Narration System for the Journey of Martial Arts

Su Yuchen shook his head. Unfortunately, he still couldn't tell where he had arrived.

Chapter 284 Daily Life in the Barren Mountains

Since the narrator didn't give any hints, Su Yuchen didn't take it to heart and turned back to the courtyard.

Sitting on the stone bench, Su Yuchen was in high spirits. His body didn't even need testing; it was just at the level of an ordinary person. Even his Five Animal Frolics were barely at the beginner level. From the current perspective, neither body tempering nor qi cultivation seemed realistic.

"It seems we have no choice but to find a way to combine the medicinal bath with the body-strengthening technique, but we also need to ensure adequate nutrition. However, we have neither medicinal herbs nor money, so we can only proceed step by step."

"Although this takes up time, it seems safe for now. Apart from wild animals, probably no one else will come to this desolate mountain pass."

"Speaking of which, this master and disciple pair is quite peculiar. The temple next door is very popular, and they are so close by, yet they are penniless. I don't know how they manage to survive."

Your easygoing and carefree attitude keeps your mind calm and undisturbed by external influences; you will reap a wild rabbit this evening.

Time flies, passing like water.

After dusk, Su Yuchen got up and picked a few green leaves from the corner of the wall outside the courtyard. He probably didn't expect to run into anyone. Just then, a wild rabbit jumped out from the weeds next to him.

Their eyes met, and there was a moment of silence. The rabbit took off running, and Su Yuchen panicked. He grabbed a clod of dirt and flicked it with his finger. With a "bang," the clod of dirt hit the rabbit's head and shattered. Unfortunately, the force was too weak, and the dirt clump was too loose. The rabbit was unharmed.

Just as Su Yuchen was smiling wryly, the rabbit, startled, turned around and leaped high into the air, crashing headfirst into the courtyard wall. It struggled a few times with a "thud" and then fell silent.

"Is this... the beginning of a 'waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump' scenario? Too bad, I'm not a farmer."

Su Yuchen walked over, both amused and exasperated, and picked up the rabbit to weigh it in his hand. Hey! Not bad, it weighed at least two or three pounds. Seeing that dinner was secured, Su Yuchen immediately gathered another handful of greens before happily closing the courtyard gate to prepare dinner.

After a long while, a fragrant aroma wafted from the kitchen, and Su Yuchen happily carried a large bowl of rabbit meat and rice to the stone table to start the meal.

As for the rabbit, we'll just have to stew it all. There's no other way; this place is full of deep forests, and who knows if a wolf might suddenly appear in the middle of the night? Keeping it around would only cause more trouble.

After dinner, Su Yuchen wandered around the courtyard for a while before returning to his bedroom and sleeping fully clothed. It wasn't until nearly midnight that Su Yuchen returned to the courtyard and sat down.

Just as midnight arrived, the moonlight in the sky seemed to brighten for a moment. Su Yuchen opened his mouth and inhaled, and a ray of moonlight seemed to flash in the courtyard before he breathed it in through his mouth and nose.

Su Yuchen felt a series of cracking sounds from his bones, and a cool, refreshing sensation welled up from the bottom of his heart, as if his whole body was transparent. Su Yuchen was overjoyed and immediately used his secret technique to refine this spiritual energy.

After a long while, Su Yuchen slowly opened his eyes, and an undisguised joy welled up on his face.

"This world is far superior to the previous world, and the amount of essence of the sun and moon that can be absorbed is also far greater. Good, good, good. With this, the restoration of strength is just around the corner."

Thinking of this, Su Yuchen composed himself and prepared to go back to his room to sleep. After all, there was still a great purple aura of the sun waiting for him tomorrow morning, and he couldn't waste it.

The next morning, as dawn broke, Su Yuchen was already sitting in the courtyard waiting. When a red fireball rose on the distant mountaintop, Su Yuchen opened his mouth and inhaled. The courtyard was brightened, and a reddish-purple aura was drawn into his body through his nostrils.

A warm, comforting sensation circulated through his body. The lingering essence of the moon from the previous night surfaced under the stimulation of the purple aura. The two complemented each other, instantly triggering a reaction. Su Yuchen felt his body alternate between hot and cold, and the next second, a gentle, jade-like aura spread throughout his body, as if he were soaking in a hot spring.

"The harmony of Yin and Yang is the Dao. It seems that the upper limit of this world is much higher! But where exactly is it?" After a long time, Su Yuchen, who had completely refined the essence of heaven and earth, opened his eyes.

After thinking for a moment, since he had no clue and was too lazy to waste his time, he figured the Great Dao Azure Lotus Chapter was enough for him to cultivate. Before he had the strength, he should just stay put.

