Chapter Fifty: The Essence of the Way

Facing the setting sun, Chen Mu stepped into the gathering area, his figure momentarily freezing.

The market street that had been relatively orderly in the morning was now in utter chaos.

Shattered pottery jars, overturned bamboo baskets, and straw mats torn into several pieces lay scattered about.

“Is this the aftermath of last night’s incident?”

Chen Mu calmly moved behind a large tree.

His lips moved subtly as he activated the Five Ghost Pouch.

Standing in the shade, he quietly observed the hurried crowd.

The laborers had not yet descended the mountain.

The usual small vendors were nowhere to be seen.

Instead, several government clerks prowled nearby, shouting and driving people away at the slightest sign of presence.

An old man was dragged out of a tent by the clerks.

They stormed inside, smashing and ransacking the place.

Finally, they kicked the old man a few times before cursing and leaving.

...

Old Liu felt utterly unlucky.

His business had just started to pick up; he had barely managed to sell three bottles of potent pills.

At night, not only did the clerks confiscate his money, but he was also beaten.

Covering his bruised forehead with a piece of gray cloth, Old Liu sighed deeply.

“What’s going on?” A cold voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Old Liu shuddered, then turned sharply and relaxed upon recognizing the speaker.

“Oh, Brother Yang, I thought those black dogs were back again,” Old Liu said with lingering fear.

Chen Mu nodded expressionlessly, adopting a taciturn and simple demeanor.

“County Magistrate Li Qing is unhappy with the construction progress and sent those black dogs to supervise.”

“In the gathering area, every able-bodied man must help repair the altar.”

“Fortunately, you weren’t here, or you’d have been conscripted.”

Chen Mu felt a slight relief but couldn’t help frowning.

“It’s not because of the death of the strong man or Lu Jin’s severe injury, but because of the altar.”

“Conscripting laborers? That’s troublesome.”

“The gathering area is becoming a place of conflict.”

Old Liu sighed as he gathered the scattered herbs thrown on the ground.

“What are your plans next?” Chen Mu suddenly asked.

“What else can I do but pack up and leave?”

“Being ransacked three times in one day, my old bones can’t take it anymore,” Old Liu shook his head in despair.

He was getting old and had hoped to earn a little, then settle down in a rural village to live out his remaining days in peace.

But suddenly, the clerks barged in, ransacking him three times in a day, wiping out his savings. Thinking about his future, he felt lost.

Continue as a quack doctor? Die alone in a foreign land someday? The future was uncertain...

Chen Mu looked thoughtfully at the herbs on the ground. “I need a batch of medicinal herbs.”

“You’re not planning to leave?” Old Liu was taken aback.

The gathering area was clearly no longer suitable for residence.

Unless one wanted to become a laborer on the mountain.

“The demand is large. Can you gather them?”

Chen Mu said calmly.

With his current strength, if he hid, it would be difficult for the clerks to find him.

“Are you serious?!” Old Liu was delighted.

“The herbs you collect, deliver them to my wooden hut. Payment upon delivery,” Chen Mu said.

“Brother Yang, rest assured, this old man will risk his life to get the goods to you,” Old Liu excitedly rubbed his hands.

What Chen Mu wanted included both medicinal herbs and inconspicuous plants from Little East Mountain.

Bought cheaply from laborers and sold to Chen Mu at a high price.

He had made a good profit on the last transaction!

Chen Mu didn’t mind the small markup.

The preservative materials for the Fasting Elixir Pills mostly came from the local vegetation of Little East Mountain.

He needed to collect a large batch quickly to facilitate making reserve rations.

...

Outside the wooden hut at the foot of Little East Mountain.

Chen Mu’s face was grim.

Pots and pans were strewn everywhere; books on the table were torn apart, as if someone had begrudgingly flipped through them page by page.

Two wind-dried wild rabbits hanging under the eaves had also disappeared.

Those greedy clerks, under the pretext of supervising conscription, had thoroughly pillaged the gathering area. Even his own home was not spared.

