News of Miao Liwu

In the thirty-third year, you lived alone in Black Dragon Forest for three years.

You began raising pigs and dogs, chickens and ducks.

Every day, you talked to those animals, lest your language skills deteriorate.

In your quiet little courtyard, you planted several peach trees.

You loved peach trees. Their blossoms were beautiful, and their fruit was delicious.

Whenever you looked at the peach trees, you thought of Miao Liwu. You wondered how that Martial Path genius was doing.

In this dense forest, you built a base of your own.

You often lay beneath the peach trees in the courtyard, closing your eyes to rest your spirit.

Sometimes, you went fishing at a waterfall not far away.

You no longer used true qi to stun the fish, but quietly waited for them to take the bait.

Gradually, you truly came to understand the joy of fishing.

Aside from cultivation, your life was leisurely.

You understood the mood of "plucking chrysanthemums beneath the eastern hedge, leisurely glimpsing the southern mountains."

In the thirty-fifth year, you turned fifty.

You still looked barely past twenty. That was one benefit of cultivating the Martial Path: you aged more slowly than ordinary people.

Even at eighty or ninety, you might look only thirty or forty.

Thus, one could not judge a martial artist's age merely by appearance.

The person before you might look like a young man, yet he could be your aunt.

Though martial artists aged slowly in appearance, their actual lifespans were not much different from ordinary people's.

Martial artists generally lived to eighty or ninety, while especially long-lived ones could reach a hundred or so.

There were rumors that Supreme Grandmasters lived even longer.

You had never encountered martial artists of that level, so you did not know whether those rumors were true.

You did not dwell on it. You were only in the Bone Tempering Realm, still far too distant from becoming a Supreme Grandmaster.

You simply cultivated with no distractions in your heart.

Your Early Bone Tempering Realm cultivation had become extremely stable.

At your current rate of swallowing pills, you estimated that you would break through to the Bone Tempering Middle Stage in another two years.

You had cultivated Phantom Phoenix Steps to the minor achievement stage.

Your footwork had become even more flamboyant.

You could even dodge basic attacks through positioning.

You now knew that Wan Qingluan had not used her full strength when she chased you back then.

You had become more skilled at refining Qi and Blood Pills.

Out of ten Qi and Blood Pills, you could successfully refine eight.

Your proficiency in refining Qi and Blood Pills had already reached the major achievement stage.

With this Qi and Blood Pill refining skill, you could become at least a core technical specialist in any sect.

However, Qi and Blood Pills were only effective for the Skin Tempering Realm and Bone Tempering Realm.

Once one reached the Marrow Washing Realm and beyond, Qi and Blood Pills had little effect.

After Marrow Washing, one needed Inner Divinity Pills to noticeably increase true qi and assist cultivation.

You planned to get hold of an Inner Divinity Pill formula when the opportunity arose.

But pill formulas were extremely precious.

Usually, alchemists passed them down through eighteen generations in a single line, and outsiders rarely obtained them.

You did not insist on it. You would leave it to fate.

At the very least, your current supply of Qi and Blood Pills was unlimited. You would first raise your cultivation to the Bone Tempering Peak Stage.

In the thirty-seventh year, you sometimes needed to leave the dense forest and visit nearby towns to purchase materials for refining Qi and Blood Pills.

That day, you were eating and resting at an inn within the city.

The conversation of several martial artists next door drifted into your ears.

"Have you heard? Young Hero Miao of the Sword Establishment Sect won again this time!"

"I heard it. That Wolf King ranked third among the Demonic Path's younger generation!"

"Young Hero Miao fought him in Azure Mesa Desert for three days and three nights. In the end, Young Hero Miao slowly emerged from Azure Mesa Desert alone, his long spear raising the Wolf King's head high in the air. What magnificence! What exhilaration!"

"Of the Demonic Path's younger generation's top ten, Young Hero Miao has already slain eight. The Demonic Path will surely suffer grievous losses this time!"

