Chapter 1 Li Yuan In the year 1452 of Dayun, Zhelong Prefecture, Gaoliu County. squeak~ Glancing at the messy bunk bed behind him, Li Yuan pushed the door open and walked out without waiting for the last person to leave the room. The fog in the early morning of late autumn has not yet completely dissipated, but wisps of smoke are already rising in Gaoliu County, and faint human voices can be heard. What came into view was a small courtyard where six or seven boys of about fifteen or sixteen years old, about the same size as him and wearing linen clothes, were busy working. Wash, chop wood, fetch water, make fire, cook... "call!" Li Yuan tightened his thin gray linen clothes, took a deep breath, and joined in the shouts of several apprentices. A day as an apprentice at the "Forge Shop" starts with chopping wood and fetching water. "It's only been a month and three days. How can I make it through twelve years? This is too hard... It wasn't easy to learn something in my last life, and this life is even harder!" Li Yuan couldn't help but sigh in his heart as he was busy with his hands and feet.
In his previous life, he learned from his own wild Taoist master how to repair mountains and build tombs, perform rituals to pray for the dead, and assist in difficult childbirths, but he only spent two or three years on it. It actually takes twelve years to be an apprentice in this "Weapon Blacksmith Shop"! Three years of doing odd jobs, two years of helping out, and seven years of working! Li Yuan complained in his heart, but he did not dare to slow down even a little. He could only sigh that he "woke up" too late. When he woke up, he had "sold himself" to the "Weapon Forging Shop". Because I was too thin, I was not assigned to the front yard... "boom!" Suddenly, a muffled sound was heard from the kitchen. The fat man holding a large spoon kicked a gray-clothed apprentice to the ground, with the flesh on his face swaying: "You son of a bitch, I've gone through so much hardship to learn this skill of flipping the wok and cooking, and you dare to learn it secretly?!" "Chef Sun, I was wrong. I won't do it again. I won't do it again..." The apprentice held his head and wailed, but he did not dare to dodge and endured the beating. The apprentices in the courtyard were silent. Li Yuan lowered his head with a blank expression. If an apprentice makes a mistake, the masters can beat or scold him at will. This is written in the "indenture". "Apprentice-apprentice, three years of slavery" is not just talk. The fat guy Sun who was stirring the wok was also half a master, in charge of more than a dozen apprentices, as well as the food and drink of more than a hundred people in the blacksmith shop. He had a bad temper, and beating and scolding the apprentices was commonplace. When he first came here a month ago, Li Yuan almost had his head smashed by that rice spoon... "Hurry up, the masters in the front yard are about to get up. If you delay their meal, you will be kicked!" Fatty Sun weighed the spoon and cursed. The apprentices didn't dare to look up, but their hands and feet moved faster and faster. Only when the fat man went back to the kitchen did the beaten apprentice get up without saying a word. Even though he was in great pain, he did not dare to delay his work.
