My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

"But then again..."

Li Chen stretched out his hand, still covered in crumbs, and patted Ning Xiu's shoulder heavily.

"Your experience is exactly the standard start for a protagonist destined for greatness! As long as you can get through this ordeal, you'll be able to say, 'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, never underestimate a young man's potential.'"

"I'll definitely be able to cheat my way through the future, storm the Xu family, and show off in a way that will shake the world."

Ning Xiu was completely confused.

What online novel? What "thirty years east of the river"? Why are my benefactor's words so profound and difficult to understand?

"Boom—!"

Just then.

Suddenly, dark clouds gathered in the sky, thunder rumbled, and a torrential downpour was about to begin.

"My benefactor, it's going to rain."

Ning Xiu quickly wiped away his tears and stood up.

"This place is not far from my thatched hut."

"If you do not mind my humble home, my benefactor, you may come with me to my abode to take shelter from the rain and rest for the night."

Li Chen glanced at the sky.

Without my true energy protecting me, I might catch a cold or fever if I get caught in a downpour.

"Alright, lead the way."

The two jogged along, braving the first drops of rain.

soon.

In a secluded corner at the foot of the mountain, Li Chen saw Ning Xiu's so-called "humble abode".

That was truly exceptionally shabby.

The three thatched huts had leaky roofs. The fence in the yard was half collapsed, and there wasn't even a proper gate.

but.

When Li Chen walked into the room, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

The house was extremely simple.

But it was swept spotlessly clean. Even the muddy ground was swept smooth.

It's next to the innermost wall.

Several large wooden crates of books were neatly stacked. Some of the scrolls had worn edges, but the owner had carefully wrapped them in rags, clearly showing great care.

"Please make yourself at home, my benefactor. I'll go boil some water."

Ning Xiu quickly started a fire and boiled water, then found a set of his own clean old clothes for Li Chen to change into.

Silent all night.

The next morning.

Li Chen woke up to an enticing aroma of rice.

He rubbed his eyes and walked out of the inner room. He saw a bowl of steaming white rice porridge on the broken wooden table outside, and a small dish of thinly sliced ​​cured meat next to it.

Ning Xiu himself.

He sat on the threshold, holding a hard, black cornbread bun in his hand, and was swallowing it with difficulty while drinking cold water.

Upon seeing Li Chen emerge, Ning Xiu quickly stood up.

"My benefactor has woken up. There's nothing good in the countryside, just these simple meals. I hope you'll forgive us."

Li Chen looked at the white porridge and cured meat on the table, and then at the black cornbread in Ning Xiu's hand.

I was inexplicably touched.

This down-on-his-luck scholar, who was powerless to even kill a chicken, would still bring out the best and most precious food in his house to treat his savior, even if he was starving himself.

"Don't just eat that, come and have some meat with us."

Li Chen pulled out a bench, sat down, and pointed to the table.

"A life-saving grace is greater than heaven. Please eat, my benefactor. I'm used to eating this." Ning Xiu stubbornly shook his head, his eyes filled with clear gratitude.

Li Chen didn't press the matter further.

He picked up the bowl and slurped down the hot porridge.

The two ate and chatted.

Ning Xiu looked at Li Chen, and that deep despair and resentment resurfaced in his eyes once again.

"My benefactor."

Ning Xiu let out a long sigh.

"Are mortals without spiritual talents truly as insignificant as weeds, unable even to protect the woman they love?"

"Are we really just left to be slaughtered?"

Hearing this question filled with grief and indignation.

Li Chen casually answered a question while putting a piece of cured meat into his mouth.

"Who said that?"

Li Chen chewed on cured meat, speaking as casually as if he were talking about today's weather.

"You can't cultivate if you don't have spiritual root talent? That's nonsense."

"Have you heard of the ruthless empress? She was just a mortal with no spiritual root whatsoever, yet she managed to slaughter her way through the nine heavens and ten earths and become the most amazing and brilliant empress in history."

Ning Xiu abruptly stopped chewing the cornbread.

The dark cornbread fell to the ground.

He stared wide-eyed at Li Chen.

"My benefactor... what... what did you just say? A ruthless empress? A mere mortal can become an empress?!"

"yes."

Li Chen picked up the bowl, took a sip of porridge, and continued rambling on.

He shoved out all the cultivation techniques and secret manuals from the fantasy web novels he had read in his previous life, as if they were free.

"Not only that."

"What is this 'Devouring Heaven Demon Art'? It devours the bodies of all things to replenish itself. What is this 'Undying Heaven Art'? It sheds the mortal body and transforms into a divine body."

"And what about the 'Immortal Mortal Bones Scripture,' 'Nine Tribulations Body Forging Scripture,' 'Heart Lamp Inquiry Method,' 'Original True Explanation,' 'Great Wilderness Undying Body'...?"

Li Chen counted on his fingers.

"You can pick up any book at random, without needing any damn spiritual roots. As long as you're ruthless enough, even a mortal can crush a Celestial King."

Quiet.

The room fell into a deathly silence.

Ning Xiu trembled violently all over.

His breathing became heavy and labored, and his eyes turned bloodshot from extreme excitement.

Those unheard-of and domineering names of divine skills were like thunderclaps, violently shattering his worldview that had been gloomy for twenty years!

"thump!"

Ning Xiu immediately knelt down in front of Li Chen, his head hitting the muddy ground heavily.

"My benefactor!"

Ning Xiu's voice was so excited it was almost hoarse.

"Please tell me, benefactor, where can these divine martial arts manuals that rival the creation of heaven and earth be found?!"

"I am willing to be shattered to pieces, even if it means climbing mountains of knives and plunging into seas of fire, to find and try it!"

Looking at Ning Xiu's crazed eyes, as if he had grasped at the last straw.

Li Chen's chopsticks, which were holding the cured meat, stopped in mid-air.

He looked at the scholar kneeling on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly.

He calmly uttered four words.

"I have no idea."

The air froze again.

Ning Xiu's kowtow froze.

He looked up, staring at Li Chen with a bewildered expression.

"N-no... I don't know?"

"Yeah, I don't know."

Li Chen stuffed the cured meat into his mouth and shrugged confidently.

"Those are all stories I read in novels and books. There's no such incredible thing in real life."

Click.

It was as if I could hear the sound of a heart breaking.

The fervor and hope in Ning Xiu's eyes were extinguished instantly, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, leaving not even a spark.

He seemed to have all his strength drained away.

He slumped helplessly to the ground, his eyes vacant, looking as desperate as a soulless walking corpse.

Seeing the other person's miserable state, I felt a pang of sadness.

Li Chen also realized that his joke had gone a bit too far.

He put down his rice bowl and wiped his mouth.

"Ahem, don't be in such a hurry to die."

Li Chen thought for a moment and comforted him, "Actually, even without spiritual roots, you can still take the brute path."

"The so-called brute path is to abandon true essence and purely hone the physical body, which is also known as body cultivation."

"If you train your physical body to the extreme, it's not a dream to smash a mountain with one punch."

Ning Xiu turned his head blankly.

He looked at Li Chen, then at himself.

He rolled up his faded sleeves.

It revealed two thin arms, as thin as hemp stalks, so thin they couldn't even lift a few bricks.

"My benefactor."

Ning Xiu's voice was filled with endless sorrow.

"Do you think my frail body, which can't lift a single stone or carry anything heavy, could survive for three days before turning to the path of a brute?"

Li Chen carefully examined him.

Then, he nodded very sincerely.

"You're right, you're really not suited to be a brute. Even if you went to a construction site to carry bricks, people would think you were in the way."