Misunderstanding

"There are so many demons and monsters in this world."

Lu Bian's eyes shot out bolts of electricity as he peered into the depths of the lake, where a demon was churning the water, attempting to drag a small boat beneath the surface.

Lu Bian then looked toward the sacrificial procession on the lakeshore. The dozen or so people were dressed differently from the Han people; they belonged to a small tribe. Not a single one of them felt any sorrow as they offered a young child to the demon.

"Sigh..."

Lu Bian knew he was about to meddle in affairs that didn't concern him again.

He could never stand by and watch the demon in the lake snatch the child from the boat to devour him; it went against his own heart.

With electricity flowing over his body, Lu Bian controlled the power of the Magnetic Rotation to lift himself into the air.

At the fiftieth heaven of Magnetic Rotation, one could hover and fly without expending power, but Lu Bian, currently only at the twentieth heaven, had to consume energy to take flight.

The calm surface of the lake suddenly exploded, water spraying everywhere as a god-like figure wreathed in lightning flew at high speed toward the center of the lake.

"You monster! Get out here, you bastard!!"

Lu Bian shoved the small boat, pushing it toward the opposite shore.

Next, Lu Bian raised his hand toward the lake, parting the water and dragging the demon out from the depths.

"Gaa~!!"

A demon covered in long green hair struggled in the air, draped in water weeds and algae, emitting a foul, fishy stench.

"Kee~!!"

"Die!!"

The Ultimate Arhat Fist energy appeared behind Lu Bian. The lake water surged as the Ultimate Arhat pressed his palms together, and Lu Bian unleashed the Ultimate Arhat Fist at the demon.

In the end, it was just a minor monster, and it was blasted to death by Lu Bian's punches under the power of the twentieth heaven.

The massive Ultimate Arhat Fist energy dissipated, and Lu Bian descended toward the small boat.

Standing at the bow, the boat moved automatically toward the shore.

"Child, where is your home?" Lu Bian asked the young boy who had been the sacrifice.

"Home? I don't have a home anymore."

"Do you have any other relatives?" Lu Bian asked again.

"I... I have relatives, but my family was ruined because of them! Wuu wuu..."

The little boy covered his face and began to cry.

"With no one to rely on, you were sent to be a sacrifice?"

"Wuu wuu wuu..."

The little boy just kept crying and could no longer answer Lu Bian's questions.

Lu Bian looked back at the lake; after killing that water monster, there were no other demons left.

"Child, stop crying."

"..."

The sobbing stopped.

The little boy was quite sensible; he stopped crying as soon as he was told to.

"Immortal, can I take you as my master!? I want to avenge my parents!!"

"..." Lu Bian looked at the child.

"No," Lu Bian told him.

"I don't teach just anyone."

"If I teach you and you cause trouble in the future, wouldn't that implicate me?" Lu Bian said.

The child fell into silence.

"If you won't teach me, then I'll go find someone else to teach me skills!"

"Hm?"

The little boy scurried away, his expression one of absolute determination.

One second, Lu Bian was thinking about how to handle this homeless child, and the next, the child had run off on his own.

"Sigh..."

Lu Bian went to fetch his donkey and then pursued the direction in which the boy had run.

He could not ignore someone in need of help.

Lu Bian had intended to tell the child that he would help him find justice, but the child hadn't had the patience to let him finish speaking.

It was wrong to let a child be immersed in thoughts of revenge all day; growing up with such hatred would twist his mind.

Lu Bian had already memorized the child's magnetic signature. As long as the boy couldn't teleport thousands of miles away, Lu Bian would be able to find him.

He followed behind the child, curious to see who exactly he would find to teach him the skills for his revenge.

The little kid knew enough to stick to the main road, but he had little concept of how treacherous the human heart could be.

The little boy walked along the main road for several days, foraging for fruit in the woods when hungry and drinking from streams when thirsty, until he finally arrived at a bustling small town.

"Knowing five hundred years into the past and five hundred years into the future?"

The little kid was actually literate; he stood before the stall of a wandering Taoist, watching the man tell fortunes for others.

"What are you looking at, kid? Don't get in my way."

"You, do you really know everything about the last thousand years?" the child asked cautiously.

"Oh, you want a reading?"

The Taoist held out his hand and said, "Show me the money."

The child pulled a gold leaf from his person, which he had fished off the small boat when he was being used as a sacrifice.

"Gah! Is this real?!"

"Fine! I'll take a look for you! Tell me your birth date and time."

"You don't know? Then give me your hand, let me look at your palm and face..."

"Hmm?"

"What is the meaning of this?"

"..."

"I can't make this out at all!"

"Kid, get lost, scram!!"

"Why won't you read for me anymore!?" the child shouted, but the wandering Taoist hurriedly packed up his stall and ran off, ignoring the child entirely.

"Wait a moment!"

The child gave chase, with the wandering Taoist running ahead.

Looking back and seeing the child in hot pursuit, the Taoist pinched a spell in his hand and vanished in an instant.

"What!!"

The little boy was startled, then suddenly overjoyed.

This was exactly the capable person he was looking for; he wanted to take this Taoist as his master and learn his arts!

The Taoist left the city, hurrying outward.

A youth seven feet tall blocked his path, accompanied by an extraordinary-looking donkey.

The Taoist knew how to read faces, and the moment he glanced at Lu Bian, he froze.

This man was elegant and handsome...

Which immortal had descended to the mortal realm this time?

"Don't go anywhere. Think carefully about what you did today," Lu Bian said to the Taoist.

"Ah? Oh!!"

The child he met today was no ordinary person, and the man he was meeting now must be protecting him from the shadows.

"Ah, haha~!"

The wandering Taoist honestly took out the gold leaf.

"My apologies, my apologies. I was momentarily blinded by greed, heh heh."

"I'll be going now, I won't disturb you any further, haha."

The Taoist turned around and hurried away, pinching another spell in his hand before vanishing from sight.

Lu Bian took the gold leaf and found the little kid in the city.

"Hey."

Lu Bian stood behind the little boy.

"Ah?"

The little kid turned around, surprised that Lu Bian had actually found him.

"Here."

Lu Bian returned the gold leaf to him.

"Ah?"

"Ah what? Have you forgotten how to speak?" Lu Bian said.

"Thank you, Thunderbolt Immortal," the child thanked him.

Thunderbolt Immortal? This kid really knows how to give people nicknames, Lu Bian thought.

"I didn't finish what I was saying the other day."

"I want to tell you that I won't teach you skills, but I will help you seek justice."

"You are just a child; heavy things like revenge are not meant for a little kid like you to carry."

Lu Bian crouched down to look the child in the eye, earnestly explaining the logic of adults to him.

"But, but can you really do it?"

"I want to learn skills, because I will definitely become stronger than my master," the child said earnestly.

"Why wouldn't I be able to?" Lu Bian asked.

"Who do you consider to be your ideal master?" Lu Bian asked.

"The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Son Goku," the child said earnestly.

"Ha, you think that if you apprentice under the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, you can become stronger than the Great Sage himself?" Lu Bian was amused.

"What kind of relative do you have that requires the Great Sage Equal to Heaven to deal with?" Lu Bian asked with a smile.

"My uncle is Erlang Shen. He pinned my mother under Mount Hua. Someone told me that only by learning the skills of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Son Goku, can I save my mother," the child said.

"..."

Lu Bian fell silent.

Damn it, this is Chenxiang!

I got it wrong!

Lu Bian had thought this was just about some small clan by the lake!

It was a misunderstanding...