The Girl's Birthday

"Ghost Mother Ridge actually had Six Yin Corpse Fiends appearing..."

"If so, that place must have a section of Yin Sha Spiritual Vein buried beneath it!"

"Only that could cause the ghosts on Ghost Mother Ridge to undergo a 'corpse transformation' and evolve into Six Yin Corpse Fiends."

"Back in the Great Wilderness Nine Provinces, Yin Sha Spiritual Veins were common as dirt, but within the territory of this Great Zhou Dynasty, where Spiritual Qi was scarce, they could already be called rare..."

As Su Yi pondered, he walked along the banks of the Great Cang River toward Guangling City.

"The third realm of the Martial Dao is Furnace Nourishing. Using a Yin Sha Spiritual Vein to temper the five viscera would be enough to achieve the marvelous effect of getting twice the result with half the effort."

"Besides that, there are Six Yin Grass and Extreme Yang Flowers on Ghost Mother Peak. Those are likewise precious medicines for cultivating the Furnace Nourishing Realm."

"Once I bring my cultivation to Blood Moving Realm Great Perfection, I'll make a trip there."

Su Yi made his decision.

This chance encounter with Xiao Tianque and Zi Jin had also brought him quite a rich harvest.

Ten thousand taels of silver were enough for him to purchase all kinds of medicinal ingredients needed for body tempering.

At the same time, he had also deduced some extremely valuable information related to Ghost Mother Peak.

For example, the Yin Sha Spiritual Vein!

They wore armor and carried weapons, fierce, lean, and brimming with killing intent.

In front of the Guard, there were also a number of great figures waiting there, each with an extraordinary bearing. They had clearly long occupied high positions, and were far from comparable to ordinary Martial Dao figures.

Such a luxurious lineup was extremely rare in Guangling City.

The common people coming and going near the city gate were both awed and curious when they passed by.

"The City Lord and his 'City Lord's Mansion Guard' have both been mobilized. What are they doing?"

Many voices of discussion rang out.

"So it's City Lord Fu Shan and his guards..."

Although Su Yi was somewhat curious too, he was too lazy to inquire or pay attention, and walked straight through the city gate.

Faintly, the laughing voices of those great figures came from behind him—

"Look, isn't that Su Yi, the Wen Family's live-in son-in-law? He used to be the Outer Disciple Sword Leader of Green River Sword Mansion, a young prodigy."

"It truly is a pity."

"In my view, the one who should be pitied is Wen Lingzhao. That girl's Martial Dao talent is so strong that it's absolutely the only one I've ever seen in my life, and what's rare is that her looks can also be called one in ten thousand. Yet she married this Su Yi. How unfortunate."

Su Yi smiled, utterly unconcerned, and his figure soon disappeared into the bustling streets.

Before long.

The figures of Xiao Tianque and Zi Jin appeared in the distance outside the city gate.

"This lowly official Fu Shan pays respects to Old Marquis, pays respects to Princess!"

Almost at the very first moment, Guangling City Lord Fu Shan's expression turned solemn. He strode forward, bowed in greeting, and his voice shook Yunxiao.

"Paying respects to Old Marquis, paying respects to Princess!"

Behind Fu Shan, that group of great figures, as well as that elite and fierce guard force, all trembled and saluted in unison.

Inside and outside the city gate, it instantly became so silent that even crows and sparrows made no sound, quiet and solemn.

The passing commoners were all fearful and uneasy, silent as cicadas in cold weather.

Not far away, Xiao Tianque stood with his hands behind his back. As his gaze opened and closed, he inadvertently revealed a great majesty—the bearing of one who had long held a high position.

Looking at Zi Jin again, her tall, slender figure stood upright. On her delicate and peerlessly beautiful oval face was a trace of reserved and noble air that kept others a thousand miles away.

"Fu Shan, I have long since ceased to be a marquis. Have everyone else withdraw. Do not disturb the people!"

Xiao Tianque said with a frown.

"Yes!"

City Lord Fu Shan answered respectfully, then waved his hand.

At once, those great figures and guards nearby all accepted the order and left, not daring to delay in the slightest.

"Uncle Fu, please trouble yourself to have these medicines prepared according to this prescription. Remember, make it enough for seven days. Also, prepare a quiet room for Grandfather and me where we won't be disturbed."

Zi Jin stepped forward and handed over a prescription.

"This lowly official respectfully obeys the Princess's command!"

City Lord Fu Shan cupped his fists solemnly in salute.

