Luoshui County.

Early morning.

Wisps of morning light pierced through the clouds, shining upon the ancient city walls.

The originally peaceful Luoshui County had already become bustling. The main county roads that stretched in all directions were filled with the sounds of street vendors crying out their wares, presenting a lively scene of buying and selling everywhere.

In the east of Luoshui County, inside a small courtyard enclosed by a fence.

Jiang Ning sat facing the sun on a wooden chair, his elbows on his knees and his chin resting on his palms. At this moment, he held a book, quietly turning the pages and reading.

Chronicles of the Mythological Era

This was a miscellaneous book recording stories about gods.

According to the book, before the Great Xia Dynasty, it was a world where gods and humans coexisted.

Rivers had gods, mountains had gods, and deities were everywhere.

Although this seemed like an absurd, trivial book, Jiang Ning was reading it exceptionally seriously at this moment, completely focused.

Literacy Experience Points plus 1

Literacy Experience Points plus 1

After a long time, Jiang Ning turned to the last page, slowly withdrew his gaze, and completely closed the miscellaneous book in his hand.

This reading session has increased Literacy experience points by a total of 8.

The next moment.

A panel instantly floated in front of him, a panel that only he could see.

Name Jiang Ning

Source Energy 13.5

Skill Literacy Perfection 968/1000 Traits None

I am finally close to the maximum value. I wonder what kind of changes will occur after this Literacy skill reaches full capacity.

Looking at his panel, Jiang Ning felt quite excited.

Over the past few days, he had read all the books in his home, from ancient history records to various classical commentaries, reading them all one by one.

Relying on these books, he had finally ground this skill step by step from the beginner stage to proficiency, minor mastery, and then major mastery.

With every breakthrough, he felt his mind become clearer, his thinking faster, and his hearing and vision sharper.

As far as he knew, this was clearly the effect brought by the growth of the spirit.

In the Great Xia Dynasty, within the Confucian path, reading could nourish the spirit.

After this period of hard reading, he had already discovered the wonderful use of the panel.

This panel could be said to have the power to turn stone into gold. As long as he focused on studying books diligently, the skill of Literacy would continuously grow, and once gained, it was permanently mastered.

Now, any book he had read was vividly recorded in his mind, and he could recall everything in it with just a single thought.

At this moment, he was only short of the final thirty plus experience points to achieve a breakthrough after perfecting the skill. With his current efficiency, as long as he read a few more books later, he could grind out these thirty plus points.

With his current knowledge, to say the least, taking the imperial examination to become a child student or a first degree scholar would be easy and effortless.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ning’s heart was filled with even greater anticipation.

Gaining official honors next year could completely change his current situation.

Dudu

Dudu

Just then, a soft and sweet voice drifted into Jiang Ning’s ears.

Hearing this soft voice, Jiang Ning instantly snapped out of his thoughts.

Looking toward the sound, he saw a beautifully sculpted little girl with large eyes and two pigtails pointing toward the sky, running toward him unsteadily. Her chubby cheeks were particularly eye catching.

Seeing his five year old niece, Jiang Ning completely returned to reality.

Slow down, Little Doubao

A gentle smile naturally appeared on his face.

In this family, the one closest to him was this five year old niece, Jiang Yuanyuan, whose nickname was Doubao.

From his niece’s delicate and compact facial features, one could tell she would definitely be a beauty in the future, and it also showed she had excellent genetics, meaning her mother’s appearance must be exceptionally outstanding.

Dudu, this is my book, I brought it for Dudu to read

As Little Doubao spoke, she tried hard to look up at Jiang Ning.

Even though Jiang Ning was just sitting on the chair, his height still required the five year old Doubao to lift her head to see his face clearly.

Jiang Ning smiled faintly and took the book that Little Doubao was struggling to hold, feeling a sudden surge of joy in his heart.

To him, it did not matter what kind of book it was. As long as it was a book he had not read before, it could increase his Literacy experience points.

With this new book, his skill would surely reach full experience points today.

Then, without looking closely at the book in his hand, he set it aside and rubbed Jiang Yuanyuan’s little head.

Good job, Little Doubao

Dudu is so handsome. Little Doubao was not stingy with her praise in response to Jiang Ning’s compliment.

Hearing this, Jiang Ning smiled to himself, rubbing her small head as he said, What do you know about being handsome or not

Handsome is handsome, Dudu is just handsome. Just as handsome as my daddy. The tiny Doubao refused to back down.

Hearing this, Jiang Ning smiled without committing himself.

Just then, a woman’s voice suddenly drifted out faintly from the nearby kitchen.

Time to eat

The voice was very direct and cold, without much emotion, but it naturally carried a gentle and refined aura.

Jiang Ning looked up and saw a woman around thirty years old, whose posture and appearance resembled a lady from a wealthy family, appearing at the kitchen door. The moment she saw Jiang Ning looking over.

The exceptionally beautiful woman gave him a casual, indifferent glance before withdrawing her gaze, looking somewhat displeased with him.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning could not help but smile awkwardly.

How could he not know that his sister in law had plenty of grievances about his previous self living in his older brother’s home for over ten years?

After all, his sister in law and his older brother had been married for over a decade, and they now had a son and a daughter.

The eldest son, Jiang Yiming, was now fourteen years old. He studied literature and practiced martial arts with great ambition. However, having studied books since childhood and now nourishing his physique to practice martial arts, he cost a significant amount of money.

Under these circumstances, his previous self had done no productive work and idled away for over ten years, with all expenses borne entirely by his older brother.

And his older brother was merely a bailiff in Luoshui County with a limited income, so how could his sister in law not have an issue with him?

Especially recently, as grain prices rose day by day, having five mouths to feed made the household even more strapped for cash, making her complaints about him even greater.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ning felt quite helpless.

He knew very well that his sister in law did not think highly of him, and he completely understood it, as it was only human nature.

He had been leeching off his older brother and sister in law’s family all this time.

But as things stood now, he had no other option. His previous self had no savings, and during the two months or so since he traveled to this world, he had spent most of his time recovering from injuries. Therefore, even if he wanted to move out, it was utterly impossible.

Leeching off them for a little while longer is unavoidable for now. Luoshui County is not peaceful these days. Jiang Ning thought to himself.

He already had a plan for the future in his mind.

Over the past few days, based on his older brother’s service at the county magistrate’s office and his own diligent reading during this time, he had come to understand the changing situation of the world.

The Great Xia Dynasty he was currently in was clearly in a turbulent and chaotic state characteristic of the end of a dynasty.

And in this tiny Luoshui County, undercurrents were similarly surging between several forces.

As someone with a background in history from his previous life, he understood this situation perfectly.

History always repeats itself. While there are no absolute similarities, there are inevitable identical trajectories.

Therefore, he knew very well that the Great Xia Dynasty, which had stood for over eight hundred years, was now facing the risk of a collapsing empire amidst frequent natural disasters, fleeing refugees, continuous rebellions, and the outbreak of various bizarre and deformed cults.

Faced with the current situation, only one’s own strength could allow someone to survive in the chaotic end of a dynasty.

Otherwise, once the sweeping tide of history arrived, bringing chaos to the world and struggles between warlords, especially since the martial arts in this world were brilliant and prosperous, where the weak could fight ten men alone, the strong could form an army by themselves, and the strongest could rival a nation alone.

As ordinary people, if they were swept into such a massive historical tide, how could they survive?

His older brother was currently just an ordinary county bailiff, no different from a grain of sand in the sweeping tide of history.

I still need to borrow my older brother’s strength for a short while. As for my older brother and sister in law’s family, I can only repay their kindness in the future.