Chapter 50

“Belch”

The man with the serpent-like beard let out a massive burp and exclaimed to Wang Chen, “Immortal Master, I have to say, this is the best meal I’ve had all year!”

He rubbed his distended belly with an air of incomplete satisfaction.

When they first met, the bearded man had been seven parts cautious and three parts wary.

Now that they had shared a pot of rice, he had become familiar with Wang Chen and was no longer so reserved.

“Just call me Wang Chen.”

Wang Chen smiled and said, “Brother Wei, can you tell me about the Outer Domain?”

He had made this meal for the bearded man.

Beyond repaying the other’s hard work, it was mainly to learn about the situation in the Outer Domain through this Innate Martial Artist.

The original owner had very little knowledge of the Outer Domain.

“My name is Wei Xiong.”

The bearded man clasped his fists, “Immortal Master Wang, you can ask anything, and I will tell you all that I know to the fullest extent!”

Wang Chen didn’t rush to ask questions; he first went to brew a pot of tea to bring over.

He chatted with Wei Xiong while they drank the tea.

Everything outside the mountain gates of the Cloud Sun Sect was collectively referred to as the Outer Domain.

For the disciples of the sect, the Outer Domain was very dangerous, with demons running rampant and evil wraiths everywhere, akin to a barbaric and malevolent land.

However, a large number of Loose Cultivators also lived in the Outer Domain.

Due to the harsh environment and difficult living conditions, most of these Loose Cultivators banded together to form their own strongholds for protection.

Wei Xiong came from such a Loose Cultivator settlement called Black Rock Stronghold, which was nearly a hundred miles away from here.

The Loose Cultivators living in Black Rock Stronghold, as well as Martial Artists like Wei Xiong,

numbered around four to five hundred people.

Similar villages and strongholds were common in the Outer Domain.

In one of the large town strongholds Wei Xiong knew of, there were thousands of Loose Cultivators, with the stronghold’s leader at the Great Perfection of Qi Cultivation.

Loose Cultivators mostly relied on hunting Monster Beasts, mining Spiritual Medicine, Spirit Stones, and other Spiritual Materials for a living.

There were also quite a few who, like Wei Xiong,

went to work odd jobs at the Cloud Sun Outer Gate.

In fact, with Wei Xiong’s strength, he could easily have found a stable job in Cloud Mountain City.

But the precondition would be that he had to sign a binding agreement and be at the beck and call of others, like a beast of burden.

Wei Xiong did not want to serve others as a servant, so he chose to live with his sister in Black Rock Stronghold, enduring hardships.

All these hardships were endured for the chance to embark on the path of immortal cultivation!

After thinking for a bit, Wang Chen asked, “Brother Wei, do you know about the Grey Eye Thieves raid that happened some time ago?”

“I know very little.”

Wei Xiong answered, “At that time, our settlement was sealed off, and the Defensive Array was activated, all because we feared the Grey Eye Thieves would come.”

Yet the Grey Eye Thieves did not attack the Loose Cultivator settlements.

Their disappearance was as sudden as their emergence, and there has been no word of them since.

Wang Chen asked about many other things,

gaining a basic understanding of the situation in the Outer Domain.

This way, should Wang Chen one day need to flee, he wouldn’t be completely in the dark after venturing out!

It was not until the clock struck 13 p.m. that Wei Xiong realized, “Oh no, it’s getting late, I need to till the fields!”

Just as well, Wang Chen had nearly finished asking his questions.

Before the sunset, Wei Xiong managed to till all ten mu of Wang Chen’s Spirit Fields.

Then, despite Wang Chen’s attempt to keep him, Wei Xiong left in a hurry.

After the Innate Master left, and with the sky not yet dark, Wang Chen took out the rice seeds to start the sowing.

This task was simple and easy, and he completed it in no time.

Finally, casting a spell of Moving Cloud and Rain-Spreading, he provided ample moisture for the freshly planted rice seeds.

