Chapter 1 Jiang Ning

Luoshui County.

Early morning.

Slivers of dawn pierced through the clouds, illuminating the ancient city walls.

The originally tranquil Luoshui County had already become bustling, as the main thoroughfares of the county city filled with the sounds of hawking goods, creating a noisy scene everywhere.

In the east of Luoshui County, within a small courtyard enclosed by a fence,

Jiang Ning sat in a wooden chair, facing the sun, elbows on his knees and hand supporting his jaw, silently flipping through a book.

"Mythical Era Record"

This was a miscellaneous book that recounted stories about gods.

Before the era of Great Xia, the book depicted a world where divine beings coexisted with humans.

Rivers had gods, mountains had gods, gods were omnipresent.

Although this seemed like a book of absurd tales, Jiang Ning was reading it with exceptional seriousness, utterly engrossed.

"Literacy and Judgement Experience +1"

...

"Literacy and Judgement Experience +1"

...

After a long while, Jiang Ning turned to the last page and slowly shifted his gaze, closing the miscellaneous book in his hand completely.

"From this reading session, Literacy and Judgement Experience has increased by a total of 8 points."

The next moment.

A panel suddenly appeared before him, a panel that only he could see.

"Name": Jiang Ning

"Source Energy": 13.5

"Skill": Reading and Writing (Perfection 968/1000) (Trait: None)

"I'm finally close to reaching the maximum value! I wonder what changes will occur when I max out the Reading and Writing Skill."

Looking at his own panel, Jiang Ning felt quite exhilarated.

In the past few days, he had scoured through all the books at home, whether it was the general history of ancient texts or various essential scriptures; he had devoured them all.

With these books, he had gradually taken this skill from beginner to Master, small success, and then to Great Success.

With each breakthrough, he felt his mind becoming clearer, his thoughts faster, and his senses sharpened.

As far as he knew, this was clearly the effect of the divine augmentation.

In Great Xia, within the Confucian way, reading nurtures the spirit!

After this period of diligent reading, he had discovered the marvelous use of the panel.

The panel could turn decay into magic; as long as he devoted himself to reading, the Reading and Writing Skill would continue to grow, validated once and for all.

Now, every book he had read was vividly etched in his mind, recallable at a single thought.

At this moment, he was only last few dozen Experience points away from breaking through after achieving Perfection in this skill. With his current efficiency, all he needed was to read a bit more to gain those last thirty-some points of Experience.

With his current knowledge, it wouldn't be bold to say that acing the imperial examination to become a Scholar or even a Scholar was easy, effortless.

Thinking this, Jiang Ning's heart filled with anticipation.

The titles and honors of next year could completely change his current situation.

"Toot toot!"

"Toot toot!!"

Just then, a soft, glutinous voice reached Jiang Ning's ears.

Hearing this tender sound, Jiang Ning instantly came back to his senses.

Following the sound, he saw a little girl, delicate and cute with big eyes and two face-up braids, wobbly running towards him, her chubby cheeks especially eye-catching.

Seeing his little five-year-old niece, Jiang Ning fully regained his senses.

"Little Dumpling, slow down!"

His face involuntarily revealed a faint smile.

In this family, the one closest to him was his five-year-old niece, Jiang Yuanyuan, nicknamed Little Dumpling.

From the delicate and tiny features of his little niece, one could see that she was definitely going to be a beauty, as well as the excellent genes she inherited, her mother's beauty and appearance were absolutely exceptional.

"Du Du, this is Guoguo's book, giving it to Du Du to read!"

As Little Dumpling spoke, she struggled to lift her head to look at Jiang Ning.

Even though Jiang Ning was just sitting in a chair, his height required the five-year-old Little Dumpling to lift her head to see his face clearly.

Jiang Ning smiled, took the book that Little Dumpling was struggling to hold, and felt a surge of joy inside.

For him, any book was fine, as long as it was one he had not read, it could increase his Literacy and Judgement Experience.

With this new book, his Skill in this area would certainly max out today.

Then he took the book from his hands and, without looking at it closely, placed it to one side, and then rubbed Jiang Yuanyuan's little head.

"Little Dumpling is great!"

"Du Du is so handsome!" Little Dumpling responded generously to Jiang Ning's praise.

Hearing this, Jiang Ning couldn't help but chuckle inwardly as he rubbed her tiny head and said, "What do you know about being handsome or not!"

"Handsome is handsome, Du Du is handsome! Just like my daddy!" the tiny Little Dumpling retorted without showing any signs of weakness.

Hearing this, Jiang Ning smiled noncommittally.

Just then, the voice of a woman suddenly came from the adjacent kitchen, faintly carrying over.

"Dinner's ready!"

The voice was direct, cold, without much emotion, but it inherently carried a gentle air.

Jiang Ning looked up and saw a woman in her thirties, poised and graceful like a daughter of a noble family, standing at the kitchen doorway, glancing at Jiang Ning the moment she saw him looking over.

The exceptionally beautiful woman glanced at him indifferently, then looked away as if with some disapproval.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning couldn't help but give a sheepish smile.

How could he not know that this sister-in-law had some words to say about his former self freeloading in his big brother's home for over a decade?

After all, his sister-in-law had been married to his big brother for more than a decade, and now they had a son and a daughter.

His eldest son, Jiang Yiming, was now fourteen years old, studying literature and practicing Martial Arts, with ambition, but because he had been reading poetry from a young age and practicing Martial Arts to strengthen his physique, the expenditures in silver taels were quite heavy.

In such a situation, his former self had been unproductive and idle for over a decade, with all the expenses borne by his big brother alone.

And his big brother was just a constable in Luoshui County, with limited income. How could his sister-in-law not have any complaints about himself?

Especially lately, with the price of grain rising day by day, having five mouths to feed in the family was becoming increasingly difficult, making her discontent towards him grow as well.

Thinking about all this, he felt quite helpless.

He knew full well that his sister-in-law wasn't too fond of him, and he could totally understand that this was normal human sentiment.

He had been leeching off his big brother and sister-in-law's family all along.

But as of now, he had no other options. His former self had left no savings, and during the more than two months since he had transmigrated, he had spent most of his time recuperating from injuries, so even if he wanted to move out, he was completely unable to.

"Continuing to leech off them in the short term is unavoidable, given the current unrest in Luoshui County!" Jiang Ning thought to himself.

He already had plans for the future in his heart.

In these days, he had been reading books and absorbing information about the changes in the world order based on his big brother's duties at the county government and his own diligent studies.

The Great Xia Dynasty where he now lived was clearly in a state of turmoil, typical of a dynasty's final years.

And in this little Luoshui County, there were also several powers quietly stirring beneath the surface.

As someone with a background in history from his previous life, he knew this situation all too well.

History always repeats itself, not in an identical fashion, but with inevitable similarities.

So he was very clear that the Great Xia Dynasty, with over eight hundred years of history, amidst natural disasters, refugee escapades, rebellions, and outbreaks of bizarre and deformed sects, was clearly on the brink of collapse.

In the face of such a situation, only one's own strength could guarantee survival in the chaotic end of the dynasty.

Otherwise, once the overwhelming trends came, with the world in chaos and warlords contending, especially in a world where Martial Arts were brilliant and thriving, the weak could be overwhelmed by the strong, a single powerful individual could stand as an army, and the mighty could oppose entire countries.

As a commoner, if one were caught in such overwhelming trends, how could one survive?

His big brother was currently nothing more than an ordinary constable in the county government, no different than a tiny pebble in the historical tide.

"My reliance on my brother's strength will have to be temporary. As for repaying my brother and sister-in-law's family, I will have to do so later!"