Chapter 60

"Then you won’t be able to recover either. Even if I can’t become a spirit talisman master, I can still cultivate martial arts. As for you, without my help, I believe it will be very difficult for you to recover." Du Shaofu was not at all intimidated by Zhen Qingchun’s threat.

"Fine, let’s part ways."

Zhen Qingchun was not someone to be easily provoked. Having lived for so many years, he was not one to be easily led around by the nose. He glared at Du Shaofu and said, "If you don’t become my disciple today, I won’t teach you anymore."

"Don’t be so absolute."

Du Shaofu looked at Zhen Qingchun with a sheepish smile and said, "We can’t become master and disciple, but we can still be brothers. Let’s become sworn brothers. You look so young, I look older than you, so I’ll be the older brother and you’ll be the younger brother. What do you think?"

"Zhen Qingchun, brother, don’t go into the tower. Becoming sworn brothers is pretty good, right?"

"Fine, on odd days you can be the older brother, and on even days I’ll be the older brother. What do you think? This way, you won’t be at a disadvantage."

...

Three hours later, in the valley behind the Du family’s estate, Du Shaofu knelt on the ground respectfully, looking up at the sky and said, "Heaven above, earth below, I, Du Shaofu, swear today to become brothers with Zhen Qingchun. In the future, the older brother will be kind and the younger brother will be loving. The older brother has the duty to take care of, protect, and care for the younger brother, while the younger brother will take care of the older brother as the situation allows. We will share happiness and face difficulties together. If I violate this oath, may I be struck by lightning, have boils on my head, sores on my feet, and hemorrhoids on my buttocks."

"Du Shaofu, what do you mean by the older brother has the duty to take care of, protect, and care for the younger brother, while the younger brother will take care of the older brother as the situation allows?"

Zhen Qingchun’s ethereal body also knelt on the ground, his eyes glaring fiercely at Du Shaofu. After three hours of various threats and inducements from Du Shaofu, he was finally forced to agree to become sworn brothers. The only thing he managed to secure was that he would always be the older brother, regardless of whether it was an odd or even day.

But at this moment, Zhen Qingchun felt extremely aggrieved. He was of such high status that if this were to get out, even if he recovered to his prime, he would be too embarrassed to show his face.

Du Shaofu turned to Zhen Qingchun with a grin and said, "Brother Qingchun, quickly bow. As the older brother, you naturally have to take care of the younger brother. You won’t be at a disadvantage anyway."

Zhen Qingchun was speechless and had no choice but to follow Du Shaofu in bowing to the sky and repeating the oath. When it came to the part about boils on the head, sores on the feet, and hemorrhoids on the buttocks, he was also quite speechless.

"The ceremony is complete. From now on, we are brothers. From now on, I really envy you."

Du Shaofu stood up, a smile on his face. He felt that he was at a great disadvantage by becoming Zhen Qingchun’s disciple, but if he didn’t, Zhen Qingchun wouldn’t agree. Du Shaofu was also afraid that Zhen Qingchun wouldn’t teach him seriously. Now that they had become sworn brothers, everything was different. With such a solemn oath, he didn’t fear that Zhen Qingchun would betray him.

"What do you envy about me?" Zhen Qingchun stood up, his ethereal face still looking extremely aggrieved.

"I envy you for being my sworn older brother, and I envy you for having me as your sworn younger brother. I really envy you." Du Shaofu looked very serious.

After a long while, Zhen Qingchun’s aggrieved face finally spat out two words: "Go to hell!"

Du Shaofu laughed, not minding, and looked at Zhen Qingchun, saying, "Brother Qingchun, we are already brothers. As the older brother, you won’t give me a little gift, right? Do you really have no good martial techniques or spirit artifacts? Spirit medicines are also fine, I don’t mind."

Zhen Qingchun glared fiercely at Du Shaofu and didn’t engage with the boy’s words, saying, "Tomorrow, go buy some things. Those spirit medicines that enhance the spirit roots are no longer effective for you. You need to find some other spirit medicines. I want you to progress faster in martial arts. Starting tomorrow, I will formally teach you alchemy and talisman arrays. I will teach you to refine some spirit medicines to help you progress faster in martial arts. Only when you are strong enough can you help me find some things. With just your mystic energy, you can’t help me recover quickly."

"Alright!"

Du Shaofu’s face regained its composure. He needed to become stronger, to strive to become stronger. ...

The next morning, Du Shaofu went to the Du family’s business again and bought a lot of spirit medicines and other items according to the list Zhen Qingchun had given him. The 6,000 mystic coins in his mystic coin card were far from enough. Du Shaofu finally had to painfully take out a lot of good things from his spatial bag and sell them to pay for the items.

The streets of Stone City were already bustling in the morning.

When Du Shaofu left the Du family’s business and the market, he was blocked by a group of young men and women. They all looked hurried, and it seemed they had planned this in advance, knowing he was in the market and rushing over.

Among the group of young men and women, a young man in his twenties, wearing expensive and exquisite ornaments around his waist, looked quite good, but his face was a bit pale, making him seem somewhat delicate. He looked at Du Shaofu and said coldly, "You are Du Shaofu from the Du family?"

Du Shaofu looked up at the group of people, recognizing a few of them from his childhood. The one speaking seemed to be from the Bai family. He raised his eyes and said, "Bai Tianming, do you have something to say?"

"Xiao Lu, this guy should be Du Shaofu, whom we met when we were young."

The young man in the delicate attire did not reply to Du Shaofu but instead spoke warmly to a girl around eighteen or nineteen years old beside him.

The girl’s eyes had already landed on Du Shaofu. She was quite beautiful, with a smile on her lips as she looked at Du Shaofu with a slight sneer and said in a somewhat harsh and grating voice, "Brother Anlong said he is the best among the young generation of our five families. Hmph, I don’t think the man that Ye Zhenjin likes is anything special. A fool who was dumb for ten years, how strong can he be?"

"Xiao Lu, Ye Zhenjin can’t compare to you. I think Brother Anlong is just talking nonsense." Bai Tianming was always closely following the girl.

"Bai Tianming, don’t insult Brother Anlong." The girl’s expression suddenly changed.

"Xiao Lu, didn’t Brother Anlong say this guy is the best among the young generation of our five families? I’ll prove it to you today. Brother Anlong is just talking nonsense." Hearing the girl’s words, Bai Tianming was taken aback, then a hint of darkness passed over his delicate face.

"Hmph, you want to teach this Du Shaofu a lesson, right?"

The girl raised her head slightly, looking at Du Shaofu with a cold smile, and said to Bai Tianming, whose face was quite dark, "If you lose to that guy, don’t come near me again."

"I’ll make him beg on his knees."

Bai Tianming’s eyes fixed on Du Shaofu, as if he wanted to vent all his dissatisfaction and resentment on him. A cruel smile appeared on his delicate face, and he said, "Du Shaofu, they all say you are the best among the young generation of the five families. Today, I’ll show them how shallow Ye Zhenjin and Brother Anlong’s judgment is."