By the time Su Wuming returned to the city from the Dark Forest, it was already evening. He had encountered two packs of Demon Beasts along the way, forcing him to take a detour and wasting quite a bit of time. He had even nearly gotten lost.
After returning, the first thing Su Wuming did was head straight back to the rented apartment.
He was in a wonderful mood and naturally wanted to share his joy with Pangpang.
Of course, he was not stupid enough to tell anyone about the system.
However, Pangpang was nowhere to be found when he returned to the apartment. A glance into the kitchen revealed that Pangpang had gone out to run the stall.
So, he quickly took a shower before heading straight for the night market.
The night market where he and Pangpang ran their stall had a decent crowd at night, and the stall fee was not too expensive either—thirteen thousand a year. Better spots, of course, cost twenty or thirty thousand.
Neither of them expected to get rich from it. As long as they earned enough for living expenses and tuition, that was enough.
Still, the starch sausage business was booming on this street. There were seven or eight competing stalls, yet it did not affect the traffic at their stall at all.
Normally, after costs, they could earn around two hundred yuan a night. On weekends and holidays, that amount doubled, more than enough to cover both of their living expenses.
It was already ten at night when Su Wuming arrived, right at the peak of the night market's crowds.
After following the crowd forward for a while, he spotted their little stall: Little Fatty's Starch Sausages.
Business was good today. Lin Pangpang was sweating profusely as he worked, with seven or eight customers gathered before the stall.
Their sauce blend was good, so they had many repeat customers.
Usually, one of them fried while the other brushed on sauce, added seasoning, and packed everything up. The two of them could just manage.
"Little Fatty, why isn't your brother here today? Look how busy you are," an old customer casually chatted with Lin Pangpang while waiting.
"Hehe, he awakened, so he's busy cultivating," Lin Pangpang replied with a smile.
To the people watching, that smile looked utterly sincere. He was genuinely happy that his brother had awakened.
"Oh my, does that mean we might not get to eat food made by you two anymore?"
"Wait, if he's cultivating, why aren't you cultivating?"
"I'm Food Type. There's no rush for me to cultivate," Lin Pangpang continued.
"Damn, Little Fatty, a Food Type Spirit Martial Practitioner is still doing this?"
"Brother Wang, what are you saying? We still have to make a living."
"Little Fatty, I'm not bragging, but in Dragon Nation, Food-Type Spirit Martial Practitioners are treated like treasures wherever they go. Don't be modest. Here, fry me another twenty yuan's worth. I'm afraid I won't be able to eat these later even if I want to."
Once the man Pangpang called Brother Wang said that, the other customers also added another ten yuan's worth to their orders. Lin Pangpang was instantly run ragged.
"It's fine, everyone. We have time. Take it slow."
Seeing this, Su Wuming felt somewhat bitter inside.
Brother Wang was right. Pangpang's Food Type talent would be welcome anywhere. He had no need to do this at all. Just the offers from various families would give him more money than he could spend for the rest of his life.
But Lin Pangpang had rejected those families' offers because he demanded that they take in Su Wuming as well. Yet they looked down on Su Wuming's Power Type talent.
Lin Pangpang had not said any of this, but that did not mean Su Wuming did not know. Qin Ming, the class monitor, had once spoken to him and asked him to persuade Lin Pangpang to join the Qin Family.
He had said, "If you truly consider him a brother, you shouldn't drag him down and use brotherhood to hold his future hostage."
Su Wuming did not deny it. Back then, he had been somewhat selfish. He had thought, I'm a transmigrator. How could I possibly remain unknown? Once I awaken and astonish everyone, what resources could I possibly lack?
On the night before his departure, while Pangpang made those Qi-Blood Sausages for him, he had complained nonstop about this and that. But Su Wuming knew Pangpang was merely grumbling.
Actions proved everything.
Brothers were held in the heart!
The reason they were so close had nothing to do with Su Wuming. It was entirely thanks to the original owner of this body. Su Wuming had merely benefited from his legacy and gained such a good brother.
At that moment, Su Wuming, who had originally planned to go up and help, suddenly made a decision in his heart. Then he turned and left.
The direction he headed in was the Dark Forest outside the city.
Friendship was mutual, and brotherhood was no exception.
I'm grateful that you, the original owner, used your sincerity to befriend a brother who always thought of you.
Though you hated this world when you were alive, hated your background, hated the misfortunes that happened to you, and ultimately chose suicide.
But now that I, Su Wuming, have taken over your body, I will live this life brilliantly for both of us, leaving behind not a single regret.
Likewise, I will help you take care of this brother you grew up with, because I also consider him a brother. Perhaps there truly is a light within him that changed the way I think.
Now, Pangpang had given up a bright future for the brotherhood that most people sneered at.
He did not owe Su Wuming anything.
Then what reason did he, Su Wuming, have to let himself slack off?
I want to become stronger—very, very strong. Strong enough that even the gods in heaven have to lower their heads before me. Strong enough to make everyone who mocked the two of us shut up. Strong enough that the people I care about can swagger through the world.
Everyone needed a goal worth striving for, didn't they?
The system had given you, Su Wuming, such incredible talent, yet you were satisfied after unlocking merely a complete Rubber Constitution?
What about the Eight Gates?
Not in a hurry?
Bullshit! You were fucking afraid!
You were terrified of being killed by those Demon Beasts.
You were too easily satisfied!
No wonder you had achieved nothing before transmigrating. You deserved it!
Becoming a Martial King was not something one could achieve just by talking about it.
Youth was meant to erupt—to sweat, to burn oneself bright!
As he walked, Su Wuming kept driving himself forward in his heart.
At this moment, he truly understood that there were no shortcuts on the path of a Spirit Martial Practitioner.
Even having a system changed nothing!
He could not relax for even a moment.
The only path to strength was hard work, struggle, and endless battle.
Flowers raised in a greenhouse could not withstand wind and rain.
He would return to the Dark Forest. This time, he would bravely face those Demon Beasts and break through his limits again and again.
The best way to conquer fear was to face it head-on.
In that instant, the fighting spirit that had been extinguished when the Demon Beast pack appeared—the passion to solo-kill the male Devil Horse—ignited and boiled once more.
"I'm taking on ten!!!"
After leaving the city and standing outside the Dark Forest, Su Wuming shouted into its depths.
He did not rush inside. Instead, he sat cross-legged in the safe area around the outskirts and took out the Beast Crystals he had acquired during the day.
The system had granted him unparalleled cultivation talent and a powerful constitution.
But what he lacked most right now was cultivation.
Honestly, he would not be able to raise his cultivation by much in the remaining five days.
Currently, the highest cultivation level in the class belonged to Qin Ming, the class monitor: Black Iron Seven-Star. Rumor had it that he could already freely use his awakened ability to aid his cultivation and battle.
But now, he, Su Wuming, had a bold idea.
An idea that would one hundred percent cause his cultivation to soar!
Before you continue