The Immortal Seeker: Legend of Bronze Mirror-Chapter 1 Xu Qing

In a room wafting with the scent of medicine.

A young boy's eyes fluttered open slightly.

The dawn's early light sneaked in, landing on his face, causing his eyes, which hadn't been exposed to sunlight for a long time, to feel a sting.

He tried to clench his fists tightly, checking the vitality of his body at the moment.

Weakness from the illness came in waves, but it didn't affect the joy in his heart at the moment.

Because he had finally "come back to life."

He didn't rush to get up and move around, but silently digested the remaining memories of the new "body."

The body's original owner had caught a cold a few days ago, and had a high fever last night. Unexpectedly, his soul scattered, leaving behind an empty shell, which allowed him to "borrow this body to return his soul."

Xu Qing was the original body's name, and now it was "his" name as well.

...

...

"Qing, you're just dropped out from the private school; there's no need to be so disheartened about it. I plan to wait until you're a bit older, take over your uncle's job at the Government Office, and then find you a wife. That way, the Xu Family's lineage will be secured."

Beside the bed was a middle-aged man dressed as a Constable, with a beard, looking at Xu Qing, who had just woken up from a severe illness and seemed slightly dazed, with a concerned face.

Next to him was a middle-aged woman.

Xu Qing maintained a stunned and wooden expression, but his mind was already quickly recalling the identities of the middle-aged couple.

The middle-aged man was Li Gongpu, the sworn brother of his father, which was Xu Qing's uncle. The middle-aged woman was Aunt Zhou from the Zhou Family.

Before Xu Qing could respond to Li Gongpu's words, Aunt Zhou pointed at Li Gongpu and started scolding loudly:

"I married you for the stable job you had at the Government Office, and yet you're willing to give it up to Qing just like that. You must know, if you dare give up your job, I will leave you immediately and go back to my parents' home."

Having said that, Aunt Zhou didn't spare Li Gongpu a glance and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

Li Gongpu's face flushed red from the scolding, and it took a long while before he sighed and said to Xu Qing, "Don't blame your aunt; she's been the one brewing medicine and cooking porridge for you while you were sick. It wasn't easy for her to raise you all these years. She's angry because her family has a nephew who previously agreed to be adopted into our family to continue the lineage, but..."

Having a hard time proceeding, Li Gongpu stuttered and couldn't articulate his words.

"Uncle means to say that the relative from Aunt's family agreed to the adoption on the condition of your job, right?"

"Um."

"Uncle, I don't even have the capability to repay your kindness of upbringing, how can I covet your job as a Government Official. Let's talk about this matter later. This year, I want to participate in the child student test."

"Ah." Li Gongpu didn't expect that after being expelled, Xu Qing still had his heart set on taking part in the Imperial Examination.

He also remembered that this nephew, due to his studies, had once become despondent enough to jump into a river, so he didn't dare provoke him further and spoke haltingly, "The job at the Government Office, the house, it's all originally your family's. It's only right to return it to you. As for participating in the child student test, let's discuss it again after your health is fully recovered, shall we?"

The child student test was in three months, and Li Gongpu planned to delay it for now. During this time, he intended to talk more to Xu Qing about the duties of the Government Office and take him to the County Government for some exposure.

If he insisted on participating in the child student test, Li Gongpu wouldn't really be in a position to stop him; after all, his nephew might change his mind after facing some setbacks.

"Alright. Uncle, you go and bring Aunt back first. I'll think it over carefully."

"Okay." Li Gongpu breathed a sigh of relief, his nephew's matters were indeed important, but bringing back his wife was also very urgent.

Previously, Xu Qing had always been reticent, but waking up this time, though he was not very talkative, he gave Li Gongpu a sense of steadiness, as if the nephew now had more of his own opinions than before.

This is truly the bloodline of a great family.

Sigh.

After a slight sigh, Li Gongpu left in search of Aunt Zhou.

...

...

Xu Qing watched his uncle leave, then slowly shifted his gaze to a pile of assorted items in a dark corner of the wall.

Among them was a bronze mirror the size of a palm.

Perhaps due to the passage of too many long years, the mirror body, which should have been golden, was stained with heavy and ancient rust-green.

This is a bronze artifact.

Who could have known?

In fact, not long ago, his soul was imprisoned in this bronze mirror.

Gradually rising from bed, he stretched his body and simultaneously pondered his future endeavors.

Ten years ago, after a major disaster, the Xu Family nearly perished, leaving only Xu Qing as the sole survivor, who has since been raised by Li Gongpu and his wife.

This small courtyard, located in a bustling market by the water in the county town, was the property that Xu Qing's birth father had arranged for Li Gongpu to start a family.

Moreover, Xu Qing's father also secured a job for Li Gongpu as a constable at the Government Office.

Participating in the Imperial Examination was not an unfounded ambition for him.

Because in his previous life, he had majored in ancient literature and history.

After his soul became trapped in the bronze mirror this life, for some reason, his memories of his previous life's field of study became particularly vivid.

Compared to the original body's occupant, he now had a naturally greater confidence in the path of the Imperial Examination.

After all, the status of a Government Official, though decent for the common people, means little when faced with the ire of a superior official—if ordered for execution, then executed one shall be.

Moreover, as Government Officials were of a lowly class, they were not even eligible to take part in the Imperial Examination.

Additionally, the country's laws were quite lenient towards scholars, even a mere Scholar who committed a crime would first have their academic title stripped by the Academic Supervisor before any corporal punishment.

"To become a Scholar, I must pass the child student test. However, the child student test includes some tricky and peculiar questions, and they don't anonymize names..." Xu Qing knew that in such non-anonymous examinations, even those with talent could fail.

Thinking of Fan Jin from 'Outlaws of Confucian Academy,' who only passed the Scholar's test at over fifty years old due to the sympathy of an Academic Supervisor—it's clear how difficult a non-anonymous examination can be.

It should be noted that once Fan Jin passed the Scholar level, he also succeeded in the first attempt at both subsequent examinations, which showed that Fan Jin's writing was definitely not poor.

There are always great talents around; it's just that discerning eyes are rare.

To safely pass the County Examination, one certainly needs to make extra preparations as a precaution.

The specific details still require further understanding in order to take appropriate action.

"The affairs within the Government Office always boil down to 'money' and 'relationships;' striving in these aspects surely isn't wrong," Xu Qing thought to himself.

Of course, scholarly writing is the foundation for ordinary scholars to establish themselves in the current era. Without sufficient effort in this aspect, no matter how much effort is put into other areas, it is difficult to succeed.

Thinking too much for a moment, Xu Qing felt dizzy.

He sighed gently.

He was still too weak.

Even so, he still forced himself to take a walk. Being able to set foot on solid ground after a long absence filled him with an indescribable sense of emotion.

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After relaxing his body, he approached a pile of clutter and took out the bronze mirror from within.

A sudden feeling of blood connection emerged.

Boom!

In the blink of an eye, the mottled and ancient bronze mirror turned into specks of light, burrowing into Xu Qing's body.

Xu Qing did not have time to react any further, instinctively focusing on his own body, and then "saw" that a bronze mirror had appeared in his mind, quietly suspended and exuding an enigmatic and mysterious aura.

His attention on the mirror, the dim bronze surface suddenly became clear.

Then, text emerged within it.

Mirror Master: Outer Heaven Demon.

Ah, discriminated against. If he had the power, he would be an Immortal Lord gracing his loyal domain.

Forget it, take it one step at a time.

He aims for the Nine Heavens!