Chapter 123: Severing Mortal Ties

Chapter 122

Chen Jingzhai’s father looked very young. He was middle-aged and had a little beard. He looked 50% similar to Chen Jingzhai. Chen Jingzhai’s mother looked even better than he remembered. It was especially evident in her complexion. She had not lost much vitality from giving birth. It was obvious that she had been nourishing herself a lot. Father Chen did not neglect his wife either. There were no concubines in the house, which proved that the two of them had a good relationship.

The two of them were sound asleep on the bed, unaware of Chen Jingzhai’s arrival. Chen Jingzhai exhaled lightly, and the couple fell into a dream. Chen Jingzhai took out the elixirs that he had prepared.

He first fed them the Life-Prolonging Elixir before feeding them the Spirit Nourishing Elixir. Then, he used his spiritual power to spread the elixir’s effects. He quickly fused the medicinal power into their bodies. The essence of the elixir would slowly be digested and absorbed by them in their lives. The elixir could subtly improve his parents’ mortal bodies, and would not burden their bodies in any way.

After doing all this, Chen Jingzhai took out a third elixir. The Life-Prolonging Elixir and the Spirit Nourishing Elixir were both mortal elixirs. They were very good for preserving the mortal body.

The third elixir was the Grade 1 Body Strengthening Elixir that Chen Jingzhai had refined. This elixir could allow Meditation Plane cultivators to increase their physical strength.

Chen Jingzhai injected the elixir that was wrapped in spiritual power into his parents’ bodies through the blanket. He directly implanted the Body Strengthening Elixir into their hearts and let their blood circulate the medicinal effects through their bodies.

To prevent the medicinal effects from being too strong, the elixirs were still sealed and needed to be slowly digested. After doing all this, Chen Jingzhai used the Dream Entering Technique and his divine mind entered their dreams.

In the dreams, Chen Jingzhai met his parents. He told them that he was the one who had performed the changes to their bodies and even taught them a Qi Nourishing Mantra. This was a simple cultivation technique to absorb and exhale essence power. It also helped the body to recuperate and enhance longevity. While this did not allow his parents to step onto the Path of Cultivation, it could increase their strength and lifespan. Neither of them had spirit roots, so if they could strengthen their bodies and extend their lifespan, that was good enough for him.

After teaching them the mantra in their dream, Chen Jingzhai even used his spiritual power to clear their bones and meridians. He guided his essence power and circulated it according to the Qi Nourishing Mantra. After doing all of this, he even left behind some protective methods. After a while, Chen Jingzhai left quietly.

Outside the Chen Residence, Hong Xiu stood and waited as if nothing had happened. She was quite surprised to see Chen Jingzhai appear beside her.

“Is that all, Young Master? You’re not going to see your brothers and sisters?”

“There’s no need.” Chen Jingzhai shook his head. “To me, my parents are the ones who are my bonds of this world.”

Chen Jingzhai had never seen his siblings before. Besides, if he showed up, his parents might be happy, but his siblings might not. There were too many examples of such cases.

Let alone sect disciples going down the mountain, even some aspirant cultivators would cause unrest in their families upon their return. The reason was nothing more than jealousy. The difference between immortals and mortals could change people’s hearts.

Chen Jingzhai did not want to cause any trouble at home. He did not even want anyone to know that he was here. He did not have any feelings for them, especially his siblings whom he had never met.

His parents had bestowed the gift of life upon him. There was no getting away from that. He would not have come over otherwise. As for his brothers and sisters, they had their destinies. Chen Jingzhai had nothing to do with them. He left the small city again with Hong Xiu.

The bamboo boat floated in the air but it did not leave in a hurry. It was concealed in the clouds and did not move. The four maidservants were in the bamboo shed, while Chen Jingzhai lay motionless on the bamboo chair on the deck. The two cranes called softly beside him, combing his hair.

Time passed bit by bit. At dawn, the small city woke up from its deep slumber. There was nothing unusual about the huge Chen residence. Only Father and Mother Chen talked to each other after waking up.

They thought that it was a simple dream. Unexpectedly, they both had experienced the same dream. Then, the two of them quickly washed up and got ready to start their day.

