Starting with photographic memory, I've worked my way up to become a martial arts immortal.

The fifteenth year of Tongbao.

Outside Xue's Dyehouse in Huguang County, Dajin.

Summer thunderstorms always come and go quickly, leaving behind only muddy ditches and foamy white slurry.

A beautiful woman carrying a bamboo basket came out of the dye house and encountered several men dressed as laborers.

Their trousers were rolled up to their calves, and their yellowish short-sleeved shirts were soaked by the rain and clung tightly to their bodies.

The beautiful woman looked away with disdain, her gaze sweeping unnaturally over the men's thick, powerful waists and abdomens.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she noticed a tall, thin young man at the end of the line.

The young man had a handsome face, a broad nose, slightly upturned eyebrows, and wheat-colored skin. His open short jacket revealed his well-defined abdominal muscles.

As if sensing her gaze, the young man raised his head, his eyebrows drooped, and he grinned, giving her an honest and simple smile.

Her previously aloof demeanor was instantly shattered; the beautiful woman frowned and turned her head away in disappointment.

A short while later, the leader of the group arrived in front of a teahouse, turned around, and said, "Our employer today was quite generous, giving us a few extra copper coins. How about we go to the teahouse to rest for a bit?"

"Okay," everyone agreed.

Only the tall, thin young man looked troubled. "Brother Yong, I won't go."

"Jiang Yuan, everyone else is going, what would it be like if you didn't?" Zhang Yong walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "It's not like I'm treating you, it's not worth much money."

"This..." Jiang Yuan was still hesitating when he was already being led into the teahouse with his arm around his shoulder.

As soon as I entered the building, the waiter tossed the rag in his hand over his shoulder and quickly came to greet me.

With a smile on his face, he simply led them to a corner: "Gentlemen, it's quiet here, please have a seat."

Zhang Yong walked to the main seat with practiced ease and saw a storyteller on the stage sipping tea. He nodded in satisfaction and said, "A pot of aged tea, quickly."

"Alright." The waiter wiped the blackened tabletop until it shone. When he heard that he only wanted tea, his smile remained unchanged, but his mouth became lively. "Would you like some melon seeds and snacks? Our shop also has freshly baked steamed buns and sesame cakes. Enjoy them with your tea and savor their aroma."

"Then let's have four more steamed buns," Zhang Yong said, patting his pockets and making a decision for everyone.

"Alright, a pot of fine old-leaf tea and four fragrant glutinous rice buns—" The waiter tossed his rag aside and raised his voice.

Zhang Yong glanced at the slightly reserved young man and smiled, "Never been here before?"

"Yes, I've only been in the city for about half a year, this is my first time here." Jiang Yuan looked around curiously, looking like a country bumpkin.

"From now on, if you hang out with Brother Yong, coming to places like this will be a piece of cake. Don't rush home right after work." The man sitting on the east side raised an eyebrow, his tone becoming lewd. "By the way, did that young lady just now have her eye on you?"

"You know what, that woman was staring at Jiang Yuan like a hawk, it made me really itchy. Thirty is like a wolf, forty is like a tiger, if I could hook up with you, I'd be in luck, hahaha."

The man at the table burst into laughter instantly.

Jiang Yuan scratched his head, looking embarrassed. "Brothers, don't tease me. That lady clearly comes from a wealthy family. If her family hears this, they'll definitely give me a few lashes."

Zhang Yong then tapped the table, his tone becoming serious: "You lot, stop talking nonsense. That's Liu Sanye's lover from the Black Tiger Gang. If someone hears this, it won't just be a matter of a few lashes."

"what!"

Upon hearing this, the previously cheerful atmosphere at the table instantly vanished, and everyone fell silent.

It wasn't until the waiter served tea that Zhang Yong picked up the teapot and poured most of the tea into the bowls in front of everyone before speaking, "Why are you all hanging your heads like that?"

"Speaking of the Black Tiger Gang, I heard their lighting fee is going to go up again next month?" the man on the east side said, bowing his head.

"It's not just a little, they're saying it'll increase by 50%! Damn it, I can't afford it anyway." The man sitting on the west side was full of resentment.

