Chapter 3  : Luring

As the excitement passed, Jiang Li quickly discovered that his body was sticky and uncomfortable.

This was the first time he had cultivated a martial arts technique after taking the Body Strengthening Pill. As a result, a large amount of filth was expelled from his body.

It might not reach the level of muscle and marrow cleansing, but it was still easy to expel the toxins in his body.

“I have no choice but to shower now.”

Jiang Li was disgusted by his own stench.

He took out a change of clothes from his bag. No one snatched these things away.

He got out of the carriage and saw that it was quiet outside.

On the other side of the bonfire, there were only two black-clothed martial artists sitting and guarding the night. The others were all sleeping comfortably in their tents.

Jiang Li walked lightly towards the river. Yes, it was the river where he peeked at Yan Fengyue who was bathing.

The martial artist guarding the bonfire immediately discovered Jiang Li’s departure, but he did not seem to care at all. He continued to fiddle with the bonfire in front of him.

“This bunch of brats. I told them not to leave the camp, but they did not believe me. Heh, our mission is to guard the camp. If they run outside and die, it will be for nothing.”

Of course, Jiang Li did not know what the martial artist guarding the night was complaining about. As he walked, he went towards the bushes in the darkness, using his appraisal skill on everything.

White flower, ghost needle grass, spring water, blood thorn vine, shore leaf, wind willow…

A bunch of names of plants and insects that he had never heard of before popped up. He was too lazy to care about them. With his current appraisal skill level, he might not be able to identify precious treasures even if they were placed in front of him.

From time to time, yellow or even red appraisal boxes would jump out from the bushes. Some were poisonous snakes and some were scorpions. When they saw Jiang Li, they would calmly turn their heads and take a detour.

The nearby large beasts had already turned into roasted meat on the dining table during the day. The main danger of walking at night was still these poisonous bugs and plants.

As long as he was careful by using appraisal, his safety would be guaranteed. This was also why Jiang Li dared to come out alone.

He quickly walked to the riverside and used the appraisal skill on it. After confirming that there was no danger, he took off his dirty clothes and used the water to clean the stains on his body.

When he returned to the carriage, Jiang Li, who had just enjoyed the fruits of cultivation, quickly dived into it again. The Age Tiger Technique had one style, Sleeping Tiger, that could be cultivated while sleeping.

Even though his cultivation speed was slow, it was superior as a steady stream. Furthermore, being able to maintain vigilance while sleeping was a unique aspect of this unorthodox martial arts technique.

Soon, the carriage was filled with snores, as if a ferocious tiger was lying inside.

...

A few days later.

Swoosh!

A human figure shuttled through the forest. After accelerating to the maximum, the figure suddenly brandished his sword.

The figure brushed past a large tree, and a sword beam flashed like a waterfall. A moment later, the tree that was thicker than Yan Hong’s head slowly collapsed.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The chubby, round-faced Yan Hong clapped as he walked away. He touched the cut on the tree and clicked his tongue in wonder, “Incredible! Incredible! Your Mountain Splitter is getting more and more powerful each time. I take back what I said earlier about competing with you. I don’t want to be attacked like this.”

He touched the protective soft armor he was wearing. That thing obviously could not block that sword.

“However, Jiang Li, your Age Tiger Technique has improved tremendously. The power of the Mountain Splitter is astonishing too. Many second-rate martial artists in the Pugilistic World would not be your match.”

“Those guys from the Wang and Li Families are even weaker than me. How could you have been beaten up by them to such an extent?”

Jiang Li’s miserable state a few days ago was still vivid in Yan Hong’s mind. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he had almost died from the assault. It was natural to be slightly puzzled by this.

“There was no helping it. I didn’t bring my sword with me at that time. Furthermore, they ambushed me from behind and smashed me down with a rock. Otherwise, as someone from a martial arts family, how could I lose to them!”

Jiang Li pointed at the back of his head. The bright red color indicated that it was indeed a fatal injury.

“When I find a chance, hmph! I must beat the shit out of them! Since when have I been bullied like this!”

With a face full of hatred, he vividly portrayed the scene of a thirteen-year-old teenager preparing for revenge.

Yan Hong naturally did not have any doubts. The Great Goose Kingdom was a place of martial arts, and regardless of whether one was a noble or a young lady, they had more or less learned a few moves and some martial arts.

Jiang Li came from a martial arts family and was even the son of the first wife. Although his performance in the past was a little underwhelming, it was normal for him to have practiced martial arts.

“Don’t worry, brother. With your strength, as long as you don’t get ambushed, the ten of them won’t be able to get close to you.”

“You don’t have to worry about the Lord Immortal. No one cared about what they did to you last time. As long as they didn’t kill you in front of them, no one would care.”

