Great Zhao, Lin'an Prefecture.
By the West Lake, the white jade railings stretched endlessly in the horizon. It had just rained in spring, and the air was slightly cold with a hint of sweetness.
The jade-green lake water rippled, stirring the lotus leaves on the water. In the middle of the lake, the red-light flower boats that were decorated had already begun to brew the restlessness of the spring night. There were faint graceful women leaning against the window sill of the boathouse, the autumn waves flowing.
The literati stepped on the limestone after the rain and recited poems on the banks of the long embankment. From time to time, they stood on their tiptoes and looked at the flower boat, hoping they could see the charming figure in the flower boat without getting on it.
"Sigh, it's too far away. I can't see clearly."
"Why don't we buy a pleasure boat? If we get closer, we might be able to meet the courtesan. We can save a lot of money."
On the long dike, a young man in green was holding a pot of wine. He took a sip and muttered, "But if I don't see the courtesan, I don't have to spend money."
The young man frowned and refuted himself, "A scholar only enjoys the scent of beauty."
"Forget it. Without money, I can't be romantic. I can't even pay for the rooms in the inn."
The young man sighed. Being unable to enjoy the joy of freeloading made him very melancholic.
He raised the wine pot and took a sip at the beautiful scenery of West Lake.
A gentle breeze blew past his face.
Looking at the lively West Lake, ripples gradually appeared in the young man's eyes.
He had never thought that he would encounter such a ridiculous thing one day. He had transmigrated through a vast space-time to become a scholar who had entered the capital to take the examination.
The scholar was not poor. He came from a family in Chongzhou, and it could even be said that his family was rich. However, he did not know the principle of not revealing his wealth. When he was about to reach the capital, he was robbed. The guards fled, and the scholar was beaten up, causing the transmigrator to appear.
The young scholar was called An Le in both his previous and current life. His name was quite easy to accept. In his previous life, he was an art student who had been admitted to the art academy and had some attainments in painting.
After arriving at the capital, he was lucky enough to buy some drawing paper and carbon blocks with the taels of silver hidden in his pocket. He sold a few paintings with different styles and earned some silver taels.
In An Le's memory, there was no dynasty called Great Zhao in his previous life. However, after inheriting the memories of this body, An Le had a hazy understanding of the entire world.
This world was not ordinary. There were cultivators, gods, and devils. Chaos was everywhere.
Along the way to the capital, An Le saw that human lives were like grass, and there were bones frozen to death along the way.
Outside, there were foreign races that were eyeing them covetously. They were prepared to head south at any time and destroy Great Zhao's territory, completely occupying the Central Plains.
The capital of Great Zhao was originally in the north and had been at odds with the barbarians for 800 years. In the end, the foreign races were powerful, and the Emperor of Great Zhao ordered the entire imperial court to move to the south. He established the capital in Lin'an and temporarily avoided them.
As for Great Zhao, it had been more than five hundred years since they moved south. The capital city of Lin'an was extremely prosperous. The people indulged themselves every night and the thought of going north to take back the lost land in the Central Plains had long been buried under the life of satisfaction.
In Great Zhao, everything else was inferior to cultivation.
Even scholars could not compare to cultivators.
The Imperial Examination was even divided into A and B. Even if one had outstanding and unparalleled literary talent and could become a capable minister who ruled the world, non-cultivators could only enter List B. Only cultivators could enter List A and become the top scholar.
An Le could not cultivate, but if he wanted to live a more dignified life in this era, becoming a scholar on List B was also a way out.
This was also the reason why An Le chose to continue entering the capital and prepare for the Imperial Examination.
In fact, An Le had another ambition, which was to become a scholar on List A.
If he could become a scholar on List A, he would truly be able to pass the test and soar into the sky.
Although he had yet to cultivate, he still had hope because he had the confidence of a transmigrator.
Looking at the slightly rippling lake, An Le's pupils dilated, and a translucent light screen appeared before him.
...
[Name: An Le]
[Age Qi: 2 wisps]
[Age Dao Fruit: None]
...
It was a very simple light screen. An Le had only jumped out three days ago when he stepped into Lin'an Prefecture.
After a few attempts, An Le realized that he could absorb a gray qi called the Age Qi through the light screen.
An Le had yet to figure out the function of the gray qi.
However, there was no doubt that if An Le wanted to step into cultivation, he could only place his hopes on this.
In Great Zhao, cultivators had noble statuses. As long as they stepped into cultivation, they would be registered by the government and even receive a monthly salary. It was said that the lowest-level cultivator could receive 30 taels of silver.
Thirty taels of silver were enough for An Le to live comfortably in Lin'an.
With a hint of envy, An Le dispelled the light screen in front of him. A few scholars and flirtatious guests at the side could not help but stir. In the middle of the lake, amidst the clouds, a flower boat lit up with a red light. In the boathouse, the curtain was lifted, and graceful maidservants in light yellow dresses slowly walked out and stood on both sides.
