1 A Farm

Ink Ridge County sat between a range of mountains to its east and a lake to its west.

The lake was known as the Great Striding Lake, with its water flowing into the Long River.

The mountains, which were named the Thousand Emerald Hill as a whole, were mostly on the lower side, but there was a place known as the Hill Folding Gorge that was filled with plants.

A green train pumping out black smoke slowly approached the county. Inside the room of a low building, Chi Qiaosong peeked out the window as his gaze followed the train.

That was the dormitory of the Military Academy, and Chi Qiaosong was the only person in it.

As Commander Zhu was about to march into a war, the instructors of the Military Academy were transferred over to help. As there was no one to teach the classes, students were allowed to go back, and classes would resume at a later date.

Chi Qiaosong should've also gone home since the cafeteria had closed.

However, he hesitated.

The reason was that he was not the original Chi Qiaosong. The real 15-year-old Chi Qiaosong died when he fell down during martial arts practice and hit his head.

The one who had taken over the body was another Chi Qiaosong from earth.

The Earthling was playing a farming game when the electricity suddenly went out. With just a quick blink, he realized he was in an unfamiliar environment. He looked at his younger self and the new surroundings.

He had spent an entire morning trying to understand what was going on.

Surprise, panic, anxiety, and expectation filled his mind.

In the end, he managed to convince himself to accept his new identity and start a new life in the country known as the Daxia Republic.

"The technology here is comparable to the 70s and 80s on earth, but it's still at a time where warlords exist? Perhaps it's because martial arts are the focus of this world's development, causing those who are powerful to be viewed highly by society," the young boy speculated.

The train had already passed through the country, and Chi Qiaosong directed his gaze away from the outside world and onto his rough hands.

He was a new student at the Military Academy.

Three months ago, the warlord, Commander Zhu, had conquered three cities and 19 counties. He then established military academies all around these places. After that, he began to accept students all around the country, regardless of their identity, as long as they could pay the tuition fee.

These students were all given a chance to become successful in the future.

Although Chi Qiaosong's parents had been farmers their whole lives, they managed to save enough money to send him to the academy.

"It's been three months since then, and I still have to understand the basics of the beginner technique, the Crazed Bull Heavy Fist. Now, I see why Mr. Kong called me a talentless child in martial arts and suggested that I leave the academy."

The old Chi Qiaosong was embarrassed to go home because of that and decided to spend his holiday training. Unfortunately, he was exhausted to the point where he slipped and died.

"I'm pretty sure I'm smarter than him, but I don't know how good this body is yet. It's pointless to just practice without understanding one's potential. But..." Chi Qiaosong paused and gripped his fist tightly. "I have a cheat."

There existed an unknown space inside his head, and in the space was a farm. On the farm were all sorts of little trees that were sealed and in a hibernation state.

He would need to manifest the farm in the real world to start farming and check its information.

"This farm seems to have something to do with the game I played..."

The game was a crude website farming game. He had just obtained a new empty farm in the game before the electricity went off.

He also suspected that the farm was brought to the new world with him.

Although the changes in space and time were not recorded, he was sure that the farm had become a cheat-like ability for him.

"I can't explain it, but I can sense that if I started to farm, I could get everything I want. There's only one way to confirm it, and that's by going home!"

Chi Qiaosong got up, packed his luggage, and was ready to return home.

After accepting his new identity, he decided to start all over again.

With a bag made out of snake skin on his back, Chi Qiaosong traveled through the county's streets.

Buildings, old and new, spread throughout the county, all with different signs on them. Signs of older shops could be seen everywhere, and stalls could be seen at every crossroad.

There were all sorts of people on the street.

Commander Zhu had taken over Ink Ridge County over a year ago. Despite him giving out free taxes for the next ten years, the safety of the county had actually gotten better, and the place livelier.

A huge gas-powered bus honked its horn, urging people to make way. As there was a lack of gasoline around the area, most vehicles used gas instead.

Chi Qiaosong rummaged through his pockets and found five pieces of cash that were worth one cent each.

He then looked at the bus that cost a dollar for a ride and put the cash back into his pocket.

There were all sorts of ways he could travel back home from the Military Academy. He could ride buses, rickshaws, and even pulled carts, but all of those would cost money.

In the end, he decided to return home on foot.

It took him an hour to get to the other side of the county's wall. Just past the gate was a small mountain with a river flowing through its foot.

A few houses were built along the river.

As he passed, some would greet him by his name, and he would return a simple greeting.

After more than ten minutes of going up the slope, he finally reached a flat area where three brick houses, two mud houses, and one toilet could be seen.

A few old chickens were running around while a big yellow dog was pissing.

Chi Qiaosong's seven-year-old brother, Chi Qiaowu, spotted him and shouted, "Big brother is back!"

His five-year-old sister, Chi Xiaoya, immediately ran out of one of the houses with his one-year-old cousin, Chi Qiaoshui, in her arms.

Behind the sister was the two-year-old brother, Chi Qiaodong, who still struggled to walk in a straight line.

"Big brother!" Chi Xiaoya greeted with a huge grin.

Chi Qiaosong nodded.

Although he was the eldest and much older than his siblings, Chi Qiaosong was always cold toward them. It was like how the eldest brother would be the head of the family when the father wasn't around.

He entered the house, and his father, who was smoking, waited by the door.

"Why are you back?"

"Commander Zhu has started another war, and the instructors have to participate. So they told us to come home and wait for the classes to start once it's over."

"Another war? We only got this peace less than a year ago. Can't they just let us live a quiet life?" Mr. Chi let out a deep sigh.

"I don't think it'll affect our county."

"Song?" Chi Qiaosong's mother came out and checked on her son before hurriedly heading back to the kitchen. "I have to finish making dinner. Keep your dad company, will you?"

Getting used to the Chi family and his new identity was much easier than Chi Qiaosong had thought.

After lunch, his parents started to plow the field. They didn't ask Chi Qiaosong to help them and instructed him to practice martial arts instead.

Chi Xiaoya stayed at home as she took care of her youngest brother, Chi Qiaodong, and her uncle's son, Chi Qiaoshui.

Chi Qiaosong quickly got bored and decided to head to the field behind the hill and look for a chance to materialize the farm in his head to test his cheat out.

However, his brother, Chi Qiaowu, insisted on following him.

"If you really like working in the field that much, go help Mom and Dad plow the field," he said and quickly left.

The hill behind his house had no official name. However, the nearby farmers called it the First Ridge, signifying that it was the first ridge outside of Ink Ridge County. The hill was no higher than 100 meters.

The Chi family had secretly developed a two-and-a-half acre-wide farm on the hill.

Since they didn't register the farm with the county, they didn't need to pay taxes. So that was how the family was able to save up enough money to send Chi Qiaosong to the academy.

Unfortunately, due to Chi Qiaosong's lack of talent and money to purchase herbs, he did not learn anything even after three months.

Still lost in thought, he arrived at the hillside plot. Because of the slope, the farm was separated into different pieces, scattered all around the hillside.

He then found the flattest one that was about a quarter-acre wide.

After taking a deep breath, he summoned the farm from his mind. In just an instant, the farm flew out of his head in a ray and landed on the hillside plot.