Miraculous Effect

After a day of desperately pushing himself, the progress on the Five Animal Play had only increased by a pathetic one percent.

Yet, Xie An felt an unprecedented joy surge within him:

The Lifelong Legacy was truly effective!

For Xie An, who had long been dancing on the edge of death, this was undoubtedly his only lifeline!

From now on, as long as he pushed himself, the progress would increase. Reaching perfection in progress would surely lead to a breakthrough.

Who knew, perhaps after mastering the initial stage, there would be even bigger surprises…

After the merciless trials of two lifetimes, Xie An no longer expected to be some chosen one or a prodigy. But this cheat gave him tangible hope.

As long as he worked diligently, even if the progress was slow, as long as he persisted, why worry about not having a future?

"So hungry..."

He touched his shrunken stomach. The midday meal had long since been digested, and he was ravenous again.

Ever since Xie An had his stroke, his organs had been failing, leading to a rapid loss of appetite. Even seeing fatty, oily meat couldn't whet his appetite.

When had he ever felt this intense hunger and craving?

They say hunger is the most unbearable feeling, but Xie An clearly felt that being hungry and wanting to eat… was also a blessing.

Xie An called He Chunli from outside the door, asking him to bring dinner. He also asked He Chunli to keep a close eye on Zhang Bing's actions, as that man had ill intentions and needed to be guarded against.

After eating his fill, Xie An dared not sleep.

He clearly felt the extreme weakness from his organ failure and was afraid that if he closed his eyes, he would be gone…

They say the older you get, the more philosophical you become.

But from Xie An's personal experience, that wasn't true at all.

The older you get, the more unwilling you are to give up, and the more you fear death.

For the past month, he had been living in fear of death. He was afraid that one day he would close his eyes and never wake up.

When people are young, knowing they have a long life ahead, and there's no danger of not waking up after sleeping, they can sleep soundly.

But once people get old, and then encounter illness or disaster, they feel the fear of death up close. They truly start to think that one day they might close their eyes and never open them again…

"It's still early, I'll practice for a few more hours."

Xie An feared death…

He practiced until the early hours of the morning, utterly exhausted, unable to even keep his eyes open, before finally falling into a deep sleep.

The next day.

Xie An opened his eyes.

"Thank goodness…"

After a hasty wash, Xie An ate breakfast and returned to his room to practice the Five Animal Play.

For the next few days, every time Xie An opened his eyes, he felt a sense of relief…

He lived each day as if it were his last.

Besides taking his medicine on time, he gritted his teeth and practiced his martial arts.

The intensity of his training in the Five Animal Play had reached a level that was simply outrageous.

Although Xie An knew that with the boost from the Lifelong Legacy, practicing the Five Animal Play could extend his life, the problem was that his life was already at its end, rapidly declining…

One side was increasing, the other was decreasing. He was in a race against death!

If his diligent practice couldn't offset the decline… he could still die, even with a cheat.

He was in the most dangerous phase now, truly not daring to slack off for a single moment.

Time passed, and it was the evening of the seventh day.

After finishing his day's practice, Xie An finally noticed something unusual within his body.

A stream of warmth had been consistently lingering in his lower abdomen.

This was a sensation he had never experienced before.

Previously, after practicing the Five Animal Play, there would indeed be a warm current circulating within his body. But as time passed, this warm current would disappear.

It was generally like how the body heats up after strenuous exercise and then slowly returns to normal.

But this time was different.

It was already late autumn, the night was deep with heavy dew, and the cold wind was biting. Xie An clearly felt that his body was not as cold as before.

The warm current stayed in his lower abdomen, continuously generating heat.

The numbness and weakness in his limbs, and the soreness in his back and waist, had shown significant and lasting improvement.

The panel in front of him displayed:

[Five Animal Play: Novice (10/100)]

Xie An let out a sigh of relief. "Although the progress is only one-tenth, my body has already significantly improved. I should have temporarily passed the stage of racing against death. At least I don't have to worry about closing my eyes and not waking up every night!"

For over a month, I was oppressed by the fear of death...

Now, I've finally escaped the immediate fear of death.

Only a dying old man who has personally experienced this fear will understand... how blissful it is to be free from this feeling.

"Tonight, I can finally get a good night's sleep."

For the first time since his stroke, Xie An slept soundly.

The next day.

Xie An slept until the sun was high in the sky before opening his eyes.

Bright sunlight streamed through the thin window paper onto his face, feeling warm and pleasant. He also heard the chirping of sparrows outside the window.

Xie An felt the warm hot water bottle in his embrace and a relaxed smile appeared on his face for the first time.

The customs and traditions of this world were similar to ancient times in his previous life. Some elderly people, fearing the cold, would wrap a copper kettle filled with hot water in a cloth bag and place it in their beds for warmth.

This was commonly known as a "hot water bottle."

Although Xie An's body had significantly improved, he was still old, and with this autumn being particularly cold, he couldn't yet do without the hot water bottle.

Wuqiao Town was a small town under Qingwu County in Nanyang Prefecture, located on the southeastern border of the Great Qian Dynasty. The eight hundred li of Great Yin Mountain to the east blocked the warm currents from the East Sea, causing the climate in this area to be particularly cold.

Every late autumn, there would be frost and frozen rivers, and occasionally snow. The villagers had to dig cellars to store food for the winter. Even so, every harsh winter, people would still freeze to death.

During autumn and winter, food was scarce, and bandits who usually stayed in the mountains would descend to plunder villages to survive.

For the common people to get through autumn and winter, they not only had to face natural disasters but also guard against mountain bandits, making survival extremely difficult.

Fortunately, Wuqiao Town had constables stationed there, as well as a martial arts school with a martial arts master. The villagers living in the town were much safer than those in the surrounding villages.

The Li Manor was a prominent household in the town, employing martial artists as guards, so ordinary mountain bandits did not dare to easily target the Li family's businesses.

This was also why Xie An had stayed at the Li family's pawnshop.

Without martial arts skills, leaving a prominent family in these chaotic times... survival would be truly difficult.

"Practicing the health cultivation exercises for seven days has yielded such remarkable results. If I persist long-term, my physique and strength will surely improve greatly. It's not impossible to learn martial arts. If I could master a good martial art, I would finally have the means to establish myself in this chaotic world."

Xie An rolled out of bed and began his new day of practice.

Just after lunch, Master Li sent a young maidservant to check on Xie An.

Xie An recognized this maidservant; her name was Chunlan.

She was the head maidservant by Madam Li's side and held a significant position in the Li Manor.

"Master Xie, the master said that you've been taking medicine but your condition hasn't improved. This can't go on..."

Xie An immediately understood.

For the past month, the Li family had been spending money on medicine for Xie An, incurring considerable expenses...

Seeing no improvement in Xie An, they no longer wanted to waste money.

Although this medicine expense was not a lot for the Li family, Xie An was, after all, just a servant in the Li Manor.

In this era, it was not uncommon for servants to work in skilled trades. While their treatment was not bad, a servant was still a servant...

Xie An was long accustomed to these chaotic times and didn't feel any cynicism.

"So what are Master Li's plans?"