Three Years of Time

The system's newly unlocked function made Xiao Heng's heart burn with blazing passion. This world had never been fair. Some things were already decided from the moment of birth.

Closing his eyes, Xiao Heng continued cultivating. With his faster cultivation speed, he became even more engrossed in cultivation. It felt just like playing ranked matches in his previous life—thrilling as hell. And now, he could only win, never lose. That feeling could be summed up in one word.

"Awesome! Ah!"

Although he had yet to figure out how to add Energy and Skill Points or what they were used for, it did nothing to dampen Xiao Heng's good mood.

"Today is a good day! A beautiful mood calls for going out!" Humming a song, Xiao Heng happily began his Cultivation Journey.

"Eh? It's already past dinnertime. Otherwise, I could've gotten a free meal."

By the time Xiao Heng finished cultivating, the sky was already growing dark. Naturally, the Xiao Family had no food left for him, but fortunately, he always kept some Provisions on hand. This was also related to how he often forgot to eat while cultivating. In any case, he was already used to it. After eating his provisions, Xiao Heng went back outside to the small courtyard and began practicing Basic Martial Arts.

There was not much knowledge in Basic Martial Arts, but completing it was not easy either. First, he had to hold a Horse Stance continuously for three hours without using Dou Force before it counted as complete.

Then came Fist Techniques, followed by Leg Techniques, grappling, and finally weapons.

Just like in One Man's Martial World: fists first, then legs, then grappling. Only after the Three Intentions United could one advance to weapons.

After cultivating for all these years, Xiao Heng had nearly mastered fists and legs. Next came grappling, followed by the Three Intentions United and learning weapons...

Time always passed quickly, especially during cultivation. Before he knew it, three years had passed.

"Open panel!" Xiao Heng silently recited in his heart.

A black-and-white panel appeared before Xiao Heng. Naturally, he was the only one who could see it.

Host: Xiao Heng

Cultivation: Fighter Three-star

Cultivation Technique: Innate Skill (Mystic Grade High)

Dou Technique: Basic Martial Arts (Yellow-tier Advanced)

Skill Points: Sixteen

Energy Points: Forty

After three years of exploration, Xiao Heng had long since figured out the uses of Skill Points and Energy Points.

Skill Points could be used to raise the level of cultivation techniques or Dou Techniques. To upgrade them, he had to possess another cultivation technique or Dou Technique of the same type to combine with it, which was equivalent to complementing it before upgrading. Energy Points, meanwhile, were used to exchange for Martial Arts Manuals in the Golden Finger. At the same time, Energy Points could also be used to upgrade certain special items. However, this was not unlimited, and it only applied to items. Anything with intelligence was excluded.

Over these three years, Xiao Heng had displayed quite a bit of his talent, so he had received considerable attention within the Xiao Family and obtained several Dou Techniques. He exchanged every one of them for Skill Points. Those Dou Techniques were not even as useful as Basic Martial Arts, so why keep them instead of exchanging them? Just to look pretty?

Although he had displayed a fair amount of talent, he had not revealed everything. During the last Dou Qi test, he had only shown the strength of Dou Force Seven Star, the same as Xiao Ning.

Even so, the Xiao Family had still given him a larger courtyard, arranged people specifically to take care of his food, clothing, housing, and transportation, and raised his monthly allowance to one hundred Gold Coins. His life was incomparably better than before. Naturally, since Xiao Zhan treated him fairly well, he had essentially enjoyed the treatment of a core disciple of the Xiao Family.

Of course, the prerequisite for such treatment was that he had maintained a decent relationship with Xiao Yan over the past few years. Whenever Xiao Yan was bullied, he would occasionally help him.

"I swear! I absolutely don't want to cling to the protagonist's leg. I'm only giving my idol a little help."

"Tomorrow is the Dou Force test. Xiao Yan's path to rising up will begin tomorrow." Xiao Heng's eyes gleamed, his heart filled with anticipation. The reason he had stayed in Wutan City was, first, to wait for the Jia Nan Academy entrance examination a year later, and second, because he wanted to witness Xiao Yan rise with his own eyes. He was very interested in that.

