Chapter 3: The Desolate Ancient Continent

  Mei Mei was lying in the bathtub, Chen Pan comfortably closed his eyes. Don't be surprised that there is a bathtub here, although this is an era similar to ancient cold weapons, but with Chen Pan's knowledge, it's not difficult to make such a thing, let alone a bathtub, he even made soap.

  Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, Chen Pan has been transported here for over thirty years. Perhaps it was his own accumulation of merits from past lives that led to him being favored by Dr. Wang, who took him on as a student, and this life he was even born into a general's family that wasn't inferior to royalty.

  It took Chen Pan nearly a decade to slowly adapt to this world. This was an extremely strange world, and what surprised Chen Pan the most was that although it was still in the feudal era or slave society of his previous life, this world actually had real immortals. This was not just hearsay, but an objective fact. Not to mention others, his own younger brother Chen Jun's master was a cultivator with immortal abilities, and Chen Pan had personally seen Chen Jun's master fly in the air with him.

  Chen Pan spent a long time, browsing through various books, and finally had some understanding of this world. This is a cultivator's world, where all countries are sheltered under the wings of cultivation sects. Some powerful cultivators can make a country turn to ashes with just a flip of their hand.

  The entire world was on a single massive continent called the Ancient Continent. According to the information in the records, this continent's area was even larger than the sun of the previous world, which made Chen Pán feel extremely incredulous. Such a large planet, with internal gravity sufficient to turn all living things into a lump of flesh, could not possibly give rise to such a thriving life system.

  As a materialistic physics researcher, Chen Pan took a long time to slowly accept this thing that he thought was completely impossible. At the same time, he also became very interested in cultivating immortality. Unfortunately, his birthplace is located in the northernmost part of the Ancient Desolate Continent, which is called the Northern Barbaric Wasteland, where the barbarian tribes live, and it is the region with the fewest cultivators. The people here rely on their physical strength and martial power to constantly become stronger, a bit like the shaman tribe in the ancient myths of his previous life.

  Chen Pan, although he became a 100% barbarian after crossing over, seemed to have been born with defects. His body was weak and his strength was very small. To know that the barbarians were famous for their strength, it's not an exaggeration to say that before the age of 15, people of the same age could easily pin Chen Pan down with just one little finger.

  The customs of the barbarians are for younger generations to fight among themselves, as long as they do not cause disability or danger to life, their elders must not intervene. Chen Feihu, the father, was a flying tiger general of Jinwu country, with many political enemies. Those people couldn't deal with his father, so they instigated their own children and nephews to find trouble with the son of the flying tiger general, who was Chen Pan. In those years, Chen Pan suffered from bullying and had no friends. Later, he was protected in the Flying Tiger General's mansion like a porcelain doll and couldn't go out. This situation lasted until Chen Pan was 15 years old.

  Chen Pan touched his chest, where there was an axe-shaped birthmark. His fate had changed because of it.

  When Chen P'an was born, a hatchet-shaped stone ornament in the Flying Tiger General's mansion emitted dazzling light. Chen Feihu thought this was a heavenly auspicious sign and had the stone brought to Chen P'an. Miraculously, as soon as the stone approached Chen P'an, it transformed into a birthmark on his chest. Chen Feihu felt this was heaven's will and named his son Chen P'an after the stone.

  Unfortunately, Chen Pan's congenital defect had tormented him for fifteen years, forcing him to stay at home and read books every day. He couldn't even participate in the servants' games, as those people could easily cause multiple fractures on his body with just a slight touch.

  Many people secretly called Chen Pan a waste, fortunately, his parents didn't mind, and they always treated him like a treasure. Even after the birth of his younger brother Chen Jun, their love for him never wavered. It was also because of this that Chen Pan truly regarded himself as the son of both of them, after all, it's difficult for someone approaching thirty to suddenly accept two strangers as parents psychologically.

  At the age of fifteen, Chen Pan's fate finally changed. The stone birthmark that had been dormant for fifteen years shone brightly again, and suddenly two heart methods appeared in Chen Pan's mind.

  One is called "Pán Jué", which is a physical refinement technique that allows one's body to become increasingly strong.