Xiao Tianque nodded, said nothing more, and walked into the city gate together with Zi Jin.

Fu Shan hurriedly followed behind them.

Only after they had all left did the common people near the city gate seem to awaken from a dream, and immediately afterward they began discussing fervently.

Fu Shan was the lord of Guangling City, holding great power in his grasp, covering the sky with one hand. Even the clan leaders of Guangling's Three Great Clans had to yield to him somewhat.

But now, he was actually treating that old man and young girl with the utmost respect, obeying their every word!

This opened the eyes of all the common folk, and they all began guessing at Xiao Tianque's and Zi Jin's identities.

The Wen Family.

Inside the room, Su Yi sat in the bathtub.

His eyes were closed. With every breath in and out, wisps of white vapor faintly curled around him, like a snake's tongue flickering in and out, carrying a wondrous rhythm.

This was the Breathing Technique of the Pine Crane Body Forging Art.

Inside the bathtub was a decocted medicinal soup, brewed from over fifty medicinal herbs for four hours.

None of these herbs were "spirit medicines" in the eyes of cultivators, but every single one was extremely expensive. Added together, they were worth five hundred taels!

For ordinary people in Guangling City, a year's expenses were only a dozen or so taels of silver.

By comparison, this showed exactly what was meant by "poor scholars, rich warriors"!

Only the wealthy had the qualifications to cultivate the Martial Dao.

Even if ordinary commoners wanted to cultivate, they could not afford the expenses required for martial training.

As one of Guangling City's Three Great Clans, the Wen Family claimed to have over a thousand clan members, but those truly qualified to practice the Martial Dao from childhood were only a small portion.

There was no way around it. Cultivating the Martial Dao cost far too much money!

Ordinary martial artists had to eat all kinds of great tonics every day to satisfy their bodies' needs, buy all kinds of medicinal herbs to assist their cultivation, and even entering an academy to cultivate required paying a considerable fee.

An ordinary household simply could not afford it.

Throughout the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, this situation was very common.

Time flowed by, and the sun's shadow slanted west.

Su Yi sat in meditation for a full six hours. Suddenly, two streams of air as straight as white silk shot from the tip of his nose.

The airflow was like arrows, bursting three feet outward. The air seemed to be sliced apart, producing a faint, muffled sound like wind and thunder.

Breath like white silk, wind and thunder resounding!

This was the sign of the vital energy throughout the body circulating to the point of boiling.

It was also at this moment that Su Yi opened his eyes. A flash of bright light crossed his deep pupils, sharp as an edge and electric as lightning, only vanishing after a long while.

"This morning, I cultivated by swallowing and exhaling the spiritual qi of heaven and earth on the banks of the Great Cang River outside the city. At noon, I tempered my body with a medicinal bath. In less than a day, my foundation at the early stage of the Blood Moving Realm has already been thoroughly stabilized..."

Su Yi rose from the bathtub, put on his clothes, and went straight into the courtyard.

The setting sun cast its slanted glow.

The green date tree in the courtyard was shrouded in a layer of gentle light.

Su Yi stood firm, feeling the abundant power of blood and qi within his body. Suddenly, he extended one finger, stabbing like a sword into a branch of the green date tree beside him.

Crack!

The branch shattered inch by inch, turning into powder.

Miraculously, the green leaves on the branch drifted up into the air completely intact.

Su Yi withdrew his finger and nodded to himself.

At the Entering the Door stage of the Martial Dao, what was tempered was the physique and blood qi; when used in battle, it manifested in control over power.

A formidable martial artist could thrust a spear at dates on a tree, one date with one spear.

He could stab a fly on a wall; the fly would fall, while the wall remained without a mark.

This was the exquisite command of power.

The force of Su Yi's finger strike just now was precisely like this.

It seemed ordinary, but in truth, it moved like a collapsing bow and struck like exploding thunder!

And the force of that one finger, while crushing the mulberry branch with the ease of smashing dry weeds and rotten wood, completely preserved the even more fragile and easily broken mulberry leaves.

That level of subtle, marvelous use of power could be called divine and transformational.

However, compared with the divine ability of his previous life, when one finger split the sea and a sweep of his sleeve severed mountains, this bit of skill could only count as a petty trick of carving insects.

Over the next several days, Su Yi went to the banks of the Great Cang River outside the city to cultivate in the morning, soaked in medicinal baths at noon to temper his body, and the power throughout his body underwent earth-shaking changes.

During this period, his sister-in-law Wen Lingxue returned to Pine Cloud Sword Mansion to cultivate.

