Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 382 An Ordinary Cultivator
After making all the preparations and ensuring that everything was absolutely perfect, Zhang Chengdao determined the direction and flew towards the location of the Sword Casting Manor.

But after flying hundreds of miles, there was no human settlement anywhere except for the Sword Forging Manor and a small town that was so poor it could only be called a village.

And not far to the east lies Baozhou City.

Did we go the wrong way?

Zhang Chengdao was not giving up and went back to search again.

He searched for a long time but couldn't find the Sword Forging Manor. He even traveled east to the territory of Baozhou City, only to discover that the original Baozhou City was not Baozhou City at all, but rather...

"Fanyu County?"

After landing, Zhang Chengdao stared blankly at the brand-new stone tablet.

"Young man, why have you come to this place?"

An old voice sounded from behind, with a heavy, strange accent.

Zhang Chengdao turned around abruptly and saw an old man with white hair and beard, dressed in coarse cloth and short clothes, leaning on a hoe and curiously looking at him.

The old man had dark skin and a face full of wrinkles. Although he had an extraordinary demeanor, his attire made him look like an ordinary old farmer from the countryside, but his eyes were quite clear.

"Greetings, sir."

Zhang Chengdao suppressed the turmoil in his heart, cupped his hands in a salute, and tried to make his tone as calm as possible as possible when he asked, "I am traveling here and find the name of this county quite unfamiliar. I was curious and stopped here. May I ask, sir, is this place... within the territory of Baozhou?"

"Baozhou?"

Upon hearing this, a look of confusion flashed in the old man's cloudy eyes. He then shook his head and said in a thick local accent, "Young man, you've probably come to the wrong place. This is Zhuojun territory, under the jurisdiction of Youzhou. What Baozhou is this?"

Youzhou! Zhuojun!
Zhang Chengdao was deeply shaken, and finally understood the reason for all the strange things that had happened since he passed through the first boundary gate.

Whether it's Fanyu County, Youzhou, or Zhuojun, these are clearly names used by previous dynasties countless generations ago, and at that time, Baozhou City truly didn't even exist!
Hearing the old man's words, he was inwardly turbulent, but he forced himself to remain calm and continued to ask, "Then... have you ever heard of 'Sword Casting Manor'? Or... are there any martial arts sects around here?"

"Martial arts sects? Never heard of them?"

The old man squinted, scrutinizing Zhang Chengdao. His gaze lingered on Zhang's snow-white hair for a moment before he said, "Young man, your attire is really strange. You don't look like a Han Chinese."

"Han, Han people!?"

Zhang Chengdao was dumbfounded again.

He was indeed not very familiar with the history of the so-called White Stone World, because he was usually too busy to study such things that were not urgent for him. However, as far as he knew, among the more famous and well-known dynasties in the world, there seemed to be no Han Dynasty, nor was there any such thing as "Han people". After all, if there really were Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han and the history they experienced, it was impossible that there would be no history among the people.

Seeing Zhang Chengdao's strange expression, the old man's face immediately turned serious, and he asked sternly, "Young man, you are neither a local nor a Han Chinese, so where are you from?"

"Don't be anxious, old man,"

Regardless of whether he was Han or not, Zhang Chengdao did not want to be seen as a thief, so he fabricated a story: "I am a Zhou person. My ancestors went to the mountains to avoid disaster and accidentally entered a paradise. Because we did not interact with the outside world, we do not know what day it is. If I have offended you, please forgive me."

The old man remained silent upon hearing this, but his doubts deepened.

“Oh, I once accidentally ate a strange fruit and gained some magical powers. If you don’t believe me, I can demonstrate my magical powers to prove my point.” As Zhang Chengdao spoke, he snapped his fingers, and a warm orange flame shot out from his fingertip, burning fiercely.

The more backward an era is, the more people fascinate with such supernatural and mysterious things. This is a kind of awe that arises from humanity's fear of the unknown.

There's no need to exaggerate; fire is the simplest, easiest, and most difficult natural product to tame. Having shown off such a skill, the opponent must already be...

"Hmph, young man, do you think I'm senile? I know this trick too! It's just a matter of taking urine to make phosphorus powder, and then rubbing it in my palm!"

Before Zhang Chengdao could finish his confident imagining, he heard the old man snort disdainfully, and what he said left Zhang Chengdao speechless.

"Phosphorus, phosphorus powder? Could the old man be referring to phosphorus powder?!"

Wasn't the method for making this thing a modern invention?

"Hmph, you young man, you can't even master these tricks. That stuff is phosphorus powder! It's very difficult to make. It's quite remarkable that you can make it at such a young age. What's even more amazing is that your hair is dyed so naturally, and the fabric of your clothes is exquisite. You really do look quite presentable!"

The old man chuckled again, muttering, "What a pity! With all that energy, why not do something better? Why insist on taking this crooked path? It's really—!?"

When Zhang Chengdao was rendered speechless by the reprimand, he chose to shut up, then channeled his spiritual power to perform a water manipulation technique. The flames at his fingertips were extinguished, and a stream of water as thick as his wrist suddenly condensed in his palm.

Then, the water flow transformed into the shape of a dragon, flowing up and down around Zhang Chengdao's palm.

This time, it was the old man who was left speechless and dumbfounded.

"You, you, you, you—"

The old man stretched out his hand, pointing his index finger at Zhang Chengdao, trembling uncontrollably, so frightened that he couldn't utter a single complete sentence.

Zhang Chengdao smiled with satisfaction, then guided the little water dragon to swim in front of the old man's fingertips, occasionally rubbing its tail or body against the old man's fingers.

The moment the wet touch touched him, the old man abruptly withdrew his hand, as if he had finally found his voice, and stammered, "Young man, what you just said, could it be, could it be true!?"

Zhang Chengdao didn't speak, but made a frost-freezing spell, freezing the little water dragon into a majestic ice dragon, and then tossed it into the old man's arms.

The old man, holding the ice dragon, stumbled and almost fell, even instinctively dropping his hoe to the ground. He stared intently at the exquisitely crafted ice dragon, which could almost be described as a "celestial object," his beard trembling in the wind.

The icy, almost bone-chilling temperature in his arms made the old man realize that all of this...

It's all true!

"This, this immortal?"

The old man's attitude finally became respectful. He held the ice dragon in both hands, then knelt down in the field, trembling, and raised the ice dragon high above his head, sincerely asking, "Are there really gods like you in this world?"

"Maybe yes, maybe no."

Although he sensed that the spiritual energy concentration in this "White Stone Realm" was pitifully low, perhaps for some other reason, he was not sure if there were any cultivators, let alone whether He Yu and Tang Yu had already arrived in this world. He could only give an ambiguous answer.

However, he quickly added, "I am not a god, but just an ordinary cultivator."

(End of this chapter)