“Fine. But what’s in it for me?” asked Li Yi, who didn’t feel like complaining before hearing her out.

“The Wu family is now wanted for treason, right? By becoming a slave, you can lie low for a while and earn some travelling expenses when we pay you your share of the deal. As a slave, the Imperial Guards are a lot less likely to find you as you will also be given a new name by your owner.”

With a serious expression, Li Yan watches Li Yi in silence to see how would he react. In essence, she was dealing with a twelve year old boy. Would he accept her suggestion as is? Or would he surprise her again as he did with his ridiculous strength?

On Li Yi’s part, it wasn’t as if her suggestion made no sense at all. But the reasoning she gave him just a while ago made him think twice before agreeing. What if he chose to leave after all? Just how powerful are the Imperial Guards anyway? Da Di seemed to fear them enough.

“Tell me first, what does becoming a slave involve? Getting labeled as one with a branding iron?” asks Li Yi with a frown.

Strangely enough, everyone else looked frightened by Li Yi’s words. As this was definitely not the first time this has happened now, Li Yi wondered if he should keep his guesses to himself to prevent this recurring trend from becoming a pattern.

“No. Of course not. For slaves, there are many buyers who would rather have their purchases in their best shape.” answers Li Yan, who takes out a smooth black stone from a pouch around her waist. “This is a binding stone. As the name suggests, it can be used to restrict the actions of living creatures. For most normal people, it can either weaken or cause enough pain to incapacitate.”

Li Yan pauses a bit and looks at Li Yi as if she was regretting having to tell him all this.

“Kiddo.” continues Da Di as he fully recovers from his earlier exhaustion. “This binding stone was of the eighth grade, one above the weakest, that would weaken a bound slave. It was used on you, but I’m not wrong to say it had no effect, right Yan-er?”

Li Yi frowns again upon hearing this. So he was already branded as a slave to them? These people didn’t hold back even against a kid. If not for Wu Si being overpowered to begin with, Li Yi couldn’t imagine what would have happened to him by now.

“Yes, Uncle Di is right. Since you could act as you wish with an eighth grade binding stone limiting you, Young Master Wu do not have to be afraid of them as few people even have access to sixth grade ones at best!” reassures Li Yan.

“And what if they really use a sixth grade one on me?” asks Li Yi out of curiosity.

“Getting away with your life will not be a problem.” says Li Yan with a smile.

Li Yi was dumbstruck. Getting away with my life? So there will definitely be repercussions if such a binding stone’s effect is used on me!

Just then, a hearty laugh comes from the skinny man, causing everyone to look at him as if he has gone mad.

“Young Master Wu will be just fine!” declares the skinny man. “I, Tie Bang, swears on my life that this boy will not be harmed so badly by a mere sixth grade stone. After all, he took my chilling gaze straight on and evaded my attack earlier as if I did nothing!”

Some of the other men were surprised once more, while the rest look like they knew about the skill the skinny man used earlier. Da Di slaps his hand hard on Tie Bang’s back, causing him to only stagger half a step forward.

“Brother Bang. You are lucky he survived. If he died just after I decided to sell him away, won’t I lose face as leader?!” exclaims Da Di in a hearty manner, causing the others to laugh after the tense situation so far.

Although he has not agreed to anything, Li Yi was beginning to feel as if the best option at hand is to go through with this crazy idea. Fixing his gaze on Li Yan, Li Yi claps his hands to stop the laughter.

“Before I give you all an answer, I would still like some time to think. Will that be okay, Miss Li?” asks Li Yi.

It was Li Yan’s turn to frown. She looks at Da Di, who closes his eyes in thought for a breath before answering.

“The deal is to take place tomorrow night, and we need the day to travel, kiddo.” says Da Di in a firm tone. “You have the night to think, but I do not expect you to decline. If you try to run, we will kill you.”

Seeing how this was Da Di’s limit for negotiations, and that Li Yi couldn’t escape for certain nor did he have any plans if he did, Li Yi nods in agreement.

“Is there a quiet spot around here for me to spend the night then?”

Hearing Li Yi’s question, Li Yan gestures to him to follow her. As the two walks away, some silly whistling noises could be heard, which were stopped by Da Di ordering the men to stop messing around.

Reaching back to the same wooden cart that Li Yi was in earlier, Li Yan points at it and signals Li Yi to get inside. Climbing on into the cart normally, Li Yi could smell the medical scent coming from Li Yan’s bandaged hand.

“Ahem. Sorry about that. Does it hurt a lot?” asks Li Yi with a concerned tone.

Li Yan scowls upon hearing his question, but sighs as she turned to leave.

“Even if it hurts, it’s my own fault for being weak and careless, is it not?” says Li Yan in a soft tone with a hint of sadness before walking away.

“I suppose it was obvious, but it looks like no one here has lived a particularly easy life to this point either, huh.” thought Li Yi to himself while watching her leave.

Other people’s problems aside, Li Yi knew that he now needed to focus on his own. Despite having Wu Si’s memories and being able to imagine them ridiculously well, Li Yi found that he still needed time to go through them in greater detail in order to really make this knowledge his own. The feeling is akin to having a whole set of notes to refer to for an examination, but that was obviously too slow given the time limit of the test!

