CHAPTER 4: SLAUGHTER, CALMING THE MIND (1)

By the time Lu Chen woke up, the entire pool was filled with foul-smelling black sludge.

He spotted a small lake nearby. Without a second thought, he scrambled out of the pool and leapt over two zhang high, landing straight into it.

Lu Chen stared in astonishment at his reflection in the water. He had grown taller and leaner, and his skin was fair and smooth like a baby's. His facial features were now sharp and well-defined, and his black, silky hair draped neatly down to his waist.

He could hardly believe this was his own body. He remembered only arriving in this place three or four days ago, and he couldn't wrap his head around how such a drastic change could’ve happened in such a short time. Climbing out of the lake in a hurry, he grabbed Feng Tiancheng and asked, "Grandpa Feng, how did I end up like this?"

Feng Tiancheng explained with a cheerful smile, "You’ve successfully stepped into the Qi Absorption Realm. Your entire body has been strengthened. Physically, you’ve already reached the equivalent of perfect mastery in this realm. Each of your punches now carries about a thousand jin[1] of force, and that’s just the beginning. Once your cultivation catches up, your strength will double again.

"Every minor breakthrough in your realm adds another thousand jin. That’s already twice the strength of an average person. When you truly reach the peak of the Qi Absorption Realm in cultivation, your punches could unleash roughly ten thousand jin of force. And with some luck and the right opportunities, it could go even higher."

He looked up at Lu Chen and said, "Go ahead. Try out your strength and get used to it."

Lu Chen swung his arm and struck a nearby rock. With a loud bang, the rock shattered into pieces.

Seeing this, he couldn't contain his excitement and shouted toward the sky, "I can finally cultivate now! I’m a cultivator!"

Just then, Feng Tiancheng grabbed his arm. "It’s time for us to leave. I’ll accompany you on your cultivation journey for a while."

Lu Chen looked at him in surprise. "Grandpa Feng, you’re coming with me? That’s great! My grandfather will be so happy to see you!"

Feng Tiancheng chuckled and said, "My mission here is complete. It’s time I travel the continent and find out what really happened. I need to understand how the Yuanyang Twin-Fish Disk shattered like that. Since my true body has already ascended, I can only appear in the outside world through your Twin-Fish Medallion. Besides, you’ll still need my guidance in cultivation, won’t you? Hahaha."

With that, he led Lu Chen out of the dimension accessed through the Twin-Fish Medallion.

Outside the tree, Feng Tiancheng formed a hand seal with the Twin-Fish Medallion in hand. The entire city, along with its medicinal herbs, spirit plants, and even the old man's phantom, was drawn into the medallion.

Then, as Lu Chen walked back, Feng Tiancheng began guiding him on how to use the Twin-Fish Medallion through his consciousness. As Lu Chen immersed his mind into it, the inner space of the medallion revealed itself before him. He had never seen an enchanted artifact like this before.

Feng Tiancheng explained, "Like I've said before, this is an enchanted artifact I once used during my cultivation. It is an Emperor Artifact. It houses a self-contained dimension with seven layers of space that I personally created. These layers hold secret arts, ways to acquire divine abilities, pills, tools, spirit plants, and even spirit beasts.

"With your current cultivation level, you can only access the central layer. It holds the densest concentration of spirit qi and will serve as your training ground. As your cultivation advances and you recover the other pieces, the spirit qi will grow severalfold, and even more functions will be unlocked."

Before they knew it, they had arrived at the village entrance. But just as Lu Chen was about to rush in, Feng Tiancheng, who had left the medallion again at some point, suddenly pulled him back.

Feng Tiancheng frowned at the sight before him. He might not have returned to the outside world in a long time, but he knew for certain that a village should never reek so strongly of blood. There was unmistakable danger ahead.

Lu Chen turned to him, puzzled by his reaction. "Grandpa Feng, let’s go. You’ve been inside the ancient parasol tree for too long. You must've missed this place."

Feng Tiancheng gathered all his qi, ready to act the moment something went wrong. "You’d better prepare yourself. Something’s happened here."

Lu Chen felt a strange unease at Feng Tiancheng’s words. What could possibly happen here? I’ve been here all my life and nothing ever happened.

But the moment they stepped inside, the heavy stench of blood hit him. Blood was everywhere.

Lu Chen’s eyes turned red at the sight, and he rushed forward.

The first thing he saw was Auntie Wang clutching Little Pup, her body still looking as if she was trying to run away. A sword had pierced her from behind, pinning her to the ground as blood poured out.

Seeing the bodies of Auntie Wang and Little Pup, Lu Chen couldn’t help but recall how, just a few days ago, they had encouraged him to train hard. He still remembered promising Little Pup to cultivate alongside him. But now, this was all that remained.

Lu Chen gently straightened their bodies, his hands trembling helplessly. Not being able to cultivate had only saddened him before, but seeing his loved ones dead filled him with despair.

Suddenly, he thought of his grandfather. He sprinted toward his home, shouting like a madman, "Grandpa! Grandpa, you’re still here, right? Auntie Wang and Little Pup are gone! Please! Please tell me you’re safe!"

Feng Tiancheng’s expression darkened. There was no way the thick stench of blood he was feeling came from just two bodies. In other words... many others had been killed. Without delay, he hurried after Lu Chen.

Along the way, Lu Chen saw the other villagers he used to live with—Uncle Wang, Auntie Sun, Brother Ma, and Grandpa Zhao. After finishing their chores or returning from a hunt, they would always bring him little gifts. Just two days ago, Brother Ma had even patted his head and said he believed Lu Chen would become the village’s first cultivator. But now, they were all lying motionless on the ground.

