I Want to Ask Your Brother to Look After Her

Yan Zhennan fell silent, apparently weighing whether it was true.

The meat was rather peculiar. Mu Ye felt it was somewhat like the flesh of a demon beast, but not quite. It seemed to have undergone some special processing.

"This is Bitter Flesh, refined from Demon Flesh and the internal organs of wild beasts," Yan Zhennan said quietly. "After eating it, you can speed up the awakening of the Divine Apertures in a Martial Warrior's body. It can even make our Divine Apertures continuously pour out power comparable to that of demons..."

"Something this good exists?" Mu Ye asked.

"Good?" Yan Zhennan sneered. "This isn't a good thing. Demons are savage by nature. If you dare eat their flesh, you'll gradually be influenced by them. No matter how carefully it's processed, it'll still affect you over time."

"I was wondering how Tie Wuhua, with her mediocre aptitude, had made such rapid progress over the past two years. She used to be fairly even-tempered, too, but now she's slowly turning into a different person..."

Yan Zhennan's eyes flickered as though he'd figured out many things. "And the Iron Leg Sect's Vajra Leg is inherently harder to master than the Crimson Flame Fist. Their disciples used to be weaker than ours, but in recent years they've quickly overtaken us... So they've been using these forbidden items banned by the imperial court."

"Forbidden items?"

"That's right. In several past dynasties, Bitter Flesh was forbidden by the court to prevent ordinary people from eating it and eventually turning into demons. That would only cause even more trouble."

"But nowadays..." Yan Zhennan let out a quiet sigh.

The imperial court probably couldn't keep a handle on everything. Though it was forbidden on paper, plenty of Martial Warriors were likely eating it in secret.

"Still, the source is crucial if you want to buy this kind of meat..." Yan Zhennan said. "Even in the Black Market, it's rarely seen."

Mu Ye pondered this, recalling the Night Raid on the Iron Leg Sect and the conversation he'd overheard that night.

Bitter Flesh came from demons and could only be made by hunting them. If he could trace the supply, he might be able to find out who had sent those two Man-Eating Demon Foxes to the Shen Family.

"And they must be working with the Iron Leg Sect..."

The conversation he'd heard that night had been about targeting the Shen Family.

"What I heard was, 'My Lord is coming back soon.' That means some powerful figure is returning..."

"I should keep an eye out for any famous people arriving in Taiping City lately."

Once he'd learned what he needed, Mu Ye immersed himself in training.

After a full day of practice, Mu Ye was about to log off when he suddenly remembered the disciple who'd been driven out for entering the martial hall with his left foot before his senior brother.

"Could there be some kind of side quest?"

Since he'd seen it himself, there might well be.

So Mu Ye asked around at the Neighborhood Clinic. The man had been beaten up, so he was bound to need treatment.

It didn't take long for him to get an answer.

"The man you're asking about is called Han Qi. He came to me half a month ago with three broken ribs, but he couldn't afford the medicine. There was nothing I could do."

The clinic doctor looked helpless. "He lives on Old Beggar Street, south of the city. His frail old mother lives with him. He's in decent shape, but his injuries are too severe. He'll live a month or two at most..."

After hearing that, Mu Ye had a strong feeling this was definitely a side quest. He headed straight for Old Beggar Street in the south of the city, Taiping City's Slum Area.

He soon found the man's home, and just as he'd expected, it was exactly as described.

"I stole hundreds of thousands in coins from the Iron Leg Sect... and this man is owed a share of it. I might as well save his life."

Life settled into a quiet routine.

With a Spirit Field to tend, there was plenty to do—catching pests, cutting weeds, and turning the soil. Mu Ye had to split his work in two: mining and training in the morning, then weeding the Spirit Field in the afternoon. He was making sure to keep both hands busy.

At first, Mu Ye thought this might slow his progress in the two Divine Aperture Secret Martial Arts.

But after he started practicing Vajra Leg, the speed of his progress in both arts actually increased again.

The reason was simple.

"These two Martial Arts don't interfere with each other. I can train them both at once, splitting my focus..."

"One fist, one leg—or maybe they were always meant to be a whole. Practicing them together even seems to complement each other."

That was something Mu Ye hadn't expected.

On top of that, the Geng Metal Qi from the Golden Hawthorn Locusts he'd caught coursed through his legs after he cooked and ate them, greatly aiding his Iron Leg Sect training. His progress was no slower than with the Crimson Flame Fist—in fact, it was faster.

In less than half a month, with all those boosts, Vajra Leg had already reached the fifth level, putting it at the minor mastery stage.

The Crimson Flame Fist had reached the ninth level and was nearing perfection at the tenth.

"I never imagined that practicing two Secret Martial Arts at once would actually make me progress faster..."

"Looks like the founder of the Divine Fist Martial Hall really was something special..."

He'd created a true martial art like the Innate Qi Technique despite losing a hand and a leg, and become a Grandmaster. If he'd lived in the Cultivation World, Mu Ye figured he could've made quite a name for himself.

"Now I've opened more than a hundred Divine Apertures. I'm a proper Third Grade expert."

