My experience of grinding in another world

Chapter 1 Adventure
April, 638 AD (Da Liang Dynasty).

The kitchen in the backyard of Qingfeng Temple in Qingshan County.

At the long wooden table, Chen Mu took a bite of the multigrain pancake, and the rough texture made him grin.

He is not from this world.

In his previous life, he was an ordinary, socially awkward, and nerdy guy. When he woke up, he found himself in a different body and place, having been reincarnated into this world.

His predecessor was also named Chen Mu, a poor scholar who made a living by writing calligraphy and drawing portraits.

This is not his home; his home is in Qingshan County, at the foot of the mountain.

I came to Qingfeng Temple to earn money by copying scriptures for the Taoist temple.

The original owner had been there for two days, but for some unknown reason, she woke up one morning without any consciousness, allowing Chen Mu to take over her body.

"Chengming, your master hasn't returned yet?" An old Taoist priest in his fifties asked casually while washing dishes.

The other party's surname is He, and he is the fire-worker Taoist priest of Qingfeng Temple.

Upon hearing the question, an eight- or nine-year-old Taoist boy next to Chen Mu puffed out his cheeks and mumbled, "No."

"Hey, it seems that the evil spirit that possessed the body is quite fierce." He Daoren squinted at Chen Mu and said.

Chen Mu: “…”

"Did you know that the one who was haunted this time was a poor scholar? He woke up one morning completely different. He couldn't write properly, couldn't speak fluently, and didn't recognize any of his neighbors. That's when the villagers discovered his true nature," He Daoren whispered to Chen Mu, his face full of profound meaning.

Chen Mu: "..." Why the hell are you telling me this? I don't want to hear it!

Chen Mu forced a smile and gave the other person a polite but not awkward one.

"Master is the best." Chengming tilted his head back, swallowed the vegetable pancake in his mouth, and said with a proud look.

“That’s right. No matter how powerful the evil spirit is, it’s just a matter of a fire. Don’t you think so?” Daoist He raised an eyebrow at Chen Mu, looking relaxed.

Chen Mu: "..." Could it be that I was discovered as soon as I transmigrated?!
Chen Mu glanced at the eight or nine-year-old Taoist boy... Hmm, this one could be easily taken down.

Then he looked at the short, stout, and burly Taoist priest... Hmm, he really couldn't beat this one!
Just as Chen Mu was wondering whether he should grab the bucket and run away, He Daoren once again bent down to wash the dishes.

Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief.

But evil spirits? What are those?
A series of unfamiliar memories surfaced from the depths of my mind.

This world has been filled with legends of gods and ghosts since ancient times; I've heard them since I was a child. Strange events, often attributed to evil spirits, have always accompanied me.

Some people die mysteriously, some disappear mysteriously, and some undergo drastic personality changes, becoming unrecognizable even to their own family.

These inexplicable and incomprehensible things are all categorized as evil spirit events.

This is not uncommon in the Great Liang Kingdom; in fact, there are even people in government offices who specialize in managing such incidents.

As for dealing with people whose temperament has drastically changed and who are possessed by evil spirits, the solution is simply to set them on fire—burn them to death!

"I absolutely cannot let anyone find out that I've had my soul replaced!" Chen Mu thought as he took a big bite of the dry, hard multigrain pancake.

……

The library of Qingfeng Temple.

After dismissing the young Taoist boy Chengming who had guided him, Chen Mu stared at the Taoist scriptures on his desk, looking troubled.

The world has changed, and languages ​​and scripts are different.

If he hadn't inherited his predecessor's memories, he wouldn't even know how to read!
"Perhaps it inherited the writing ability of its predecessor? After all, from what I remember, writing calligraphy doesn't seem to be that difficult."

With a sliver of hope, Chen Mu picked up a brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote three large characters with a flourish: "Root Scripture".

Looking at the three neatly arranged characters, Chen Mu's face fell.

The characters look alright, but compared to their predecessor, they're several years behind.

Anyone with a little knowledge can spot the difference at a glance.

The handwriting has changed drastically, the behavior is suspicious, and the person has been resurrected... Why does this sound so familiar?

If it's really considered an invasion by evil spirits, wouldn't we be completely doomed?
Chen Mu couldn't help but look at his right wrist.

"Do I really want to injure myself?"

Thinking of those people who were burned to death due to possession by evil spirits in his memory, Chen Mu couldn't help but shudder.

"I don't want to be burned to death!"

"As long as you fall at a suitable angle, landing on your hand in a confrontational posture, the cartilage in your wrist can easily be bruised and swollen." "With a wrist injury, your handwriting will inevitably change drastically." Chen Mu pondered to himself.

"To be on the safe side, I might as well just break my arm!" Chen Mu thought through gritted teeth.

Just as he was about to get up and go out to find a suitable angle to perform a flat-ground fall that broke his arm.

Suddenly, everything blurred before my eyes.

A semi-transparent gray wall suddenly appeared before my eyes.

Chen Mu subconsciously reached out and pushed forward, his hands passing right through the wall.

What the hell?

It took Chen Mu a long time to react.

The towering, iron-gray wall that filled my entire field of vision was not a physical object, but an image that appeared directly on my retina.

Time travel perks?

Upon closer inspection, a row of powerful, chiseled characters could indeed be seen at the bottom of the wall.

The characters stand out from the wall, sharp and crisp, exuding a sense of antiquity and antiquity.

Writing: 7136/10000/First order.

Goldfinger?
that's nice!

……

Chen Mu quickly accepted the existence of the gray walls.

If you've already time-traveled, it's not surprising that you'd get a cheat code.

As for whether there was any mastermind behind this, Chen Mu didn't care at all.

In his previous life, he was just an ordinary, mediocre otaku.

Now that they've time-traveled, they've even got a cheat code.

If it gives him the opportunity to open his heart, act without restraint, and venture into a completely new world, even if it's a conspiracy, Chen Mu would gladly accept it.

This will be a heartwarming and great adventure!

The "cheat code" is easy to understand; it's similar to the proficiency system in third-rate online games.

The gray wall would appear before him whenever he wanted.

Moreover, the gray walls were semi-transparent, like wearing colored glasses, and didn't affect his view of other things at all.

Chen Mu thought for a moment, picked up a brush, and casually wrote three characters.

The numbers on the gray wall remained unchanged.

Chen Mu seemed to be deep in thought, and picked up his pen to write again.

This time he was completely focused, writing each stroke carefully while simultaneously contemplating the structure of the characters.

Continuously compare and improve upon the fonts in the predecessor's memory.

Something magic happened.

A series of insights welled up from the bottom of his heart, allowing him to clearly perceive the difference between his handwriting and that of his predecessor. This helped him understand how to improve and approach, or even surpass, his predecessor's handwriting.

"Diligent practice will improve your proficiency, and increased proficiency will bring real insights, allowing your abilities to truly improve."

Chen Mu couldn't help but grin.

With proficiency, what else is there to fear?

The handwriting was drastically altered and discovered? Not at all.

It's just the liver, isn't it?
Chen Mu spread out the original Taoist scripture and then found a copy of the scripture that his predecessor had already copied to disguise it.

He put away the white paper and brush he used for copying scriptures, and took a new brush to start practicing calligraphy.

He didn't know how long it would take to reach the level of his predecessor.

Using pen and ink directly on white paper will waste a lot of paper and will also leave behind practice writing.

It works great to write with water; once you're done, just wipe it off and there's nothing left.

(End of this chapter)