"Uh... I was afraid Grandpa would scold me, but then I remembered that Grandpa is no longer here..." Henry Clark said sadly, thinking of the heartless Grace Harper. That kind of sorrow needed no acting; it flowed out naturally.

Julia Foster's eyes reddened when she heard Henry Clark mention his grandfather. If it weren't for Henry Clark's grandfather, she, Julia Foster, would have been gone long ago. Now that Henry Clark brought up his grandfather again, Julia Foster was also moved. She stuffed the silver coins in her hand into Henry Clark's, saying, "You need to focus on recovering your health now. I'll try to come back and visit you when I can. Once you're feeling better, if you still want to go to the academy, I'll take you there."

After speaking, Julia Foster turned and left the stone house, quickly disappearing from sight.

Henry Clark looked at the not-so-many silver coins in his hand, then at the low, dark stone house, and immediately understood that Julia Foster's life wasn't easy either.

In the future, he would have to live in this place, and he absolutely couldn't rely on Julia Foster. The current Henry Clark was no longer the muddle-headed Henry Clark of before; he could feel the hardships of survival here. This was a world where the strong preyed on the weak. Not only was it hard to survive without strength, or you could only live under someone else's feet—even a family as powerful as the Ning family had once been could be wiped out overnight.

He knew very well that once Julia Foster advanced to the fourth level of Qi Gathering, she would leave him. Not to mention that the two of them weren't married—even if they were. A cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Gathering was a key figure to be nurtured in the Cangqin Kingdom, and there was no way a cripple like him would be allowed to stay by her side.

Unless he also cultivated to the fourth level of Qi Gathering. But although he had the Ning family's cultivation techniques, he lacked the aptitude. After so many years of cultivation, he still couldn't gather Qi, let alone reach the fourth level.

Even if he couldn't cultivate, he had to find a way to survive. Henry Clark made up his mind silently, sighing at the same time. It was a pity he couldn't cultivate. If he could, maybe one day on this planet, he could reach the Foundation Establishment stage and then find a way back to Earth.

Henry Clark couldn't cultivate, but that didn't mean he didn't know about some cultivation realms. He knew there were nine major realms and eighty-one minor stages. But the highest realm he knew of was only the Foundation Establishment stage. In the memories he had received, there had once been a Foundation Establishment expert in the Cangqin Kingdom.

The only cultivation realms Henry Clark understood were the first three: Qi Gathering, True Condensation, and Foundation Establishment. Qi Gathering was about gathering true Qi in the meridians, and depending on how much true Qi one could gather, it was divided into nine levels. Julia Foster was currently at the third level of Qi Gathering, and the fourth level was a watershed. Although there were many at the third level in the Cangqin Two-Star Academy, the number dropped sharply at the fourth level.

When a cultivator's true Qi reached a certain level, they would advance to the True Condensation realm, where true Qi began to transform into true essence. The True Condensation realm also had nine levels; the more robust the true essence, the more profound the cultivation. The dean and vice dean of the Cangqin Two-Star Academy were both True Condensation cultivators, and their strength was unmatched in the Cangqin Kingdom.

As for the Foundation Establishment stage, there were none in the Cangqin Kingdom now.

Henry Clark came from Earth and had heard all kinds of cultivation legends. Moreover, there were now people on Earth who could cultivate inner Qi, so he wasn't surprised that cultivation was possible on the Yixing Continent. Of course, he hadn't yet realized that cultivation, as it progressed, would far exceed his imagination.

Henry Clark knew his aptitude was extremely poor and that he couldn't cultivate. On top of that, his body was in poor condition. Even if he could recall some of the Ning family's cultivation techniques, he had no intention of cultivating. To survive here, the first priority was to nurse his body back to health.

After Julia Foster returned to the academy, there was no further news from her. Henry Clark never went out either. Apart from resting in the stone house, he spent his time exercising in the front yard.

A few days later, although Henry Clark still looked a bit thin and weak, he had gradually regained his vitality. At least, he no longer felt feeble. Henry Clark felt that he could go out and have a look. At the very least, he needed to get a sense of the environment in the capital of the Cangqin Kingdom. If he was going to live here in the future, what could he do?

Chapter 0003: Cangle City

The capital of the Cangqin Kingdom, Cangle City, was very prosperous. In Henry Clark's memories, there were many images of Cangle City, but for Henry Clark, this was the first time he had truly set foot in it. Cangle City gave Henry Clark a sense of bustling prosperity tinged with a kind of desolation, like an old man whose strength was slowly fading, a bit unsteady.

The streets of Cangle City crisscrossed each other, with every wide avenue branching off into many smaller streets, interwoven like a spider's web.

On both sides of the streets were all kinds of shops, many of which sold things Henry Clark had never even heard of before, let alone seen. The most common shops dealt in buying and selling all kinds of fierce beast materials, low-grade spirit herbs, and some sold weapons. The higher-end shops sold magical artifacts and pills.

As for inns, ordinary clothing stores, and brothels, they were too numerous to count.

The buildings in Cangle City were of all kinds—not only were there pavilions, but also Western-style castle-like structures. These buildings mixed together made the whole city seem somewhat incongruous.