"Brother Guang, time to eat!"
Mrs. Xu’s voice woke Xu Guang. He walked out to the courtyard in silence. Several bowls and pairs of chopsticks were set on the table, but Mrs. Xu was the only one there.
"Brother Guang, eat up. Your sister brought meat from the city again today, so eat quickly." Mrs. Xu placed the only piece of meat—barely the size of a finger—into Xu Guang’s bowl, watching him with a loving expression.
This heavy love was somewhat hard for Xu Guang to bear. He could only bury his head in his bowl full of millet and mumble, "Tell my sister not to come out to deliver meat next time. It’s not safe. Plus...
"Her father-in-law doesn’t like her. If my brother-in-law hadn’t protected her these past few years, and if she hadn’t given birth to Wen, who knows how miserable her life would be."
Mrs. Xu scoffed. "How miserable could it be? The Wang Family are respectable people with such a large commerce association. Would they ever shortchange her on food or clothes? I even heard they let her practice martial arts now."
Xu Guang fell silent.
The patriarchal mindset was especially prominent in this world. Ever since his eldest sister got married, because her husband’s family lived in the city, Mrs. Xu firmly believed she had gone off to enjoy a life of luxury. In their mother’s eyes, no matter what her sister did, as long as it was for Xu Guang, it was her duty.
"Alright, hurry and go to sleep after you eat so you don’t get hungry again. The price of grain has gone up again; we’ll have to eat less from now on."
That night, Xu Guang tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He had a feeling that the Searcher panel would display a new message today.
Dazed and restless, he stayed awake until midnight. He repeatedly summoned the panel to check. On what must have been his umpteenth attempt, a change finally appeared on the interface.
[Search results are as follows:]
[1. Xu Guang may choose to swallow one pound of stones daily for three consecutive years to awaken Bloodline Power: Stone Skin. Note: If the body is not strong enough, death by gastric rupture may occur.]
[2. Xu Guang may swallow the Ancient Celestial Eye to awaken Bloodline Power: Blood Eye. The current location of the Ancient Celestial Eye is as follows.]
[3. After Xu Guang obtains the Blood Eye Bloodline Power, he may extract the systemic Essence Blood of Abnormal People and infuse it into his own body to have a chance of acquiring the corresponding Abnormal People’s Divine Techniques, which may be weakened versions. The infusion method is as follows.]
[Note: The current number of search results is displayed as three.]
A look of wonder appeared on Xu Guang’s face. The Searcher was far more powerful than he had imagined, actually providing three options. And that third option...
The Bloodline Power awakened by the Ancient Celestial Eye seemed to surpass his wildest imagination. He didn’t know much about Abnormal People, nor did he know if there was a way to strip others of their Bloodline Power. However, even if there were, it would surely be a closely guarded secret of top-tier Great Clans or Super Sects, right?
Xu Guang got out of bed and began following the Searcher’s instructions to find the so-called Ancient Celestial Eye. He never expected it to be right here in his own home, right under his nose. If not for the Searcher, he never would have guessed that a supreme treasure was hidden among the relics sent back from the southern battlefield by his father’s old friend a while ago.
Carefully retrieving a patina-covered walnut from in front of Father Xu’s spirit tablet, Xu Guang felt speechless.
The Searcher provided not only the location but also the specific method of use. Knowing full well the grim reality of this world, Xu Guang didn’t hesitate. He smashed the walnut open, extracted the red core, and swallowed it in one gulp.
BOOM!
It sounded like a nuclear bomb detonating right beside Xu Guang’s ears, immediately followed by an endless sea of crimson. Though his eyes were shut tight, the blood-red imagery surged violently through his mind as if he were staring directly at it.
Close on its heels came an unforgettable agony that he would remember for eternity.
It felt as though someone were violently prying his skull apart and cramming something inside. His physiological instincts begged him to pass out from the sheer pain, yet his brain processed the sensation with excruciating clarity. Even death by a thousand cuts might not be this painful. That, at least, was inflicted upon the flesh, allowing for some buffer before the nerves relayed it to the brain. This, however, was a thousand cuts inflicted directly upon his cerebral nerves.
Xu Guang curled up on the bed, biting down hard on the headboard without making a single sound. Father Xu had just been buried, and Mrs. Xu had finally managed to fall asleep. Xu Guang didn’t want to disturb her.
An unknown amount of time passed. Just as his consciousness began to slip into a murky stupor, the agony receded like the tide, vanishing as if it had never existed.
In disbelief, Xu Guang opened his eyes, which were filled with astonishment. He immediately got up, eager to check the changes in his body.
His limbs, his torso... none of them had changed. The only difference was on... his forehead!
At some point, a slender, blood-red line had formed right between his eyebrows. An epiphany struck him; he instinctively understood that this was the Bloodline Power he had endured such suffering to obtain—the Blood Eye. But before he could study it further, a wave of exhaustion washed over him, and he fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, when Xu Guang got up to wash, he could clearly feel the changes in his body. His senses were sharp, and his limbs brimmed with strength. He felt countless times better than his former self.
A soft, muffled sobbing drifted from the front of his father’s spirit tablet. Xu Guang knew his eldest sister was back.
She had married into the Inner City’s Tiger Fang Commerce Association as the wife of the Wang Family’s sixth young master of the third branch. His brother-in-law was hopelessly romantic but held a low status within the clan—otherwise, his family would never have allowed him to marry a commoner’s daughter. When Father Xu was buried a few days ago, many villagers had attended, but neither his eldest sister nor his brother-in-law had come. They had been grounded by the Wang Family.
