Eternal Life from the Golden Needle Technique

Chapter 213: Chapter 210: Cheap Brother

’Just as I thought...’

’The attack from the Soul-Attracting Bell itself is far from enough to deal with a Cultivator at the Late Stage of the Qi Introduction Realm. But when combined with my Soul Emergence Level Divine Sense, I doubt many below the Soul Emergence Realm could withstand the power it unleashes!’

Taking down his enemy in a single blow, Shen Changchuan let out a sigh of relief.

Judging by the power the Bronze Bell had displayed, it would have been no easy task to defeat his opponent in a head-on battle, even with Shen Changchuan’s mastery of the powerful, Instantaneous Technique, Cyan Wood Sword Light.

However,

Shen Changchuan’s strength didn’t just lie in his Magical Power and his many Perfection Level Techniques.

He also had a powerful Divine Soul!

Shen Zeyu, who wielded the Bronze Bell Magical Artifact, was certainly powerful.

But his strength was solely reliant on an external object—the Bronze Bell.

His own capabilities were nowhere near that level.

And this,

was what gave Shen Changchuan an opening to exploit.

By channeling the power of the Soul-Attracting Bell and attacking with his vastly superior Divine Soul, he bypassed the tyrannical Bronze Bell Magical Artifact and struck the Divine Soul directly.

As a result, Shen Zeyu was defeated in a single blow before he could even unleash the true power of the Bronze Bell!

’To make the most of my advantage in Divine Soul, maybe I should look for some Secret Techniques that can directly attack the Divine Soul...’

As he easily dispatched his foe,

this thought flashed through Shen Changchuan’s mind.

But while his mind was racing,

his hands didn’t slow in the slightest.

He tossed the Bronze Bell from his opponent’s hand into his Storage Bag. Then, hoisting up the incapacitated body of Shen Zeyu, he was about to find a place to properly interrogate him with a Soul Search.

But just then,

he suddenly sensed something.

His figure froze abruptly,

his gaze shot toward a certain direction behind him.

A breath later,

a thin figure in black appeared as if out of thin air, standing atop a collapsed house not far away.

Their eyes met.

The other party didn’t move.

Nor did he speak.

Shen Changchuan didn’t speak either.

The air fell silent for a moment.

”Is he your target?”

”No, I just happened to see this on my way.”

”Then I’ll be taking him with me.”

”...Suit yourself.”

The thin, black-clad man paused for a moment.

Shen Changchuan gave a slight nod.

He lifted Shen Zeyu and started to walk away.

Not until Shen Changchuan was several dozen feet away did the thin figure finally break the silence and ask:

”Why are you taking him?”

”I’m the current Dawan Village Guardian. They were plotting to seize my current foundation...”

”Then take care...”

”You too.”

Shen Changchuan departed with Shen Zeyu.

The thin figure stood silently on the ruins of the house, watching him leave.

Not far away,

Nangong City, who had been completely ignored like a mere passerby, glanced at the departing Shen Changchuan, then back at the figure standing on the ruins of the collapsed house.

’Those two,’

’They seem to know each other?’

’Why was the atmosphere so strange?’

Curiosity welled up in his heart.

But Nangong City didn’t dwell on it for long.

He turned and followed Shen Changchuan.

’Looks like my luck is good. The objective is complete, and there were no unexpected mishaps along the way.’

’But what’s the relationship between Brother Shen and that man in black?’

’They must be connected!’

’It was just so... weird...’

Nangong City wasn’t one for gossip,

but at this moment,

he couldn’t help but feel an itch of curiosity, like a kitten scratching at him.

’I really want to know!’

After they had gone some distance,

Shen Changchuan found a corner to perform a Soul Search on Shen Zeyu.

Nangong City finally couldn’t hold back and walked up.

”Ahem, Brother Shen, that person just now was...”

Shen Changchuan gave him a strange look.

’I don’t remember this guy being a gossip, do I?’

Shaking his head,

Shen Changchuan didn’t pay it much mind.

He glanced at the sky with a somewhat melancholic look in his eyes and sighed softly.

”That person from just now... I suppose you could call him my half-brother...”

Perhaps it was the atmosphere of the moment,

or perhaps it was the original body’s awkward family ties, but Shen Changchuan felt a rare urge to confide in someone.

Besides, there wasn’t much to hide.

”I have plenty of half-siblings—fifty or sixty of them, a number that fluctuates every year... But my mother’s background is very humble... The infighting among the heirs of a great family is brutal, so I never dared to stand out. I could only hide myself away, having almost no contact with any faction, using my reclusiveness as both camouflage and protection...”

”The one from just now, his name is Shen Chong. His mother’s background isn’t high either; I think she was a Courtesan. She was always suppressed by the First Madam... But unlike me, he and his full-blooded brother were always very active. They were tough since they were young. Whenever they faced bullying from the main-line half-siblings who ganged up on them, they always fought back with their fists... Because of that, the two brothers were always ostracized by my other half-siblings. Basically, whenever they met, there would be taunts and a fight...”

”His older brother had relatively good Cultivation Talent. Even with the First Madam ordering his resources to be withheld, he still managed to reach the Qi Introduction Sixth Layer Peak on his own within a few years... But then there was an accident, and he ’committed suicide’... The First Madam also took the opportunity to deal with him and his mother... Before the year’s end, I heard his mother died of a serious illness, and he then publicly announced his defection from the Shen Family...”

”I’m not close with any of those half-siblings. I’ve basically only seen them once or twice a year at the New Year’s Eve dinner. I have no friendship with them, nor any grudges. It’s limited to just being able to recognize their faces...”

”Perhaps because I never ganged up with the others to ’bully’ them, his attitude toward me is different from his attitude toward our other half-siblings...”

Shen Changchuan’s voice held a hint of speculation.

Ever since he transmigrated, he had mostly stayed in his small courtyard or holed up in the Library Hall like a shut-in, rarely showing his face all year round. But he still managed to learn a thing or two about what went on in the Shen Family Mansion from the maids and servants.

From what he had heard, if any of his other half-siblings had been here instead of him, Shen Chong would have, at the very least, broken one of their arms or legs, if not killed them outright... There was no way he would have been so calm and indifferent...

Although the atmosphere had been awkward, there was indeed a faint sense of kinship.

However, as for all this,

Shen Changchuan didn’t really care much.

Just like with the fifty or sixty half-siblings in the Shen Family Mansion,

Shen Changchuan truly felt no brotherly affection for them.

That was true for him as a Transmigrator,

and it had been true for the original owner of this body as well.

He had mostly regarded those blood relatives with cold indifference.

They were nothing more than a group of strangers who happened to share the same father.

The only person he felt any real familial bond with was this body’s mother, who had been genuinely good to him...