Before leaving, she specially reminded Su Yi that in a few days it would be her sixteenth birthday, and when the time came, she hoped Su Yi would attend as well.

To this, Su Yi agreed without the slightest hesitation.

"Early-stage Blood Moving Realm, perfection!"

That morning, after Su Yi returned home from the banks of the Great Cang River outside the city, he felt the changes in his body, and a hint of a satisfied smile could not help but appear on his lips.

The Pine Crane Body Forging Art was worthy of being the number one Foundation Establishment method of the Great Wilderness Nine Provinces!

After mastering its essence and mysteries, in just five short days it had let him undergo a transformation like shedding his mortal body and exchanging his bones, building the most profound and solid foundation in one stroke!

It was even a notch stronger than he had been at the same realm in his previous life!

"With my current physical strength, I'm already far beyond what ordinary Blood Moving Realm figures can compare to..."

Su Yi possessed seventeen years' worth of memories and experience from this life. With just a slight comparison, he became certain of one thing—

Even the most elite disciples at the perfected stage of the Blood Moving Realm in Green River Sword Mansion, if they encountered him, would undoubtedly lose!

The Blood Moving Realm was, in the end, only the first realm of martial arts. What it tempered was the strength of the physique. Though it was far stronger than that of ordinary people, it still ultimately remained within the category of the "mundane."

In the Great Wilderness Nine Provinces, the Four Martial Realms were also called the "Mortal Shedding Realm," meaning the four great realms by which one shed the skin of an ordinary mortal.

Only by truly breaking through the Four Martial Realms and stepping onto the cultivation path of the "Origin Dao" could one be called an innate cultivator!

At that time, one could dine on rosy clouds and drink dew, abstaining from grain and food, already qualitatively different from "ordinary mortals."

Moreover, in a true battle, what was compared was not merely cultivation, but martial techniques as well!

And with Su Yi's combat experience and methods from his previous life, even if he had no cultivation at all, he could still kill off minor figures like those in the Blood Moving Realm in minutes.

"But in just five days, I've spent two thousand five hundred taels of silver, and this is only just Entering the Door..."

"It's foreseeable that the medicinal herbs required for future cultivation are destined to double and surge wildly, and the silver spent will rise along with them."

"At the end of the day, in cultivation through the Four Martial Realms, I must consider the matter of earning money over the long term."

Su Yi thought to himself.

Wealth, companions, methods, and land were the essentials of cultivation.

And the word "wealth" ranked first!

Su Yi knew very well that in the future, as his cultivation grew higher and higher, the "wealth" he required would become more and more astonishing as well.

Of course, to cultivators, "wealth" did not refer merely to gold and silver, but broadly to all cultivation resources.

Such as spiritual medicines, spiritual materials, divine treasures, spiritual pills, and so on.

"Mm, if I could join a cultivation faction to cultivate, I wouldn't need to worry about such things as money and wealth..."

Thinking up to this point, Su Yi shook his head and dismissed the idea.

For the time being, he had not yet considered leaving Guangling City.

As he pondered, Su Yi had already returned to the Wen Family.

From far away, he saw a graceful figure standing before the gate of his courtyard.

Wen Lingxue.

The young woman was dressed in her finery, wearing a deep purple long dress. Her black hair was coiled in a bun, revealing a delicate little face of extraordinary elegance, and her clear, bright eyes were like transparent stars.

With her little hands clasped behind her back, she stood there prettily, her brows and eyes picturesque, her glances shining with life, bright and radiant to the extreme.

"Brother-in-law."

Seeing Su Yi from afar, Wen Lingxue immediately broke into a smile and waved in cheerful greeting.

In that instant, the beautiful aura emanating from the young woman made one feel as if even the sunlight had dimmed by three parts.

"Aren't you at school? Why are you back again?"

Su Yi smiled and went up to meet her.

"Today is my birthday!"

Wen Lingxue smiled brightly. "I've already reserved a banquet at Gathering Immortals Pavilion in the city, and some of my classmates and schoolmates are there too. Let's hurry over."

Su Yi, however, felt somewhat ashamed.

These past few days, he had only cared about cultivation and had actually forgotten about this matter. That truly should not have happened.

Thinking of this, he glanced at the young woman beside him. Her lovely eyes looked expectantly, and she was charming and bright, without the slightest hint of blaming him.

But the more she was like this, the more Su Yi felt bad about it.

After thinking it over, he finally decided—

He would give the young woman a different kind of birthday gift.