Name: Meng Nan Lifespan: 2/8 Faction: Chashan Cave Cultivation: Inner Qi circulation Inner Qi: 6 Root Bone: 1 Cultivation Method: Thunder Illumination Scripture Fourth Layer Arts: Spirit Wandering Steps (Third Layer), Pine Wind Swordplay (Second Layer), Blood Arrow Secret Technique (First Layer) Skills: None Death Log: Available
"My Inner Qi has formed!"
Meng Nan felt his own body. It was as if a layer of membrane, a barrier, had appeared all over him.
His Inner Breath had rapidly transformed into Inner Qi during this time. Of the 100 points of Inner Breath, only 6 points of Inner Qi remained in the end; some had dissipated, while some had been converted.
Thin Inner Qi lingered around him.
It cut him off from many dangers in the outside world.
"The wild caves and villages are fraught with danger. Ordinary people wouldn't dare wander outside, and even neighboring villages rarely visited one another except for marriages. The main reason is that venomous insects and snakes are everywhere, and miasma is common and hard to guard against."
"Only by advancing to the 'Inner Qi Stage'..."
At this stage, once one had fully visualized the Qi Circulation Diagram, Inner Breath turned into Inner Qi, which spread out and enveloped the whole body. It was easy to notice and ward off bites from ordinary venomous snakes and insects. Even if one accidentally entered an area of miasma, as long as it wasn't too potent, one could resist it with Inner Qi. And with the longer breath of someone at the Inner Qi Stage, one could ignore much ordinary miasma.
Only then could one travel through the wilderness.
Anyone who ventured into the jungle had to be at least at the Inner Qi Stage.
"I'm at the Inner Qi Stage now, too!"
"Two years!"
"In my previous life, it took me four years. But with those notes, I avoided many detours and cut the time in half."
He'd advanced to Inner Qi two years earlier than before.
Six years from now, Meng Nan would have a chance to advance beyond the peak of his previous "Inner Qi circulation" level. He might even break through to the "Inner Qi Minor Heavenly Cycle" before this life ended.
With that thought, Meng Nan opened his eyes.
He immediately saw Zhao Xiaoshuang holding her sword and looking at him, her face just as delighted.
A few days later.
Meng Nan was sunning himself outside the house again, holding his diary and reading. He was focused on the two years he and Zhao Xiaoshuang had spent adventuring outside.
He'd read all of it before.
But today, he'd taken it out again.
"Get back inside!"
"You're not allowed out until you finish your lessons!"
Zhao Xiaoshuang herded the three children back from outside. She saw Meng Nan lazing there in comfort, walked over, and glanced at what he was reading. Then she asked curiously, "Why are you reading this? You—"
Zhao Xiaoshuang looked Meng Nan up and down, immediately suspecting that he'd lost his memory again.
"Just browsing."
Meng Nan looked up at Zhao Xiaoshuang. "I didn't notice it when I read this two years ago, but looking at it again these past few days, I've realized my wife was pretty fierce. You were always at the front of every battle, the first to strike."
He closed the diary.
Meng Nan looked at Zhao Xiaoshuang, his heart full of feeling.
So she really was different.
He'd known all along that even the same person could develop a different personality because of different experiences.
As soon as he came to this life, he'd noticed that Zhao Xiaoshuang was a little different from the one in his previous life and in reality.
Sharper!
More forceful!
Then, after two years together, Meng Nan noticed even more.
And over the few days since his breakthrough, after he took out and reread the diary from those two years, he finally understood. He'd figured it out.
"Come. Sit beside me."
Meng Nan called Zhao Xiaoshuang over to sit next to him, then turned and asked, "Have you been cooped up too long these past two years?"
At that, Zhao Xiaoshuang's eyes lit up, and she sat up straight. "Are we going out?"
Meng Nan immediately smiled at the sight.
His guess was confirmed.
"I've only just returned to the 'Inner Qi Stage.' There's no rush."
Meng Nan looked at Zhao Xiaoshuang and saw her slight disappointment. Then he changed the subject. "By my reckoning, Feng Ying, west of the village, should break through to the Lesser Celestial Circuit in a few days."
"Hm?"
"Feng Ying?"
"How do you know?"
At the mention of that, Zhao Xiaoshuang's attention shifted, and she grew wary.
