Death

Lu Changfeng and Chun Zhu lived in the Small Courtyard.

Half a month later, the first batch of Silkworm Seed eggs hatched into adults.

The meat of the adult Exotic Beast Silkworms was much more effective when consumed than dried Earth Dragon Head meat of inferior quality, but it was harder to preserve.

Lu Changfeng kept some of the adults for himself and Chun Zhu to consume, and successfully made the rest into dried meat.

A Silkworm Seed laid eggs once a day, thirty eggs each time.

After the eggs developed into adults in fifteen days, Lu Changfeng had thirty Exotic Beast Silkworms.

However, the Exotic Beast Silkworms were much smaller than Earth Dragon Meat.

At present, Lu Changfeng had to consume nearly two-thirds of the output from one Silkworm Seed.

Chun Zhu consumed very little, and she did not even need half of the remaining third.

The rest was made into Exotic Beast Meat jerky and preserved together with the output from another Silkworm Seed.

Thus, aside from cultivating, Lu Changfeng and Chun Zhu were still very busy in their daily lives.

They were busy air-drying and curing Exotic Beast Meat, and whenever the sun was out, they would lay it outside to dry.

There was nothing else they could do. The existence of Exotic Beast Meat could not be exposed, and Lu Changfeng did not yet have enough strength to reveal it publicly.

They could only work a little harder themselves.

However, with the assistance of Silkworm Meat, Lu Changfeng and Chun Zhu's cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.

The feeling of one's strength growing so rapidly was utterly addictive!

More than forty days later, Lu Changfeng and Chun Zhu gradually grew accustomed to their life of secluded cultivation in the Small Courtyard.

Lu Family Courtyard.

A horse-drawn carriage slowly stopped in front of the Lu Family Courtyard.

A burly man carried a box and knocked on the door.

Lu Changfeng opened the door. When he saw the burly man, he nodded and accepted the box.

After closing the courtyard gate, he opened the box. A Human Truncheon appeared before Lu Changfeng's eyes.

It was none other than Liu Hong of the Liu Family.

Previously, during the battle that wiped out the Liu Family,

Lu Changfeng had taken a fancy to the Mid-grade Talent within Liu Hong and had thus cut him down into a Human Truncheon.

He had handed him over to Liu Ye for safekeeping.

It seemed that Liu Hong had been living quite well under the Liu Family's care.

Perhaps he could let Lu Changfeng copy from him several more times.

Today was Lu Changfeng's sixth copy refresh of the year, so he had Liu Ye send the Human Truncheon Liu Hong over.

"Copy for me!"

"Copy successful!"

"You obtained the Mid-grade Talent [Saber Art]!"

After the copy succeeded, Lu Changfeng put the vacant-eyed Liu Hong back into the box.

Liu Ye had said that feeding him some liquid food every day could keep him alive for a long time.

After copying the talent, Lu Changfeng took out a Blood Tempering Realm saber technique he had prepared earlier: [Falling Leaf Saber Technique].

Now that he had Exotic Beast Meat, his cultivation speed had greatly increased. In addition, his progress with [Mount Le's Wrathful Vajra] was advancing extremely quickly.

It was time to begin cultivating a new martial art.

Having just copied the [Saber Art] talent, Lu Changfeng chose to cultivate [Falling Leaf Saber Technique], which he had bought for three hundred taels of silver from a place in the Inner City that specialized in selling martial arts.

To support it, Lu Changfeng had even specially bought a Refined Long Saber. Of course, it could not compare to the treasure Autumn Water Longsword, but it was still good enough to make do with.

Falling Leaf Saber Technique and Gale Sword Technique belonged to completely different categories.

Gale Sword Technique emphasized swift attacks and powerful bursts, making it suitable for surprise attacks and killing.

Falling Leaf Saber Technique, on the other hand, emphasized a meticulous saber formation, making it suitable for entanglement and defense.

One saber and one sword gave Lu Changfeng two completely different combat styles, which was especially useful.

With the support of the Mid-grade Talent [Saber Art], Lu Changfeng quickly grasped the basics of [Falling Leaf Saber Technique] and began advancing toward the next realm.

And so, another copy cycle passed.

In winter, Lu Changfeng copied [Saber Art] from Liu Hong once more.

