At dawn, as wisps of cooking smoke rose, Wooden Fish Island gradually came alive. Some cursed in the streets, some laughed and joked. Though Wooden Fish Island was a den of bandits, those living here were not all vicious criminals. There were women and children as well. In some ways, it was little different from a small village stranded in the wilderness.
At this moment, after sorting through things all night, Jiang Chen finally emerged from the underground secret chamber and pushed open the door.
The hardest part of killing someone had always been disposing of the corpse. Yet the death of Jiang Wang, the previous owner of this body, had been rather strange. Now that he occupied Jiang Wang's body, he did not need to worry about disposing of a corpse at all. Moreover, he had Jiang Wang's memories, so he was not afraid of being seen through. After all, this was merely a bandits' den, not some grand immortal sect.
"Things truly are different."
Walking out of the room, the dim morning light, curling smoke, shouts of abuse, and bursts of laughter continuously entered Jiang Chen's mind, leaving him somewhat dazed. To be honest, the sky had only just begun to brighten and remained gloomy. Chilly gusts of wind drifted through the hall. It truly could not be called a beautiful sight.
Yet it was precisely this scene that made Jiang Chen lose himself, because he had not seen even such an ordinary sight in a very long time. Beneath the apocalypse, everything had been overturned. The sky was forever dim, vegetation withered, life shriveled away, and the air was always thick with an indescribable stench.
But in this foreign world, in this water bandits' nest, he saw the long-lost warmth of mortal life. Bathed in that warmth, his icy heart stirred with a long-forgotten tremor.
"This truly is a brand-new world."
He slowly stepped into the courtyard and stood beneath the towering peach tree. Jiang Chen reached out and touched its trunk. The rough texture and vigorous life force told him that all of this was real.
At that moment, Jiang Chen's desolate heart seemed to be nourished by a clear spring, gradually bursting forth with new vitality. Seizing the opportunity, his mind merged with the peach tree before slowly extending outward, becoming one with the tiny patch of heaven and earth within the courtyard.
In that instant, Jiang Chen saw wisps of Qi. They filled heaven and earth, each with different properties. Most lay dormant, while only a very few retained their vitality. The moment he saw that living Qi, enlightenment arose within him. He knew this was the spiritual energy so often mentioned in Jiang Wang's memories, the foundation of cultivation in this world.
"Those who consume spiritual energy shall not die, but live forever."
With his spirit existing between heaven and earth, Jiang Chen forgot himself beneath the sky and almost instinctively performed a set of palm techniques.
His body was like willow catkins, moving with the wind, wandering as he pleased. At first, his movements were slow, every stance and strike following clear rules, with a faint trace of stiffness still visible. But as time passed, his figure grew increasingly indistinct, as if he had never moved, yet also as if he were everywhere, occupying every inch of the courtyard.
At the same time, as though drawn by some unseen force, those lively strands of spiritual energy began gathering around Jiang Chen of their own accord, constantly washing over his body. In that instant, the bottleneck that had once trapped Jiang Wang and kept him from advancing an inch quietly opened, as though it had never existed at all.
Time passed. After an unknown duration, Jiang Chen's blurred figure solidified once more, and his mind returned to his body.
"So this is cultivation!"
Feeling the changes within himself, Jiang Chen curled his five fingers into a palm and casually chopped outward. In the next instant, palm force struck through the air, snapping a peachwood branch as thick as a baby's arm. It fell to the ground.
Seeing this, then looking at his own palm, Jiang Chen fell into thought.
"Striking through the air, exerting force up to one zhang away—by this world's martial classification, I can barely be considered a first-rate expert. Once I completely temper my torso, I will rank among the strong even within the First-rate Realm. If I go a step further and cleanse my head, ordinary martial artists will likely no longer be my match."
Comparing it with Jiang Wang's memories, Jiang Chen gained a rough estimate of this body's strength. Of course, this only accounted for immortal cultivation. If he added his supernatural abilities, his strength should be even greater.
"Cultivation does not seem as difficult as I imagined."
Spiritual charm lingered around him. Looking at his torso, which had undergone its initial tempering, Jiang Chen smiled.
