Return, Martial Path Road

When Chen Xuan returned to the village, it was already gradually nearing midnight, but he did not head straight home.

There was no helping it. If he went back looking like this, his mother would worry herself to death.

Fortunately, there was also an irrigation water channel at the village entrance. Using it, he thoroughly washed his body clean.

Only after the foul stench had completely vanished did he return home with the Lotus Flower.

The moment he caught sight of his home,

Chen Xuan saw his mother, Zhang Chunhua, standing at the door, her gaze landing right on him.

"Er Gou, you?"

At the sight of Chen Xuan, Zhang Chunhua could not help but breathe a sigh of relief, but she quickly noticed that he was soaked through.

"Mother, I got covered in mud up in the mountains, so I washed up in the water channel."

Chen Xuan spoke and offered an explanation.

As for the excuse, he had already thought it through just now.

"Er Gou, if you were dirty, Mother could have washed you."

"Come on, hurry back and change your clothes. Don't get sick!"

Zhang Chunhua lovingly stroked her second son and hurriedly urged him.

"Alright!"

Chen Xuan nodded and obediently hurried back inside to change his clothes.

As for the fact that Chen Xuan had not brought back any food, Zhang Chunhua did not ask about it.

After all, hunting was not that easy. It had been more abnormal for her son to bring food home every day over the past few days.

After returning home, Chen Xuan carefully stored away the Lotus Flower before changing his clothes.

The family ate dinner together.

Compared to before, thanks to the hunting income from these past days, the family undoubtedly ate much better.

After dinner,

Chen Xuan did not choose to begin immediately.

Instead, he decided to rest for a day.

Today had truly been far too perilous.

Even now, merely recalling it made his scalp tingle in waves.

At every step, if he had made even the slightest mistake, or been even a moment too late, perhaps he would not have made it back today.

Whether it was the Giant Python in the Cold Pool or that terrifying existence afterward that could battle the Giant Python, either could have killed him with ease.

Had it not been for the bug-like Conceptual Ability, he might not have had any chance at all.

Scene after scene flashed through his mind, thought after thought intertwined, and before he knew it, he had fallen into a deep sleep.

This day had been too exhausting. He could even be said to have been utterly spent.

That sleep lasted until the sun was high in the sky before he slowly woke.

The moment he woke, Chen Xuan felt utterly refreshed from head to toe.

"Guoguo, you're such a lazy pig. The sun's already shining on your butt!"

Xiao Shitou pouted as he spoke.

"Hahaha!"

Chen Xuan chuckled and rolled over to climb up.

At that moment, he did not know whether it was an illusion, but he could feel that his strength seemed to have increased quite a bit.

However, he only wondered about it briefly before Chen Xuan quickly noticed the Lotus Flower he had carefully stored in the cabinet nearby.

This Lotus Flower was undoubtedly strange. Even though it had been picked for more than a day, it remained exceptionally vibrant.

Looking at the Lotus Flower,

Chen Xuan let out a soft breath, then turned his gaze back to the Conceptual Ability.

Target: Cultivate martial arts and enter the Skin Refining Realm (pending confirmation)

Setting complete

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"Path One: Every day, use all parts of the body to strike trees. Then, use Cold Pool Lotus Flower as the medicinal catalyst. Every three days, add one petal to clear water in a wooden barrel and boil it. Then use the boiling water for a daily medicinal bath for half an hour, until the water cools to room temperature. This can keep the vitality within the body unceasing for one month. After one month, one can reach the Martial Artist's Skin Refining Realm."

"Path Two: Three hundred li outside Green Mountain City lies a Blood Demon Sect stronghold. Reach the Blood Demon Sect, pass the Blood Demon Sect trial and successfully join the Blood Demon Sect. Undergo blood refinement to temper the body. If you do not die after three months, you will successfully enter the Martial Artist's Skin Refining Realm."

"Path Three: Join the Overlord Blade Martial Hall, gain the favor of the Overlord Blade Hall Master, and obtain secret medicine. Within one year, you can complete martial skin refining."

As the words appeared, they changed once again.

The original Path Three had directly become Path One, while Paths One and Two had become Paths Two and Three.

At the same time, the contents of Path One had become more detailed.

Chen Xuan was not too surprised by this.

After all, he had now obtained the Cold Pool Lotus Flower.

Naturally, Path Three had become much simpler.

"Strike all parts of the body, then take medicinal baths!"

Chen Xuan murmured softly, his eyes flickering. At this moment, he could not suppress the excitement in his heart.

Finally, finally, at this moment, he had obtained a true path into the extraordinary.

In this dangerous world, without power in his grasp, Chen Xuan had never been able to feel at ease.

No one knew what he—or even his family—might encounter in the next moment.

Especially after encountering that strange existence in the river and the terrifying Giant Python in the mountains, Chen Xuan's heart had grown increasingly urgent.

But now, those urgent worries finally had a solution.

The extraordinary. So long as he gained a path to the extraordinary, both he and his entire family would see great improvement.

Although he still did not understand much about this world,

Chen Xuan understood that this was the key to truly crossing the divide between classes.

And it was the only path.

This much could be seen from the difficulty of the Martial Path Road that the Conceptual Ability had revealed before.

"Huu!"

He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

Chen Xuan then began to act.

First, he found a large wooden barrel, filled it with water, and placed it on the stove.

Although he would only need the medicinal bath after finishing his training, Chen Xuan prepared it first just in case he had no strength left once he was done.

After preparing everything, he instructed Shitou to start heating the water at dusk before leaving the house.

His destination was the back mountain.

Naturally, he could not strike himself nearby. Otherwise, if the villagers saw him, they would think he was possessed by a ghost.

The place he had chosen was at the foot of the back mountain, a spot he had settled on after observing the area over the past few days.

On one hand, it was secluded. On the other, there were enough large trees there to help him strike his body.

As for hunting today, Chen Xuan had no plans to continue.

The food at home was enough to last ten days to half a month anyway, so he did not need to worry too much.

Very soon, he arrived at the patch of forest at the foot of the back mountain.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Xuan stepped before a tree that was a full fifty-six centimeters thick, lowered himself into a horse stance, then punched the tree.

He did not hold back. Since this was body striking, Chen Xuan understood that the greater the force, the greater the effect.

The force slammed into the tree, and the tremendous recoil made him suck in a sharp breath.

But he did not stop. His other hand struck out once more.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

In the forest, the sounds of impacts soon rang out one after another.

Amid those repeated collisions, Chen Xuan's hands quickly became bloody and mangled, but he paid them no mind. Once both hands were completely powerless, he took off his shirt and used the front and back of his body to slam into the tree.

Once he had struck his upper body, he moved on to his lower body.

When he grew tired, he rested for a while, then continued striking.