The Vastness of Heaven and Earth, Moistening the South

[Revenge is revenge, but you clearly understand that you are a righteous person. How could you casually kill a pair of dogs and bitches who hold "no grudge" against you?]

[After all, you are no demon either.]

[You displayed the formidable strength of a First-rate Martial Artist, deep blue Vital Energy swirling around your body as you appeared before Song Yulang and the other. Song Yulang immediately clasped his fists: "Greetings, Senior."]

[You scrutinized Song Yulang with your gaze. Just as his scalp went numb and his legs began to tremble, you finally spoke.]

["Young man, I have important matters to discuss with you."]

[You pulled Song Yulang aside to a corner, raised the Zhanming Saber and gestured before him: "Young man, do you think my blade is sharp? Take a guess—how many strikes would it take to chop you dead?"]

[Song Yulang broke out in a cold sweat. He couldn't understand it. From a year ago, he had already turned over a new leaf and abandoned his wicked ways; he no longer stole jade or plucked flowers. Besides, back when he did engage in such acts, relying on his handsome face, he had almost never faced fierce resistance. He had no idea where he had offended this clearly unfamiliar expert.]

["Senior, can you just say it plainly?" If Chu Xian'er weren't not far away, her gaze constantly drifting over, Song Yulang would have knelt down.]

["Simple. I have a narrow mind, and nothing disgusts me more than handsome men and beautiful women like you flirting in public. I can't stand seeing you two together. If you want to get through this unscathed, then kick her to the curb!"]

["If you're engaged, divorce her. If you two eloped, then tell her to go back where she came from!"]

[You believed that for someone love-struck, having her lover dump her would deal a blow far more devastating than killing her!]

[But upon hearing this, Song Yulang relaxed and smiled: "Senior, there's no need for that, is there? If it's just a momentary displeasure, why must you make this junior separate from the one I love? For such a small matter, you wouldn't actually kill me over it."]

[You remained expressionless. You hated these kind of clever kids the most: "I won't kill you, but what 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 to do."]

[You stayed at the corner, watching the 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, did... did that guy threaten you?"]

["Tch." Song Yulang sneered coldly: "I'm just tired of playing. Did you really think you were anything special? I've had at least eighty or a hundred of your kind; I just wanted to try playing with one for a longer stretch..."]

[His icy words stabbed into Chu Xian'er's heart like knives, and you knew that even if the truth wasn't as harsh as he made it sound, it was only a matter of time before Song Yulang dumped Chu Xian'er anyway—he valued his pretty boy face more than his love for her!]

[Watching Chu Xian'er's face turn pale, with disbelief, pain, grief, and despair layering one after another across her features, a picture of pear blossoms bathed in rain, you took a deep breath.]

[People's joys and sorrows differ; you only felt delight, writhing and laughing without stop in the corner like a dark maggot.]

[Chu Xian'er broke down. She fiercely slapped Song Yulang across the face... but a mere ordinary woman striking a Martial Artist?]

[Smack! The sound of the slap exploded, but of course, it wasn't Song Yulang who was knocked over. You watched Chu Xian'er with her right cheek swollen red, and left satisfied.]

[No matter what happened afterward, whether Song Yulang sent Chu Xian'er back to the Qingcheng Chu family or not, it was none of your concern. Because just what happened today ensured they would never go back to how things were.]

[Year 296 of Daqing, you trained in martial arts unwaveringly every day, practicing various Combat Techniques, Vital Energy Infused into Bone.]

[Year 297 of Daqing, you faced challenges from some young heroes. No matter how terrifying the Talent Aptitude of those Second-rate Martial Artists, under the pure suppression of Martial Cultivation, none could be your match.]

[And some young, high-aptitude Martial Artists who had just stepped into the First-rate were also crushed by you, unable to defeat you.]

[Year 298 of Daqing, you were 43 years old, Foundation Amplification at 157%, Vital Energy Infused into Bone nearly halfway done. Within ten years, you would surely reach the limit of a First-rate Martial Artist.]

[The only problem was: how to survive the demon creature that would appear five years later.]

[You had two options in mind. One was to hide in some remote, small place that wouldn't be massacred, then wait for the Great Grandmasters to join forces and see if they could kill that monster.]

[The second was to flee the Qing Kingdom, or even escape these three kingdoms entirely. But this step could wait until after the Great Grandmasters failed.]

[You first went to the Golden Wind Tower to continue gathering relevant information. In the minds of commoners, and even Martial Artists like yourself, the three kingdoms of Qing, Wu, and Ning were regarded as the entire world.]

[However, after looking through the materials, you found that this subconscious notion was not without reason.]

[Beyond the roughly rectangular territory formed by the three kingdoms, to the north were vast stretches of barren mountains and wastelands, almost devoid of any living creatures. The only sign of life was the weeds covering the ground, and they were all withered and yellow.]

[So why not expand the territory?]

[In truth, expansion had always been ongoing, just too slow—it took decades to add even one county or one city's worth of land.]

[To the south was something like a jungle, filled with primeval forests, poisonous insects, swamps, and all sorts of Water Earth ailments... likewise, expansion was always happening. Some sects had even established themselves in the Southern Frontier region.]

[To the west was a desert, far too vast. A Grandmaster had once explored to the end of the desert and claimed to have arrived at a great grassland, where nomadic peoples lived.]

[To the east was a solitary sea. Foreigners had once crossed the sea to arrive here, with red hair and white eyebrows, saying they had drifted with the current for over half a year before reaching land.]

[In short, both east and west were too difficult, so no one thought to explore them. However, the ends of both directions did have different human civilizations.]

[As for the north and south, they were primitive development zones. No other civilizations had been discovered in the barren mountains or the jungles.]

[To be safe, you decided to live in East Forest City first. When there was only one year left, you would take supplies to the Southern Frontier—only there, though primitive, there were some creatures to hunt for food.]

[The north was pure wasteland. To the west, you might not have the stamina to survive crossing the desert. Same for the east—who knew what Martial Cultivation that red-haired, white-browed foreigner had, to endure half a year at sea without dying.]

[Year 300 of Daqing, you were still in East Forest City. Lately, you had reduced your martial training frequency, mainly starting to enjoy food and drink, and indulging in carnal pleasures.]

[Year 302 of Daqing, due to your slackness, your Vital Energy Infused into Bone progress had only increased by one and a half tenths over these four years—under the condition of higher Foundation Amplification.]

[At year's end, you figured the time was about right and began gathering various long-lasting preserved foods, preparing to head south.]

[You crossed the Qing Kingdom, then passed through a small stretch of Ning Kingdom territory, finally stopping at a border town.]

(The following is the demon chapter spanning several chapters, also the history this world would have had without Yun Shou.)

(Mainly to enrich the plot while Yun Shou bides his time and builds his foundation, while also slightly introducing the worldview to come.)