Chapter Nineteen: An Immortal?

Upon hearing this, the widow of the Li family merely gave a bitter smile, offering no reply. To ordinary mortals like them, anyone capable of cultivation was regarded as an immortal. It was precisely because of these cultivators that she and her son had been forced to hide constantly, living in perpetual fear.

Whether it was the immortals on the mountain or the people from the Supervisory Institute, none, in her experience, would deign to look at commoners like them with anything but disdain. People used to say that the Supervisory Institute of the imperial city was the one place that truly cared for the common folk. Believing this, she had once knelt there for an entire day and night, hoping desperately for help. Yet, in the end, no one aided her; instead, she was slapped and nearly died right there. Thinking back, the pain still lingered faintly in her back.

Since then, she had fled with her three-year-old son for four long years, never once sleeping soundly. Every day was lived on edge, always fearing creditors or others might come looking for them.

At that moment, Lin Chen returned from buying pork. The widow of the Li family saw him and immediately fell to her knees with a thud, saying, “Greetings, immortal.”

Lin Chen was taken aback but quickly helped her up, his face full of confusion. “What’s wrong? Why are you kneeling?”

Her hands trembled as she stammered, “Have I... offended you, immortal?”

Lin Chen felt speechless. He turned to Old Huang and asked, “Old Huang, what’s going on with her?”

“How should I know? Give me the meat; I’m going to cook.” Old Huang took the pork from Lin Chen and headed into the kitchen.

“You’re probably older than me, but kneeling without reason will diminish my merits. Stop kneeling and get up!” Lin Chen helped her up again, trying to soften his tone with patience.

“Thank you, immortal,” the widow quickly nodded repeatedly.

“Oh, don’t call me immortal. I’m no deity from the heavens; we’re all human. From now on, I’ll call you Sister Li. And you don’t have to call me immortal either. If you don’t mind, just call me Xiao Chen,” Lin Chen quickly said.

“Alright, Xiao Chen. I’ll be going now.” The widow said, then hurried out of the courtyard as if fleeing danger.

Lin Chen shook his head helplessly, thinking how timid Sister Li was.

Soon after, Old Huang had prepared a table full of dishes, the aroma filling the entire house. The three humans and the fox spirit all took their seats. Lin Chen sampled a bit from each dish, collected the food onto a plate, and instructed Li Baoping, “Little Baoping, take this to Li Er and feed him.”

Li Baoping smiled broadly, clearly happy to share food with the mother and son. “Okay! I’ll go right away.”

“Walk carefully, don’t fall. We’re waiting for you to come back so we can eat together,” Lin Chen reminded her.

Although their home was no longer as poor as before, since buying this courtyard, their remaining silver had been dwindling. This meal was the first with meat since moving in. Now, aside from a few pieces of small change, they only had one bracelet left.

Once Li Baoping returned and took her seat, they all started eating together, even the fox spirit joining in.

Curious, the fox spirit asked Lin Chen, “Did you get any opportunities suitable for you from the secret realm this time?”

“There was one, but for you all, it’s probably just an ornamental item,” Lin Chen thought for a moment before replying.

“Let’s see it!” The fox spirit's eyes shone with anticipation.

Without hesitation, Lin Chen pulled a small golden house from his storage pouch.

The moment it appeared, Old Huang’s eyes lit up brilliantly, his gaze shining with disbelief. “This is the ‘ornamental item’ you mentioned? Such a big golden house! It must be worth a fortune!”

“You only think about money. This is far more useful than gold or silver. Eat first; I’ll show you soon,” Lin Chen said with certainty.

They then began eating, while the fox spirit kept fiddling with the small golden house. After a long time, she still couldn’t figure out its secret.

Time passed quickly, and when everyone had nearly finished, Lin Chen stood, took the golden house from the fox spirit’s hands, and placed it in the courtyard’s open space. Then, gathering his breath deeply, he shouted, “Grow!”

At his command, Old Huang, Li Baoping, and the fox spirit stared at him as if he were crazy, all puzzled.

But moments later, they were all left speechless with astonishment.

Old Huang was the first to react, exclaiming, “Good heavens! Such a large golden house! It must be incredibly valuable!”

Lin Chen rolled his eyes at him. “Why do you always think about such worldly things?”

The fox spirit ignored their exchange and tried pushing the door of the golden house. After a long while, it didn’t budge.

Seeing this, Lin Chen stepped forward, opened the door, and, with the others’ shocked gazes upon him, walked inside.

They quickly followed him into the house.

Inside, the fox spirit frowned. “Hmm, this is indeed a good thing. When you’re out and about without a place to stay, it can provide shelter from the wind and rain.”

Old Huang nodded in agreement. “Not bad, not bad. With this, you won’t have to worry about having no place to live, even if you have to beg.”

“Who would want to live in a golden house like this? That’s just asking for an early death! What I meant by useful is that cultivating inside this house doubles the effectiveness of my practice,” Lin Chen explained helplessly, wondering why they couldn’t grasp his meaning.

“Brother Lin, can I double my effectiveness too?” Li Baoping asked eagerly.

“You should give it a try. I can’t say for sure. My senior sister tried it before, but it didn’t help her. Everyone’s constitution is different. Maybe it works for you,” Lin Chen replied reassuringly.

Hearing this, Li Baoping eagerly sat cross-legged and began cultivating.

The others, seeing her start, quietly left the golden house, waiting outside respectfully.

A quarter of an hour later, Li Baoping emerged, dejected and disappointed.

“Brother Lin, this doesn’t seem to work for me,” she admitted sadly.

Lin Chen patted her head and comforted her, “Little Baoping, you can’t rely too much on external aids in cultivation. True skill comes from your own efforts.”

Li Baoping’s clear eyes, tinged with disappointment, brightened again. She smiled and said, “Brother Lin is right. I must rely on my own hard work.”

“Indeed, a promising pupil,” Lin Chen nodded. “I’m going to cultivate now. You focus on your method. If you don’t understand something, ask Sister Mei.”

With that, Lin Chen stepped back into the golden house and closed the door behind him.

Outside, the fox spirit muttered quietly, “Hmph! Telling others not to rely on external aids while using one herself—typical.”

Inside, Lin Chen, beaming with joy, listened to the constant “Merit +1” notifications in his ear, clearly reveling in the moment.

Meanwhile, in Nanyang City, a young woman clad in a short white dress staggered through a dense forest, her body battered and bloodied.

Her clothes were soaked red, her face pale and weak.

As she descended a slope, she lost her footing and tumbled headlong down, rolling uncontrollably until she finally lost consciousness.

When she awoke again, it was late at night. Fortunately, those pursuing her had vanished.

Yet she had no idea where she was. If things continued this way, death was inevitable.

Struggling to recall her path, she gritted her teeth and climbed back up the slope.

She remembered rolling down from above, which, in a way, was a blessing in disguise—it had helped her escape her pursuers.

Her eyes burned with determination. She vowed to survive, to seek revenge. She could not die so easily. To do so would be far too much of a gift to those beasts.

This woman was Xiao Yunyao. She had hoped that by bringing evidence of her eldest brother’s betrayal to her second uncle, he would punish her eldest brother severely. But to her shock, the second uncle ignored the matter and allowed her eldest brother to retaliate, leading to her current desperate plight.