Chapter 724: Chapter 719: Huaxia Compatriots
"I’m from Huaxia," Bai Pu nodded.
"Ha, I knew it! A fellow countryman! My surname is Mu, and how should I address you, little brother?" Old Mu asked with a smile.
"Uncle, you can just call me Little Bai." Bai Pu could feel that this Uncle Mu had no ill intentions.
"Alright, Little Bai."
Old Mu turned his head and said, "Honorable guards, I’ll pay this young man’s passage fee for him."
"Sure, Old Mu, that’s really generous of you." The tall guard waved his hand indifferently, "Giving him to you saves me the trouble of notifying the shelter."
The short guard followed, saying, "Kid, you’re lucky, the shelter isn’t a good place."
"It’s just that I don’t have a Spirit Avoidance Pattern on me..." Bai Pu was still a bit worried.
"Don’t worry, Little Bai, I have a Spirit Avoidance Pattern on me. As long as we stay in contact, its effect will also work on you, like sharing an umbrella for a while," Old Mu patted Bai Pu on the shoulder.
"...Alright, thank you, Uncle Mu. I’ll return the money to you later."
"Pay me back when you have the money. And no need to thank me. How many Huaxia people have I met over the years? It’s fate." Old Mu turned off the translator, and his mouth let out a slightly mixed Northeastern accent.
...
Stepping out of the metallic portal of the Star Gate Barrier, Bai Pu felt an overwhelming pressure, pressing in from all directions.
However, as these pressures were transmitted, they slid off a layer of invisible shield, and the pressure that finally landed on Bai Pu was less than a tenth.
Even for a low-level Awakened, it was bearable, just slightly uncomfortable. For Bai Pu, with his strong physique, this pressure was no more than a breeze.
It’s just that Bai Pu could clearly sense that in this environment, his leaping and sprinting speed, including the speed of the Magic Sand Flying Disc, had greatly decreased.
Originally, on Earth with a spiritual particle intensity of 1.2, resistance was negligible; now on the Silver Heart Continent with spiritual particle intensity exceeding 10, it was like jumping into a swamp, sinking into the mud, with every movement’s resistance greatly increased.
Fortunately, there was the Spirit Avoidance Pattern, allowing Bai Pu to breathe freely in the "mud."
Holding hands with Bai Pu, Uncle Mu walked and said, "Feeling a bit uncomfortable? It’s normal, like two people sharing an umbrella, sometimes you’ll get a little wet. I’ll take you to an Inscription Shop to get a rune inscribed, you’ll feel much better."
"Thank you, Uncle Mu." Having a local around saved Bai Pu a lot of exploratory time.
And both were Huaxia people, communicating in Huaxia Mandarin without any barriers, so they didn’t even need to turn on the translator.
During their conversation, Bai Pu learned that Uncle Mu was an ordinary Awakened living in the Outer City District—ordinary Awakened meant "non-combatant" Awakened, with no cultivation in combat specialization or combat skills, spending time cultivating a sub-profession.
For instance, Uncle Mu ran a Spirit Plant Shop in the Outer City District. His profession was "Natural Druid," often reading plant care books, and his cultivated skills mainly involved cultivation and grafting.
Of course, Uncle Mu’s cultivation and grafting were definitely different from ordinary fruit farmers, as he cared for special spirit plants affected by spiritual particles, which underwent secondary mutation, including Tier Two Spirit Plants that aid Evolvers in their cultivation.
Bai Pu thought about the mutated plants in Earth’s Wilderness Area, like Whip Willow, Earth-Catching Flower, and Demon Cage Grass, and said:
"This job might be quite dangerous."
"As long as you follow procedures strictly, and don’t touch weird plants you’ve never seen, there’s no problem."
Uncle Mu said, "Of course, some careless guys have died at the hands of spirit plants. I remember that Spirit Plant Shop in Heng Bay District had a severe accident. An apprentice mistook ’Clear Alum Liquid’ for ’Moonlight Dew’ at night when watering the Nine Luminaries Orchid, which caused a spiritual discord, leading to an explosion...the whole shop was blown clean, and two people died."
"Heng Bay District...is it also part of the Outer City District? How big is the Outer City District?"
"The Outer City District is huge, about millions of square kilometers, roughly half of Huaxia." Uncle Mu said.
"That big? That’s already a country..." Bai Pu was astonished.
"It’s one of the five Super Cities, after all. Plus, transportation here is very developed, with spiritual energy racing roads everywhere, thousands of miles in less than an hour, very convenient."
Uncle Mu raised his wrist, and a capsule bounced out, transforming into an oval floating car with two seats.
"Hop on. Hovering at ground level doesn’t require entering the aerial racing road."
The hovercar broke through the thick spiritual particle resistance and sped quickly along the way.
Turning three corners, the hovercar stopped in front of a sign for a "Five-Heart Rune" shop.
As expected, Uncle Mu first brought Bai Pu to get an inscription done.
Since it was a Level 12 inscription, requiring a Level 12 Engraver—a low-level Evolver—to handle, the price was naturally quite high, costing a full one thousand Silver Dragon Coins!
Converted into spiritual points, it would be tens of thousands.
Of course, for Bai Pu, who had tens of millions of spiritual points and carried a large amount of Earth’s spiritual specialties, this price was acceptable.
But Bai Pu remembered that he was currently a "low-powered" little Awakened, so he put on a slight show of pain.
Instead, Uncle Mu comforted, "It’s okay, every ordinary person coming to the Silver Heart Continent must do it once. Once it’s done, you won’t worry about being crushed by spiritual particles and can make a living in Lingshu City."
While inscribing the Spirit Avoidance Pattern, Bai Pu tried talking to the Engraver about joining the profession.
However, as an Evolver, the Engraver wasn’t interested in talking to Bai Pu, a low-powered little Awakened, and his responses were perfunctory.
Uncle Mu advised, "Little Bai, the inscription profession is deep. If you’re interested, you can study it after you’ve established yourself in Lingshu City."
After completing the Level 12 Spirit Avoidance Pattern, Bai Pu could comfortably move around Lingshu City by himself, no longer needing to rely on Uncle Mu’s Spirit Avoidance Pattern.
"Little Bai, what are your plans next?" Uncle Mu asked.
Bai Pu sensed Uncle Mu had more to say, so he replied, "I...haven’t thought about it yet, not sure where to go."
"If you have nowhere to go, why not help out at my Spirit Plant Shop?"
Uncle Mu said with a smile, "You have great physical attributes, tall and handsome with a high Charm Value. How about helping me sell goods at the counter? I’ll pay you a salary, how’s that?"
