Chapter 389: The Road Home

“Jian Chen, your… your body, just how is it so strong? Are you made of iron or something?” Little Fatty’s eyes grew wide as he looked at the small mark on Jian Chen’s body.

Taking out a new robe from his s.p.a.ce Ring, Jian Chen laughed, “Being made of iron would be a stretch, but my body is definitely stronger than an ordinary person.”

There was some fascination to Little Fatty’s eyes as he spoke, “How did you strengthen it, it’s like you transformed your body.”

Laughing, Jian Chen didn’t give an answer. Looking at the still unfinished field, Jian Chen asked, “Little Fatty, do you need my help?”

“Yes, of course! My dad and grandfather went to plant corn and I’m left with all the vegetables here. You came here just in time, with two people, it’ll take no time at all to finish the rest of the planting.” Little Fatty spoke very casually with Jian Chen and handed several seeds to him. “I’ll plant on this side, you go to that side, with the two of us working, we’ll be able to finish this before dinner!”

Planting the seeds with Little Fatty, Jian Chen spoke, “Little Fatty, it is very possible that I will be leaving this place soon.”

Little Fatty’s hand shook for a brief moment before he continued to silently work in the fields. Not too long after, he finally uttered a single sentence, “I knew that life here wouldn’t work out for you. Sooner or later, you would have left for the outside world.”

Letting out a long breath of air, Jian Chen spoke, “Little Fatty, I will talk to your grandfather tonight and have him consent to you being able to explore the outside world. You staying here forever is no suitable way of living, with your talent, staying here would just bury it.”

“Jian Chen, just what is the outside world like?” Little Fatty stared at Jian Chen with a fixated gaze as he waited for an answer. He had grown up in this secluded village without ever leaving the valley. Any information he knew from the outside world had been learned from word of mouth. He had never once seen it for himself, not knowing just how large it was.

“The outside world is huge—tremendous even. There are many people with many wondrous things. At the same time, the world is also very cruel and complex. Little Fatty, when you see the outside world for yourself, you will come to understand.” Jian Chen spoke.

“But, my grandfather would never let me leave.” Little Fatty’s face grew a little sad at that.

“I will talk with your grandfather tonight and try to convince him.” Other than talking to his grandfather, Jian Chen had no other solution. Elder Xiu was a person with an immeasurable amount of power, Jian Chen had no wish to offend him.

In a flash, the sun had begun to set to the west and the night began to overtake the skies. The bright red rays from the sunset could still be seen splas.h.i.+ng across the sky as the chimneys in the village bellowed smoke into the air and danced in the wind.

In a hurry, the two men quickly walked back home. After walking to their own rooms, Jian Chen quickly went into his room to check up on the tiger cub. Right now, the tiger cub was sleeping, as the heavenly resources it ate earlier had not yet finished being absorbed.

Seeing how the tiger was safe and sound, Jian Chen left the room in relief before eating dinner with the rest of the family. However, there was one less pair of plates and chopsticks.

Seeing this empty s.p.a.ce, Little Fatty asked, “Grandfather, where is father?”

“Little Fatty, your father has some matters to take care of, eat your meal.” Elder Xiu smiled kindly with an affectionate gaze toward the fatty.

“Got it!” Little Fatty replied before growing slightly dark. He knew that with his father had gone to the outside world, the world that he himself yearned to go to.

Jian Chen’s eyes flickered over to elder Xiu for a moment as he hesitated. Then, he finally opened his mouth and spoke, “Elder Xiu, have you never thought about Little Fatty going out to gain some experience?” As he spoke, Jian Chen’s eyes stared heavily at elder Xiu.

As expected, the elder’s face began to change in color but Jian Chen quickly spoke up before elder Xiu could reply, “Elder Xiu, allowing Little Fatty to live in this village his entire life would be detrimental to him. If he lives here for his entire life, Little Fatty will miss out on the many pleasures in life. Living here would not truly be growing up; if he doesn’t experience the wind and rain of the outside world, he won’t experience a true growth. I’m also sure you know of Little Fatty’s dislike for this life; if you care for Little Fatty’s growth, you shouldn’t keep him forever locked up in this village. This is no way to become an adult, in the end, this would only serve to harm him instead of helping.”

Hearing this, the elder went quiet for a moment. He had traveled the continent himself for many years and experienced many things so he could understand Little Fatty’s desire perfectly clear. The problem was that he truly did not wish for Little Fatty to venture out into the outside world. With his countless experiences, he had seen straight through the very essence of the world and now he only desired for Little Fatty to live safely within the valley. If he stayed in this valley, then Little Fatty would stay as pure and innocent as snow without being polluted by the mortal world.

Jian Chen continued to fire off reason after reason for the elder to hear for the sake of allowing Little Fatty to leave the valley. Wracking his mind for any reason imaginable, Jian Chen tried his best to use them all as an argument.

