The Simple, Kindhearted Little Village

The instant Zhang Xuanchen swallowed the Healing Pill, a wave of warmth swept through his body.

The gentle medicinal power flowed into his limbs and bones.

Whether it was his cracked bones or his damaged internal organs, they recovered at an astonishing speed under the nourishment of the medicine.

The deep wounds on his surface, sliced open by leaves, rapidly scabbed over, healed, and shed their scabs.

Half an hour later, more than half of the injuries to his Meridians and body had recovered.

At this rate, he would be able to walk normally after tomorrow.

However, he would probably only be able to wield about half his strength.

The damage to his Meridians was still affecting him considerably.

That Golden Core cultivator had shown no intention of holding back. From the start, he had aimed to destroy Zhang Xuanchen's Meridians and Dantian.

If he had succeeded, then even with his trump cards, Zhang Xuanchen would have been nothing to fear.

Fortunately, he had refined the Earth Vein Profound Sun Fire. Otherwise, his path of cultivation would have ended here.

I still wasn't cautious enough.

I need to correct that in the future and leave myself a few more backup plans.

Lying on the bed, Zhang Xuanchen stared at the ceiling and seriously reflected on his shortcomings.

"Food's ready."

As the words fell, the middle-aged woman pushed open the door, carrying a bowl of stir-fried greens mixed with a few shreds of meat.

Two steamed white buns sat atop the dish.

Zhang Qingqing carried over a bowl of egg soup and set it on the table.

Clearly, this was already the best food the family could offer.

Even the two steamed white buns in the bowl had been begged from someone else.

He could see Zhang Tiedan standing at the doorway, holding a coarse-grain bun and dipping it into soup without even a trace of egg, eating with great relish.

From time to time, he poked his head in to look at the bowl of egg soup on Zhang Xuanchen's table, his eyes filled with longing.

Seeing Zhang Xuanchen's tightly furrowed brow, the middle-aged woman's face flashed with a trace of apology.

"Our family doesn't have anything good to offer. We can only bring out some simple home cooking to tide you over. Please don't mind it. You're injured, so you can't go without food."

In truth, this was not simple home cooking at all. They only ate such food once during holidays and festivals.

She said it that way so Zhang Xuanchen would not misunderstand and think they had saved him for some ulterior motive.

Hearing this, Zhang Xuanchen realized the family had misunderstood him.

He had not been disgusted by the food at all.

They had brought out their very best to entertain him. If he still looked down on it, could he even be called human?

In his previous life, he had grown up eating this sort of food with his grandparents.

Putting on a pained expression, he sat up from the bed. Under the shocked gazes of the two women, he said, "Uh... you've misunderstood. You saved my life and took care of me for so many days.

"I haven't even had time to thank you. How could I possibly dislike it?"

"Y-you can actually sit up?"

The middle-aged woman and Zhang Qingqing's eyes were filled with shock, but they quickly calmed down.

"You really aren't an ordinary person. Even the Third-rate Martial Artists in our village can't compare to you."

Hearing this, Zhang Xuanchen smiled and nodded.

"I followed my master in the mountains and practiced martial arts from a young age. I'm a First-rate Martial Artist, and my physique is relatively strong, so I recovered faster.

"Not long after I came down from the mountain, a group of Bandits set their sights on me. Although I killed them all, I was seriously injured as a result.

"I walked for a while before passing out. When I woke again, I was here."

He could not reveal his identity as a cultivator.

If word spread that a badly injured immortal had suddenly appeared in Little Village, it would surely bring disaster.

The several factions connected to the Earth Core Fire Crystal and the Purple Cloud Sect would not give up easily.

Although that Third-tier Low-grade Teleportation Talisman had sent him ten thousand li away,

such a distance was not truly far for Foundation Establishment and Golden Core factions.

He could not afford the slightest carelessness.

Pretending to be an ordinary martial artist was just right.

Ordinary martial artists were divided into third-rate, second-rate, and first-rate.

Above first-rate were Houtian Martial Artists, and Innate Martial Artists, who were as elusive as divine dragons in the mortal world.

