Chapter 1: Siblings

  In the eastern, southern and northern directions of Xianmeng City, there are many residents on the outskirts, far away from the main streets. They live in groups like farmhouses, each with a small courtyard of several dozen square meters. Like the Dazhou Wangdu, Xianmeng City also has such slums...

  It's said to be a slum, but of course the scope is limited to Xianmeng City, which is entirely composed of cultivators. On the Xianling Continent, any Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivator can become a wealthy master in any mortal country, but in Xianmeng City, being at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer can only be considered as a poor citizen...

  This is the gap, and it's also a principle of this world.

  Undoubtedly, Xue Yang is also a poor man, a kind-hearted and rare poor man...

  Going around the main street that runs north and south, he headed southeast, and before long, Lu Chen arrived at Xue Yang's residence...

  A wall over a meter high, the facilities inside the courtyard can be seen without tiptoeing, the bricks and tiles are not aligned, pieced together in a scattered manner, making the small courtyard of dozens of square meters look flat. There is only one earth-shack house in the courtyard, which doesn't seem to have a large interior area either.

  "There are two rooms, which is not bad." Lu Chen thought to himself.

  Pushing open the simple wooden door that had been reduced to the extreme and even had some gaps and holes, the two of them entered the small courtyard...

  As soon as he entered, Lu Chen saw a young man walking out of the house. This person was about his own age, wearing coarse cloth clothes, no different from ordinary farmers. He was just relatively clean, and most importantly, this person's eyes seemed to have a layer of white mist covering them, looking lifeless and without vitality. He leaned on a curved wooden stick, carefully feeling his way out.

  "Big brother, is that you?"

  Xue Yang's mood was exceptionally good today. As soon as he saw the young man, he quickly ran over, shouting excitedly: "Second brother, I finally bought Yu Congluo! Your eyes are saved!"

  The young man's hand trembled violently as he held the wooden stick, his whole body shaking involuntarily. He exclaimed excitedly, "Really?"

  "Haha, big brother won't cheat you, come in first, big brother will treat your eyes first."

  Xue Yang said, turning to Lu Chen: "Sir, please follow me into the house, we'll talk later."

  Lu Chen smiled and waved his hand, indicating that he was busy with something important.

  At this time, two more people walked out of the house. Lu recognized them as Chen and He, two cultivators who had been traveling with Xue Yang to hunt down demonic beasts.

  The two of them walked out of the house and suddenly discovered Lu Chen's presence, they were taken aback for a moment, then exchanged a glance, revealing the shocked expression that Xue Yang had when he saw him.

  No need to ask, I reckon these two are also secretly wondering how they've managed to survive this far.

  Lu Chen turned his head and didn't pay much attention to these two people.

  "Brother Chen, Brother He, you've also arrived?" Xue Yang was apparently unaware of their arrival.

  Chen and He, two cultivators, withdrew their surprised expressions and smiled slightly at Xue Yang, saying: "Brother Xue has found the spiritual medicine?"

  Xue Yang nodded heavily and said: "Come on, go inside, we'll talk about it later..."

  ……

  "Sir is above, please accept Xue Lin's one bow..."

  In the small courtyard, which was approaching dusk, the sunset from the western sky spilled light into the simple hut. Xue Yang's younger brother, Xue Lin, a young man of twenty-four or five years old, suddenly knelt down in front of Lu Chen with three loud thuds.

  In the process, Lu Chen did not stop him, he just smiled lightly and endured it, his expression calm. Xue Lin's back, Xue Yang nodded in admiration, with scorching hot tears quietly suppressed in his eyes...

  "Just give in already, otherwise these two won't let up." With this thought, Lu Chen resigned himself to his fate.

  In fact, Lu Chen had seen this kind of gratitude countless times before. To put it simply, Lu Chen could consider himself a benefactor, while Xue Lin was the beneficiary, a beggar who received not food but a new life from him...

  Before that, Lu Chen had already known about the past of Xue Yang and his brother Xue Lin. Xue Lin was also a cultivator in the past, and his strength was comparable to Xue Yang's. However, due to an accident, they accidentally entered the territory of a mid-level demon beast with a cultivation base of eight layers, where Xue Lin was poisoned by the demon beast while trying to save his brother. Fortunately, they managed to escape. After that, Xue Lin suffered severe internal injuries and was accompanied by the poison for nearly five years. Xue Yang had been using the spirit stones he earned to sustain his brother's life, and after saving up for five years, he finally borrowed some from Chen and He, which allowed him to exchange for the Jade Congealing Dew.

  Yu Jinglu is a pretty good spiritual medicine, apart from detoxifying, it can also restore one's eyesight. Xue Yang has been insisting for so long and finally got what he wanted...

  "Get up......"

  The bowing was over, Lu Chen raised his hand and smiled, letting Xue Lin get up.

  Chen Ju and He Fangsheng (the two monks) sat on the chair, their eyes still filled with an unerasable astonishment, constantly wandering around Lu Chen's body, seemingly thinking about something. There was still a hint of doubt in their eyes, quite obvious doubt.

  Xue Yang had just finished explaining Lu Chen's gracious words to them, and at first, they didn't believe it either, just like Xue Yang did back then. However, knowing Xue Yang's character of never telling lies, they couldn't help but trust him. As a result, they became even more unbelievable.

  They don't understand why someone like Lu Chen can survive for three months in the vast wilderness and still die, nor do they comprehend how he managed to get involved with a figure like Qi Xianghai...and even obtained the Xianmeng Jade Symbol.

