Chapter 093: Going Home

Chen Xiao, who possessed the Heavenly Group Token, could freely enter the country’s top-secret archives to read materials without any time limits. Of course, this privilege wasn’t absolute—bringing others with him would restrict the time to two hours. Thus, Yuye Xiaochen made a quick decision to gather all members of the Xuan Group and enter the archives together with Chen Xiao. Such archives were undoubtedly a vast treasure trove for every supernatural being; accessing them once could benefit them for life. For example, Chen Xiao learned the Seven Waves Technique and combined spirit spells in those archives, with those combined spells proving extremely useful to him in the Thousand Souls Realm. Seeing his Xuan Group members looking at him eagerly, Chen Xiao refused none of them—after all, they were part of the same group and would face life and death together; the stronger their abilities, the greater the benefit to him as well.

…

In the following days, Chen Xiao’s life seemed to return to its normal state. After all, he was still a college student. Though he possessed supernatural abilities, he couldn’t completely detach himself from the ordinary world. From Monday to Friday during the day, he attended classes and ate like a normal person. At night, he practiced the Zhou Tian Ming Gu Method or the “Yu” Character Technique. On Saturdays and Sundays, he went to the archives at the headquarters of Huaxia Zhi Hun to read various documents.

Since Chen Xiao had “drawn even” with Long Fei, the leader of the Huang Group, his reputation within Huaxia Zhi Hun soared—he was a rare individual with triple attributes. No one dared to trouble him anymore. As for those families or factions wanting to recruit Chen Xiao, after some investigation, they quickly gave up the idea. Not only did Chen Xiao hold the status of a free hunter, but even the Heavenly Group Token in his possession was beyond their reach. The Great Immortal giving Chen Xiao the Heavenly Group Token essentially marked him as belonging to Huaxia Zhi Hun, making those supernatural families and factions too afraid to interfere.

Regarding foreign supernatural forces within China, Huaxia Zhi Hun and the Chinese Supernaturalists Association acted swiftly. The first to be driven out of China was the Blood Gate. After the Blood Gate was expelled, Wan Hu made a quick decision to annex its secular forces left in China. His subordinates, such as Shide Li, were originally from the Blood Dragon Hall or the Blood Gate, so absorbing them was much easier. By the time other factions realized what was happening, most of the Blood Gate’s secular powers and industries had already been taken over by Wan Hu. Of course, Wan Hu retained the Blood Gate’s original organization, with the Black Tiger Gate serving only as a backing force.

Of course, no one wanted to offend a sixth-tier beast master over a few secular powers. After taking over these forces, the Black Tiger Gate soared to become one of the top underworld factions in the country, just in terms of secular power. Naturally, Chen Xiao, who never cared about such things, had no idea that he had already become a towering figure in the underworld—someone whose mere presence could shake all of China’s underworld forces.

Time passed quickly. Before long, it was the end of April, and May Day was approaching.

Chen Xiao, who had always been frugal and reluctant even to go home, decided to return during May Day—partly to see his grandfather and partly because he no longer lacked money. His bank account already contained an unknown amount of money given to him by Wan Hu. Chen Xiao’s hometown was a small rural village in a coastal city in the southern part of the Northeast. May Day was peak tourist season, so Chen Xiao avoided it and took the train home a few days before school ended. On the train, he was filled with excitement, eager to return immediately to see his grandfather and use his supernatural abilities to cure him. His grandfather’s health was poor, but due to their poverty, they couldn’t afford medical treatment, so the condition had persisted for years. Now, Chen Xiao was determined to ensure his grandfather could live a better life. The journey from Jinghua City to Liancheng took eleven hours; the train left at 6 p.m. and arrived at 5 a.m. the next day. On the train, Chen Xiao leaned back comfortably in his seat and entered a meditative state with his mental energy. Nothing unusual happened along the way—after all, it was a society governed by the law, and train robbery was purely a joke. When the train arrived, Chen Xiao shuddered the moment he stepped off. Instinctively, he spread his arms to embrace the sky, the land, and the air there. The sky and the land were nice, but nothing compared to his home. Although Jinghua City was the capital of Huaxia Country and a major international city, in Chen Xiao’s eyes, it still couldn’t compare to his small rural home. Chen Xiao didn’t carry any belongings; everything was left in his main divine space. As soon as he left the train station, groups of taxi drivers blocked the entrance, calling out to passengers. Most people would find this scene unpleasant, but to Chen Xiao, it was very familiar and comforting. Hearing the familiar local dialect, he smiled faintly and instantly felt at home. “Huh… I can even break through now…” Chen Xiao clearly sensed that his mental energy had surged to the peak of the middle stage of Level 4, just one step away from the peak of Level 4. He casually hailed a taxi and headed home. Watching the scenery by the road—the familiar small town, streets, mountains, waters, and air—filled him with warmth. The taxi stopped at the village entrance. After getting off and paying, Chen Xiao walked into the village. “Hey, isn’t that Xiaozi? Why are you back? Is school out?” It was around 5 or 6 a.m., and the sky was already bright. The hardworking villagers got up early to start their day’s work. Everyone in the village greeted Chen Xiao warmly. He was the only college student in the village, attending a prestigious national university, making him a source of pride for them and the focus of everyone’s attention. “Yeah, Uncle Cheng. School’s out, so I came back to see my grandfather,” Chen Xiao said with a laugh, greeting the villagers around him. His home was a small tile-roofed house built with government aid and contributions from the villagers during poverty alleviation efforts; otherwise, he and his grandfather would have had to sleep on the streets.

Around the thatched house, in a small courtyard, Chen Xiao’s grandfather, Chen Jianzhou, was already sitting on a small stool, spinning hemp rope as usual. Hemp rope was very useful in the countryside, and spinning it was Chen Jianzhou’s job. He would get up early in the morning to spin the rope and then sell it to the villagers for a few cents each. It could be said that Chen Xiao grew up thanks to the hemp ropes in Chen Jianzhou’s hands.

“Grandpa…” Seeing her grandfather, Chen Xiao’s voice trembled slightly.

Hearing Chen Xiao’s voice, Chen Jianzhou’s body trembled slightly as he raised his head. “Xiaozhi, you’re back.” He looked at Chen Xiao with some surprise.

“Yes, Grandpa. I now have a stable job in Jinghua, and school is on break, so I came back to see you.” By this time, Chen Xiao was holding a travel bag, which contained some supplements she had bought in Jinghua.

“Good, good, Xiaozhi has made it!” Hearing Chen Xiao’s words, Chen Jianzhou smiled with relief. He tried to stand up, and Chen Xiao stepped forward to help him.

“Come, let’s go inside and talk.” Chen Jianzhou took Chen Xiao’s hand and led her inside.