Feng Ying was a widow. She'd just turned forty this year, but had lost her husband in her twenties and raised three children on her own. More than ten years ago, Meng Nan had asked Zhao Xiaoshuang to look in on Feng Ying's family from time to time. They weren't close, but they occasionally kept in touch and were acquaintances.
Besides Feng Ying, there were several other households in Yinlian Village with whom Meng Nan had some dealings.
He visited the men himself.
He sent Zhao Xiaoshuang to visit the women.
Feng Ying was one of them.
Because so much time had passed and there were quite a few people involved, Zhao Xiaoshuang hadn't thought much of it. But now Meng Nan had suddenly brought up Feng Ying and said she'd reach the Lesser Celestial Circuit in a few days. How could he know that?
Zhao Xiaoshuang had been on an emotional roller coaster these past few days, and for a moment her mind went astray.
"What are you thinking?"
Seeing her like that, Meng Nan couldn't help bursting into laughter. His laughter brought the three children inside to the doorway, where they peered out with their heads poking around. Zhao Xiaoshuang's face turned bright red.
Zhao Xiaoshuang glared at the children behind her. Meng Santan and the others immediately scurried back inside in fright.
When she turned around again, her expression was both coy and angry.
Only then did Meng Nan smile and explain, "Feng Ying has accumulated strength over the years and should be able to make several breakthroughs in succession, reaching the True Qi Stage. After she breaks through to the Lesser Celestial Circuit in a few days, her children will be grown. She'll probably get restless and want to go out and see the world. The two of you can keep each other company."
That was Meng Nan's plan.
In the years to come, Feng Ying would be the one person in Yinlian Village to reach the True Qi Stage. She'd also be the only woman to advance to that level during those years.
In his previous life, Meng Nan had learned the life stories and movements of these people, and had kept them all in mind.
By making arrangements now, he made it seem like a coincidence, as natural as a goat's horn hanging in midair.
There was a hint of prescience to it.
This was the future. Meng Nan didn't show off his "foresight" in front of outsiders, but he didn't need to hide it from Zhao Xiaoshuang.
Otherwise, if he refused to leave while insisting that Zhao Xiaoshuang go alone, people might think that he'd been scared witless by his brush with death and no longer dared venture out.
That would tarnish his tall, stalwart image in Zhao Xiaoshuang's eyes.
If Zhao Xiaoshuang went out with Feng Ying, the two could accompany each other. Perhaps Zhao Xiaoshuang might even share in Feng Ying's good fortune.
As for Meng Nan...
"I'll stay in Yinlian Village and master the Lesser Celestial Circuit before thinking about anything else."
Immortal Calendar, year 32, fifth month.
The New Year had passed.
Meng Nan saw Zhao Xiaoshuang off as she left Yinlian Village. With her was an excited, expectant middle-aged woman: Feng Ying.
The two families had been close for more than ten years.
Meng Nan and Zhao Xiaoshuang had often helped her family.
Before the New Year, Zhao Xiaoshuang and Feng Ying had broken through one after another. Then Zhao Xiaoshuang had approached Feng Ying to discuss going out on an adventure together after the New Year. Feng Ying had wanted the same thing and couldn't have been happier. She agreed at once.
The Meng couple were both good people, and they had experience adventuring outside. Traveling with them couldn't have been better.
But after they set out, Feng Ying and Zhao Xiaoshuang went on ahead together while Meng Nan remained at the edge of the village.
Once they were some distance away, Feng Ying looked at Zhao Xiaoshuang and asked curiously, "Master Meng really isn't coming?"
It was so unusual!
Yinlian Village—and even the Three Hundred Cave Villages—had always followed the custom of men working outside while women stayed home.
But it was rare for someone like Meng Nan and Zhao Xiaoshuang to have the woman go out and the man stay behind.
"Mm."
"He wants to focus on his cultivation."
Zhao Xiaoshuang also felt strange.
This was the first time in more than ten years that she'd been apart from Meng Nan, the first time she'd gone out alone. With Meng Nan not by her side, everything felt unfamiliar.
But deep down, she also felt a little excited.
All these years, Meng Nan had made the arrangements and steered the course. Zhao Xiaoshuang wanted to find out what she could accomplish without Meng Nan looking out for her.
She turned to glance at Yinlian Village, but could now see only its outline. Meng Nan was nowhere to be seen.
"I can do this!"
Zhao Xiaoshuang gripped her treasured sword and strode onward, never looking back!
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