Although they were very far away, these maidservants had graceful figures and were as beautiful as the chiefs of ordinary flower boats. This made many scholars' hearts flutter.
This extravagance was very special. According to the original owner's memories, An Le also had some understanding of the ranking of the flower boats. The flower boats on West Lake were also divided into levels. The higher the level of the flower boats in the center of the lake, the more honorable the status of the courtesan.
It was even rumored that the courtesan of the prestigious flower boat in the center of the lake was even a cultivator with extraordinary cultivation!
How could the scholars not be excited when a female cultivator became a courtesan? That was an additional bonus to their professional charm.
If he could get close to her, even a hundred poems would not be enough to brag about.
Suddenly, there was an uproar among the scholars by the long dike.
"Fairy Yun Rou is here!"
"She's so beautiful. She's a female Sword Immortal with peerless beauty!"
"If I can get into Fairy Yun Rou's boat, my entire life will be worth it. I won't hesitate to lose my reputation in the Spring Quarter Examinations!"
...
The scholars and calligraphers chattered non-stop, full of flirtatious words.
An Le raised his wine pot and took a sip. The wine fragrance spread from the corners of his lips and his eyes narrowed with a hint of excitement.
"Finally."
Above the 100-meter sky, there was a dazzling sword light, and a long sword pierced through the sky.
On the sword was a woman in a white dress. Her figure was slender, and her black hair fluttered while mist coiled around the lake. She seemed to have been swept up by the sword qi, and she was peerlessly extraordinary.
The woman on the sword landed on the boat. The maidservants on both sides bowed with their hands in front of them. However, the woman in white turned around and smiled. Her veil covered her mouth and nose, only revealing her eyebrows. It was as if there was an electric current running through them.
The scholars on the embankment were excited and itched.
Although it was not the first time An Le had seen it, he was still stunned. It was mainly because he had seen it with his own eyes. The impact was too strong.
The role-playing of the Female Sword Immortal was popular in this era. Which scholar could withstand such a test?
In An Le's slightly narrowed eyes, the otherworldly courtesan in white landed on the flower boat. There were actually wisps of gray qi currents around her body like dragons and snakes.
Counting carefully, there were more than ten wisps of gray qi.
The gray qi was incompatible with the white fog that filled the lake. Even though they were far apart, An Le could see it clearly. He could even vaguely feel a strong attraction to them.
An Le had been soaking on the bank of the West Lake for the past few days because of this cultivator courtesan. The two wisps of Age Qi in the light screen were obtained from Fairy Yun Rou two days ago.
The first time An Le saw Fairy Yun Rou on the long embankment, he detected the Age Qi in her body. There were more than ten wisps of Age Qi, but An Le could only obtain one wisp a day.
Hence, An Le spent the rest of his days camping by the West Lake.
One wisp a day, he slowly harvested.
Although he did not know the function of the Age Qi for the time being, it would be a waste not to take advantage of it. It was not wrong to take more.
In front of him, a faint golden light screen appeared.
On the screen, the [Age Qi] column flickered.
Next, An Le saw a wisp of gray qi leave the boat in the middle of West Lake, it was like a dandelion floating freely in the world.
The gray qi spanned hundreds of meters across the West Lake before lingering around An Le's fingertip.
However, the strange thing was that this gray qi wrapped around An Le's fingertip and turned golden. It was like a wisp of golden light bursting out of the sand, unable to conceal its brilliance as it seeped into An Le's body.
In the light screen, another wisp of Age Qi appeared.
As for why it turned golden, An Le did not understand.
Since he couldn't figure it out, he didn't bother.
Successful, An Le had a hearty drink.
With wishful thinking, An Le wanted to try to get another wisp of Age Qi from the top courtesan. However, the screen's [Age Qi] column stopped jumping and could not absorb it. It was obvious that the cooldown had started again.
Therefore, An Le, who felt a little regretful, was heartless. He no longer lingered and turned around to push away the group of scholars behind him who were so excited that their faces turned red. He carried the wine pot and left.
However, just as he stepped out of the crowd and took two steps, An Le was stunned.
Before his eyes, the golden qi current that he had just absorbed was like a golden incense that curled up and burned.
Then, An Le realized that a painting was unfolding in front of him. In the painting, the scene was moving like light.
It played slowly like a movie.
What greeted his eyes was a woman's boudoir.
The gauze curtain hung down gently, and the rouge was fragrant.
On the bed in the boudoir, a graceful figure could be vaguely seen.
Upon closer inspection, An Le was shocked.
Because this graceful figure…
It was the cultivation courtesan who had crossed the West Lake on her sword and boarded the pleasure boat, the female Sword Immortal!