Of course, among Third Grade experts, a hundred-plus Divine Apertures was only the beginning.

You needed five hundred Divine Apertures to enter the Fourth Grade.

Everyone from a hundred to four hundred and ninety-nine was Third Grade, so there was a huge gap between one Third Grade expert and another.

Shen Qingchan, Mu Ye felt, had only just entered the Third Grade.

As he thought, Mu Ye gave the mine wall a gentle kick.

The stone wall would once have taken a day or two of digging to show even the slightest dent. Now, his kick left a hollow an inch deep.

He didn't feel a thing in his lower leg.

"Opening the Divine Apertures in my legs doesn't just let me move like the wind; it also lets me cleave stone and cut metal, with power as vast as the sea..."

"If I were to compare myself to a Body Cultivator... I could probably just about pass for one at the second or third level of Qi Refining?"

Of course, that was mainly thanks to the Divine Aperture Martial Arts.

The Mortal Martial Arts of the Cultivation World only focused on internal energy. They weren't nearly this powerful.

But if you asked whether Divine Aperture Martial Arts could match genuine Body Cultivator techniques, they still fell short.

They seemed to fall somewhere in between.

Of course, he'd made such progress in just over half a month for another reason, too: he'd been eating for free at the Shen Mansion.

Every time he went, the Shen Mansion laid out a lavish feast.

After eating, the dishes gave his character a powerful buff that increased Martial Art training speed. The ingredients must have been top-tier—and not Bitter Flesh, but genuine Natural Treasures such as Centennial Lingzhi and Snow Mountain Lotus Seed.

In the Cultivation World, these things counted as excellent first-tier Spirit Medicines.

In the world of Sword and Blade Demon Sealing, they were surely rare treasures. Only a powerful household like the Shen Family could afford them.

"Madam Shen really is a rich woman."

With the Shen Mansion to rely on, life couldn't get much more decadent.

Of course, Madam Shen was investing in him, too. Mu Ye understood that.

"If only this Game System let me spend money. If I could trade for Spirit Stones or Red Flame Stone, those would be cross-world treasures..."

Unfortunately, the game had no cash shop.

It really wasn't a proper game system.

"I've been saving Han Qi for more than half a month, and his color has only just started to improve... He'll probably need several more months of treatment."

Mu Ye wasn't in a hurry. He'd just treat it as returning the stolen money to its rightful owner—robbing the rich to help the poor.

And so, life passed in peaceful monotony.

A month later...

That night, at the Shen Mansion.

"I've found out something about the Man-Eating Demon Foxes."

Mu Ye entered the Shen Mansion with practiced ease. Only after eating his fill did he speak unhurriedly. "Would Madam Shen like to hear?"

"Before we discuss that..." Madam Shen lifted the wisps of hair beside her cheek with her slender, jade-white fingers and lightly picked up the teapot. As she leaned forward to pour, her figure curved like a laden branch bent beneath ripe fruit. "I'd like to ask you for another favor."

"What is it?"

"It's about Qingchan..." Madam Shen offered him a teacup and said softly, "Qingchan wants to go to Chishui Village. There are demons causing trouble there, and it may be dangerous. I'm truly worried."

"You want me to go protect her?" Mu Ye thought with a smile.

Shen Qingchan had come out a few times over the past several months. Though she hadn't been very friendly, she'd still come to ask him for Martial Art instruction each time.

But under the power of the Geng Metal Grass-Cutting Sword, even though that girl had opened more Divine Apertures than he had, she'd been beaten in a single move every time.

She was intensely unwilling to accept it, yet could only swallow her frustration and come humbly to ask for guidance. That was... kind of amusing.

Her Favorability hadn't risen much, but at least it had gone from -5 to 0.

Clearly, she still couldn't stand Demon Sealers, but she did acknowledge strength.

The Demon Sealer character setting seemed to make it impossible to change Shen Qingchan's Favorability. It was as if it were locked in place.

"No..." Madam Shen shook her head gently. "There's no need... I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"Then you..." Mu Ye didn't understand.

"I heard..." Madam Shen smiled faintly. "Mu Fengmo, you have a brother, don't you? Mu Huangtu, the famous genius disciple of the Divine Fist Martial Hall! He reached the Second Grade after just one month of training. He's a true Martial Arts Genius."

"..."

"I'd like to ask your brother to accompany Qingchan and look after her."

"They're about the same age. Your brother is chivalrous, and Qingchan won't clash with him. They'll have company along the way, and if anything happens, they'll be able to handle it together. It's perfect."

"..."

[ Y u n h a i S w o r d S e c t S i d e Q u e s t : P u r g e D e m o n s a t C h i s h u i ( R a n g e r O n l y ) ]

[ S i d e Q u e s t R e q u i r e m e n t : P r o t e c t S h e n Q i n g c h a n a s s h e r e t u r n s f r o m C h i s h u i V i l l a g e ]

[ A c c e p t / D e c l i n e ]

Looking at the game screen, Mu Ye's expression turned complicated. This was interesting.