Chapter 530: Chapter 530: Camouflage in the Dust

Ethan’s mind worked rapidly behind his blank gaze. He couldn’t quite fathom why a complete stranger would offer such a generous, equal split to a ragged, malnourished boy who looked like he could barely carry his own weapon. A split like that was practically charity on the frontier.

"Crul, scan them," Ethan commanded silently.

["The woman is at the absolute peak of the Body Refining Realm. The children are slightly lower. Their muscular structure indicates standard physical labor, and their spiritual channels are narrow and unrefined. Master, even if they tried to ambush you, they couldn’t pierce a single layer of your skin. They pose a zero-percent threat level."]

With his true power sitting comfortably at the Mid-Level of the Core Awakening Realm, these three were like infants compared to him. Even if this was some sort of crude trap to rob him, he could slaughter them all before they could even draw a breath. But looking at the gentle, anxious expression on the mother’s face, it felt less like a trap and more like a desperate family looking for safety in numbers.

More importantly, traveling with a local family of low-level laborers was the ultimate camouflage. It would completely erase any lingering suspicions the Heavenly Sword Pavilion’s watchers might have about a lone, mysterious traveler.

Ethan forced a small, submissive nod, letting a look of relief wash over his face. "I... I don’t have much to offer besides a bit of strength, big sister. But if you’re willing to split the weight, I would be grateful to join you."

The woman’s smile widened, her ample chest rising with a sigh of relief. "Wonderful! My name is Mary, and these are my children, Louisa and Roy" Mary said, her soft voice instantly easing the tension as they walked past the last stone buildings of the settlement. "The mountain roads are treacherous, and a lone traveler is always easy prey for the beasts—or worse, the bandits. Having an extra set of hands makes all the difference."

Ethan offered a meek, quiet nod, keeping his eyes glued to the dirt path ahead. "Thank you, Sister Mary. My name is Ethan. I... I don’t have much besides this old blade, but I can carry my own weight."

Louisa, the teenage girl, cast a skeptical glance at the jagged, blackened length of iron wrapped in cheap twine on Ethan’s back. She let out a small, quiet huff but didn’t say anything, while her brother Roy kept his head down, gripping a basic, notched iron spear with white knuckles.

As they walked away from the bustling town center, leaving the noise of the market squares behind, the path began to tilt sharply upward, winding into the jagged, misty foothills of the Azure Mist Province. The air grew thinner and colder, carrying the sharp scent of damp pine and wet granite.

*"Crul, are the rooftop watchers still tracking us?"* Ethan asked inwardly, keeping his posture slouched and his breathing heavy, perfectly mimicking a strained Body Refining laborer.

["Analysis: The surveillance from the exchange outpost dropped off approximately three hundred meters back, Master,"] Crul reported smoothly. ["However, do not lower your guard. The Heavenly Sword Pavilion maintains passive tracking arrays along these primary climbing paths. Your current heart rate, stride length, and energy output are being recorded as standard parameters for a low-level mortal. Maintain the illusion."]

*"Good. Let them log it,"* Ethan thought, a cold smile forming deep within his mind.

To any surveyor, he was just a desperate, penniless boy tagging along with a struggling local family to scrape together enough stones for a hot meal and a bed. Nobody would ever suspect that this ragged group was being led by a cultivator who had recently shattered the bottleneck into the Mid-Level of the Core Awakening Realm.

"We need to be careful once we cross the lower ravine," Mary warned, halting the group near a narrow rope bridge that spanned a roaring mountain river. She wiped a bead of sweat from her brow, her ample chest heaving slightly under her simple linen tunic. "The Silver-Horned Boars like to wallow in the mud flats near the bamboo groves just past the clearing. They are heavily armored, Ethan. If one charges, you don’t try to block it—you jump, understand?"

"I understand, Sister Mary," Ethan replied, his voice trembling just enough to sound appropriately intimidated. "I’ll follow your lead."

As they crossed the swaying wooden planks of the bridge one by one, Ethan felt the damp mist coat his face. His senses, vastly enhanced by his newly evolved spiritual core, were already mapping the terrain far beyond what Mary or her children could perceive.

Mary adjusted the strap of her hunting pack, looking at Ethan with a warm, maternal curiosity as they navigated the slippery rocky path beyond the bridge. "You don’t talk like the locals around these ridges, little brother. Where are you from?"

Ethan paused for a fraction of a second, his expression darkening into a well-rehearsed mask of quiet grief. He lowered his eyes, staring at his worn boots. "I’m from a small settlement a few days’ travel north of here. It was called Green Mountain Village. It... it was completely destroyed a couple of weeks ago by a rogue pack of mountain drakes."

Mary gasped softly, her hand flying to her mouth, while Louisa and Roy looked back at him with sudden empathy.

"Oh, you poor child," Mary whispered, her mature voice dripping with genuine sorrow. "I heard rumors about Green Mountain. They say almost nothing was left standing."

"Yes, ma’er," Ethan muttered, choking back a fake sob. "My family didn’t make it. I used the absolute last of our hidden savings just to pay the merchants for a safe transit through the mountain passes to get down here. I have nothing left but my life and this rusted piece of iron."

This was the bulletproof backstory Princess Isabella’s network had meticulously constructed for him. Green Mountain Village was a real place, and its destruction was an undeniable fact. Because the survivors had scattered like dust in every direction across the province, tracking down individual registers was a logistical nightmare for the local sects.

But the White Unicorns hadn’t stopped there. To ensure absolute security against deep espionage checks, the network had already placed several brainwashed "survivors" in the neighboring border towns. If the Heavenly Sword Pavilion ever sent investigators to cross-reference his identity, these plants would conveniently testify, with tears in their eyes, that they remembered young Ethan and his late parents perfectly.

"Well, you’re safe now, Ethan," Mary said firmly, reaching out to gently pat his shoulder, her ample figure radiating warmth. "The Heavenly Sword Pavilion keeps these lower ridges relatively clear of high-level threats. If we manage to bag this boar, you’ll have enough stones to rent a proper room and start over."

"Thank you, Sister Mary," Ethan murmured, offering a small, fragile smile.

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From this moment forward, to avoid confusion regarding cultivation ranks, I will include this footer with the current established levels.

Note: These are only the ranks mentioned so far to avoid spoilers.

Body Refinement Realm

Skin Refinement / Bone Refinement / Organ Refinement

Spiritual Gathering Realm

Spiritual Perception / Spiritual Mist / Spiritual Condensation

Spiritual Core Realm

Core Solidification / Core Awakening / Spiritual Collapse (Half-step Spiritual Core)

Spiritual Soul Realm

Spiritual Soul Awakening / Soul Nourishing / Soul-Core Fusion

Golden Core Realm

Prime Fusion / Core Perfection / Core Destruction

Spiritual Sea Realm

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??

Dao Manifestation Realm 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??

Spiritual Transcendence

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??