The weather was cold, and to prevent Liu Hong from freezing to death, Lu Changfeng usually kept him beside the stove to warm himself.

This was all for the sake of synthesizing a high-grade saber technique talent.

Lu Changfeng took meticulous care of him.

At present, it seemed that Liu Hong should be able to survive two more copy cycles, allowing Lu Changfeng to successfully synthesize a high-grade saber technique talent!

In addition, with the help of Silkworm Meat, Lu Changfeng had gradually reached perfection in Blood Tempering Fourth Level.

In a few more months, he should be able to break through to Blood Tempering Fifth Level once again.

The New Year was approaching, and this year's harvest and growth had both been quite impressive.

Lu Changfeng and Chun Zhu were both in excellent spirits.

Lu Changfeng had specially set up a hot pot in the courtyard. He had prepared the seasonings himself, and with the finest ingredients, Chun Zhu praised the meal without end.

A knock came from the courtyard gate.

Lu Changfeng put down his bowl and chopsticks and went to open the door.

Outside stood Lu Changfeng's "disciple," Black Ox.

The Small Courtyard was unsuitable for Black Ox, so he usually lived at Changle Martial Arts School and cultivated there.

"Master, Grandmaster isn't going to make it!"

The moment Black Ox opened his mouth, Lu Changfeng's expression changed.

"Let's go!"

Lu Changfeng threw on his outer garment and headed to Changle Martial Arts School with Black Ox.

At Changle Martial Arts School, inside the courtyard where his master Zhang Desheng lived alone, Liu Ye and several veteran Registered Disciples were present.

"Go in quickly. Master is waiting for you. Second Senior Brother is inside too," Liu Ye said.

Lu Changfeng nodded, pushed open the door, and walked in.

"Master, Changfeng is here!" Zhou Feng was standing beside the bed and spoke to Zhang Desheng, who lay upon it.

Lu Changfeng hurried forward several steps, only to see that Zhang Desheng had already wasted away to skin and bones.

The little giant who had once stood more than two meters tall, with a physique as sturdy as a mountain, had vanished without a trace.

His face was dim, and Death Aura filled his features.

Although Lu Changfeng had sensed for the past half-year that his master did not have long to live,

seeing his master's appearance with his own eyes still shook Lu Changfeng to the core. It was the first time since crossing over that he had faced the birth, aging, illness, and death of someone important, and it pulled him out of this world's wondrous martial arts.

This world, just like the one he had known before, also had birth, aging, illness, and death!

If he did not want to die, he had to cultivate until he became stronger!

At the end of the martial path, perhaps immortality truly existed—perhaps one could escape the sea of suffering!

"Changfeng, you've finally come back. You are my most outstanding disciple, but unfortunately, I won't live to see the day you soar," Zhang Desheng said slowly.

As he spoke, his eyes desperately tried to focus, but he could not. He could only vaguely make out Lu Changfeng's silhouette, unable to see his features clearly.

Even so, merely looking at him left Zhang Desheng satisfied. At least, before he passed away, so many disciples still surrounded him.

"You two don't need to grieve. In truth, I suffered a fatal injury on New Year's Eve last year. I should have died long ago. To have survived another year was already fortunate, and at least I managed to arrange everything that needed arranging."

"You two—I originally intended to hand the martial arts school over to Changfeng, but Changfeng hasn't grown up yet, and I am dying more than a decade too early. The school won't be able to withstand the strain with only you few."

"So I have already decided to sell this valuable plot of land belonging to the school. I sold it for fifty thousand taels of silver."

"Together with the school's usual surplus, there are eighty thousand taels of silver beneath this bed, as well as some Martial Arts Cultivation Techniques. The three of you brothers can divide them equally."

"If you have the ability in the future, revive Changle Martial Arts School. If you don't, then you needn't keep it weighing on your hearts."

"After the school disbands, all of you must hide in the Inner City and find a way to join the Wang Family or some other powerful lineage. A chaotic era is coming. Clinging to the powerful to survive is nothing shameful."

"Enough. Call Liu Ye in. I have a few more things to tell her."

Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng exchanged a glance and quietly withdrew.

They had barely taken a few steps back when they discovered that the old man's breath had already vanished.

Zhang Desheng was dead.