Theos didn't dwell on the issue too long, as it was irrelevant if there were any other cultivators in this world. All Theos needed to focus on was achieving his dream.
Theos took off his backpack which he only now realized he had after flitting through this body's memories, and looked for the GPS, which was luckily still working, albeit a little banged up. Theodore had originally wanted to land on his backpack to soften his fall, hoping for a slim chance of survival, but alas, he failed and ended up landing on his face, forcing his consciousness to drift away. Good thing it still works, Theos thought, ignoring the grieving soul of the already dead Theodore.
After figuring out where he was Theos sat back down and began to gather Primal Energy, storing it in his body.
After two hours of silent meditation Theos opened his eyes to the grumbling of his stomach. As he was about to looking for the dry rations in his backpack, Theos suddenly realized that this a great opportunity to hunt and try out his new found ability to use magic.
With that he took out a survival knife from his backpack and attached to his belt. After quietly climbing a tree, Theos patiently waited in silence.
After about half an hour, Theos watched as a pigeon flew down and landed on a tree in front of him, behind the trunk and out of Theos’s lime of sight.
Theos infused his knife with some Primal Energy and threw it at an angle away from the bird, before using a remote manipulation technique to force the knife to change directions. The knife moved in a curve and accurately pierced through the unsuspecting pigeon before flying back around the tree along with the pigeon and back in into Theos’s hand.
“Haa has.” Theos breathed heavily, with beads of sweat on his forehead. Damn! Theos thought. That was more strenuous than I thought, and it practically cost me half of my Primal Energy. Theos sighed. I still have a long way to go.
Theos climbed down from the tree and began to gather some wood to cook the pigeon. After gathering a pile of wood, Theos hovered his hand above the pile, causing the tinder beneath the wood pile to ignite.
Theos was originally dreading having to taste some bland pigeon meat, but luckily the dead mountain climber brought some salt and pepper. So after cleaning the bird and adding some salt and pepper, Theos pierced it with a sharpened stick, placing it over the fire.
After cooking and eating the bird, Theos picked up his backpack and began his journey back to civilization. There was a road about 30 kilometers from the base of the mountain where he could hitch a ride. If he ran he could make it there in a couple hours and if everything went well he would be able to make it back to the nearest town in time for dinner.
With that Theos began running at a moderate pace, simultaneously drawing in Primal Energy as he used it to supplement his body.
He had made it to the road rather earlier than expected as he picked up his speed out of boredom. Only after an hour of trying to hitch a ride with his thumb out, did a nice looking luxury car stop at the side of the road.
After getting in the car and seeing the driver who stopped for him, a weird look appeared on his face.
“What's with that look on your face? Shouldn’t you look more grateful after I stopped for you?” The beautiful black-haired girl asked with a look of discontent.
“What's wrong with me? What’s wrong with you, is what I want to ask! Do you realize that you’re a beautiful girl in a luxury car? Stopping for hitchhikers is just asking for trouble.” Theos retorted, unable to hold in his perplexity.
For some reason the girl suddenly got shy and her cheeks blushed slightly. As for why she stopped the car, the girl saw that Theos was actually very handsome, hence she did not think too deeply about it, merely thinking to sow some seeds of karma if this person turned out to be a possible future husband candidate.
The girl's name was Song Jinjing, and she was from a rich family in the country of Jiuzhou. Being from such a family, she was in danger of being married of for the benefit of the family so she has always been actively looking for husband candidates who were not only rich or influential, but were amiable and virtuous. Thus, the reason she stopped for Theos, because it won’t hurt if her future husband is also handsome, right?
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When Theos saw the shy look on her face, he suddenly came to an understanding. So this girl is actually an idiot. Sigh, what a pity.
When Song Jinjing saw Theos sigh and the look he gave her, she suddenly felt a flare of anger. “Hey, don’t look down on me! I’m from Jiuzhou! Don’t you know that everyone from Jiuzhou knows martial arts? If I wanted I could slice of an enemy's head from a thousand miles away with my flying sword, hmph!”
A look of shock appeared on Theos’s face. “Can you really?” He asked with shock.
When Song Jinjing saw the look of belief on Theos’s face she suddenly burst out into a loud laughter. “Hahahah! Oh my, how gullible! That sense of wonder and shock, priceless!” She said with more pure joy than mockery, because to her she has rarely seen things and it was like a poor man finding an already cut and polished emerald on the road, simply a delight.
