Gurgling sounds echoed as rice boiled in the pot.
A spirit card was quietly inserted into the operation box beside the pot. Similar to electricity on Earth, the spirit card provided valuable and stable spiritual energy for the spirit rice cooker.
"Spiritual energy..."
"Spirituality..."
Duke withdrew his gaze from a distance and the chaotic thoughts in his mind. The spirit rice cooker happened to trip the breaker, and a pot of fragrant rice was ready, accompanied by steamed sausages in the steamer.
With a side of pickled white cabbage, it was Duke's breakfast.
Despite the simple fare, Duke devoured it eagerly, consuming three full bowls of rice. This was because the previous night, when he failed to open the Blood Sea and the Blood Boiling Potion drained all his energy, his body needed replenishment.
With a humble family background, he could only rely on eating to regain his strength.
"Phew."
After finishing the rice, Duke finally felt a bit of energy returning. Without bothering to clean the dishes, he quickly locked the door and walked onto the street. The houses on both sides of the street were low and humble.
Early risers had already begun their bustling activities.
Passing through an alley, a hooting sound echoed from the eaves.
Then, a creaking sound followed as a household opened its window. A gray-brown owl fluttered its wings and landed on the window edge, holding a small package with its claws.
The homeowner took out a silver coin and placed it in a small cloth bag hanging around the owl's neck.
Only then did the owl release its claws, dropping the package, and flew away with a flap of its wings.
"A postal owl, a level 0 spirit beast."
Duke glanced at it, and memories provided the answer.
Level 0 spirit beasts were between wild beasts and spirit beasts. They were more mysterious and intelligent than wild beasts and could handle various tasks. For example, this postal owl was tamed to serve as a courier.
Not paying much attention to the postal owl, Duke took slightly heavy steps and walked through several alleys, arriving at a shop with a sign that read "Little Sam's Repair Shop."
The shop door was already open, and someone was cleaning inside.
"Morning, Bob."
"You too, little Duke." Bob raised his head. At forty years old, he was an official worker in Little Sam's repair shop. "Your face looks a bit pale. What's going on?"
"Oh, it's nothing." Duke put on a perfectly awkward smile.
"Oh, I remember now. Bobby said you bought the Blood Boiling Potion. Is it because of the failed Blood Sea opening?" Bob asked with concern. "Did the Blood Sea open successfully?"
"No."
Duke lowered his head.
Who could know that he was no longer the familiar Duke to those around him, but a completely new Duke, a transmigrant from Earth who failed to open the Blood Sea, drained himself dry, and resurrected using another's body.
To avoid attracting attention, "Duke" had to play the role of Duke well.
Obviously unaware of Duke's changes, Bob shook his head in feigned regret, patting Duke on the shoulder. "Don't be disheartened. This only means we're all ordinary people. Let's just focus on our work."
"Yeah."
Duke walked to the third work station in the repair shop.
As an apprentice at Little Sam's repair shop, he followed the card repair master, Best, to learn the art of card repairs.
"Hey, Duke Duke!" From the adjacent second work station, Bobby, Bob's son, who was wiping the table with a rag, poked his head over. "Did you buy the Blood Boiling Potion yesterday?"
Before Duke could answer, Bobby grinned mischievously. "You definitely didn't open the Blood Sea. Look at how pale your face is. Hehe, if you opened the Blood Sea, you wouldn't be back at work!"
From the farthest first work station, another apprentice, Thomas, tilted his head and joined the conversation. "I've always said spending money on the Blood Boiling Potion is a waste. Save it and use it to marry a wife in the future."
Faced with the apprentices' teasing, Duke absentmindedly replied, "You have to try it at least once."
He had too much on his mind.
The human body has three seas: the Qi Sea, the Blood Sea, and the Spirit Sea. Opening any one of them could lead to an extraordinary path. The previous night, Duke spent all his savings on a Blood Boiling Potion, hoping to open the Blood Sea before his fifteenth birthday.
If it was later than fifteen, it would be much more challenging to open.
Unfortunately.
The Blood Boiling Potion failed to help him open the Blood Sea, and three months ago, he also bought a Qi-Boosting Potion to open the Qi Sea, which also failed. In other words, two out of the three paths of cultivation were now blocked.
"For now, the only option is to open the Spirit Sea!"
Opening the Spirit Sea required the assistance of the Awakening Spirit Potion, which cost twenty-three silver dragons. However, Duke was currently penniless, and he had no idea where to get the money.
