Chapter 6: Saving Someone Once Again

Zhang Pu finally found what he considered to be the best place for cultivating immortality within South Lake Park.

It was a shaded area by the lakeside.

He looked around and saw there was no one nearby; this was, in fact, a rarely visited corner. If there were truly no cultivators in Qingwu City, Zhang Pu didn’t believe that ordinary people would consider this spot a “Feng Shui treasure” the way he did.

Unable to contain his eagerness, he sat down in a chosen spot and began silently reciting the incantation for gathering the energies of heaven and earth—thus commencing his cultivation.

Immediately, much of the spiritual energy in South Lake Park surged toward him, drawn by the force of his will, almost as if he were invoking an ancient celestial command. It wasn’t just spiritual energy; all sorts of ambient energies rushed toward him—anything his cultivation technique could absorb was drawn into his body.

However, since Zhang Pu was still an ordinary person who had yet to even set foot on the threshold of immortality, the process was slow. The technique couldn’t instantly flood his body with all the park’s spiritual energy; otherwise, with his current physical state as a high school student, he would likely have been overwhelmed and burst apart.

Although still mortal, Zhang Pu’s mind was as mature as that of a thousand-year-old demon. He understood well that everything must be done step by step, just as one eats a meal one bite at a time.

Night gradually fell, and even the couples seeking romance in the park at night seemed to avoid this secluded spot.

Zhang Pu was soon utterly engrossed, entering a state of complete self-forgetfulness.

As the stars shifted and the first pale light of dawn appeared in the east, Zhang Pu suddenly withdrew from his cultivation as if waking from a trance.

“I actually spent the entire night cultivating here?!” he exclaimed to himself in amazement after standing up.

He clearly remembered finding this place yesterday after dinner while it was still early. Yet, enchanted by this “Feng Shui treasure,” he had remained here all night, practicing his cultivation without interruption.

So be it.

Zhang Pu stretched his limbs and prepared to leave. He had not yet reached the realm where one could go without food; such a level was still far off.

Zhang Pu estimated that only by reaching the later stages of Foundation Establishment could one go without eating and not feel hunger.

After a night of cultivation, he was neither sleepy nor fatigued. This didn’t surprise him, as he understood that spiritual energy could nourish one’s spirit.

Nonetheless, he didn’t wish to continue cultivating for now; he wanted to have breakfast. Balance between work and rest was important for the best results. After all, he was not yet a true cultivator capable of sitting in meditation for days, months, or even years without eating or sleeping, impervious to wind and rain.

Zhang Pu left his “territory.”

“Stop! Don’t run—put the child down—!”

Suddenly, the shouts and sounds of a chase startled Zhang Pu.

What was this…

As he wondered, a man with the look of a violent criminal, holding a child hostage, was being pursued and was running straight toward him.

“Get out of my way!” the thug shouted fiercely when he saw that the person in front of him was only a high school student, revealing his menacing nature.

This man was a criminal—Zhang Pu knew it instinctively, even without the thousand years of people-reading skills he’d acquired in the cultivation world. Of course, he didn’t yet know exactly what crime had been committed.

But that didn’t stop Zhang Pu from stepping in.

His ingrained sense of justice—whether from his time as a cultivator or from the noble upbringing his parents gave him in his previous life—had never left him, no matter how many lifetimes he had experienced.

This sudden intervention was just like the last time he saved Zeng Baoying’s daughter—he didn’t stop to consider that he had lost all his powers upon being reborn into this world.

But this time, he was not knocked unconscious by the thug’s strength. On the contrary—

“Ah—!”

The thug cried out in pain upon contact. Not only was he unable to continue holding the boy hostage, but his weapon—a dagger—was knocked away by a strange force, flying far across to a tree, where it embedded itself up to the hilt, as if the trunk were soft tofu.

For a moment, Zhang Pu stood there in shock. He hadn’t even looked at the dagger that flew away; he was utterly astonished by his own burst of strength.

Though he felt he had used up all the power in his body in that instant, the fact that just one night of cultivation with this technique could yield such strength astounded him. Indeed, “Gathering the Energies of Heaven and Earth” was a high-level technique even in the cultivation world, but the idea that one night’s practice could allow him to strike down a criminal so effectively was simply beyond belief.

Actually, there was another factor Zhang Pu hadn’t considered: the thug, after being chased all the way to this point, was already near exhaustion.

Zhang Pu had simply taken advantage of the situation.

Still, it was lucky that he had begun his cultivation; otherwise, any other ordinary student would likely have been knocked aside by the thug’s punches and kicks.

With a single blow, Zhang Pu seriously injured the criminal, but there was no need for him to get further involved.

A sturdy middle-aged man, clearly skilled, rushed over, quickly wrested the boy from the criminal, and subdued the thug on the spot.

Soon after, Zhang Pu saw the park patrol officers arriving.

There was nothing more for Zhang Pu to do. He wasn’t fond of crowds and, taking advantage of the commotion, quietly slipped away.

He didn’t care whether the rescued boy’s family was wealthy or not; he only hoped he wouldn’t encounter another troublesome rich woman like Zeng Baoying.

Zhang Pu left without a sound, but someone had still noticed him.

“Xiao Wang, you said you went over and saw the dagger was embedded deep in the tree? From afar, I saw that young man didn’t seem to do anything special—he just casually exchanged blows with the criminal.”

After the crowd dispersed, three people remained in the vicinity.

The speaker was an elderly man in exercise clothes, well into his seventies but still hale and vigorous. More importantly, there was an unmistakable air of nobility about him.