Midnight.
The moonlight was hazy, dreamlike and illusory.
SHHHNK, SHHHNK. The sound of a blade being sharpened was incessant.
A whetstone, a half-gourd of clear water, a long saber mottled with rust.
Under the bright moonlight, Chu Mu diligently ground the body of the blade against the whetstone.
Amidst the grating scrapes, the rust-mottled long saber slowly began to reveal a sliver of brightness.
SPLASH...
He poured a handful of clear water over it, washing away the rust and grime. The blemishes vanished, leaving the blade's edge gleaming. Under the bright moonlight, a piercing, cold glint danced along the edge, flickering across the courtyard.
After studying the long saber for a moment, Chu Mu pursed his lips. He scanned the unfamiliar small courtyard, an indescribable look of loneliness and confusion appearing on his face.
It was hard to imagine. One second, a person was in modern society; the next, they were in a completely foreign environment.
A strange era, strange people, and even... fragmented, unfamiliar memories... in an unfamiliar body...
Chu Mu slowly lowered his head. Under the moonlight, the clear water in the gourd indistinctly reflected his face.
He was looking at himself, yet the face reflected in the water was a complete stranger's. Though he had seen this face more than once, the feeling was still unspeakably bizarre and terrifying.
Terrifying and bizarre, yes, but there was one concept that seemed to perfectly explain his situation.
'Transmigration?'
Chu Mu shook his head, unsure whether he should be happy or sad.
A few days after transmigrating, by piecing together the original owner's fragmented memories, he had roughly figured out the circumstances he had been thrown into.
This was likely an ancient dynasty called the Great Chu, and the original owner lived in a small town on its northern border.
Although it was called Great Chu, his observations over the past few days suggested it wasn't any dynasty he recognized, but rather an unknown Otherworld.
As for him... or rather, the original owner of this body, his history was quite simple. His mother died young. His father worked for the county's Inspection Department and was later transferred to this very Nanshan Town. But less than two years after the transfer, he died in the line of duty. His body was never recovered.
Overcome with grief, the original owner fainted and died. And he, like a cuckoo taking over the nest, had abruptly burst into this world, becoming the Chu Mu of this era, of this town.
After muddle-headedly handling the funeral for the original owner's father, Chu Mu spent a few more days alone in quiet contemplation. Only then did he begin to slightly adapt to this era and his abrupt transmigration.
Late autumn was approaching, and the night air carried a chill. A cool breeze swept by, and Chu Mu subconsciously tightened his clothes, his heavy thoughts dissipating somewhat.
He twirled the long saber in his hand, then carefully sheathed it. Just as he was about to go inside, Chu Mu seemed to remember something. With a silent command in his mind, a translucent, light-blue curtain of light quietly appeared in his vision.
[Name: Chu Mu.]
[Skills: None]
[Spiritual Radiance Value: 99.9%]
The magical light curtain, just like a skill panel from a video game, was clearly not something that belonged in this ancient world.
Chu Mu was, of course, already used to it. After all, if something like transmigration could happen, how could a transmigrator not have the standard-issue "golden finger"?
And the function of his golden finger was as clear as what was displayed on the light curtain.
The name, naturally, referred to him.
As for Skills, the meaning was self-evident. Although no skills were displayed on the Light Curtain Panel yet, he figured it was because some requirement hadn't been met. Being a newcomer who had been mired in the daze of his predecessor's father's funeral, he hadn't had the time to experiment with it in detail.
And "Spiritual Radiance Value" referred to some kind of energy Chu Mu didn't yet understand. The method to obtain this energy wasn't difficult, but... it wasn't easy either...
As long as Chu Mu focused intently on a single task—be it reading, exercising, or even just thinking, like when he was sharpening his saber—that undivided concentration would cause the "Spiritual Radiance Value" to increase.
The value, which had already reached ninety-nine point nine percent, was the result of Chu Mu's efforts over the past few days.
As for the effects of the "Spiritual Radiance Value," while he had many theories, Chu Mu still hadn't figured out its exact use.
'Maybe it has something to do with skills...'
Chu Mu mused to himself as he stared at the "Spiritual Radiance Value" on the Light Curtain Panel.
As his thoughts churned, Chu Mu's gaze suddenly sharpened. He saw that the Spiritual Radiance Value on the Light Curtain Panel, which had been at ninety-nine point nine percent, had just ticked over to one hundred percent, likely due to his recent focused thinking.
And at that very instant, a small, flashing plus sign [+] appeared after the Spiritual Radiance Value.
'Add points?'
Seeing this, those two words subconsciously popped into Chu Mu's mind.
Having read countless web novels in his past life, Chu Mu at least had this much knowledge.
But after staring for a moment, Chu Mu became puzzled. 'I don't have any skills yet, so how can I add points?'
Besides, no options for adding points had appeared on the Light Curtain Panel.
'There isn't a problem with my golden finger, is there?'
After a moment of thought, Chu Mu pursed his lips, his gaze shifting to the freshly sharpened long saber in his hand.
The saber was a family heirloom—or, strictly speaking, it was issued by the Inspection Department. The original owner's father had used this very blade. After he died in the line of duty, the saber should have been returned to the Inspection Department by convention.
However, because his father had died in service, custom dictated that in addition to a fairly generous pension, a son could take over his father's post and continue to eat from the "public rice bowl."
As a newcomer, Chu Mu hadn't fully adapted yet, but he certainly wasn't going to throw away this public rice bowl. Once the funeral was over, he went to the county's Inspection Department and secured the position.
By taking over his father's post, he became an Inspector at the Nanshan Town Inspection Office.
Thus, the Inspector's Saber no longer needed to be returned. It logically became the standard-issue sword for the original owner's replacement—him.
If there was a sword, there naturally had to be some sword techniques to go with it.
The original owner's father had served in the Inspection Department for many years. While he wasn't a man of great abilities, he was quite proficient in the sword techniques practiced by the department.
In his memory, the original owner had practiced those sword techniques with his father quite a bit as a child. It could barely be considered a skill.
'Sword techniques... those should count as skills, right?'
With this in mind, Chu Mu couldn't help but carefully recall the sword techniques from the original owner's memory. After a long while, he finally returned from his thoughts.
He drew the long saber from its sheath and, while recalling the moves, began to slowly swing it.
The so-called sword techniques were hardly profound or mysterious. While an Inspector's duty was to maintain public order, the position was also quasi-military.
And military drills consisted of nothing more than basic moves like hacking, slashing, and upward swings. It wasn't too complicated.
After practicing for just a short while, thanks to the original owner's foundational training, Chu Mu was already brandishing the long saber in a way that looked the part.
Of course, it was limited to just *looking* the part. As for his actual skill, Chu Mu felt that the way he had once ravaged cornfields as a child probably looked even more impressive than this.
After all, this long saber was forged from iron and was not light in the least. How could it compare to the simple wooden stick he wielded as a child, with which he could reign supreme...?