Chapter 36
This was a world where the dynasty was declining, yet Jianghu held great power.
Numerous martial arts sects, big and small, were spread across the world, each controlling their own territory. The top sects were comparable to feudal lords, standing in the state capitals and being supported by the people of a province. The less influential sects were rooted in rural areas, earning the respect of the villagers.
These martial arts sects, like the various warlord forces in chaotic times, often engage in battles for territory and resources, and every disciple may find themselves stepping onto the “battlefield.”
The spirit of martial arts was strong here; almost every child, from a young age, aspires to join a top martial arts sect, mastering extraordinary martial arts skills and becoming a force to be reckoned with in the world. This could be said to be the dream of countless young people in this world.
However, very few people actually realize this dream.
The character “Pei Hefeng” controlled by Bai Yi now happened to be one of those few who have realized the dream, and among that small group, he could be called a winner in life.
Coming from a poor family, he lived in a village that suffered during conflicts between two martial arts sects. He was the only one fortunate enough to escape the calamity and was noticed by an innate grandmaster due to his outstanding talent. He was taken as a disciple and taught everything the grandmaster knew. Before reaching adulthood, he challenged the younger generation of martial artists in the martial world, winning and studying the secret techniques of various sects. Just as the sects were beginning to target and suppress him, he comprehended and integrated the secrets of various sects during his secluded cultivation, making rapid progress in strength and surpassing the previous generation’s experts. After intense battles came further enlightenment, and his strength soared again. With breakthroughs as easy as drinking water and enlightenment as simple as eating, he unconsciously became invincible in the world.
—This kind of overpowered life, even novels dare not write it like this, it’s like holding the script of the protagonist Dragon Ao Tian in hand, truly the biological son of the heavens.
However, he has only played half of the drama, and the heavens suddenly want to change the protagonist? This turned the script from Dragon Ao Tian to True and False Young Master script, did he, this wicked and villainous supporting role, this fake young master who steals the limelight, really lose the love of the Heavenly Dao father?
After roughly understanding the situation of this character, Bai Yi couldn’t help but complain in his mind and then showed a thoughtful expression. “So, this wave is about slapping the scum father? No, according to this character’s mindset, it’s about teaching the scum father a lesson, letting him know who’s the father and who’s the son!”“…Really seriously ill.”
Shaking his head and coming to this conclusion, Bai Yi fell silent. “The problem is… You’ve let go of all your harsh words and now you’re calling for foreign aid? You brag, I’ll take care of making it a reality?”
There was a moment when he really wanted to let this guy who kept shouting, “It’s not me who’s wrong, it’s this world,” properly endure a wave of beatings from this world, accept his status as a cultivation waste, and stop blaming the world;
Unfortunately, this character now belonged to him.
“Gugu gugu…”
The protest from his stomach brought Bai Yi back to reality a bit, and he rubbed his belly, saying, “I’m hungry…No, he’s hungry. Need to get something to eat first.”
He got up and looked at his “beginner’s birth village.”
It was a dilapidated thatched house with a leaking roof, surrounded by sparse fences. Next to the thatched house was a half-acre vegetable garden, where besides a bunch of wilted vegetables, there were only footprints scattered all over.
These were traces left by his enemies throughout Jianghu.
—This place was originally chosen by Pei Hefeng as his secluded residence after retiring from the martial world. Far from the crowds, nestled in the valley, a thatched house, a half-acre vegetable garden, a small pond, enjoying the wind, listening to the moon, and fishing leisurely, what a pleasant life it could be!
However, just ten days ago, his hiding place was exposed by someone, and enemies from all over Jianghu stormed in. A group of former subordinates who had turned the tables on him, beating him up until his face was bruised and swollen, looking extremely miserable!
But considering what this guy had done before…
Today, he randomly picked on a martial arts sect, using their secret recipe to cushion the table legs, when he was full, he would pick on another sect, treating their centenarian grandmaster like walking a dog, and then claiming to help the elderly stay healthy; two days later, bored to death, he would squat in corners of major sects, exposing their little secrets to the public, causing a certain righteous sect leader’s favorite “yellow book” to sell out, and the sect leader directly becoming the spokesperson for that “yellow book”… Was this really what a person should do? No wonder so many people came for revenge!
A group of enemies attacked fiercely, awakening Pei Hefeng, who was completely unaware of the changes in the world due to his inability to sense spiritual energy, and mercilessly told him. “Daren, the times have changed!”
They found out that this martial arts prodigy couldn’t even absorb spiritual energy into his body. Instead of killing him, they stopped — killing him would be too easy; turning the world’s number one into a waste person, that’s the deepest pain in this world!
And then, they came back every now and then to witness his misery, which was even more enjoyable!
Pei Hefeng was deeply shaken. After trying for ten days and failing to sense any spiritual energy, he became mentally confused due to exhaustion of his internal energy. When he fell while repairing the roof, he finally understood the essence of the situation!
—It must be this world intentionally targeting me!
—Damn it, eat shit!
Then, Bai Yi, the foreign aid divine soldier, descended from the sky.
“…Wait a minute, something feels off.”
After thinking for a moment and not finding anything wrong, Bai Yi disdainfully picked out a couple of fresh-looking vegetables from the wilted ones, and found a handful of rice and clean pots and pans in the thatched house, starting to cook in a primitive way.
There was no option but to do it this way, as this nightmare game was so hardcore that there was no function for cooking or eating with a single click.
As the smoke rose from the thatched roof and a faint fragrance wafted around, several sparrows chirped outside, their agile black eyes showing a sense of enjoyment.
