Cultivation: Start From Simplifying Martial Arts Techniques

“Big Brother Chen, I’ve just heated up some wine. Would you like a bit?”

At night, the entire caravan camped to rest. Chen Fei sat by the campfire, gazing absentmindedly at the distant sky. Chu Lan approached Chen Fei cautiously and handed him a warm wine jug.

“Thank you!”

Chen Fei turned his head to look at Chu Lan, a slight smile on his face.

“I also have some jerky over there, Big Brother Chen. Let me fetch some for you.” Seeing Chen Fei’s smile, Chu Lan blushed slightly, lowered her head shyly, and hurriedly ran towards a nearby campfire.

Chen Fei’s smile stirred something in Chu Lan’s heart. Since she first saw Chen Fei in the caravan, she hoped to see his face every day and even have conversations with him.

However, due to her reserved nature, Chu Lan only dared to appear in front of Chen Fei briefly before quickly retreating. She would then find another reason to approach Chen Fei again.

This pattern repeated for two whole days.

“All, where’s my wine? Lan Lan, have you seen Grandpa’s wine?” Chu Wennian came back with some firewood, only to find that the place where the wine had been warming was now empty.

“Grandpa, you’re already so old. It’s not good for your health to drink alcohol.” Chu Lan rushed forward upon hearing her grandfather’s call.

“What nonsense! Your grandpa is still hale and hearty. What’s wrong with having a little drink!”

Chu Wennian complained discontentedly and glanced past Chu Lan, looking at Chen Fei not far away. He spotted a wine jug by Chen Fei’s side. The appearance and style of the jug were unmistakably his!

Chu Wennian’s eyes widened, and he walked towards Chen Fei with a hint of frustration. Chu Lan, seeing her grandfather’s actions, was too startled to even grab the jerky, and she quickly followed.

“Young man, how’s the taste of this wine?” Chu Wennian plopped down directly at the spot diagonally across from Chen Fei and picked up the wine jug from the ground. With satisfaction, he aimed the jug’s spout at his mouth.

The wine poured out of the jug’s spout, releasing a faint wine fragrance.

It wasn’t some expensive wine; there were even some sediments in it. But looking at Chu Wennian’s expression, it seemed as though he was savoring the finest nectar.

“Grandpa, that’s the wine I gave to Big Brother Chen. Why did you take it?” Chu Lan saw Chu Wennian downing the wine and grew a bit anxious.

She had specifically prepared that wine for Chen Fei, and now her own grandfather had taken it without realizing. She didn’t know if Chen Fei would blame her for this.

Chu Lan fidgeted with her clothes, stealing a glance at Chen Fei. He continued to wear a gentle smile, showing no signs of displeasure or anger.

“Senior Chu!” Chen Fei gave a slight bow to Chu Wennian.

“All, good wine!” Chu Wennian, afraid that Chen Fei might ask for a share, downed the entire jug in one go. He then let out a satisfied belch and placed the wine jug aside.

“It’s a bit scarce, but when we reach Apricot Fen City, I’ll treat you to a proper drink.”

“You’re too kind, Senior Chu,” Chen Fei replied with a smile.

Seeing Chen Fei’s calm demeanor and his continuous smile, a smile also appeared on Chu Wennian’s face.

Aside from his exceptionally handsome appearance, which had inadvertently charmed his precious granddaughter, Chu Wennian’s impression of Chen Fei had been quite positive during these days of interaction.

Calm and composed, as if nothing could rush him. With the right opportunity, such temperament could indeed lead to achievements.

The only issue was that Chen Fei’s cultivation wasn’t particularly outstanding. In his twenties and at the Bone Tempering realm, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t remarkable either.

Having spent many years in Immortal Cloud City, Chu Wennian had seen numerous talented martial artists. Especially in the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect, someone like Chen Fei, who hadn’t even been granted an entry opportunity at his age, would likely need to try his luck with smaller sects.

“Actually, you should stay in Immortal Cloud City. There are more opportunities there. Your name is Chen Fei, right? Have you heard about someone with the same name in Primordial Sword Sect? He’s managed to secure the second position in the true transmission of Immortal Cloud Sword Sect recently.” Chu Wennian looked at Chen Fei and offered advice with good intentions.

Life in Immortal Cloud City might be competitive, but it also offered more chances. In other smaller cities, comfort was achievable, but the path of martial arts would likely be quite limited.

“I know, I know! That guy named Chen Fei is said to have a face full of beard, a height of eight feet, and a waist also eight feet!”

Chu Lan exclaimed excitedly from the side. Even though some time had passed since Chen Fei’s encounter with Shen Tu Cang, it was still a topic that came up occasionally in conversation.

After all, he was the most outstanding among the true transmission disciples of the Primordial Sword Sect in many years. Such a slightly legendary topic easily piqued people’s interest.

“Eight feet tall, with an eight feet waist?”

Hearing his own image described by an outsider for the first time, Chen Fei was somewhat bewildered. How did this description come about? His appearance seemed to vary quite a bit.

“Yes, and he’s so ugly too.”

Chu Lan imagined someone with a height and waist both being eight feet and shivered slightly. She discreetly measured Chen Fei with her eyes and concluded that Big Brother Chen was certainly more handsome.

“The most important thing for a martial artist is strength. Whether they’re ugly or not, what’s the big deal!” Chu Wennian scolded his granddaughter with displeasure upon seeing her expression.

