Immortality begins with raising apprentices

Chapter 16 Reincarnation Technique, Geng Metal Manual
As Chen Ye strolled around, his light steps gradually became heavy.

"Damn it, why don't they just rob it!"

He felt the heavy spirit stones in his arms suddenly become lighter.

A mid-grade Tier 1 magic sword is priced at thirty-five spirit stones!
The exorbitant price completely shattered Chen Ye's dream of becoming a sword immortal!
The low-grade magic sword is cheap, but the bone-scraping whip at my waist already occupies the space of a low-grade magic weapon, so what's the use of having another useless item?
He then considered buying a pill furnace to refine elixirs.

Good heavens, this thing is ridiculously expensive.

The lowest quality bronze furnace was covered in cracks, yet it was priced at fifty spirit stones. The shopkeeper even had the audacity to say that it was "essential for beginner alchemists"!
For now, I'll just have to be a proper plant cultivator...

"Fellow Daoist, how much are these magical texts valued?"

Chen Ye finally squatted down in front of a musty bookstall, where books of magic formulas with colorful covers were piled up haphazardly.

Entangling Technique, Geng Metal Technique, Fireball Technique...

It mainly consists of low-level Five Elements spells, and it's quite comprehensive.

The stall owner didn't even look up, engrossed in looking at the erotic picture book:

"Three spirit stones for one book, no bargaining!"

The price was cheaper than Chen Ye had expected.

These low-level spells are so common that they're not expensive at all.

Among low-level spells, metal and fire spells have the greatest destructive power.

He spent a long time looking around before finally picking up the Gengjin Formula and flipping through it briefly.

This method can refine a breath of Geng metal energy.

The first few pages depict the metal element (庚金) transforming into various weapons, each possessing extraordinary power.

Chen Ye turned to the page depicting a golden arrow piercing the sky and couldn't look away.

Tsk, a mere first-tier spell, yet it has this much power?

He was captivated by what he saw.

Completely unaware that the stall owner had already put down the erotic picture book, Chen Ye's beady eyes darted over his coarse clothes twice before snatching the book back:
"Fellow Daoist, you are too unscrupulous! I have already been more than kind to let you glance at this for so long. Do you still want to trace the entire trajectory of the magic runes?"

Chen Ye was full of confidence and bid on three spirit stones:
"Fellow Daoist, please forgive me, but three spirit stones are no small sum of money, and purchasing a spell is no small matter either. You should at least take a look and inspect the goods, right?"

The lustrous spirit stone shone with a glass-like luster under the sunlight, captivating the stall owner's eyes.
"Oh dear, fellow Daoist, you should have said you wanted to buy it earlier. But please forgive me, if you had seen all these spells, I wouldn't be able to sell them to you, would I?"

"Besides, I, Hu Laoqi, have been in the market for decades. My home is on Xinghua Street. You can run away from the monk, but you can't run away from the temple! These spells must be genuine!"

Chen Ye's lips curled up; with spirit stones in hand, he felt confident!
He cupped his hands and smiled, "No, no, no, I was being presumptuous. Since magic cannot be examined closely, what about these mortal martial arts?"

The stall owner, swaying his three wisps of beard, pondered for a moment: "Of course, mortal martial arts are just an extra, a few spirit sands. If you want to buy spells, I'll give you a book for free. Don't mention, these martial arts are quite famous in the martial world!"

The stall owner's slick tone made Chen Ye hesitate.

He composed himself and squatted down to examine the martial arts manuals used by ordinary people.

Magic is certainly important, as it is the primary means of killing.

But health is the foundation of everything.

Chen Ye is too weak to even carry Qing Jun, let alone carry a disciple in each arm.
Left Qingjun, right Zhiwei, the two little girls hugged his neck together, sweetly calling him Master...

Chen Ye was full of energy, but after looking through these famous martial arts manuals, he lost interest.

"Iron Sand Palm, Black Tiger Claw, Flying Over Grass... Wow, that's really impressive."

Chen Ye was speechless.

But it's understandable.
In fact, ordinary low-level cultivators may not necessarily be able to defeat high-level martial artists among mortals.

Only when one reaches the mid-to-late stages of Qi Refining, and can readily employ various spells, does one achieve a qualitative difference in combat power compared to ordinary people.

Therefore, truly profound martial arts skills are not commonplace in the cultivation world.

He was greatly disappointed, but continued flipping through the pages until he came across a book titled "The Method of Reincarnation".

Upon opening it, there was even a short story at the beginning:

"In the thirtieth year of the Hongzheng era, Ghost Foot Seven challenged the Shaolin Arhat Formation, deliberately choosing a day of torrential rain."

As the monks struggled to walk through the mud, he shattered the eighty-pound iron leather bindings on his legs and instantly broke through eighteen bronze statues. The abbot sighed, "I thought he was just a brute practicing his body-building, but I didn't know he was imitating Bodhidharma's wisdom in crossing the river on a reed."

Though this skill is clumsy, legend has it that those who can persist for thirty years will naturally experience profound mysteries when stepping into the Bagua positions. Unfortunately, most people crave quick results; those willing to dedicate half a lifetime to honing their legs are few and far between, perhaps only a handful in the last hundred years.

This martial art is not a particularly profound one either.

It emphasizes forging heavy materials into light ones, and has three layers.

One can travel a hundred miles a day bound to a heavy stone, leaving no trace on the ground.

The second one, carrying eighty pounds of meteorite iron on his shoulders, could crush gold and split rocks.

Triple, nine-turn iron chains imprison the golden body, a dragon soaring in the air.