Li Yuan looked expressionless. The Blacksmith Shop is one of the largest blacksmith shops in Gaoliu County, employing more than 180 guards, masters, helpers, and apprentices. Apprentices naturally have the lowest status. Not only do they receive low wages and poor food, they are also often beaten and scolded. If they want better treatment, they must at least become an assistant or even a master. "Twelve years..." When four big suns rose among the sea of clouds, the meal was finally ready and smiles appeared on the faces of the busy apprentices. Apart from meal times, the apprentices really have little free time all day long. Chopping wood, fetching water, preparing charcoal, carrying various iron ingots, cleaning weapons, and sweeping... But even so, there is always a lot of people coming to the weapon forge to recruit apprentices. The reason is simple: the treatment provided by the blacksmith shop is the best among all the shops in Gaoliu County that recruit apprentices. Not only was he paid thirty copper coins a month, but the food was also much better than in other herbal medicine shops, carpentry shops, and the like. Blacksmithing is a very hard job, and you can't do it if you don't have any knowledge. Of course, apprentices don’t have this kind of treatment. They can only see a little bit of income every seven days. Even with this, the apprentices are already very satisfied. In some other places, you can only eat meat on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, and some even don’t eat any oil at all all year round… When the sun was high in the sky and the sound of blacksmithing could be faintly heard in the front yard, the apprentices had just finished their breakfast and had a short break. "It takes three years to become an assistant..." The apprentices squatted in the corners in twos and threes. Li Yuan squatted in another corner with a bowl of rice. He held the steamed bread with weak arms, and felt a little sad in his heart. In his previous life, although he was a wild Taoist priest who was not registered or included in the Taoist canon, he was able to make some money by following his master in the countryside. Even in the worst times, he was not as miserable as this. At this moment, he couldn't help but miss his previous life. Beer, drinks, barbecue, air conditioning, television, sofa, mobile phone...even his own master who he was obsessed with until his death and was enrolled in the Taoist canon. "How did I travel through time?! Can I go back?!" After swallowing the steamed bread with rice soup, Li Yuan looked up at the four red suns in the sky, one big and three small, and almost shed tears. How did I travel through time? Over the past month, Li Yuan has thought about this question more than once, recalling his memories before the time travel over and over again. As an unofficial Taoist priest, after his master left, he could hardly get any money from weddings and funerals in the village. He had no choice but to change his career and opened a small supermarket in his hometown county. Although he had no money, he had a quiet life. "That day I was lying on the sofa playing with my phone, and then... wait, the ordination ceremony started!" It was as if lightning had broken through the fog, Li Yuan trembled all over and almost spilled half a bowl of rice soup on the ground! "Yes, the ordination ceremony!" Suppressing the throbbing in his heart, Li Yuan squatted back down again. Without attracting other people's attention, his mind was uncontrollably wandering. In his previous life, his master, who never joined the Taoist clan until his death, left him half a volume of Taoist book.
He had read that book several times, but was not very interested in it. He also did not take seriously the idea of "receiving the ordination certificate and becoming an immortal" that his master had always been obsessed with. Until the day before he traveled through time, he somehow remembered the ceremony recorded in the book. then…… “Is it because of the ceremony?” After stuffing half a steamed bread and half a bowl of rice soup into his stomach, Li Yuan was still muttering to himself. He didn't think that the ordination ceremony could cause him to travel through time, but apart from this, he really couldn't think of any other possibilities. "Receive the talisman, granted by heaven..." Li Yuan murmured in his heart. Naturally, he was no stranger to receiving the ordination ceremony. Taoists believe that talismans were formed naturally by heaven and earth, copied by gods, and passed down into the world. Only after the Taoist priests have been granted the talismans and their names have been listed in the heavenly court and they have obtained the Taoist rank and priesthood, can they control the talismans and thereby possess incredible Taoist magical powers such as summoning ghosts and gods, pacifying the five directions, subduing demons and monsters, curing diseases and eliminating disasters. "The old man has always dreamed of 'receiving the ordination and becoming an immortal'. Could it be true?" Li Yuan murmured in his heart. He originally didn't believe in the old man's obsession. In this day and age, he still believed in ascending to immortality through the ordnance of a Taoist priest. In his previous life, he knew several Taoists who had received Taoist ordination, but he had never seen any of them possess any magical powers. In particular, what was recorded in that half volume of Taoist book was not the orthodox ordination. You should know that the orthodox ordination ceremony not only involves the bestowal of the ordination certificate, but also includes sutras and precepts. In order to transmit the degree, there must be an ordination altar supervisor, a degree transmitter, a recommender, and so on. The so-called "Heaven-granted talisman" in the book is indeed simple, even crude... But now... "I've traveled through time, so what's impossible? Although...but...what if?" Li Yuan's mind was distracted. Reason told him that this was unlikely, but he still held on to hope. What if? "What if I, no, I, the Taoist priest, really have the chance to receive the ordination and become an immortal?" The more he thought about it, the more excited Li Yuan became. If he hadn't known that the time was not right, he would have wanted to hold the ceremony right away. What the hell are apprentices, helpers, masters, and shopkeepers? Dao Ye wants to go home! The Taoist wants to become an immortal! (End of this chapter)