Chu Lan made a face at her grandfather and skipped back playfully. She wanted to check if the jerky was ready to be taken, so she could give it to Big Brother Chen to eat later.

“I have some matters to attend to in Apricot Fen City. I’ll be returning to Immortal Cloud City afterward.” Chen Fei, seeing Chu Wennian’s well-intentioned advice, couldn’t help but smile.

“At your age, cultivation is the most important. I didn’t realize that back in my day, and now that I’m quite old, my cultivation is only at the Marrow Tempering realm. Sigh!” Chu Wennian sighed as he spoke. He had once been quite dashing, but then he met Chu Lan’s grandmother. Thinking of her grandmother, Chu Wennian was lost in memories.

As Chu Wennian spoke halfway, he suddenly paused. Chen Fei looked up, observing Chu Wennian’s expression. Seeing that he wasn’t being interrupted but rather allowed to eat his rations in peace, Chen Fei continued eating.

It had been two days since the caravan left Immortal Cloud City, and surprisingly, the current route was exactly the same as the one Chen Fei had taken from Apricot Fen City when he first arrived.

At first, Chen Fei found this a bit perplexing, as during his previous journey, he had encountered a peculiar person dressed as a bride on the road. Logically, they should have avoided that person, as oddities usually indicated danger.

Of course, it could also be seen as an opportunity.

If one’s strength was formidable enough, they could overcome the oddity and often gain valuable items. For instance, peculiar artifacts with unique abilities or enigmatic pearls that enhanced the potency of medicines.

However, the Immortal Cloud Caravan was primarily involved in trading and profiting from price differences between various cities. Eliminating oddities wasn’t part of the caravan’s plans.

It wasn’t until an hour ago that the caravan guards informed everyone that they might encounter an oddity the following day. They advised everyone to ignore it entirely, as any incident that might occur wouldn’t concern the caravan in any way.

It was only after Chen Fei paid a bit of money to the guards that he understood.

Initially, the caravan had indeed changed its route to avoid the oddity, as that was the safest approach. But unexpectedly, even on the alternate route, they had come across another oddity, and this one seemed even stronger.

The Immortal Cloud Caravan had a vast amount of cargo, necessitating the use of major roads; otherwise, it would be impossible to transport all the goods. In the end, they had no choice but to revert to their original route.

At most, they’d navigate around the potential oddity when they reached that point.

And this method proved effective after several months of travel, as there were no issues encountered. Otherwise, had they truly faced difficulties, the Immortal Cloud Caravan might have alerted the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect and had a Marrow Tempering realm expert sent over to eliminate the oddity.

One day later, Chen Fei sat in a carriage, and from a distance, he spotted the hill slope with the thatched cottage upon it. The sight still left a deep impression on him.

“Young man, don’t look and close your eyes quickly!”

Seeing Chen Fei gazing outside, others within the carriage whispered to remind him. Simultaneously, the voices of the caravan guards outside were heard, shouting for everyone to close their eyes and focus their minds.

Chen Fei wasn’t stubborn; he withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes.

Perhaps due to Chen Fei’s strong mental power, a faint murmur seemed to echo by his ears. It was barely audible, requiring focused attention to perceive, yet at the same time, it was almost impossible to hear anything at all.

Chen Fei hadn’t heard such murmurs during his first passage through this area.

“Clang!”

A sound, as resonant as the tolling of a great bell, reverberated from the center of the caravan, just like Chen Fei had heard during his initial journey.

At first, Chen Fei hadn’t understood the meaning of this bell sound, but now he realized that it was a spirit artifact, a genuine one. The person who triggered it wasn’t an Aperture Tempering realm expert, but rather someone in the Visceral Tempering realm.

Similar to Xiao Liling of Sunken Water Pavilion, who hadn’t yet reached the Aperture Tempering realm but could proficiently control a spirit artifact. Though the wealthy Immortal Cloud Caravan couldn’t afford to have Aperture Tempering realm experts stationed with them, they could deploy a spirit artifact to keep things in check.

The faint murmur Chen Fei had sensed disappeared and dissipated beneath the toll of the bell, as if it had never existed.

Simultaneously, the caravan began to accelerate, and after several moments, the entire caravan gradually resumed its previous pace.

The rest of the journey passed without incident. Chen Fei spent most of his time cultivating silently within the carriage. Currently, he wasn’t practicing any techniques; his main focus was erasing the obsessions outside his apertures.

If this obsession weren’t outside his apertures, given Chen Fei’s current level of mental power, it wouldn’t have taken several years to erase it. Unfortunately, the obsession resided outside his apertures.

Before the apertures were truly opened, they were extremely fragile. A slight mistake could damage them and hinder advancement to the Aperture Tempering realm.

This was why disciples of various sects endured many years of hardship without daring to make reckless attempts. Inner sect disciples exhausted all their efforts but often ended up failing in the end.

Because it was truly too difficult.

Chu Lan would occasionally find an excuse to chat with Chen Fei, but the conversation would usually end after a few sentences, causing her to blush and hurriedly run away under Chen Fei’s gaze. This left Chen Fei somewhat puzzled.

Was his face truly that captivating?

Chu Wennian had given up on persuading his granddaughter, as he could tell that Chen Fei had no ulterior motives toward her. Upon reaching Apricot Fen City, both sides would part ways..