05. Work to live

Seven years have passed since the day Tian Sen’s village was destroyed; now the boy who was not yet ten years old has become a fifteen-year-old youth. He works at a restaurant in a fairly large city within the Chu Kingdom, holding a mid-level position. His simple life has returned to happiness, but his heart remains in sorrow. Although outwardly he serves many guests with a smile, there are days when Tian Sen becomes silent and appears gloomy. The restaurant owner who hired Tian Sen is aware of his habit, but she says nothing, convinced there is a reason for his strange behavior.

“Tian Sen, after you’ve taken care of things over there, try to help your older sister in the kitchen!” said the owner, who had just placed a guest’s order on the table.

“Okay, auntie!” Tian Sen happily went to the kitchen and helped an older woman clean the dirty dining area.

The young woman chatted with Tian Sen while they worked; they would sometimes smile and laugh together as if what they were talking about was incredibly interesting. Even some of the chefs in the kitchen took a special interest in Tian Sen, so his life—which had once been so miserable—began to improve. Later that afternoon, after Tian Sen had finished everything, several young men entered the restaurant with angry expressions. The restaurant owner, who recognized who they were, immediately approached and offered a good table to the six young men who had just arrived. Tian Sen watched the young men arrive but remained silent as he continued his work; he already knew that these young men were the ones who would be taking the entrance exam for the famous Shenlin Sect—of course, they had to enter the academy first before that. This sect is more powerful than the kingdom, but the registration process is quite difficult. First, they must become representatives of this city; then they will be taken to the kingdom’s capital to undergo the academy’s entrance selection. There, they will become academy students until they reach the age and strength limits set by the academy to qualify for the Shenlin Sect’s entrance exam. Then, there, they’ll be screened to become representatives of the Chu Kingdom—of course, that’s just as representatives, not as students. Later, they’ll have to take another entrance exam at the Shenlin Sect to determine their future positions there.

“Well, why don’t you try signing up? They say this round of registration only tests one’s talent, and if your talent is good, maybe you can become a cultivator—and you won’t have to work like this anymore, little Sen!” said the woman, who was older than Tian Sen, as she washed dishes beside him.

Tian Sen merely replied with a smile; of course he wanted to, but he thought about how his aunt and older sister had taken such good care of him for over seven years. Leaving them truly made Tian Sen feel a bit reluctant, and even though he wanted to train, for some reason, he hadn’t achieved any results in seven years—not even with the help of his father’s martial arts book. Because of that, even though Tian Sen tried hard, he could only reach the first level of the Tempered Body realm; while considered good among humans, it was still impossible to meet the test’s qualifications.

“What is this? What I want is twenty-year-old wine—why are you giving me ordinary wine? Do you think this wine is worthy of me?” Suddenly, Tian Sen heard the angry voice of a man from the dining room.

“Don’t go there, it’s dangerous!” the young woman said, afraid that Tian Sen would do something reckless. She had seen this happen every day, so she was certain her mother would be fine, but Tian Sen, being a man, naturally couldn’t accept that—the aunt he regarded as a mother had been hurt by a young man whose origins he didn’t even know. Also, even if the young man was from a prominent family, Tian Sen wouldn’t hesitate at all to defend his aunt.

The aunt kept apologizing politely while kneeling before the young man, but clearly that didn’t please him or make him accept her apology. He kicked the aunt hard, sending her crashing into the table in front of her. This caused Tian Sen and the young woman to immediately rush over to check on her. They saw that her arm and leg were sprained, and there was blood in her mouth—a sight Tian Sen couldn’t bear. Rage surged within him, and he carefully helped her to her feet.

“Hey, woman! I’ll destroy your restaurant if you act like this. We are the sons of nobles and prospective representatives from this city to the capital; if you can’t behave politely in front of us, then face the consequences!” said the man who had kicked Tian Sen’s aunt, openly threatening her. The incident became a spectacle and the talk of the town for those who witnessed it at the restaurant; they couldn’t possibly defend Tian Sen because the person they were facing was a nobleman and a prospective participant in the Chu Kingdom’s own representative contest. Tian Sen saw that the young man not only refused to apologize or even curb his arrogance, but took a bold step forward, standing in front of his aunt with a furious, silent glare. Seeing this, his aunt tried to restrain Tian Sen, but now she saw that the young man she had raised like a son had become terrifying when angry. This was similar to when she had once helped Tian Sen outside the city—or more precisely, at the border of the forest leading to the city.

