In the blink of an eye.
A month later.
"Dad!"
"You're incredible!"
"There really was a Great Medicine there!"
"It's Jade Marrow Ganoderma!"
The four of them returned to the cave dwelling. Meng Santan was beside herself with excitement.
She was excited for two reasons—
First, they had successfully obtained the Great Medicine.
Second, her dad had actually predicted it correctly. There really was a Great Medicine in the candle stand, and it had happened to mature just a few days earlier.
Foreknowledge!
That was what excited her most.
"Jade Marrow Ganoderma."
"A low-grade Great Medicine."
Meng Nan had spent the past month focused on cultivation, but he had been anxious inside. Seeing the four of them return safely with the Great Medicine in hand, he couldn't help smiling.
He looked at the Great Medicine in Zhao Xiaoshuang's hand—
It resembled a lingzhi mushroom.
Jade marrow lay within.
This was the Great Medicine, Jade Marrow Ganoderma.
Among the known Great Medicines, it wasn't especially high-grade, but it was still far stronger than the Lower Method, Dan Yuan Wandering Veins. Much, much stronger!
"The appearance of a Great Medicine is accompanied by strange omens. We killed Zhang He, so others may have noticed as well."
"We can't keep this medicine for long."
The arrow was already on the string. Now that they had the Great Medicine, they had to use it.
Meng Nan looked at Zhao Xiaoshuang. "You—"
The words were on the tip of his tongue.
Then he suddenly stopped.
He had intended to let Zhao Xiaoshuang take it.
But then he remembered that to use a Great Medicine to break through to Qi Refining, one first had to open the Three Cavities. Once the Three Cavities were opened, Primal Qi would pour out. After that, there would be no turning back—
Success meant becoming an immortal master.
Failure meant death.
This was a gamble with her life.
Meng Nan hesitated for a moment.
"Even if I don't take the gamble this time, I have at most ten years left to live."
"Don't worry."
"I'll definitely succeed!"
Zhao Xiaoshuang was willing to take responsibility and didn't refuse.
Of the five people there, Meng Nan's cultivation had regressed. He had changed cultivation methods and only just formed true qi, so he certainly couldn't use it.
The three youngsters were their children, so they definitely wouldn't be the ones to take it. Besides, they each still had thirty years to live. There was no need to rush.
So Zhao Xiaoshuang didn't fuss or hesitate.
She held Meng Nan's hand. They exchanged a smile, and then she strode into the quiet chamber.
True essence circulated.
The Three Cavities opened.
The Great Medicine was refined.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In a rush of energy, she was about to break through to Qi Refining!
"Go outside and keep watch."
Meng Nan glanced at Zhao Xiaoshuang, then saw the tension and unease in the eyes and on the faces of Meng Santan and the other two. He waved a hand and sent them outside.
The appearance of a Great Medicine brought strange omens from the heavens.
Although they had seized the advantage on this trip, arrived first, and claimed the medicine, others nearby must have noticed too. Before long, they might come tracking it down.
They couldn't afford to let their guard down.
Nearly half a day later.
Spiritual energy gathered in the quiet chamber, and Primal Qi surged so strongly that Meng Nan could no longer look directly at it.
Outside the cave dwelling—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The rumbling continued. It was the sound of a battle, just as expected—someone had come tracking the Great Medicine.
Meng Nan was powerless—
Whether it was Zhao Xiaoshuang's breakthrough
or the three youngsters guarding her outside,
he couldn't help with any of it.
He could only shut his ears to the noise and wait in silence.
No one knew how much time had passed.
Then—
The spiritual energy in the quiet chamber suddenly dispersed, and the Primal Qi abruptly withdrew, revealing Zhao Xiaoshuang within.
She sat cross-legged on a bamboo mat.
She looked up at Meng Nan, and their eyes met.
A smile rested on Zhao Xiaoshuang's face. Her gaze seemed filled with longing.
But in the next moment—
Before Meng Nan could reach her, Zhao Xiaoshuang's eyes had already dimmed. The light faded from them, and her head slowly drooped.
There was no life left in her.
"Xiaoshuang."
Meng Nan came to her and gently gathered Zhao Xiaoshuang into his arms. A wave of sorrow washed over him.
In his previous lives, either Meng Nan and Zhao Xiaoshuang had died together, or Meng Nan had left this world first.
