Dao Bone

As the sun set, Chen Mu walked into the Settlement and abruptly paused.

The market street, still fairly tidy that morning, was now a complete mess.

Shattered clay pots, bamboo baskets with their bottoms exposed, straw mats torn into several pieces.

The aftermath of last night's incident?

Chen Mu calmly stepped behind a large tree.

His lips moved, and the Five Ghosts Bag opened.

Standing in the shade, he quietly observed the hurried crowd.

The laborers had yet to come down the mountain.

The usual small vendors were nowhere to be seen.

Several yamen runners were instead prowling nearby, shouting at and driving away anyone they saw.

An old man was dragged out of a tent by yamen runners.

They rushed into the tent and smashed things up as they searched and looted it.

Before leaving with curses, they gave the old man several more kicks.

Old Man Liu felt he had been utterly cursed by bad luck.

His business had only just begun to improve, and he had finally managed to sell three bottles of Great Strength Pills.

Not only had the yamen runners confiscated all his money that night, but they had also beaten him up.

Pressing a piece of gray cloth over his scraped forehead, Old Man Liu sighed heavily.

"What happened?" A cold voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Old Man Liu shuddered and spun around. Only after recognizing the newcomer did he let out a sigh of relief.

"So it's you, Brother Yang. I thought those Black Dogs had come back." Old Man Liu still looked shaken.

Chen Mu nodded expressionlessly, putting on a dull and taciturn act.

"County Deputy Li Qing was dissatisfied with the construction progress, so he sent those Black Dogs to supervise the work."

"Here in the Settlement, every able-bodied adult has to go build the Altar."

"Good thing you weren't here, or you definitely would have been seized as labor."

Chen Mu relaxed slightly, but his brows could not help furrowing.

It wasn't because of the Burly Man's death and Lu Jin's serious injuries. It was because of the Altar.

Forced labor? That could be troublesome.

The Settlement is about to become a place of trouble.

Old Man Liu sighed as he gathered the medicinal herbs scattered across the ground.

"What do you plan to do next?" Chen Mu suddenly asked.

"What else can I do? Pack up and leave."

"Getting roughed up three times a day—these old bones of mine can't take it." Old Man Liu shook his head desolately.

He was getting old. He had originally hoped to make a bit of money, then settle down in some rural village and live out the rest of his days.

Instead, the yamen runners had suddenly burst in and looted him three times in a single day. Even his burial money was gone. Thinking about how he would live from now on left him utterly lost.

Keep working as a wandering doctor? Then die in some foreign place someday without anyone knowing? The future was uncertain...

Chen Mu looked thoughtfully at the medicinal herbs on the ground. "I need a batch of medicinal herbs."

"You're not planning to leave?" Old Man Liu froze.

The Settlement was clearly no longer suitable for living.

Unless one wanted to go up the mountain and become a laborer.

"I need a lot. Can you get them?" Chen Mu asked evenly.

With his current strength, if he hid, it would be difficult for the yamen runners to find him.

"You're serious?!" Old Liu Tou was overjoyed.

"Deliver the herbs you collect to my Wooden Cabin. Payment upon delivery," Chen Mu said.

"Rest assured, Brother Yang. Even if this old man has to risk his life, I'll make sure the goods get to you." Old Liu Tou rubbed his hands excitedly.

What Chen Mu wanted included medicinal herbs as well as inconspicuous plants from Little East Mountain.

He could buy them cheaply from the laborers, then sell them to Chen Mu at a high price.

He had made quite a bit from their last transaction!

Chen Mu did not care about that small markup.

Many of the preservatives for Rice Balls and Fasting Pills came from local vegetation on Little East Mountain.

He needed to gather a large quantity as soon as possible so he could make emergency rations.

Outside the Wooden Cabin at the foot of Little East Mountain.

Chen Mu's expression was ugly.

Pots, bowls, and utensils had been thrown everywhere, while the books on the table had been torn apart. It looked as if someone had unwillingly searched through them page by page.

The two dried wild rabbits hanging beneath the eaves had also disappeared.

Those greedy yamen runners had used supervising construction and conscripting labor as excuses to ruthlessly loot the Settlement. Even his home had not escaped.

"I can't stay here."

