A confused racket sounded from outside the dusky carriage.

This type of noise seemed to bring this carriage that was traveling amidst the feeling of autumn back into the human world.

Lin Xi inside the carriage realized the carriage definitely entered a certain bustling town, but it wasn’t a city entrance, or else there would definitely be people who opened the carriage entrance to inspect his identity.

He didn’t know where Vice Principal Xia had Nangong Weiyang bring him. When he woke up in Jadefall City, he seemed to have become a bit lazier, too lazy to think about things he was going to find out later anyway.

He was looking at his own hands.

On his hands, the wound made from the rock had already formed scabs, about to come off.

That feeling within him that didn’t belong to him, after that day, already completely disappeared. However, under the flow of his soul force, there was a new wave of feeling that spread through his perception.

When this carriage reached this unknown great town, Lin Xi finally also produced a flash of realization… Amidst the clamoring sounds that entered the dusky carriage, his soul force began to seep out from his body in the most gentle manner.

With a chi la noise, a streak of fine golden light flashed through the dusky carriage. When the end of the lightning made contact with the bottom of the carriage, the carriage released an unpleasant cracking noise, producing a dozen or so scorched black splinters.

Lin Xi’s breathing stopped momentarily.

An extremely quiet voice sounded from ahead. “We are almost there… there are people everywhere, so even if you can’t help but want to go crazy… you still have to hold yourself back for a bit, don’t go crazy at this time.”

When he heard Nangong Weiyang’s voice, Lin Xi released a light sigh, slowly leaning against the soft carpeting in the carriage.

He finally understood what kind of thing happened to his body.

…

Regardless of whether it was in his previous world or this world, in the real world, there was only blood being poisoned or harmed by bacteria, never had there been anything like a wound receiving the blood of another, and then one’s own blood being converted into the other party’s.

However, in this world’s mysterious world of cultivation, there was a type of spiritual aspect called soul merging.

This type of thing was like a cultivator absorbing a portion of the other party’s spiritual power, turning it into their own soul force power.

Lin Xi’s cultivation still hadn’t reached State Knight level where he could merge with a soul, but everything that was happening to his body, this wave of power, was completely identical to all soul merging cultivation records… This meant that there was only one possibility, that in the final moment, Chen Mu used the last bit of his consciousness to send a portion of his strength into Lin Xi’s body.

This type of thing was called reverse soul merging.

In the cultivation records, only fiend beasts could carry out this type of reverse soul merging. Some Spiritual Sacrifice Priests, when their fiend beast companions died, would also obtain a portion of their own fiend beast’s reverse soul merging power. Lin Xi even personally saw a Heaven's Lens Mermaid carry out a destructive reverse soul merging on Bian Linghan by Heaven's Lens Lakeside.

Lin Xi didn’t hear Gao Yanan tell him that cultivators like her could do things like reverse soul merging. Could it be that in this world, only the Changsun Clan had this type of ability?

Then could the Changsun Clan be considered a type of fiend beast as well?

This question didn’t make Lin Xi feel too much shock or bafflement, because the species of this world were entirely different from what he was used to. Moreover, according to the Darwin theory of his world, humans might have evolved from monkeys. In Lin Xi’s opinion, this world that had some legends of gods and devils, Grand Secretary Zhou and Gao Yanan supposedly being the descendants of Frost Giants, even Changsun Clan being the evolved being of some type of special fiend beast, none of these were impossible for him to accept. What was important was that right now, they were all people he knew, he didn’t have to worry about what everyone’s ancestors were.

He didn’t know if Yunqin Imperial Changsun Clan all had this type of ability or if Chen Mu, at the final moments of his life, because of their feelings of friendship, mysteriously produced this type of coincidence, thus making him successfully merge souls before he truly broke through into the State Knight level. However, right now, he understood extremely clearly that this type of thing couldn’t be known to the outside world at all.

It was because even if he didn’t truly possess the imperial clan’s bloodline, even if he didn’t know that the death of Yunqin Emperor’s crown prince already drove him crazy, he was sure that this emperor who stood at the very peak of this world’s authority definitely wouldn’t be able to accept that his son’s soul was absorbed by a man like a fiend beast.

This was an extremely dangerous thing.

However, in this dusky carriage, Lin Xi instead finally obtained a hint of warmth.

It wasn’t because this wave of power might be even more powerful than the Lightning Python he desired in the past, but rather because he now could fight together with a weapon Chen Mu left behind… In the future, he could use this type of power to kill Xu Qiubai and Wenren Cangyue.

…

The carriage trembled for a bit, crossing over a doorstep that wasn’t that tall, entering a courtyard, and then it stopped.

“We’ve arrived.”

Nangong Weiyang’s quiet voice transmitted over.

Lin Xi who was still as frail as paper slowly opened the carriage door. He moved aside the curtains, returning to the secular world.

This was a deep courtyard, planted within it were many beautifully colored chrysanthemums and ordinary orchids that weren’t all that precious.