Getting up and walking to the vegetable garden outside the yard, Su Yuchen paused. He noticed that the rabbit entrails he had buried earlier had been turned upside down. After examining them carefully for a moment and looking at the footprints left on the ground, Su Yuchen raised an eyebrow. A wolf had been there.

However, thinking that they might have been attracted by the smell of blood from the entrails, Su Yuchen knew he had to make some preparations. If a wolf were to break into the yard in the middle of the night, he would probably have to put in some effort.

"What a pity, I was saving it to bait the fishing spot today. Now look what's happened..."

Su Yuchen only felt a pang of regret for a moment before shaking his head and returning to the courtyard. When he came out again, he was carrying a fishing rod and a bamboo basket, which he had found in the kitchen.

Walking down the mountain path, Su Yuchen heard rustling sounds from the weeds on both sides, wondering if they were snakes. He didn't stop and continued until he reached the foot of the mountain.

At the end of the stone-paved road are small docks, just big enough for a fishing boat to dock. And at the end of the mountain path, an unpolished rock stands by the roadside. Push aside the weeds that are covering it, and you can see the three characters "Chaotian Temple". Unfortunately, it has been neglected for many years, and the characters have faded and are incomplete.

After glancing at it once, Su Yuchen stopped paying attention, walked to the dock, took out a bamboo stool, sat down, and began to fish.

In the morning light, fishing boats in the distance have already begun their day's fishing, and occasionally the soft Wu dialect can be heard, startling flocks of egrets.

Su Yuchen sat with his eyes closed, quietly sensing the movement of the fishing rod. Occasionally, he would cast the line and a fish would be thrown out of the water and land on the dock. The larger ones were put directly into the fish basket, while the smaller ones were released as they were not useful.

Occasionally, fishing boats would pass by and, upon seeing Su Yuchen's fishing skills, would applaud and cheer before sailing away into the distance amidst laughter.

As the sun rose higher, Su Yuchen looked at his bamboo basket. The harvest was good, so he decided not to delay any longer, lest it get too hot and cause trouble. He got up and went back up the mountain.

The whole day passed in this way, and Su Yuchen could only quietly rest and recover, unable to do anything else. It wasn't until after evening that Su Yuchen picked up a few small fish, about the size of his palm, and buried them back into the pit from the previous night, then got up and closed the courtyard gate.

As midnight approached, Su Yuchen sat quietly on the stone bench, iron rod in hand. After absorbing the moonlight, and seeing no sign of the wolf, he went back to his room to sleep without further hesitation. He didn't know how much time had passed when he faintly heard whimpers outside the courtyard. Su Yuchen turned over, ignoring them.

The next day, at the crack of dawn, Su Yuchen opened the courtyard gate with an iron crowbar in hand and saw a wolf lying in the grass not far from the courtyard, spitting blood.

Hey! Serves you right for being greedy!

Su Yuchen picked up the wolf, closed the courtyard gate again, and only began to prepare the wolf meat that had been delivered to his door after absorbing the purple energy.

Chapter 285 Only then did I realize where I was.

The barren mountains remained silent, only greening the landscape and withering the wild grass. Spring passed and autumn came, the weather turned cold and freezing, and time flew by; this was already Su Yuchen's second year in this world.

Over the past two years, thanks to his decent fishing skills and the wolf meat that came to him willingly, Su Yuchen has collected seven or eight wolf pelts.

Using these wolf pelts and wolf teeth, Su Yuchen traded them for a considerable amount of necessities from passing fishing boats. He also saved up more than ten taels of silver.

It's probably because the wolf pack in the area is only this big. After that, Su Yuchen's traps never caught any wolves again. However, during the freezing cold season, Su Yuchen did see a few figures that looked like foxes.

After two years of refining with the essence of the sun and moon and aided by secret techniques, although he is still not as good as he was at his peak, he is already considered a second-rate master among the outer sect practitioners.

However, Su Yuchen was not in a hurry and had no intention of disrupting his current cultivation progress. He wanted to maintain stability and wait for the spring flowers to bloom next year before he would start going into the mountains to collect herbs.

Pushing open the courtyard gate, a pair of adorable yet panicked eyes looked over. Upon seeing Su Yuchen, the little creature immediately jumped back a step, but hesitated to leave because it couldn't bear to part with the frozen fish on the ground.

Su Yuchen was slightly taken aback, then shook his head with amusement. It seemed he hadn't been mistaken; there was indeed a white fox lingering nearby. But…

"Little thing, you can't just eat this stuff, you'll die." With that, Su Yuchen walked over and picked up the dead fish that was frozen solid.

Seeing its food about to be lost, the little creature bared its teeth and hissed softly. Su Yuchen used his fingers to break the frozen fish in half, pulled a sharp fishhook out of its belly, and threw it to the little guy.

