After eating and drinking their fill, the group set off on the road of flight once more. Before leaving, Leader Cai told the village chief about what had happened in Qingya County, essentially telling him to stay alert and flee for his life as soon as he noticed anything amiss. Unfortunately, the village chief did not take it to heart, and few of the villagers did either.
They had got used to living here. Naturally, they would not uproot their families and flee for their lives over a single remark from Leader Cai. If they were truly going to run, they would only set out after confirming the news.
Leader Cai did not try too hard to persuade them. After all, this was only his guess. Perhaps those people would stop after burning Qingya County.
In Leader Cai's eyes, this so-called rebellion was nothing more than a joke.
He himself was the biggest bandit chief near Qingya County. If Rebels were active nearby, there was no way he would not know. So without even thinking about it, Leader Cai knew there was something wrong with Qingya County's incident. But he was only a bandit chief, insignificant and lacking influence. Even knowing the truth was useless; he could not change the overall situation.
This world had always been this rotten.
The Imperial Court banned the Martial Dao. Ordinary people could not come into contact with true power at all. All they could do was submit, then struggle to survive.
Leader Cai had once been an honest farmer too. Later, he truly could not survive any longer, so he went up the mountain to become a bandit. In the beginning, Fierce Tiger Stockade had only a few brothers. It was only after more and more people could no longer survive that it gradually grew into a Mountain Stronghold.
When all was said and done, Fierce Tiger Stockade was merely a pack of wretches like stray dogs.
They could not come into contact with the Martial Dao and could only feel their way forward as they trained.
That was also why everyone in Fierce Tiger Stockade immediately believed Chen Luo after he displayed the Martial Dao. Because in their eyes, anyone who could come into contact with the Martial Dao was The Nobleman!
"brother Chen, are you interested in joining our Fierce Tiger Stockade? If you are willing to come, I'll give you my position."
After walking for a short while, Leader Cai slowed down and came to Chen Luo's side, asking in a low voice.
Leader Cai was very shrewd.
After witnessing Chen Luo's Martial Dao, he began making plans. An expert who knew the Martial Dao was an opportunity for both him and Fierce Tiger Stockade!
So what if he stepped down and yielded his position, so long as Chen Luo was willing to join Fierce Tiger Stockade?
A true path toward mastering power—he believed none of the brothers in the stronghold would refuse it.
"I don't have any plans in that regard for now. Brother Cai, you flatter me."
Chen Luo shook his head and declined.
During the brief rest earlier, he had borrowed the eunuch's brain to sort through his Black Tiger Fist, gaining fresh insights. Eunuch Wei, that Dead Eunuch, possessed far better aptitude than the jianghu wanderer Chen Luo had recorded before. It was only because the struggle for power and profit had delayed his cultivation. Otherwise, Chen Luo might not truly have been his match.
He had already made up his mind.
Once they got through this stretch, he would take Third Uncle somewhere to settle down first, then use the newly acquired "brain" to practice the Black Tiger Fist all over again.
Especially that Imperial Clan brain.
He had not dared use it even now. He had a premonition that the Imperial Clan brain was different from every jianghu wanderer brain he had come into contact with before. It would very likely point out a completely new road for him. If he was lucky, he might even break through directly into the Third Realm, Bone Forging.
It was precisely because of this feeling that Chen Luo had not dared use it rashly.
In an unstable environment, missing such an opportunity would mean a tremendous loss.
After walking for another half a day, the group finally left the country paths behind and began to see some proper roads.
Once they reached this place, the group from Fierce Tiger Stockade had to change routes.
They also had a stronghold in Yanhu County, with people from the stockade stationed there. A cunning rabbit had three burrows—this described bandits like them perfectly. No wonder the Authorities could never wipe them out.
"brother Chen, if you ever change your mind, Fierce Tiger Stockade will always welcome you."
Leader Cai said reluctantly.
They were bandits who had taken to the wilds, so naturally they could not enter the city. Having reached this point, Chen Luo and his uncle were temporarily safe. With the threat gone, Chen Luo planned to find a place to settle down first and properly digest the gains he had made recently.
"Certainly."
Chen Luo clasped his hands in farewell.
Setting aside his identity as a Mountain Bandit, Leader Cai was quite a good person—loyal and brotherly. His strength was simply a little lacking.
After parting ways with the group from Fierce Tiger Stockade, Chen Luo took Third Uncle and settled down in the nearest Fanjia Village.
This was the village closest to Yanhu County.
After Chen Luo and his uncle arrived, they rented the most remote house from the local village elder and temporarily settled in.
"Once this storm passes, we should return to the village. Such a huge incident happened in Qingya County. Eldest brother and the others must be worried again." Chen Laosan cooked some food, carried it inside, and set it on the table.
The eldest brother he spoke of was Chen Luo's parents.
Life in the villages was difficult in this world as well. They dug for food in the fields all year round, yet still could not manage a full meal in the end. Chen Luo's father had truly been unable to hold on any longer, which was why he sent his son into the city to rely on Chen Laosan.
Back then, Chen Laosan had been the most accomplished person in Chen Family Village.
Don't look at him as merely a corpse burier—he ate the Guan Family's grain.
"We should go back."
Chen Luo nodded.
After he and Third Uncle made do with a simple meal, they each returned to their rooms to rest.
The houses in the village were unlike those in the county town. Their greatest feature was their size. The house the uncle and nephew had rented was a courtyard with four entrances, and every room was spacious.
Sitting inside his room, Chen Luo began focusing his attention to summon that Imperial Clan brain.
Along with the concentration of his thoughts, his consciousness once again appeared from a third-person perspective. The brand-new Imperial Clan brain replaced his senses, and his entire being seemed to have been rebooted. His memories were clearly still the same, but recalling them now felt incomparably vivid. He even remembered with crystal clarity the times he wet the bed as a child.
The Black Tiger Fist should not be practiced like this.
After reviewing the cultivation method of the Black Tiger Fist once, such a thought suddenly arose in his mind.
The fist technique optimized by over a hundred jianghu wanderer brains now appeared riddled with flaws. Not only were there many incorrect methods of exerting force, but the use of power itself was also disharmonious. Though it was only a fleeting moment, once Chen Luo practiced the Black Tiger Fist to its later stage and brought it to great mastery, that point of "disharmony" would be magnified without limit. When he encountered an expert of a higher level, that point of "disharmony" would become the place where he lost his life.
"Weak on the spiritual level, and agility is somewhat lacking as well. Eunuch Wei's brain can be borrowed; he has abundant experience in cultivating speed."
The Imperial Clan brain continuously summarized his existing abilities, optimizing and reorganizing them.
Very quickly, it devised a completely new direction for Chen Luo.
The power was still the same power, and the fist technique was still the same set of fists. Yet his strength had increased by nearly double out of thin air!
When the Imperial Clan brain withdrew in exhaustion, Chen Luo felt a tremor run through his entire body. An indescribable fatigue surged into his heart, making him forget even the subsequent "training." He collapsed directly onto the bed and fell asleep.
One night passed.
After waking from a night's sleep, Chen Luo felt refreshed and invigorated. All the hidden injuries left behind from fighting Eunuch Wei and the others in Qingya County had healed completely. The Internal Qi inside the body had become more active, and his mind had become incomparably clear. The bottlenecks he had encountered while learning the Black Tiger Fist had all become clear to him now.
"This Imperial Clan brain... does it have some kind of special bonus?"
Chen Luo froze slightly.
They were all brains, so why was the Imperial Clan brain so different from the others? Could there be something inside it that he could not see?
For example... a Spirit Root?
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