Chapter 57 - Three Sections Of The Slums

Two kids were seen running stealthily around heaps of garbage, which was quite smelly and unbearable for both kids, as can be seen from their solemn expression and their nose squinting, both kids were none other than Li Jie and Teng Peng who were roaming around the slums, thinking of adventure.

"Brother Teng Peng, we are already pretty far from your home but all I can see is garbage and people living among them, just how big is this slum", asked Li Jie.

"Well brother Li Jie from what I know, the slum is huge and is divided into three sections, the first section is where most of the population of the whole slums live and is called Grimyard, in the Grimyard some regions are safe, while some are not and all of that depends on the territory leader of that particular region, for example, the territory leader of our region is Elder Sister Fu Li, while she may not look like much, but she is pretty strong as said by Elder Brother Dai Chen because none of us siblings has ever seen her fight," said Teng Peng.

"What!!!, your Eldest Sister is the leader of your region", asked Li Jie with a shocked expression.

"Yes of course, or else how do you think we are safe in our region, lack of food is one of the major problems that every territory leader of the Grimyard suffer from, and after the Grimyard is Shadowville, which is the second region and also a forbidden place about which I don't know much but according to elder brother Dai Chen and Eldest Sister Fu Li, that place is extremely dangerous and one weird point about it is that apart from the first region which is filled with garbage, the second region doesn't have any garbage because all kinds of illegal dealings with major families and organizations of the continent are done in the second region, and Shadowville doesn't have many territory leaders like Grimyard, it has only one leader, who is said to be the strongest person in all of the slum known to people, and his own organization is the one and only ruler of the slums and at last comes the Fallforest which is connected to the beast forest, which is why you can find many beasts there, it's not a place where anyone can live, only those hunters of the Shadowville go there to hunt for resources, whereas us of the Grimyard just stay here and try not to go to someone else's region or else problems can arise because not everyone is as good as Elder Sister", said Teng Peng.

Li Jie's face turned solemn upon hearing about the complexities present in the slums, he thought he could roam around all of the slums, but from the looks of things, it might not be possible for him and he has to return to his home too, but he was happy nonetheless that at least he can come back some other time, he was looking around and all he can see people with bodies as thin as wooden sticks, and all of them were either carrying a bag or looking for something to eat in the heap of garbage.

"Brother Teng Peng can't we share some of the food with them, I am not sure if it can help in satisfying all of them but at least some of them can get something to eat", asked Li Jie with a solemn expression.

Teng Peng shook his head upon hearing Li Jie and said, "Brother Li Jie, it's not that we don't want to help others here, but helping others will only get us in trouble, I know I might sound selfish but if the word were to spread around the slums that we are getting food from outside then we will become targets of all those with bad intention, we were strictly told by Elder Sister Fu Li not to spread anything about you or your help towards us here, because it will trouble us and in the end you will also be implicated, I remember Elder Sister Fu Li saying that even if Brother Li Jie is the eldest son of the Li family, you will also be implicated badly in this, that's why we don't dare to tell anyone about you".

Li Jie's face scrunched upon hearing Teng Peng, this is the same thing his father said to him about how in the matters of the slum even he as the patriarch of the Li family is helpless to do anything, li Jie couldn't understand just what is going on and why is that someone as strong as the patriarch of the Li family is also helpless in the matters of slum and then he also had a thought "What can I do with my meager strength, even if I were to get stronger, it won't change anything, the more Li Jie thought, the more he thought "Just what is even the use of becoming a sword cultivator, where even those of other paths of cultivation can also do".

"Brother Li Jie, we should go back, this area is the limit to where I can take you, if you want to go beyond from here, then only Elder Brother Dai Chen can help you with this", said Teng Peng.

"You are right Brother Teng Peng, and I also have to go back to home before night time", said Li Jie solemnly.

Remembering the way back he couldn't help but feel helpless about how far his home is.

Both the kids were returning back to Teng Peng's house, while on the way back Teng Peng asked, "Brother Li Jie can you tell me about cultivation, I have if you cultivate to a certain high level, you can become an immortal who cannot die and do whatever he wants, is it true and I have heard that your Li family also has many immortal beings"

"hehe Well Brother Teng Peng, truth be told it's true that there are many cultivators in the Li Family but as for immortals, I don't really know because the higher stages of cultivation do increase a being's life span, but it doesn't make them free from eternal death, I am not saying that there cannot be, but maybe it's a completely different realm a different stage of cultivation which anyone in this continent might not have reached, or maybe they have I really have no idea about this", said Li Jie with a melancholic expression.

Li Jie thought, maybe master is an immortal, who knows he doesn't even have a trace of essence energy, which is ever present in those no matter how high their cultivation is, and higher the cultivation, higher their strength is.

While both of them were returning back to Teng Peng's house, they saw a crowd which was filled with kids and old people respectively, out of curiosity both Teng Peng and Li Jie couldn't lose the allure of such a crowd, after all, they were kids.

When they reached near the crowd, they found an old dirty man who had most of his clothes torn and his teeth were yellow with a mix of black sheen.

Both the kids were terrified of the old man's looks, but then they heard him saying, "okay Kidzz which story would you like to listen to first zezeze" ,the kids were excited listening to the old man and for him to be a story teller, it must be some good one.

"Well tell me which one should I tell you brats zezeze", Teng Peng was excited because he had heard of this old man who tells fantastical stories in different regions of Grimyard, but this is the first time he is listening to a story from this old man, because this is the first time this old man has visited this region.

Out of excitement, Teng Peng shouted, "How about you tell us about the fabled cultivators or better about an immortal who never dies", Listening to this the old man snorted, "What about those arrogant immortal, they are nothing but some detestable beings, trust me kids immortals are the most arrogant and shitty bunch, you don't want to interact with".

"What, How can you say that about the legendary immortals, aren't you afraid of their wrath, they might throw a bunch of lighting at you for disrespecting them".

Chaos ensued as many start scolding the old man for his remark towards the immortals.

"Ok Ok, my bad, how about anyone else other than those shitty immortals", the crowd only got more incensed at the old man's remark.

Li Jie who was among the crowd thought to himself about something and said, "How about you tell us about a sword cultivator".

Listening to which the old man smiled, "Well this is a good topic, but there are many famous sword cultivators, about which one do you want to know", said the old man to the whole crowd.

Upon which the whole crowd started going quiet and with a serious expression they started pondering, after which some said to tell them about a swordsman who has the flashiest move or the one who is the strongest, after many random suggestions, there was a small boy who was among the crowd raised his hand, seeing him raising his hand before speaking, the old man was pleased and asked him, "Old sir can we know about a swordsman who was from the slums and was just like us, asked the small boy.

Listening to the small boy, the crowd also got quiet because they were also interested if there was someone who lived a life just like them and later on became a sword cultivator.

The old man with a creepy smile said, "Well, there is someone who comes to my mind if you ask about it, and surprisingly he is also special and different from all the sword cultivators I have encountered, well I don't know his name, but I sure do know his title, which was bestowed to him, aah I still remember when almost all of the continent hated him for his foolishness, but according to him, he wasn't foolish, and what he thought he was doing was right, his title was

"Sword Of Flowers".