Xiao Yan, Dou Force Three Star.

The outcome was still the same. Watching Xiao Yan's furious yet helpless appearance, as well as the difference between the Xiao Family's past and present attitudes toward him, Xiao Heng secretly resolved that he had to cultivate hard and never suffer the disdain of others.

Xiao Heng waved toward Xiao Yan, who also walked over with a dejected expression. Over the past three years, because Xiao Zhan wanted Xiao Heng to look after Xiao Yan more in the future, the two had grown much closer. However, Xiao Heng had never comforted Xiao Yan, treating him only as an ordinary friend. Precisely because of Xiao Heng's attitude toward him, Xiao Yan also regarded him as a friend.

When a person was in despair, perhaps what he needed was not comfort. Comfort would only make him feel even more desperate.

"Xiao Heng, you came too." Xiao Yan's voice was full of dejection.

"Mm! I came to see whether I've made any progress recently." Xiao Heng smiled, his tone calm.

"Mm. Then I'll also see what level you, the Xiao Family's second genius, have reached." Xiao Yan's tone carried a hint of self-mockery.

The testing proceeded quickly, so it was soon Xiao Heng's turn.

"Next, Xiao Heng."

He pressed his palm against the stone wall and circulated the Innate Skill within his body.

"Xiao Heng, Dou Force Eight Star! Advanced!"

The tester was clearly startled. The people below the platform also began discussing among themselves.

"That's Xiao Heng! The peerless genius the family picked up."

"Right, his cultivation is actually the same as Young Master Xiao Ning's!"

"I heard he's even younger than Young Master Xiao Ning!"

"Then doesn't that mean his talent is even higher than Young Master Xiao Ning's?" "Shh, keep your voice down. Didn't you see that Young Master Xiao Ning doesn't look too happy?"

Hearing everyone's discussion, Xiao Ning's expression below the platform darkened.

"It's that Xiao Heng again." Xiao Ning glared angrily at the person on the platform and unconsciously clenched his fists. Sooner or later, he would make these people understand that he, Xiao Ning, was the most talented person in the Xiao Family.

"Next, Xiao Xun'er."

As the announcement of Dou Force Nine Star rang out, the entire venue erupted once more.

"Let's go!" As soon as Xiao Heng stepped down from the platform, Xiao Yan spoke to him.

"Not waiting for your little girlfriend?"

Xiao Yan remained unmoved by Xiao Heng's obvious teasing.

"No. I'm not the same as before." His voice was filled with dejection.

But reality did not go as he wished. A young girl who looked like a fairy ran toward Xiao Yan the moment she saw him.

"Looks like you have something to do. I'll find you next time." Xiao Heng smiled, his tone full of teasing but without the slightest trace of envy or jealousy. For the time being, he was not the protagonist, after all.

"You guy." Xiao Yan punched Xiao Heng hard on the shoulder, and his mood improved considerably.

Xiao Heng pretended to be in pain, then joked with Xiao Yan a few more times before waving goodbye and leaving. He had nothing to do with Xiao Xun'er for now, and besides, it was better to keep his distance from a friend's wife.

Returning to his courtyard, he picked up a sword and began practicing the basic sword techniques from Basic Martial Arts. Without using any Dou Force, the wooden sword still left deep marks wherever it passed.

During these three years, he had spent the first year mastering grappling, after which he began practicing weapons. However, despite persisting every day for the past two years, he still had not mastered the Three Intentions United.

"Mind and strength unite, strength and Qi unite, Qi and intent unite. Just how can I master it?" He did not have much time left. Without Hun Tiandi, he could take things slowly, but he did not want to live another life only to be controlled by others. Over the next few days, he continued practicing Basic Martial Arts, but still made no progress.

He silently called up the panel, and it appeared before him. Quite a few of the books on it had already lit up.

Xiao Heng looked at one of them. "Vertical and Horizontal Swordplay." He had especially admired the Guigu Sect in his previous life. Among the Hundred Schools of Thought, the Zongheng School stood above all. He, too, wanted to roam the world.

