Shi Fen pulled out his phone and called his father.
"Um... Dad, tell everyone to pack their things. We're moving to Bright Moon Residential District in a little while."
Shi Tie exclaimed excitedly, "You signed a contract with the Extreme Martial Arts Hall too?"
"No. Today..." Shi Fen briefly explained what had happened when Elder Qian came over.
He ended the call.
Shi Tie was still stunned. Becoming a disciple of one of humanity's top figures was far more impressive than becoming a Martial Artist... Coming to his senses, Shi Tie hurriedly shouted, "Honey! Shi Tian! Let's go home and pack. We're moving today!"
When Li Ziyi and Shi Tian heard the news, they were just as dumbfounded. Their good fortune had come too suddenly.
By the time the three of them arrived at their rented house,
a squad of soldiers in camouflage uniforms was waiting quietly downstairs for them. Three military vehicles were parked beside them, loaded with piles of cardboard boxes and bags full of packed belongings.
The sight gave all three of them quite a scare.
Having the military handle the move was certainly something else.
At the same time, another squad of soldiers knocked on Shi Fen's door.
The four members of the Shi Family didn't need to pack their belongings themselves. The two squads had been ordered to help them pack and move to Bright Moon Residential District as quickly as possible.
"Master sure is in a hurry." Looking at the people bustling around, Shi Fen didn't know what to say.
It really did save him a lot of trouble. All he had to do was say what needed packing, and the move was over in no time.
That afternoon, the four members of the Shi Family met up again at Bright Moon Residential District.
Moving everything over had been quick, but unpacking took much longer. Although all their belongings had been brought into the rooms, it was hard to say how long it would take to put everything away.
The villa Elder Qian had arranged for Shi Fen was right next door to Luo Feng's home.
When Luo Feng's family learned that the Shi Family had moved in, they came right over to help, spending the whole afternoon getting everything unpacked. By dinnertime, they were more or less settled in.
"Elder Qian really went to a lot of trouble." When Shi Fen moved in, he found that the place had already been completely prepared for them. They could practically move right in. The kitchen cabinets and refrigerator had been stocked with all kinds of new items, chosen according to their habits.
He couldn't have been more thoughtful.
The next day, after telling his family, Shi Fen dialed the number.
"Hello, I'm Shi Fen. Elder Qian told me to call once I'd taken care of everything."
A gentle female voice came through the phone. "All right, Mr. Shi Fen. The aircraft coming to pick you up will be here shortly."
"An aircraft?" Shi Fen asked, stunned.
"Yes. It's expected to arrive at your residential district within ten minutes." The woman on the phone still sounded gentle and soft-spoken.
"All right, thank you," Shi Fen replied politely.
"You're welcome, Mr. Shi Fen. Goodbye, and have a safe trip."
Shi Fen ended the call, grabbed the backpack he'd prepared, and headed downstairs to the residential district's landing pad to wait.
Before long, a black, triangular aircraft slowly descended onto the landing pad.
The cabin door opened, and a sturdy, lean-faced soldier in combat gear jogged over to Shi Fen.
"Mr. Shi Fen, welcome. Please come aboard. We'll be leaving right away."
"Okay." Shi Fen followed him into the cabin.
The cabin was empty except for the two of them. There were two rows of seats along the sides, with a fairly large open space in the middle. Various rails and hooks were fixed to the metal floor.
Following the soldier's example, Shi Fen fastened his seat belt.
As soon as he buckled up, he felt the aircraft shudder. They were taking off. After a powerful burst of acceleration, it instantly broke the sound barrier. Even after reaching supersonic speed, the aircraft continued to accelerate.
Curious, Shi Fen looked around. The takeoff hadn't affected him at all. Turning to the soldier sitting rigidly beside him, he asked, "Where are we going?"
"Hongning Base City," the soldier replied gravely.
"How long will it take?" Shi Fen asked.
"About thirty-four minutes." The soldier remained as terse as ever, as if saying another word would be a betrayal of his profession.
Shi Fen had often dealt with soldiers in his previous life, so he wasn't surprised. Soldiers with a strong sense of duty were usually like that.
Shi Fen gazed out through the window beside him to pass the time. It was his first time seeing the world from high above, and he found it fascinating. He didn't notice the time passing at all.
"Are we there?" The aircraft began to descend, and the land gradually grew larger in his view. Shi Fen knew they must have arrived.
After landing, Shi Fen rode in an armored vehicle and finally reached his destination.
"You rascal, I didn't expect you to get here today." Elder Qian had been waiting for a long time. As soon as Shi Fen got out of the vehicle, he greeted him with a smile.
"Master, how did I end up at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall headquarters?" Shi Fen asked, puzzled.
"Heh, you don't know? I can forge here without running away, even if the King of Heaven himself shows up." Elder Qian chuckled.
"Uh, that's true." Shi Fen was taken aback.
"Come on, I'll show you my Forging Room." Elder Qian said, then strode off without looking back.
Shi Fen had more or less figured out his master's personality. He followed him deep underground.
"Well, what do you think of my secret Forging Room?" Elder Qian asked proudly.
Shi Fen guessed the Forging Room was about twenty meters underground. It was huge—more like an enormous subterranean palace.
"Impressive!"
Shi Fen praised it sincerely. It was far better than the Forging Room they had back home.
