High Martial Arts: Slay enemies to become stronger, forge invincibility from billions of corpses.

Song Zhengye sat opposite him, not interrupting, but eating quietly. Halfway through his meal, he put down his chopsticks.

"When are you leaving?"

"I'll leave this afternoon."

"So fast?" Li Xiuying asked anxiously.

After these words, the dinner table fell silent again.

……

After a long silence, Song Zhengye nodded: "Is the money enough?"

"enough."

He didn't ask any more questions and continued eating.

When they finished eating and were clearing the dishes, Song Zhengye walked over to him and whispered, "Send a message when you get there."

Song Chen nodded.

"understood."

In the afternoon, Song Chen packed her things and left the house.

He looked at the map and felt there was one more thing he needed to take care of.

He took out his phone and sent a message to Lin Qingxue: "Are you home?"

The reply came quickly: "Yes."

"I'm coming to find you."

"Okay, I'll wait for you."

Lin Qingxue's home is located in the north of the inner city, in a detached two-story building with an osmanthus tree planted in front of the door.

When Song Chen arrived, she was already standing at the door waiting. She was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, her hair was casually tied up, and she wasn't wearing makeup, but she looked very clean.

She noticed the box in his hand and paused, then asked, "What's this?"

"For you."

She didn't take it, but just looked at him and asked, "Why are you giving me something?"

Song Chen paused for a moment, then said, "I'm leaving."

Lin Qingxue's hands tightened slightly at the hem of her dress: "Where are we going?"

"Tenkai".

"I know, I mean...when?"

"Now."

She looked down at her toes.

She remained silent for a long time, so long that Song Chen thought she had forgotten how to speak.

Then she looked up, smiled, and said, "Let's go inside and sit down."

The living room wasn't big, but it was very clean.

There was an open book on the coffee table, titled "Introduction to Tianhai University".

Song Chen saw it but didn't say anything.

Lin Qingxue poured a glass of water and placed it in front of him.

"You just said you were leaving, are you going to Tianhai ahead of schedule?"

"Well, Tianhai University doesn't start until a month later. I figured I shouldn't waste this month, so I'm going to use this month to slowly walk from Anning to Tianhai."

"The world is so big, we should go see it."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qingxue's eyes widened suddenly: "You came from the wilderness? Alone?"

Song Chen nodded.

"That's right."

This was something he had been thinking about for a long time. He planned to fight his way from Anning to Tianhai, broaden his horizons, and accumulate killing points.

He lied to his parents, saying he was going to practice cultivation with his teacher, so they wouldn't worry.

Lin Qingxue lowered her head, slowly circling her finger along the rim of the cup: "Is it dangerous?"

"fine."

She didn't ask any more questions.

Song Chen placed the box on the coffee table and pushed it over: "Open it and take a look."

She hesitated for a moment, then untied the ribbon and opened the lid.

Inside was the A-grade short sword "Tide," its silver-white blade gleaming faintly with blue light, and a bottle of top-grade Qi and Blood Essence.

Lin Qingxue stared at those things, stunned.

"These... are too valuable. I cannot accept them."

Song Chen's tone was very confident: "We can accept it."

"I don't need the short sword, but I have Thunderclap. You can use the Spirit Energy Essence right now; it will help with your cultivation."

Her eyes reddened, but she didn't cry.

He simply lowered his head and gently stroked the blade with his fingers.

"Song Chen, do you know what? You're really annoying."

Song Chen remained silent.

She looked up, her eyes red: "You were clearly leaving, yet you left me all this stuff. How am I supposed to return it?"

Song Chen looked at her and said, "You don't need to pay it back. Consider it interest on the knife you lent me back then."

She remained silent for a long time, then stood up, walked to him, and extended her hand.

"It's a deal then. I'll come to Tianhai to see you next time, and you'll treat me to a meal."

Song Chen took her hand: "Okay."

Her hands were cold, but she was holding them tightly.

When she let go, she placed something in his palm—a piece of candy wrapped in pink paper with a rabbit drawn on it.

"I'll eat on the way," she said with a smile.

Song Chen put the candy in her pocket: "I will."

He stood up and walked to the door.

She followed behind, not seeing him off, but simply standing inside the doorway, holding onto the doorframe.

"Song Chen".

He turned around.

"Come back alive."

He chuckled. "Why do you always say such unlucky things? I'm leaving."

He turned and walked away. After walking quite a distance, he looked back and saw her still standing at the door, leaning against the door frame.

The wind blew by, rustling the leaves of the osmanthus tree. He turned back and continued walking.

An hour later.

Song Chen stood at the city gate, the psionic cannons on the city wall glowing with a faint blue light in the morning light.

He was wearing that B-grade armor, with that old trench coat over it.

The Thunderclap Blade hung at his waist, his backpack contained a change of clothes and dry rations, and the candy was in his pocket.

The guards at the city gate recognized him: "Scholar Song, what brings you out of the city?"

"Kill the alien beasts."

The guard glanced at the road behind him and hesitated for a moment.

Are you alone?

"one person."

The guards didn't ask any more questions and opened the city gate. Song Chen walked out.

Behind me, the city gate slowly closed. Before me lay a straight road leading into the distance.

The road was flanked by wilderness overgrown with weeds, and occasionally a few low-level beasts could be seen wandering in the distance.

He took a deep breath and started walking.

After walking for about an hour, the sun rose.

The sunlight shone on the wilderness, making the dew on the grass blades sparkle.

He stopped, took the candy out of his pocket, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth.

It's strawberry flavored and very sweet.

He continued walking forward.

Anning City is quite far from Tianhai City, about 2,000 kilometers away. He will take a month to travel that distance.

Two thousand kilometers, one month.

We traversed wilderness, crossed mountains, and forded rivers.

You will encounter strange beasts, dangers, and many things you've never seen before.

But Song Chen wasn't afraid; what's meant to happen will happen.

Behind me, the outline of Anning City gradually blurred in the morning light.

The city walls, psionic cannons, dilapidated buildings in the slums, and towering buildings in the inner city were all bathed in golden light.

Song Chen did not turn around.

he's gone.