Chapter 474: Encountering the Guan Yun Scholar Again

However, the Emperor of Great Wu hadn’t done this, not because he wasn’t cruel enough. Rather, it was because he didn’t know that Xu Lei was a Cultivator from a previous era, nor that Xu Lei possessed the ability to change his appearance.

Xu Lei guessed that the Emperor of Great Wu was likely unaware of the existence of Cultivators from the previous era.

That was why he only had his men search based on facial features. Of course, his main target was still Xu Lei’s mother. As for Xu Lei, that “useless” Prince, the Emperor didn’t much care.

And for these reasons, Xu Lei was still relatively safe for now.

Hiding in these chaotic times was like a fish disappearing into the ocean.

In the preceding years, all sorts of Martial Artists had risen up, waging chaotic wars against the Royal Family. The great Noble Families also fought amongst themselves. Everyone was vying for supremacy, scrambling to seize any advantage.

Sometimes, the appearance of a hidden Ancient Immortal Martial Arts inheritance—a new Cultivation Technique, for example—was enough to drive many factions into a frenzy.

As a result, the previous few decades had been exceptionally chaotic. Many families were shattered and ruined, countless orphans were left homeless, many elderly were forced to sleep on the streets, and many women became prostitutes.

In short, everything was a decadent mess.

Although the Emperor of Great Wu possessed transcendent Power and had suppressed the world with his formidable individual might to temporarily unify it, he clearly had no talent for governing a nation.

Now, having just taken the throne, he hadn’t managed to bring order to the realm at all.

Perhaps he would eventually recruit suitable talents and slowly bring the realm under control, but for now, the world remained in chaos.

This, however, made it convenient for Xu Lei’s escape.

At this moment, Xu Lei was mixed in with a group of refugees. His silver taels and other valuables were, of course, all stored in his Qiankun Cloth Bag. He also had a Small Qiankun Cloth Bag; while it couldn’t hold much in the way of explosives, it was still perfectly capable of storing some daily necessities.

Xu Lei was filled with emotion. ‘I never thought my life in this world would have such dramatic ups and downs.’

‘Born a Prince, only for the dynasty to collapse.’

In the past, whenever the family Xu Lei was born into encountered a crisis, he was always able to step in and resolve it.

He would use his Magical Power as a Cultivator and his knowledge as an Earth Transmigrator to solve everything.

But in this life, faced with a great shift between eras—the transition from the Dharma-Ending Cultivation Era to the Ancient Immortal Martial Revival Era—even Xu Lei couldn’t save his own family!

‘Before the great tide of an era, the Power of a single person is simply too insignificant!’

‘In this life, I can’t practice Martial Arts Training either. I’ll just have to find a place to establish myself. Then, I need to marry many women—especially talented women—and have a lot of children.’

Xu Lei organized his thoughts. ‘I haven’t had any children for two lifetimes in a row. And combined, I’ve lived for nearly two hundred years in these two lives, right? If my children were all mortals, that might be more than ten generations!’

‘Of course, many of my descendants were also Cultivators! They probably haven’t gone through ten generations of descendants! Still, this is a bit dangerous. If I don’t have any children in this life, it’s possible that in the next, I’ll be reincarnated as a girl.’

‘Therefore, in this life, I must once again take many wives and have lots of children. And I must have children with Ancient Immortal Martial Talent. That’s the only way to ensure that in my next life, I’ll be stably reincarnated as a male with a talent for Martial Arts Training.’

However, his current situation was not very optimistic.

Because the Emperor of Great Wu’s ability to govern was not very strong, the realm was still rather chaotic.

And Xu Lei himself had no talent for Martial Arts Training.

As for his Magical Power, he only had about ten years’ worth left.

Against a Martial Artist, he could probably only launch a few powerful attacks.

And with the realm not at peace, trying to establish himself through means like business would also be very difficult.

However, Xu Lei was still young, just over twelve years old, and not yet of an age to marry.

Therefore, Xu Lei didn’t dare reveal the money in his Qiankun Cloth Bag.

He disguised himself as an ordinary refugee, blending into the crowd. He planned to find a relatively stable city, take out his money there, and then start building a life for himself. Once he was older, he would marry and have children.

“Hey, kid! You, get over here!”

But the principle that the kind are easily bullied applies everywhere.

On this day, after the group of refugees passed through an orchard and ate their fill…

…a bully within the group actually took a liking to Xu Lei.

Even though Xu Lei had smeared his face with dirt, he had been pampered since birth, and one could still see that he was good-looking.

“Be mine, and you won’t have to live so bitterly anymore,” the bully said directly to Xu Lei. “How about it?”

His lecherous gaze made it clear what his interests were.

“And if I’m not willing?” Xu Lei asked, his voice calm.

“You don’t have a choice,” the bully sneered.

The bully’s lackeys swarmed forward with cruel smirks, moving to restrain Xu Lei.

Xu Lei took out two pistols from his Qiankun Cloth Bag.

Firing with both hands, he put a bullet through each of the henchmen’s heads, blowing their skulls apart. Bodies collapsed to the ground, blood flowed freely—it was an incredibly gory scene.

Only the bully himself remained.

Xu Lei fired two shots at him as well.

However, this perverted bully was actually a Martial Artist. With a flicker of his body, he dodged the pistol’s attack.

‘Who knows what kind of grudge he has with other factions? For a respectable Martial Artist with decent Cultivation to be hiding among a group of refugees…!’

“You actually have military firearms?”

The bully sneered. “Interesting. No wonder you have a different air about you than the other refugees. It seems you have some background after all. No wonder your skin is so fair and delicate you can’t even hide it. But those guns are useless. Kid, today you’re destined to be thoroughly ‘doted on’ by me!”