"Brother Chen, have you heard? Old Wang's big-bottomed wife and his daughter Chunhong are both pregnant. Rumor has it that the child in both their bellies has the same father, and it's one of the Young Masters from the manor..."

  Smack!

  Chen Shi spped the young man's head. "If you don't speak, no one will mistake you for a mute."

  The young man chuckled awkwardly, "Brother Chen, what's the big deal? Everyone at the stables is whispering about it."

  "Alright, alright."

  Chen Shi waved his hand, pointing at a bucket of horse feed. "Once it's mixed, take it to the stables and feed Thousand-Mile Cloud."

  He sent off the young man who loved to gossip.

  Chen Shi picked up a rge bowl, scooped a steaming bowl of feed from the pot, and sat on the bluestone outside the stable, eating by himself.

  At the Song family's stables in the Divine General's Manor.

  The horses ate better than the people.

  The feed was rich with soy milk, eggs, and soybeans.

  It smelled delicious.

  He devoured a rge bowl, panting.

  "Burp~"

  He let out a satisfied burp.

  Then, Chen Shi y ft on the bluestone in the shape of the character "大" (big).

  He pced his hands behind his head.

  Gazing at the night sky.

  The bright moon hung high, casting a cold, clear light.

  "A transmigrator ending up like this, I must be one of a kind..."

  Chen Shi sighed with mixed emotions.

  He felt a bit mencholic.

  After two and a half years in this world, through hard work, he had stood out among the stable hands and become the exclusive groom for "Thousand-Mile Cloud." He had already reached the pinnacle of what a servant could achieve.

  Perhaps after decades.

  When Old Wang kicks the bucket, he might vie for the steward position at the stables.

  But even the best outcome would be like Old Wang, spending a lifetime raising horses, marrying a maid discarded by the master, and having children who would continue to be servants.

  That would be considered lucky.

  If he encountered a master with a lecherous nature, marrying could mean his wife might be taken by others.

  Even worse, if he had a daughter with some beauty.

  Both wife and daughter could be taken by others.

  This wasn't Chen Shi's imagination, but what Old Wang was experiencing...

  Better to be a beggar than a household sve.

  After transmigrating, he felt this saying even more deeply.

  "Chen Shi! My Young Master sent me to ask about the story of Monkey Sun. What happened to him after he was trapped under Five Finger Mountain?"

  Suddenly, a young boy's voice rang in his ears.

  Chen Shi turned his head and saw a young servant in blue sneaking over.

  He quickly sat up and waved his hand, "Go back and tell the Ninth Young Master not to trouble me. The Seventh Madam has said if I tell you stories again and dey your martial practice, she'll break my legs."

  The young servant said, "My Young Master said the Seventh Madam is going back to the Spirit Sword Sect to visit her family and won't be in the manor. He told you not to worry. My Young Master also promised that if you tell him the story of Monkey Sun, once he comes of age, he'll bring you under his wing, and you'll enjoy endless wealth and beautiful concubines."

  Chen Shi shook his head like a rattle, "Unless the Seventh Madam personally permits it, I absolutely dare not agree."

  In the Divine General's Manor, where martial prowess was paramount.

  Stories, arts, poetry, and music were considered distractions and a path to ruin.

  After a severe beating, Chen Shi had come to understand this deeply.

  Seeing Chen Shi's firm refusal.

  The young servant stopped trying to persuade him and quickly pulled out ten taels of silver, "I can pay you."

  Chen Shi gnced at it, "It's not about the money..."

  Young servant: "Fifteen taels!"

  "At least thirty," Chen Shi doubled the amount.

  "Deal!" The young servant was overjoyed and quickly took out more silver.

  Chen Shi: "...At least sixty."

  The young servant was furious, "How can you raise the price after we've agreed?"

  In the end.

  After some intense bargaining, they settled on fifty taels.

  The young servant looked pained, "After the Young Master's morning practice, meet at the usual pce. You must remember to come."

  "Mm-hmm, see you."

  Waving goodbye to the servant.

  Chen Shi hurriedly returned to his earthen bed with the silver.

  His brow couldn't hide his joy.

  Fifty taels of silver!

  He wondered if it was enough to activate the system.

  As the thought crossed his mind, a text panel suddenly appeared before him.

  [Talent · Life Simutor.]

  [Insufficient bance!]

  [Please recharge!]

  This was the golden finger he had when he transmigrated.

  However, this "Life Simutor" golden finger was still unusable, always dispying "Insufficient bance" and "Please recharge" whenever he opened it.

  Chen Shi had tried various methods and discovered that only the currency of this world could be used to recharge it.

  In the two and a half years since transmigrating, he had already recharged 32 taels of silver and 10,240 copper coins, totaling 42.24 taels of silver.

  Youth has no price.

  Recharge has no progress bar.

  But Chen Shi firmly believed.

  As long as he kept recharging, one day, he would accumute enough to activate the system.

  "System, recharge me!"

  Chen Shi silently chanted in his heart.

  The heavy silver in his hand instantly vanished.

  [Recharge successful!]

  [Current bance: 94.24 taels.]

  [Would you like to spend 50 points to start a life simution?]

  "It's done?!"

  Chen Shi's body trembled, his eyes moist.

  Two years, he finally gathered enough silver to meet the system's activation conditions!

  He eagerly clicked "Yes."

  Immediately, a line of text appeared before him.

  ***

  [At sixteen, you transmigrated to the Divine General's Manor and became a servant in the Inner Court.]

  [At seventeen, you decided to attach yourself to the powerful, becoming a ckey like the Nine Thousand Years. After some observation, you discovered that the Song family disciples had to wake up at four every morning, wash up, eat breakfast, and gather at the Martial Practice Field by five for morning exercises... life was extremely dull.]

