Lu Qing suddenly realized that the world he had been reborn into might be one that possessed extraordinary powers.
His heart was filled with both joy and alarm.
He was joyful because, as a person of Huaxia, he had an inexplicable yearning deep in his bones for a life of righting wrongs and roaming the land with a sword at his side.
He was alarmed because a world like this, where immense power could be gathered within a single person and powerful individuals could arise, would be far more dangerous than an ordinary world.
As the saying went, heroes used martial prowess to defy the law. Once people gained great power, they were liable to disregard all kinds of rules.
When the strong flew into a rage, the weak drank bitter hatred—such things were likely commonplace.
And he himself was now a weakling who could not even truss a chicken.
If one day he carelessly encountered some villain who knew how to cultivate, that person could probably wipe him out with a casual wave of the hand.
Thinking of this, Lu Qing could not help feeling a faint sense of danger.
Some of the plans he had originally made needed to change.
Lu Qing fell into thought once more, slowly pondering things in his heart.
Early the next morning, Lu Qing cooked a pot of River Shrimp Porridge, then woke Xiao Yan. The brother and sister drank the porridge together.
"Brother, this shrimp porridge is so delicious."
The little girl slurped it down noisily, then raised her head. A grain of rice still clung to her face as she happily spoke to Lu Qing.
"I'm glad you like it. Eat slowly, don't choke."
Lu Qing reached out and picked the grain of rice from the corner of her mouth.
"Brother, are we going fishing again today?" Xiao Yan asked.
"Not today. After we finish eating, we're going to Grandpa Chen's place."
Now that the food situation at home had temporarily been resolved, Lu Qing did not plan to go fishing for the next couple of days.
Moreover, he had caught quite a few fish from the small fish spot yesterday. It would probably take some time for it to recover.
As for the other two fishing spots, that crude fishing rod would likely be unable to hold up.
Before he could make a better fishing rod, Lu Qing did not intend to fish at those two spots.
There was no helping it. His family was too poor; every scrap of resource was precious, and he could not afford to waste anything carelessly.
"We're going to Grandpa Chen's?" Xiao Yan's eyes lit up.
The little girl had slept the whole day yesterday, so she did not know that Old Doctor Chen and Grandpa Zhang had come by.
"Mm. Do you want to go?" Lu Qing asked.
Children generally had an instinctive fear of people like doctors, and Lu Qing was not sure whether Xiao Yan was the same.
"I do~" the little girl said seriously. "Grandpa Chen is such a nice person. He cured Brother's illness, and Xiao Yan hasn't thanked him yet."
Lu Qing smiled. "That's right. We'll thank Grandpa Chen together."
After finishing their porridge, Lu Qing locked the door and took Xiao Yan out.
Old Doctor Chen did not live in the village, but halfway up a small mountain behind it.
As Lu Qing walked along the road with Xiao Yan, he spotted from afar a secluded little courtyard faintly visible on the mountainside, looking quite picturesque.
When they reached the mountainside, Lu Qing saw a figure moving about in front of the courtyard. He was about to speak, but suddenly closed his mouth again.
At the same time, he tugged Xiao Yan and gestured for her to stay quiet.
Because he could tell that Old Doctor Chen did not seem fit to be disturbed at the moment.
Old Doctor Chen was practicing a fist art.
Lu Qing did not recognize what kind of fist art it was. To him, it looked rather like the Tai Chi the old men practiced in parks in his previous life.
The movements were slow and unhurried.
But after watching for a few moments, Lu Qing sensed the difference.
Old Doctor Chen's moves looked soft and limp, but every single movement seemed to carry a gust of force. They flowed like drifting clouds and running water, a truly beautiful sight.
Just as Lu Qing was becoming absorbed in watching, a line of text suddenly appeared in his field of vision.
Cultivation technique discovered. Begin simulation?
Hm? Lu Qing's pupils suddenly contracted.
His Supernatural Ability actually had such a function?! Seeing that Old Doctor Chen was still immersed in his fist art, Lu Qing forcibly calmed his wildly pounding heart and silently chose yes.
Simulation initiated. Current progress: 1%, 2%, 3%...
Watching the progress bar quietly tick upward in his vision, Lu Qing's heartbeat accelerated once again.
He had never expected that his Supernatural Ability could simulate other people's cultivation techniques.
Just yesterday, he had been troubled over having no way to come into contact with this world's methods of cultivation.
Now, just as he had dozed off, a pillow had arrived.
Lu Qing stared intently at Old Doctor Chen's movements while keeping an eye on the simulation progress.
48%, 49%, 50%
When the simulation progress reached fifty percent, Lu Qing discovered that it had stopped, and the text vanished.
Looking ahead, he saw that Old Doctor Chen had already finished practicing his fist art.
Lu Qing secretly lamented the pity of it.
If he had arrived a little earlier, perhaps he could have simulated Old Doctor Chen's whole set of fist techniques one hundred percent.
Now that it was stuck halfway, it left him feeling quite uncomfortable.
Still, Lu Qing only regretted it briefly before adjusting his mindset.
Discovering another function of his Supernatural Ability during this visit was already a great enough gain.
As for Old Doctor Chen's cultivation technique, the days ahead were long. There would always be opportunities in the future, so there was no need to rush.
After Old Doctor Chen completed the set of fist techniques and gathered his stance, he finally looked toward Lu Qing and Xiao Yan.
In truth, he had known long ago that the two of them were standing nearby.
It was simply that his morning practice had become a habit, so he had not stopped.
"You're here. Have you eaten breakfast?" Old Doctor Chen asked gently.
"We have." Lu Qing replied respectfully.
Xiao Yan stepped forward and took the Old Doctor's hand. "Grandpa Chen, thank you for curing Brother's illness."
"Hehe, little one, the person you should thank is yourself. If you hadn't cried so hard that day, I wouldn't have gone inside to see what was happening."
The Old Doctor patted Xiao Yan's head, somewhat moved.
That day, he had been taking a stroll through the village when he happened to hear Xiao Yan crying. Unable to bear it, he went inside to check on the situation and only then discovered that Lu Qing was so gravely ill.
"Why should I thank Xiao Yan? Grandpa Chen cured Brother's illness." The little girl was somewhat confused.
"That wasn't entirely my doing. Your brother recovered because fortune smiled upon him." The Old Doctor sighed.
After returning home yesterday, he had looked through his medical books again, but still failed to find any record of Lu Qing's illness.
In the end, he could only attribute it to Lu Qing's good fortune—fortune smiled upon him.
Xiao Yan could not understand what the Old Doctor meant and could only nod blankly.
Only then did Lu Qing learn that there had been another reason Old Doctor Chen had treated him.
He looked fondly at Xiao Yan, then bowed deeply to the Old Doctor once more. "Thank you, Grandpa Chen, for saving my life."
"You... sigh, forget it, forget it."
In the end, Old Doctor Chen merely waved his hand and did not explain further.
Because he knew that no matter how much he explained, Lu Qing and Xiao Yan would still believe that he had cured the illness.
Since that was the case, why bother explaining any more?
"Grandpa Chen, what were you doing just now? Were you practicing fist arts?" Xiao Yan asked innocently at that moment.
Lu Qing also looked toward the Old Doctor.
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