"Exchange for 'Vertical and Horizontal Swordplay,'" Xiao Heng silently recited.

His Energy Points rapidly decreased, falling from forty to four. Thirty-six Energy Points had been deducted all at once.

A first-tier Magic Core was worth only three to five points. These were all his savings from the past three years, along with the various cultivation resources the Xiao Family had given him, and together they had barely amounted to forty points. Now, they were all gone in an instant.

As the Energy Points vanished, all the knowledge regarding Vertical and Horizontal Swordplay appeared in his mind.

"Vertical and Horizontal Swordplay," Mystic Grade High, could be divided into Vertical Sword and Horizontal Sword, each of Mystic Grade Intermediate. The Vertical Sword's ultimate move was the Hundred Pace Flying Sword, while the Horizontal Sword's finishing move was Sweep the Eight Directions.

He held the Vertical Sword in his left hand and the Horizontal Sword in his right. Xiao Heng closed his eyes and began wielding the swords according to the contents of the manual, page by page. Since his sword fundamentals were already solid, he smoothly executed the sword moves until the final one.

Although the Dou Qi within his body was gradually running dry, Xiao Heng continued steadily channeling it through specific meridians and finally into the swords.

Two black-and-white Ink Dragons coiled around the swords. Then, the twin swords slashed out.

Sparks flew in all directions. The stone grated with a shrill sound, and then the sword light vanished.

The waist-high stone in front of him had already been split into four pieces. The cuts were perfectly smooth. The wooden sword in his hands, meanwhile, had been reduced to nothing but a hilt.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Xiao Heng knelt halfway on the ground, drenched in sweat and panting heavily. Both hands were braced against the ground, supporting his body.

That strike had drained all the Dou Qi in his body, but the result still filled him with indescribable delight.

"Heh! Looks like I'll have to find two better swords." Although exhausted, Xiao Heng's voice was filled with excitement.

He tossed the hilt aside and struggled to his feet. But the moment he stood up, the sky spun and his head swam. He closed his eyes and collapsed to the ground.

Xiao Zhan, who had been worrying about his son, suddenly sensed a Dou Shi-level wave of Dou Qi flash through the Xiao Family before vanishing.

"Father, what happened to him?" Xiao Yan asked, puzzled, when he saw the unconscious Xiao Heng.

Xiao Zhan shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure either. This child seems to have been cultivating a powerful Dou Technique. Take care of him for now. When he wakes up, ask him yourself. I still have to clean up after him."

The disturbance had not been noticed by him alone. But since the little fellow did not want others to know, Xiao Zhan would help him all the way. The Xiao Family was not something he alone could decide. Thinking of those few people, Xiao Zhan felt a headache coming on.

As Xiao Yan looked at Xiao Heng lying on the bed, a blurry figure of an old man suddenly appeared.

"Teacher, what happened to Xiao Heng?"

"He should have exhausted his Dou Qi, and it was drained all at once. That's why he ended up like this."

"Will anything happen to him?" Xiao Yan and Xiao Heng had a decent relationship, and he did not want anything to happen to him.

"Nothing will happen. He'll be fine after sleeping. I'm just wondering where he got such a high-level Dou Technique that could drain all his Dou Qi in one go. With his Fighter Three-star cultivation, the Dou Technique must be at least Mystic Grade or higher—and a particularly powerful Mystic Grade Dou Technique at that."

"Teacher, are you saying Xiao Heng became like this because he was cultivating a high-tier Dou Technique? Then where did he get such a high-level Dou Technique?"

Old Yao knocked Xiao Yan on the head and said irritably, "How should I know? Ask him yourself."

Xiao Yan chuckled, then suddenly realized something. "Teacher, did you just say he's a Dou Zhe?"

"Mm! That's right. Fighter Three-star." Old Yao nodded.

Xiao Yan fell silent for a moment. "Oh. I'm going to cultivate. Call me when Xiao Heng wakes up."

Old Yao shook his head. He knew the child had taken another blow, but said nothing and drifted back into the ring.