Xu Guang understood perfectly well. Refusing to attend major events like weddings and funerals only meant one thing: the Wang Family genuinely looked down on his family and was signaling to everyone that they were severing all ties.
Mrs. Xu and his eldest sister, Xu Chun, held each other, weeping before his father’s spirit tablet. The family was so destitute that they could only afford two white mourning banners. Thinking of all the suffering his father had endured over the years, Xu Guang felt a long-suppressed anger eroding his entire body. His heart was tormented by anguish.
Father Xu’s illness, strictly speaking, was an injury.
Five years ago, Father Xu had been working in the fields when Miss Han of the Inner City Han Family rode out. She and her entourage trampled the farmlands on horseback. When Father Xu and several fellow villagers stepped forward to stop them, Miss Han lashed out with her whip, casting Father Xu aside and leaving him half-dead. From that moment on, Father Xu was entirely bedridden. The family’s savings and the five acres of fertile land granted by the Court after his military service were completely drained to pay for his medical treatments.
The Inner City Han Family... was a highly prestigious Great Clan in Feiyun City, rumored to have close ties with the City Guard’s Mansion. Seeking revenge against Miss Han would be exceedingly difficult.
After eight years of running the Searcher, it had finally shown results today. Xu Guang was thrilled, but the death of his father also left his heart brimming with grief. The Searcher had fallen dormant for the past few years and only completed its search after his father’s passing. He had to admit, it was rather ironic.
"I’ve endured this for years, a little longer won’t hurt," he thought. "Next, I’ll step onto the path of Cultivation, develop my Bloodline Power, and then... I will avenge my father!"
After eating the meal Mrs. Xu prepared, Xu Guang headed back to the town to slaughter fish. He needed to wield his knife and draw blood. It was also a way to collect fish blood so his Blood Eye could grow.
Generally speaking, Bloodline Power would naturally evolve alongside an increase in Cultivation. Given his current strength as a mere mortal, his Blood Eye only had one ability: collecting the blood of living beings and converting it into his own Essence Blood.
Essence Blood—the term itself sounded incredibly profound. Its true utility would likely only unlock once he formally stepped onto the path of Cultivation. According to the fantasy novels from his past life, Essence Blood was akin to a Cultivator’s core origin and was immensely important. With the Blood Eye Divine Techniques in his possession, however, he might be able to boast about having limitless Essence Blood in the future.
For him, having limitless Essence Blood was of marginal utility at this stage. After all, he couldn’t even be considered a Martial Artist yet. However, upon becoming one of the Abnormal People, his physical attributes would skyrocket. He could already feel a marked improvement in his raw strength and stamina. Last night, while he slept, he had experienced some leg cramps—likely a sign that he was about to hit another growth spurt.
Thinking of the Searcher, he promptly opened the panel.
[Current search keywords: Xu Qiu’s whereabouts. Associated terms: safety, life or death. Scope: Great Qian.]
[Searching... 10%]
Seeing the progress bar, Xu Guang let out a sigh of relief. It would take ten days to search for his third sister’s whereabouts. Not too long. It just meant that his martial arts training would have to be delayed a little longer...
He didn’t regret it, though. His father’s sudden passing had already filled him with regret, and he couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to his third sister. Back in their childhood, since their eldest sister was a few years older, he had shared the closest bond with his third sister. Her bright smiles and cheerful voice still echoed in his memories.
His search wasn’t random, nor was it reckless. He remembered that when he originally coded the Searcher to bypass anti-cheat detections, he had input a critical command: the search speed was tied to the target’s level. Xu Qiu had been missing for seven years. Since she was too young to practice martial arts back then, her level couldn’t be high, meaning the search wouldn’t take too long.
He swung the cleaver mechanically, raising and lowering it in a blur. Fish after fish was gutted and cleaned at breakneck speed.
"Brother Guang’s fish-cleaning technique is getting more and more incredible. It’s so clean."
Niu San, who had come to the fish stall’s backyard to pick up fish, watched Xu Guang’s swift hands with astonishment and a hint of envy in his voice. After all, Xu Guang was the brother-in-law of the Wang Family’s sixth young master of the third branch. Being secured such a skilled job meant he would never starve, even during famine years. If Brother Guang’s efficiency improved even more, the boss would probably give him a raise soon, wouldn’t he?
Xu Guang merely smiled, lacking his usual enthusiasm. Niu San didn’t mind. Considering that the young man’s father had just passed away, a bad mood was inevitable.
By the afternoon, there were no more customers buying fish. Xu Guang stretched his back, and thinking of the recent unrest in the city, he strapped his fish-slaughtering knife to his back.
"Uncle Wang, the streets aren’t safe right now. I’m taking the fish knife home with me. I’ll bring it back tomorrow."
"Sure," the fish stall boss called back from inside the shop.
It was mid-afternoon, the hottest time of the day. Given the danger on the streets, Xu Guang decided to head home now while the sun was high.
As he passed the reed marshes by the stone bridge, faint sounds of a commotion drifted over. A woman’s cries and the sharp crack of slaps echoed, before being muffled into whimpering.
"They still have Force to spare in this damn weather," he thought.
Xu Guang cursed under his breath and hurried on his way home.