Fortunately, he had stored the important things in the Five Ghosts Bag. Otherwise, this time's losses would have been severe.

The next day.

Chen Mu packed up his cookware and bedding, bringing along the tent left over from when he had used it to line the Five Ghosts Bag.

At dawn, he slung a bamboo basket over his back and entered the mist-shrouded Little East Mountain.

He would be leaving in just over ten days.

There was no need to clash with the yamen.

He would find a place in the nearby mountains, hide from the supervising yamen runners, and say goodbye to this place once his departure date arrived.

Two days later.

On the northern side of Little East Mountain, behind Qingfeng Temple, a Water Pool lay beneath a small tiered Cliff.

Bubbles occasionally rose to the surface as spring water surged up from below.

A small stream extended from beside the Water Pool and flowed downhill along the mountain slope.

Wisps of cooking smoke rose beside the pool. Chen Mu had a gray cloth scarf tied around his face, and the spatula in his hand blurred through the air.

The fish meat, shredded into thin strips, was flipped the instant it touched the bottom of the pan. Residual heat seeped inward, evaporating moisture and scorching the surface.

Spices, honey, medicine—different flavors slowly blended together, and an enticing sweet, slightly charred aroma spread through the air.

He had been living in seclusion here for two days.

He had set up a tent and made himself a simple dwelling.

He did not intend to stay long. He only wanted to prepare travel rations here and wait quietly for the departure date.

He had tried asking Jie Jia whether he could leave early, only to be flatly refused.

Chen Mu could not understand it at all. Were there really that many assassin missions in Qingshan County?

Just as he focused on frying meat floss and making Fasting Pills.

A childish voice suddenly came from overhead. "What are you making?"

Chen Mu looked up.

On the four-meter-high small Cliff, a delicate young Daoist boy was squatting there.

Cheng Ming?

How had this young Daoist boy found this place?

Had Qingfeng Temple discovered him?

Would they send someone to seize him and make him build the Altar?

Chen Mu felt helpless. Would he have to move again after settling down for only two days?

Living like this, constantly fleeing from place to place, was truly a disgrace to a transmigrator.

"It smells so good." Without receiving an answer, the young Daoist boy stared at the pan and swallowed greedily.

"Want some?" Chen Mu smiled.

"Yes!" Little Daoist Cheng Ming's eyes immediately lit up.

Chen Mu's smile vanished as he said coldly, "Go back and have Furnace Hand Fatty He make it for you."

Cheng Ming: "..."

"Big Brother Chen, just let me have a taste. I promise, only one bite!" The young Daoist boy was not discouraged in the least. His little legs moved, and he ran down the path beside the Cliff like a rabbit until he reached Chen Mu.

"You still remember me?" Chen Mu asked in surprise.

Their last meeting had been a year and a half ago.

The two had not interacted much then. They barely exchanged a few words a day.

Besides, the other party had only been an eight- or nine-year-old young Daoist boy.

"Of course!" Cheng Ming raised his head proudly. "Master says I'm extraordinarily gifted. This is called photographic memory!"

Chen Mu: "..."

Why was he suddenly a little jealous?

I'm a transmigrator, yet I don't even have photographic memory. How does a little Daoist boy have that ability?

"Big Brother Chen, let me have some. I promise, just one bite!"

On the Shitai beside the Stove, Cheng Ming held a large bowl the size of a human head, filled with boneless Pan-Fried Fish Fillet.

"So you ran here by yourself." Chen Mu let out a sigh of relief.

Cheng Ming ignored him entirely, stuffing food into his mouth with puffed cheeks like a hamster.

Chen Mu snatched away the porcelain bowl.

Cheng Ming looked at him pitifully and nodded. "Master and my senior brothers are busy all day and never around, so I ran out to play by myself."

Chen Mu returned the bowl to the young Daoist boy.

At least he did not need to worry about being driven away or captured.

"Don't tell the temple that I'm here." Chen Mu put on a stern face to scare him.

"Then can I still eat fish fillet tomorrow?" Rather than being afraid, Cheng Ming looked at Chen Mu with sparkling eyes.

"Yes!" Chen Mu rolled his eyes. Learning to extort people at such a young age—impressive.

"It's a deal!" Cheng Ming lowered his head and continued eating.

