"These are your Iron Skin Pills… don't waste them."
Li Changming caught the bottle as the hooded man tossed it over.
"Tsk, don't throw it around like that! This is invaluable to me…"
Li Changming said irritably, staring at the shady figure in front of him.
He had spent fifty silver taels, every coin he had saved on these five Iron Skin Pills, yet the man treated them like worthless junk.
The hooded man said nothing.
He merely waved once before disappearing from sight.
Li Changming could only smile bitterly as he looked at the pill bottle in his hand.
"With this, at least I should be able to reach the peak of the third stage of Body Tempering…"
He felt that if he didn't grow stronger quickly, he would end up just like his second older brother, Li Yuan.
That thought brought back memories of two gentle figures he had nearly forgotten.
His second brother and his second sister-in-law had died at the hands of evil cultivators on their way to the city few days ago.
Not only them, thousands of people had perished that very day, causing a huge sensation across the entire region.
The peace that had lasted for years now felt as fragile as a thread, ready to snap at any moment.
The days to come would never be the same as before.
He wasn't going to seek revenge against those who killed his brother and sister-in-law.
He had already let the bygones be bygones.
There was nothing he could do about it.
From the intelligence he had gathered, the culprits belonged to the Heaven-Devouring Demon Sect, an ancient and terrifyingly powerful sect.
Even the orthodox sects refused to confront them directly, despite losing many of their own disciples in the incident.
That alone spoke volumes of their strength.
If even cultivators who could fly atop flying swords dared not oppose them openly, what could he a mere mortal possibly do?
He felt sorrow and regret over their deaths, but that was all he could afford to feel.
Cultivators themselves were calamities.
To them, everything except power was meaningless.
He had always admired cultivators and dreamed of becoming one, but unfortunately, he possessed no talent.
Still, there was another path to strength for those without spiritual roots, physical cultivation.
Though it was several times more difficult than Qi cultivation, those who pushed their bodies beyond certain limits could directly confront powerful cultivators.
Thus, he chose that path.
Yet his cultivation journey was anything but peaceful.
He worked as a guard, a bounty hunter, a soldier, anything that could earn him enough money to buy cultivation resources.
No matter how hard he tried, he was always broke.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped out of the dark alley, left the city behind, and headed straight toward a nearby village.
Normally, the journey would take at least a third of the day, but he could easily run faster than any average man.
That was the difference between ordinary people and cultivators.
Even though he was only at the second stage of Body Tempering, he was already far stronger than ordinary folk who knew nothing of cultivation.
He was returning to the house of his second brother—no, not anymore…
He knew very well that his elder brother would eventually swallow up all the assets that should have belonged to the child.
There was nothing he could do about it, and more importantly, he had no intention of getting involved.
Unlike his brothers, who married and built families of their own, he chose the path of cultivation wholeheartedly.
He had already severed every tie that could potentially hold him back.
Only when he felt he could no longer walk this path would he consider having a family of his own.
At present, he had no intention of taking responsibility for the child his second brother left behind.
He felt a faint sense of guilt toward the boy, but reality was reality.
Even if his elder brother hadn't seized the assets, there was no way a child could pay taxes or protect inherited property on his own.
The only thing he hoped for was that the boy could at least survive safely until he was old enough to take care of himself.
On the other hand, by staying out of this struggle, he could secure a share of fortune from his eldest brother.
With the money his brother had promised, he could once again cultivate with full focus.
His elder brother had even promised to destroy any evidence of the money, he borrowed from their second brother.
Cruel as it sounded, this was simply the way of life.
The weak perished, while the strong took everything.
He comforted himself with the thought that he was making a perfectly rational choice as he approached the source of the noise.
Then something felt off.
"Stop!"
He recognized the voice instantly.
It belonged to his nephew, Li Wei.
The boy sounded desperate.
Li Changming immediately quickened his pace.
When he entered the house, a bizarre scene unfolded before him.
Three unfamiliar men stood calmly in the hall, while his elder brother, sister-in-law, and nephew were in a pitiful state.
Brother Zhenhao's cheek was swollen beyond recognition, it was obvious he had been beaten badly.
Worse still, the man gripping his brother's leg looked ready to snap it at any moment.
Such audacity!
Li Changming's expression hardened as he demanded coldly,
"OI! What do you think you're doing in our place?!"
He stared at the man with a monocle, clearly the leader of these scoundrels, and demanded coldly,
"Who the hell are you?"
The man gave no response, only returning his gaze with indifference.
He doesn't even know who I am… How dare he ignore me?!
"Uncle Li! These men came out of nowhere and started attacking us!"
"They came here to steal our assets! They're even trying to break your brother's leg! Do something!"
Even without their pleading, Li Changming had no intention of letting this slide.
The first target was obvious, the man who was about to cripple his brother.
With movements honed through years of practice, Li Changming appeared directly in front of the man and threw a punch, his form precise, his momentum terrifying.
The small boy amid the chaos tried to say something, but Li Changming didn't bother to listen.
Whoosh—
Just as his fist was about to connect, the entire world shifted.
"Huh?!"
Li Changming found himself standing before a long, flowing river not inside the house anymore.
On the opposite bank stood two figures, a man and a woman.
They looked at him with faces full of disappointment.