The Wonders of the Saint Breaking Tree, Red-haired Ganoderma!

Chen Yan hadn't gone all out after all.

It wasn't that he was worried about what Hu Yuan might do. He was afraid one punch might actually kill him.

The gains he'd made today were simply too great. After eating one [Strength] Character Saint Breaking Fruit, he'd eaten a [Skill] Character Saint Breaking Fruit as well. Chen Yan's strength had increased by far too much.

Hu Yuan's wails came from behind him. Chen Yan left without looking back. His classmates watched his lean figure retreat, their eyes filled with a hint of fear.

Chen Yan kept practicing until nightfall. Only after the school was completely empty did Wang Yang call him home.

When he reached the street, Chen Yan realized his family's Noodle Shop was already closed.

Next door, the Clothing Store was being dismantled. The proprietress, red-eyed, was carrying clothes out of the shop.

Chen Yan's thoughts stirred as he recalled what Hu Yuan had told him earlier. He hurriedly asked,

"Auntie, are you closing your shop?"

The proprietress looked at Chen Yan, her eyes filled with grievance and anger. In a muffled voice, she said,

"We're poor people, with no power or connections. Losing the shop is just a matter of someone saying a word or two."

Chen Yan frowned. Shops in town had to apply to the Town Martial Hall for their premises, and they all had contracts.

The proprietress seemed to see what he was thinking and snorted.

"Contracts and all that matter to us, but they don't bind the big shots one bit. It's the same everywhere.

"Zhang Ge is rich and powerful. He runs a Martial Arts Hall in the county, and his son even awakened Qi and Blood. How hard could it be for him to get a plot of land?"

Chen Yan pressed his lips together. It seemed the Town Martial Hall really was going to take back their Noodle Shop and rent it to Zhang Qingsi's father.

The problem was, their family had only three mu of farmland. They planted it every year, but the wheat harvest brought in only a little over two thousand yuan. That didn't even account for the cost of labor or fertilizer.

Without the Noodle Shop, his family would only fall into even greater hardship.

His heart felt heavy.

He and Zhang Qingsi were classmates, but all the other boy's father needed was a word or a smile to sever his family's lifeline.

A sudden chorus of cries rang through Chen Yan's mind. He looked at the street and the townspeople passing by, resentment congealing and piling up inside him.

"I heard someone went into the Inner Qingshan near Majia Cliff yesterday and picked a Red-haired Ganoderma."

"It is Red-haired Ganoderma season these days. One of those can fetch at least ten thousand yuan."

"That's too dangerous. Are you trying to get yourself killed? If you've got a little spare money at home, don't take risks. Didn't you hear that Zhang Yu from Zhang Village died after going into Qingshan the other day?"

"Exactly, it's too dangerous. Unless you're desperately short on money, you should put your life first."

A few people walked by, chatting. Chen Yan's gaze shifted, and he ran home.

When he arrived, Chen Yuxu was reading, with the meal already laid out on the table.

"Dad, the Town Martial Bonus selection is next Monday. I think I've got a good chance."

Chen Yan said as he entered.

"The Town Martial Bonus?" Chen Yuxu froze and quickly put away the book in his hands.

"You mean the selection where one person is chosen from each class?"

"Hm?"

Chen Yuxu nodded and smiled.

"Of course my son is amazing."

Chen Yan pressed his lips together. Chen Yuxu was definitely just humoring him.

"Dad, about our shop..." Chen Yan continued.

"Oh, you heard about it. Don't worry. Your dad went to high school with the head of the Town Martial Hall. They'll move other people out, but they won't need to touch our place."

Chen Yan was a little surprised, but Chen Yuxu's words dispelled the anger in his heart.

Was that really true?

He'd been worried that his father would be forced to risk a trip into the Inner Qingshan.

There were many treasures in the Inner Qingshan. The father and son next door, Li Ming and his father, could usually find a treasure worth ten or twenty thousand yuan each year.

But going into the Inner Qingshan was very dangerous, too.

Hearing that their shop wouldn't be taken back, Chen Yan felt much more at ease. In the courtyard, he continued practicing that same punching move.

Though he wasn't at school, after a whole day of practice, he was already very familiar with the movement.

The first light of dawn crept over the wall, a faint orange-red glow.

