Do Not Despise the Poor Elder!

[Year 23, age 40.]

[A demonic Martial Artist barged into White Cloud County. He carried a black, roiling banner and killed anyone he saw.]

[The county's Martial Artists and constables were no match for him. He slaughtered them all and collected their souls into the banner.]

[A Monster Slayer from the Monster Slaying Division was alerted and battled him for several days. In the end, they fought to mutual destruction, leaving him badly wounded.]

[As the demonic Martial Artist fled, he casually killed your daughter and took all her essence and blood.]

[The innkeeper's wife was overcome with grief. She fell ill and never recovered, dying with hatred in her heart.]

[You buried your daughter first, then your wife.]

[Whenever you thought of how your daughter had been only seven, how she had still called out "Daddy" with such bright, lively energy just days ago, then remembered the miserable state she had been in when she died.]

[Your heart felt as though it were being carved by knives, and you woke from nightmares night after night.]

[But you still had a son. You knew you could not fall.]

[Year 33, age 50.]

[An Empress of astonishing talent emerged from the Southern Border. She united the nations of the Southern Border, twisting the scattered Hundred Nations of the Southern Border into a single rope, then launched a counteroffensive against the Central Plains.]

[The front line pushed northward all the way from the south, and White Cloud County was on the verge of becoming the front line.]

[Your son decided to head for the battlefield to defend his home and country.]

["Son, can't you stay? The battlefield is too dangerous..."]

["Father, if the country falls, what home will there be? You always loved telling others, 'My son, Chen Dong, will surely amount to something someday.' Now is the time for me to win merit and establish my career!"]

[You saw your son out of the city and watched him depart.]

[At that moment, you seemed to have aged many years all at once.]

[Year 35, age 52.]

[You received your son's ashes and his final letter.]

[Two years of constant dread had ultimately brought this result.]

[You buried him beside his mother and sister.]

[You sat withered before their graves for three months, and all your hair turned white.]

[Year 37, age 54.]

[The Dagan Dynasty suffered defeat after defeat. White Cloud County was captured by the Empress and became territory of the Hundred Nations of the Southern Border Alliance.]

[Bandits passed through like combs; soldiers passed through like sieves.]

[When the Southern Border army passed through White Cloud County Town, they went door to door demanding money and grain.]

[They called it borrowing, but everyone knew there would be no return once it was borrowed.]

[Your inn could not escape disaster. Nearly all the wealth in plain sight was carried away.]

[Fortunately, the innkeeper's wife had once told you that she had hidden some silver beneath an old tree at home.]

[You used it sparingly and managed to get by.]

[After White Cloud County Town suffered this calamity, everyone became destitute, and the inn business grew harder and harder to maintain.]

[Year 40, age 57.]

[A Tiger Demon emerged from the wilderness, stormed into White Cloud County, and wreaked havoc.]

[The Monster Slaying Division mobilized in full force and fought it to the death within the county town.]

[You did not know whether the Tiger Demon had been killed, but during its battle with the Monster Slaying Division, your three-story inn was smashed into a complete mess.]

[This was your most important fixed asset. Now that it had been destroyed, you wanted an explanation.]

[You went to the Monster Slaying Division to demand compensation. Naturally, you were thrown out.]

[You looked at the ruins of the inn and laughed at yourself.]

[You did not know whether you were laughing at your own naivety or at this world.]

[You did not have much silver left. Rebuilding the inn was impossible.]

[You dismissed the Cook, the waiter, and the laborers.]

[Over the years, you had treated them like family. When they left, they took only the wages they were owed and refused your severance pay.]

[You chose to leave White Cloud County Town. Beside your family's graves outside the city, you repaired a thatched hut and settled there.]

[Year 42, age 59.]

[Extracting trait...]

This year's trait was still useless.

But Chen Yi equipped "The Older the More Fortunate."

"I'll be sixty soon. This life of 'mine' has been far too bitter. Hold on, don't break down! The dawn of victory may be tomorrow!"

How difficult it was for ordinary people to survive in this world was plain to see.

