Youth Fades Easily

"Did you really master something from the old era?" Qin Cheng rushed over, staring at the distinct palm print on the thick tree trunk, his face full of uncertainty and shock.

The arts scattered among old papers from the former era ranged from physical techniques and meditation to the Qi Gathering Technique, the Internal Nourishment Method, and more. Their records were exceedingly fragmented.

Nowadays, these were called Scattering Arts, though many also called them Old Arts.

Although Qin Cheng had been exposed to them all these years, he had always harbored doubts deep down. Could they truly be mastered?

Wang Xuan's display had deeply shaken him. A palm of flesh and blood had actually left a clear handprint on a thick, hard tree trunk. Old Arts... did they truly offer a path forward?!

"According to the old era's standards, what I've achieved is nothing." Wang Xuan shook his head. He cut a striking figure, and beneath the bright moonlight, he seemed veiled in a faint White Mist.

Qin Cheng sighed. "Don't compare it to the past. I never believed in it at all. In Fact, many of those records have long since been disproven."

Qin Cheng practiced Old Arts as well. He Deeply Knows just how difficult they were; some meditation techniques alone were enough to drive a person mad.

In this day and age, with close ties to New Star and brilliant technology flourishing in deep space, how many people would still believe in such things? Before they even began practicing, doubt had already taken root in their hearts.

Yet against precisely this backdrop, someone had approached Wang Xuan, Qin Cheng, and the others when they first entered university, asking whether they were willing to participate in research related to Old Arts.

Wang Xuan had encountered Scattering Arts before, and he was immediately intrigued. He agreed on the spot.

As for Qin Cheng, he did not believe in any of it. Only later, after hearing that the research was connected to certain financial conglomerates and supposedly had enormous funding behind it, was he astonished enough to join with a try-it-and-see attitude.

In the early days, they attended the regular courses in their respective departments while using their spare time to take part in the so-called "Old Arts research."

They discovered that this so-called research mainly consisted of having them practice on their own.

Special personnel also began preparing unusual food for them, all in order to help them better master certain Scattering Arts.

They increasingly felt that this "research" was far from simple. The two elderly professors teaching them Scattering Arts had actually been transferred over from New Star.

Before long, some people could no longer endure it and withdrew voluntarily, because practicing Old Arts was arduous and rather dull.

More importantly, in this era, people viewed the arts buried in old papers from the former age with skepticism.

However, although quite a few people withdrew, even more new people joined.

With financial conglomerates backing it, this "research" had enormous funding and began making a stronger effort to select more suitable participants.

It was not limited to this city. It was being carried out across Old Earth, mainly among university students. To spur enthusiasm, substantial financial incentives were offered.

An enormous number of people had initially applied, but after large-scale selection and more than half a year of elimination, only around fifty remained.

Most of them transferred schools and gathered at the university where Wang Xuan and Qin Cheng studied. They continued with their original majors while forming an "Old Arts Experimental Class."

Not everyone had joined out of interest from the beginning, as Wang Xuan had.

Those who transferred in had already been promised that, after graduation, they would at the very least be guaranteed respectable, highly paid jobs.

By then, everyone realized that this "research" was highly unusual. Otherwise, why would such tremendous effort be spent on it?

The Old Arts textbooks used by the experimental class had remarkable origins. Some were unique copies from museums, some were rare collections belonging to financial conglomerates, and others were scriptures from certain religions.

For example, one Internal Nourishment Method had been extremely famous in the old era, but was ultimately lost.

Several years ago, someone discovered it in a tomb, bringing it back into the light of day. It had now been organized and made one of the experimental class's study materials.

Furthermore, from then on, all the students in the Old Arts Experimental Class had their meals specially prepared by dedicated personnel, with every detail treated with great care.

As they learned more, many were profoundly astonished. Some Ingredients were extraordinarily precious and rare, difficult to obtain on Old Earth, and had been transported from deep space.

The elderly professor teaching them the Qi Gathering Technique had once remarked that these Ingredients were frighteningly expensive Even If on New Star, let alone after being shipped from deep space.

Some Ingredients could not be bought even with money.

Some of them came from New Star's deep seas and could resist aging. Others greatly replenished one's blood and vitality, while still others could keep a person vigorous and energetic.

For those practicing various Scattering Arts, dietary nourishment was extremely important.

The old professor had once said that certain Ingredients were greatly favored by some elderly New Star figures with astonishing status and backgrounds, because they could slow aging.

It was clear just how seriously this "Old Arts research" was valued.

What was especially startling was that, not long afterward, more than twenty freshmen from New Star arrived and joined the experimental class.

It had always been students from Old Earth who longed for New Star and hoped to study abroad there, but this time, the situation had been reversed.

As these young men and women arrived, bits of gossip began to spread, gradually allowing the Old Arts Experimental Class students to learn part of the truth.

"Some organizations, some research institutions, and some financial conglomerates are pursuing immortality!"

That statement had truly caused no small stir in the Old Arts Experimental Class at the time, leaving many people stunned.

To modern people, such a pursuit seemed laughable, vague and illusory.

Yet throughout the ages, it seemed that all those who had reached the corresponding heights had pursued it tirelessly.

As early as the pre-Qin era, legends of transcendent immortals and fangshi had already filled later generations with yearning; even rulers could not escape the common longing.

But from Emperor Qin to Emperor Wu of Han, and then all those who came after them, they had all failed. They could not obtain the elixir of immortality; no one could possibly have succeeded.

By this day and age, so-called myths had long since been disproven. How could they possibly exist?

Yet such news had come from New Star, where technology shone with dazzling brilliance.

"To be precise, it is the elderly and those in power within certain financial conglomerates who want to gain longer lives."

Although someone added that clarification, it still caused an uproar throughout the experimental class.

History was always astonishingly similar. Throughout the ages, certain great figures entering their twilight years seemed profoundly unwilling to accept it, hoping to become young again and yearning for vigorous bodies.

Back then, Wang Xuan and Qin Cheng had whispered together, making sport of those great figures.

"As the old men decline day by day, naturally they crave youth. Otherwise, how can they admire beautiful women? They possess fortunes worth hundreds of millions, yet can no longer squander them. If it were me, I'd want to live another five hundred years too!"

"The old ladies are definitely even fiercer than the old men. Their youth has slipped away, and their former beauty is now covered in wrinkles. For powerful businesswomen who command vast resources and possess a mighty voice, growing old is absolutely their natural enemy! If there were even the slightest possibility, the old ladies would surely be more frenzied than the old men and would stop at nothing to regain their youth!"

At the time, several young men and women from New Star had rolled their eyes fiercely upon hearing the two whispering, because it seemed to involve some of their own elders.