Jiang Ning walked forward along the path, looking at the buildings on both sides of the street and continuously comparing them with the changes of later generations.
After the old houses here were demolished, a large number of families received relocation compensation, and then a 32-story building rose from the ground, destined to become a new landmark in the future.
As Jiang Ning reminisced, that intense sense of alienation gradually dissipated, and the feeling of having his feet firmly on the ground returned.
He sensed the surrounding spiritual qi and found that its concentration was far, far inferior to that of the sect where he had lived in his previous life.
The higher the concentration of spiritual qi, the faster the cultivation speed; if it dropped to a certain level, even with his Heaven Spiritual Root aptitude, he would find it quite a headache.
As Jiang Ning walked along, half an hour later, he moved away from the city center. The greenery here was better, and the spiritual qi was nearly thirty percent denser than before.
He kept walking and unknowingly reached the river dam, where a flat asphalt road had been paved.
People taking walks and jogging were everywhere. Some elderly men, holding small Bluetooth speakers playing traditional opera, walked leisurely along, and there was also an old man selling fish by the roadside.
Jiang Ning stood at the edge and looked out. The view was quite expansive, with a river a hundred meters wide flowing quietly in the distance, and many boats anchored on the water surface.
This was the Huishui River.
The concentration of spiritual qi here was nearly doubled compared to the city center, which was enough to support Jiang Ning's cultivation.
Having relived this life, Jiang Ning certainly would not give up cultivation.
The benefits of cultivation were numerous; even without striving for the Dao of longevity, it could strengthen the body, prolong life, and grant abilities beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Jiang Ning had not forgotten the helplessness and desolation when his family later fell seriously ill and were hospitalized, running up expensive medical bills yet still unable to save their lives.
Now, as long as he practiced cultivation and became a Cultivator, he could refine a few targeted Medicinal Pills to ensure his family's safety and peace throughout their lives.
Moreover, living in modern society, without relying on cultivation, it would be difficult for Jiang Ning to guarantee great wealth.
Before coming into contact with immortal cultivation in his previous life, he was just an ordinary office worker. Even with his foresight and knowledge of future events, his methods might not suffice if he had to compete with the true titans of the business world.
Cultivation was his greatest talent.
Jiang Ning glanced at a village near the foot of the distant river dam. Near the dam, a row of single-story brick houses looked quite old.
That was also the place he intended to rent.
In his previous life, during his senior year of college, Jiang Ning had returned to Yuzhou City for an internship when a news story broke.
During the renovation of old houses, the foundations were dug too deeply, unearthing a small jar. The gold bars inside led to a scramble among the workers, sparking a bloody incident that caused quite a sensation.
At that time, Jiang Ning had gone to watch the commotion, and the exact location was that row of single-story houses, specifically the third one from the west.
Now that the jar had not yet surfaced, Jiang Ning could retrieve it himself and prevent a bloody incident—why not do it?
There were quite a few similar events in the years that followed. For instance, in 2017, a few people in Yuzhou City studied the lottery and jointly bought many tickets, one of which won a prize of over eight million yuan for a single bet.
However, that wouldn't happen until 2017, and there were too many variables with the lottery, which Jiang Ning never believed in anyway. By 2017, he would have achieved success in his cultivation and wouldn't need the help of a mere lottery ticket.
What he needed to do now was to rent the place before school started, move in himself, and then dig up the jar.
This place was about three kilometers away from No. 4 High School—a fifteen-minute ride by bike or a forty-minute walk—which made it barely suitable.
Jiang Ning glanced at the sky; the sun was setting, so he simply made a phone call to tell his aunt that he would be having dinner outside.
His uncle and cousin ran a restaurant and usually couldn't return until the early morning hours, so his aunt didn't have much to say upon hearing this, merely passing the word to his cousin's wife and Shen Qing'e.
Shen Qing'e felt unsettled upon hearing this. Jiang Ning had originally come to Yuzhou with her, claiming he would take her out to play, but on the very first day, he acted like this. It was simply too much.
