Chapter 1

Under the pitch-black sky, the continuous mountain ranges lay like crouching beasts, quietly awaiting the dawn.

At the foot of a hill shaped like a reclining ox, a small village was nestled.

"Li Er, get up and start working!" A middle-aged peasant woman, with a water bucket in hand, shouted at the cowshed, breaking the silence.

In a pile of hay inside the cowshed, a thin young boy was abruptly awakened from his sleep, bewildered, thinking, "Where am I?"

He had that dream again. In the dream, he lived in a city with towering buildings, playing with a magical device called a computer, and the streets were filled with steel monsters.

Finally, one day, he was hit and killed by a monster called "Bao Ma."

Then he suddenly woke up, yes, he had traveled through time.

More than a decade had passed, and he almost regarded his past life as a dream.

Looking around the dirty cowshed and feeling the itch from mosquito bites, it was clear that this was not a good place. He was probably the most unfortunate time traveler in the world.

Calculating the time, it must have been about fifteen years!

In this life, his parents were the most ordinary farmers in Ox Hill Village, and they both passed away when he was young. He was raised by his older brother, Li Da, so he was Li Er.

The village didn't have many formalities; many villagers didn't even have proper names. He named himself "Li Qingshan" using his knowledge from his past life.

"Where do I need to be buried? Where can I not find green mountains?" Even after traveling through time, he still wanted to live well, no, better than his past life, to make the most of this second chance given by heaven.

He remembered when he first traveled through time, his fear and confusion gradually subsided, and he was filled with the grand ambitions of a time traveler. But then he realized he was hungry and had no food to eat.

His brother and sister-in-law treated him like a burden, giving him all the dirty and tiring work while providing him with the worst food, showing no familial affection.

At such a young age and with nowhere to go, he tried to act like a prodigy but was considered possessed by a ghost. The village shaman forced him to drink a belly full of talisman water, making him never dare to act out again.

So the villagers still called him Li Er, and Li Qingshan was just a joke.

After scolding for a while, his sister-in-law, seeing no response, burst in and swung a bamboo stick, mercilessly beating him. "Lazy bones, still pretending to be dead, pretending to be dead!"

Li Qingshan, thinking about his past and present life, was in a state of distress. He suddenly stood up, snatched the bamboo stick, and glared at the peasant woman.

Seeing that the child was now taller than her, Li Da's wife felt a bit scared but didn't lose her momentum. "You, Li Er, we've worked hard to raise you this big, and you dare to defy me? Wait until your brother wakes up, and let him deal with you. If you don't work, you don't eat!" She then turned and left.

After Li Da's wife left, Li Qingshan threw the bamboo stick, sighed heavily, and walked to the trough, speaking to an old blue ox. "Brother Ox, I have grown up, and I don't want to suffer anymore, but I can't bear to leave you."

Before his parents passed away, they divided the family property. The thatched cottage and the land were taken by his brother and sister-in-law, leaving him with only this blue ox.

Thanks to this ox, he often worked for the landlord and could get a full meal. If he had stayed at home eating bran and vegetables, he would have been even more emaciated. So he didn't treat the ox as an animal but called it "Brother Ox."

The villagers said that Li Er could live without his brother, but he couldn't live without Brother Ox.

The blue ox had shiny fur and a strong body, showing the care Li Qingshan had given it. However, it also showed some signs of aging, and one of its horns was cut off, the cut smooth as if made by a sharp blade.

The blue ox opened its moist eyes, looking at Li Qingshan as if understanding human emotions, and stood up with renewed vigor. Li Qingshan skillfully mounted the ox, and the blue ox slowly walked towards Ox Hill.

Riding the blue ox, Li Qingshan looked up at the stars, which were incredibly bright, a brilliance unseen in his past world. He blew a clear and bright shepherd's flute, the sound echoing through the morning mist. Behind him, the village was gradually waking up.

On Ox Hill, the trees were lush, and the grass was green.

Borrowing the light of the east, Li Qingshan looked west, where the mountains stretched endlessly. Beyond them lay the vast mountains, said to be home to wolves, tigers, and even mountain spirits and ghosts. Even hunters dared not venture deep into them.

Li Qingshan had never seen a proper map in the village and didn't understand the geography of this world. He only knew that the mountains were towering and the rivers vast, full of dangers but also a world of opportunities waiting for him to explore.

Li Qingshan had made up his mind to leave and patted the blue ox's back one last time.

"Brother Ox, you are so old. If I sell you, others will surely slaughter you for meat. This world is vast; you should go. There are many wolves and tigers in the mountains; be careful."