Yan Hong patted Jiang Li’s shoulder excitedly, as if he was the one seeking revenge.

Jiang Li smiled and looked at the sword in his hand, “Yeah… Yan Hong, I’ll compensate you when we get to town.”

Embarrassed, he handed the longsword back. At this moment, the two edges of the longsword were full of chips. Many places were repeatedly polished and then sharpened again, this sword could not last much longer.

In the past two days, Jiang Li’s Age Tiger Technique had gradually increased in level, and his physique had also steadily increased. He sought Yan Hong’s help and borrowed the other party’s longsword to cultivate the sword technique, Mountain Splitter.

However, the Mountain Splitter was a sword technique that relied on strength to win, and the loss of durability of the weapon was extremely terrifying as well. Moreover, Jiang Li’s swordsmanship was lacking by quite a bit. In just a few days of time, Yan Hong’s treasured sword that was mixed with a tenth of dark iron could already be declared unusable!

“You… you’re too strong, aren’t you? Forget it, I’ll just give it to you. We’re brothers after all… you must return me a better one in the future…”

Yan Hong touched the sword that was full of chips and wanted to cry but had no tears. How could a weapon mixed with dark iron be bought so easily? Even their prince’s mansion only had one.

“Er, definitely, definitely. Then I’ll use this sword for another two days.”

Jiang Li found a stone to sharpen his sword. The two of them were not far away from where the convoy was stationed. They chatted casually and he silently called out the character panel. The screen flashed and his attributes appeared before his eyes once again.

[Name: Jiang Li]

[Age: 13]

[Race: Human]

[Main Class: Martial Artist, Level: Second-Rate]

[Sub-Class 1: None]

[Sub-Class 2: None]

[Health: 540/540]

[Stamina: 420/420]

[Strength: 2.1]

[Speed: 1.9]

[Constitution: 2.2]

[Mind: 1]

[Enlightenment: 1.1]

[Martial Art: Age Tiger Technique Level 5]

[Skill: Appraisal Level 2, Mountain Splitter Level 3]

[Positive Status: Slow Healing, Satiety, Body Strengthening]

[Negative Status: None]

Currently, his three physical attributes had reached two points on average. It looked like it was only twice that of an ordinary adult, but it was actually more than that.

The higher the attribute, the greater the bonus. It was not obvious yet, but when Jiang Li’s attributes reached over 100 in the future, even a tiny increase would be equivalent to 20-30 points now.

Apart from his stats, his Age Tiger Technique had reached Level 5, and his Mountain Splitter had become Level 3.

If it was an ordinary martial artist, they might need to train hard for ten years to achieve this level, but Jiang Li had already achieved this in less than a week.

This was mainly due to the help of the Body Strengthening Pill.

One Body Strengthening Pill was effective for two hours. These few days, it was equivalent to Jiang Li continuously ingesting sixty to seventy Body Strengthening Pills that were hard to find in the mortal world. Only then could he achieve such an effect.

In truth, he did not know that even in the cultivation world’s medicinal pills, there existed the two concepts of “resistance” and “pill poisoning”.

Most of the medicinal pills were the most effective when consumed for the first time. If one consumed too many, the effects would continuously decrease, becoming worse and worse.

Furthermore, it was not advisable to rely on increasing the dosage of medicine to make up for the effects and methods. This was because of the existence of pill poisoning.

Therefore, even if Immortal Cultivators were rich, they would not eat pills recklessly like medical supplements.

Jiang Li had yet to realize that his golden finger might be even more useful than he had imagined.

“Yan Hong, I remember that you have also taken a master in some martial arts sect before. I heard that immortals are very prejudiced against such sects. People like us who come with martial arts techniques wouldn’t be rejected, right?”

Jiang Li still remembered the enormous strength that Yan Hong’s hands possessed. In terms of numbers, it was at least 1.6 to 1.7. At the age of thirteen or fourteen, it was already quite an impressive achievement.

“I did not acknowledge a master. My father hired an elder from the Ardent Sun Gang to teach me martial arts. In fact, the intention was not to learn fighting techniques. It’s said that once the martial arts of the Ardent Sun Gang reach a certain level, it will be very beneficial to the procreation of descendants.”

“Don’t think too much about it. It’s just a non-ranked martial art in the mortal world. In the eyes of the immortals, it’s just a mortal game.”

When he spoke of the immortal, Yan Hong’s eyes revealed a desire that could not be concealed. Indeed, who would not have any desire to cultivate and become an immortal?

“That’s right. Even an internal expert would still be groveling in front of those Immortal Masters. They will act even more lowly than my servants.”

Jiang Li could not help but sigh.