As Theos recalled the Jiuzhou martial arts films in his memory, his face became red out of embarrassment as he realized she was joking. But it won’t hurt to try and find out the source of these martial arts myths. Theos thought, becoming determined to visit Jiuzhou.
Song Jinjing's laughter slowly dwindled down before saying, “It really wasn’t a mistake to pick you up. If I didn’t I would have missed that priceless face. And anyways there’s no way an idiot like you would be able to take advantage of me anyways.” She continued in a mocking manner.
“Alright, alright. Can we go now, I have stuff to do.” Theos said in a dismissive manner, trying to scrape back the lost respect.
“Okay, boss! Where to?” Song Jinjing said in a playful manner, not realizing how open she was being with a stranger. Perhaps she was subconsciously affected by Theos calling her beautiful. “And what's your name? I'm Song Jinjing. I came out to travel the world a bit before heading off to college which is why I’m here at the Allied States.”
So she's actually one of those talkative idiots, Theos thought before answering. “I’m heading for anywhere with an airport. And you can call me Theo.” Theos said, deciding on his name based on his and this body's previous owner's name.
“Hmm, well, Theo. Fresh Lake City is about 3 to 4 hours from here, how ‘bout I drop you off there. I’m heading there to ski in the nearby mountains.” Song Jinjing said in a talkative manner.
“Hmm, so how long do you plan to travel?” Theos said, simply for the sake of conversation.
“Not too long.” She replied. “This is my last stop. I plan to head back to Jiuzhou a couple days from now.”
“Ah, I’m actually also planning to head to Jiuzhou after some paperwork ready.” Theos responded without much thought.
“Ah! You haven’t become obsessed with me and plan to follow me back to Jiuzhou to stalk me right?” Song Jinjing asked with fake shock.
“Nope.” Theos flatly rejected the suggestion. “I just plan to learn more about Jiuzhou martial arts. And where's a better place to learn than it’s place of origin?”
Song Jinjing giggled once again in amusement. “Say aren’t you a little too gullible? You can't really believe in things like flying swords and inner qi, right?”
“Hey, they might not have flying swords but there's certainly people there who practice fighting techniques, right? There's nothing wrong with satisfying my curiosity.” Theos responded.
“Well, if you say so. Well if your going to Jiuzhou, come to the capital if you have time, and I'll show you around. I’ll be going to school there.” The girl said in a friendly manner.
“Hmm, if I have time.” Theos replied, neither agreeing nor denying.
Eventually the car drifted into silence as it sped down the highway, with occasional chitchat resounding every now and then.
After a little more than three hours, the car drove into the city.
“You can drop me off anywhere; I'll just grab a taxi.” Theos said, not wanting to trouble the girl.
“It's okay, I'll drop you off at a hotel. Or better yet, how ‘bout we have dinner. You won’t let me eat alone will you?” Song Jinjing said with a loud. In truth, although she enjoyed it, she has been feeling a little lonely journeying from one place to the next by herself for a month.
“Okay, I’m in dire need of a big meal anyway.” Theos answered, not minding the company of a beautiful girl.
“Great, but you’re paying, since I definitely won’t eat as much as you. You owe me that much after I drove you all the way here.” She said, playing on Theos's guilt.
“Okay, okay. But bring us somewhere nice. That pigeon was not up to standard…” Theos said, mumbling the last part, not wanting to seem too uncivilized.
“’Kay, I'll find a place.” She said, stopping on the side of the road before taking out her phone to find a restaurant. “Ah! There’s a restaurant with a 2 star Michelin rating not too far from here! We have to go!” She said excitedly, before stopping to gauge Theos's reaction.
“Sounds good, but hurry up; I’m hungry.” Theos said with no particular change in expression. Whether in this life or his previous life, Theos has always had a rich background and was used to eating the best, no matter the cost.
Seeing that Theos did not cringe at the thought of spending that much money, she happily voiced out, “Remember, you’re paying.”
“Yes, yes, I’m paying. Now drive.” Theos said in a hurried manner.
Song Jinjing simply smiled in response and started driving. Handsome; check. Rich; check. As a stranger, he’s amiable. And if you count his being worried about a beautiful girl picking up strangers as virtuous, then that’s a check too. Song Jinjing thought with evil intentions. Husband candidate, I’m reluctant to let you get a away.
Although Song Jinjing said the restaurant wasn’t far, it still took 50 minutes to get there, further exacerbating the situation inside Theos's stomach.