It would take nearly a month to get back to Yang Village from Taitian Gate. The sect would cover the travel expenses and transportation when they arrived, but those who were eliminated would have to find their own way back. The young people in Yang Village were not very wealthy, so they had no choice but to walk the month-long journey back.
Everyone had considered this, and before leaving, they all carried some money. At a small shop at the foot of the mountain, they bought a large pile of dry steamed buns, wrapped them in a bundle, and used them as food for the journey. Farmers didn't think much of a long journey; it didn't interfere with their farm work. If they encountered a fairy, it was a chance encounter, and they could leap over the dragon gate from then on. If they didn't, they could just go back and continue their lives.
Yang Chen had regained his usual amiable demeanor. With his goal firmly in mind, he lost his impatience. Yang Chen, previously indecisive, seemed to have suddenly transformed in the eyes of everyone. He was affable, smiling broadly, and effortlessly made his companions follow his instructions. No one noticed anything unusual, only that Yang Chen's words made perfect sense.
Yang Chen found a random excuse and left the team, going on his own. The other companions didn't think much of it, and almost all of them guessed that he wanted to go back and see if there was another chance, but no one said anything and just let him go.
Yang Chen naturally didn't return to Taitianmen to search for opportunities as everyone expected. Instead, he turned and headed straight into the mountains. With a hatchet in hand, and with his tens of thousands of years of experience, he could easily find food and drink. The reason he avoided everyone was because he wanted to start training.
This kind of training was completely different from cultivating immortality. It was not about drawing Qi into the body to cultivate Qi Refining Techniques, but rather using external martial arts skills and practicing external boxing techniques to make the body stronger. As for internal skills, they were not practiced at all.
To the immortal cultivators, martial arts practice was considered a completely inferior method. As long as one cultivated Qi and established a solid foundation, they would naturally possess boundless spiritual energy to nourish their bodies. Compared to the external martial arts training, the effects were a hundred times greater. Furthermore, martial arts practice was a sheer waste of time; that time would be better spent refining a furnace of elixirs or digging for a few ounces of spirit stones.
Yang Chen was no fool. With ten thousand years of experience in cultivation, he knew better than anyone the enormous difference between a strong body and a weak body cultivating simultaneously. Perhaps in just a few hundred years, the difference wouldn't be noticeable, but only when one truly ascended would one understand the horror of the disparity.
The foundation of cultivation is the most important. Besides the fundamental spiritual roots, the foundation is also reflected in a stronger body. A good foundation means stronger development.
Effectively strengthening the body is the first step. Even on the path of cultivation, one shouldn't simply focus on practicing various techniques while neglecting the body. While spiritual energy can strengthen the body after reaching a certain level of cultivation, strengthening a weak scholar's body will have different effects than strengthening a robust one.
Similarly, even in a fight between cultivators, there's a significant difference between someone who's practiced martial arts and someone who spends all day practicing sitting meditation and has no time for anything else. Before Yang Chen began his training, he used external boxing techniques to strengthen his muscles and bones for exactly this purpose.
There is another reason for only practicing external skills and not internal skills. That is, Yi Lao Mo's magic skills for improving spiritual roots can only be practiced before practicing. There is no way to solve the problem due to the limitations of the skills.
In addition to boxing, there are also a series of methods that can increase body flexibility and speed, such as running and jumping. On the way back to the village, Yang Chen was either running or jumping. All the food was hunted in the mountains with a hatchet.
Over the course of more than ten days, Yang Chen's memory became increasingly clear, and everything from his youth returned to his mind. While training and running, Yang Chen soon arrived at an ordinary mountain.
This mountain is not far from a small county town, but few people go there. The mountain is bare, with almost no spiritual energy. There is a small mountain temple, which has long been dilapidated and half of the wall has collapsed.
Yang Chen stood in front of the mountain temple and carefully confirmed that this was the mountain temple in his memory. Then he smiled, pushed open the temple door that was half rotten, and walked in.
There had originally been some murals on the walls, but they had been eroded by wind and rain, leaving them mottled and brittle. After entering the temple, Yang Chen paid his respects to the original shrine, not caring that the statue on the shrine had long since disappeared, leaving only a pile of mud. Although the mountain god's shrine was small and the temple dilapidated, it was still staffed by someone from the Heavenly Court.
After worshipping, Yang Chen walked to the back of the altar. He measured between the altar and an old locust tree, determined the middle point, and began digging. He dug down nearly six feet before hitting a solid object.
Yang Chen was overjoyed. He dug the dirt along the edge of the object, revealing a square metal box. The box had been buried in the soil for many years, but there was no trace of rust, just a black and inconspicuous object.
Lifting the box, it weighed at least a hundred pounds. If Yang Chen hadn't been exercising recently and hadn't been strong since childhood, he really wouldn't have been able to lift it.
This box was a collection of money that Old Master Yang, Yang Xi's grandfather, had left for his descendants when he was young, to help them recover in the event of a disaster. However, this money now belonged to Yang Chen.
Next, Yang Chen would take this capital, return home with his parents, and leave Yang Village. Back then, when Yang Xi had framed Yang Chen, he had even taken his parents hostage, and Yang Chen had no choice but to admit what had happened. In this life, Yang Chen didn't intend to give Yang Xi any chances again.
At this time, Old Master Yang probably hadn't explained these things to Yang Xi yet, which was a good opportunity for Yang Chen. He first filled the excavated soil, then transplanted a small tree from a nearby place. Then he carried the box and walked to the woods on the roadside at the foot of the mountain, and found a place to bury it again. After checking that there were no more loopholes, Yang Chen followed the main road and rushed towards his hometown.
Yang Chen ran all the way, and his speed was not slower than those of his companions. When they returned to Yang Village, Yang Chen also happened to rush back.
After a month of effective exercise, Yang Chen looked a bit stronger than when he left. Although he was only sixteen years old, his physique was no worse than that of an adult.
The news that Yang Xi and Yang Lan, two of Old Master Yang's grandchildren, had been chosen by the Taitian Sect immediately caused an uproar in Yang Village. Almost the entire county was shaken, and even the county magistrate came to offer congratulations. For a moment, Yang Village was bustling with activity, as if it were a grand festival.
Amidst the lively celebrations of Old Master Yang and his family, the sad departure of the eliminated Yang Chen family seemed so insignificant.