Turbid World: Martial Arts Master of the Republic of China Era, I Cultivate Immortality!

(Fictional world)

The Great New Republic of China

July 29th of the first year, 6:00 AM

Tianjin, Anping County, Chengdong

The main hall of Zuowang Temple

In front of the statue of the Three Pure Ones.

"The supreme treasure of the Way...May all beings...constantly serve the Heavenly Venerable...and be forever freed from the cycle of reincarnation...May all beings learn the highest vehicle...and not fall into wrong views."

A man dressed in a dark blue Taoist robe sat on a futon and chanted the Three Refuges at the end of the morning prayer in a rhythmic tone.

After finishing his morning prayers, the man in the Taoist robe did not immediately get up and leave the meditation cushion. Instead, he reflected on his prayers and gave himself a score of 90.

"Not bad, you've improved a lot this time. At least you didn't stumble like before when reciting the Four Books and the Twelve Proclamations..."

The Taoist-robed man muttered to himself. After he finished muttering, he silently recited the name of the Buddha. As soon as he finished reciting the name, a blood-red light suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Immediately afterwards, the crimson light spread out evenly before his eyes, forming a long, blank scroll with ancient cloud patterns and some kind of mystical runes around its edges.

As the scroll appeared before his eyes, the man in the Taoist robe did not look at the blank scroll, but instead looked at a line of words on the edge of the scroll.

A Portrait of Life

[Photo by: Zhao Zheng]

Age: 18

[Talent: Keen Insight]

Realm: Refining Essence into Qi (Early Stage)

[Essence: The True Scripture of the Great Cavern of Shangqing (Introduction)]

[Dharma: Golden Light Mantra (Beginner)]

Skill Points: 1

"Never mind, I'll order it later. Anyway, there's still time until the end of the month..." Zhao Zheng turned his gaze away from the plus sign that was faintly visible behind the Shangqing Great Cave True Scripture and the Golden Light Divine Mantra.

He glanced at the calendar on the wall to the side, and after confirming that there were still three days left until the end of the month, he looked at the panel again.

"I'll see if my skill points increase like they did on the first of next month after this month. I can't believe I've already been in this world for over a month now; time really flies..."

Zhao Zheng sighed inwardly. He was not from this world. He didn't know exactly how he had transmigrated. All he knew was that after waking up, he found himself in Tianjin.

The situation in this world is somewhat complicated, and it is somewhat similar to the previous life, just like the Great Chen Dynasty that just disappeared, which was destroyed by foreign powers, just like in the previous life.

He said it was complicated mainly because, in addition to foreign powers and the warlords who now control the world, there are also demons and monsters in this world. Yes, demons and monsters.

Fortunately, he came with a map of life experiences that he could add points to, and besides this map, he also had a master, although... Just as he was thinking this, a series of urgent knocks sounded from outside the Taoist temple gate.

Thump! Thump! Thump—

"Is Master Mao here?"

"I'm here!"

Hearing the burly man's voice coming from outside the Taoist temple gate, Zhao Zheng responded and stood up, thinking to himself, "Business has come."

After leaving the main hall, Zhao Zheng walked past a huge incense burner placed more than ten meters in front of the main hall's gate and came to the gate, which was bolted shut, and opened it.

"Hmm? It's you. Where's your master?"

A middle-aged man dressed in faded shorts and a tattered, yellowed cotton towel around his neck, looking like a rickshaw driver, hurriedly walked into the courtyard as he spoke.

Zhao Zheng followed unhurriedly, and when the other person asked a question, he pointed to the east corner of the courtyard wall and said, "Over there."

"???"

The middle-aged man stared in surprise at the newly erected grave mound and tombstone in the corner of the yard. He looked at the grave mound and then at Zhao Zheng several times, swallowing hard.

"Then...who answered me just now?"

"You asked me if my master was here, and I said yes, huh? Is there a problem with me saying my master is here?" Zhao Zheng asked, puzzled.

"Okay...it seems fine!"

The man's lips twitched as he replied, after all, Zhao Zheng's master was indeed there, but... he was in the grave in the courtyard.

The man didn't dwell on how Master Mao died or how he was buried in the courtyard. He just muttered "It's all over, it's all over" before turning around and leaving, somewhat lost and dejected.

Is the house haunted?

Zhao Zheng squinted, his innate insight allowing him to see faint traces of yin energy remaining on the middle-aged man's body.

[Talent: Keen Insight]

[Introduction: Observing the true nature of reality without seeing or being seen]

To put it simply, he can see a lot of things.

These things include ghosts!

"Hmm? You could tell!"

The man turned around in surprise and said, "I learned a bit from my master, after all!" Zhao Zheng pointed to the grave mound and tombstone in the corner of the yard: "I should say I learned a thing or two from him!"

"But……"

"Tell me the specifics first!"

Zhao Zheng interrupted, turned and walked to the stone table by the courtyard. He touched the teapot on the table to make sure the tea was still warm, poured two cups of tea, sat down and said to the hesitant man.

"Come, have some tea!"

"it is good."

The man hesitated for a moment before walking toward the stone table. However, before reaching the table, he closed the door, causing Zhao Zheng to raise an eyebrow and rub his lower back.

After a dozen or so seconds, once the man had sat down, taken a sip of hot tea, and composed himself, he slowly said, "I've noticed that my son has been acting strangely lately..."

"What's wrong?"

"He... seems... not to be him anymore!"

"Um?"