Elder Qian smiled proudly, reached into his pocket, and pulled out three palm-sized glass bottles filled with a dark liquid. He stuffed all three into Shi Fen's hands.
"Don't worry about forging for the next few days. You're too weak right now. This is all the medicinal liquor I've been saving. Drink one bottle every other day. Once you've finished all three, you should just barely have enough strength to do high-level forging.
"This is a good thing the Extreme Martial Arts Hall gave me. Don't waste it.
"By the way, do you know the Martial Artist ranking system?"
Shi Fen nodded lightly and replied respectfully, "Last time, thanks to Luo Feng, I learned about the Martial Artist rankings from Jiang Nian of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall. Martial Artists are divided into Fighter Level, War General Level, and War God Level, and each has low, middle, and high ranks. Then there's Beyond War God-level, but I don't know what that entails."
"Not bad. Do you know what my medicinal liquor is made from?" Elder Qian gestured for Shi Fen to sit. A mysterious smile appeared on his face as he looked at him.
Shi Fen immediately sat down. He was excellent at keeping up appearances. He knew how valuable this medicinal liquor was, and it was almost certainly made by steeping Spirit of Vegetation in alcohol. He was deeply moved, but merely shook his head in confusion.
"I don't know."
Elder Qian rubbed his hands together smugly, thinking, At last, there's something you don't know.
"This liquor is made by soaking Spirit of Vegetation, which nourishes the body, in fine, aged wine, then extracting its essence. It can greatly nourish your blood and energy and improve your constitution.
"For the weak, it can improve their physical fitness and directly increase their strength. In my case, the liquor can make up for the toll forging takes on my body. You're young, so you don't feel tired. Forging top-quality weapons takes a long time and can drain a person completely.
"I had to scrimp and save to get these three bottles. I only get one a year."
Elder Qian stared at the glass bottles in Shi Fen's hands. He hid it well, but Shi Fen still noticed the pain in his eyes.
Shi Fen pretended to be astonished. "This liquor is that powerful? Then what exactly is Spirit of Vegetation?"
The pain deep in Elder Qian's eyes grew stronger. He did his best to keep his voice even as he explained, "You can think of it as a 'heavenly treasure'—a plant that absorbs a special energy from the universe and gives birth to the essence of heaven and earth. It's an extremely rare treasure."
"Something that sounds so mythical really exists?" Shi Fen continued to feign astonishment.
"People can already fly through the sky and burrow underground. Something like this is only natural." Elder Qian stopped looking at the bottles. His eyes grew calm, and his thoughts settled.
"If you drink this miracle medicine so often, then your strength must be..." Shi Fen thought of the question and immediately asked.
"Barely a High-level War God. I'm old, so I can't improve anymore." Elder Qian stroked his chin and gave Shi Fen a teasing look.
"Whoa!" Shi Fen drew in a sharp breath. This time, he really was shocked.
Who would have thought!
My master is this strong? Doesn't that mean I've got a War God for a master now? Shi Fen thought smugly.
Although Shi Fen had an even more powerful inheritance treasure, his teacher Yi was absurdly strong. But those things still felt rather distant. A real master was something else.
Besides, this was the mysterious "Master Qian Wu."
It meant something different!
"Master, you're amazing." Shi Fen's eyes seemed to sparkle with admiration.
He worshipped him. In his previous life, his "Master Qian Wu" had been "too weak to hurt a fly." In this life, his "Master Qian Wu" was a High-level War God.
What a contrast!
Elder Qian waved it off, not taking it seriously. A hint of pride showed in his eyes as he said, "My strength was built up with treasures. It's nothing worth mentioning."
"That still makes you strong! I'm sticking to you like glue, Master." Shi Fen laughed proudly.
Elder Qian couldn't help but laugh at Shi Fen's words.
He liked Shi Fen even more.
He was neither affected, phony, nor eccentric. No one could dislike a forging genius like that.
Elder Qian made his arrangements. "All right, don't do anything else this morning. There are plenty of rest rooms in my Forging Room. Pick one nobody's ever used, and stay here for now.
"Drink a little of the medicinal liquor first. Get your strength up to at least the Quasi-Fighter physical fitness threshold. I'll have someone bring you various manuals later. See if you can learn 'Five Hearts Towards Heaven' in a short time. It's the Genetic Origin Energy cultivation method, the training method Martial Artists use to improve their strength.
"It's more effective to cultivate while your body is weak.
"After you drink too much medicinal liquor, your body will have excess nutrients, and the effects won't be as good."
Shi Fen listened quietly to Elder Qian's arrangements. When he finished, Shi Fen hesitated briefly, then ventured, "Um..."
"If you've got something to say, say it. Don't hem and haw," Elder Qian said sternly.
Shi Fen plucked up his courage. "Actually, I'm a Spiritual Master."
As he spoke, Shi Fen unleashed his Spiritual Force and controlled the objects around him, making them all float into the air.
Shi Fen believed that before seeking him out, his master must have already looked into his background. His master had been candid with him from the start and given him so many things. There was certainly an element of trying to build a connection, but those treasures were undeniably real.
On top of that, his "Master Qian Wu" from both his lives was gradually becoming one and the same in his eyes. They had spent little time together, but with his sharp instincts, Shi Fen had found something familiar in him.
After experiencing life and death, that feeling was even more moving.
So Shi Fen decided to share some information with his master just as candidly.
Before you continue