"Alright, take your spoils and go. You should be grateful. If it weren't for those few wolves, you wouldn't have escaped my stomach either."

Looking at the frozen fish thrown in front of it, the little creature carefully sniffed it. Feeling that there was no problem, it stared at Su Yuchen for a long time before picking up the frozen fish and running into the woods.

Su Yuchen didn't waste any time. He picked up his basket and headed down the mountain. Today was the day he had arranged to make a deal with someone.

"Uncle Li, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. I'm late." On the dock, Su Yuchen bowed to the old fisherman smoking on his fishing boat.

The fisherman waved his hand, tucked his pipe into his waistband, and said nonchalantly, "It's not late, it's not late at all. What are you saying, young Taoist priest? I'm just too early. I need to go back early today."

Su Yuchen put down the basket, took out rabbit and wolf skins from it, and asked, "Aren't you fishing today?"

"Hi!"

The old fisherman sighed, then whispered, "These days are not safe. Young Taoist, if you have nothing else to do, don't come to the water. Just stay on the mountain."

Seeing Su Yuchen's surprised expression, the old fisherman sighed...

"A few crazy women have come from the Taihu Lake area near Suzhou! They've been hanging around West Lake every day these past few days. I heard they're looking for some prince or something, and they've killed several people."

"It's a pity that those useless officials who only take money and do nothing were beaten half to death by a few old women and then hid away, afraid to show their faces."

"Old woman, who is it?" Su Yuchen asked, frowning.

The old fisherman said uncertainly, "I heard it's some kind of Mantuo Manor. I don't know anything about it, only that it's one of those martial arts forces. I don't know how it got involved with some prince..."

"Taihu Lake, Mantuo Villa, Wang Yuyan, this is the world of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils!"

Su Yuchen's heart skipped a beat, and the moment he thought of it, the narration cascaded down like a waterfall.

You have entered the world of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.

You've lived by West Lake for generations, next to Lingyin Temple, so naturally they don't welcome you. Your residence, Chaotian Temple, is a branch of Longhu Mountain in Jiangxi, so they can't do anything about it.

Today, the search area around Taihu Lake and West Lake at Mantuo Villa was bustling with activity, all because Lady Wang's beloved 'Duan Zhengchun' had left without saying goodbye.

"Does Lingyin Temple not care about those people's actions?" Su Yuchen asked.

The old fisherman sighed and said, "I heard that the abbot sent the head monk of the temple to negotiate with them, but that Mantuo Manor is a branch of the Wang family of Suzhou! Even the masters of Lingyin Temple can't afford to offend them."

The Wang family of Suzhou has been a prominent family of officials since the Tang Dynasty. During the current dynasty, six members of the Wang family served as high-ranking officials in the court. The current prefect of Hangzhou is a member of the Wang family.

The Mantuo Villa was built by the second son of the Wang clan patriarch. Although he is dead, the Wang clan cannot be dishonored, and Lingyin Temple can only retreat.

A narrator, with a magnetic yet slightly ingratiating tone, began to speak, and Su Yuchen thought to himself...

"Damn system, are you trying to please me?" Unfortunately, as always, there was no response.

Having determined his location, Su Yuchen had no interest in talking to the old fisherman any longer, so he quickly dismissed him and returned to the Taoist temple halfway up the mountain.

"In the world of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, there are quite a few good things, such as the Six Meridians Divine Sword of the Dali Duan family; and the Seventy-Two Shaolin Arts, though there may be traps; most importantly, there is the Xiaoyao Sect, a sect that seems to be cultivating immortality."

"I wonder where the plot is now? Did Duan Zhengchun and Madam Wang just get involved, or when?"

“If Wang Yuyan hadn’t been born yet, that would be terrible. There are still about twenty years before the main storyline. I’m not familiar with the previous timeline, so there’s no way to take a shortcut.”

[Wang Yuyan has been born for twelve years. Duan Zhengchun, in order to avoid Madam Wang, went to Junshan Island in Dongting Lake for sightseeing, where he happened to meet Kang Min, the wife of Ma Dayuan.]

To avoid the servants of Mantuo Manor, Duan Zhengchun will spend the night in the wilderness.

"Your introduction to the 'dog system' is quite straightforward. It seems there are still seven or eight years before the plot begins. But, is this the time when Duan Zhengchun and Kang Min got together?" Su Yuchen muttered a few words, too lazy to think about it further.

"But damn system, you mean Duan Zhengchun spent the night in the deserted mountains? Could it be my place?" Unfortunately, the system was as sneaky as ever, and Su Yuchen didn't take it seriously.

