So, confronting her isn’t such an easy thing to do. Moreover, ever since he woke up in the Dingling Hall, Senior Sister Olivia Warren not only didn’t come looking for him, she didn’t even leave any contact information or other clues—perhaps hinting that he shouldn’t reach out for now.

After pondering for a long time, Lucas Warren, relying on his “countless” knowledge of his senior sister, made a judgment.

For now, he shouldn’t rush to involve his senior sister, but instead, as agreed upon in the collective discussion with his fellow disciples, he should act as a proper Ling Mountain person: go into seclusion, cultivate diligently, and lay low until the end of time.

“Since I can’t get in touch with Senior Sister, I’ll focus on cultivation first. My last attempt at seclusion failed to condense a core, so I need to gather another set of rare elixirs and treasures… Do you recognize these materials?”

As he spoke, Lucas Warren casually gestured in the air. The true essence within his body condensed into golden threads, weaving themselves into a neat line of text that appeared before Emily Stone.

Though it was just a minor, nameless trick, it still left Emily Stone dumbfounded. It took her a moment to snap out of it and seriously read the words.

With just one glance, the girl’s brows furrowed tightly.

Lucas Warren asked, “You don’t recognize them?”

Emily Stone sighed, “I do… When I worked part-time at the Zhilou Auction House in Rong City, I saw every single thing you wrote down. Any one of them could instantly pay off all my debts.”

Lucas Warren understood. “It’s fine. As long as they weren’t wiped out by the heavenly tribulation, we’re already lucky.”

But Emily Stone said, “However, Mountain Lord, after the heavenly tribulation, the Heavenly Dao is vastly different from before. Are you sure the old elixirs and cultivation methods can still help you condense a core now?”

“I’m not sure,” Lucas Warren replied frankly. “But since the auction house still sells them, there’s no harm in giving it a try.”

The debt-ridden girl couldn’t help but be deeply impressed by this display of wealth, and asked with a hint of anticipation, “Does Ling Mountain still have any precious inheritance left?”

Lucas Warren said, “Judging from the situation inside the Qiling Hall, the only valuable legacy left in Ling Mountain is probably me.”

“…As expected of the Mountain Lord.”

Lucas Warren watched as Emily Stone’s loyalty dropped by a point, and couldn’t help but secretly praise: this mountain guardian is quite pragmatic.

“So, in your opinion, what should I do now?”

He had asked the same question not long ago at the Ascension Platform, but this time, Emily Stone’s answer was:

“Still the Qingping Division… because you need to get a Jianmu Seed from them, which is basically to obtain your identification.”

“So, what exactly is the Qingping Division?”

“You can think of it as the olden days’ constabulary, mainly responsible for maintaining public order, but also handling many functions similar to household registration. Uh, it might be hard to understand for people from the classical era. In the New Immortal Calendar era, society operates very differently from before…”

But Lucas Warren responded naturally, “A modern service-oriented government, right? Nothing hard to understand. Since Senior Sister is the founder of the new era’s order, the new world will obviously take on her shape.”

“?” A big question mark appeared above Emily Stone’s head, but she wisely didn’t pursue it further. “As long as you understand, that’s good. In short, in modern society, you can’t get anywhere without identification. But your real identity is right there in the Ling Mountain shrine…”

Chapter 7: Once Elusive, Now Within Reach

Emily Stone’s gentle reminder made Lucas Warren recall the common tropes in those transmigration novels his senior sister liked.

For transmigrators, the biggest problem after crossing over is actually the issue of being an undocumented person. Someone who appears out of thin air is bound to be out of place with everything around them.

In worlds with low levels of social organization, this isn’t a big deal—for example, in the classical era’s Jiuzhou Continent, if one more or one less person appeared anywhere, no one would care.

But in a world with a high degree of organization, it’s different. From the moment you’re born, society assigns you rights and obligations. To put it bluntly, everyone comes with a mission, and every position is filled. Adding or losing even one person can set off a chain reaction.

From Lucas Warren’s limited observations after waking up, and from Emily Stone’s words, it wasn’t hard to judge that the new world a thousand years later is highly organized and not so tolerant of transmigrators.

So, if your real identity can’t be revealed… you’ll have to find a way to forge a new one.

But before Lucas Warren could think further, a rumbling sound of organs churning echoed through the Qiling Hall.

Lucas Warren looked at Emily Stone, and the girl turned her head a little awkwardly. “I haven’t eaten since this morning…”

“Oh, I haven’t eaten since a thousand years ago.”

“…” Emily Stone was at a loss for words and could only clasp her hands in defeat. “I lose.”

But regardless of winning or losing, hunger is an objective reality and seriously interferes with conversation. So Emily Stone hesitated for a moment and asked, “If you don’t mind, Mountain Lord, would you like to come to my place for a simple meal? We can talk about the rest on the way?”

Lucas Warren gladly accepted. “Sure! Back in the day, the Shi family banquets were famous throughout Jiuzhou, but I never had the chance to try them.”

Emily Stone was silent for a while, then said, “Back in the day, the Ling Mountain Lord could move mountains and rivers with divine sense, even pull down meteorites, but I never got to see that either.”

Lucas Warren said, “You want to see it? Just wait a moment…”