“This place can’t be stayed in anymore.”

Fortunately, he had stored important items in the Five Ghost Pouch; otherwise, the loss would have been greater.

The next day.

Chen Mu packed up his stove and bedding, taking the leftover tent used to line the Five Ghost Pouch.

At dawn, he slung a bamboo basket over his back and slipped into the misty Little East Mountain.

In just over ten days, he would leave.

There was no need to clash with the authorities.

He would find a place in the nearby mountains to hide from the supervising clerks and wait until the day of departure, then bid this place farewell.

...

Two days later.

On the northern side of Little East Mountain, behind the Qingfeng Temple, beneath a terraced small cliff, there was a pool of water.

Bubbles occasionally rose on the water’s surface as spring water gushed forth.

A small stream emerged from the pool’s edge, flowing down the mountain.

Next to the pool, smoke billowed faintly.

Chen Mu, wearing a gray scarf, wielded a spatula skillfully.

Shredded fish meat touched the bottom of the pan briefly before being flipped; residual heat seeped inside, evaporating moisture and caramelizing the surface.

Spices, honey, and medicinal herbs blended together, filling the air with a sweet, slightly charred, enticing aroma.

He had been living in seclusion here for two days.

He set up a tent and made a simple shelter.

He had no intention of staying long—only wanted to prepare travel rations and wait for the departure date.

He had tried asking Jie Jia if he could leave early but was flatly refused.

Chen Mu didn’t understand—were there really so many assassination missions in Qingshan County?

While he was focused on frying the meat floss and making the Fasting Elixir Pills,

a childish voice suddenly came from above: “What are you making?”

Chen Mu looked up.

On the four-meter-high cliff, a delicate little Daoist boy squatted.

Cheng Ming?

How did this little Daoist boy find this place?

Had Qingfeng Temple discovered him?

Would someone be sent to drag him off to repair the altar?

Chen Mu felt helpless. Had he just settled for two days and now had to move again?

This running and hiding was beginning to shame a time-traveling cultivator like him.

“Smells really good,” the little Daoist boy drooled, eyes fixed on the pan.

“Want some?” Chen Mu smiled.

“Yes!” Cheng Ming’s eyes lit up instantly.

Chen Mu’s smile vanished, replaced by a cold expression. “Go back and have Fatty He from the fire crew make some for you.”

Cheng Ming: “...”

“Brother Chen, just let me try a bite, I promise, just one bite!” The little Daoist boy was undeterred, hopping like a rabbit along the narrow path beside the cliff towards Chen Mu.

“You remember me?” Chen Mu was surprised.

Their last meeting had been a year and a half ago.

They rarely crossed paths and spoke only a few words each day.

Besides, the boy was just eight or nine years old.

“Of course!” Cheng Ming puffed out his chest proudly. “Master says I have a photographic memory!”

Chen Mu: “...”

How could he not be a bit envious?

Even as a time-traveler, he never had a photographic memory, yet this little Daoist boy did.

“Brother Chen, please give me some. I promise, just one bite!”

...

On the stone platform beside the stove, Cheng Ming held a bowl as big as a human head, filled with boneless fragrant fried fish slices.

“So you came here on your own,” Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief.

Cheng Ming ignored him, stuffing fish into his mouth, cheeks puffed like a hamster.

Chen Mu snatched the porcelain bowl away.

Cheng Ming looked at him with a wronged expression and nodded: “Master and senior brothers are always busy and never around, so I came out to play by myself.”

Chen Mu returned the bowl to the little Daoist boy.

At least he didn’t have to worry about being driven away or captured.

“Don’t tell the temple about me being here,” Chen Mu said sternly to scare him.

...

“Then can I still have fish slices tomorrow?” Cheng Ming wasn’t afraid but looked at Chen Mu with bright eyes.

“Yes!” Chen Mu rolled his eyes. Such a little extortionist already.