Zhang Yong raised his eyelids and sneered, "You won't hand it over? Do you want to be thrown into Ninghu Lake outside the city to feed the fish?"

"I work hard every day carrying heavy loads to earn a meager living, and they've taken it all away." The man on the west side clenched his fists, his tone full of resentment and helplessness.

Jiang Yuan took a sip of tea and remained silent.

The so-called "lighting fee" is nothing more than protection money collected by the Black Tiger Gang under various pretexts.

In their territory, every household is required to hang a red lantern, which must be lit when the sun sets.

The lamp oil had to be purchased from specific shops. If any shop bought too little or didn't light the lamp, then disaster would strike.

Throwing feces on doors or starting a fire in the middle of the night are minor tricks; in serious cases, a living person can disappear silently from their home.

They would reappear as an unknown, stinking ditch, or as mutilated corpses floating in a lake outside the city.

"Alright, all of you, shut up." Zhang Yong interrupted their complaints.

No matter how loudly you speak, you still have to pay the light bill; after all, everyone's afraid of dying.

He glanced around nervously, and finding no one paying attention to them, he leaned forward and whispered mysteriously, "I know everyone's having a tough time, but I have a way to earn a little more money. Are you interested?"

"Of course, what method?" The man who had just said he wouldn't pay for lighting immediately agreed.

Jiang Yuangang picked up the steamed bun from the plate, and upon hearing this, his heart stirred. He gripped the bun in his hand and looked over with interest.

"Tonight at midnight, an old customer needs to transport a batch of goods at the dock outside the city. I'm short a few people. If you go, I'll give each of you this amount." After saying that, Zhang Yong held up two fingers of his right hand.

"Two hundred coins?!" Everyone's eyes widened.

The man's tone became urgent: "This is enough for me to work myself to death for a week, I'll go."

"I'll go too," the other person replied.

Only Jiang Yuan quietly examined the tea stems that had sunk to the bottom of the teacup, without saying a word.

"And you?" Zhang Yong frowned.

Facing three pairs of burning eyes, Jiang Yuan finished his bland tea in one gulp and said with a simple smile, "I won't go. My mother at home is waiting for me to come back."

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a few copper coins, and placed them on the table: "Brother Yong, you guys drink, I'm leaving now."

The group stared in astonishment at the three copper coins on the table: four coins for a pot of tea and two coins for a steamed bun—the exact amount was exactly right.

Jiang Yuan left quickly, his figure disappearing behind the door in no time.

"Brother Yong, this kid didn't fall for it; did he realize it?"

Zhang Yong's expression was also not good. He said in a deep voice, "Probably not. How could a simpleton from the countryside be so smart?"

"Try it again next time. If that doesn't work, find a secluded place, knock them out, stuff them into a sack, and no one will know."

Zhang Yong picked up his teacup, took a sip, and nodded almost imperceptibly.

After leaving the teahouse, Jiang Yuan walked into a nearby alley.

He glanced at the deep, winding alleyway, and his slightly hunched back straightened instantly, like a pine tree. He walked briskly away, hugging the wall.

As dusk fell, a chill crept into the air.

The houses on both sides were dilapidated, with a few broken wooden sheds scattered around. The cold wind blew through them, and the wooden planks creaked under the weight of the cold.

The people living there are usually refugees who fled to this place because of famine, bandits, war, or even demons massacring their villages in their hometowns.

Homeless, they spontaneously gathered in some no-man's-land near the outer city, gradually forming a large group.

Apart from the sound of the wind, all around was silent. Inside many of the wooden sheds lay dark, motionless figures, like corpses, which was unsettling to behold.

Every now and then, there are a few young girls on the roadside, wearing patched clothes, who greet passersby with smiles.

Jiang Yuan glanced at their thin, youthful faces, then walked even faster without saying a word.

He stopped in front of a dilapidated house as the sun was setting.

"Ahem!"

Before I even entered, I could hear rapid coughing coming from inside.

Jiang Yuan felt heavy-hearted. He lit the lanterns above the door before pushing open the wooden door.

"Mother, is your cough worse again?"

