Eternal Life Begins with Learning

"People are never satisfied."

Chu Mu let out a long breath. Just a short while ago, he had been striving for the True Martial Arts he’d always dreamed of.

In just a short time, he had witnessed a higher level of the Extraordinary, and the Qi and Blood Cultivation he had just started practicing suddenly seemed less appealing.

’I’ll just have to take it one step at a time.’

This was the only way Chu Mu could comfort himself.

In the few short months since he’d arrived in this world, he had already lifted a corner of its most mysterious veil. That was quite an accomplishment.

Besides, he was still young. He had a long life ahead of him.

Having come to terms with it, the indescribable conflict and complexity in his heart vanished. The oppressive feeling that had shrouded him for so long also dissipated with the arrival of the man in white. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

The exhaustion he had been suppressing finally washed over him, impossible to hold back. With nothing left to worry about, Chu Mu couldn’t be bothered to tidy his messy bedroom. He walked straight into the long-neglected guest room, threw himself onto the bed, and was out like a light.

He slept until nightfall. Perhaps the situation in the town had been brought under control, as no one came to disturb him. There were no unusual commotions from the town, just a wall away.

As darkness fell, Chu Mu finally awoke. After grabbing a quick bite to fill his stomach, he headed out toward the northern part of town.

To Chu Mu’s surprise, even after his long sleep, the heavy security in town hadn’t changed in the slightest. The area around the northern memorial archway was still just as heavily guarded.

The corpse hanging from the archway still swayed in the wind.

Perhaps because the autopsy had compromised the body’s integrity, after a full day of exposure, Chu Mu could even smell the faint, putrid stench of decay wafting through the air.

Everything he saw on his way there made one fact undoubtedly clear.

The situation had not stabilized as Chu Mu had predicted. Perhaps the man in white had returned empty-handed, or perhaps there were other dangerous fugitives still at large.

Chu Mu silently mulled over the possibilities while asking the other Inspectors for news. When he learned that no Rebels had been caught, the situation became all too clear.

"Brother Mu!"

Just as Chu Mu was lost in thought, a familiar shout pulled him back to reality.

Chu Mu asked, slightly curious, "Where have you been all day, kid?"

"Brother Mu, didn’t you say I needed to learn about Meridians and acupoints to practice Martial Arts? I went to Mingxin Hall, paid the fee, and studied with Elder Li all day..."

"You work fast, kid!"

Chu Mu was surprised. He was discovering that while Xu Yuan might seem a little unreliable, when it came to taking action, he was surprisingly decisive.

Xu Yuan scratched his head with a sheepish grin. "I just want to get good at Martial Arts as soon as I can..."

"You definitely need to get good at Martial Arts."

Chu Mu nodded. He couldn’t agree more.

It was just as Wu Shuo had told him before: in this world, practicing Martial Arts was the only way forward.

Looking at things now, those words were truly profound wisdom.

After all, connecting all the pieces of information he had, it wasn’t hard to see that the Great Chu Dynasty might very well be nothing but a puppet.

Even if you passed the imperial exams with flying colors, what was the point if you didn’t even have the strength to truss a chicken?

If this Qi and Blood Cultivation was, as Chu Mu suspected, merely the gateway to a higher level of the Extraordinary, then practicing Martial Arts was truly the only path forward for an ordinary person in this world.

"Thousand Households!"

"Thousand Households!"

A series of respectful voices called out. Chu Mu looked up to see Li Jinghong striding over, surrounded by a crowd of his Personal Guards.

But unlike other days, there was a figure walking in front of Li Jinghong. And Li Jinghong, normally so high and mighty, was now like a mere servant, respectfully trailing behind this person.

Dressed in a white robe, he was incredibly conspicuous. This was clearly the man from the Nanshan Li Family that Chu Mu had seen at noon.

"Lord Li is the Inspector sent by the County Mansion! Why are you all still standing there? Greet His Lordship at once!"

As the man in white stared with great interest at the old man’s hanging corpse, Li Jinghong, acting like a toady beside him, couldn’t wait to shout the order.

"Your humble servants greet you, Lord!"

Hearing this, all the Inspectors quickly bowed in greeting.

The man in white, however, didn’t spare them a single glance. He took a light step, but as if using the Shrinking Inches technique, he instantly crossed a distance of over ten feet, appearing directly beneath the memorial archway.

The man in white reached out a hand. The rope holding the corpse instantly snapped, and the body fell. It should have crashed to the ground, but instead, it stopped, hovering eerily in front of him.

But in that instant, the man in white’s brow furrowed, and his expression filled with obvious displeasure.

"You dissected it?"

The man in white looked at Li Jinghong. His tone was level, but the accusation within it was unmistakable.

Those simple words instantly drained the color from Li Jinghong’s face. This Thousand Households, a man who held the fates of countless people in Qinghe County in his hands, dropped to his knees with a THUD.

"I am guilty, my lord! I was only trying to help the Clan..."

"Hmph!"

Before Li Jinghong could finish, the man in white snorted coldly. With a wave of his hand, the kneeling Li Jinghong was sent flying back dozens of feet like a piece of trash, spitting a mouthful of blood.

After rolling several times on the ground and spilling blood everywhere, the heavily injured Li Jinghong didn’t dare pause for a second. He scrambled back to his feet, immediately fell to his knees again, and began to kowtow nonstop.

"You’re more trouble than you’re worth. Useless!"

The man in white shot Li Jinghong a disgusted look but didn’t strike again. Instead, he turned his gaze back to the corpse still floating in front of him.

At this turn of events, Li Jinghong continued to kowtow on the ground, trembling uncontrollably and not daring to make a peep. As for the other Inspectors, it went without saying; each one stared at the ground, pretending to see and hear nothing, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

The man in white, however, did not stop. He waved a hand and began chanting an incantation. A faint, fluorescent light immediately appeared on the floating corpse.

As the man in white continued his incantation, the faint white glow visibly turned a deep crimson. From his position nearby, Chu Mu could even smell the thick stench of blood.

As time went on, the blood-red light slowly contracted and condensed, eventually forming an Elixir Pill the size of a pigeon’s egg.

The Elixir Pill was a solid blood-red, with faint golden threads shimmering within. The thick stench of blood vanished instantly, replaced by a strange, unique fragrance that Chu Mu could faintly smell.

The moment he smelled the unique fragrance, an inexplicable and indescribable craving surged through Chu Mu, and the Qi Blood throughout his body began to churn on its own.

’This craving came from his entire body, from the Qi Blood circulating within him.’

’This craving... was it a desire... to devour the Elixir Pill before him?’

Before Chu Mu could process the thought, the man in white flicked his hand, and the blood-red, golden-threaded Elixir Pill vanished into his mouth.

With the disappearance of the Elixir Pill, that indescribable craving also vanished without a trace.

Only then did Chu Mu notice that the corpse, which should have appeared fresh, had turned into... a desiccated husk?

...