Departure

Time flies without notice, and a year has passed in the blink of an eye. Today is Shen Fan's 20th birthday. After finishing his last set of punches, he stood quietly in the center of the courtyard.

Feeling the surging blood and qi within his body, Shen Fan smiled.

"The last top-tier cultivation method has also been broken through!"

Opening his status panel, Shen Fan looked it over:

Host: Shen Fan

Aptitude: 32 (Rare in a century)

Physique: Ice Spirit Body

Lifespan: 400

Martial Arts: Savage Bull Fist (Mastered), True Combined Strength (Mastered), Three Yuan Art (Mastered), Ape Strike Technique (Mastered), Thousand Mechanisms Hand (Mastered), Iron Shirt (Mastered), Startling Swan Art (Mastered), Great River True Scripture (Mastered), Sea Wave Fist (Mastered), Evergreen Cultivation Method (Beginner), Cold Shadow Art (Minor Accomplishment)...

Realm: Innate Layer Four

There were many more cultivation methods on the panel. All the methods below the Innate Realm had reached Mastery. Even the Cold Shadow Art, an Innate cultivation method, had been cultivated to Minor Accomplishment, and his realm had broken through to Innate Layer Four.

As Shen Fan at Innate Layer Four, the amount of true qi within him was unimaginably vast. Due to his solid foundation, he possessed hundreds of strands of true qi upon breaking through. With each subsequent layer of advancement, the true qi within him surged explosively.

At its peak, Shen Fan possessed tens of thousands of strands of true qi.

At Innate Layer Four, Shen Fan had already compressed nearly a third of his true qi. Thousands of strands of true qi were compressed into liquid, flowing like a small stream through his meridians.

It could be said that with his current true qi, he could directly contend with someone at Innate Peak.

Having mastered more cultivation methods, Shen Fan's lifespan had increased to 400 years, and his aptitude had broken through to the next stage.

His rare-in-a-century aptitude caused him to awaken a special physique, the Ice Spirit Body, when breaking through to the Innate Realm. Perhaps due to the cultivation methods, the Ice Spirit Body he awakened was highly compatible with his Cold Shadow Art.

Cultivating the Cold Shadow Art became twice as effective with half the effort, which was also a major reason why he could cultivate the Cold Shadow Art to Minor Accomplishment in just one year.

Of course, awakening the Ice Spirit Body wasn't just about increasing cultivation speed. This was, after all, a special physique, so the boost to combat power was also terrifying.

A palm strike from Shen Fan could produce a freezing effect, far exceeding what an Innate martial art should be capable of, even possessing a hint of the power of the Core Formation Realm.

Furthermore, the Evergreen Cultivation Method, which had troubled Shen Fan for a long time, had finally reached the Beginner stage. It turned out that the prerequisite for cultivating this method was the Innate Realm.

The effects of the Beginner stage Evergreen Cultivation Method were quite good. Evergreen true qi had already been generated within him. This true qi wasn't specifically for combat but had excellent auxiliary effects.

With Evergreen true qi, Shen Fan's self-recovery speed greatly increased, and some injuries could be healed instantly. This greatly enhanced his survivability.

However, after reaching the Beginner stage, the improvement speed of the Evergreen Cultivation Method slowed down considerably, far inferior to the Cold Shadow Art.

Shen Fan's focus remained on the Cold Shadow Art because he wanted to achieve a Rapid Breakthrough in his realm.

However, no matter what, the Evergreen Cultivation Method was definitely a cultivation method of very high grade!

After learning all the first-rate and second-rate Martial Arts in Laiyang City, Shen Fan had become completely immune to these low-level Martial Arts.

In the future, perhaps only Martial Arts of the Innate realm or above could bring him any improvement!

Therefore, if he still wanted to continue progressing, Shen Fan would ultimately have to leave this small city.

And today, perhaps, was a good day.

"Senior Brother, why are you just standing there? Come and practice martial arts quickly!" Li An saw Shen Fan and was a little surprised for a moment.

But Shen Fan opened his eyes and didn't move. Instead, he smiled faintly, "Junior Brother, your True Combined Strength has reached Great Accomplishment, right?"