This only made Chen Yi more determined to step onto the path of Martial Dao.

[Beside a thatched hut outside the city.]

[You worked at sunrise, tilling the fields and growing vegetables.]

[After sunset, you spoke with your family for a while, then fell into a deep sleep beneath the moonlight.]

[Though lonely, you found a brief measure of peace.]

[Year 43, age 60.]

[Beginning trait extraction...]

[The guaranteed result of "The Older the More Fortunate" has been triggered!]

[Extraction successful!]

["Low-Grade Bone Structure" (Green): You have obtained a Low-Grade Bone Structure. Young man, with this trait, you can rise from worthless trash!]

[Adjust trait?]

[Yes/No]

Chen Yi swept both hands over his head, like Sun Wukong in Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons when he had finally tricked Tang Seng.

"Finally..."

Perhaps the simulated version of himself had suffered too much, and even the System could not bear to watch any longer. At last, it had given him the trait he wanted most!

[You replaced "The Older the More Fortunate" with "Low-Grade Bone Structure."]

(Many readers seem not to have understood and thought that replaced traits disappear. They won't!)

(Pay attention to the earlier panel. One section is called Equipped Traits, while the other is called Trait Library. The number of traits you can equip is limited, so you often need to switch them according to the situation. There will be more slots as your realm rises.)

(In reality, the protagonist can switch traits freely, but in the simulation, he only gets one chance a year—when drawing a trait.)

[Your heart, long silent after the deaths of your loved ones, finally began to beat again.]

[You had not forgotten the purpose of this simulation.]

[You brought all your savings to Thunderbolt Martial Hall in the county town.]

[Niu Dandan, an instructor at the martial hall, wore training clothes and stood with his hands behind his back, looking at you with amusement.]

["Grandpa, stop joking around. What martial arts can you learn at sixty?"]

["Sixty! That is precisely the age to strive!"]

[You poured a pile of silver ingots onto the entrance of the martial hall.]

["I'll pay. You just teach me. Whether I can learn it or not is my own business!"]

[Taking on a disciple old enough to be his father was an enormous challenge for Niu Dandan.]

[But you were simply offering too much.]

["Martial Dao is the cultivation of the Three Energies!

Blood Qi! Spiritual Qi! Essence Qi!

As the saying goes, rice must be eaten one bite at a time, and the Three Energies must likewise be cultivated one at a time!

To reach Entry Level, you must first master External Cultivation. Cultivating External Cultivation can increase your Blood Qi. The stronger your Blood Qi, the more your strength, speed, and physique will improve accordingly!

When you sense a current of warmth appearing within your Dantian, that means your Blood Qi has surpassed the limits of ordinary people and can be stored in the Dantian.

Those who do not know better like to call this current of warmth Internal Force, but we Martial Artists must understand that it is Blood Qi so powerful that it can be controlled!

This is the first realm of Martial Dao, the Body Refining Realm!

The Body Refining Realm has nine stages. Each stage requires you to double your Blood Qi before you can break through..."]

Watching his simulated self learn about Martial Dao from the martial hall instructor, Chen Yi's eyes also revealed a thirst for knowledge.

No matter.

Once the simulation ended, he would inherit all these memories.

"Starting cultivation at sixty, 'I' probably won't be able to advance much in realm. No matter what, I've obtained the Root Bone trait. The next simulation will be much easier!"

[Year 43, age 61.]

[After cultivating for a year, you made not the slightest progress.]

[Niu Dandan tried to persuade you.]

["Grandpa Chen, let it go. An aged body loses Blood Qi severely. How can there be any sense in practicing martial arts?"]

[The senior and junior disciples at the martial hall, as well as people in the county town who knew you, all pointed and whispered behind your back.]

[They said you were unrealistic, that you were old yet still unwilling to settle down.]

[You never paid attention to outsiders' gossip, focusing wholeheartedly on studying and experimenting.]

["Do not despise the poor elder! I, Chen Dong, will surely step into Martial Dao!"]