A Small Epiphany

At dawn, wisps of cooking smoke rose, and Wooden Fish Island gradually came alive. Some cursed in the streets, some laughed and joked. Though Wooden Fish Island was a bandits' den, not everyone living here was a vicious outlaw. There were women and children as well. In some ways, it was little different from a small village stranded far from civilization.

At this moment, after a night spent sorting things out, Jiang Chen finally emerged from the underground secret chamber in the small courtyard and pushed open the door.

The hardest part of killing someone had always been disposing of the body, but the death of Jiang Wang, the owner of this body, had been rather strange. Now that Jiang Chen occupied Jiang Wang's body, he had no need to worry about getting rid of a corpse. Moreover, he possessed Jiang Wang's memories, so he was not afraid of being seen through. After all, this was merely a bandits' den, not some great immortal sect.

"It really is different."

Walking out of the room, Jiang Chen's mind was filled with the dim morning light, curling cooking smoke, curses, and laughter. For a moment, he could not help but lose himself. To be honest, dawn had only just broken. The sky was overcast, and threads of cold wind passed through the halls. It truly was not much of a view.

Yet it was precisely such an ordinary scene that left Jiang Chen lost in thought, because he had not seen even such a commonplace sight in a very long time. In the apocalypse, everything had been overturned. The sky was forever dim, vegetation withered, life shriveled away, and the air was always filled with an indescribable stench.

But in this other world, in this water bandits' den, he saw the long-lost warmth of mortal life. Bathed in that warmth, his cold heart stirred with an emotion he had not felt in ages.

"This truly is a brand-new world."

He slowly walked into the courtyard and stopped beneath a tall peach tree. Jiang Chen stretched out a hand and touched its trunk. Its rough texture and vigorous vitality told him that all of this was real.

At that moment, Jiang Chen's desolate heart seemed nourished by a clear spring, gradually regaining its vitality. Taking advantage of this, his mind merged with the peach tree before him, then slowly spread outward, becoming one with the small world within the courtyard.

In that instant, Jiang Chen saw threads upon threads of qi. They filled heaven and earth, each with different properties. Most lay dormant, while only a very small number remained active. The moment he saw this living qi, understanding arose in his heart. He knew this was the spiritual energy often mentioned in Jiang Wang's memories, the foundation of cultivation in this world.

"Those who consume spiritual energy shall neither die nor age."

With his spirit dwelling in heaven and earth, Jiang Chen forgot himself within the world and, almost instinctively, began a set of palm techniques.

His body was like willow catkins, moving with the wind and drifting as it pleased. At first, his movements were slow, every stance and strike orderly, with faint traces of clumsiness still visible. But as time passed, his figure grew increasingly blurred. It was as though he had never moved, yet also as though he was everywhere, occupying every inch of the courtyard.

At the same time, as if drawn by some unseen force, the lively spiritual energy of heaven and earth began gathering around Jiang Chen of its own accord, continuously washing over his body. In that instant, the bottleneck that had once trapped Jiang Wang and prevented him from advancing even an inch quietly opened, as though it had never existed at all.

Time passed. After an unknown duration, Jiang Chen's blurred figure gradually solidified again, 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 struck out. In the next instant, invisible palm force descended through the air, snapping a peach branch as thick as a baby's arm and sending it falling to the ground.

Seeing this scene, then looking at his own palm, Jiang Chen fell into thought.

"Striking through the air, force reaching a zhang away—by this world's classification of martial artists, I can barely be considered a first-rate expert. Once I completely temper my torso, I should rank among the stronger first-rate experts. 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 the strength of this body. Of course, that only took immortal cultivation into account. If he added his supernatural abilities, his strength should be even greater.

"Cultivation does not seem as difficult as I imagined."

With spiritual charm dwelling within him, Jiang Chen looked at his torso, which had undergone its initial tempering, and a smile appeared on his face.

The foundation of cultivation in the Inspiration Realm lay in sensing spiritual energy and drawing it in. There were stillness techniques and movement techniques. Stillness techniques meant seated meditation cultivation, focusing on calming the mind, and were relatively less difficult.

As for movement techniques, they 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 stillness techniques.

However, their difficulty was correspondingly greater. The heart had to remain perpetually still. If one could not achieve that, then no matter how proficient one became in the body-tempering method, it would all be for nothing; the efficiency would not even match that of stillness techniques.

Take Jiang Wang, for example. Though he had long since become extremely proficient in the Willow-Catkin Body-Nourishing Art, his true main cultivation was still a stillness technique.

"For the living beings of this world to set foot 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 dharma power. Spiritual apertures range from one to nine cun. One cun is the lowest, with the weakest perception of spiritual energy, while nine cun is the highest—a born spirit communicator, able to breathe in and out the spiritual energy of heaven and earth even without cultivating any method."

"Jiang Wang possessed a five-cun spiritual aperture. Though not exceptionally good, it was far from poor, surpassing most people and placing him among those of above-average aptitude. The reason he had been unable to break through for so long was largely because his heart was not still. Of course, there was another crucial reason: the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in this place was truly too thin."

"But I am different from Jiang Wang. Although the spiritual aperture remains the same, my heart has been honed by the apocalypse. I cannot call it detached from the world, 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 ordinary people. This was precisely what Jiang Wang could only seek in vain."

"In truth, being born with a powerful soul does indeed help living beings cultivate."

Thoughts rose and faded. Using Jiang Wang as his only example, Jiang Chen sorted through what he had gained.

Just then, sensing something, Jiang Chen gathered 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 courtyard gate.

"Chief, today's breakfast has been delivered."

Carrying a food box, the youth knocked on the courtyard gate.

Upon hearing the voice, Jiang Chen immediately understood the visitor's identity. Stone was one of Jiang Wang's minor lackeys. Because of his steady temperament, he had earned Jiang Wang's regard and was kept by his side to handle various daily matters.

"Come in."

After a brief pause for thought, Jiang Chen waved his sleeve and opened the courtyard gate.

At the same time, as Stone looked through the gate at Jiang Chen, who still stood in the middle of the courtyard, a flicker of surprise passed through his 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. Naturally opening the food box, he took out one meat dish, one vegetable dish, one soup, and a plate of steamed buns, placing them on the stone table beneath the tree.

Jiang Chen's expression did not change at the sight, because he knew this was Jiang Wang's habit. He liked to eat breakfast beneath the peach tree.

After finishing all that, Stone looked at Jiang Chen again. This was the first time since entering the courtyard that he had gotten a clear look at Jiang Chen's face. It was still the same face, but it seemed to possess something indescribable. Especially those eyes—something seemed hidden within them. Merely meeting his gaze made Stone instinctively feel oppressed.

"Chief, the White Deer you were looking for has been found."

Quickly lowering his eyes, Stone reported the relevant information one detail at a time.

After listening, Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Found it? That was faster than expected. I understand. You may leave."

His voice low, Jiang Chen waved a hand.

Seeing this, Stone did not say another word and hurriedly withdrew from the courtyard. The moment he gently closed the gate, he could not help letting out a breath of stale air.

"The chief's martial arts seem to have improved again."

Stone glanced at the courtyard through the gate, and an inexplicable thought rose in his heart.