"Great Accomplishment? That's right, it reached Great Accomplishment half a year ago!" Li An blurted out without thinking.

"Then that's fine. Since that's the case, Senior Brother should also be leaving!" Shen Fan said slowly, which made Li An beside him feel a little sad.

"Senior Brother, are you really leaving?"

"Yes, this Laiyang City is, after all, too small!" Shen Fan raised his head, looking at the azure sky, his voice a little ethereal.

"Yes, how can a True Dragon like Senior Brother stay in a small place like Laiyang City forever?" Li An held back his tears.

"Senior Brother, after you leave, will you come back to see us?" Li An asked expectantly.

But Shen Fan fell silent. A definite answer was a bit unrealistic, and a negative one would be too heartbreaking.

So Shen Fan considered his words carefully and said with a smile, "I will come back."

But he didn't say he would come back to see the familiar people, because Shen Fan himself didn't know when he would return.

His Lifespan had already far surpassed that of ordinary people. Perhaps when his realm was higher, one closed-door cultivation session would be equivalent to the entire lifespan of a mortal. In that case, even if he returned, he might not be able to see Li An.

But even with such an answer, Li An was very satisfied. He nodded, "Senior Brother, you will definitely become a great figure. I wish you a smooth journey!"

For Shen Fan, Li An offered his most sincere blessings.

Shen Fan left. Before leaving, he left Li An a first-rate cultivation method. The other cultivation methods from the City Lord's Mansion were all returned to Zhang Longyun.

Moreover, he also left behind the Cold Shadow Art, in order to repay the martial arts teaching grace of the Martial Hall.

When Liu Zhen returned home that night, he suddenly found a first-rate cultivation method on his bedside. As he was wondering, he suddenly thought of something.

So, he didn't sleep that night. He sat in the courtyard, drinking wine all night and gazing at the full moon all night.

He knew that the legendary person had finally left.

Shen Fan left, and besides Li An, hardly anyone knew. But it wasn't necessary for many to know, because some people are born without needing others to remember them; their mark is always there, imprinted between heaven and earth.

Legendary, eternally immortal.

Carrying a simple pack, Shen Fan flew low like a great bird. This speed was enough to cover a thousand li in a day.

But the Black Dragon Mountain Range was truly vast. To traverse it, Shen Fan would need at least half a month.

Although this task would be too difficult for ordinary martial artists, as crossing the Black Dragon Mountain Range was too dangerous, for Shen Fan, who was already at Innate Layer Four, the difficulty was manageable.

Moreover, he didn't need to pass through the core area. By taking a slight detour around the edges, he could avoid many dangers.

Thus, relying on his patience and caution, Shen Fan finally emerged after more than half a month.

Dusty and travel-worn, Shen Fan looked quite disheveled. Despite being extremely careful, he hadn't expected an accident.

Seven or eight days into his journey, when he was closest to the mountain range's core, even though he had taken a detour, he still encountered some danger.

Some powerful demonic beasts sensed his presence, leading to a grueling chase.

The demonic beasts deep within the mountain range far exceeded Shen Fan's imagination.

Having read many ancient texts, Shen Fan also knew that demonic beasts were divided into several ranks.

The most common were Lesser Demons, who had just become demonic beasts. Demonic beasts at the Innate Realm were all Lesser Demons. Demonic beasts at the Core Formation Realm were called Demon Generals. Above them were Great Demons, Demon Kings, and the legendary Demon Emperors.

Starting from Lesser Demons, demonic beasts began to develop intelligence. By the Demon General level, their intelligence was basically comparable to that of ordinary people.

The ones chasing Shen Fan were several demonic beasts at the Demon General level: a Three-headed Bird, a Wind Chasing Wolf, and a Hellhound!

Naturally, Shen Fan, who was only at the Innate Realm, was no match for them, so he could only flee. Fortunately, he had cultivated multiple Light Body Cultivation Methods and Explosive Cultivation Methods, so his speed surpassed these Demon Generals.

He ultimately escaped with his life. However, Shen Fan still remembered those beasts. He thought that once he became powerful, he would definitely go back and settle the score!

He, Shen Fan, was not a magnanimous person!