After dinner, Chen Xuan once again began organizing household affairs with the servants who had returned. Bored out of his mind, Chen Luo took Ji Zhong, who was waiting for the next update, out for a stroll. This filled Ji Zhong with resentment.
"What a wonderful time this is! Instead of writing, why are we strolling around?" Ji Zhong complained under his breath.
Chen Luo shot him a sidelong glance. "What did you say?"
"N-Nothing..." Ji Zhong hurriedly waved his hands, then asked, "I was wondering which is more powerful, the Sunflower Manual or the Nine Swords of Dugu."
Chen Luo looked at Ji Zhong strangely. "The Sunflower Manual is more powerful. Do you want to practice it?" As he spoke, he meaningfully glanced at a certain place on Ji Zhong's body. Ji Zhong instantly felt a chill run through him and hurriedly shook his head. "No! I wouldn't practice it even if you beat me to death."
Ji Zhong then sighed. "I never thought a jianghu story about a group of ordinary people who couldn't cultivate would be so exciting! Young Master, you truly are a genius. What a pity you're not a disciple of the Confucian School, or you would definitely become a Great Scholar!"
Chen Luo automatically filtered out Ji Zhong's flattery and asked, "Ji Zhong, are there any methods of martial cultivation in this world?"
No wonder Chen Luo had always felt that something was missing from this world's cultivation system. Just think about it—in the era before sages, Heavenly Venerables, and Buddhas appeared in the world, how had humanity survived? Tempering the physical body should have been the most ancient form of human cultivation.
"Martial artists?" Ji Zhong paused, then thought for a moment. "You mean a path dedicated to training the body?"
Chen Luo nodded.
Ji Zhong pondered for a moment before saying, "The Barbarian God lineage of the barbarians follows precisely such a path. I once saw a Barbarian Warrior equivalent to a Writing Realm Confucian scholar withstand the verbal blades and spears of poetry with his physical body. In the end, it took five Writing Realm Confucian scholars working together to surround and kill him."
"The Ascetic Realm of the Buddhist School also focuses on cultivating the physical body. It's no weaker than the barbarians."
"Besides that, there are many combat techniques circulating among the common folk and jianghu. The experts among them can cultivate internal force. However, against cultivators, they're still utterly helpless and can only dominate among ordinary people."
"Other than that, I haven't heard of any other methods of physical cultivation. The Internal Energy techniques in your books, Young Master, do have the bearing of cultivation. They're rather novel and distinctive, but unfortunately, they're only stories."
A flash of inspiration crossed Chen Luo's mind, but he failed to seize it. After thinking for a while, he could only let the matter go.
As the two chatted, they walked all the way from Xi'an Street to Zishui Street, the liveliest street in Wan'an County. Various shops lined both sides of the road, while numerous vendors had set up stalls along the way. It could be called Wan'an County's CBD commercial street.
The Chen family also had three shops on this street: a rice shop, a cloth shop, and a pawnshop. Because of the Demon Tiger incident, all three shops had closed. They had only reopened yesterday.
"Since we're already here, let's go take a look!" Chen Luo said casually, leading Ji Zhong toward the nearest rice shop. Suddenly, Ji Zhong's brows furrowed. He flashed in front of Chen Luo and shouted, "Defend!"
The instant Ji Zhong began speaking, Chen Luo heard the sound of a poem in his mind.
A tall pine rises above the myriad trees, accompanying me toward the ends of the earth!
As the couplet "Tall Pine" was recited, a towering pine tree appeared before Ji Zhong. With a clang, it seemed as though an attack had struck the pine. Almost simultaneously, the illusory shadow of a bird flew from within the tree and shot toward the second floor of the teahouse by the road. With a bang, a burly eight-foot-tall man leaped out of a private tearoom facing the street. His gaze, however, was fixed in Chen Luo's direction. Before he even landed, the big man flicked his hand at Chen Luo again, sending countless silver needles as fine as hairs shooting toward him.
Ji Zhong remained unhurried and spat out another word: "Wind!"
The flowers and branches grew old in spring, unable to withstand the cold,
One night of wild wind swept against the painted railings.
All the crimson blossoms were blown away onto the mossy path,
Yet tomorrow, they would still be seen as a brocade carpet.