………………

That night, Su Yuchen still stepped into the courtyard at midnight to absorb and refine the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

At the foot of the mountain under the moonlight, a group of five people were dragging a small fishing boat from the dock into the bushes. One of them, dressed as a scholar, stretched out his sleeve and parted the weeds on the rocks at the foot of the mountain to reveal the three large characters 'Chaotian Temple'.

“Sir, there should be a Taoist temple here. Why don’t we go up and ask for the night?” the scholar said.

The man called "Master" looked at the dock behind him and said, "Alright, it's already difficult to find a place to stay in this desolate mountain. Let's hurry up and leave, or they'll catch up with us."

The others exchanged helpless glances. This guy was good in every way, except he loved to flirt with women too much. While others had friends all over the world, he had girlfriends all over the world.

But now was not the time to complain. Another guard dressed as a woodcutter led the way along the mountain path, with the others following closely behind, heading towards the mountainside.

Not long after the group left, a huge pleasure boat sailed by. It probably thought that the "master" was used to a life of luxury and wouldn't linger in this desolate wilderness, so it sailed away without stopping.

Chapter 286 Duan Zhengchun's Visit

Su Yuchen had just refined a wisp of moonlight when he received a notification from the narrator...

Duan Zhengchun led his guards in a "fishing, woodcutting, farming, and reading" exercise. Chu Wanli, Gu Ducheng, Fu Sigui, and Zhu Danchen were on their way up the mountain. They planned to scale the wall and sneak away the next day.

Su Yuchen: "Hmm...that's way too sneaky!"

"Sir, judging from this, I'm afraid this temple has been abandoned for a long time and no one is in charge of it anymore."

"It's best if we don't open the door. This door is old and in disrepair. If we make too much noise, it's a minor matter if we startle the owls, but it's a major problem if we attract other people."

“I think that makes sense. In that case, let’s just climb over the wall and get in.”

"I'll do as you say, sir!"

Just as Su Yuchen was finding it amusing, five figures leaped over the courtyard wall, and then the six people instantly looked at each other in disbelief. It seemed that Duan Zhengchun and his group hadn't expected that this desolate mountain temple actually had an owner.

The four men, namely "fisherman, woodcutter, farmer, and scholar," immediately shielded the "master" in the middle. The scholar leading the group, Zhu Danchen, glanced at the young Taoist priest sitting on the stone bench with a half-smile on his face, then looked at the iron chopstick on the stone table. He cupped his hands and said, "Taoist priest, you have been frightened! We, master and servant, did not know that this place was occupied. We hope that you will forgive us for the disturbance."

Hearing this, the woodcutter behind him muttered, "Not sleeping in the middle of the night, sitting alone in the yard. He doesn't even make a sound when he hears us talking, humph... I think..."

"squeak……"

Su Yuchen granted his request, and seeing the woodcutter Gu Ducheng's stunned expression, he laughed and said, "I said something, so what?"

“You…you…you…” Gu Ducheng, dressed as a woodcutter, pointed at Su Yuchen, but couldn’t say a word.

Duan Zhengchun, who was being protected in the middle, was probably meeting such an interesting person for the first time. He couldn't help but laugh, but since it was a desolate place, they didn't dare to ask for lodging without asking clearly.

The scholar Zhu Danchen, however, reacted quickly, reaching out to press down his companion's arm and bowing with a smile, saying, "Daoist Master, your quick wit and resourcefulness are beyond my brother's reach. My companion meant no harm; he's just not very good at speaking, so please forgive him, Daoist Master."

Su Yuchen nodded and said, "What brings you here uninvited so late at night?"

On the other side, Chu Wanli, dressed as a fisherman, looked around and interjected, "Young Taoist priest, you have extraordinary courage. Aren't you afraid that we are bad people?"

Su Yuchen chuckled...

"You guys are obviously not cut out for the ways of the martial world. Haven't you heard the saying that there are four types of people you should never mess with in the martial world: Taoist priests, Buddhist monks, women, and children?"

"The first two are from wealthy and powerful families with powerful backgrounds. If you offend one, you'll attract a whole bunch of people, and if you offend the young, you'll attract the old. The latter two are good at navigating the underworld and often have unorthodox skills, making them the easiest targets for people to fall into their traps."

"I'm not very talented, but I've already taken the first spot!"

Seeing the woodcutter Gu Ducheng's unconvinced expression, Su Yuchen said calmly, "You shouldn't be unconvinced either. Don't underestimate my small Taoist temple. It's a branch of Longhu Mountain and a direct descendant of the Zhengyi sect. Even the Lingyin Temple next door has to put up with us, let alone small sects."

Gu Ducheng sneered and said, "What's the use of all that you've said, little Taoist? If Lingyin Temple hires an assassin to kill you, even if Longhu Mountain comes to get revenge, it won't be your problem."