The smartest thing to do would be to sell the blue ox, gather some money, and go to Qingyang City for security, avoiding starvation on the streets. But he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Such a childish act would make any farmer laugh, but this was his resolve.

"You call me 'Brother,' how could I abandon you?"

"Sending you a thousand miles, there must be a... farewell..." Li Qingshan instinctively responded, but his voice trailed off as he stared at the blue ox, his hair standing on end. "Monster!"

The blue ox said, "Don't be afraid, I won't harm you."

After so many years together, Li Qingshan wasn't too scared, but he couldn't accept this surreal scene immediately. Reflecting on his experiences, he calmed down and asked, frowning, "Are you really Brother Ox?"

The blue ox nodded approvingly, "You are indeed wise."

"What wisdom?" Li Qingshan immediately became alert. He didn't want anyone to know about his time traveler identity. Thinking about how he had always acted in front of others but was less guarded with the blue ox, he realized his unusual behavior must have been noticed.

"In the cycle of rebirth, occasionally a being retains some memories from a past life, which is called 'wisdom of past lives.' Both you and I have another identity and memory, not just ordinary farmers and oxen. Meeting like this is a rare bond."

"Is that so?" Li Qingshan felt a bit relieved. He had heard of such things, but at least his time traveler identity was safe. "I didn't expect that monsters really exist in this world, and I've been raising one for over a decade. Why didn't you speak before?"

"There was nothing to say. I don't ask where you come from, and you don't ask where I come from. You only need to know what I can give you."

"Give me... what?"

"Have you heard of 'supernatural powers'?"

Before Li Qingshan could ask, the blue ox continued, "Supernatural powers are the divine and demonic abilities that can move mountains and fill seas, pluck stars and moons. If you seek immortality, you can achieve it; if you seek eternal life, you can achieve it. Not to mention wealth, beauty, and glory, which can be easily obtained. Are you tempted?"

The word "supernatural powers" contained everything humans desire. Li Qingshan, being one of them, couldn't help but be tempted.

But the deeper feeling was one of disbelief, like a person who had been blind for years suddenly opening their eyes, seeing everything in a dazzling and surreal way.

Li Qingshan suppressed his excitement, "Brother Ox, are you going to teach me such supernatural powers?"

The blue ox shook its head, "You are not yet qualified." Then it changed the subject, "To cultivate supernatural powers, you must first eat meat!"

"What?" Li Qingshan suspected he had heard wrong. It seemed absurd that such great powers would be related to something so mundane.

"The first step in cultivation is 'refining essence into qi,' transforming the essence in your body into true qi. With your yellowish, emaciated appearance, where would you get the essence to refine?"

Li Qingshan smiled bitterly. No one who grew up like him could be strong. For someone who struggled to carry a water bucket, talking about moving mountains and filling seas was laughable.

"Where can I get meat?" Li Qingshan also wanted to eat meat. Compared to the elusive elixirs and magical herbs, the taste of meat was deeply etched in his mind, making him nostalgic even in his dreams.

But a poor boy who couldn't even afford coarse grains, where could he get meat? He couldn't help but stare at the blue ox's strong body, subconsciously dividing it into various cuts of meat, his eyes glowing green.

The blue ox hit him on the head, "Don't even think about it." It raised its hoof and pointed towards the vast mountains to the west, "The meat is there."

Li Qingshan was more shocked than pleased. Hunters in this world were not easy to be, and the wolves and tigers in the mountains were not to be underestimated. With the blue ox as a living example, the legends of monsters and ghosts seemed true. Encountering any one of them could cost him his life.

But the blue ox said he didn't need to worry, told him to go home and wait, and then disappeared in a gust of wind.

Li Qingshan walked down the hill alone, his excitement still not subsiding. This world was so bizarre and colorful. If he could truly cultivate and achieve enlightenment, exploring the green mountains would not be in vain, given the name he had given himself.

Li Qingshan returned home. His brother had already gone to the fields, leaving only his sister-in-law, who was leaning against the door, cracking sunflower seeds. She rolled her eyes at him. In ordinary families, women would manage household affairs or weave to earn money for oil and salt. But she was a notorious lazy woman, leaving all the chores to Li Qingshan and never touching the loom.

Li Qingshan ignored her and walked straight into the house, lifting the pot lid. There was no hot food or even leftovers in the pot.

Li Da's wife said sarcastically, "We can't afford to feed idlers. Hurry up and take the ox to work for Liu the overseer." Suddenly remembering something, she asked, "Where's the ox?"

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