  "Those who can receive the Xianmeng Jade Symbol from the Xianmeng Auction House must have had more than three transactions with the Xianmeng Auction House, and each transaction must be a large-scale activity of over a thousand heads of demon beast materials." Chen Ju and He Fangsheng were naturally clearer about this point.

  "Could it be that this kid has had so many transactions with the Xianmeng Auction House in just three months? Transactions involving over a thousand demon beasts, how did he hunt down so many demon beasts?"

  The two of them exchanged a glance again, and they couldn't remember how many times they had exchanged similar glances in this short period of time. Although the two of them couldn't ask questions or analyze things in front of Lu Chen, up until now, they still found it hard to believe.

  Xue Lin stood up, rummaged through his chest and pulled out a worn-out, yellowed cloth map with bloodstains on it. He respectfully handed it to Lu Chen, saying: "Xue Lin has no other treasures to repay your kindness, so consider this old map as Xue Lin's gift of gratitude."

  "Huh?" Lu Chen was taken aback, holding the cloth and staring blankly for a moment before pushing it back and saying: "This is unnecessary, today's matter is just a simple task, let's forget about this."

  What Xue Zhen regards as his life, Lu Chen also knows that this map is not an ordinary object, and it's likely to contain some great secret. Indeed, Lu Chen wants to see what it is, but just taking it over like this, tsk, isn't that a bit too much...

  To be honest, what I did today was just a gesture of gratitude towards Xue Yang for not looking down on me despite my inferior strength and sincerely inviting me. I didn't have any extravagant hopes of gaining anything from it. So Lu Chen refused.

  However, Lu Chen's gaze still lingered on that fabric intentionally or unintentionally...

  Xue Lin saw the situation and naturally refused to back down, insisting on giving it. At this time, Xue Yang smiled and interjected: "This map records a very mysterious place in the middle-level demon beast area, there should be some treasure, we don't have the opportunity to go over, so please keep it, sir."

  Chen Ju and He Fangsheng looked at Lu Chen with a strange gaze, although previously Lu Chen had helped Xue Yang for some unknown reason, making them think that this person was still somewhat reliable. However, no matter how they looked at it, Yu Hu didn't seem like the kind of treasure that would remain unmoved in the face of great wealth.

  "Go ahead and persuade me, go ahead and persuade me, I know that Master Dao can't resist persuading." Lu Chen smiled wryly and shook his head.

  As expected, Chen and He saw him withdraw his hand again, followed by a sentence that made the two feel shameless.

  "Alright, I'll take it then, but don't do this again next time..."

  Chen Ju and He Fangsheng almost wanted to strangle this guy who had taken advantage of them and was still acting smart at the first opportunity.

  Then Xue Yang planned to entertain Lu Chen a bit, saying that he would find a place to have a good drink. Only...

  "What's the point of drinking? I only have two pieces of spiritual stone left in my pocket, just enough to buy a few buns..."

  With the compassionate heart of Buddha to save Xue Yang from unnecessary expenses, Lu Chen politely declined Xue Yang's invitation. Xue Yang was sincere, but thinking that he only had two pieces of spiritual stones left and still owed money to Chen and He, he didn't insist too much.

  The matter had been settled, and Lu Chen was about to stand up and bid farewell. Xue Yang didn't detain him either, and he sent him off at the door.

  By the wooden door, Xue Yang solemnly reminded him: "Sir, this time we part ways, I don't know when we can meet again. Xue Yang has a heartfelt word to tell you."

  "En... Shuō......" Lù Chén's heart was absent-minded.

  Xue Yang said, "Today's matter of assisting the benefactor may have already been seen by those with ill intentions. The benefactor holds the Xianmeng Jade Symbol, which is like a precious treasure in the eyes of some people. In the future, the benefactor must be careful and cautious, lest they fall into the trap of petty individuals."

  "Alright, I'll remember. Lü Chén smiled and said to Xue Yang: "You're a good person, let's go..."

  "Uh..."

  A sudden sentence left the four people in a daze, and after watching Lu Chen auction off his butt and walk away with a shake of his head, Xue Yang finally shook his head helplessly after a long time and muttered: "This Yu Hu, is really an interesting person."

  Chen Ju and He Fangsheng obviously didn't think much of Lu Chen, and it wasn't until the lonely figure left that they turned to Xue Yang and said: "Brother Xue, that map was something you and Xue Lin risked your lives to get from Hong Huang, is it right to just give it to him like that?"

  The two were clearly hinting at something, and Xue Yang couldn't help but notice. He furrowed his brow and said: "Brother Chen, Brother He, Yu Hu's master isn't a pretentious person, you both saw that just now. If he insists on not wanting to do it, there will be a lot of hassle, and he knows it himself. He's just afraid of trouble. Do you really think someone who can get their hands on the Xianmeng Jade Symbol would care about a torn map?"

  "Uh..."

  Xue Yang's words hit the nail on the head, and Chen Ju and He Fangsheng were both stunned: thinking about it, this was just a map of mid-grade demon beast mineral deposits, not even considered precious. If someone could get their hands on a Xianmeng jade symbol, they wouldn't even look at something like this.

  "Yu Hu? He really only has the strength of a fifth-layer Qi cultivator?"

  The eyes of the four people remained fixed on the direction where that figure had disappeared until sunset and moonrise.