Cultivation: Start From Simplifying Martial Arts Techniques

Chapter 436 - 436: Hidden Dragon and Young Phoenix Ranking

Chen Fei picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a piece of fish, and put it in his mouth. After a few bites, Chen Fei’s expression slightly changed. The taste was indeed impressive. Among all the restaurants Chen Fei had eaten at, this one could rank at the top.

The only thing was that the taste leaned slightly toward sweetness, likely catering to the local preferences in Haiyan City. However, this slight sweetness didn’t detract from the overall dining experience; it still had an excellent flavor.

“Eat up, no need to be reserved,” Chen Fei said after a few bites, noticing that Mi Xian hadn’t touched her chopsticks.

“Okay,” Mi Xian replied. Hearing Chen Fei’s words, she carefully picked up her chopsticks and picked a bit of greens into her bowl.

Looking at the slight sheen of oil on the vegetables, a smile naturally appeared on Mi Xian’s face. She then took a small bite.

With just one bite, Mi Xian’s eyes squinted in delight. It was so delicious. Even though it was just a piece of green vegetable, Mi Xian felt it was much tastier than the occasional pork she had.

After a couple more bites of greens, Mi Xian quickly scooped up some rice and started chewing together. When something was delicious, it had to be paired with rice to avoid wasting any.

After finishing the rice, Mi Xian reached for the greens on the table. Despite the presence of many meat dishes on the side, Mi Xian didn’t dare to grab any. She felt happy just eating the greens here.

“Don’t you like meat?” Chen Fei looked at Mi Xian and asked with a smile.

“Huh?”

Hearing Chen Fei’s question, Mi Xian raised her head in confusion, only to see the meat on the table flying into her bowl on its own. In the blink of an eye, her rice was piled high with fish and pork.

“Sir, thank you!” Mi Xian’s eyes were slightly red as she buried her head and quickly began to eat.

Meat was undoubtedly tastier than vegetables, especially for someone like Mi Xian, a child who rarely saw meat. Even though Mi Xian had earned ten taels of silver today, when you calculated it for a month, it might only amount to three hundred taels of silver. In a year, it would be over three thousand taels.

Mathematics could work that way, but real-life wasn’t as simple as arithmetic. Haiyan City had a constant influx of people, so there were many guides like Mi Xian in the city, making the competition fierce. Mi Xian usually went for a month without getting a chance to work as a guide, and even when she did, not all of the ten taels of silver would end up in her pocket.

There were different paths for different creatures, and in a place like Haiyan

City, the power dynamics were intricate.

To officially join the Thousand Feather Alliance, one had to reach the advanced Aperture Tempering realm. Those without that level of cultivation formed their roots within various cities.

A significant portion of the ten taels of silver Mi Xian received from Chen Fei would have to be handed over to the Drainage Gang. Mi Xian could choose not to, but she couldn’t bear the consequences of that decision.

Mi Xian’s family was the epitome of the lower-class residents in Haiyan City.

All their hopes rested on her younger brother, who possessed a talent for martial arts.

In this world, if you wanted to climb up, only martial arts could assist you.

Empowering yourself directly controlled your destiny.

However, for the majority, even with a bit of talent for martial arts, they only ended up barely scraping by in the end.

In the normal course of events, when Mi Xian’s younger brother achieved success in martial arts, there would indeed be some changes in Mi Xian’s family’s life. However, these changes would be relatively minor since Mi Xian s brother’s cultivation wouldn’t reach high levels. The next generation of their family would need to continue working hard to bring about gradual improvements.

This is the reality for ordinary people in this world—often frustrating but undeniably true. The determination to keep striving for upward progress is a genuine and unwavering force.

After enjoying some dishes, Chen Fei set down his chopsticks, poured a glass of wine, and let the subtle fragrance of the liquor fill the air within the cup.

Given Chen Fei’s current level of cultivation, regular food and meat alone were far from sufficient for his daily needs. Most of his energy came from the Vital Energy of heaven and earth, which he had incorporated into his cultivation.

Now, when Chen Fei ate, it was more about satisfying his appetite. Eating, at times, was simply a mood in itself.

These worldly pleasures were what Chen Fei liked the most and where he found the greatest relaxation.

Mi Xian, with her small frame, had a surprisingly large appetite. In no time, she had devoured all the meat and vegetables that had filled her bowl moments ago.

After finishing her meal, Mi Xian still felt a bit unsatisfied. After all, she had never had such a delicious meal in her life. She glanced somewhat sheepishly at Chen Fei, but seeing no signs of displeasure from him, she started enjoying the other dishes on the table.

However, Mi Xian was still just an ordinary child, and after a few more bites, she finally couldn’t eat any more.

She rubbed her belly, wanting to continue eating but realizing that her stomach was truly too full. It pained her to see so much delicious food still on the table that she couldn’t eat.

Chen Fei lightly tapped the table, and the waiter quickly approached. “Pack up the remaining food on the table,” Chen Fei instructed the waiter. “Of course, sir. Please wait a moment,” the waiter said, promptly fetching some lotus leaves and packing the food. Then, he placed the packages on the side of the table.

“Take it back and continue to enjoy it later,” Chen Fei said to Mi Xian, pointing to the lotus leaf packages.

