Chen Jing, do you want to go home

Although the Great Demon urged them to move quickly, making a move against the emperor was no easy task.

The faction of civil officials, led by the great loyal minister Qin Rong, was a difficult hurdle to overcome.

Fortunately, the current Yongcheng Emperor had not yet degenerated into a mere puppet ruler, and for once, he showed rare backbone.

"If there is a path to transcendence, then the founder of our Great Qian Dynasty would surely have ascended to the higher realm, achieving even greater immortal fruits. Every generation of our human prodigies deserves a longer and better path to walk.

This endeavor benefits the present and brings blessings for a thousand generations. I have no reason whatsoever to refuse striving for it!

My beloved ministers, say no more. My mind is made up. Starting today, I will dispatch elite troops and formidable generals to launch an expedition to the North Sea!"

With the involvement of the Li imperial clan and the best of the Great Qian army, Chen Yi’s team vying for the path to transcendence grew much stronger.

The Great Qian side began mobilizing troops and gathering experts, which would still take some time.

After obtaining some imperial tomb soil, Chen Yi set out for Golden Beach ahead of schedule, together with the Great Demon and Hua Wuyan.

The three flew northward, passing through the Northern Frontier along the way.

"Stop!"

The Great Demon roared in fury.

"What now? Can you not be more efficient? Do I look like I can maintain this state for long?!"

Chen Yi laughed.

"I know you have the Sun-Moon Tower with you. That tower helps stabilize your power and soul form, so you should be able to hold out for quite a while."

Ignoring the Great Demon’s protests, Chen Yi brought him and Hua Wuyan to the foot of a cliff.

Below the cliff lay a cluster of felt tents, with figures moving about, most appearing to be quite old.

This was the residence of the Northern Frontier tribal alliance elders who guarded the Herb of Longevity.

In every previous simulation, Chen Yi had needed his eldest brother’s acting skills to obtain the Herb of Longevity.

Not this time.

When three Martial Gods descended, it completely flustered the old men of the Northern Frontier.

"Our hinterlands—why would such esteemed individuals make such a grand appearance here?"

The Northern Frontier had few martial cultivators above the Martial King level, and most of them were advanced in years.

Considering the limited "seats" available for the expedition to the Ancient Wasteland Secret Realm, Chen Yi did not extend an invitation to the Northern Frontier Khan. He only requested a few stalks of Herb of Longevity.

With that, all the ingredients needed to refine the Five-Domain Sacred Pill were assembled.

"So you’re planning to refine the Five-Domain Sacred Pill."

Having seen Chen Yi collect the Immaculate Flower, imperial tomb soil, and Herb of Longevity along the way, Hua Wuyan naturally guessed his intent.

"This pill is not easy to refine. I’ve studied alchemy for many years and have only succeeded a few times."

That meant Hua Wuyan had indeed succeeded before. Her alchemical skill was formidable.

They were now not far from Golden Beach.

Chen Yi was in no hurry to go there; instead, he went to meet someone.

The Great Demon grew impatient again, howling and shrieking in the sky, scaring many of the Northern Frontier herders’ livestock into stampeding.

…

On an endless prairie, Chen Jing walked through grass as tall as his waist, carefully examining the weeds around him, searching for the "Hundred-Cough Herb."

This was today’s task.

If he failed, he would be eliminated from the competition to become the Khan’s foster son.

If he succeeded, he would become the Khan’s 249th foster son.

Chen Jing knew that, as an ordinary man, this place was too far from home for him to ever return on his own.

He couldn’t even make it to the next inhabited village in the Central Plains.

He had no choice but to compete—to survive, to climb higher!

"Ah!"

With a scream, Chen Jing fell into a trap.

At the bottom of the pit stood rows of sharpened bamboo stakes. One of them pierced straight through his thigh.

Blood gushed out, and the pain made him grimace fiercely.

"Hiss—"

Gritting his teeth against the agony, Chen Jing forcefully pulled the bamboo stake out of his flesh, then climbed up the uneven pit walls, leaving a trail of blood behind.

"Haah… Haah… Haah…"

Lying beside the trap, Chen Jing gasped for breath.

He tore a strip from his clothes and tightly bound his thigh to stop himself from bleeding to death.

Just as he was about to get up and resume his task,

a tall figure stood before him, casting a shadow over his face.

The newcomer wore a white mask, hiding his features, and spoke in a very hoarse voice.

"Chen Jing, do you want to go home?"

Chen Jing sat up, clutching his wounded thigh, and looked up at the masked man.

"Can you send me home?"

"Yes."

"Why would you help me? Is this some kind of test?"

"No. But I have to tell you: Falling Ding Village has been massacred by a mysterious force. Aside from your fourth brother and the village guardian Da Chun, no one survived. Oh, and your third sister—she married someone in the county and escaped the massacre.

If you want to go home, you can only seek refuge with your fourth brother or third sister."

"What?! Father! Mother! Second Uncle! Third Uncle! Aunt! Little Tiger! Cuihua! They… they’re all dead?!"

"All dead."

"Who did it?!"

Chen Jing shot to his feet in fury, oblivious to his wound reopening.

"As I said, a mysterious force. I don’t know who."

"Was it you?"

"If it were, I’d be finishing the job and killing you now, not chatting with you."

The direct perpetrators of the massacre were the Holy Flame Sect and the Crimson Heart Sect, with the Blood Moon organization pulling the strings in the shadows.

But the motive behind the massacre was still unclear—possibly targeting the artifact spirit of the Nine Provinces Tripod.

Explaining this convoluted mess to Chen Jing now would be beyond his comprehension, so Chen Yi simply called it a "mysterious force."

Upon learning that his hometown had been massacred and his loved ones were gone, Chen Jing did not burst into tears.

Calmly, he crouched back down and tended to his wound.

"Thank you for your kindness, but I don’t want to go home now."

"Why?"

"The Khan’s methods may be extreme, but if I can climb up the ladder, one day the entire Northern Frontier will belong to me!"

"I could be your master. I can offer you far more cultivation resources than the Northern Frontier ever could."

Chen Jing stood up, as if his grievous leg injury did not exist.

"I must walk my own path! I don’t know you, and I don’t know why you want to help me, but a life arranged and paved by someone else might not be what I want!"

"But the path you’re on now will bring you great suffering."

"Haha! Competing with others—that’s where the joy lies!

That trap was dug by my rivals. They want to take me out!

Little do they know, I’ve set many more traps. By now, they’re probably finished…"

Chen Yi extended his spiritual sense to probe the surrounding area.

Sure enough, in a small forest not far away, he detected over a dozen corpses hanging upside down from tree branches, ropes around their necks.

Pretty ruthless, my big brother…

The reason Chen Yi did not reveal himself was that he wanted his eldest brother to make his own choice.

Based on several previous simulations, his eldest brother would always grow into the Northern Frontier Khan, wielding unquestioned authority and earning widespread support in this region.

Chen Yi was uncertain about which path was better: keeping his brother close and nurturing his cultivation, or letting him develop on his own.

Because cultivation was unpredictable.

Some people achieved greater heights through hardship, while others stagnated despite a life of comfort and diligence.

So Chen Yi left the choice to his elder brother.

If he showed up and revealed his identity, Chen Jing would likely follow him home out of trust in family.