As Ji Zhong's "wind" left his mouth, a powerful gust sprang from thin air, lowering even the temperature by several degrees. The wind blew head-on against the silver needles. In an instant, they became like withered flowers and fallen willows swaying in the wind, as though weightless, and were blown to the roadside, where they scattered across the ground. Only then did everyone see that the silver needles were actually strands of animal fur.
By then, the big man had landed as well. His hat had fallen off, revealing a pair of enormous horse ears.
"A Horse Demon!" The pedestrians erupted in uproar and scattered in all directions. Suddenly, a white light lit up on the ground, as though a circle were about to trap the big man. It seemed Cai Tongchen had noticed what was happening and activated "Draw Ground as Prison" once more.
But the big man remained calm. Golden light flashed at his thigh, and his entire body appeared out of thin air beyond the glowing circle of Draw Ground as Prison.
"The Divine Ability of equine demons—Leap Sky! This is a Horse Demon at the Blood Refining Level." Ji Zhong spoke to Chen Luo in a low voice, guarding him tightly.
The Horse Demon's body shuddered and transformed into a white steed, the blood-red markings on its forehead exceptionally conspicuous. After looking back at Chen Luo, the Horse Demon prepared to use Leap Sky again to escape. Suddenly, a cold snort rang out above Wan'an County.
"Still!" A single word exploded like thunder and spread through the sky. The Horse Demon's body paused slightly, and Leap Sky failed. Almost simultaneously, even brighter white light flashed beneath its hooves. This time, the white light swiftly surrounded the Horse Demon, leaving it nowhere to flee.
"It's the Divine Ability 'Great Words of Meaning.' A Great Scholar has intervened!" Ji Zhong said. Chen Luo nodded. He had recognized it just now—the cold snort had come from Wei Yan.
A streak of azure cloud flew out from the county office. Cai Tongchen stood atop it, holding his Official Seal. A moment later, he arrived at Zishui Street.
Cai Tongchen first descended before Chen Luo and asked with concern, "Are you all right? Were you hurt?"
Chen Luo shook his head. Only then did Cai Tongchen walk toward the Horse Demon. But just then, a palm-sized distortion suddenly appeared in the space between Cai Tongchen and the Horse Demon. Two black beams shot out from the warped space at the same time, one toward Cai Tongchen and the other toward the Horse Demon. Cai Tongchen had only just raised his Official Seal to resist when Wei Yan appeared before him and blocked the black light with his hand. The other beam pierced through the barrier formed by the white light of fortune and struck the Horse Demon. At a speed visible to the naked eye, the fur and flesh on the Horse Demon's body rapidly corroded away, until nothing remained but a skeleton!
Wei Yan raised his palm and saw that the spot where he had blocked the black light had already split and curled, showing signs of decay. Cai Tongchen was shocked. "Master!"
Green light flashed across Wei Yan's palm and slowly gathered around the torn flesh, gradually wearing away the black energy.
"It's actually Nether Energy!" Wei Yan frowned slightly. Ignoring Cai Tongchen's concerned gaze, he walked up to Chen Luo. "Boy, do you know that Horse Demon?"
Chen Luo shook his head slightly, thoughts racing through his mind. "Senior, is the person behind this very powerful?"
"The Horse Demon was nothing special. The person behind it, however, has some skill. They can actually unleash the Nether Energy Death Ray unique to the Nether Land. When did you offend someone with such powerful backing?"
Chen Luo thought for a moment. "If we're talking about someone with powerful backing, I probably know who it is."
Cai Tongchen hurriedly rushed over. "Who?"
Chen Luo was just about to explain when he suddenly thought of something. "Not good! Chen Xuan is at home!"
Chen Luo hurriedly turned and ran back, with Ji Zhong following closely behind. Cai Tongchen looked toward Wei Yan, who glared at him. "I have a rough idea of who it is too. Let's see whether that boy's guess matches mine!" With that, his figure flickered and vanished from the spot.
Cai Tongchen watched Chen Luo and Ji Zhong disappear together with Wei Yan. A sudden sourness welled up in his heart. Master, have you really stopped being of one mind with me?
It was easy to recognize the face of the east wind, helping me keep getting recommended.
After several chapters of helpless background exposition, the new plot has finally begun! Very soon, Student Chen Xiaoluo will be able to unlock his own path of cultivation.
And who exactly is the Book Spirit of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer? I guarantee no one will guess it!
Before you continue