Seeing the face peeking through the tent's entrance, Yi Chen called out, "Sister Ling?"

"Yes, it's me," she said as she entered the tent, and glancing at her hands, she added, "I've prepared some meat broth for you."

Initially, Yi Chen wanted to refuse this gesture because of his troubled mind, but the moment the scent of the soup invaded his nose, his mouth began to salivate, and his stomach raged in protest.

Growl~

"T-thank you," he said with an embarrassed smile the next moment.

"You're welcome," a subtle smile formed on Sister Ling's face as she soon walked towards him and gave him the hot bowl of soup.

"It's still hot, so be careful not to burn yourself," she advised.

"Yes, I'll keep that in mind," Yi Chen said while stirring the soup with the wooden spoon.

Just as he was about to taste the soup and comment on it, she suddenly tried to bow deeply while saying, "Brother Chen, I'm deeply grateful to you for saving my-,"

"Sister Ling, please stand up! You shouldn't be bowing when your body is in this state!" Yi Chen exclaimed with widened eyes, and placing the bowl aside, immediately stood up and stopped her from going any lower.

"It's alright, Brother Chen, this much pain is something I can easily handle," she said with a smile as a drop of sweat trickled down the side of her face.

"No, it's not! if you're truly grateful, then please don't hurt yourself," he immediately said when he saw her state.

Hearing his words, she finally stopped her actions and looked towards him apologetically.

Seeing this, Yi Chen finally took a sigh of relief and, seeing the beads of sweat around her head, said, "Why don't you sit here and rest for a while?"

She nodded, and a while later, Yi Chen was slowly sipping on his soup with Sister Ling sitting beside him.

She had a subtle furrow on her face. It seemed there was something on her mind, but she was unable to find an appropriate moment to say it.

"It's really delicious. Thank you for making it," Yi Chen said as he finished up his soup. The meat pieces in it had made sure to fully satiate his appetite.

"I'm glad you liked it," she smiled while taking the bowl from his hand.

"Is Brother Xiang doing alright?" Yi Chen asked the next moment.

"Yes, he's currently bedridden, but thanks to the mercenaries' help, his wounds have been taken care of." Sister Ling told.

There was a hint of worry apparent in her voice as she said this, but at the same time, she was happy about the result.

"That's good…" Yi Chen said with a smile. However, there was a trace of sadness apparent in his voice.

"Uhm…Brother Chen," Sister Ling suddenly voiced out. A sense of hesitancy was apparent on her face.

"Yes?" Yi Chen responded with confusion when he saw her expression.

"Actually, I heard from Leader Han that you're troubled because of your actions yesterday and are blaming yourself," she said while glancing towards him.

"Well…" Yi Chen averted his gaze from her eyes and looked aside, not knowing how to respond to her words.

"Please don't!" Sister Ling exclaimed the next moment, making Yi Chen glance back towards her.

With an intense expression, she continued, "Please don't blame yourself, Brother Chen. What you did was only right! If not for you, then those bastards…

They would have definitely humiliated me until my last breath! My husband would be dead, and the child in my belly would never be able to see the light of day!"

She placed her hand over her bulging stomach and continued.

You've done nothing wrong, Brother Chen! I'm sorry if you see this as me interfering in something I shouldn't…but hearing that my family's saviour is in this state, I couldn't keep quiet."

When she finished her words, only the sound of breathing could be heard in the silent tent as Sister Ling's earlier words lingered in Yi Chen's mind.

A few seconds later, she finally got up and said, "Then I'll be leaving Brother Chen. Rest well,"

Turning around, she was walking towards the exit when she suddenly heard Yi Chen's words.

"Sister Ling," he called out.

She turned her head back from her side the next moment. A little hope was present in her eyes.

"Thank you," Yi Chen said with a smile, his gaze much more relaxed than before.

"You're welcome, Brother Chen," she smiled back as a wave of relief flooded her heart and left the tent.

When Yi Chen was all alone in the tent, he exhaled deeply.

The tensed creases on his forehead were back to normal, and so was the case with his mental state.

'Yes, it's wrong to keep blaming myself. I knew when I entered this world that eventually I'm going to have to kill people to survive here.

Now that I've experienced it myself, the feeling is far from great, but it's something I'll have to accept as it is.

If not, then how will I achieve a higher cultivation? How will I grow strong enough to ascend to the next realm? How will I meet Yu'er once again?'

This series of thoughts ran in Yi Chen's mind.

The feeling of self-loathing which had taken root in his heart and mind completely vanished.

