Chapter 18: Training (Begging for Monthly Tickets)

"Then do you know the current address of your ex-wife and daughter?"

Lu Guanchang shook his head and said, "I haven't been in touch for many years. I don't know where they went either."

Shen Siyuan:...

"This makes things very difficult for me." Shen Siyuan was quite speechless.

"Besides, how do you want me to help you? Tell your daughter that your son isn't your biological child, and let her take your son to court to fight for your inheritance?"

Lu Guanchang fell silent at those words, and at that very moment, the disgusting fleshy tumors on his face slowly began to fade, revealing a kindly countenance. This rather startled Shen Siyuan, who couldn't understand why it was happening.

This was quite different from the ghosts in the Great Wilds.

Although both were cases of form arising from the mind, the Great Wilds were filled with the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, and those ghosts, though they didn't understand the path of cultivation, instinctively devoured the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, allowing them to maintain their original human form.

But in a modern city, where spiritual Qi was entirely absent, how had Lu Guanchang managed to return to his true appearance?

Shen Siyuan thought briefly, then arrived at an answer: because of his daughter.

Form arises from the mind—because he was thinking of his daughter, he had reverted to his original kindly appearance? That was rather miraculous.

"I... I want to meet my daughter face to face. There are some things I still need to explain clearly to her. As for whether she's willing to take back what belongs to her, that will be up to her." Lu Guanchang said.

"That's easy enough, but I don't know your daughter's current address either. There's nothing I can do."

"If Mr. agrees, that's enough. I'll go find them myself. In my current state, it's actually quite convenient." Lu Guanchang said with a smile.

At that moment, the fleshy tumors once again grew across his face.

"Why didn't you look for them before?"

Lu Guanchang sighed, but offered no explanation.

Shen Siyuan didn't press further either, and said, "Alright then. Once you find them, come back to me."

"Thank you, Mr. Shen."

Lu Guanchang bowed to Shen Siyuan, then turned and left.

Watching Lu Guanchang's departing figure, Shen Siyuan couldn't shake the feeling that he was still hiding something he hadn't said.

But Shen Siyuan didn't dwell on it. Once he found the wife and daughter, he would draw him into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, so there'd be no fear of the other party deceiving him.

Shen Siyuan gave himself a mental pat on the back for being so clever, then also turned and headed toward the supermarket near the residential complex.

He couldn't just give up on cultivation and do nothing simply because he hadn't yet opened the space within the Ten Thousand Souls Banner to retrieve the heavenly materials and earthly treasures stored inside. Shen Siyuan decided to train on his own first.

The consumption of the "Great Arhat Eighteen Aspects" was enormous, so Shen Siyuan needed to buy some high-calorie, high-protein snacks to keep in reserve.

After buying the things and returning home, Shen Siyuan took out the yoga mat he'd purchased online, took off his shirt and long pants, and was left wearing only a pair of shorts.

Shen Siyuan's physique wasn't all that great. Back in school, the faint outline of abs had still been visible, but ever since he'd started working, long hours of sitting and a chronic lack of exercise meant that, let alone abs, the beginnings of a small belly were already faintly visible.

However, Shen Siyuan's skin was very fair and delicate—he was born that way, unlike other guys whose body hair was dark and long.

Shen Siyuan stood on the yoga mat and, following what was recorded in the 【Eighteen Aspects】, slowly assumed the first posture.

He could be seen contorting his body, stretching his shinbones, and striking a bizarre pose.

At first it didn't seem like much, but after a few breaths, it felt as if every bone in his body was being twisted, with a tearing pain in his sinews and bones. Beads of sweat as large as soybeans gradually began to appear on his forehead.

At this stage, an ordinary person would probably just give up, but if it really were so, then this first aspect would have been practiced in vain.

So he could only grit his teeth and persevere. Gradually, sweat began to gather, flowing down his body like little streams, soaking large patches of the yoga mat.

And at that moment, a burning sensation rose from the location of his dantian, slowly spreading throughout his entire body.

At this point, all of his senses seemed to be amplified; there was no part of his body that didn't hurt. The immense pain made his consciousness itself seem to start growing fuzzy.

Shen Siyuan gritted his teeth and persevered, even using a meditative trance to ease the pain. This method actually worked quite well.

But very soon, Shen Siyuan was consumed by a tremendous hunger, his body feeling a wave of weakness. At this point, Shen Siyuan hurriedly stopped.

Then, enduring the all-over soreness, he tremblingly picked up the water and food he'd prepared beside him and gulped them down in big mouthfuls.

And at this moment, his body felt as if it hadn't eaten for several days, ravenously hungry. His stomach and intestines churned rapidly, digesting the food he'd swallowed, accelerating his body's recovery.

His body recovered quickly; the soreness vanished completely, as if everything just now had been a dream.

So Shen Siyuan began training again, repeating this process over and over.

Without heavenly materials and earthly treasures, it was this troublesome.

"Sweet Potato Bro~ what are you doing?"

Watching Dou Dou lay on the floor, little bottom sticking up in the air, curiously watching Shen Siyuan.

Shen Siyuan didn't answer her, because right now he could no longer open his mouth to speak.

Seeing that Shen Siyuan wasn't talking, Watching Dou Dou imitated him and struck the same pose. However, she had no physical body, so this kind of training was utterly useless to her, and she couldn't feel the tearing pain in sinews and bones either. She simply thought it was fun.

Shen Siyuan stopped, gasping for breath in great gulps, then once again picked up the things beside him and started eating.

Watching Dou Dou asked with some concern, "Sweet Potato Bro~, are you sick? If you're sick you have to go see a doctor, okay?"

Seeing Shen Siyuan's pained appearance, the little one thought he was ill.

Once he'd caught his breath, Shen Siyuan finally said, "I'm not sick. I'm training."

"Training? Why do you need to train? It looks like you're very uncomfortable." Watching Dou Dou asked, somewhat puzzled.

"To become stronger." Shen Siyuan said.

Hearing this, Watching Dou Dou fell into a thoughtful look, then widened her eyes, knit her brows, bared her teeth, and made a pained expression.

"What are you doing?" Shen Siyuan was amused by her funny little look.

"I'm training. I'm going to become stronger." Watching Dou Dou said.

Hearing this, Shen Siyuan nearly sprayed the water in his mouth.

"You can become stronger just by doing that?"

"What else? The more uncomfortable it is, the stronger you'll get."

Shen Siyuan suddenly felt that what she said actually sounded quite reasonable.

"Why are you back so soon?"

"It's no fun outside, Guo Guo~ I want to watch cartoons."

Dou Dou looked around the room, then sighed deeply.

"What's wrong? Why are you sighing?"

"Sweet Potato Guo Guo~, you're so poor; there's no TV in the house," Dou Dou said.

Shen Siyuan:...

Indeed, there was no TV in Shen Siyuan's small apartment, yet he still let Dou Dou watch cartoons because he had a computer.

While Dou Dou watched the cartoons, Shen Siyuan went to the bathroom to take a shower.

Soaked through with sweat several times, his whole body reeked; even the yoga mat he took to the bathroom and rinsed with water.

However, the effect of the exercise was excellent; his muscles seemed tighter.

When Shen Siyuan came out of the bathroom, he saw a figure flash across the room.

Shen Siyuan looked at Dou Dou, who was sitting in the chair, watching the cartoons and grinning foolishly.

It seemed someone had followed the little one back.