"I have a spirit root too?"
Hearing the silver-robed woman's words, Chen Changming's heart stirred, and he felt a surge of joy.
Although this Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root was low-grade, in his eyes, being able to step onto the path of immortal cultivation was already an incredible stroke of fortune.
Linger grew anxious as soon as she heard what the silver-robed woman said. If Chen Changming stayed here, the authorities would surely hunt him down. He might even be caught and beheaded.
"Master, could you take Brother Changming away from here?"
"I'll grant my disciple's wish."
The silver-robed woman lovingly stroked Linger's forehead, then gave a light sweep of her sleeve. She, Linger, and Chen Changming, who lay in the snow, all vanished at once.
In the Northern Region, within the borders of the Yue Kingdom, three figures appeared in a flash of light in a lush, verdant valley.
The silver-robed woman held Linger's small hand as they slowly rose into the air. Looking down from above, she said with a cold expression, "Little one, this place is within the Yue Kingdom, far from Xiliang City in the Chu Kingdom..."
"Thank you, Immortal Master."
Chen Changming expressed his gratitude.
No matter how much she looked down on him, his crisis was over. The Yue Kingdom was as warm as spring, and he no longer needed to worry about finding food.
Seeing the boy lower his eyes and behave submissively, the silver-robed woman nodded in satisfaction. "Since you also have a spirit root, I'll see this through to the end. Take this..."
With that, she flicked her hand, and an ancient-looking green token appeared in front of Chen Changming out of thin air.
"I once did the Lingxiao Sect of the Yue Kingdom a favor. With this token, you can join the sect."
The silver-robed woman's expression remained indifferent as she said, "Even with the lowest-grade Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root, you can at least become an inner disciple..."
Her tone brimmed with disdain, and her gaze was lofty, as though the boy before her were no more than an insignificant ant.
Seeing that her master had made proper arrangements, Linger let out a breath and felt much more at ease.
"All right, Linger. Come back to the sect with me."
The silver-robed woman's expression turned serious. She took Linger's hand, and the two disappeared in a flash of light.
After a long while.
"This feels like a dream..."
With a soft sigh, Chen Changming took the token and examined it carefully for a moment before putting it away in his clothes.
His body swayed. Chen Changming spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground, his consciousness slowly fading.
After going hungry for two days in the snow and ice, then fighting a fierce battle and suffering serious injuries, it was a miracle he had held on this long.
Through his blurred vision, Chen Changming dimly saw an old man with white hair and beard floating toward him.
"Oh? This little fellow actually has a spirit root. Heaven is truly helping this old man..."
Zhu Fang crouched down and examined the boy with a special detection technique. A look of delight immediately appeared on his face.
"You..."
Chen Changming had barely spoken a word when a pill was stuffed into his mouth.
"Don't talk. Focus on healing."
Zhu Fang gave a sly chuckle, then took out a yellow talisman and stuck it to the boy's forehead. Chen Changming immediately passed out.
Carrying the boy, Zhu Fang wound his way through the forest before finally entering a cave.
Deep inside was a large wooden tub about half a zhang tall, filled with reddish-copper mud. With a splash, Chen Changming was thrown into it.
Zhu Fang murmured incantations, pointing repeatedly at the yellow talisman.
Chen Changming's body shifted against his will, eventually settling cross-legged in the mud. His hands formed a seal in front of his lower abdomen.
The pill quickly healed Chen Changming's injuries. After the time it took an incense stick to burn, he finally woke up.
"What's this old man trying to do?"
When he opened his eyes, Chen Changming found that he couldn't move. He was soaking in a tub of mud, and although he felt alarmed, he kept a remarkably calm expression.
Perhaps because he had just killed someone, his nerve was stronger than usual.
"Your injuries have mostly healed, right? Behave and cooperate with this old man in cultivating the Spirit Armor Art. Then I might even grant you a great opportunity. Otherwise, I'll kill you right now!"
Standing before the tub, Zhu Fang gave a cold laugh without showing any emotion.
Cold light flickered in his eyes, and the muscles in his face twitched, giving him an extraordinarily fierce look.
"All right."
Chen Changming agreed without hesitation.
He had nothing to rely on, and his life was in the old man's hands. He could only agree to the other man's demands for now.
There was no doubt that the other man was an Immortal Master too.
But Chen Changming couldn't understand why this man was making him cultivate the Spirit Armor Art.
The name alone made the technique sound advanced.
"You're a sensible boy. Come on, follow the route the spiritual energy takes through your body..."