As the leisurely chirring of cicadas echoed, Chen Yan walked out of his room and stretched in the yard.

On the front courtyard wall, locust blossoms swayed as their branches peeked in from outside.

"I'll be able to make Locust Flower Cake in a few days."

Breathing in the refreshing fragrance of the locust blossoms, Chen Yan smiled. He paced around for a bit, then realized Chen Yuxu wasn't home.

Chen Yan frowned at once. His younger sister was studying at County High School and usually came home around noon every Saturday. Under normal circumstances, Chen Yuxu wouldn't be out at this time.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked. Chen Yan opened the wooden door, and a Mediterranean man in his forties stood outside the courtyard gate.

"Is Chen Yuxu here?"

The man's voice was stern, carrying an air that brooked no disobedience.

Chen Yan's heart tightened. The man was probably an officer of the Town Martial Hall. He was sure he'd seen him before.

"He's not here. What do you want?" Chen Yan asked.

"Not here?" The Mediterranean man frowned, then looked at Chen Yan and said coolly,

"Tell him when he gets back: everything in your family's Noodle Shop has to be cleared out by next Tuesday at the latest. If it isn't gone by then, the Town Martial Hall will clear it out for you."

With that, the man left.

Chen Yan's brows knitted tightly. Chen Yuxu had lied to him yesterday.

He went into the backyard, his gaze narrowing. The brand-new cleaver that had been left there was gone.

Frowning, Chen Yan entered Chen Yuxu's room. His father's padded jacket was missing, too.

A chill crept through Chen Yan's heart. Many mountain runners wore padded jackets even in the height of summer. His gaze swept around and fell on a book tucked at the bottom of the wardrobe.

From the cover, it was the novel Chen Yuxu had been reading. Chen Yan picked it up, his expression darkening further.

[Green Mountain Mountain Running Diary]

Chen Yan stood there, stunned, a flicker of anger rising in his eyes. But the anger wasn't just directed at himself. It was also directed at Chen Yuxu.

And at the people who'd forced his father to go mountain running.

His son had been bedridden for a year and was about to take the College Entrance Exam, without ever having undergone a Medicinal Bath. His daughter was still studying at County High School. The tuition and living expenses for both children weighed on him until he could barely straighten his back.

When he stepped outside, an old man sat at the neighboring gate, watching Chen Yan with a faint smile.

Compared with the earthen walls and wooden gate around Chen Yan's home, the neighboring courtyard's newly tiled exterior gleamed. A huge iron gate coated in red paint shone brightly.

"Your dad probably went to Qingshan. I saw him leave very early," the old man said with a chuckle, his cloudy eyes rolling. "Red-haired Ganoderma is ripe these days. Maybe your family's about to strike it rich."

Chen Yan narrowed his eyes. His family and their neighbors weren't on good terms; they'd had plenty of conflicts in the past.

Chen Yan returned to the courtyard and stood motionless for a long time.

It seemed as if the sky had darkened.

Outside, laughter drifted in as the old man next door chatted with someone.

Chen Yan threw a punch. A sharp pop of compressed air sounded around his fist.

He drew his fist back, his expression icy.

[Saint Breaking Realm: Level 2 (1/15)]

[Saint Breaking Fruit:

Strength: (73/100)

Blood: (9/100)

Skill: (27/100)]

"I really have been living too comfortably."

Muttering to himself, he picked up a Backpack and filled half of it with stones from the corner. Then he went into the kitchen and took a fire poker.

He left.

"What's that Chen boy carrying a stick for?"

Next door, the man chatting with Old Master Li watched Chen Yan's retreating figure in surprise.

"He's poor, that's why. Off to get himself killed. Not everyone has my Li Xuan's ability."

Old Master Li watched Chen Yan's retreating figure with cloudy eyes, wearing a strange smile.

Along the way, Chen Yan asked the villagers if they'd seen Chen Yuxu.

The answer was that Chen Yuxu had indeed headed toward Qingshan.

At the Foot of Green Mountain was a lake where Hu Zeyuan was fishing.

"Lao Hu, something's wrong! I just saw your nephew heading toward Qingshan. Go talk him out of it!"

Someone hurried over and called out.

"Chen Yan?" Hu Zeyuan froze.