After finishing a huge bowl of fish, his stomach was still completely flat.

"Uncle He says I'm a bottomless pit." The young Daoist boy looked proud.

Look at how proud you are!

"Come on, have two good things." Chen Mu smilingly handed him two Fasting Pills.

"What are these?" Cheng Ming took them and immediately stuffed them into his mouth.

He really was innocent. He dared to eat whatever someone gave him.

"Fasting Pills," Chen Mu said solemnly.

Cheng Ming stiffened his little face and stared at Chen Mu without speaking.

"Rice Balls, Rice Balls, meat floss Rice Balls!"

"If you won't eat them, give them back!"

"I'll eat!" The young Daoist boy immediately stuffed another into his mouth.

After eating three in a row, he still wanted more. Chen Mu did not dare give him any more, afraid he would burst.

Yet Cheng Ming stared greedily at the Fasting Pills in Chen Mu's hand, his stomach still flat.

"You really are a bottomless pit." His appetite was almost on par with Chen Mu's.

"That's perfectly normal." Jie Jia deftly picked up a piece of Pan-Fried Fish Fillet. "If someone has an Innate Dao Bone, a large appetite is nothing unusual."

Dao Bone? Chen Mu had heard a new term.

"Don't think about it. They're people from a different world than us," Jie Jia said indifferently.

"What do you mean?"

"Ten years of Body Refining, a hundred years of Century Soul Nurturing. Even with extraordinary talent and unceasing hard work, reaching the Roaming Soul stage by age thirty is enough to be called a genius." Jie Jia suddenly spoke with deep feeling.

"After that, one must accumulate essence and energy, strengthen the Roaming Soul, and wait for it to reach completion and form into an Armor Soul. By then, an entire lifetime will have passed."

"But someone with an Innate Dao Bone can complete Body Refining in a hundred days and form an Armor Soul in three years."

"How can people like that be the same as us?"

It was the first time Chen Mu had seen Jie Jia speak so much.

"Is Soul Force really that difficult to cultivate?" He had Proficiency, so he had never found the Body Tempering Technique difficult, nor had he thought much of Soul Force.

Seeing Jie Jia lament like this made Chen Mu feel uneasy.

Then he thought of Cheng Ming.

Could that little fellow be one of those people with an Innate Dao Bone?

"Don't think about it. The moment such people appear, they're taken away. You would never meet one."

"There are plenty of people with big appetites. Inborn divine strength, Mutant Beast bloodlines, taking Shape Change medicines—any of these can make someone eat a great deal." Having said everything in one breath, Jie Jia took out a piece of white silk cloth and slowly wiped his mouth. He quickly composed himself and returned to his usual unfathomably calm demeanor.

After the meal, Chen Mu watched Jie Jia disappear into the thick mountain mist, his expression dark as he pondered Dao Bones.

This world really was unfair.

He had risen early and worked late, cultivating painstakingly for a year and a half, yet he still could not complete Body Refining. But some people could casually reach Body Tempering Mastery.

A sense of powerlessness rose within Chen Mu, and his expression grew even gloomier.

And Soul Force. Jie Jia had trained until his hair turned white before he finally developed Soul Force. Yet those with a Dao Bone needed only three years.

Chen Mu clenched his fists hard, his nails digging deep into his flesh. Gritting his teeth, he thought, Jie Jia found it that difficult. What about me?

The original owner had merely been an ordinary scholar, naturally frail in constitution. And he cultivated the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique, a technique common as dirt.

"Muscle Strengthening, Bone Strengthening, Marrow Cleansing."

"Ten years for Body Refining, a hundred years for Soul Tempering."

"I've cultivated diligently for a year and a half, yet I haven't even completed Marrow Cleansing!"

"A lowly martial artist like me, without resources, a master, or connections—when will I ever get my chance to rise?" Chen Mu's face was full of grief and indignation as he glared fixedly at the Gray Wall before him.

Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique: 5209/10000/Tier 3;

"Hm? I can complete Body Refining in three months at most?!"

Chen Mu blinked.

"Hmph!"

He fiercely dismissed the Gray Wall.

"These worldly things!"

"They disturb my Dao heart!"

"Better not to look at them!"