Its place was taken over by acceptance. Acceptance of the fact that in this long journey, he'll be faced with danger several times, and during all those times, he'll be faced with a choice.

A choice to kill or be killed.

The latter wasn't something he wanted, so becoming used to the former was the only way for him to keep moving forward.

As if realising this shift in Yi Chen's mental state, the system in his mind suddenly activated.

Ding! First Kill Detected!

Confirming the beginning of Host's cultivation journey in earnest…

Making required changes…

Rewards Issued… 10x Cultivation Speed buff added to new tab….

Experience System has been unlocked!

+100 EXP obtained…

Opening Experience Points Notification Panel.

===Experience Points Notification===

1) EXP is the abbreviation.

2) EXP use is limited to levelling up your ability for now

3) Soon, System Missions will start being issued.

4) EXP can be gained by several methods. Two of them are slaying enemies and completing missions. Figure the rest by yourself.

==============================

'This…'

Seeing the sudden flood of messages in front of his eyes, followed by this notification about the Experience system being unlocked, Yi Chen's mind was in chaos.

'100 Experience points…?'

Seeing that he got those points because of killing those bandits, Yi Chen couldn't help but feel a little conflicted.

'I get experience points from killing people…'

He didn't like the fact that if he wanted to get these points, he would need to become a mass murderer.

Despite this feeling, he kept reading, and finally, his expression relaxed when he read the last point of the experience notification.

Also, a trace of irritation rose in his mind, 'What do you mean, figure it out yourself? Isn't it your job to tell me all that I need to know?'

However, he didn't dwell on it for long and called out his status panel. From the words he had read earlier, he knew that there were some changes to it.

=== GODLY CULTIVATOR SYSTEM ===

Name: Yi Chen

Age: 18 years

Strength: 20

Spiritual Qi: 10 / 10

Cultivation: Sixth Level of [Elementary Transformation Stage]

Innate Ability: Eye of Truth Lv.1 [Progress: 100 / 100,000 EXP]

[Cultivation Arsenal]

=========== END =============

Yi Chen's eyes couldn't help but widen seeing the new system interface.

'It's a lot easier on my eyes now,' he nodded to himself and observed further.

The hundred experience points he had gained had been added to his ability.

'100,000 Experience Points?!'

Seeing the enormous number, he needed to level up his ability. Yi Chen was at a loss for words.

His gaze then fell upon the new tab, which had replaced the previous ones.

'What's this now?' he thought and willed to open it up.

Another panel opened up in front of his eyes.

====== Cultivation Arsenal ======

#Weapon Arts

1) Basic Swordsmanship [Progress: 32.1 / 1000]

#Cultivation Arts

1) Crimson Fire Arts [Comprehension: 11.12%]

#System Items

1) 10x Cultivation Speed for 60 days [Activated]

=========== END ===========

"Wow…" He muttered, seeing how well organised everything looked. The numerical values were something he appreciated a lot.

"So I've only comprehended the art by 11 per cent? That's strange…I felt I had reached at least 30-40%"

Yi Chen thought to himself, but didn't mull over it for long, as his attention was attracted by something more important.

It was the reward he had received a few moments back from the system.

"That too for 60 days straight!" Yi Chen's expression brightened when he saw this buff.

It was something he really needed at the moment.

'Great! Now I'll not have to worry about the sect's entrance test,' he thought in joy.

Although it was a bit regretful that the buff was activated on its own.

'Well, whatever. I'll just have to do my best. Because I'll be busy travelling these days, although my cultivation duration would be less, the 10x speed would make up for it.'

Since his body wasn't hurt anywhere, he wanted to immediately sit in a cross-legged position and start cultivating, but he didn't do that.

There was something he, as the one who had helped prevent yesterday's crisis, needed to do.

Pushing himself off the ground, Yi Chen soon left the tent to see the condition of all the survivors.

"Oh, it's our hero!"

"He's awake!"

Seeing Yi Chen coming out of the tent, the moods of the few people outside immediately became cheerful, and they surrounded him with joy and thankfulness apparent on their faces.

Seeing this once again reinforced Yi Chen's mindset as he asked about those who were injured and visited them in their tents. This was followed by his joining others and helping to take care of the wounded.

'The boy's stronger than I thought,' Leader Han sighed to himself when he saw Yi Chen like this.

He had gone through the same pain which Yi Chen had experienced during his first expedition as a mercenary several decades ago.

"At that time I didn't leave my tent for a full week…" he muttered to himself with a snort. An expression of admiration was apparent on his face.

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