One could see mountains of varying heights in the distance. This was a bustling town that was located in the mountains, the gathering place of merchants and travelers. He saw that in front of him, apart from Nangong Weiyang, there was also a beautiful woman dressed in a light gold bordered gown.

This woman was currently dignified and composed, giving off the feeling of an influential family. However, when she saw him walk out, she instead gave him an incredibly serious and respectful bow, quietly saying, “Sir.”

This woman was Chen Feirong.

This greeting further dragged Lin Xi’s body and spirit back into this world. He released a bitter smile, asking, “Where is this place?”

Chen Feirong looked at Lin Xi, quietly saying with a deeply moved voice, “This is Sunrise Roost Province’s Great Rise Town.”

“How did you end up here?” Lin Xi who hadn’t had a proper chat with others in a long time spoke extremely slowly. His thoughts also seemed to become a bit slow, currently slowly recovering.

“Because Auspicious Virtue has already reached this place.” Chen Feirong once again bowed respectfully to Lin Xi. Under the autumn glow, this great shopkeeper who gave everyone in Yunqin a mysterious feeling carried unclear emotions, respectfully saying, “Because of sir, I was able to come here.”

Lin Xi became quiet for a bit.

His somewhat sluggish brain finally became completely clear.

“Auspicious Virtue never came into contact with my parents?” He raised his head, asking Chen Feirong.

Chen Feirong nodded. “Because sir already told us ahead of time… Auspicious Virtue never had any type of contact with them.”

“Auspicious Virtue already reached all the way into Sunrise Roost Province?”

“More than that… Auspicious Virtue already purchased Great Unity Company, our caravans can already reach Yunqin’s northern and western extremities.”

“The northernmost Four Seasons Plains… Westernmost Jadefall City?”

“Yes. During this period, our Auspicious Virtue’s goods have already reached Jadefall City’s civilian areas.”

When he heard Chen Feirong’s reply, Lin Xi once again entered a state of silence in this small courtyard.

In this world, apart from Vice Principal Xia, no one else noticed his relationship with Auspicious Virtue. This was because when he was in Deerwood Town, Auspicious Virtue was only a small sprout not even local figures cared to mention. However, who would have thought that this small sprout would produce this type of branches and leaves?

“Feirong, one day, do you think the goods of Auspicious Virtue can travel across Yunqin, reach Great Mang?”

Lin Xi remained quiet for a long time. He then slowly raised his head, looking at Chen Feirong who was now entirely different from before, asking this.

Chen Feirong looked at Lin Xi, not knowing what kind of things happened to Lin Xi, but she could tell that Lin Xi suffered extremely serious injuries, she could also tell that there was a bit of grief between his brows that originally wasn’t there. She became serious and quiet for a bit, and then replied, “As long as sir exists… there is a chance.”

Sounds of cargo being unloaded and salaries being paid transmitted in. Lin Xi could hear the jingling sounds of copper coins, even more so, hecould hear the deep fryers cooking even further out.

This was the true secular world.

Lin Xi mumbled a bit to himself, not even Nangong Weiyang and Chen Feirong able to hear clearly what he was saying. “Where do I stay?” He then asked.

“Sir, the two courtyards inside are both arranged for you all.” Chen Feirong said. “I will be in this courtyard. If there is anything you need, you can just have me arrange for them.”

Lin Xi nodded, starting to walk towards the inner courtyard. “Feirong, I told you before that you don’t need to call me master or sir…”

“I know.” Chen Feirong who followed behind Lin Xi looked at him, seriously saying this quietly. “However, without doing this, I cannot express my respect and thanks for sir… it was sir who allowed me to feel alive again, return to this world. That is why when there are outsiders, please let me be a bit more respectful towards sir.”

Lin Xi knew that this great shopkeeper he chose definitely had some parts of her past that were hard to talk about, so he didn’t say too much either. He nodded, slowly walking into the courtyard ahead. “All of Auspicious Virtue’s current business situations… let me take a look at them.” When he pushed open the door to a side room, Chen Feirong heard Lin Xi say this.

Chen Feirong’s eyes immediately became a bit brighter. She gave Lin Xi another deep and dignified bow of respect, saying, “Yes, I will immediately take care of it.”

…

Another caravan passed by this gray walled black tiled deep courtyard.

There were definitely people in this caravan who suspected that this town’s historical great courtyard was purchased by some merchant company, but none of them expected that the one who bought this courtyard was precisely the legendary Auspicious Virtue. No one thought that that mysterious Auspicious Virtue female great shopkeeper, as well as the true master behind her, were currently in this quiet courtyard.

“A random act of whim actually ended up like this… Auspicious Virtue… let’s see just what kind of branches and leaves, what kind of flowers you can produce.”

In this warm eaglewood room, Lin Xi lowered the document that still had some ink smell, looking out the window at an old plum tree, quietly saying this to himself.