“Thank you, sir. You’re really too kind,” Mi Xian hadn’t expected that these dishes would be specially packed for her by Chen Fei.

Just a moment ago, she had been thinking that she had finally eaten at this restaurant, but her parents and younger brother had never tasted such food. And waiting for her parents and younger brother to have the opportunity to eat this might take a long time.

“Is there a place in the city where one can rent a closed-off space for cultivation?” Chen Fei decided to practice the Primordial Sword Body directly within Haiyan City. During the cultivation process, if he encountered any issues, he could also continue to the Enlightenment Tower.

“Yes,” Mi Xian replied while holding the lotus leaf packages, her eyes squinting into a smile.

“Let’s go then. Show me the way, and you can head back afterward,” Chen Fei said, looking at Mi Xian’s expression and smiling softly.

“Alright, sir, this way,” Mi Xian carried the food and bounced ahead, thinking that when her parents ate the food wrapped in lotus leaves later, she would feel delighted.

“Buzz!”

As Chen Fei followed behind Mi Xian, a strange ripple suddenly swept across the entire Haiyan City. The Enlightenment Tower in the central square instantly emitted a column of light that shot into the sky.

At the same time, outside Haiyan City, another beam of light appeared, responding to the light column of the Enlightenment Tower.

“Another spiritual treasure?” Chen Fei looked in surprise in the direction outside the city. Only a spiritual treasure of the same level could trigger such a response from the Enlightenment Tower.

“The Hidden Dragon and Young Phoenix Ranking has arrived in Haiyan City!” Suddenly, someone shouted, and Chen Fei saw a group of people running towards the outskirts of the city. Soon, the crowd turned into a wave, and everyone rushed out, trying to get there as quickly as possible.

Chen Fei grabbed Mi Xian’s shoulder, and with a flicker of his figure, he arrived on a rooftop to avoid being trampled by the crowd.

At this moment, the rooftops within the city were also filled with figures, all heading towards the city’s outskirts. It was as if they feared the cost of arriving too late would be too great.

“The Hidden Dragon and Young Phoenix Ranking?”

At this moment, Haiyan City was in a frenzy. It was already night, but the atmosphere was even more lively than during the day. The repeated shouts of “Hidden Dragon and Young Phoenix Ranking” made Chen Fei’s expression change slightly.

Chen Fei had heard of this term before. When he first joined the Thousand Feather Alliance, he naturally wanted to learn about various things within the alliance. The Hidden Dragon and Young Phoenix Ranking was something he had heard about earlier.

Just like the Enlightenment Tower, the Hidden Dragon and Young Phoenix Ranking was also a spiritual treasure that roamed through various corners of the Thousand Feather Alliance, and it would even venture outside the alliance into other parts of the Boundless Sea.

This spiritual treasure also belonged to a powerful individual in the Mountain Sea Realm, but unlike the two prominent figures within the Thousand Feather Alliance, it belonged to someone else.

The Enlightenment Tower was available for use as long as one had elemental stones, and there was no limit to its use. Similarly, the Hidden Dragon and Young Phoenix Ranking worked in the same way, requiring elemental stones for its services.

It was hard not to speculate whether there was an inherent connection between spiritual treasures of the Mountain Sea Realm and their behavior like this.

Of course, this was just Chen Fei’s personal conjecture. With his current cultivation at the Aperture Tempering realm, he hadn’t even reached the Combined Aperture Tempering realm. Given his current level, trying to fathom the Mountain Sea Realm was like trying to guess how much fine wine the wealthy elite would consume today.

It wasn’t that the beggar’s thoughts were laughable, but rather that one’s insight could only go so far.

“Sir, aren’t you going to take a look at the Hidden Dragon and Young Phoenix Ranking?” Mi Xian seemed excited, as if she were witnessing a historic moment.

Although Mi Xian hadn’t practiced martial arts, she was deeply fascinated by it. The Hidden Dragon and Young Phoenix Ranking was an aspiration for most martial artists, and naturally, she was eager to see it.

“I remember this ranking stays in one place for ten days, right?” Chen Fei asked in a low voice.

“Yes, that’s right. Ten days from now, the Hidden Dragon and Young Phoenix Ranking will leave for the next place. I heard that the last time it came to Haiyan City was many years ago,” Mi Xian nodded.

Mi Xian had never seen the Hidden Dragon and Young Phoenix Ranking before, given her age; she was still too young.

“Since we have ten days, there’s no rush,” Chen Fei shook his head.

Currently, Chen Fei was more eager to cultivate the Primordial Sword Body and raise his cultivation to the peak of the Aperture Tempering realm. As for other matters, he could temporarily set them aside.

Moreover, the ranking would remain in Haiyan City for a full ten days. Chen Fei thought it best to go see it in the last two days; there was no need to join the crowd now.

“Alright, sir,” Mi Xian obediently nodded and began to guide Chen Fei to the place for secluded cultivation.

After a while, Chen Fei and Mi Xian arrived at a formation.

The formation had a magnificent presence and was connected to the entire Haiyan City’s formation. This meant that if one were to attack this formation, it would trigger a response from the entire city’s formation.

Without the ability to break the formation of Haiyan City in one go, there would be no problems with its defense..