“Hey, Dad. Yeah, I just ate... What? Another blind date? Come on, do I have to? ... Fine, fine, I’ll go, but after this, please just leave it alone, okay? How’s your health these days? ... Working overtime again? The stuff at the Public Security Bureau is already keeping you busy enough, just let that mess at the Investment Promotion Bureau be. If you can’t attract investment, it’s not like they’ll dock your bonus. That’s on the mayor and the party secretary, otherwise, why does everything get dumped on you? How does an ox die? Of course, from exhaustion. Are those Japanese bastards from the Qingtian family ever going to stop? What’s their problem, are they just shameless or what? They come over every year just to get beaten up, like it’s some kind of pilgrimage! Alright, alright, I’m not getting involved in this crap. Just take care of yourself, eat and drink as you should. I’m hanging up!”

As a privileged official’s son, Abraham Lincoln also had his own share of grievances.

Unlike the idle, good-for-nothing patriarch in that other world, his father in this world was a true workhorse, not only serving as the chief of the Public Security Bureau but also moonlighting as the deputy director of the Investment Promotion Bureau.

It was all thanks to that shameless Japanese family insisting on forging some kind of connection. Damn it, that stubborn family head was like a piece of gum you just couldn’t shake off.

But that’s another story.

……

Section 8: Rule Changes

The father and son weren’t in the same place, so Abraham Lincoln’s privileged status was useless here. Aside from the usual greetings, the main topic on the phone was still his single-dog blind date problem.

His dad was so anxious, pulling strings everywhere to find suitable girls to send his way, remotely controlling his blind dates—nobody else could pull that off.

If it weren’t for the blind date fund, Abraham Lincoln’s salary would have run out long ago; even scraping by would be a luxury.

Parents’ hearts are the same everywhere, no matter the world.

After hanging up, Abraham Lincoln looked at the green flood dragon coiled up on the sofa cushion. If this demoness could take human form and sweet-talk his dad a little, he wouldn’t be so stressed about these blind dates.

Beep!

A text message arrived: two thousand yuan in blind date sponsorship had been deposited.

Abraham Lincoln couldn’t help but give a bitter smile.

While the green flood dragon demoness was glued to the TV, Abraham Lincoln began to check the spoils he’d brought back from the other world.

Besides his clothes, he had a storage ring and a spirit jade token for entering and leaving the Langya Heaven Cave.

With the rules of heaven and earth changed, if these things became useless junk, it would be a real shame.

His clothes and accessories, though made of precious materials, weren’t magic items. After hanging them in the closet, he probably wouldn’t wear them much anyway.

This world had no secret realm like Langya Heaven, so the jade token was now only worth its material—maybe he could sell it, but Abraham Lincoln wasn’t short on cash for now.

The storage ring had a huge capacity, holding not only lots of daily necessities but even a wooden house, and more importantly, all kinds of refining materials and cultivation resources.

With the wealth of a Celestial Palace Lord, it was enough to support a powerful sect. The value of this storage ring was immeasurable.

Abraham Lincoln focused his mind, but the powerful spiritual force once comparable to a Daoist master was completely gone, not a trace left. Naturally, the storage ring didn’t respond at all.

The spiritual energy left in his body was frozen, about the size of a soybean, hard as iron. He couldn’t cast a single spell, not even a spark. His meridians were in even worse shape—there wasn’t even a single seed of true energy left.

His Luminous Heart, which once covered a radius of 150 feet, was now suppressed to just three feet around him.

It was like winning a five-million jackpot, only to find out at the counter that you’d just gotten a twenty-yuan consolation prize—enough to make anyone mad.

His consolation prize was that the innate treasure, the Chaos Green Lotus, still resided in his mind. But all the accumulated lotus petal auras had dimmed, and only a few sparks occasionally rose from the lotus core, barely refining his life-bound magic weapon, “Mysterious Star.”

No wonder it was called the key to unlocking the rules of heaven and earth—even in another world, it could still function.

His cultivation was now just an empty shell, and the exhausted Chaos Green Lotus looked like it had been through a lot. Abraham Lincoln slapped his forehead, more or less guessing the reason.

He’d brought the two demonesses through the evil god’s heavenly gate back to Earth. Though they were safe and sound, it hadn’t come without a price.

It was easy to imagine that the Chaos Green Lotus had burned through all its aura and his cultivation to ensure the safety of all three, preserving their bodies.

Abraham Lincoln glanced at the green flood dragon. The fact that the demoness Qingyao couldn’t take human form probably had something to do with the Chaos Green Lotus.

Though his cultivation was completely gone, at least his foundation was intact. It would just take some time to recover.

Abraham Lincoln began to try circulating the “Mahābōlān Sūtra.” Back then, it was thanks to half a scroll of this sutra that he’d started on the path of cultivation. Now, he was just retracing his old steps, only more familiar with the process.

“...Shiyan Shepige, Zhetuo Mohe, Yeselusike, Caiduo Suman...”

As the scripture flowed through his mind, all distractions faded, and he entered a state of clarity.

By the sixth silent recitation of the “Mahābōlān Sūtra,” a faint tremor began deep in his mind, the disturbance growing wider, and even the stone-like spiritual energy was affected.

Crackle!