Chapter Four: This Is Called Immortal Magic

Chapter Four: This Is Called Immortal Arts

“What?!”

The old man and the young girl were both stunned.

“Grandpa! Don’t pay him any attention!” The girl clung to the old man’s arm, pleading, “There’s something wrong with this guy! I already checked him out—he doesn’t have a scrap of cultivation!”

The old man gazed deeply at Shi Bai, as if he too was unconvinced, but he said resolutely, “I know, but since I’ve promised him, I will see it through. When has Ye Rulong ever gone back on his word?”

With that, he gently pushed the girl aside, and an astonishing aura burst from him. “Since fate has brought me and this young friend together today, it must be destiny. If he insists on striking me a few times, then that too must be Heaven’s will. Go ahead, young man—do as you wish!”

By now, Shi Bai had already noticed something extraordinary about the old man and the girl. “Cultivation,” they said—could they truly be practitioners in this world?

He tossed aside his backpack and, imitating the classic gesture, cupped his fists in greeting. “Very well! But sir, you need not worry. My fists heal, not harm.”

He moved behind the old man and felt along his back, noticing his spine was as rigid as iron, with one spot slightly protruding.

“Is it here?” Shi Bai asked.

The old man nodded. “I was too reckless in my youth—got slashed across the back, didn’t take it seriously. Over time it only got worse. In the end, my spine deformed and it never healed.”

He looked at Shi Bai, half hopeful, half uncertain. “Are you confident, young sir?”

Shi Bai nodded with feigned assurance. “No problem, easy as pie.”

“Hah! What a braggart!” The girl shot him a sidelong glance.

Shi Bai said nothing, stepping back.

The girl tensed. “I’m warning you—if you try anything with my grandpa, I’ll never let you off!”

The old man glared at her, though a trace of doubt lingered in his eyes.

Shi Bai smiled faintly. “Relax. My technique brings the dead to life and knits flesh and bone—without a single side effect. I daresay, next time you’re injured, you’ll be begging me to help.”

The girl snorted, her face full of suspicion.

At that moment, Shi Bai swung his fist with all his might, slamming it into the old man’s spine. With a loud thud, the old man was sent flying three or four meters away.

“Grandpa!” The girl darted after him, “Are you all right?”

The old man’s lips twitched as he spat out a mouthful of black blood. The girl shrieked, “Scoundrel, you’ll pay for this!” With that, she lunged at Shi Bai.

“Stop!”

To her surprise, the old man caught her and slowly stood up.

He seemed utterly relaxed, a smile tugging at his lips. He twisted his waist this way and that, feeling up and down his back. “I’m healed! I’m really healed! Unbelievable!”

The girl’s mouth fell open, stunned. “Is this for real?”

“Congratulations, you’ve completed a self-assigned task. You’ve been awarded 50 failure points.”

“Just 50?” Shi Bai was a bit disappointed, but then realized that was still five thousand yuan. In his previous life, he hadn’t made that much in a month, so he felt content.

Seeing the old man’s injury was cured, Shi Bai picked up his backpack and smiled confidently. “Do you believe me now?” With that, he turned to go.

“Young man, wait!”

Suddenly the old man appeared in front of Shi Bai, startling him—he seemed to have flown over.

The old man bowed deeply, then handed Shi Bai the golden business card. “Just now Ying’er was rude and offended you. Please accept this card as my apology.”

Seeing the old man so polite, Shi Bai accepted it. “Very well, goodbye.”

“Wait!” the old man called again. “May I ask, young friend, who is your master? In all my years, I have never seen such miraculous techniques.”

“Kung fu?”

Both the old man and the girl were taken aback. The girl blurted out, “Isn’t that what you were using?”

Shi Bai threw his head back and laughed. “You call that kung fu? No, it’s…” He paused, unable to mention the system, and so improvised, “It’s immortal arts!”

“Immortal arts?!” The old man and girl’s eyes nearly popped out. “Do such things exist in this world?”

Only then did Shi Bai understand—their so-called cultivation was nothing more than martial arts from the stories, not true Daoist arts. He could only play along. “That’s right.”

The old man grew agitated. “To think that I, Ye Rulong, having lived so long, half my body in the grave, would meet an immortal today—truly, fortune beyond measure!”

Shi Bai waved his hand. “Please, there’s no need for such courtesy. I may know a little, but I am far from an immortal.”

“You are too modest, young sir. That unremarkable punch of yours healed my years-old injury. Even at your weakest, you surpass the greatest of us martial artists!”

To show his respect, the old man actually began calling Shi Bai “young sir.”

Shi Bai smiled. “I owe it to my master’s teaching.”

The old man started. “May I ask who your master is? Is he in the ancient city now? Might you introduce this old man, so I may pay my respects?”

Shi Bai gave a wry smile—visit my master? That was just a convenient excuse. His real master was the system—how could he arrange such a meeting?

So he said, “He has long since left the mortal realm.”

The old man was shocked. “Your revered master has already ascended?”

Shi Bai gave a helpless smile. “Yes, he broke through the void ages ago and entered the divine realm.”

At this, the girl gave a cold laugh, folding her arms as she stepped forward. “At first I believed you, but the more you talk, the more it sounds like nonsense. You even use phrases like ‘breaking through the void’—you’ve read too many online novels, haven’t you?”

“Ying’er! Mind your manners!”

“Grandpa!” The girl tugged at the old man’s arm, pouting. “I don’t know how he healed you, but there can’t be any real immortals in this world. At most there’s a bit of qigong, fasting and that sort of thing. This boy is obviously making it all up—you mustn’t be fooled!”

Shi Bai smiled faintly. The girl was certainly sharp, but he couldn’t blame the old man. He shook his head and said, “If you don’t believe me, I have nothing more to say. As a cultivator, I needn’t explain myself. Let’s part ways for now—if fate allows, we’ll meet again.”

With that, he walked slowly toward home.

“Ying’er! You are never to be so rude again!” The old man pried her hand off.

Startled, the girl pouted. “Grandpa, that guy really seems like a liar!”

“He’s a liar? What did he lie to me about?” the old man retorted. “He healed my injury!”

The girl was speechless. “But…but…”

“That’s enough,” the old man said. “No more excuses. I’ll let it go this time, but don’t do it again.”

The girl pouted and could only nod.

The old man then looked up at the sky and sighed, “If only I could have such a talent in my service—how wonderful that would be!”

“What talent,” the girl muttered. “He’s just a good-for-nothing.”

The old man glanced at her, not angry at all. Instead, he suddenly smiled. “Ying’er, will you do something for Grandpa?”

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