Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

Wang Chen was slightly startled.

He recognized the boy, the very one to whom he had given the meat-stuffed bun before.

"Immortal Master, hurry up!"

Seeing Wang Chen hesitate, the boy became so anxious that he started jumping: "The White Wolf Gang will catch up any moment now!"

Wang Chen thought for a moment and then quickly followed the boy.

Under the boy's guidance, he weaved through the narrow alleys and quickly lost their pursuers without a trace.

Eventually, the boy stopped inside a dead-end alley.

"Come on!"

He swiftly lifted a stone slab from the ground and then jumped down.

Wang Chen followed suit and jumped down as well.

Beneath was a long secret passage, and once Wang Chen had descended, the boy expertly sealed the slab back in place.

"Follow me."

He then led Wang Chen through the secret passage, descending hundreds of steps further.

The space suddenly opened up!

An underground street district, deeply hidden, was now laid out before Wang Chen's eyes!

Thick stone columns supported the lofty dome, and luminous stones embedded in the walls and columns emitted a soft glow that illuminated this chaotic space.

Caves were hewn into the rock walls all around, leading to unknown places, and stone houses occupied the spaces between the columns, leaving only narrow pathways for passage.

The air here was quite murky, filled with a strange odor.

The attire of the people was generally filthy and tattered, and the beggars huddled in street corners were dozens of times more numerous than aboveground.

Moreover, fiends and vicious characters were visible everywhere!

Was this Dayi City's underground slum?

Wang Chen had never imagined that an entirely different world existed beneath the city of Dayi.

Xi Manyun and the Xi Family had never mentioned it to him before.

They probably thought that Wang Chen would never have any interaction with this world in his lifetime!

"We're safe now."

The boy who had led Wang Chen down wiped the sweat from his brow and took a deep breath, "Immortal Master, you are a good person. The White Wolf Gang is very bad, they specialize in exploiting newcomers."

"I'll take you to another place now, to avoid their territory," he said and was about to lead Wang Chen to another tunnel.

"No rush,"

Wang Chen stopped him, asking curiously, "What is this place? It's quite interesting."

Quite interesting?

The boy looked at him with a strange expression and replied, "This area is called the caverns; it's very large. My home is here."

Wang Chen asked, "Can you take me to see your home?"

The boy hesitated for a moment, looking rather embarrassed, "My home, it's very shabby."

Wang Chen chuckled, "That's alright."

Biting his lip, the boy conceded, "Alright then."

The boy's home was located in the corner of this massive cavern, on the edge of a dilapidated block of buildings.

The surrounding area was littered with garbage and carried a particularly foul smell, with various odd mosses and mushrooms growing around.

"Big brother is back!" "Brother!" "Brother"...

The moment the boy opened the door to his home, a group of children swarmed around him.

There were boys and girls, about a dozen in total!

They were all calling out 'Brother,' looking up eagerly at the boy.

Their gazes were nearly identical to how the boy had looked at Wang Chen eating leftover bones before.

Touching the children's heads, the boy pulled out two meat-stuffed buns from his embrace: "Brother brought home some tasty food for you!"

The children immediately cheered, their eyes shining greedily.

The eldest of the girls carefully took the meat sandwich from the boy, "Second Sister, you divide it."

"Okay," the girl carefully received it.

The other children stopped their clamor, and although they were all desperately swallowing their saliva, none fought over the food.

Wang Chen, moved by their plight, took out a bag of rice and two strips of meat from the Storage Bag.

The children only then noticed Wang Chen's presence, instinctively huddled together, and looked at him with eyes of suspicion.

The boy hurriedly explained, "This is an Immortal Master from above, a good person!"

He then bowed to Wang Chen, "Thank you, Immortal Master!"

Some children, quick-witted, followed suit and also bowed, "Thank you, Immortal Master."

Amused by this, Wang Chen simply handed the rice and meat to Second Sister, "Take this and cook it for everyone."

Second Sister did not take it immediately, instead looking at the boy for approval.

After he nodded, she caught it with both hands, quickly bowed, and then ran into the house.

Several children followed her, "Second Sister, I'll help you!"

The boy, embarrassed, scratched his head, "Please forgive them, Immortal Master, they're all a bit wild."

Wang Chen shook his head without a word.

These children may appear to be without parents, fallen to the bottom tier of society, but their nature wasn't poor.

Given their age and status, it'd be impossible without someone to guide them.
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This piqued Wang Chen's interest in the boy before him.

He sat down on a stool that the boy had offered and asked, "What's your name?"

The boy stood respectfully, answering Wang Chen's question exhaustively.

The boy's name was Meng Fei; he originally lived with his parents in Xun City District, but after his family fell on hard times, he had to escape with his sister to live in the underground caverns.

Meng Fei was fourteen this year, but probably due to long periods without sufficient food or clothing, he looked similar to a twelve or thirteen-year-old child.

As for the other children living with him, most were orphans from the caverns.

A few were children Meng Fei had rescued, ones abandoned by others!

The dozen children depended on each other for warmth, surviving on begging, doing odd jobs, and collecting mushrooms.

Due to the harsh conditions in the caverns, the eldest, Meng Fei, would occasionally run to the surface to find food. Knowing the streets above well, he noticed members of the White Wolf Gang following Wang Chen, the kind-hearted Immortal Master, so he took the risk of leading Wang Chen underground to hide.

This was his way of repaying Wang Chen for his generosity with food!

"Tell me about the White Wolf Gang."

Facing Wang Chen's question, Meng Fei struggled to swallow before replying, "They're not easy to mess with."

The White Wolf Gang is a gang that controls several streets in Xun City District, with hundreds of members.

It includes many Qi Cultivation Cultivators and Martial Artists.

The gang's boss, White Wolf Dong Huaishan, is a ninth level Qi Cultivation Cultivator said to have the backing of the Heavenly Master Pavilion. He is domineering, ruthless, and feared by everyone.

"Aren't you afraid?" Wang Chen asked, "Having offended the White Wolf Gang."

Meng Fei scratched his head, "I'll just move on to somewhere else."

Wang Chen smiled, then suddenly asked, "How long ago did you Shed Mortality?"

Meng Fei instinctively replied, "Five years."

Wang Chen sighed, "Five years."

Although Meng Fei was not a Cultivator, he was quite agile, not only had he trained in martial arts, but his breath also hinted at Cultivation Techniques, which could not escape Wang Chen's Perception.

With a Cultivation Realm like Wang Chen's, his vision was incomparable to an ordinary Cultivator's.

Meng Fei was sharp-minded, exuding a trace of spirituality, undoubtedly possessing the talent for cultivation. But having not progressed in Qi Cultivation for five years must have held him back.

He had missed the prime time for Foundation Establishment!

After some thought, Wang Chen took out a Jade Slip.

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The second update is here.