The foundation of cultivation in the Inspiration Realm lay in sensing spiritual energy and drawing it in. There were still arts and moving arts. Still arts meant meditative cultivation, emphasizing a tranquil heart, and were comparatively less difficult.
Moving arts, on the other hand, used corresponding body-tempering methods to draw upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Their efficiency in tempering the body was higher than that of still arts.
However, they were correspondingly more difficult. One's heart had to remain eternally calm. If one could not achieve that, then no matter how skillfully one practiced the body-tempering method, it would all be in vain. The efficiency would not even compare to still arts.
For example, although Jiang Wang had long mastered the Willow-Catkin Body-Nourishing Art, he had still primarily cultivated still arts.
"For living beings of this world to embark upon the path of cultivation, Spiritual Apertures are the most important stepping stone. Only those with Spiritual Apertures can sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, draw it into their bodies, and refine True Qi and mana. Spiritual Apertures are divided into nine cun. One cun is the lowest, with the weakest sensitivity to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Nine cun is the highest; such people are born spirit communicators and can naturally breathe in and expel the spiritual energy of heaven and earth even without cultivating any method."
"Jiang Wang was born with a five-cun Spiritual Aperture. Though it was not exceptionally good, it was far from poor and already surpassed most people. It was above-average aptitude. The reason he had been unable to break through for so long was mostly because his heart was not tranquil. Of course, there was another crucial reason: the spiritual energy of heaven and earth here was truly too thin."
"But I am different from Jiang Wang. Although the Spiritual Aperture remains the same, my heart has been tempered by the apocalypse. It cannot be called transcendent, but it is still much stronger than that of ordinary people. Most importantly, I have the support of soul-based supernatural abilities. My soul is far stronger than that of normal people. This was precisely what Jiang Wang had sought but never obtained."
"In truth, being born with a powerful soul does indeed aid a living being's cultivation."
Thoughts rose and vanished as Jiang Chen used Jiang Wang, his only example, as a reference and sorted through what he had gained.
Just then, sensing something, Jiang Chen reined in his thoughts and turned his gaze toward the courtyard gate.
In the next instant, a thin youth around seventeen or eighteen years old, five chi tall and dressed in gray, arrived outside the gate.
"Chief, today's breakfast has arrived."
Carrying a food box, the youth knocked on the courtyard gate.
Hearing that voice, Jiang Chen immediately knew the visitor's identity. Stone was one of Jiang Wang's minor underlings. Because of his steady temperament, he had earned Jiang Wang's regard and was kept at his side to handle various daily matters.
"Come in."
After a brief moment of thought, Jiang Chen waved his sleeve and opened the courtyard gate.
At the same time, through the open gate, Stone looked at Jiang Chen, who still stood in the center of the courtyard. A trace of surprise flashed through Stone's heart, though none of it showed on his face.
"Chief, this is today's breakfast."
With a respectful expression, Stone slowly walked beneath the peach tree. He naturally opened the food box and took out a meat dish, a vegetable dish, a soup, and a plate of steamed buns, placing them on the stone table beneath the tree.
Jiang Chen's expression did not change as he watched, because he knew this was Jiang Wang's habit. He liked having breakfast beneath the peach tree.
After finishing all this, Stone looked at Jiang Chen once more. This was the first time since entering the courtyard that he had clearly seen Jiang Chen's face. The face was still the same face, but it seemed to carry something indescribable. Especially those eyes—something seemed hidden within them. Merely meeting his gaze made Stone feel almost instinctively stifled.
"Chief, the White Deer you were looking for has been found."
Stone hurriedly lowered his eyes and reported the information one detail at a time.
After hearing this, Jiang Chen's brows rose slightly.
"Found it? That was faster than expected. I understand. You may leave."
His voice was low as Jiang Chen waved a hand.
Seeing this, Stone did not say anything more. He hurriedly withdrew from the courtyard and, at the instant he gently closed the gate, could not help letting out a breath of stale air.
"The chief's martial arts seem to have improved again."
Stone glanced through the courtyard gate at the yard, and an inexplicable thought rose in his heart.
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