133: My beautiful aunt

The afterglow of the setting sun cast shadows through the gaps in the thatched hut.

Liu Xiaohua knelt on the straw mat, her slender fingers dipping into brown medicinal wine, carefully applying it to Lu Chen's bruised and swollen back.

The pungent smell of the medicinal wine permeated the small room, mingling with Liu Xiaohua's soft sobs.

"The Village Chief is truly heartless..." Liu Xiaohua choked, her hands moving with unusual gentleness. "The child is so young, yet he... he's so cruel..." A warm tear fell onto Lu Chen's shoulder blade, mixing with the medicinal wine.

Lu Chen lay on the straw mat. Hearing his aunt's cries, he turned his head and grinned, revealing a bright smile: "Hehehe, Auntie, I don't hurt, really! Auntie is so beautiful, crying will make her ugly."

Liu Xiaohua was sixteen this year, at the age when a girl blossoms into a woman.

The once scrawny girl had grown into a graceful young woman, with almost no flaws except for her slightly darker skin.

She had bright eyes and white teeth, almond-shaped eyes and cherry lips, with shallow dimples appearing on her cheeks when she smiled.

Even more striking was her increasingly full figure: her chest was plump like a budding flower, her waist slender like a willow, and her hips round and perky, swaying gracefully as she walked, fully displaying the youthful vitality of a maiden.

Her beauty had spread throughout the surrounding villages. Young men from other villages often came to Lu Family Village under the pretext of errands, just to catch a glimpse of her from afar. Some bolder ones even deliberately lingered outside her house, trying to strike up a conversation or two.

The Li family from the east of the village even sent a matchmaker to propose marriage, bringing two plump hens as a betrothal gift.

Even Lu Qingfeng, who was usually arrogant, had recently been finding various excuses to get close to Liu Xiaohua.

One day he would bring a bundle of firewood, the next a fish, his eyes practically glued to Liu Xiaohua.

But Liu Xiaohua ignored these attentions. She woke up before dawn every day, spinning yarn, weaving cloth, planting vegetables, feeding chickens... bustling about like a spinning top.

"Little Chen, tomorrow Auntie is going to town to sell cloth. I'll bring you back a piece of malt candy." Liu Xiaohua finished applying medicine to Lu Chen and gently draped a coarse cloth garment over him.

Her finger joints were rough from years of labor, and her palms were covered in calluses, yet her eyes were so gentle they could drip with water.

"No candy! I'm not a child!" Lu Chen scrambled up, saying earnestly, "It's not easy for Auntie to earn money. Keep it for yourself to buy some cosmetics. I see other girls have them."

Liu Xiaohua pursed her lips and smiled: "What's the use of that stuff? It's better to buy more tonics for you to grow."

Liu Xiaohua knew that practicing martial arts was a bottomless pit; just the daily medicinal wine was a considerable expense.

According to the old folks in the village, when one reached the Late Stage of Body Tempering Stage, they would also need to consume various precious medicinal materials and tonics, which would be even more astonishingly expensive.

"Auntie, I'm already grown up now. Can I not sleep with Auntie anymore?"

Although Lu Chen had slept with Liu Xiaohua for six years, he still wasn't used to it. After all, his real age was already twenty-three—no, adding these six years, he was twenty-nine!

His aunt feigned anger: "You little brat, what's wrong? Are you looking down on Auntie? Hmph, no, you must sleep with Auntie. When you turn fourteen, when you're an adult, then you don't have to sleep with Auntie."

In this world, fourteen was considered adulthood.

Liu Xiaohua had to hug Lu Chen every night to fall asleep. After all, in Lu Family Village, as an outsider, Lu Chen was her everything.

Lu Chen couldn't bear it either. Thus, feeling Liu Xiaohua's happy smile, he drifted into sleep.

In a flash, six years passed.

Lu Chen had grown into a young man of one meter seventy!

Every morning in the training ground, he would be shirtless, his muscles clearly defined, gleaming with a bronze luster under the sun.

He truly was a Genius rarely seen in a hundred years; at only 12 years old, he had already reached the seventh layer of the Body Tempering Stage!

