After Manager Zhu and his wife had walked far away, Gao Xian let out a long sigh of relief.

  "Those two would eat a person and not even spit out the bones. You're really brave to py games with them..."

  Standing nearby, not far from the gate, was a gaunt old man, chuckling sarcastically.

  The old man's daoist bun was disheveled, his eyes were dark-rimmed, his face pale, and his bck daoist robe was stained with greasy wine marks. He looked every bit the lecherous old drunkard.

  Gao Xian suddenly remembered. This old man was his next-door neighbor, surnamed Wang, whose favorite pastime was drinking and carousing at brothels.

  "What a degenerate old geezer!"

  Gao Xian wanted nothing to do with such a person. He pretended not to hear.

  Seeing Gao Xian's honest demeanor, Old Wang grew even more smug, his wicked grin widening.

  Gao Xian smmed the courtyard gate shut, trapping Old Wang and his ughter outside. He hurried back to his room.

  He pulled the Alchemical Manual from the few daoist books left by the original owner. Gao Xian began to read it intently. While Manager Zhu was easygoing, Pill Refinement was Gao Xian's livelihood. He had to master this skill as quickly as possible!

  Since the original owner had been an Alchemist, perhaps by studying the manual, Gao Xian could jog his memory and recall how to refine pills.

  After only a short while, Gao Xian's head began to spin. He recognized every character in the book, but when combined, they formed a confusing jumble, leaving him completely disoriented.

  This reminded him of his struggles with Advanced Mathematics.

  Gao Xian sighed and put the book down. This wasn't something he could force himself to understand by sheer willpower.

  He sat on the bed for a long time, unable to think of any solution.

  A Little Bck Cat jumped onto the bed and meowed at Gao Xian twice.

  "Are you hungry?"

  Gao Xian affectionately stroked the Little Bck Cat's head. The little creature was truly adorable.

  After a few days of living together, Gao Xian had come to understand the cat's basic needs. When it wanted to be petted, it would wag its tail and meow softly. When hungry, its meow would become sharper, and it wouldn't wag its tail.

  Getting off the bed, Gao Xian went to the kitchen next door to wash rice and start cooking.

  The rice grains were a jade-green color, about the size of peanuts, with a subtle, crystalline sheen like jade. This was Azure Jade Spirit Rice, rich in spiritual energy and quite expensive. A single low-grade spirit stone could buy only ten catties. And this was still the lowest grade of spirit rice.

  The original owner of this body had been an Alchemist, and with his Pill Refinement skills, he could have lived a comfortable life.

  The house held nearly half a vat of Azure Jade Spirit Rice, along with some demon beast meat. Gao Xian had hidden the meat in the celr in the courtyard, where the low temperature would keep it preserved for a long time.

  At least for now, he wouldn't have to worry about food or drink.

  In the past few days, Gao Xian had grown accustomed to the life of a cultivator, becoming proficient at building fires and cooking.

  The cooking stove was made of brick and featured a rge iron pot—the same kind used in rural restaurants for stewing goose, but much more crude.

  Gao Xian recited a few magic incantations, formed a magic seal with his hands, and pointed his fingertip at the wood. A foot-long fme erupted from his fingertip, quickly igniting the kindling in the stove.

  Each time Gao Xian used the Fire Control Technique, he felt a thrill. This was a real spell, not a trick!

  The Fire Control Technique wasn't very powerful—it was like having a giant lighter on hand. Yet even this simple ability shattered the physical ws Gao Xian had known in his previous life.

  It was the Fire Control Technique that truly convinced Gao Xian he was in a real cultivator world, where cultivators wielded immense power...

  In that sense, this world was a hundred times more dangerous than the United States, where everyone had guns.

  Having transmigrated to this world, whether he liked it or not, there seemed to be no way back.

  A middle-aged office worker, battered by the harsh realities of society, had long since learned to accept his fate.

  To put it in the words of those motivational articles, "Everything happens for the best!"

  It was precisely this open-mindedness that allowed Gao Xian to live a surprisingly content life despite his utter ck of talent.

  Now, he wasn't even bothering to think about Pill Refinement. Instead, he focused on cutting the demon beast meat into chunks, frying them until cooked, then adding water, rice, and salt to prepare a fragrant, fvorful hand-pulled rice dish.

  The rge iron pot, permanently fixed to the stove, was only suitable for steaming, boiling, and stewing. This made it incredibly convenient to cook the rice and meat simultaneously.