Bai Yi had a string of question marks above his head: ?????
“This doesn’t seem like my cooking style.”
He placed the food on a small stone table in the courtyard, full of doubts. He tasted a bite first and then nodded. “Indeed, my cooking skills haven’t changed. Could this strong fragrance be coming from the spiritual energy within the ingredients? It’s normal for plants and animals to absorb spiritual energy if it has returned.” His thoughts wandered a bit, “So, if this body can’t absorb spiritual energy normally but can absorb it from food and then use internal cultivation methods to operate the spiritual energy within the body, it seems like a feasible path too.”
Bai Yi’s lips curved upwards, his eyes shining. “Fish nourished by spiritual energy must be even more delicious.”
…Thinking like this, these few dishes were too simple, how could they be worthy of his status as the world’s number one?
Thinking this way, Bai Yi decisively got up, casually picking up the world-renowned Hanguang Sword that belonged to his original body, and headed towards the small pond outside the thatched house.
His gaze inadvertently swept past something nearby.
Just as Bai Yi took a few steps, a figure resembling a giant bat hanging upside down floated down from a tree nearby, landing as light as a feather without making a sound throughout.
“Tsk tsk!” Watching the departing figure, he couldn’t help but shake his head, “It’s a good thing I came to check today. Despite not being able to cultivate, he actually thought of this dietary supplementation method. Truly deserving of being the former world’s number one!”
Thinking that if he hadn’t discovered this, if Pei Hefeng really embarked on the path of cultivating immortality, and after becoming powerful, they would all be unlucky, the old man felt a wave of relief. His expression turned serious. “I can’t let you succeed. It seems I have to eradicate you today!”
“…These dishes look quite decent, so I’ll let you have a full meal before you die.” He glanced at the steaming food on the table and made a decision.
Perhaps the appearance and aroma of the food were too enticing, the old man couldn’t help but swallow his saliva as he waited. “This world’s number one cooking, I never had the chance to taste it before, and I probably won’t have the chance in the future… If anyone asks, I can say I’m the only one who did!”
With that thought, the old man couldn’t help but reach out his hand.
……
Near the thatched house, a small pond shimmered under the sunlight, which was personally excavated by the original body during his seclusion. He deliberately raised many fish and shrimps in it.
This secluded valley was so remote that not only was there no human activity, but there were also few small animals around, and had to be self-sufficient in this way.
As Bai Yi approached, the clear water surface reflected a figure of recklessness and unruliness. Dressed in coarse clothes, with disheveled long hair, faintly visible aggressive eyebrows and a straight nose. He exuded a sense of decadence, carelessness, yet also freedom.
Soon, the fish and shrimps swimming around directly disturbed the human figure in the water, making it look lively.
“The ancients said, it is better to eat without meat than without fish…”
Bai Yi stood up against the wind, with a sword in his hand, and let out a carefree chant:
“—Fish, come!”
In an instant, the long sword was unsheathed, like a rainbow across the sky, a cold light flashed, breaking through the water, and when it returned to Bai Yi’s hand, the sword tip was already skewered with a fat and large fish.
Bai Yi returned to the courtyard humming happily, only to find a person lying on the ground where there should have been no one. The food that should have been placed on the table was also swept onto the ground, creating a mess.
“Oh, this…”
Bai Yi was dumbfounded, the fish in his hand suddenly didn’t smell fragrant anymore. “I thought you were here to kill, but it turns out you’re here to steal food? You don’t even want to let me have a full meal before I die, shrimp and pork heart, not worthy of being a human being!”
Indeed, he had sensed the presence of an NPC through the lively spiritual fluctuations, and Bai Yi had been planning to initiate a plot through this NPC…
Unexpectedly, this guy came up and ate the dishes he had painstakingly prepared, leaving him with a growling stomach…
Bai Yi was filled with grief and anger. “…Are you still human?!”
The person convulsing on the ground barely opened his eyes and then suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
…This question should have been asked by him.
…Who is the real inhuman one after all?!
“You, you…” The old man on the ground trembled as he raised a finger weakly, “Actually poisoned…!”
“…Despicable!”
With these last words uttered, his head tilted, and his breath ceased, ending his life with a final breath!
Bai Yi: ???
“How can you falsely accuse someone out of thin air?”
Bai Yi was quite angry, so he kicked the old man and wanted to continue confronting him.
But he found that the man was motionless, already dead.
He couldn’t help but raise the sword skewered with fish, looking at the fish with wide eyes, muttering to himself, “It seems that only this sole fish can prove my innocence, that I always act with integrity and never do such crazy things as poisoning!”
Then, he turned his fish proof into a pot of fish congee and gulped it all down.
Finally, satisfied with a full burp, he patted his stomach.
—Look, isn’t he himself perfectly fine?
Having eaten and drunk his fill, crossed it off, proving his innocence, Bai Yi then had the mind to assess the body in the courtyard.
Basic information about the person quickly appeared before his eyes.
[An, Fushan Sect Leader, 75 years old]
“What a perfunctory introduction…” Bai Yi commented, “But, from the appearance, you can’t tell he’s 75 years old at all. Could this be the effect of tempering the body with spiritual energy?”
He suddenly realized, “Wait a minute, to complete the task, I first need to understand the martial arts and cultivation system of this world. Pei Hefeng’s body is a waste in cultivation, but the person in front of me is excellent material for cultivation, right?”
Bai Yi’s mood suddenly became cheerful, “Could this be the legendary beginner’s village starter pack? Love it, love it!”
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