taels of silver, enough to rent a place. Even the cheapest courtyard, with only two rooms, a kitchen, and no well, cost three taels a month. In those days, land was vast and people were few; houses were not actually expensive.

Still, she wanted to save a little more. Once they had a home, she would build up some starting capital. Then she could make a few snacks to support them, and after the examination three years later, they would leave. Fortunately, this county town had a good location, with many caravans passing through from north to south, so there was no fear of having no one to buy from.

Mrs. Cao had also found work. She helped wash up in the back kitchen of a small restaurant, earning one tael and a half a month, with lunch included. For that era, the pay was considered high. At that time, the exchange rate between copper coins and silver was one to a thousand, and the purchasing power of a copper coin was roughly equal to one yuan.

Only after asking around did Mu Yin learn that Mrs. Cao had gone to work in the female lead’s shop. No wonder she had been hired. She did not stop her. Although her purpose was to keep the female lead from following the original plot, as long as the plot did not unfold, she and the female lead had no grudge between them. After all, the original host and the female lead did not even know each other, so there was naturally no reason for her to target her.

With Mrs. Cao working at the female lead’s place, Mu Yin felt even more at ease. That way, she could focus on cultivation and earning money. The next day, she went hunting again. There was nothing unusual in the catch, only rabbits and wild chickens. These two bred quickly, and in ancient times there were many of them in the mountains and woods.

When she had saved up twenty taels, she and Mrs. Cao went to the rental agency and took a house, then bought bedding and some daily necessities and moved in. After tidying the place up, they looked at the small courtyard, and both of them were delighted, because at last they no longer had to live in an inn.

“Mother, look at us. Since leaving the Mi family, our lives will only keep getting better,” Mu Yin said. By then they had been in the city for fifteen days, and both of them had gained a little flesh. Mu Yin’s change was especially noticeable; she was no longer the gaunt, yellow-faced girl she had been at the start.

“If you didn’t have hunting skills, we wouldn’t have been able to rent a house so quickly,” Mrs. Cao said with her usual calm. She knew exactly why they had been able to settle down so fast.

“That’s our ability too. Besides, Mother, you’ve even started helping out in the kitchen now,” Mu Yin said with a smile. She naturally knew Mrs. Cao was right. In ancient times, because of limited productivity, there were not many jobs available. Without some real skill, one truly could not find good work.

But she had to keep encouraging Mrs. Cao, so of course she could not speak the truth. Everything they had now had been earned by their own efforts. Even her hunting was her own ability.

Mrs. Cao also found work at the female lead’s place, which made Mu Yin even more reassured.

After that, Mu Yin went up the mountain several more times. She hunted after cultivating, and perhaps because she had been hunting so much lately, the animals on the outskirts had grown scarce, leaving her to go deeper into the inner areas. There were more fierce beasts there, and it was much more dangerous. At present, she was only at the first level of body cultivation, with physical strength comparable to that of an adult man.

Afterward, she set up a stall of her own and began selling snacks. She sold food from her hometown, mainly because she did not want the female lead to notice. That would have been troublesome. She sold layered rice cake and loach soup, with or without loach; as long as they were prepared in advance, it was simple enough. Compared with other things that had to be cooked fresh, it was far more convenient.

Later, Mrs. Cao also quit her job to help out, because the business was doing rather well. Mainly, these kinds of snacks were unique here, so they were very popular. Thus, three years passed quickly. During that time, they also ran into people from the Mi family, but by then those people no longer recognized them.

Three years later, news finally came that people from the immortal sect were coming to take disciples. Families with children of the proper age were to arrive in the provincial capital within a month for testing. Mu Yin immediately took Mrs. Cao, gave up the lease, and went with the crowd to the provincial capital. Because there were so many people, there was no need to worry about danger on the road. Along the way, she also saw the female lead. As expected, the female lead would definitely take part.

Speaking of which, the female lead had truly done extremely well in the city over these years. It was said she had even made connections with some noble person in the imperial capital. Her business kept growing, and she had also come up with a few inventions, such as a hand-cranked fan and a bicycle.

Mu Yin did not pay them much mind. As long as they had not affected the country, they were not part of the main plot. Once she entered the world of cultivation, she could probably forget all about technology. Though memories from her previous life told her that technology and divinity could actually be linked, and that some inventions in that life had been created through a combination of the two.

When they arrived in the provincial capital, Mu Yin and Mrs. Cao searched most of the city before finally renting a room in a commoner’s home to stay in temporarily, waiting for the examination half a month later.

Mrs. Cao was very anxious, because she knew that those with spiritual roots were one in ten thousand. Neither she nor the child’s father had any spiritual roots, so naturally she worried that their daughter might not have them either. When Mu Yin noticed this, she said with a smile, “Mother, don’t worry. Even if I don’t have spiritual roots, I can still choose to cultivate the body. I’ve heard body cultivators don’t need spiritual roots.”

“Well, that would work too.” Over these three years, Mrs. Cao had also been practicing body cultivation. Though she had only just broken through the first level and entered the second, Mu Yin had already reached the third, so thinking of it that way, it seemed possible.

More and more people came into the city, until even the houses of the common folk were full. Some wealthy households even invited people to stay with them, after all, perhaps among them there might be someone with the destiny of immortality.

When the time came, everyone gathered at a specially built plaza outside the city and waited there. After about half an hour, a huge flying ship appeared in the sky, approaching rapidly from afar before descending. A group of men and women in flowing, immortal-looking robes then alighted gracefully.

The city lord hurried forward to exchange pleasantries. It was said that the sect to which their nation paid tribute was called the Illusory Immortal Sect, a very large sect. Exactly how large, Mu Yin did not know. Of the people who had come today, she could tell at a glance that the highest cultivation was at the Golden Core stage, the other two were at Foundation Establishment, and the rest were all at the later stage of Qi Refinement.

After all, in her previous life she had also reached the Golden Core stage. Although the cultivation methods in this world were probably a little different, the underlying principle remained the same. The levels of cultivation in each world would not differ too much, and her spiritual sense had also reached the Golden Core stage, so of course she could discern these people’s levels.

One of the Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Illusory Immortal Sect briefly introduced the sect, without going into much detail, merely giving its name, and then the testing began.