"Yeah. The boy was clearly heading for Qingshan. Looks like Chen Yuxu already went in," the man said with a frown.

Hu Zeyuan's brows furrowed, then lifted.

"What's that got to do with me?"

"He's your nephew," the man said, stunned.

"Damn nephew." Hu Zeyuan gave an irritated snort and went back to fishing.

"Having such a poor relative is enough to curse my family for eight lifetimes."

"Chen Yan's better than your son, at least. He passed the Punching Strength Test."

"My son was just one point short!" Hu Zeyuan protested even more indignantly.

Chen Yan ran all the way to the mountain, where a massive double-layered iron fence blocked off the entire back mountain. The fence stood ten meters tall, installed by the Town Martial Division.

It was electrified. An ordinary adult who touched it would be knocked unconscious instantly; touching it from the other side of the mountain would get them electrocuted to death.

Chen Yan looked at the ground. The path ended here, but a trail had been trampled through the uneven grass. It was clearly made by people.

Following the trampled trail, Chen Yan walked along the fence for about fifty meters before spotting a huge hole in a hidden corner.

People from the village had made it. Chen Yuxu had told him the hole had been there for a long time.

Chen Yan squeezed through and quickly followed the still-visible footprints up the mountain.

Clutching the fire poker tightly, Chen Yan didn't dare let his guard down for even a moment.

The air gradually grew damp, and the oppressive heat of summer began to fade. The trees around Chen Yan grew taller and thicker.

Some were so huge it would have taken ten people joining hands to encircle their trunks.

Suddenly, Chen Yan stopped and frowned. He looked at the trunk of a sturdy cedar tree beside him. It was covered in yellow-green moss, and growing alongside the thick patches were clusters of purple hazel mushrooms.

This...

Chen Yan frowned. That was how foraging went: sometimes, you could find treasure in a place other people had already passed through.

Purple Hazel Mushrooms were valuable. In Green Mountain Town, they sold for a hundred and fifty yuan per jin, more expensive than beef.

There were so many here, at least three jin.

Chen Yan gritted his teeth. After committing the surrounding area to memory, he prepared to head farther up the mountain.

Where had Chen Yuxu gone?

He couldn't imagine how long Chen Yuxu, a man with no strength to fight a chicken, could survive in Qingshan.

But just as he was about to run, he froze again.

A strange feeling rose in Chen Yan's heart, because this time the change came from the Saint Breaking Realm.

In the boundless starry sky, orange light streamed in from the endless darkness and slowly sank beneath the roots of the Saint Breaking Tree.

The orange light that affected the [Strength] Character Saint Breaking Fruit appeared whenever Chen Yan exercised or labored.

But besides this orange light, there was also a barely perceptible streak of red light.

That red light affected the [Blood] Character Saint Breaking Fruit.

The change caught him completely off guard. Chen Yan frowned. He hadn't pushed past his limits, which meant the red light couldn't have come from him.

It had to come from outside...

A gust of chilly wind blew through the forest, making the height of summer feel bitterly cold.

Chen Yan looked around. Between the overlapping tree trunks, he had the eerie sense that something was watching him. It breathed low and slow, sizing up the prey that had fallen into the forest.

The woods were like an endless ocean, towering trees stretching straight to the heavens. Amid them, he felt like a fish that couldn't breathe.

A shiver of dread suddenly rose in his heart. Thinking of his father somewhere in the dangerous depths of the forest, Chen Yan stopped paying attention to the changes within the Saint Breaking Realm and quietly ran toward the mountaintop.

But as he ran, the red light inside the Saint Breaking Realm grew clearer and clearer. At its most intense, Chen Yan stopped and looked around.

About fifty meters to his upper left, he glimpsed a streak of crimson amid the weeds.

Chen Yan hesitated. The gloomier the scenery around him grew, the more fear swelled in his heart.

"What am I hesitating for?"

Hadn't Chen Yuxu come in despite the danger for the Treasure Medicine?

He hurried over and parted the weeds. There it was: a red-brown umbrella-shaped creature about the size of a hand. Its overlapping cap resembled a lotus, but was covered with fine red strands like hair.

This was what had stirred the Saint Breaking Realm.

Red-haired Ganoderma!