Parting

This world allowed for immortal cultivation; Chen Luo had heard about it long ago from his master, Crippled Ma.

But Crippled Ma didn't know much either. Most of his descriptions of immortal cultivators were vague rumors—things like roaming the heavens and earth, achieving immortality, and so on. When pieced together, there was almost no useful information. The only feasible path was to push martial arts to its peak and enter the Dao through martial arts.

That was Crippled Ma's plan.

Chen Luo didn't fully understand it, but that didn't stop him from striving in that direction. Of course, if a better shortcut came along, he wouldn't mind switching paths. He just didn't know if the immortal cultivators in this world followed the same system as the novels he used to read—Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and so on.

Pulling back his thoughts, Chen Luo sensed his current state.

His strength was still at Internal Training, but it had improved slightly—equivalent to jumping from Early Internal Training to Late Internal Training, skipping an entire realm. The Internal Qi flowing through his body had also become much denser. Previously, it was as thin as a thread, barely noticeable; now it was as thick as a thumb. When he called upon his Internal Qi, he could clearly feel the surge in power.

Calculating based on Junior Sister He Min's strength, he could probably take on about three hundred of her now.

"I wonder how Junior Sister He is doing."

Thinking of his junior sister, Chen Luo couldn't help but feel a pang of melancholy.

Qingya County was now in complete chaos. He could only hope that his master and junior sister managed to survive this calamity. Once he achieved great accomplishment in his divine skill, he would return and slaughter all those corrupt officials who had wronged them.

Creak.

The door opened, and Chen Laosan, who hadn't slept all night, came out with dark circles under his eyes.

"I'm going out to see if I can gather some news. You make do with whatever you can find to eat."

Chen Laosan handed his nephew Chen Luo a sweet potato he had roasted the night before, then left on his own. After fleeing here, they were basically safe for now. But Chen Laosan was desperate to know what was happening in Qingya County. He still had several lovers in the county town, especially Widow Wang in the alley. He had fled in such a hurry that he had no idea how she was doing.

The thought of never being able to engage in physical labor with Widow Wang again filled him with melancholy.

"Be careful on the road."

"I know."

Chen Laosan waved his hand and walked out the door without looking back.

"Not bad tasting."

Picking up the roasted sweet potato from the table, Chen Luo ate a simple meal before starting his daily practice.

With last night's experience, he felt as if he had divine assistance.

After running through a full set of Black Tiger Fist, Chen Luo could clearly sense his improvement. This kind of visible progress was something that had never been possible before. Even if you stacked the brains of over a hundred Jianghu wanderers together, they couldn't come up with this. But now, the Royal Family Brain had given him direction, and it made Chen Luo understand the true meaning of "genius."

Stacking a hundred pig brains together was still less useful than one genius brain! A hundred pig brains could come up with a hundred more comfortable ways to sleep, but they could never figure out a way to make a pig fly. The Jianghu wanderer brains he had harvested before were all mediocre—if this were a game, they'd be Gray Aptitude. But the Royal Family Brain was different; it was clearly Purple with Gold Streaks. Just obtaining one had brought him a qualitative change.

This also solidified Chen Luo's resolve.

When the opportunity arose, he would dig up an immortal's brain to use, no matter what.

After resting for a moment, Chen Luo got up and resumed his fist practice.

Strength was the foundation for survival. Now that he had finally set foot on this path, he couldn't afford to slack off.

And so, three days passed.

In those three days, Chen Laosan left early and returned late every day. Through the information brokers in Yanhu County, he gathered a lot of news about Qingya County. But most of it was false. The Imperial Court's official announcement claimed that someone in Qingya County had killed officials and started a rebellion, involving remnants of the former dynasty, and even a member of the royal bloodline had been killed by the rebels.

"What rebels? It was all those deranged corrupt officials who did it!!"

Chen Laosan slammed the table in fury and downed a large bowl of water.

The news he had gathered over the past two days was all the same. Compared to ordinary rumors, the common folk in Yanhu County were more inclined to believe the official notices posted by the authorities. Chen Laosan was filled with frustration, but he didn't dare voice it outside, so he could only vent at home.

"Third Uncle, you should go back to Chen Family Village first. Now that the news has spread, I'm worried my dad might rush to Qingya County to find out about us." Chen Luo spoke up.

In three days, the area had basically been sealed off. Once the situation stabilized, given Old Man Chen's personality, he would definitely be the first to charge into Qingya County. His son and his own brother were both in the county town—even if a calamity of war broke out, or even if knives were falling from the sky, he would still go.

To prevent that scenario, Chen Luo planned to have his third uncle make a special trip to stop his dad first.

"Alright!"

Chen Laosan didn't drag his feet.

In truth, he had wanted to leave for a while. Unlike Chen Luo, Chen Laosan hadn't practiced martial arts. Staying cooped up in this place every day was suffocating. It would be better to go back to the village and talk things over with the clan.

"Take care of yourself. If things get too bad, just come back with me."

"I'll stay for now. I'll go back once I've finished dealing with things here." Chen Luo didn't explain why.

He had reached a critical point in his martial arts training over the past two days.

The cultivation method provided by the Royal Family Brain had brought him to the brink of a breakthrough. He had to seize this opportunity to push through to the Bone Forging Realm in one go. Once he reached the Third Realm, the situation he faced would be completely different.

Don't underestimate the Imperial Court's power—a Bone Forging Realm Master was still considered a major figure even within the court. The Eunuch Wei whom Chen Luo had killed with a brick earlier was only at Internal Training. That alone showed the weight of a Bone Forging Realm Master.

Chen Luo had already made up his mind. Once he broke through to the Bone Forging Realm, he would return to Qingya County. Before, when his strength wasn't enough, he had to endure and hold back, preparing for "thirty years on the east bank, thirty years on the west." Now that his strength had arrived, it was time to show them that he "didn't eat beef" anymore.

"I don't know if taking you to learn martial arts was the right thing to do."

Chen Laosan hesitated, still worried.

But when he saw the firm look in Chen Luo's eyes, all the words on the tip of his tongue turned into concern.

"Don't go causing trouble out there. This world is vast, and experts are as numerous as fish in a river. In all my years as a corpse burier, I've buried countless Jianghu masters. Some of them were younger than you, and they were just as ambitious as you are now. But in the end, they all became cold corpses. Their families might not even know where they died."

As he spoke, Chen Laosan placed a hand on Chen Luo's shoulder and spoke earnestly.

"Live, and you'll have a future. Anything else is just bullshit."

"I've got it."

Chen Luo nodded, indicating he had taken those words to heart.

He had another meal with Third Uncle, and only then did the two part ways.

Chen Laosan had bought a donkey. There was still a stretch of road from here back to Chen Family Village, but fortunately it was all Official Road, so he wasn't too worried about safety.

Looking at the money pouch Third Uncle had left on the table, Chen Luo let out a faint sigh.

"It's not much, but it's your old man's way of showing he cares. Spend it sparingly, and for heaven's sake don't go looking for girls in the alleyways. You're still young—don't follow your old man's example. Otherwise, when you get back, your grandpa will break my legs for sure."

Third Uncle's nagging, rambling nonsense still echoed in his ears.

This was all money meant to find Chen Luo a wife. Now that no wife had been found, the money naturally stayed behind.

Great ones, I beg for a few votes. Just trying to survive—a new book isn't easy~