Chapter 908: The Path to Entering the World

Qianhe Town.

As dawn broke, the morning mist still enveloped the riverside town, when suddenly, the sound of hurried hoofbeats shattered the town’s tranquility.

A rider approached from the north, arriving at the town’s entrance along the straight, wide official road and stopping in front of a tea stall.

These tea stalls by the official road and market often serve breakfast, and some early risers were already seated inside, enjoying steaming tofu pudding and freshly steamed buns.

Seeing the fine horse stop before the tea stall, they cast surprised glances.

Wang Chen leaped down from the horse, tied the reins to a nearby hitching post, and addressed the tea stall owner, “Sir, I’d like a basket of buns and two bowls of tofu pudding, please make the tofu pudding savory. Also, give my horse some hay and fresh water, and remember to add extra bean meal and eggs.”

The tea stall owner greeted him with a smile, “Certainly! Please have a seat; your buns and tofu pudding will be ready shortly.”

Having encountered all kinds of people in his trade of traveling back and forth, he had developed keen judgment and could easily read others.

Although Wang Chen was dressed simply, this horse was clearly not something an ordinary person could own.

Moreover, the horse had clearly run a long way, panting heavily, yet still retained its noble spirit!

The tea stall owner did not dare to delay and called his wife to care for the fine horse while he personally served Wang Chen a basket of buns and the tofu pudding.

Wang Chen picked up a bun with chopsticks and devoured it in just a few bites.

It was the familiar taste from Ling Zhiyuan’s memories!

After Ling Zhiyuan began his martial arts training, Ling Hongyun would take him to the wild to hunt every so often, to cultivate Ling Zhiyuan’s martial spirit.

Each time they hunted, they had to wake up very early, and Ling Hongyun would first go to this tea stall in Qianhe Town for breakfast.

The head of the Ling family greatly enjoyed the buns and tofu pudding here.

However, for the young Ling Zhiyuan, waking up early to go hunting was quite a painful experience.

But the taste of the buns was still quite enjoyable.

After finishing his breakfast and feeding his mount, Wang Chen dropped a few pieces of Broken Silver and left without a glance back.

Qianhe Town was only ten miles from Anyang City, taking little time to ride there, but after passing through the small town, he did not head straight for the distant city; instead, he turned onto another small path.

Before long, a cemetery nestled among the green mountains and clear waters appeared before Wang Chen.

This cemetery was the Ling Family Graveyard, housing the remains of generations of relatives.

Wang Chen first secured his horse in a secluded spot and then quietly entered the Ling Family Graveyard without alerting the gravekeeper.

The arrangement of the graves in the cemetery was quite meticulous; Ling Zhiyuan accompanied his father here annually to pay respects to ancestors, so he was very familiar with the layout.

He quickly located a newly built grave.

The name on the tombstone was Ling Hongyun!

Wang Chen stood quietly in front of the grave for a moment, then took out the offerings he had prepared from his storage space.

After lighting incense and candles, he knelt before the tombstone, holding three sticks of incense, and performed a deep bow to his father.

Wang Chen silently vowed, “Blood debt must be repaid with blood; I will avenge you and make the orchestrators pay for their crimes. If I fail to uphold this oath, may heavenly punishment and earthly destruction befall me!”

After making the blood vow, Wang Chen bowed and prostrated again.

When he stood up once more, he suddenly felt the Life energy within him surge, as if breaking through some barrier, and he connected with the surrounding world without any obstruction, his divine intent becoming exceptionally sharp.

Wang Chen’s eyes flickered as he caught an inkling of understanding.

As an explorer from the upper realm, he was clearly walking a path to enter the world that was different from others.

Wang Chen believed that other cultivators from the Haotian Realm, after arriving, could never be as grounded as he was.

For instance, if another Golden Core cultivator had taken over Ling Zhiyuan’s body, would that person have come to pay respects to his original father’s grave and kneel down like Wang Chen did?

The pride of a Golden Core cultivator would not allow for such humility!

But Wang Chen held no such burdens in his mindset; he was genuinely integrating into this body and this world.

And the results proved that Wang Chen’s approach was correct.

After lighting the paper money on the ground, he quietly departed.

Wang Chen was not concerned that this would expose him.

By the time the gravekeeper noticed something unusual and came to check, he would only think it was an old acquaintance of Ling Hongyun, someone who preferred not to cause any trouble, paying their respects.

After leaving the cemetery, Wang Chen retrieved his horse and headed toward Anyang City.

This time, he certainly did not use his true appearance to avoid being recognized before even entering the city.

Although Wang Chen was now a peak third-grade martial master and also a member of the Blood Guard, he did not feel confident enough to confront the current head of the Ling family or the mastermind behind the scenes.

After all, the unfortunate Ling Hongyun had been a fourth-level martial general!

Wang Chen donned the mask that Wei Zhengxiong had originally given him and meticulously modified his appearance.

Compared to the first time he used the human skin mask, he had made remarkable progress in disguise and makeup techniques after three months of study, enough to fool the vast majority of people.

Moreover, Wang Chen did not intend to encounter the Ling family members.

After entering the city, he found an inn not far from the Ling residence and waited until the dead of night before stealthily coming out.

At this time, the streets were empty, and dressed in a black stealth suit with his face covered by a cloth wrap, Wang Chen moved swiftly through the shadows behind the buildings, using the night as his cover.

Before long, he arrived at the Ling Family Ancestral Hall.

The ancestral hall was adjacent to the Ling manor but housed the tablets of the Ling family’s ancestors; aside from one keeper, there was no other defense in place.

After all, thieves had little to steal here.

Thus, Wang Chen easily scaled the wall and slipped inside the ancestral hall.

The Ling Family Ancestral Hall was quite large, with a spacious main hall in the front and a courtyard and side rooms in the back.

Most of the rooms in the back courtyard were empty, with only some miscellaneous items for ceremonies stacked up.

Using the moonlight, Wang Chen located one of the rooms.

Although the door was locked, he effortlessly opened it with a piece of wire.

Upon entering, his gaze fell to the ground on the right side of the room, and he silently counted in his heart: “One, two, three…”

As he counted, Wang Chen jumped on the wooden floorboards.

When he stepped on the seventh board, he heard a soft “crack,” and the five floorboards in that spot suddenly sank down, revealing a dark hole within moments.

It worked!

Wang Chen felt a surge of joy and leaped down into the hole.

Below this mechanism was a cavern, surrounded by solid stone walls, with four bronze lamps hanging from above.

Wang Chen reached out with both hands, gripping the bronze lamps on the left and in front of him, twisting them forcefully in different directions.

Suddenly, the rock wall in front of him trembled, and countless dust particles fell.