"Young Hero Miao is only twenty-one, yet he has already reached the Divine Organs Peak Stage. I dare not imagine what heights he will reach in the future!"

"The Sword Establishment Sect is likely to produce another Supreme Grandmaster."

"Isn't the Sword Establishment Sect founded upon the sword? Why is Young Hero Miao's weapon a spear?"

"Apparently, when Young Hero Miao was young, a Martial Path senior gave him a great spear and led him onto the path of martial arts. From then on, Young Hero Miao specialized in spear techniques and used only a long spear to kill his enemies!"

This was the first time you had heard news of Miao Liwu.

You had not expected that snot-nosed child to have reached such heights.

Miao Liwu's cultivation was two major realms above yours.

You felt as though you had lived all these decades into a dog's belly.

"Good lad, you've really got some kick!"

But then again, did you envy Miao Liwu's talent?

You did not, because you were a cheat-user!

"This simulation, your uncle lost to you. Just wait until your uncle runs a few more simulations!"

"A genius? Every genius has to call me a genius!"

At the same time, you thought of a question: would Miao Liwu still be born in the next simulation?

Without you delivering food during that drought, Wei Xia and Miao Jiayao had likely starved to death. How could Miao Liwu possibly have been born?

But perhaps not. During that drought, Wei Xia had still possessed the strength to run over and find you. Perhaps she could have survived.

Miao Jiayao had no shares in Miao Liwu's birth; another investor had injected the funds.

There were too many uncertain factors.

You did not think about it further.

You then thought of how Miao Liwu had always used a spear. He had surely been influenced by the martial arts manual you left him.

"Using a spear in the Sword Establishment Sect—you really are something."

The Sword Establishment Sect was no minor sect, but one of the Five Great Sects, with formidable strength.

In terms of combat power alone, it ranked first among the Five Great Sects.

One could imagine how much preferential treatment Miao Liwu received in the Sword Establishment Sect because of his talent.

But none of that had anything to do with you.

You would not seek out Miao Liwu. You would even stay farther away from him.

Only by avoiding karma with such heaven-defying figures could you live longer.

You returned to the dense forest and continued living as a wild man.

You cultivated even more diligently.

You even stopped fishing.

From dawn until dusk, you swallowed pills.

Facing the first ray of morning sunlight, you stuffed down a handful of Qi and Blood Pills.

Enduring the unbearable damp heat of noon, you stuffed down a handful of Qi and Blood Pills.

With the first wisp of cool night wind blowing over you, you stuffed down a handful of Qi and Blood Pills.

You were even afraid that you would develop resistance to Qi and Blood Pills.

At last, heaven did not disappoint the pill-swallowing man.

In the thirty-eighth year, you were already fifty-three.

One morning, the bones all over your body crackled wildly.

You broke through to the Bone Tempering Middle Stage.

True qi surged, making the peach trees in the courtyard rustle and shake.

A gale swept up the peach blossoms, sending them fluttering into the sky.

True qi formed a thin membrane around your body, capable of blocking the blade and sword attacks of ordinary people.

Your bones began showing signs of turning to jade, gleaming with a lustrous radiance.

Your skeleton had been strengthened, becoming hard bones in the truest sense.

Your Phantom Phoenix Stride had also improved.

Its proficiency had reached the major achievement stage.

You could now remain in the air for the time of a single breath.

Your combat strength in the air received an epic boost.

Your Qi and Blood Pill refining ability remained at the major achievement stage.

Advancing it to perfection was extremely difficult.

You knew this was called the law of diminishing returns: the more one sought to perfect that final little bit, the more effort one had to expend.

Fortunately, your major achievement-level refining ability was already sufficient, and you did not demand perfection.

You only needed to slowly improve your refining skills through daily refinement.

That day, you were cultivating in the little courtyard.

Someone kicked your courtyard gate flying with one foot.

A furious shout rang out: "He Yu, you vile thief, come out and die!!"