In the backyard, the two of them felt a warm current circulating in their bodies. They had already achieved a small circulation and could clearly feel the change in their bodies. Father Chen was fine and could accept this outcome, but Mother Chen began to cry. Seeing Father Chen comforting Mother Chen, Chen Jingzhai slowly retracted his divine mind. For him, it was worth the trip to see this.

The bamboo boat slowly flew in the air and quietly left the sky above the small city.

“Young Master, are we leaving just like that?” Hong Chan asked as she walked out.

“Yes,” Chen Jingzhai said calmly. “What do you have to say?”

“Nothing,” Hong Chan said. “Where do we go from here?”

“We can go anywhere,” Chen Jingzhai said. “The world is huge, and we can do whatever you want. This is the first time I’ve had time to come out since I entered the Aspirant Cultivators Academy. I’m going to take a good look and explore the world.”

“Then why don’t we go to Hong Fu’s house first?” Hong Chan said.

“Is it close by?” Chen Jingzhai asked.

“She is from the same state as Young Master, but in different counties!” Hong Chan said.

“Then let’s go!” Chen Jingzhai said. “Let Hong Fu show us the way.”

“Alright!” Hong Chan smiled and entered the bamboo shed.

Guided by Hong Fu, the bamboo boat arrived in the county city before sunset. Chen Jingzhai did not show his face. He only let Hong Fu go home while he wandered around the county city.

The Pulao Kingdom ruled from the top to bottom very strictly. From the imperial city, it was followed by the state capital and county city. There were seven counties in a continent, and one of them had to be a state capital.

Hong Fu’s home was in Guangling City. This city was surrounded by mountains and rivers. It was elegant and reserved, and it was quite lively. The city was well-planned with all kinds of buildings.

Most of the people in the city were ordinary mortals, but there were also many cultivators mixed in. Some of them were from the Dao Cheng Division, and there were also some who had hidden their identities. Besides, there were the aspirant cultivators and cultivator families that had returned to the county city.

Chen Jingzhai activated the Presence Concealment Technique. His aura did not leak out, and he looked like a mortal. He wandered the streets and listened to the conversations of the people. He benefited greatly from that.

The Detection Puppet Worm had even followed his instructions and went to the Dao Cheng Division. He had learned a lot from that visit, such as the current situation.

The territory of the Pulao Kingdom was vast, but it was not without enemies.

There were barbarians hiding in the deep mountains in the south. These barbarians were in cahoots with demonic beasts. They could drive the demonic beasts to attack the border of the Pulao Kingdom. Every autumn, the barbarians would come out to plunder cities and snatch food. Every time they came out, groups of demonic beasts would eat the mortal humans.

The Barbarian Suppression Army was led by General Zhong Yong, who was in charge of guarding the kingdom against the barbarian invasion. He was the uncle of the Seventh Prince. He held a high position and was the Seventh Prince’s backer.

In the southeast, sea beasts were causing trouble and attacking coastal cities. The strength of the sea beasts varied. There were big ones and small ones, and there were even water demons causing trouble.

The present Third Imperial Uncle’s fiefdom was here. He went by the title of the Eastern Ocean Ruler to train the Huaiyuan Navy and suppress the sea beasts and water demons.

Apart from these two strongest forces, the other forces in the thirteen states were intertwined. Immortal cultivation families, local powerhouses, and so on, were all involved. Additionally, behind every faction was a member of the imperial family.

Even in the small Guangling City, there were sect disputes. Hong Fu’s family was considered a famous cultivation family in Guangling City. After all, she had a close relationship with the Luo Sheng Sword School. Even so, she could not escape the influence and took sides early.

This was the Battle of Dragon. It was impossible for either side to be spared in the Pulao Kingdom. Even immortal cultivation families would be forced to make a choice if they did not take sides.

Chen Jingzhai had also heard some news about the disciples of the immortal sect. In the past few years, the fighting within the Pulao Kingdom had grown very intense, except that the imperial city was slightly calmer.

There were many conflicts between the other state capitals and county cities. It was rumored that an immortal had descended to the mortal world to help, but there was no one who would bring their sect’s name to light.

It was obvious from this that the immortal disciples were very cautious.