  Within moments, the aroma of sizzling meat filled the air.

  The Little Bck Cat, perched on the stove, meowed incessantly but dared not venture too close.

  Lifting the rough wooden lid, Gao Xian found the Azure Jade Spirit Rice, already rge in size, had swelled several times over after absorbing water. He scooped out a full wooden basin.

  He took out a coarse ceramic bowl and gave the Little Bck Cat a small portion.

  The remaining rice and meat, Gao Xian devoured in one sitting.

  He had to admit, the Azure Jade Spirit Rice was truly delicious, and the demon beast meat even more so.

  After eating his fill, not only were his taste buds and stomach satisfied, but the spiritual energy within his body surged with a warm, unusually abundant flow, leaving him indescribably comfortable.

  Gao Xian burped contentedly. If it weren't for Manager Zhu and his wife stirring up trouble, this simple yet fulfilling life could almost be called happiness.

  He stroked the Little Bck Cat, who was buried in its meat, and said softly, "Eat more. If you're full, you won't miss home..."

  Whether in response to Gao Xian or simply out of contentment, the Little Bck Cat let out two soft "meows."

  Satiated and with his body brimming with spiritual energy, Gao Xian grew drowsy.

  He forced himself to stay alert and retrieved the Mirror of Love and Lust once more.

  This time, he turned it to the other side.

  The Mirror of Love and Lust had two faces. One reflected his own appearance and revealed his various abilities.

  The other side, however, showed a woman.

  She was strikingly beautiful, dressed in a crimson, cross-colred, chest-high ruqun. The soft, slightly sheer fabric of her skirt faintly revealed her snow-white skin and slender figure.

  Most importantly, she resembled both his first love and Sister Lan, a generous and sexy married woman he worked with.

  Hmm, they did look alike to begin with! Gao Xian thought. But their auras were completely different—one pure and innocent, the other alluring and seductive.

  There were also differences in their figures. The married woman wasn't plump, but her fair, moist skin radiated a mature, voluptuous beauty unique to her age.

  His first love, on the other hand, had a slender figure and firm skin, exuding the youthful vitality of a girl.

  The woman in the mirror was both pure and alluring, possessing the best qualities of both. Yet her gestures and expressions carried a hint of seduction, making her seem somewhat improper no matter how he looked at her.

  After studying her for several days, Gao Xian began referring to the woman as Sister Lan for convenience.

  He discovered that Sister Lan was actually alive—not in the way a human is, but in a way that allowed her to interact with him... like an advanced interactive AI program.

  Gao Xian reached out and lightly tapped Sister Lan's shoulder in the mirror.

  Sister Lan in the mirror lifted her head and gave Gao Xian a seductive smile. At the same time, a line of text appeared on the mirror's surface:

  The affairs of love and lust are the ultimate good and beauty in the human world.

  To embody the elegance of a romantic and witness the beauty of love and lust is to attain the ultimate Dao.

  Human Dao Spiritual Light: 335

  Secret Techniques: Dragon-Taming Lightning Hand, Great Puppet Divine Art

  Dragon-Taming Lightning Hand: When performing certain fixed, simple movements, the user's hand speed becomes incredibly fast, imbued with the power of lightning. When activated, it delivers a delightful, stimuting sensation to anyone who touches it. (Proficient 188/300)

  Great Puppet Divine Art: The Spirit perceives within, while the Divine descends from without. High and low connect, and the two energies merge to form a Spirit. Thirty years of delusion and obsession condense into a single true Spirit, its wondrous uses boundless. (Expert 321/400)

  When Gao Xian first read this passage, he felt deeply ashamed, even slightly enraged.

  The Dragon-Taming Lightning Hand was nothing to speak of.

  But the Great Puppet Divine Art was clearly mocking his fantasies about beautiful women and treating his teachers like wives.

  It was a complete fabrication! He was just a middle-aged man living a quiet, honest life, never having done anything wrong. Damn it, was it even wrong to think like that?

  Gao Xian could have tolerated this, but it was utterly useless!

  The Human Dao Spiritual Light only enhanced the abilities on the mirror's reverse side, offering no benefit to skills like Alchemy.

  He had a feeling Sister Lan might be able to py a role, but how to use her remained to be studied...

  Wait, had the Human Dao Spiritual Light increased by a few points?