The morning market of Wu Tan City was as lively as ever.
Vendors shouted over one another.
Children darted through the crowd.
The smell of roasted meat mixed with fresh herbs and spices.
Xiao Feng walked through the streets with his hands behind his back.
He wasn’t shopping.
He simply enjoyed walking.
His cultivation no longer demanded every waking hour.
Sometimes…
Watching ordinary people live their lives was surprisingly relaxing.
A sudden crash interrupted his thoughts.
Several baskets of fruit rolled across the street.
An old vendor stumbled backward.
Before he could fall, someone caught his arm.
“Easy.”
The old man blinked.
“…Thank you, young master.”
Xiao Feng smiled.
“No problem.”
The donkey pulling the cart had panicked after hearing a loud noise nearby.
The frightened animal kept struggling against its harness.
People quickly stepped away.
Nobody wanted to be kicked.
Xiao Feng slowly approached.
He crouched beside the animal instead of grabbing it.
“It’s alright.”
The donkey continued trembling.
Using the Ancient Beast Language Fragment wasn’t as dramatic as speaking words.
It was closer to conveying intent.
Calm.
Safety.
No threat.
Gradually…
The animal stopped struggling.
Its breathing slowed.
Within moments, it stood quietly again.
The old vendor stared.
“…You know how to calm magical beasts?”
“This isn’t a magical beast.”
Xiao Feng laughed.
“It’s just a stubborn donkey.”
Several nearby merchants chuckled.
The tense atmosphere immediately disappeared.
The old man insisted on giving Xiao Feng a basket of fresh peaches.
“I really don’t need—”
“You helped me.”
“It’s only a few peaches.”
“If you refuse…”
“…I’ll feel embarrassed.”
Xiao Feng accepted with a helpless smile.
“Then thank you.”
As he walked away, he heard someone whisper,
“That’s Xiao Feng from the Xiao Clan.”
“The quiet one?”
“I thought he only stayed home cultivating.”
“He seems like a good kid.” The source of this chapter is g.com.
Xiao Feng pretended not to hear.
Being praised felt almost more embarrassing than being mocked.
That afternoon, he returned home carrying fewer peaches than he had started with.
Not because he had eaten them.
On the way back…
He had met several children playing near the western district.
The peaches had mysteriously disappeared afterward.
“…I guess that’s lunch solved.”
As evening approached, Xiao Feng resumed cultivating.
The Five Elements Body Tempering Art slowly circulated through his body.
Unlike ordinary cultivation, this technique was unpleasant.
Every bone felt heavier.
Every muscle ached.
Sweat covered his clothes within minutes.
“It really doesn’t believe in taking it easy…”
Still…
The effect was obvious.
Each completed cycle made his body noticeably stronger.
It wasn’t explosive growth.
It was steady.
Reliable.
The kind of foundation that would matter years later.
When the cultivation session finally ended, Xiao Feng looked toward the distant mountains beyond Wu Tan City.
The Magic Beast Mountain Range.
Even from here…
Its outline was visible beneath the setting sun.
He quietly calculated the timeline.
“If nothing unexpected happens…”
“It’ll be time soon.”
Not tomorrow.
Not immediately.
But soon.
That night…
The familiar diary appeared.
Diary Entry #5
Today I discovered something.
Old people become incredibly stubborn whenever you help them.
The fruit vendor insisted I take peaches.
Refusing somehow became more difficult than accepting.
I also learned that donkeys are surprisingly reasonable.
People…
Less so.
Sometimes I wonder why cultivators spend their entire lives chasing power.
Power is useful.
Obviously.
But if becoming stronger only means looking down on everyone weaker…
Then what’s the point?
One day I’ll probably leave Wu Tan City.
Travel.
See the world.
Find opportunities.
Meet powerful people.
But…
I hope I never become the kind of cultivator who forgets ordinary people exist.
Without ordinary people…
Cities wouldn’t exist.
Families wouldn’t exist.
Neither would heroes. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Anyway.
Today’s peaches were pretty good.
He looked at the last line and laughed.
“That sounds about right.”
[Diary Entry Completed.]
Reward Granted.
Ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
Ten crystal-clear stones appeared inside the system storage.
Each contained astonishingly pure spiritual energy.
Xiao Feng picked one up.
“So this is a spirit stone…”
Compared to absorbing scattered spiritual energy from the air…
This was like drinking directly from a spring instead of waiting for rain.
He nodded in satisfaction.
These would be extremely useful later.
Better to save them for when he truly needed them.
Hundreds of kilometers away…
The Little Fairy Doctor quietly finished reading today’s diary.
She smiled.
“…Peaches?”
That was all?
No shocking secret.
No ancient conspiracy.
Just…
Peaches.
For some reason…
She liked this entry more than several of the previous ones.
It felt…
Human.
Not mysterious.
Not distant.
Just someone writing about his day.
Without realizing it…
The image she’d formed of Xiao Feng changed slightly.
He wasn’t merely someone carrying impossible knowledge.
He was also someone who stopped to help an old fruit seller.
Inside the black ring…
Yao Lao also smiled.
“The boy has an interesting temperament.”
Xiao Yan looked confused.
“What are you smiling about this time?”
“…Nothing.”
Yao Lao stroked his beard.
“I was just thinking…”
“A person who remembers ordinary people after obtaining power…”
“…is rarer than any Heavenly Flame.”
That night…
Wu Tan City slept peacefully.
For now…
The city remained unchanged.
But beyond the distant mountains…
A young healer continued gathering herbs.
Unaware…
That fate was slowly guiding another traveler toward her