You heard several men and women in the distance calling the little girl's name.
You frowned slightly, your eyes scrutinizing the little girl.
You covered the little girl's mouth and flashed into the bushes.
Soon after, four men and one woman, five adults in all, arrived near the riverbank.
Their skin was dark, their bodies lean and wiry, and they all wore short shirts and shorts that allowed easy movement.
All five were ordinary people, not martial artists.
The five anxiously searched the area for a while.
From their conversation, you learned that—
Two of the five were Xiao Xuan's parents.
The five lived nearby and had come to the river today to fetch water.
Xiao Xuan had run off out of curiosity and wandered here alone.
When she secretly watched you, you noticed her.
The five had been calling out and searching for Xiao Xuan around you all along.
After confirming that they posed no threat, you led Xiao Xuan out.
"Are you looking for her?" you asked, holding the child in your hand.
"Xiao Xuan!!" A woman immediately rushed over and took Xiao Xuan into her arms.
Tears welled in Xiao Xuan's eyes as she buried her head in her mother's embrace, badly frightened.
Her mother hurriedly checked Xiao Xuan over. Finding that she was unharmed, she finally let out a breath of relief.
The others looked at you curiously.
One of them, apparently the leader, asked, "Are you alone?"
You nodded.
"You won't survive alone in Black Dragon Forest. Come back to the village with us," the leader said.
You were quite puzzled.
The leader's tone was sincere and open, as though accepting a stranger like you was the most natural thing in the world.
Only after questioning them carefully did you learn—
They came from a nearby village called Peach Blossom Village.
Peach Blossom Village was the only human settlement deep within Black Dragon Forest.
The dozen or so people who had first founded Peach Blossom Village had also come from the Great Qian Empire.
They had been ordinary farmers. Unable to bear the crushing burden of exorbitant taxes and levies, they had fled together into the depths of Black Dragon Forest and put down roots there.
Peach Blossom Village had existed for over two hundred years and now had more than five hundred residents.
They had cut themselves off from the outside world and completely blended into Black Dragon Forest.
Peach Blossom Village had always maintained a tradition of accepting outsiders.
That was why they had so naturally invited you to join the village.
In a primeval forest like Black Dragon Forest, where fierce beasts watched from every side, ordinary people simply could not survive on their own.
Going with the flow, you pretended to be an ordinary person who had accidentally entered Black Dragon Forest and followed them back to the village, intending to understand their situation.
Upon arriving at Peach Blossom Village, you discovered that everything the leader had said was true.
You nodded and praised them. "Good, good. Great Qian people don't deceive Great Qian people."
Yan Hongde, Peach Blossom Village's current Village Elder, also gladly invited you to stay.
The white-haired Yan Hongde was seventy-two years old, exactly the same age as your fair-skinned, tender self.
Yan Hongde told you that the nearby area was all territory belonging to those giant apes, and that you must never act alone.
Otherwise, you could easily be torn to pieces by the apes.
Only by staying in Peach Blossom Village and gathering together could everyone survive in the peril-ridden Black Dragon Forest.
You declined Yan Hongde's invitation to stay and returned to your own small courtyard.
You had confirmed that they were all ordinary people without cultivation and posed no threat to you.
Seeing that you insisted on leaving, Yan Hongde did not try to keep you any longer.
He merely told you that if you could no longer survive, you could go to Peach Blossom Village.
Two days later, several people from Peach Blossom Village came to the outside of your courtyard.
The little girl Xiao Xuan came as well.
They brought you some food and daily necessities.
But when they saw your courtyard, they were deeply shaken.
They rarely used the word majestic to describe a farmer's courtyard.
Yet this courtyard, covering more than ten acres and enclosed by towering stone walls over twenty feet high, left them standing there with their mouths hanging open, unable to speak.
Compared to your courtyard, the village where several hundred of them lived was like a child's toy house built while playing pretend.
After seeing the wide variety of fruits and vegetables in your courtyard, along with all kinds of poultry, they silently hid the few chunks of wild boar meat they had brought behind their backs.
They truly could not bring themselves to present them.
Xiao Xuan curiously ran around your courtyard, looking everywhere.
One moment she watched the piglets, and the next she teased the chicks and ducklings. She was overjoyed.
Having grown up in Black Dragon Forest, Xiao Xuan had never seen so many kinds of adorable little food animals.
You kept them for a lavish lunch.
After they returned, Yan Hongde hurried over that very afternoon.
When he saw your courtyard, which resembled a small city, he was equally stunned.
As he left, he muttered to himself that if Peach Blossom Village had walls this high, they would never have to worry about wild beasts attacking again.
You paid them no mind and continued cultivating.
Half a year later, in the fifty-eighth year—
You cultivated the Desolate Heaven Saber Technique to the Bone Tempering Middle Stage.
True Qi surged through your body like raging tides, and your liquid True Qi grew more than fivefold once again.
Your strength soared. Grasping the Minghong Blade, you danced through the entire courtyard.
The surging True Qi gradually became more than the Minghong Blade could bear.
The blade's body went limp, trembling and twitching incessantly on the ground.
You planned to find time to reforge the Minghong Blade.
Your skill in refining Qi and Blood Pills had finally reached perfection.
Out of ten Qi and Blood Pills, you could refine at least nine successfully. When you were in good form, all ten would succeed.
That day, you were condensing True Qi for the fourth time.
Yan Hongde came to see you.
He asked where you had found so many massive boulders for building the walls.
Over the past half year, he had gathered the young and strong men of Peach Blossom Village and quarried every stone they could find nearby.
Yet there were still nowhere near enough massive boulders to reinforce Peach Blossom Village's walls.
You said nothing and merely pointed at the mountain nearby that now had only half of it left.
Yan Hongde looked at you in disbelief. "You quarried all of that by yourself?!"
You nodded.
The distant mountaintop had been hollowed out by you.
The massive boulders had been quarried from inside the mountain.
Yan Hongde understood that you were a martial artist of formidable strength.
He did not come looking for you again.
Your life returned to peace.
You continued condensing True Qi.
In the fifty-ninth year, you successfully condensed your True Qi for the fourth time.
Your True Qi could now leave your body and be released outward.
Its range was ten feet, and its destructive power was not great; it could only harm ordinary people.
But you were still thrilled. True Qi Release was the mark of the Essence Refining Peak.
At the Essence Refining Peak, True Qi became incomparably dense, as solid as a physical object, allowing it to be released outward to attack enemies.
Though you were only at the Bone Tempering Middle Stage, the density of your True Qi had already reached the required standard.
With a sudden flick of your fingertip, a stream of liquid True Qi shot forth.
The roasted suckling pig not far away immediately collapsed to the ground.
A bloody hole the size of a fist appeared in its head.
"This is basically a little pistol!"
You were extremely satisfied with its striking power.
Moreover, you knew that as the number of condensations increased, the released force would grow even stronger.
You could not wait to begin your fifth True Qi condensation.
That day, you were condensing True Qi in the courtyard.
The gate to your small courtyard was suddenly pounded on frantically.
At the same time, Yan Hongde's urgent cry for help came from outside. "Young Master He! Please save us!!"