Aunt Zhen

Great Qi Kingdom is situated on the protruding eastern peninsula of the East Continent, sharing the same region as Yan Kingdom and Huang Kingdom. All three back onto the vast East Sea and face the Barbarian Wasteland to the west, which is why they have formed an alliance for centuries, often advancing and retreating together.

Great Qi lies at the center of the peninsula, sandwiched precisely between the other two kingdoms, but its national strength is the greatest, boasting a standing army of a million armored soldiers. Huang Kingdom comes next, and Yan Kingdom is the weakest.

Aside from the directly governed capital region, Great Qi's territory is divided into nine prefectures and thirty-six provinces, each province overseeing anywhere from several to over a dozen cities, not to mention countless towns and villages.

Feng City is the largest city within Quanzhou and serves as its provincial seat, ranking among the top five even within the entire Kaiyuan Prefecture.

The Jin Family is one of the most prominent clans in Quanzhou, owning vast tracts of land and estates outside the city, and also dealing in medicinal herbs and ores. Their influence extends to nearly half of Quanzhou.

All of this, Shi Mu learned from the blue-robed old man.

By now, he knew the old man was named Jin Cheng, an external steward of the Jin Family, seemingly holding some status among the family's servants—at least, the several Jin Family riders all treated him with great respect.

The group traveled for over a month on the road, passing through two cities before finally arriving at Feng City. They went straight through the city gates and headed toward the northwestern corner of the city.

Shi Mu sat by the carriage window, surveying the streets on both sides.

He had grown up in a fishing village and rarely ventured far; the largest city he had ever visited before was the nearby county town.

Feng City truly lived up to its reputation as the largest city in Quanzhou. Tall buildings of various styles lined the streets, and pedestrians bustled about on both sides, creating a lively and bustling scene.

Though the city before him was enormous and vibrant, Shi Mu's heart was oddly calm, without the slightest ripple.

With the group moving at a slow pace, the carriage traveled for a full half-hour before stopping in front of an unremarkable courtyard.

Shi Mu jumped down from the carriage, glanced at the white funeral banner hanging beside the gate, and his expression shifted slightly. Then he followed the blue-robed old man through the gate.

The several riders obediently remained near the carriage.

A short while later, inside a memorial hall decorated with white cloth, Shi Mu saw a woman dressed entirely in white mourning garments and a young girl of about ten years.

The woman appeared to be no more than twenty-eight or twenty-nine, with a dignified and elegant bearing. As soon as she saw Shi Mu, she spoke in a tone that brooked no argument:

"You're late. Your father passed away a few days ago. I don't know what feelings you hold toward your father, but you are still his flesh and blood. Come and pay your respects first. We'll discuss other matters later!"

The girl beside her had slightly reddened eyes but still looked at this unfamiliar elder brother with curiosity.

Shi Mu gazed at the black coffin placed in the center of the hall, his expression complicated.

The mourning woman saw this but did not urge him.

The blue-robed old man took the opportunity to step forward, whisper a few words to the woman, and then silently withdrew.

After a long moment, Shi Mu finally moved. He walked slowly to the coffin and said calmly:

"Open the lid. I want to see him one last time."

"No problem."

The woman clapped her hands twice.

Immediately, two burly men emerged from both sides of the hall, pushed the coffin lid open, and revealed a man lying quietly inside.

Shi Mu looked down at the man's face, which bore a six- or seven-tenths resemblance to his own, and his complexion turned pale. After a long while, he pulled an ordinary-looking bronze mirror from his waist and silently placed it beside the man's body.

"This is..." The mourning woman frowned slightly.

"I don't know what hardships my father faced that made him abandon our mother and me for years without returning, but my mother had a dying wish—to have this keepsake buried with him." Shi Mu spoke slowly, then turned and lit a stick of incense in the brazier before the coffin. He knelt and knocked his head heavily on the ground three times, "thump, thump, thump."

The mourning woman was momentarily startled, seeming somewhat surprised, but she did not stop him.

Shi Mu stood up again and stared blankly at the coffin in silence.

At that moment, the woman waved her hand, and the two burly men closed the coffin lid once more.

"Come with me. This is no place for talk. Your father left some matters for me to convey to you before he died." After saying this, the mourning woman led the girl toward an adjacent side hall.

Shi Mu raised an eyebrow and followed without a word.

"Since you were willing to kowtow, it wasn't in vain that I had Steward Cheng bring you here. I won't ask you to call me 'Mother,' but if you're willing, you may call me 'Aunt Zhen.' This is your half-sister, Yuhuan. Yuhuan, come and greet your elder brother." The mourning woman turned around as soon as they entered the side hall.

"Greetings, Brother Mu."

Shi Yuhuan had large eyes, arched brows, a straight nose, and a small mouth. Her lively, darting gaze gave her an impish and endearing air. At her mother's words, she immediately called out obediently in a crisp, pleasant voice.

Shi Mu nodded at the girl and forced a faint smile.