Just then, a voice called out to Lu Chen, "Run! A group of cultivators came to seize the Heavenly Emperor’s treasure! Everyone in the village has been killed!"

The person speaking was the old beggar from the village. He was lying on the ground, covered in blood, and looking at Lu Chen.

Lu Chen rushed over, crying as he held the old man. "Beggar Grandpa, it’s me, Little Lu. I can cultivate now! What happened to the village? Why is everyone dead? Where is my grandpa?"

The old beggar struggled to open his eyes and looked at Lu Chen. "Little Lu... it’s really you? You’ve become a cultivator... Your grandpa... he was taken to the ancestral hall. They want him to hand over the Heavenly Emperor’s treasure..."

The old beggar suddenly recalled something. He pushed Lu Chen away and said, "You must run! You’re no match for them! Run! You must survive... survive..."

Before he could finish, his hand dropped, and his breathing stopped.

Lu Chen looked at the old beggar, trembling in grief. "Beggar Grandpa, Beggar Grandpa, don’t die... please don’t die..."

Feng Tiancheng stood nearby, taking it all in. He hadn’t expected the village to fall into such ruin. Sensing faint signs of life coming from the ancestral hall, he turned toward it and said, "Stop crying. If we’re not too late, we might still be able to save your grandpa."

"Really, Grandpa Feng? Then let’s hurry!"

Lu Chen quickly laid the old beggar on the ground and followed Feng Tiancheng toward the ancestral hall.

Outside the hall, Feng Tiancheng pulled Lu Chen behind him and hid in a patch of tall grass. "There are people inside. We can’t charge in recklessly. The Twin-Fish Medallion used up most of its spirit power helping you ascend to the Qi Absorption Realm. Without replenishing it, I may not be able to defeat them. We need to come up with a plan."

He then told Lu Chen to take out the Twin-Fish Medallion. "I’m going to borrow your body to cast a secret art. But without enough spirit qi to sustain it, I’ll be left weakened for a long time. So we’ve only got one shot at this."

Lu Chen looked at him and nodded firmly. "Saving Grandpa comes first."

Feng Tiancheng held the Twin-Fish Medallion in his left hand and pointed it at Lu Chen, while forming a hand seal with his right hand. A faint green light began to radiate from Lu Chen’s body. That was Feng Tiancheng’s wood-element aura.

Feeling his aura growing stronger, Lu Chen murmured in awe, "So this is what it feels like to be a real cultivator..."

As the aura gradually steadied, Lu Chen turned to Feng Tiancheng and asked, "Grandpa Feng, what should I do next?"

Feng Tiancheng put away the medallion. "I’m going to take control of your body. Watch closely. This will be your first lesson from me. I call it 'Calming the Mind.'"

He raised both hands above his head in a specific gesture. Lu Chen’s body instinctively mirrored the movement. Then, Feng Tiancheng turned into a stream of green light and merged into the center of Lu Chen’s forehead, fully taking over his body.

Now in control of Lu Chen’s body, Feng Tiancheng formed a hand seal before his chest, and a sword of green light manifested in front of him.

Feng Tiancheng explained, "This is called Sword Manifestation. It’s a simple technique that channels spirit qi. Once you reach the Qi Regulation Realm, you can draw spirit qi from your Heavenly Pool and release it externally as an attack."

Lu Chen was amazed, but he couldn’t hide his worry as he stared at the ancestral hall. "Grandpa Feng, let's get started with it quickly! I’m really worried about Grandpa."

"HYAH!"

With a loud shout, Feng Tiancheng raised the massive sword formed from spirit qi and struck down directly at the spot where the aura inside the hall was strongest.

The sword crashed down with tremendous force, shattering the entire ancestral hall.

Three people were killed instantly. Four others were badly wounded, their flesh torn open to reveal pale white bone.

Clearly, none of them had expected another powerful cultivator to be hiding in the village. Their gazes instantly locked onto Lu Chen, wary of his power..

Lu Chen spotted a cultivator who looked like their leader. He was gripping Blindman Lu.

That’s my grandpa! That’s him! Lu Chen shouted. Please, save him!

But Blindman Lu didn’t respond. He appeared to be unconscious.

Feng Tiancheng glanced at the remaining enemies. There were nine cultivators left, which was a bit much for him in his current state. He needed to finish this quickly.

He summoned five small flying swords and sent them hurtling toward the enemies.

Some of the cultivators tried to block, while the others dodged. However, the flying swords were just too fast. Three more were cut down. Now, only six remained.

Feng Tiancheng picked up a longsword from the ground and leapt into battle, clashing with one of the cultivators.

His cultivation might have been restricted, but his years of battle experience remained. These opponents were no match for him. With a single spinning strike, he slashed down the enemy before him and moved straight to the next.

Blood spurted out into the air. The number of cultivators gradually decreased. But at the same time, Lu Chen's movements also began to slow.

In the end, only the leader was left.

This man had been observing Lu Chen carefully. Seeing that his movements had slowed, he realized Lu Chen had reached his limit, and that now was his chance to strike.

He tossed Blindman Lu aside, raised his enchanted artifact longsword, and unleashed a blast of spirit qi at Lu Chen.

Feng Tiancheng used all his strength to lift the sword in Lu Chen’s hand, just barely managing to block the attack.

He tried to counterattack, controlling the sword to strike back, but before it reached the enemy, Lu Chen’s body gave out and collapsed to the ground.

The leader burst into laughter as he looked down at Lu Chen. "So what if your cultivation is strong? You still couldn't hold on. Kid, your life is mine now!"

With that, he raised his sword and slashed down at Lu Chen.

1. Traditional Chinese unit of mass. One jin (or catty) is standardized to 0.5kg now. ☜