If all went well,

the rice seeds would germinate and sprout overnight, rapidly growing strong and sturdy.

By the time of the first snowfall of winter, they would provide Wang Chen with the second season’s harvest of rice.

After casting the rain spell, it also grew dark.

Wang Chen walked along the somewhat muddy footpath of the field on his way home.

Suddenly, he felt as though he was being watched!

He instinctively turned his head to look.

Not far away, at the entrance of his neighbor Old Sun’s house, stood a half-grown child,

peering in this direction.

Realizing Wang Chen had noticed him, the child immediately turned and darted into the yard.

Who is this?

Wang Chen, with curiosity, turned a corner and arrived at Old Sun’s home.

As the saying goes, a distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor.

He had a good relationship with Old Sun and now, seeing that strangers were coming and going, naturally wanted to check it out.

“Old Sun!”

Wang Chen raised his hand and knocked on the half-closed courtyard door, “Are you home?”

The result was that he directly pushed open the wooden door.

Upon entering, he saw a table in the courtyard, with a simmering copper hot pot placed on it.

Old Sun was half-leaning in a chair by the table, holding a piece of tofu in his right hand and slicing it with a small knife in his left hand.

He was also humming a tune.

“Oh my!”

The sudden appearance of Wang Chen gave the old gentleman a scare, and he almost cut his hand with the knife.

The next moment, a woman dressed in a cloth skirt came out of the main house carrying a plate.

Everyone was stunned!

“Doggie?”

Old Sun was the first to react, standing up to put the tofu into the pot, and smilingly asked, “What brings you here?”

Wang Chen was speechless.

Because he had already recognized that woman in the cloth skirt.

She was the wife of Old Man Lu, whom Wang Chen had visited before to clear Earth Rhinoceros Beetles from their Spirit Fields.

Back then, this woman looked old and haggard.

And now, she seemed much younger, with her clothes neat and tidy.

She exuded a charm that suggested her beauty had not yet faded.

Wang Chen almost didn’t recognize her at first glance.

But he remembered very clearly that Old Man Lu was already dead.

Dead from being a bystander at a spectacle.

Not long ago!

Old Sun awkwardly smiled and took Wang Chen out the door to speak in whispers.

It turned out that the woman, Lady Li, was Old Man Lu’s second wife, and after his death, along with her young son, she was driven out of the house by the eldest son from his previous marriage.

Old Sun, taking pity on Lady Li for being alone and helpless, took in the mother and son into his home.

It had just happened these past few days.

“I’ve known Old Brother Lu for many years,”

Old Sun explained, “I really couldn’t bear to see his wife and child in trouble, and giving them food to eat is like doing a good deed and accumulating virtue.”

“I was just looking for an opportunity to tell you!”

Doing good deeds and accumulating virtue?

Wang Chen couldn’t help wanting to retort, “How are you different from Cao Cao?”

But of course, the other party wouldn’t understand.

But then again.

If it wasn’t for Old Sun’s shelter, Lady Li and her child wouldn’t be able to survive on their own.

To say it’s doing good deeds and accumulating virtue is not an overstatement.

Actually, circumstances like Lady Li’s are not uncommon.

She is quite fortunate.

And the original widowed old gentleman now had a wife and child, so it seemed he would no longer throw Spirit Stones into the Numerous Fragrances Pavilion.

That too is a good thing!

Wang Chen laughed, “Congratulations, old man, when are you guys going to host a banquet?”

Old Sun’s face flushed with heat, “We’re just living together to make life easier, why hold a banquet, you’re overthinking it!”

Although he said that, his eyes couldn’t hide the undeniable joy.

It was clear that the days with his old partner were very comfortable.

After clearing the air, Old Sun no longer felt embarrassed and invited Wang Chen into the house to join them for dinner.

Wang Chen graciously declined.

As a single man, he had no need to disturb the family of three enjoying their happiness.

Only that very night,

Wang Chen dreamed of his family from a past life again.

After waking up, he was left with a lingering melancholy.

Here is the second update.