“Hey, you want to be a hero, young man? Don’t you know who I am? I am the son and the candidate…”

BOOOOOOOMMMMMMM

Before he could finish speaking, Tian Sen’s fist had already flown out, sending him flying with a single punch until he crashed into the restaurant wall and was flung out of the restaurant. What Tian Sen had done shocked the people around him—even the young man’s friends were stunned by what they saw. An ordinary young man had actually sent a cultivator at the second level of the Tempered Body Realm flying—where had they ever seen such a thing? Even though the young man hadn’t been prepared, it shouldn’t have ended up like this.

“You’re all too noisy! Get out and stop bothering my aunt’s shop, or if you don’t want to eat, just leave! This isn’t some high-class restaurant meant for noble youths like you!”

Seeing Tian Sen’s anger, the mother and son hurried to calm him down, as it was clear the young man’s emotions were far from those of an ordinary child. But even so, Tian Sen remained angry and wanted to punish those who had mistreated his aunt; she had taken care of him from the time he lost his parents until he was now fifteen years old. So as a young man, he had to protect his aunt and repay the kindness shown to him by his aunt as well; that was why Tian Sen was so furious when he saw others treating his aunt rudely and irresponsibly. Although he realized that the strong could do whatever they wanted to them, that wasn’t the principle they should be proud of. The strong exist to protect the weak, and the strong must also be fair to the weak. It’s just that, even though Tian Sen felt that principle was good, no one here would act on it. From the looks on people’s faces alone, Tian Sen could clearly see that they didn’t care about his family members.

“Get out! Don’t come back here. If you dare to return, I, Tian Sen, will make you regret your arrogant attitude!” Tian Sen said, chasing those fools away from his and his aunt’s presence. Those who had caused trouble there immediately fled, carrying their injured siblings; after all, being on someone else’s territory, they shouldn’t cause any more trouble than that now.

When Tian Sen saw them leave, he finally let out a sigh while smiling at his aunt. Seeing this young man smile and recalling his earlier behavior, his aunt could only shake her head; ever since Tian Sen arrived, their family’s life had begun to improve. Tian Sen wasn’t a troublesome child either; he was very kind and obedient to them, so the two of them had truly welcomed Tian Sen into the family until now. No one realized that on the second floor of the restaurant—from a vantage point that offered a clear view of the earlier incident outside—there were several figures who were both surprised and impressed by Tian Sen. They hadn’t expected to find such a promising talent right before their eyes; though this talent hadn’t yet fully blossomed, it was already superior to others, so they watched him with great enthusiasm.

“What do you think? Is he worthy?” asked a middle-aged man, looking at the other four.

“Don’t ask me—I just saw that his physical strength is far greater than that of a third-tier Tempered Body cultivator. Of course, that’s good, but if he relies solely on physical cultivation, he’s not worthy of joining us!” replied a beautiful woman who had doubted Tian Sen’s abilities earlier. Unexpectedly, the woman’s perspective differed from theirs; initially, they thought the young man was worthy of being included, but after two of them objected, they eventually fell silent. However, the expressions of some of them clearly showed they liked the boy’s nature, so they did plan to see if he would show up later or not.

“Interesting! The selection for the Chu Kingdom will be very intriguing later on, but I’m curious whether he’ll participate or not?” The man who seemed interested in Tian Sen truly admired the boy’s character, courage, and composure. If possible, he wanted to bring Tian Sen directly, but he didn’t know whether Tian Sen was worthy of being granted special permission to enter the Chu Kingdom’s academy as a representative in a major tournament. Perhaps many think that winning and going to the capital means they can immediately become a representative, but that’s actually not true; they must first enter the royal academy, where their talents will be trained.