Lying the sack over the wooden flooring, Li Yi sat down on it and begun to sieve through his memories. The first thing Li Yi wanted to know was how this world works! Wu Si may have only been a twelve year old, but his parents and relatives spared no expense in educating him with the basics of worldly affairs. Li Yi felt a bit jealous, since Wu Si’s relatives were much kinder than his own who were only interested of making use of him.

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Focusing his thoughts and skimping through some of the earlier memories, Li Yi narrowed down his options to three sets of memory that he should review first.

One was when Wu Si was five years old, and his father explained that it was time for him to formally beginning training his body and cultivating his soul. By reviewing this memory, Li Yi believes that he would be able to learn how to control Wu Si’s body better!

Next was when one of Wu Si’s uncle came by to visit, and at the request of his parents, went through quite the elaborate overview of various places in this world. At that point, young Wu Si was mainly attracted to the tales of heroic battles against various monstrous beasts. Despite that, his memory of the lesson was still very clear, meaning Li Yi could probably learn from it if he took the time to go over it.

The third memory, however, was something Li Yi felt that was one of the most important memories to go through first, but in terms of immediate usefulness, is probably something he could actually hold back on till his circumstances are better. The reason is that the memory is about the basics of Worldly Refinement!

The subject was taught to Wu Si when he was six years old by his mother, who was evidently some powerful expert in the subject based on the many memories with Wu Si watching her concoct numerous powerful looking items. Needless to say, she had all the materials required to do so, which Li Yi did not have right now and probably will not any time soon.

“Worldly Refinement is definitely something I want to know more about, but knowing about it without being to practise it is kind of pointless...” thought Li Yi as he considers the second choice. “Having more general knowledge about the places in this world is bound to be useful, considering I randomly asked to be brought to Qingshan earlier without actually knowing how far it is from here...”

Despite these thoughts, Li Yi was set to become a slave at this rate. Not forgetting the sudden discovery that the Wu family has been found guilty of treason. How can he possibly roam the lands freely? This knowledge would end up being like vividly imagine a cold tall glass of cooling tea while dying of thirst in a desert!

“I suppose I only have one realistic option out of this three now.” thought Li Yi as he settles down to review the first of the three memories.

With unprecedented clarity of mind and of the memory, Li Yi started feeling as if he had gone back in time to when Wu Si was young and his father was peacefully instructing him on bodily training and soul cultivation.

Wu Si stood in the middle of a large garden, facing his father who held open a book in one hand. A new cool wind from behind accompanied by the scent of the sea awoke Li Yi’s senses as Wu Si’s father begins to speak.

“Since time immemorial, there has only been one goal for any mortal creature. And that is immortality. To be immortal is not only about living forever, but is proof of achieving a pinnacle of life.”

After saying that to Li Yi, the middle aged man stopped to look at him in the eyes. Words were unneeded, Li Yi could feel the profound sadness within Wu Si’s father’s gaze. A sadness that his child was cursed from birth. A curse that might make him peerlessly strong, but incredibly lonely. Or it would cause him to be killed off by others around him.

“Father doesn’t know if immortality is indeed the only one goal of mortals.” continues Wu Si’s dad. “But I do know that the lifespan of a mortal isn’t sufficient to answer that question.”

Tapping his foot twice, Wu Si’s father begins to pace around him in a circle as he continues to speak aloud.

“To become immortal, the body will have to be forsaken. But doing so with a weak mind is as good as dying. Hence, to become an immortal, both body and soul have to be trained together. Only when the mind is strong enough, can the abandonment of body be successful and immortality achieved.”

“As a child of the Wu family, one of the hundred and eight lower households of the empire, you have the blessings of two ancestors who have achieved immortality. However, where two have succeeded, many others after have failed.”

Stopping for a second time, Wu Si’s father frowns as he close the book he was reading. In the flick of his arm, the book flies towards a pavilion in the distance and lands smoothly on the table there in the way it would if a person was actually there to put it down.

“That’s enough preaching for now. Take it slowly and all that will come naturally someday.” says Wu Si’s father as he raises a palm towards Li Yi.

Placing his hand on Wu Si’s father’s palm, Li Yi felt a strange sense of warmth entering his body.

“The Wu family have many techniques to train the body and the soul. However, the basis of our methods is to be without. Without strength, can we climb into the heavens? Without spirit, can we stay clear of hell?”

As he speaks on, Li Yi could feel the warmth becoming a hot sensation within him. However, it did not hurt him, but instead energised him.

“Father learned that to be without, is a very frightening experience. The fear of being without will push you when you train your body and when you cultivate your soul.” explains Wu Si’s father with a warm smile on his face.

“At the same time, when you are really without, you must perverse. While being without usually puts you in grave peril, it will also rise you by great heights if you manage to survive! It is a combination of not wanting to be without and making it through without that makes our Wu family as strong as we are.”

As Li Yi was pondering over the words said, Wu SI’s father withdrew his palm and took up a stance.

“Now, Father will teach you the famous survival technique of the Wu family. Because without life, you will be without a chance to become immortal in the first place.” says Wu Si’s father as he begins to demonstrate the fundamentals of the technique Li Yi is most familiar with.

The time slowing technique, Focus Dilatation!