Lu Qingfeng, the Village Chief's son, was twenty-four years old and the most well-resourced young generation in the village.

Whenever he saw Lu Chen, the flames of jealousy would almost burst forth.

Late at night, he often practiced in the courtyard until the third watch, only willing to return to his room to rest after confirming that the oil lamp in Lu Chen's room had been extinguished.

Strangely enough, it was this unwillingness and jealousy that actually caused Lu Qingfeng's cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds in these past few years, breaking through from the fourth to the sixth layer of Body Tempering Stage.

Liu Xiaohua was now a twenty-two-year-old young woman.

Over these six years, she had been both Lu Chen's aunt and had cared for him meticulously like a mother.

That night, Liu Xiaohua, with red eyes, moved Lu Chen's bedding to the small room next door.

This was the first time they had slept in separate beds since Lu Chen was born.

Liu Xiaohua secretly wiped away tears all night, feeling both reluctant and relieved—her little Chen had finally grown up and could be independent.

The young women in the village often advised Liu Xiaohua: "Xiaohua, other girls get married at sixteen, you're already twenty-two. If you keep delaying, you'll be over thirty and become an old maid no one wants!"

Liu Xiaohua would always smile faintly and continue to bury herself in her work.

In her heart, as long as she could see Lu Chen grow up healthy and happy, what did it matter if she never married?

Lu Chen originally thought there would be all sorts of schemes and intrigues in the village, but in reality, the villagers were all simple and kind.

They always loved to tease Liu Xiaohua for "becoming a mother at a young age," but whenever Lu Chen fell ill, Auntie Wang next door would bring hot ginger soup, and the Village Chief would brew nourishing chicken soup.

When Lu Chen was a baby, he had even drunk milk from at least five different people.

Cough, cough, cough.

Lu Chen had no choice but to drink it, even if he didn't want to.

He had to survive.

He dared not die; the Heavenly Dao entry did not specify the consequences of death.

It only stated that the System would self-destruct upon failure.

In short, he had only two goals: Cultivate to the Nascent Soul Realm; and survive for 500 years!

To increase his chances of survival and reduce risk.

In these six years, besides Cultivating the Iron Shirt Technique.

Lu Chen integrated Military Body Boxing into spear techniques.

Fist techniques were still too dangerous, requiring physical contact.

Lu Chen chose the spear as his weapon; an inch longer, an inch stronger.

In six years, he only practiced five spear moves!

Lunge and Thrust: The spear like a Dragon, striking directly at the center.

Horse Stance Horizontal Sweep: The spear shaft like a whip, sweeping through a thousand armies.

Turning Horse Spear Lift: Using leverage, the spear tip lifts upwards.

Empty Step Spear Split: Shifting between real and illusory, splitting a mountain with force.

The final move: Roaming Dragon Piercing Clouds, a culmination, executed at will.

These five spear moves seemed simple but encompassed all basic applications: thrust, sweep, lift, split, and pierce.

Lu Chen practiced these five moves relentlessly for six years, perfecting each one. Every move contained the essence of Military Body Boxing's explosive power, and combined with the strong physique from the Iron Shirt Technique, its power was astonishing.

Although he hadn't yet reached the Realm of man and spear becoming one, he had achieved a state where the spear was his fist, and his fist was the spear, striking wherever he aimed, the spear emerging like a Roaming Dragon!

During this process, Lu Chen's mindset underwent many changes.

When he was in school, he could only focus for an hour or two at a time.

But here, Lu Chen changed all his bad habits. He could even practice a single movement repeatedly for a week, maintaining intense focus!

Perhaps it was the pressure of the Heavenly Dao mission,

But Lu Chen didn't want to let down his aunt, who had painstakingly raised him since childhood.

Lu Chen only wanted to get stronger! To continuously get stronger!!

Dying in the world he created would be even more embarrassing than the previous host!

The Village Chief cleared his throat and said: "I have an important announcement. In one month, the triennial Martial Artist selection competition will be held. Each village will select two representatives to compete with ten nearby villages for three spots! These three spots will allow entry into Feiyun City's Martial Arts Academy to practice martial arts."