Without the aid of treasures such as pills and talismans, it was not difficult for an Innate Martial Artist to kill a Qi Refining early-stage cultivator.

And according to what he had heard, above Innate Martial Artists were the legendary Martial Grandmasters of the Grandmaster Realm.

Their combat strength was no weaker than that of a Qi Refining Level 7 cultivator.

This was also the peak of mortal martial artists.

However, this path was difficult. Without great perseverance, one could forget about entering the Houtian realm—even becoming a First-rate Martial Artist was hard.

Among the more than eight hundred thousand mortals of the Zhang Family, there were only ten Innate Martial Artists.

Even Zhang Xuanchen himself was only at the level of a Houtian Martial Artist right now.

The difficulty was easy to imagine.

However, Zhang Xuanchen's policy encouraging martial arts had been implemented for less than three years.

He believed that there would be more and more high-level martial artists in the future.

After all, the reward for producing a Houtian Martial Artist was exactly the same as the reward for producing a child with a Spiritual Root.

There was no need to fear that they would not work hard.

"Wow, you're actually a legendary First-rate Martial Artist! Village Chief Grandpa said that even in the County Town, people like you are important figures. Can you teach me martial arts?"

"Iron Egg!"

The moment Zhang Tiedan spoke, the middle-aged woman rebuked him.

She understood very well how important martial arts inheritances were. How could poor families like theirs, with neither connections nor money, ever touch such things?

It would be bad if they offended this great man because of it.

Yet Zhang Xuanchen merely smiled and waved his hand. "It's fine. It's perfectly normal for children to admire the strong."

After saying that, he looked toward the middle-aged woman and asked, "By the way, after talking for so long, I still don't know how to address my benefactor."

Seeing Zhang Xuanchen's gentle, spring-breeze-like demeanor, the middle-aged woman inwardly sighed in relief. "Young Master may call me Li Lan."

After learning that Zhang Xuanchen was a First-rate Martial Artist, Li Lan was clearly somewhat restrained.

But there was no helping it. This was still far better than saying he was an immortal.

Otherwise, he could not explain his condition.

"Then I'll call you Aunt Lan. And don't call me Young Master. My name is Zhang Xuanchen. Aunt Lan can just call me Xuanchen."

Having lived two lives, Zhang Xuanchen naturally would not put on airs.

"Li Lan? Li Lan?"

As the two spoke, an aged voice came from outside the door.

"It's the Village Chief."

Li Lan hurried outside and approached an old man around sixty or seventy years old.

Several young men followed beside him, each carrying vegetables grown by their families. Those in better circumstances even held two eggs in their hands.

Smiling, she said, "Village Chief, what brings you here?"

"Didn't I hear that the young man has woken up?

"He must be hungry. We just finished making food at home and happened to make a little too much, so help us finish some of it."

Li Lan quickly waved her hands in refusal and whispered, "How can that be? You and everyone else have helped us so much during this time. How can I accept your things again? I can't take them."

Ever since Li Lan's husband had passed away, the family had not been well-off. During the dozen or so days she had cared for Zhang Xuanchen, they would have been unable to hold on without support from the other villagers.

Yet the Village Chief earnestly persuaded her, "Li Lan, this is everyone's heartfelt kindness. Don't refuse it.

"When Zhang Qiqiang was alive, he helped educate the children of the village. Everyone saw that.

"And Little Village isn't filled with only kindhearted people like you. We also want to do good deeds and accumulate a little merit. Are you going to refuse us that too?"

"That's right, Aunt Li. My father told me to bring this over. You can't refuse it."

"If you don't accept it, Aunt Li, I'll get beaten when I go back."

Everyone spoke over one another, and Li Lan could no longer bring herself to refuse.

After hesitating for a moment, she finally accepted.

She could only repay these debts of kindness someday in the future.

Though they had not spoken loudly, Zhang Xuanchen heard every word clearly.

What a simple and kindhearted village.

Before leaving, he should do something for them.

PS: These two chapters are somewhat calm, but they are important groundwork for the later plot. Fellow Daoists, please do not worry.