Upon reaching the third level, one can also master a movement technique: Cloud Chasing Step.

"Not bad!"

Chen Ye was very satisfied. Now he could easily hold a sweet and soft disciple in each arm.

Moreover, he was very fond of the training methods.

As long as you carry weight, your proficiency will keep increasing!
"Then let's combine the Gengjin Technique with this Body Reinforcement Technique!"

……

Next, Chen Ye bought enough food for the three of them to eat for more than half a month, as well as a large amount of daily necessities.

But the more excited I was when I bought it, the more tired I was when I carried it... Although I was a cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining, my body was already completely drained, and as a low-level cultivator, I had more spiritual power than a mortal.

Chen Ye was hunched over, his coarse cloth clothes soaked with sweat in patches of dark and light.

The two bags of rice weighed down his shoulder blades, making them creak, and he also carried a large bamboo basket full of supplies on his back.

The two little girls carried small bamboo baskets on their backs, and the vegetables and quilts sticking out of the baskets behind them almost drowned out their tiny figures.

Chen Ye was initially worried about attracting attention, but he saw that all the cultivators coming and going were in the same state.

There were strong men carrying two people's worth of rice on their backs, and old women driving donkey carts to transport packages.

In the drab crowd, the master and apprentice seemed remarkably ordinary.

This is because entering the market costs five spirit sands as tax, and ordinary cultivators usually enter the market every few days, generally purchasing several days' worth of supplies at once.

Chen Ye reached out and straightened the quilt that was swaying precariously in Qingjun's basket:
"Qingjun, Zhiwei, can you still carry it?"

"Master, Master, Qingjun... can carry me!"

The little girl was bent over, and as soon as she opened her mouth, she was choked by a blast of cold air, which brought tears to her eyes.

The eight-year-old's frame was wrapped in an empty, coarse cloth, looking like a bamboo pole with tattered clothes hanging from it.

She bit her lower lip, holding her breath, her slender ankles dangling inside her trouser legs.

The basket contained only a new cotton quilt, yet it weighed down the little dumpling so much that it was almost flattened into a ball.

Zhiwei remained silent, tiptoed, and took the cotton quilt from Qingjun's basket.

The thick hemp rope cut into her thin shoulder blades, but her tightly pursed lips remained motionless, as if those bony shoulders were not her own.

Chen Ye hadn't expected his two disciples to be so weak!

He only allowed his apprentices to carry light items like quilts and vegetables.

At this moment, Chen Ye couldn't help but think about the ring in Old Man Ye's hand.
If he had a storage artifact, why would he have to go through all this trouble?
Chen Ye reached out and snatched the quilt from Zhiwei's hand, tied it to the basket on his back, and said apologetically:
"It was Master who did not consider this carefully."

They are too thin and weak. From now on, I must raise my two apprentices to be plump and healthy!

Chen Ye made up his mind.

As he took the quilt, the back of his hand brushed against the girl's cold fingertips.

Zhiwei withdrew her hand as if she had been electrocuted, her eyes flashing beneath her black hair. She pursed her thin lips and glanced at Chen Ye, who was drenched in sweat.

How could she doubt that Chen Ye would be crushed to death without her intervention?
What surprised the two little girls the most was that their master not only considered their health today, but even took the initiative to apologize!

Even Zhiwei thought that it was clearly because they were too thin and weak that they were dragging Chen Ye down.

But in Chen Ye's words, it was his responsibility.

The gazes of his two disciples made Chen Ye subconsciously straighten up, displaying the majestic demeanor of a master!

But he had his own troubles to tell... he couldn't carry them himself.

Chen Ye cursed himself inwardly, thinking he was just being stubborn and suffering for it!

He was excitedly shopping, thinking about what his family needed, but he overlooked the fact that his body was too weak...

But even if you're tired, you can't lose face!

Chen Ye gritted his teeth, his vision blurred with stars, his face contorted in pain, and he struggled to maintain his balance.

Qingjun sniffed and stole a glance.

The little girl suddenly noticed that her master's shoulders, basket, and hands were full of things.

It's as if a small mountain is pressing down on its back, making it look like a lame shrimp when it walks!
"Hehe..." The little girl laughed gleefully.

"What are you laughing at?"

Chen Ye's face flushed, but he straightened his back and reprimanded him. If a gym instructor from his previous life saw this physique, he would probably laugh his head off.

Qingjun's face turned pale, and she hurriedly covered her mouth, staring at her toes, not daring to speak.

She couldn't help but laugh.

Master, are you going to hang me up and whip me again...?

Seeing the little white fluffy ball trembling, Chen Ye was exhausted both physically and mentally. He hadn't expected that his casual rebuke would frighten the little girl so much that she was completely at a loss.

Sigh, taking care of troubled children is really not an easy task.

"Hmph, when we get back, your master will punish you by making you cook! And you'll also have to keep bringing him food!"

Chen Ye tried to keep his tone amiable while putting on what he thought was a gentle smile.

The white fluffy ball was trembling when it heard its master's indifferent rebuke.

She stared blankly as she raised her small face, only to see her master's distorted face, smeared with sweat and grime, his smile so ugly...

"Qingjun...Qingjun understands!"

The little girl clenched her fingers, staring intently at the ground, not daring to look at her master again.

The early winter wind, carrying the earthy smell of the market, shattered the master's mountain-like shadow on the bluestone road.

The shadow swayed, and the master's back bent more and more.

Qingjun looked at the shadow again and again.

In the shadow, she found the quilt that should have been in her basket.

(End of this chapter)