She secretly resolved that when Jiang Ning came back, she definitely wouldn't give him a pleasant expression.
She even decided that tomorrow, when they went to look at the school, she wouldn't go with Jiang Ning unless he coaxed her and treated her to the snack street!
...
As night fell, the streetlights along the Huishui River dam lit up, and pedestrians grew increasingly numerous.
Jiang Ning paced and pondered what cultivation technique to practice.
In his previous life, the technique he practiced was the Ice Soul Ginseng Birth Formula. When cultivated to a profound realm, the seven emotions and six desires would fade away, leaving no worldly desires behind, and the person would become stiff like wood.
In this lifetime, Jiang Ning would never touch it again. If a person lost their desires, what meaning was there in living?
Jiang Ning flipped through the techniques in his mind. After screening them, he settled on three: one for magical power, one for the Divine Sense, and one for Body Refining.
He decided to cultivate all three paths simultaneously.
The spiritual qi in the realm of cultivation was abundant, and in his previous life, Jiang Ning initially focused solely on magical power, only cultivating his Divine Sense and physical body upon reaching a certain realm.
Now, the spiritual qi in the present world was thin. Cultivating all three paths simultaneously and advancing them side-by-side was suited for rapidly enhancing one's strength. Although modern society was not very suitable for cultivation, under its massive industrial productivity, it also possessed advantages that the cultivation world could never match.
For instance, the power transformer box by the roadside ahead kept emitting a buzzing noise.
A label was pasted on the transformer box: "High voltage, danger, do not approach."
Jiang Ning sensed an electromagnetic field radiating around the transformer box. If an ordinary person dared to get too close to it, they would likely face danger and could be electrocuted carelessly.
Such incidents were reported in the news everywhere.
Jiang Ning did not dare to get close either; his current body was fragile and lacked exercise, making him utterly incapable of withstanding high voltage.
There was a technique in the Luoyun Sect's treasury called the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Body Tempering Formula, which was a top-tier Body Refining technique.
Tens of thousands of years ago, it was the foundational sect technique of a certain power. That faction relied on a region of thunder to rise rapidly. At its peak, it produced three Nascent Soul Great Perfection cultivators whose combat prowess surpassed all their peers, dominating the entire cultivation world for nearly a thousand years.
Later, the thunder region dissipated, and the sect declined.
Back then, when Jiang Ning was choosing a Body Refining technique, he had considered this powerful technique, but ultimately gave it up. Thunder regions were rare in the cultivation world, and one had to rely on the heavens to dispense lightning bolts to eat, which did not align with the true heart of cultivation.
And now, a transformer box was placed nearby, and Jiang Ning immediately decided to practice the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Body Tempering Formula.
He sat down on the roadside two meters away from the transformer box, facing the Huishui River. This distance was not considered close; the elderly uncles and aunts walking by got even closer than he did.
Jiang Ning rehearsed the thunder incantation. With his aptitude and the insights from his previous life, he quickly mastered the basics.
Immersed in the electromagnetic field, which was supposed to be non-conductive, he relied on this heaven-defying technique to guide the current from a distance and draw it into his body.
"Hisss~"
Jiang Ning drew in a sharp breath. The weak current flowing into his body made his skin itch and hair stand on end, causing him to tremble all over. Fortunately, under the cover of night, no one noticed him.
Jiang Ning continuously manipulated the current in this way to temper his physique, feeling his body grow stronger bit by bit, which completely engrossed him.
Time quietly passed; the pedestrians on the river dam gradually increased and then slowly dispersed before Jiang Ning finally stood up.
He traced his fingertips across his T-shirt, and a flash of electricity suddenly lit up, quite conspicuously.
Jiang Ning clenched his fist, his slender muscles bulging, and magical power surged with electricity, brimming with strength. Body refining was indeed heaven-defying; a few hours of practice were comparable to two months of running.
This was immortal cultivation.
He glanced at his phone; it was already 10:30 at night.
"If nothing unexpected happens, my uncle's younger son should be taking the high-speed rail at 11 o'clock tonight," Jiang Ning muttered to himself.