As if Jian Chen had addressed each of elder Xiu’s worries, he was completely silent throughout the meal and ate in a stiff like movement.

“Grandfather, it wouldn’t be right to grow up without seeing the outside world at least once. I really wish to go out just once.” Little Fatty looked at his grandfather almost pathetically.

“Father, Jian Chen speaks the truth. I know that you have reached a realm that we cannot even dream of seeing and seen things we have not seen, but Little Fatty is an inexperienced Great Saint Master who has not experienced many things. He has no idea what goes on in the outside world and the things you’ve seen, he has not. If he does not go travel the world, then he will never mature as an adult. Father, if you truly look look out for Little Fatty’s best interests, let him experience the world for himself and increase his knowledge. If he comes across some trouble in the future, he must learn to face it with his own power.” Little Fatty’s mother spoke out earnestly with a kind yet naturally refined voice. Her words were filled with the bearings of a refined woman, one that came from a wealthy family.

At Jian Chen’s and Little Fatty’s mother’s twin p.r.o.ng a.s.sault, elder Xiu finally let out a long sigh, “Forget it, forget it. Your words are not without flaws, I was stubborn for far too long. Little Fatty, if you truly wish to explore the outside world, your grandfather will not stop you.”

“Really? You’ll really let me explore the outside world?” Little Fatty was overjoyed.

Seeing the look of pure joy on Little Fatty’s face, elder Xiu couldn’t help but sigh to himself mentally. Looking into his heart, he concluded that when he made Little Fatty stay here, it was the wrong choice of action.

Placing another mouthful of food into his mouth, elder Xiu said, “Little Fatty, if you want to leave, then your grandfather won’t stop you, but you must have the strength of an Earth Saint Master before you can go!”

“Alright! Father, I’ll work hard at cultivating and make the breakthrough to become an Earth Saint Master!” Little Fatty was not discouraged at all.

Seeing how happy Little Fatty was, even his mother couldn’t help but let out a smile as well.

……

Three days quickly went by peacefully. On the third day, Jian Chen and Little Fatty were both cutting down timber in order to rebuild the burned down house Jian Chen was in. This was the promise that Jian Chen had made.

After completing the house, Jian Chen had bid farewell after promising that the two would meet a year from now at this spot. When Little Fatty becomes an Earth Saint Master, they would leave together. Until then, Jian Chen would leave with the tiger cub. Before he left however, Jian Chen held a s.p.a.ce Ring, this was given to him by elder Xiu and contained many of the heavenly resources from the nearby mountain ranges. For the sake of the tiger cub, these resources were given to Jian Chen.

With the tiger cub, Jian Chen flew far away from the valley without stopping so that he could find a s.p.a.ce Gate to return to the Gesun Kingdom.

The distance from here to the Gesun Kingdom was far too wide. Even if Jian Chen were to fly the entire distance without stopping, it would take a tremendous amount of time and energy. So, the only solution was to use a s.p.a.ce Gate.

Unfortunately, s.p.a.ce Gates were exceedingly rare throughout the Tian Yuan Continent. Although there was a s.p.a.ce Gate in Mercenary City, he wasn’t able to use that one. Other than Mercenary City however, Jian Chen had no idea where the closest s.p.a.ce Gate could be.

“Mrr… mrrr…” The tiger cub suddenly began to growl, breaking Jian Chen out of his thoughts. Looking down, he could only see the cub staring off in the distance at some large piece of land while both of its paws swung wildly in midair.

Jian Chen was unable to figure out just what the cub was trying to do or what it was thinking about.

“Mrr… mrrrr…” The tiger cub’s rear paws pressed against Jian Chen’s chest as its front two paws scratched in the direction of the forest. The wings on its back began to unfold almost as if it was about to fly out from Jian Chen’s embrace.

Holding the cub tightly, Jian Chen gently caressed its head before following the cub’s stare and landing on a nearby tree branch.

Transitioning to the ground, the cub leaped down and began to break out into a wild run toward several trees that were hundreds of meters tall.

When Jian Chen arrived, he couldn’t help but to laugh out loud. It turns out that this place was filled with spirit mushrooms, they were purple in color and weren’t all too large. At the very most, they were twenty centimeters tall and ten centimeters wide. But when the tiger cub saw them, its mouth began to water, allowing Jian Chen to realize these were heavenly resources.

Although the size and age of a spirit mushroom was generally small and young, not every heavenly resource needed to be old in age or big in shape.

Carefully picking some of the spirit mushrooms, he gathered some for the impatient tiger cub and began to feed them to the cub who purred affectionately.

“Come and eat some!” Jian Chen laughed as he fed them one by one into the cub’s jaws. With a cheerful purr, the cub continued to swallow the mushrooms before quickly going into hibernation to absorb their energy.