Revenge was revenge, but you clearly understood that you were a righteous person. How could you casually kill a pair of dog man and woman who bore you "no grudge whatsoever"?
After all, you were no demon.
You displayed the formidable strength of a First-rate Martial Artist, deep-blue Force Qi swirling around your body as you appeared before Song Yulang and Chu Xian'er. Song Yulang immediately cupped his fists. "Greetings, Senior."
You scrutinized Song Yulang with your gaze. Just as his scalp began to tingle and his legs trembled, you finally spoke.
"Young man, I have an important matter to discuss with you."
You dragged Song Yulang into a corner and raised the Zhanming Saber, waving it before his face. "Young man, look at my saber. Is it sharp enough? Take a guess—how many cuts would it take to chop you to death?"
Cold sweat streamed down Song Yulang's face. He could not understand it. Since a year ago, he had mended his ways and returned from evil to righteousness; he had never again stolen jade or plucked flowers. Besides, back when he had picked flowers, relying on his handsome face, he had almost never encountered fierce resistance. He had no idea how he had offended this master, whom he had clearly never met before.
"Senior, could you speak plainly?" If Chu Xian'er had not been standing nearby, constantly glancing this way, Song Yulang would have dropped to his knees.
"Simple. My heart is narrow, and all my life I have hated the sight of handsome men and beautiful women flirting in public. I can't stand seeing you together with her. If you want to remain safe and sound, kick her away!"
"If you have a marriage agreement, divorce your wife. If the two of you ran away together, send her rolling back to wherever she came from!"
You believed that for someone whose brain was drowned in love, having her beloved take the initiative to break up with her would surely hurt her more than killing her outright!
Yet after hearing this, Song Yulang relaxed and smiled. "Senior, there's no need to go that far, is there? It's only a momentary dislike. Why must you separate this junior from the person he loves? You wouldn't kill over such a small matter."
Your face remained expressionless. You hated self-righteous clever children like this most of all. "I won't kill you, but what do you think would happen if I left a few scars on that pretty-boy face of yours..."
Before you could finish, Song Yulang's gaze instantly hardened. "Senior, I know what I should do."
You stayed at the corner, watching that pretty boy walk step by step toward Chu Xian'er. "Go back to the Chu Family."
Chu Xian'er's face was full of disbelief. "Brother Yulang, you... did that person threaten you?"
"Tch." Song Yulang sneered. "I'm just tired of playing with you. Do you really think you're something special? I've played with no fewer than eighty or a hundred women like you. I only wanted to see what it was like to play with one for a little longer..."
His icy words stabbed into Chu Xian'er's heart like knives. And you knew that even if the truth was not as extreme as he claimed, it would only have been a matter of time before Song Yulang cast Chu Xian'er aside—he cared more about his pretty-boy face than he did about his love for Chu Xian'er!
As Chu Xian'er's face turned pale, confusion, pain, grief, and despair appearing layer upon layer upon it, her beauty like pear blossoms drenched in rain, you took a deep breath.
The sorrows and joys of people were never the same. You only found it delightful, writhing in the corner like a dark, filthy maggot as you laughed without end.
Chu Xian'er broke down. She viciously swung a slap at Song Yulang... but what could an ordinary woman do by attacking a martial artist?
Slap! The sound of the blow exploded through the air, but naturally, it was not Song Yulang who was sent sprawling. Looking at Chu Xian'er's swollen red right cheek, you left in satisfaction.
No matter how things developed afterward, whether Song Yulang sent Chu Xian'er back to the Qingcheng Chu Family or not, it had nothing to do with you anymore. What happened today alone ensured that they could never return to how they once were.
In Year 296 of Daqing, you practiced martial arts every day without fail, training in all kinds of Combat Techniques as Force Qi infused into your bones.
In Year 297 of Daqing, you encountered challenges from several young heroes. No matter how terrifying the Talent Aptitude of those Second-rate Martial Artists was, under the suppression of your pure Martial Cultivation, they were no match for you.
Even young, highly talented martial artists who had only recently entered First-Rate were firmly suppressed by you. They were no match for you either.
In Year 298 of Daqing, you were forty-three years old. Your Foundation was at 157%, and your progress in Vital Energy Infused into Bone was nearly halfway complete. Within ten years, you would surely reach the limit of a First-rate Martial Artist.
The only question was how to survive the demonic creature that would appear five years later.
You had two choices in mind. The first was to hide in some remote little place that would not be massacred, then wait for those Grandmasters to join forces and see whether they could kill that monster.
The second was to flee Qing Kingdom, even to flee this land of three kingdoms. But that step could wait until after the Grandmasters had failed.
You first made a trip to the Golden Wind Tower to continue gathering information. In the eyes of ordinary people, and even martial artists like yourself, the three nations of Qing, Wu, and Ning were regarded as the entire world.
Yet after consulting the records, you discovered that this instinctive belief was not without reason.
Beyond the roughly rectangular territory formed by the three nations, the north was a vast expanse of desolate earth and mountains. There was almost no living thing there. The only signs of life were weeds carpeting the ground, all of them withered yellow.
Then why not open up and expand the territory?
In truth, they had always been opening it up. It was merely too slow; only after several decades could they gain the land of one more county or city.
To the south lay something akin to a jungle, filled with primeval forests, venomous insects, swamps, and all manner of Water Earth that people could not adapt to... It too was constantly being opened up, and some sects had established themselves in the Southern Frontier.
To the west was a desert, far too vast. Grandmasters had once explored its end and said they arrived at a great grassland, where nomadic tribes lived and so on.
To the east was the Lonely Sea. Foreigners had once crossed the sea to arrive there, with red hair and white brows. They said they had drifted with the currents at sea for more than half a year before arriving.
In short, no one had considered exploring east or west because the difficulty was too great. Yet at the ends of both directions, there were different human civilizations.
North and south, meanwhile, were primitive regions still being developed. No other civilizations had yet been found among the desolate earth, mountains, and forests.
To prepare for every contingency, you decided to live in East Forest City first. When only one year remained, you would take supplies and head for the Southern Frontier—only there, though still primitive, had living creatures that could be hunted and eaten.
The north was nothing but desolate earth. With your stamina, you might not survive crossing the western desert, and the east was the same. Who knew what Martial Cultivation that red-haired, white-browed foreigner possessed, to endure half a year at sea without dying?
In Year 300 of Daqing, you were still in East Forest City. Recently, the frequency of your martial training had declined. You mainly began eating, drinking, enjoying life, and indulging your desires.
In Year 302 of Daqing, because of your slackness, your progress in Vital Energy Infused into Bone had increased by only fifteen percent over the past four years, despite your higher Foundation Amplification.
At the end of the year, you calculated that the time was about right and began gathering various long-lasting foods and other supplies, preparing to head south.
You crossed Qing Kingdom, then passed through a small stretch of Ning Kingdom's territory, finally stopping at a small town on the frontier.
(The next several chapters would be the long Alien Demon arc—the history this world should have had without Yun Shou.)
(It was mainly meant to enrich the plot while Yun Shou endured and built up his Foundation, while also slightly introducing the world setting to come.)
Before you continue