"Your father married into the Jin Family, but before he died, he prepared an estate, including a manor outside the city. As his eldest son, it naturally falls to you to inherit. Yuhuan and I only need this city residence. After all, I am a member of the Jin Family and lack for nothing in terms of wealth. Beyond that, your father once rendered a great service to the Jin Family, which is also why he died young. He never used that merit. So now, I can offer you two choices." The woman paused here.

Shi Mu looked at her, greatly surprised.

"One, as Steward Cheng said, I can use that merit to directly exchange for a Spirit Qi Pill from the Jin Family, giving you a chance to enter the Kaiyuan Martial Academy in the future. Two, I can borrow the Jin Family's influence to secure a low-ranking noble title for you in Great Qi, ensuring you a life of comfort and even passing honor and wealth to your descendants." The woman stared at the young man seriously and continued.

"A substantive noble title?" Shi Mu frowned.

"Indeed. Great Qi's noble titles are divided into Duke, Marquis, Viscount, Baron, and Knight, each corresponding to a certain status and power. I won't speak of the higher ones, but with this merit and our Jin Family's influence, a knighthood is certainly achievable, and it could even pave the way for you to obtain official positions later." The woman explained.

"No need. I want the Spirit Qi Pill!" Shi Mu said without hesitation after hearing this.

"You'd better think it over carefully before deciding. If I were you, I would choose the latter." The woman's face took on a strange expression as she spoke.

"What do you mean by that?" The young man sensed something in her tone.

"How much do you know about sensing Qi and martial artists?" The woman countered.

"From Aunt Zhen's tone, are you also a martial artist?" Shi Mu was taken aback for a moment, then asked slowly.

This time, the woman did not answer. She simply flickered and suddenly appeared before a side wall. Raising her arm, she pulled down a decorative, gold-hilted sword from the wall.

"Swish, swish." The air tore loudly as the long sword danced in the woman's hand, conjuring layer upon layer of sword shadows around her body. Then, with a flash of cold light and a clear ring, the sword transformed into a streak of rainbow light and buried itself into the wall, leaving only the hilt trembling faintly outside.

This scene left Shi Mu staring dumbfounded!

"Don't let my appearance fool you. I am actually one of the three late-stage Houtian Martial Artists of the Jin Family. Otherwise, how could I have wrung a Spirit Qi Pill out of them? After all, a Spirit Qi Pill is worth ten thousand gold, and often there's no market for it even at that price. When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out. No matter how great your father's contributions were in life, in the eyes of certain people in the Jin Family, they're not worth such a precious pill. That's also one reason I advise you to give up. If you want the Spirit Qi Pill, it will definitely displease some in the Jin Family. I can protect you for a time, but not for a lifetime."

"No matter what difficulties arise, I must become a true Martial Artist." Shi Mu replied without a moment's hesitation.

"Since you're so set on this, I won't try to dissuade you further. First, tell me what you know about the divisions of Martial Artist realms." Aunt Zhen sighed and said.

"Aren't Martial Artists divided into Body Tempering, Formal Martial Artists, and Nation-Protecting Martial Artists? I heard that once you become the most powerful Nation-Protecting Martial Artist, you can sit as equals even with princes and ministers!" Shi Mu said.

"You learned all this from the martial hall in town, didn't you? Those terms aren't exactly wrong! But the instructors in those halls—the highest cultivation among them probably barely reaches Houtian—how could they possibly explain the true divisions of Martial Artist realms to ordinary disciples like you?" Aunt Zhen wore an expression of 'I knew it.'

"I beg Aunt Zhen for your guidance!"

"The terms Body Tempering, Formal Martial Artist, and Nation-Protecting Martial Artist are actually just what common folk say. The true names for Martial Artist realms across the entire East Continent should be Martial Disciple, Houtian Martial Artist, and Xiantian Martial Artist. They correspond respectively to Body Tempering, Formal Martial Artist, and Nation-Protecting Martial Artist. In the Martial Disciple stage, anyone can practice body-tempering methods, but those with poor bone quality may never achieve great success in a lifetime. Houtian Martial Artists are those who have comprehended the sense of Qi and can cultivate true Qi. With the aid of true Qi, such Martial Artists can often defeat a hundred fully armored soldiers single-handedly—these are the true Martial Artists in common parlance. As for Xiantian Martial Artists, they are those whose true Qi has reached a certain level, allowing them to successfully open a Qi Mansion in their dantian and give birth to Xiantian true Qi within their bodies. Xiantian Martial Artists are the true masters of the martial way! If a dozen or so Martial Disciples at the peak of Body Tempering might join hands to kill a Houtian Martial Artist, then even a hundred Houtian Martial Artists working together often cannot touch a Xiantian Martial Artist. Because at the Xiantian realm, one can already project true Qi from the body and kill from a distance; under normal circumstances, Houtian Martial Artists simply cannot get close. But the difficulty of reaching Xiantian is beyond what ordinary people can imagine. As far as I know, in the entire Great Qi Kingdom, there are only seven or eight Xiantian Martial Artists." Aunt Zhen carefully explained to the youth.

"Xiantian Martial Artists are that rare?" Shi Mu was truly astonished.