So no matter how exhausting or difficult life was on the mountain, no one wanted to go down.

Brian Bolton had many thoughts running through his mind. He was also a menial disciple, and there were too many menials in Qinghe Palace, so they were about to start dismissing some of them.

This gave him a sense of crisis as well. If others were dismissed, they could still go farm, but he didn’t know how to farm.

The income from writing songs was also a matter of luck—he’d only succeeded once in over half a year, earning a hundred wen. To rely on that to make a living was just a dream.

Besides, the songs were written by his predecessor; he couldn’t write them himself. The songs in Daling were not like modern ones—there were many strict rules.

It wasn’t as simple as singing in plain language.

Suddenly, he thought of his predecessor’s older sister, Ryan Bolton.

He recalled things she had said before.

In Daling, as a fourth-class person, it was really hard to live with dignity.

He bypassed the main hall of Qinghe Palace and found his own room in the disciples’ dormitory area at the back.

Brian Bolton carefully put the hundred-wen banknote together with the rest of his saved money, then kept it all on his person.

The room had only a wardrobe, a bed, and a wooden stool, with an oil lamp placed on the stool.

Brian Bolton sat down by the head of the bed, feeling a bit lost.

Although he had been here for over ten days, he still felt a sense of unreality.

In his previous life, he was just an ordinary office worker, earning a few thousand yuan a month, unmarried, planning to save up for a mortgage, and then one night, after falling asleep—

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he found himself in the body of this menial Taoist of Qinghe Palace, Brian Bolton.

Fortunately, his real name was also Brian Bolton, so there was no issue accepting the name.

But going from an ordinary office worker to a Taoist priest was quite a leap.

He had to observe and learn diligently, and with the help of some residual memories from his predecessor, he barely managed to settle down in Qinghe Palace without causing trouble.

Being a Taoist priest wasn’t easy, especially in this era, in Daling.

Not to mention the daily chanting assignments and the etiquette of greeting people—there were fixed details and rules for everything.

There were rules for food, clothing, housing, and travel; it was all quite troublesome.

Even though there was a lead reader for chanting, if you weren’t familiar, you could still make mistakes.

Menials did odd jobs, but there were many tools and items he didn’t know how to use, which was also troublesome.

Just as he was getting used to the rhythm, today came the news that some menials would be dismissed and sent down the mountain.

Brian Bolton unconsciously rubbed the wooden plank at the head of the bed. The rough, cold wood calmed him a little.

‘There’s no such thing as the Daling Dynasty in history. Looks like I’ve come to another world.’

In his predecessor’s memory, Daling was just an ordinary ancient dynasty—no cultivation, no magic, no monsters or demons—just an environment similar to ancient China.

The only difference was that Daling’s territory was unimaginably vast.

Brian Bolton felt lost. He didn’t know what he could do or should do in this world.

For the past ten days, he hadn’t had time to think about this question. Now that he finally had a moment to himself, the question surged up from his heart again.

‘If I can’t go back, then what do I want to do here?

What can I do?’

He raised his hand, flexing his ten fingers.

His gaze shifted from confusion to growing determination.

‘Forget it, no matter what happens in the future, at least for now I need to live a little better.’

‘Right now, I’m living hand to mouth. The free meals provided each day aren’t enough to save up attribute points, let alone meet my basic physical needs.

I still have to do a ton of chores every day, and only get a bit of rest at night.’

The expression on Brian Bolton’s face changed from numbness to growing resolve.

‘Let’s set a small goal first: get out of being a menial disciple, and make sure I have enough to eat and wear.

This current way of living is just too unsafe.’

But with his attribute ability, he believed he could carve out a path.

Coming back to his senses, he stood up, checked the banknotes on his person, and prepared to go out.

He still had to do today’s chores.

The money he’d saved up, plus the hundred wen he just got, totaled two taels of silver, or two thousand wen. It was money his predecessor had saved up over a long time.

As a Taoist, even a menial one, he could occasionally get a small tip from some generous noble guests.

Brian Bolton’s predecessor was pretty good at this—he was honest and reserved, never let his eyes wander, so his earnings were decent.

He had originally planned to use this money during his break to go down the mountain and buy some good things to nourish himself, and then convert it into attribute points.

But after overhearing those two people’s conversation, he decided to use it to give a gift to the Taoist in charge of the registry.

In this world, the class hierarchy was extremely strict. Fourth-class barbarians faced huge restrictions and could only do hard labor.

Brian Bolton knew very well that if he wanted a more comfortable life, he had to go all the way with the Taoist registry.

There would be more chances to earn money in the future, but if he missed this opportunity with the registry, it might be very difficult later on.

Leaving the disciples’ dormitory, he headed straight for the laundry room, where the clothes were washed.

It was his turn this month.

But before going to the laundry room, Brian Bolton took a detour to the registry management office.

The managing Taoist, Jason Bolton, wasn’t there. After asking about Jason Bolton’s schedule, he learned that he would be there in the evening, so Brian Bolton felt at ease.