Zhao Zheng looked at him with a willingness to hear more and gestured for the man to continue. The man then began to tell his story. His real name was Zhang Qi, but the neighbors all called him Zhang Laoqi or Coachman Qi.

Zhang Laoqi makes a living by pulling a rickshaw in Anping County. In addition, he has a good wife who works as a cook in the Su family in the east of the city, so the family lives a fairly good life.

The couple had two sons. The younger son is bright and clever and is currently in school, while the older son is not as bright.

Zhao Zheng wanted the other party to get to the point, but seeing the other party's expression, he decided to give up and just continued listening to Zhang Laoqi talk.

After Zhang Laoqi finished speaking, he summarized the situation in his mind: Zhang Laoqi's eldest son suddenly stopped hanging out with the gang and... became a better person and more filial!

A prodigal son's return is more precious than gold!

"In the past, when he came home, it was either because he was broke and asked us for money, or because he had been taken advantage of or hurt outside. But now he's changed, he's become better, he's not like him at all!"

As Zhang Laoqi spoke, a look of fear appeared on his face, and he grabbed Zhao Zheng's arm with both hands: "This isn't my son at all! Do you think I don't know what kind of person my son is...?"

……

Anping County, Chengnan

In a courtyard with three main rooms and four side rooms, Zhao Zheng, dressed in a black mandarin jacket, sat at a table in the main room. His gaze passed through the main room door to Zhang Daqi, who was chopping firewood in the shadow of the west wall of the courtyard.

That is, Zhang Laoqi's eldest son!

Zhao Zheng did not speak immediately, but simply glanced at the piles of firewood that had been split and stacked neatly against the east wall of the courtyard.

"How is it? Is my son... being possessed by something dirty?" Old Zhang asked in a low voice, his face slightly pale.

Zhao Zheng withdrew his gaze, frowned slightly as he looked at Zhang Daqi for a few seconds, and then whispered, "Where is your second son?"

"What's wrong? This little bastard is trying to harm my second son?"

Zhang Laoqi exclaimed in surprise, his expression changing. Realizing that his voice was a bit loud, he quickly and cautiously glanced at Zhang Daqi.

After realizing that the other person wasn't looking at him and was still chopping wood, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief and quickly whispered to Zhao Zhengdao.

"Xiao Er went to school, he should have just left. Xiao Er is much more promising than this little brat..."

Where's your wife?

"He went to work at the Su family's place. What happened? Does it want to harm my wife?" Zhang Laoqi said in a trembling voice, his face slightly pale.

"So, he's seen everyone he was supposed to see?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Zhang Laoqi was stunned by Zhao Zheng's words. Zhao Zheng leaned close to Zhang Laoqi's ear and whispered something. Zhang Laoqi's expression changed drastically.

"Impossible, this is impossible! You charlatan, get out of here! It's all fake, it's all fake! You're the one who..." Old Zhang Qi said angrily, raising his fist as he spoke.

Zhao Zheng didn't speak. He was prepared and used his left hand, which had transformed into a palm strike, to strike Zhang Laoqi's neck.

bang——

As Zhang Laoqi collapsed onto the table, Zhang Daqi, who was chopping wood in the shadow of the west wall of the courtyard, stopped chopping.

Zhang Daqi gripped the axe tightly in his right hand, raised his head to reveal a pale and bluish face, and looked at Zhao Zheng, who was walking out of the main room, with a gloomy gaze.

Zhao Zheng didn't speak, but simply stood on the east side of the courtyard in the sunlight, looked up and squinted at the rising sun in the east for a while.

Then, Zhao Zhengcai withdrew his gaze and looked at Zhang Daqi, who was staring intently at him from the shadows, and said, "You already knew, didn't you?"

Zhang Daqi didn't answer. He turned his head and glanced at Zhang Laoqi, who was lying unconscious on the table by the door of the main room. Then he looked at Zhao Zheng, opened his mouth, and said in a hoarse voice.

"You shouldn't have told him..."

"How much longer do you think you can hold out?"

Zhao Zheng smelled the stench in the air and sighed helplessly. Then he turned to look at the pile of firewood stacked against the east wall of the yard.

"They have enough firewood... They've seen your filial piety, and it's time for you to go too, since you've been dead for a long time!"

As he spoke, Zhao Zheng turned around and sighed, his gaze calmly fixed on Zhang Daqi's deathly pale skin, his hands wrapped in layers of cloth, and his hands surrounded by a few buzzing flies.

Zhao Zheng's calm gaze softened slightly as he said, "You're all stinking. We should go, or they'll see your rotting corpse..."

Zhao Zheng did not continue on this topic, but instead took out the prepared Broken Talisman from his pocket and said.

"Come on, let me help..."

Whoosh—Bang!

Zhao Zheng, who dodged the flying axe, turned his head to look at the axe embedded in the pile of firewood. He squinted and looked back at Zhang Daqi.

"So, you're going to refuse a polite toast only to suffer the consequences?"

"right……"

Zhang Daqi spoke in a hoarse voice. Zhao Zheng frowned slightly, his hands clenching together, making a cracking sound as he spoke.

"It was you... who forced me to do this!"

"Heh, it's like...you again!"

Zhang Daqi's expression changed, and he stared wide-eyed at Zhao Zheng, who pulled out a box-shaped gun from behind and pointed it at his father.

Zhao Zheng chuckled, brandishing the Mauser pistol in his hand: "Hurry up and let go of your obsession, or I'll shoot your father dead and see if he can become a medium-death being like you!"

"You...don't follow the rules..."

Zhang Daqi glared angrily at Zhao Zheng...