“Deal!” Cheng Ming resumed eating eagerly.

After devouring a large bowl of fish meat, his belly was still flat.

“Uncle He says I’m a bottomless pit,” the little Daoist boy said proudly.

Look at you, such an appetite!

“Here, have two of these good things,” Chen Mu smiled, handing him two Fasting Elixir Pills.

“What’s this?” Cheng Ming popped one into his mouth immediately.

So innocent—just take and eat.

“Fasting Elixir Pills,” Chen Mu said solemnly.

Cheng Ming pursed his lips, staring silently at Chen Mu.

“Rice balls, rice balls, meat floss rice balls!”

“If you don’t eat them, give them back!”

“Eat!” The little Daoist boy immediately stuffed another pill into his mouth.

He ate three in a row and still wanted more, but Chen Mu didn’t dare give any more, afraid he’d get sick.

Cheng Ming looked greedily at the pills in Chen Mu’s hand, yet his belly remained flat.

“You really are a bottomless pit,” Chen Mu remarked. His appetite was nearly as big as his.

...

“It’s normal,” Jie Jia lightly picked up a piece of fragrant fried fish. “If one has innate Daoist bones, a large appetite isn’t surprising.”

Daoist bones? Chen Mu heard a new term.

“Don’t think about it. Those people live in a different world from us,” Jie Jia said indifferently.

“What do you mean?”

“Ten years to train the body form, a hundred years to cultivate the soul. Even with extraordinary talent and tireless practice, one who completes the soul cultivation at thirty is called a genius,” Jie Jia said with feeling.

“After that, they accumulate essence to strengthen the soul. When the soul is perfected into armor, their life is essentially over.”

“But those with innate Daoist bones can complete body form training in a hundred days and soul cultivation in three years.”

“Can such people be the same as us?”

It was the first time Chen Mu heard Jie Jia speak so much.

“Is soul cultivation really that difficult?” With his proficiency, Chen Mu found body form training easy and had never taken soul cultivation seriously.

Seeing Jie Jia’s sigh, Chen Mu felt uneasy.

He immediately thought of Cheng Ming.

Could this little fellow be the kind of person born with Daoist bones?

“Don’t think about it. Such people are taken away as soon as they appear. You won’t see them.”

“There are plenty of big eaters—those born with divine strength, those with beast bloodlines, those who take shape-altering medicines; all these cause large appetites,” Jie Jia finished in one breath, pulling out a white silk cloth to slowly wipe his mouth. Soon, he composed himself, returning to his usual calm demeanor.

...

After the meal, watching Jie Jia disappear into the thick mountain mist, Chen Mu pondered the Daoist bones with a troubled expression.

This world was really unfair.

He had worked hard from dawn to dusk, cultivating for a year and a half, yet still couldn’t complete body form training.

But some people could easily achieve it.

A wave of helplessness rose in Chen Mu’s heart, his face darkening.

And soul cultivation—Jie Jia had only just achieved it despite his hair turning gray, while those with Daoist bones only needed three years.

Chen Mu clenched his fists tightly, nails digging deep into his flesh, grinding his teeth as he thought, “If it’s so hard for Jie Jia, what about me?”

His former self was just an ordinary scholar with poor physique.

He practiced the common Red Hawk Body Training technique.

“Easy tendons, easy bones, easy marrow.”

“Ten years to train the body, a hundred years to cultivate the soul.”

“I’ve been diligently cultivating for a year and a half, and haven’t even completed the easy marrow stage!”

“For someone like me, with no resources, no lineage, no backing, just an ordinary low-level martial artist, when will my breakthrough come?”

Chen Mu’s face was full of sorrow and anger as he stared hard at the gray proficiency wall before him.

Red Hawk Body Training: 5209/10000/Stage Three;

“Hmm? I can complete body training in at most three months?!”

Chen Mu blinked.

“Hmph!”

He angrily put away the gray wall.

“These external things!”

“Corrupting my Dao heart!”

“Better not even look!”