  [So, with your vast knowledge, you decided to become a storyteller, filling the void for the Song family disciples.]

  [In the entertainment-starved Divine General's Manor, your stories were a hit. In just a few days, you attracted the attention of over a dozen Young Masters and Misses...]

  [Your status in the Inner Court rose rapidly...]

  [Even a Miss of the Song Family admired your talent and secretly fell for you. Knowing this retionship was impossible, you gently declined her and swindled five taels of silver from her.]

  [Just as you thought the future was promising, you were severely reprimanded by the Seventh Madam Lin Manqing, who accused you of corrupting the manor's morals and leading the Song family disciples astray. She said you deserved to die, but due to someone pleading on your behalf, she spared your life, only giving you a severe beating before expelling you from the Inner Court and assigning you to the stables to feed horses.]

  [Using your connections from the Inner Court, you did well at the stables. The steward assigned you to care for a Miss's beloved horse, Thousand-Mile Cloud.]

  [At eighteen, you received a rge sum from the Ninth Young Master and decided to take the risk and meet him.]

  [That afternoon, your actions were exposed.]

  [You were taken away by the Enforcement Hall...]

  [Knowing the danger, you used all your savings to bribe the steward. He accepted the money, promised to spare your life, and even revealed that your secret dealings had been discovered by a stable hand named Li Pao, who reported you to the Seventh Madam...]

  ***

  "Li Pao?"

  Chen Shi's eyes narrowed.

  He was a trusted lieutenant he had recruited at the stables, always loyal.

  Yet behind his back, he was a snitch?

  Could it be he resented Chen Shi for taking the Thousand-Mile Cloud groom position from him?

  ***

  [The next day, after a severe beating, you were expelled from the Divine General's Manor and sent with a group of prisoners to the Liangzhou Bordernds to build a city...]

  [On the third day, you were locked in a beast cart, traveling all day.]

  [On the fourth day, you traveled all day.]

  [On the fifth day, on the way to exile, you saw a masked man in bck flying through the air. Without a word, he began a massacre, and in moments, the group was sughtered.]

  [As you were still in shock, the masked man approached you, his voice hoarse: "Chen Shi! Finally, I've caught you!"]

  [The man in bck called your name, shocking you. As you tried to ask questions, everything went bck, and you lost consciousness...]

  [In slumber...]

  [In slumber...]

  [After soaking in a precious medicinal bath, your body was strengthened, successfully entering the Martial Path, stepping into the Skin Refining Stage...]

  [You are being soul-searched...]

  [...]

  [Your body is on the verge of colpse...]

  [You died.]

  ***

  "The man in bck was after me??!"

  Looking at the simution text before him, Chen Shi was bewildered.

  He had imagined many ways to die.

  But he never thought someone would come to assassinate a powerless stable hand like him, even going so far as to kill court officials... This st point almost ruled out the Divine General's Manor.

  Great Wei had four Divine Generals, and the Song family was one of them.

  The Song family guarded Liangzhou, deterring demons, with ten generals in the family, known for their loyalty and honor, enjoying endless wealth and prestige in Great Wei.

  Such a top-tier martial family wouldn't openly kill court officials for a mere servant. If they wanted him dead, they could simply order his execution.

  But if it wasn't someone from the Divine General's Manor.

  Then who could it be?

  In over two years since transmigrating, he had never left the Divine General's Manor. His activities were limited to the Inner Court and the stables, always cautious, never offending anyone, yet someone still came specifically to kill him?

  And the person who wanted him dead.

  Was either rich or powerful.

  Just the fact that they could fly was extraordinary.

  Even more absurd was that the medicinal bath he soaked in, while unconscious, directly allowed him to enter the Martial Path and step into the Skin Refining Stage!

  This was truly defying the heavens.

  It's known that martial training should start from childhood. He was too old, having missed the best time to train.

  Moreover, it's said that when starting martial training, one must maintain a virgin body, and according to memory, the original owner of this body was a true craftsman, indulging at least ten times a week.

  The doctor, after checking his pulse, shook his head, saying: "The primordial yang is lost, the innate essence severely depleted, and with age, the innate qi from the womb has dissipated. Without a miracle, he can never become a martial artist in this life."

  It was like a death sentence.

  Yet just one medicinal bath directly allowed him to enter the Martial Path!

  Who could it be?

  Who would go to such lengths to deal with him?

  [Simution ended, generating rewards. You can keep one of them.]

  [, The cultivation at the peak of the Skin Refining Stage.]

  Seeing the reward, Chen Shi breathed a sigh of relief.

  The things from the simutor could manifest in reality.

  Great!

  Chen Shi decisively chose .

  The next moment, a warm current flowed through his body, his bones crackling, and a strong vital qi and blood surged within him, giving him a feeling of boundless energy.

  His body no longer felt heavy.

  Even his breathing seemed light and free, unlike the sub-healthy state from doing too much needlework before.

  Chen Shi reached down and thought, "It's indeed much firmer."

  He was referring to his abs.

  Now, his muscle definition was perfect. In a modern club, he'd be a top pick, destined to be adored by wealthy dies.

  Just that his skin was a bit too pale, somewhere between wheat and snow white, not quite manly enough.

  "I heard that in the Skin Refining Stage, ordinary weapons can't harm you, and your body can withstand blunt force..."

  Feeling the immense power within.

  Chen Shi stood up.

  With qi sinking to his dantian, he threw a punch.

  "Boom!"

  The earthen bed, which had been his for a year, broke with a loud crack.

  Looking at his unharmed fist, Chen Shi couldn't suppress a smile.

  He knew.

  He was about to rise.