The official currency of the Seven Towers Federation was Dragon Coins, divided into Gold Dragons, Silver Dragons, and Copper Dragons.
One Gold Dragon exchanged for one hundred Silver Dragons, and one Silver Dragon exchanged for one hundred Copper Dragons.
The purchasing power of one Copper Dragon was roughly equivalent to one dollar.
"Two thousand three hundred... 'I' earn five and a half Silver Dragons as an apprentice for a month. That's about five hundred and fifty. It would take over four months of not eating or drinking to save enough." Duke disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled the instruments on his workstation with practiced efficiency. This had become muscle memory for his body. "I still need to find other ways to gather this money."
Among the three seas, only the Spirit Sea remained unexplored.
But Duke was confident that he could open it.
This was his golden finger as a transmigrator, and what he lacked now was a medicine to open the Spirit Sea—a twenty-three Silver Dragon worth Awakening Spirit Potion.
Nine-fifteen.
A middle-aged man in long-sleeved overalls entered the repair shop. He had a stylish mustache on his face, and as soon as he entered, he shouted, "Little Duke, is my coffee ready?"
"It's ready, Master Best." Duke picked up the coffee cup.
Best took the coffee, took a sip, wiped the table in front of the third workstation, and frowned as he scolded, "Can't even wipe a table clean. Hurry up and wipe it again!"
In reality, the table was already clean.
However, Duke didn't argue. He picked up the rag and began wiping again.
The man in front of him, Master Best, was one of the three contracted card repairers at Little Sam's Repair Shop. Duke was his apprentice, learning the art of card repairs from him.
Apprentices had a low status, and enduring insults was common.
The previous owner of Duke's body was only fifteen years old, and without a means of livelihood, securing an apprenticeship was already not easy.
Once Duke finished wiping the table and neatly arranged the tools on the table, Best had also finished his coffee.
Handing the empty cup to Duke, he bluntly scolded, "What are you standing there stupidly for? Insert a card and start the machine. I'm going to start repairing cards, cards that never seem to end!"
"Sure."
Duke didn't pay attention to the tone of the other person and didn't show any difference from usual. He skillfully picked up a thick spirit card, inserted it into the card slot on the table's machine.
The lines on the spirit card lit up, indicating that spiritual energy was now being supplied.
Pressing the switch, the machine instantly started.
This was a semi-new card detection device that could detect the energy circuits in damaged spirit cards, assisting card repairers in repairing those damaged energy circuits.
Best rolled up his sleeves, pulled out a card from a pile of waste cards, and placed it on the machine's testing platform.
Duke stood silently on the side, watching.
The previous owner of the body had wanted to learn the techniques of repairing spirit cards. This was the only perk of being an apprentice—the opportunity to learn a bit about the art of card repair from a card repairer.
Of course, it was only a bit.
When it came to repairing the energy circuits, it required the card repairer to mobilize spiritual power from the Spirit Sea. If you couldn't open the Spirit Sea, you could only be responsible for the simpler tasks, like beautifying spirit cards, polishing them, and pasting them, essentially doing the mundane work that ordinary people could handle.
Card repairer Best had opened the Spirit Sea.
However, his talent and comprehension were limited. Throughout his life, he hadn't constructed a single closed energy circuit in the Spirit Sea. Thus, he had always lingered at the 0-ring level of spiritual apprenticeship—having one closed energy circuit represented 1 ring, and one uncloseable energy circuit couldn't be called a ring but could colloquially be referred to as 0 ring.
With a series of clacking sounds from the machine, a set of interconnected circuits appeared on the damaged spirit card.
These were the energy circuits that bound abundant spiritual energy.
Best quickly identified the damaged points and then carefully lifted the damaged spirit card. Using a tool to delicately open the card's cover, he used a special spirit pen that could draw energy circuits to begin repairing the first damaged point.
It was a meticulous process.
The energy circuit was like a high-speed highway in the microcosmic world. If the road surface had potholes or breaks, it would affect the flow of energy, thus damaging the effectiveness of the spirit card.
The card repairer needed to use their Spirit Sea to patch up this high-speed highway, ensuring it remained smooth at all times.
Seeing this step, Duke quietly retreated.
As soon as he collected twenty-three Silver Dragons, he could personally explore the Spirit Sea, investigating the endless energy circuits and assembling them into closed circuits.