Although internal experts were powerful and could already fly over walls and crack rocks, that was still within the scope of human understanding. If Jiang Li was given a period of time, he would be able to quickly achieve it by relying on the strengthening of his body.

However, Immortals, or Immortal Cultivators, were terrifying existences that could summon the wind, rain, and slash mountains and rivers. With his understanding of modern society, it was difficult to imagine any living being capable of such a feat.

The power of the Immortal Cultivators had clearly exceeded that of ordinary humans. It made no difference to them whether they had some martial arts skills or not.

“That’s right. Even if you’re a Connate Master, you’re still a servant of a cultivator. That’s why Jiang Li, it’s fine if you cultivate some martial arts to strengthen your body. In the future, you must place your focus on cultivating. Otherwise, if you fall behind and can’t catch up to me, I won’t wait for you.”

Yan Hong tried his best to put on an earnest expression on his round face. It looked very funny.

“Why am I still able to hear an old granny’s nagging when I’m several hundred miles away from home? Yan Hong, honestly speaking, are you really only thirteen years old?”

Jiang Li raised the longsword that he had been sharpening for a long time to check its edge. He felt rather helpless towards his good friend beside him. Although he was not a master of time management, he was still an adult. How could he not know the severity of the situation?

“Hehe, don’t say that, do you know that a few of the etiquette maids in my prince’s mansion ran away in anger.”

“That’s right, Jiang Li. Do you like Yan Fengyue? Why don’t you use force again? This time, I’ll be your lookout. After this, we’ll be relatives if you succeed.”

Yan Hong had a sly look in his eyes. He did not know what this fat guy was thinking.

“Get lost!”

The two of them got up and left the forest after toying around for so long.

It was dusk again, and it was time for dinner.

Jiang Li stood in line to receive his food as usual. However, it was obvious that he was still deliberately isolated by his peers in the line. The people in front and behind him had deliberately stood at a distance, unwilling to be together with him.

This was just like the school bullies in his previous life. They would push aside anyone who was easy to bully. All kinds of profanities, rumors, and even physical torture were used by other students to show their strength and unite their factions.

At this time, most people might not take the initiative to bully Jiang Li, but they would definitely not be kind to Jiang Li or even lend a helping hand.

If it was an ordinary youth, he would probably be driven mad at this moment.

Unfortunately, the target this time was Jiang Li.

After he received his share of food at the long table, he deliberately glanced at the youths behind him with fear, then lowered his head and quickly left.

Due to his flustered actions, the food on the tray was quickly spilled. Then, as if wiping his tears with his sleeve, he grabbed a steamed bun on the ground and ran towards the distant forest.

As he ran, he turned back to look at the youths who had led the beating to isolate him.

Did you know why you should not turn your back on wildlife? It was because the instincts carved into the carnivore’s genes make it hard for them to resist the temptation to attack from behind.

Coupled with his terrified expression, it meant that the prey in front of him would not know how to resist even if he knelt down and kowtowed until he died.

This kind of temptation was irresistible to the hot-blooded bullies.

As expected, there were a total of seven youths. Three of them had the surname of Wang, and four of them had the surname of Li. They belonged to the two great families of the Great Goose Kingdom, and they were also the culprits behind the death of the original owner of the body after beating up Jiang Li.

Some of them had just gotten their food and saw a good opportunity to vent their anger. They looked at each other, put down their plates, grabbed the things they could use, and chased after Jiang Li.

“Watch me, watch me. This time, I’m going to break that Jiang guy’s legs!”

“That ‘leg’ as well?”

“Haha, I’ll break all three of them!”

“Let’s go! Don’t let him escape.”

The seven teenagers were still immersed in the satisfaction of “saving the damsel in distress” from before. They spoke scary words with hideous faces.

The former owner of Jiang Li’s body was also a typical young master, just like these seven guys.

Acting chivalrous? Stop bullshitting. They just liked to beat people up and act cool in front of their goddess.

They chased into the forest and soon saw their target. Jiang Li was leaning against a crooked tree, waiting for them with a smile.

“Hehe! Jiang Li, at least you know there’s no point resisting. Stay there and wait for us.”

“Do you know? Because of this, we can be merciful and break one less leg. However, we still have to break that middle one!”

“Hahahaha!”

The youth in the lead approached with a sinister smile while holding onto a wooden stick. The other six people also dispersed while laughing loudly, and they blocked all possible directions that Jiang Li could escape in.

However…

Bang!

A figure was sent flying five to six meters away. He was lying on the ground, and it was unknown whether he was dead or alive. It was Jiang Li who had taken out a long sword from behind the tree.

He did not intend to kill anyone. He swung the sheathed sword and sent the person flying!