Two Realms: I Will Become the Immortal Emperor

Chapter 218: Chapter 199: Eat the Lord’s Food, Be Loyal in the Lord’s Service

At the mention of his arms, Jia Chaoyuan’s expression darkened.

”Come in, we’ll talk inside!”

He turned and walked toward the backyard.

The two followed him.

The backyard was peaceful. A thatched hut stood by a small stream, complete with a bamboo grove and a vegetable patch, no different from a mortal’s home.

A glance inside the hut revealed it was fully furnished, yet there was nothing related to Cultivation. The only Incense Burner was filled with ordinary spices.

’Has he given up on Cultivation?’

Chen Che thought to himself.

Although Jia Chaoyuan had no arms, it didn’t affect his daily life. With a light stomp of his foot, two pumpons flew out from the hut and landed before them.

An apprentice from the smithy came to serve tea.

”It’s not that I was being heartless.”

Jia Chaoyuan sat cross-legged and began to speak.

”It’s just that in this state, I truly couldn’t bear to face anyone. So I had my disciples spread the word that I had passed away...”

His words were polite, clearly an explanation for Chen Che.

”I understand.”

Chen Che nodded slightly.

It was like a class reunion—the one who had fallen on hard times would surely be unwilling to meet the others.

”What on earth happened to your arms?”

Lu Qinglian asked impatiently.

”Seventeen years ago, a group of people came here and invited me to become a Tributor.”

Jia Chaoyuan paused for a moment before continuing.

”You know me. I’m a free spirit who can’t stand being tied down, so I refused. Who would have thought they’d fly into a rage from the shame and chop off both my arms? I couldn’t bear to take all my skills to the grave, so I opened this shop at the foot of the mountain.”

”I picked a few talented kids from the village, and when I have free time, I teach them a thing or two...”

”Who were they?”

The teacup in her hand silently turned to dust, and Lu Qinglian’s voice was filled with fury.

”What’s the point in asking who they are? If you haven’t reached the Golden Core Realm, you don’t even have the right to seek revenge. It’ll only bring you more trouble. Let’s not talk about this. Has Lu Ping’an reached Foundation Establishment? Ah, his second attempt failed too. You two now...”

”Ping’an only has three years of life left and can no longer travel. I have no fixed abode, so I’ve settled down at Valley Master Chen’s place as a Tributor.”

”Sigh!”

”Sigh!”

Old friends reunited, asking about each other’s pasts.

Upon learning of each other’s misfortunes, they couldn’t help but lament.

Chen Che sat to the side, not interrupting their reunion, quietly sipping his tea.

As for what Jia Chaoyuan had said, he wasn’t surprised.

The man was slightly weaker than Lu Qinglian, but he was still at the Foundation Establishment Fourth Layer Realm. Given this world’s cultivators’ style of eradicating problems at the root, the fact that his attackers only took his arms but spared his life meant they must have an extremely powerful background and had no fear of retaliation.

No wonder the smiths outside were so indignant when they mentioned the Tributor position.

They’d learned from a past mistake.

After a long silence, Lu Qinglian looked at Chen Che, her gaze questioning.

Clearly, Jia Chaoyuan was crippled. It was now up to the Valley Master to decide whether to take him in.

’Xing Lin from the Alchemy Hall has no legs, and now the master of the Artifact Hall has no arms. Jinyun Valley is about to collect a full set of the maimed and crippled!’

Chen Che thought to himself, slowly setting down his teacup. ”Fellow Daoist,” he said, ”since you can’t bear to let your skills be buried with you, would you be willing to come to my Jinyun Valley to teach disciples? If you join us, I’m willing to treat you as a First-class Tributor, with benefits equal to Fellow Daoist Lu’s.”

Admittedly, Jia Chaoyuan lacked arms and couldn’t forge personally.

But his lifetime of forging experience remained, which was more than enough to instruct the Valley’s disciples.

Lu Qinglian’s eyes were also filled with anticipation.

But Jia Chaoyuan shook his head.

”Thank you for your generous offer, Valley Master Chen, but I won’t go and make a fool of myself with this broken body.”

”In that case, I won’t insist.”

Chen Che didn’t press the matter.

He had already shown the utmost sincerity. If the other party was unwilling, there was no need to force it.

After all, he hadn’t expected to succeed so easily when he came.

He didn’t expect Jia Chaoyuan to continue, however.