The dark room smelled faintly of mildew. Li Guihua lay on the bed, hunched over and coughing violently.

"Xiao Yuan's back. Cough cough, I'm fine."

Jiang Yuan came to the bedside with heartache and gently patted her back to help her breathe. After a while, her breathing became much quieter.

"Mother, don't forget to drink your medicine again."

Li Guihua said weakly, "I'm not drinking that stuff anymore, it's too expensive. You work hard to earn money outside."

"How can you not drink?" Jiang Yuan sighed, took out a steamed bun from his pocket, and said, "You haven't eaten yet, have you? Here."

"I'm not exerting myself, and I'm not hungry." Li Guihua waved her hand, opened her eyes and glanced at the food. "You should eat this good stuff."

"My employer was kind today; he not only gave me extra coins but also treated me to dinner. I was already full."

Jiang Yuan tore the steamed bun into strips and fed them to his mother.

"It's been so long since I've had steamed buns. They're so fragrant and sweet." Li Guihua chewed slowly, and her cough stopped for a moment.

Jiang Yuan felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this. He went out every day to carry heavy loads as a laborer, earning thirty or forty copper coins. However, after deducting the imperial court's taxes and the Black Tiger Gang's lamp-lighting expenses, he could barely afford to use any of it himself.

My mother's condition has worsened considerably, and the cost of her monthly herbal medicine is a significant expense, making life increasingly difficult.

After feeding her half, the mother refused to eat any more and hid the other half.

He couldn't refuse, so he carried the medicine pot to the stove.

Soon, a strong herbal scent filled the cramped room.

Jiang Yuan pulled a book from under the bed, and by the light of the fire, sat up straight and began to open it.

"Xiao Yuan, why are you reading those lousy books again? Don't ruin your eyes. If your eyes are ruined, you won't be able to see anything clearly, and that will be a problem."

Jiang Yuan did not respond and carefully turned to the next page.

"Why are you so disobedient, child? In the past six months, how many copper coins have you spent to borrow books? You should have used that money to buy food. Look how thin you are! It breaks my heart to see you like this, cough cough." Li Guihua lay on the bed, muttering with a distressed expression.

Jiang Yuan reluctantly got up and went to the bedside. "Mom, I'm eighteen now, so please don't worry about these things."

"Even if you're twenty-eight, you're still my son, and I have to say what I need to say."

"Alright, alright, Mother, you go to sleep for a while. I'll wake you up when the medicine is ready." Jiang Yuan smiled and gently patted his mother's back.

One moment, one moment.

A moment later, a soft snoring sound began.

Jiang Yuan continued taking pictures for a while before tiptoeing back to the stove, opening the book and reading intently.

This book was written by the extraordinary Zhuge Tao, and it tells the story of his experiences studying in Youzhou when he was young.

[Study experience points +1]

……

[Study experience points +1]

……

Characters formed by wisps of clouds flashed across my vision.

Jiang Yuan ignored him and continued reading attentively. One anecdote in the book caught his attention.

"On the ninth day of the fourth month, while boating on a secluded lake, a sudden storm arose, leaving everyone in a sorry state. With a deafening roar, a giant python leaped out of the deep water. Its body was over ten zhang long, its scales as sharp as iron, and what was even more peculiar was that it had a single horn on its forehead, pointing straight to the sky."

The crowd held their breath in shock. A swordsman in green robes appeared, treading on the water, impervious to wind and rain. He drew his sword, like a thunderbolt from the sky, and the giant python vanished. Instantly, the wind and rain ceased, and the lake returned to its stillness.

"A giant python, a single horn—these can all be called dragons. And this swordsman in green robes can slay a monster taller than a twenty-story building with a single sword strike; he's truly a god-like figure." Jiang Yuan's eyes gleamed, his heart surging with excitement.

How wonderful it would be if one day I could possess such power.

After a long while, he finished reading the last word, closed the book, and found that the book had given him a total of 10 experience points.

A thought struck me.

The next moment, a fog panel appeared in their field of vision.

Name: Jiang Yuan

[Potential]: 11.9

【Features】: None

[Skill]: Study (Perfect 991/1000)