Chapter 112: Disparity, Change of Plans

As soon as Lu Yang entered the county town, the hustle and bustle of mortal life rushed towards him.

The streets were crowded with merchants, pedestrians, and vendors shouting to attract customers. The aroma of freshly cooked food drifted through the air, mingling with the sounds of bargaining and occasional arguments.

Children ran through the narrow streets while adults hurried about their daily business.

It was an ordinary scene, but compared to the Imperial Capital, the difference was enormous.

The Imperial Capital was the heart of Great Qian, a place where cultivators and mortals lived together on an entirely different scale.

Body Tempering cultivators everywhere, and Spirit Awakening cultivators as common as dogs.

This saying referred to the Imperial Capital of Great Qian, and the shocking part was that it wasn’t an exaggeration.

Even the officials responsible for maintaining order possessed considerable cultivation, while the powerful factions hidden within the capital could influence matters far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

This small county town, on the other hand, was an entirely different world.

Out of ten people walking along the streets, there might not even be one cultivator, and among those who possessed cultivation, most were only in the early stages of Body Tempering Realm.

Nevertheless, these cultivators often wore expressions of considerable arrogance.

Some walked with their chests puffed out, while others deliberately raised their voices whenever ordinary people passed by.

They seemed to believe that just possessing a little cultivation made them superior to everyone around them.

Lu Yang observed one such individual swaggering through the street.

The young man wore expensive clothes and carried a sword at his waist. His cultivation was only at the Second Stage of Body Tempering Realm, yet his expression suggested that the entire county town belonged to his family.

When an elderly vendor failed to move his goods out of the way quickly enough, the young man immediately scowled.

"Are you blind? Can’t you see that I’m walking here?"

The vendor hurriedly apologized and moved aside.

The young man snorted before continuing forward, seemingly satisfied with himself.

Lu Yang watched the scene silently.

Seeing that arrogant face, for a brief moment, he felt an instinctive urge to walk over and beat him up.

Wen Fanghong, his grandfather’s sworn brother, was once a Body Tempering cultivator who struggled to sustain himself through hard labor in the Imperial Capital.

Despite possessing cultivation, Wen Fanghong had needed to work tirelessly just to keep himself afloat and obtain meager cultivation resources.

His circumstances did not improve until Lu Hai offered him assistance and helped him establish himself.

Yet here was someone who had barely stepped into the Body Tempering Realm, acting as if the world owed him everything.

The contrast was quite baffling; even Lu Yang wasn’t as arrogant as this guy in his second life right after transmigration!

However, there was a practical explanation for the difference in attitudes.

The population of a county town was limited, at most containing several tens of thousands of people, and having a few hundred cultivators among them was already considered quite good.

As for Spirit Awakening cultivators, there might be only one or two who occasionally visited the town, unlikely to reside here permanently.

In such an environment, even someone who had barely entered the Body Tempering Realm could easily become a notable figure.

When there were few people capable of challenging you, it was easy to mistake your limited strength for something extraordinary.

Lu Yang withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward.

His wooden mask attracted considerable attention.

The crude yet unusual object concealed most of his face, while the openings for his eyes and breathing made his appearance somewhat unsettling.

Several children stared at him curiously, and a few merchants glanced in his direction before whispering amongst themselves.

However, no one dared to approach him.

After all, Lu Yang had not concealed his cultivation.

His Spirit Awakening Realm aura was released without restraint, spreading a faint but unmistakable pressure through his surroundings.

To the ordinary people of this county, even if they did not know his exact cultivation realm, such a presence was more than enough to establish that he was someone they could not afford to offend.

Even the cultivators who had been swaggering through the streets earlier became considerably more subdued.

Some lowered their heads and pretended to be occupied with their own affairs, while others simply stepped aside, not daring to meet his gaze.

The more experienced individuals understood the situation immediately.

An expert had arrived, and judging by his appearance, he was probably a young expert from some major faction or a powerful clan.

Perhaps he was a successor who had ventured outside to gain experience, or maybe he belonged to a family that did not wish his identity to become public knowledge.

Whatever the case, such a person was not someone they could casually provoke.

When they looked again, however, the masked cultivator had already disappeared into the crowd.

Several people froze, hurriedly looking around, but could no longer find any trace of him.

The older and more experienced individuals, both cultivators and mortals, immediately averted their gazes.

They understood that the young expert had deliberately concealed his whereabouts.

Whether this was a warning or simply a display of ability, it was better not to investigate.

If they offended someone they could not afford to offend, no one in this small county would be able to protect them.

Meanwhile, Lu Yang continued through the streets as if nothing had happened.

His movement were so natural that most people did not even realize when he disappeared from their sight.

Lu Yang did not choose to go to any inn or restaurant to gather information.

The information of a county town was bound to have inaccuracies, and he also had no trusted organization here unlike in Luoyun Prefecture City.

That was the first reason.

Secondly, he had no silver to exchange for information. That was the main reason.

Working as a prison guard over nearly four years, with a meager salary of a tael of silver a month, even when his actual salary was usually two, three, or even more taels of silver, he truly could not save much.

He only had around two hundred taels of silver on him, all saved up over the last four years. He also had another much more important use for them.

More importantly, he was no longer the small Body Tempering cultivator from his past life when he came out to experience the secular world, but a Spirit Awakening expert.

His present circumstances allowed him to approach matters more directly.

There was no reason to deliberately restrict himself to the methods he had used in his previous life.

With that thought in mind, Lu Yang quietly released his Divine Sense.

A radius of slightly more than ten meters spread around him.

Within that range, the surrounding streets and buildings became clear in his perception.

He could distinguish the movements of people, sense their general condition, and hear conversations that would otherwise have been impossible to catch amidst the noise.

He focused on conversations that seemed relevant to his purpose.

He listened as he walked, gathering scattered pieces of information from merchants, residents, and cultivators.

Most of what he heard was unimportant.

Disputes over prices, complaints about taxes, gossip concerning wealthy families, and rumors about distant bandits filled the streets.

Occasionally, however, something caught his attention.

A few people mentioned changes in the surrounding counties and discussed the rise of certain families and the decline of old powers.

Unfortunately, these conversations were fragmentary, and much of the information was several years old.

Lu Yang continued listening without showing any reaction, changing his initial plans quietly.

I should only gather information about this county and the events surrounding the past two centuries.

Everything else can wait until I’m stronger.

After traversing several streets, he eventually stopped before a modest courtyard.