  One is called "Meng Qi", it is a method of cultivating internal energy, which can make one's internal energy stronger and stronger.

  Two mysterious techniques allowed Chen Pan to slowly become stronger, and after nearly ten years of time, Chen Pan finally reached the level of his peers, no longer being the laughing stock he once was. He even enlisted in the army under Chen Feihu's suggestion.

  Chen Pan, who possessed memories of his past life, quickly grasped military tactics and became a small general in just a few years. However, due to his mother's concerns, his father did not dare go against her wishes, so Chen Pan had never been on a real battlefield, only dealing with internal conflicts between tribes within the Jinwu Kingdom.

  The area of the Northern Wilderness is unknown, tens of billions of square kilometers. On this vast wilderness, there are tens of thousands of countries standing upright. The Jinwu country where Chen Pán is located is one of them. Its area exceeds that of any continent on Earth in the previous life, but in the Northern Wilderness, it can only be considered a medium-sized country.

  Jinwu State and its neighboring Liao Lang State were sworn enemies, with disputes between the two countries dating back thousands of years. The specific reason had long been forgotten. War had become a habit for both nations, with their rulers vying to annex each other's territory. Three days later, Chen Feihu was to lead Chen Pan on an expedition against Liao Lang State's great army.

  "Brother, why doesn't Father let me follow him on the expedition? Is it because my strength is not enough?" Chen Jun asked, poking his head out from beside the bathtub.

  Chen Pan opened his eyes and smiled: "How is that possible, you're much more capable than your brother. Father wants me to inherit his title and become a general, but you're different, you have the potential to become an Upper Person." In the Northern Wilderness, "Upper Person" was a term used to refer to cultivators, and becoming one meant transcending mortality, it was an identity of utmost reverence.

  Chen Jun was six years younger than Chen Pan, and unlike Chen Pan, he was a martial arts genius with strength far surpassing his peers. The two brothers had an extremely good relationship, and in the eyes of others, Chen Pan was a useless person while Chen Jun had boundless prospects. However, in Chen Jun's eyes, his older brother was the true genius who could always come up with things that he couldn't understand but were very useful and fun, such as bathtubs and soap that could wash himself extremely clean.

  Chen Pán is Chen Jūn's idol, so he can't bear anyone being disrespectful to his brother. At the age of 15, Chen Pán learned the Pán Què and the Lìng Què, gradually becoming stronger physically and starting to go out more often. Chen Fēi Hǔ's political enemies naturally wouldn't let this opportunity for humiliation pass them by, but this time they didn't succeed. When Chen Pán was bullied, Chen Jūn became like a provoked tiger, fighting his opponent to the death without regard for his own life, resulting in both sides suffering heavy losses.

  From then on, as long as anyone dared to show the slightest disrespect to Chen Pan, Chen Jun would fight with him to the death. It can be said that before Chen Pan could take care of himself, it was always his younger brother Chen Jun who protected him, and Chen Pan naturally regarded Chen Jun as the most important person in his life.

  "But I don't want to be a superior at all, it's more fun to follow my brother. Now that I've followed Master, I can only come back to see my parents once every two years, it's not good at all!" Chen Jun said with a carefree attitude. He was discovered by a cultivator from a nearby sect and became his disciple, thus having the opportunity to become a superior himself.

  Chen Jun had complained about this to him a long time ago, Chen Pan smiled carelessly: "Don't think nonsense, brother doesn't even want this opportunity, study hard and learn skills, so you can protect your family in the future, got it?"

  "Well, just..." Chen Jun seemed to want to whisper something, when someone outside the window interrupted their conversation.

  "Master Chen, Master Chen. Dinner is ready, the General and Madame are asking you both to come over." It was the housekeeper. Chen Feihu did not like being called "old master", so everyone addressed him as "General".

  "Alright, I'm coming right away!" Chen Pan immediately got up and wiped himself clean, quickly putting on his clothes. Chen Jun did the same. People from the Northern Wilderness Savage Territory liked to wear leather clothing, but Chen Pan only wore cloth-made clothes due to his past life experiences, and Chen Jun had also learned to do so.

  Two men pushed open the door and went out, a maid came in to clean up, and a house servant led the two of them to the inner hall.