Zhu Fang nodded in satisfaction, then moved both hands again and again, guiding the spiritual energy through the boy's body.
Chen Changming silently memorized the route the spiritual energy followed.
The Spirit Armor Art was extremely complicated, and his comprehension wasn't good. It took him a whole day to memorize it thoroughly.
Zhu Fang was so angry that he cursed him as useless.
A day later, Zhu Fang hurriedly left, leaving Chen Changming alone to cultivate in the cave.
With the yellow talisman holding him down, Chen Changming couldn't move, so Zhu Fang left without concern.
The cave was dim and silent, broken only by the steady sound of breathing.
After the time it took an incense stick to burn.
Chen Changming stopped cultivating and slowly opened his eyes, gazing into the depths of the black rock wall.
The day before, in Xiliang City, he had killed a burly man who knew a little martial arts despite his frail body. It was truly unbelievable!
Now that he thought it over, the memory filled him with a strange satisfaction.
At the moment he had collapsed from exhaustion, even though his knife swing had missed, it still counted as completing a "chopping" motion.
Then a strange warmth had surged from the soles of his feet, and a sound like thunder had echoed inside his body.
"Ten thousand swings!"
After that sound, something had appeared inside him, instantly turning him into a martial arts master. His every slash carried profound variations, and he had slit that damned rogue's throat in one stroke!
"What on earth was that... Could it be..."
Chen Changming murmured, his gaze growing brighter.
During the days he had made a living chopping wood, his hatchet had gone dull countless times. Clearly, he had swung it an enormous number of times.
But the boy had never kept count.
Perhaps that failed, empty swing had been the ten-thousandth, stirring the warmth in the soles of his feet.
At the center of the boy's soles were two black moles, each about the size of a black date. Since he was little, people had taken them for ill omens, which was why his grandmother had changed his name to "Chen Changming."
"These moles aren't ill omens. They're my good fortune..."
Chen Changming relaxed, breathing out as though a great burden had been lifted.
The two moles were the same size and so conspicuous. Whenever the boy saw them before, his heart would sink into gloom.
But after the battle in Xiliang City, that worry had vanished without a trace.
"Now I'm trapped in this wooden tub, pinned down by the talisman and unable to move. This is still a dead end..."
After failing to move, Chen Changming sighed helplessly, and the brightness in his eyes gradually faded.
Another day passed.
Zhu Fang returned in high spirits. As soon as he arrived, he stuffed a pill into Chen Changming's mouth, immediately easing the boy's hunger.
"Your progress is slow, kid."
Zhu Fang looked Chen Changming up and down, his gaze sinister. He snorted. "You haven't been cultivating properly, have you?"
Chen Changming remained silent.
After pacing around the tub twice with his hands behind his back, Zhu Fang muttered, "You're about the same as me. We're both useless Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root cultivators. After a month of cultivating the Spirit Armor Art, you should at least be able to reach the peak of the Xiantian Realm, right?"
Chen Changming gave him a strange look.
So this fellow had a Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root too?
"This mouth of mine! Spit, spit!"
Realizing he had said too much, Zhu Fang couldn't help slapping himself and spitting several times.
Chen Changming's heart stirred. He cautiously asked, "Immortal Master, are you at the peak of the Xiantian Realm too?"
"Bullshit! I'm a grand cultivator of the Qi Refining Realm!"
Zhu Fang flew into a rage.
Even if he was only at the first layer of the Qi Refining Realm, he was still a cultivator of the Qi Refining Realm!
"So you're a cultivator at the peak of the Qi Refining Realm!"
Chen Changming pretended to understand.
He didn't know how many minor stages the Qi Refining Realm had, so he deliberately sounded him out.
Zhu Fang suddenly became interested. As though he wanted to show off in front of this boy who knew nothing about cultivation, he puffed out his chest and said with pride, "Listen carefully, kid! Above the Xiantian Realm is the Qi Refining Realm, a realm only immortals can reach. I dominated the martial world for decades. I'm a genuine grand cultivator at the first layer of the Qi Refining Realm!"
"Immortal Master, how many layers are there in the Qi Refining Realm?"
Chen Changming asked, deliberately sounding shocked.
"Ten! Don't think that just because this old man is only at the first layer, I can't deal with martial artists at the peak of the Xiantian Realm as easily as chopping vegetables. Heh heh..."
Zhu Fang laughed smugly, his goatee bobbing up and down as his laughter echoed throughout the cave.