This was the first time Meng Nan had watched her die with his own eyes.
For the first time, Zhao Xiaoshuang had passed away while Meng Nan was still alive.
"Bastards!"
Outside the cave dwelling, the three youngsters fought with all their might. Each manifested a Giant Spirit body, standing three zhang tall. One wielded a staff, another a sword, and the last a spear. Spells filled the air as they battled six people.
All six were renowned in the surrounding area, with fierce reputations and methods no weaker than those of Meng Nan and his wife, or Zhang He of Yanxia Ravine.
None would back down in the fight for the Great Medicine.
Just then, the cave dwelling's formation vanished, and Meng Nan emerged, carrying Zhao Xiaoshuang in his arms.
"Old Man Five Thunders."
"Granny Sword."
"Alas!"
"How difficult the immortal path is!"
"Senior, please accept my condolences!"
Of the six, the Rogue Cultivator Yan Zhan, who cultivated in the area of the Three-Two Mountains, knew Meng Nan and his wife. Now, seeing Meng Nan and the lifeless Zhao Xiaoshuang in his arms, he naturally understood what had happened.
The Great Medicine had been steamed and boiled.
Yet no sign of spiritual opportunity had appeared.
They had failed at the final step, and joy had turned to sorrow.
Yan Zhan shook his head at the sight.
Like a fox mourning a dead hare, he felt his spirits sink.
"Sorry to have disturbed you!"
His fighting spirit vanished. With a sigh, he took off into the distance.
"Senior, we'll take our leave!"
"Fellow Daoist, farewell!"
The others sighed or smiled wryly, then all went their separate ways.
Yaozi Mountain.
Outside the cave dwelling.
For a time, all was quiet.
"Dad!"
"Mom!"
Meng Santan staggered toward Meng Nan, dismissing her Giant Spirit body as she went. Seeing Zhao Xiaoshuang's peaceful expression, sorrow overwhelmed her, and her eyes immediately reddened.
Meng Xingzhe and Meng Jian came to stand before them and silently knelt as well.
In the end!
In the end, she still hadn't made it!
A Great Medicine offered no guarantee. Even a high-grade Great Medicine could hardly give someone ten out of ten odds of finding a spiritual opportunity, let alone a low-grade one.
It was a desperate gamble with death.
But at least, with the help of a Great Medicine, they could improve their odds a little.
Even so, the chances were still slim.
Yaozi Mountain.
A new grave.
Meng Nan stood before the grave and sighed once more.
Then he rose. He no longer wallowed in sorrow, but turned and went back to the cave dwelling to continue his arduous cultivation.
If he wanted to escape such human tragedies in reality and never again see the parting of life and death, he had to cultivate hard, harder, and harder still!
"True Essence Sense Imprint!"
Meng Nan's minor goal in this life was to first reach the fifth level of Sense Imprint.
Thirteen years!
He hoped he could make it!
In the time that followed, Meng Nan returned to the same routine as in his previous lives—
Cultivating techniques.
Practicing spells.
Studying alchemy.
Studying artifact refinement.
Cultivation techniques were the foundation; spells were for defending the Dao.
Alchemy and artifact refinement were investments in the long term.
They were money-making skills.
Whether it was for better cultivation or to earn spirit sand to open future timelines, he couldn't do without them.
The stronger, the better.
Besides all that, Meng Nan also read through the cultivation insights and travel journals of himself, Zhao Xiaoshuang, Meng Santan, Qian Yu, and even disciples such as Qin Zhongjie, Xu Rong, Chen De, and Wang An.
One reason was cultivation.
The other was to pass the time.
With jade slips replacing books, they saved him a great deal of time.
Reading these jade slips was like accompanying one Rogue Cultivator after another through their entire lives.
Decades.
Centuries.
Cultivation never ceased, and the years kept changing.
The power of time was on full display.
Some died of old age.
Some departed.
Life and death, meeting and parting.
This was the human world.
Meng Nan cultivated in seclusion.
Over the years, he and Zhao Xiaoshuang had accumulated a total of nine jin and two liang of spirit sand, not counting other odds and ends.
That amount of spirit sand wasn't enough to break through to Qi Refining.
But it was more than enough to support Meng Nan's current cultivation.
In fact, he didn't even need to use it. The pills they carried were sufficient.
True Qi Accumulation.
True Qi Body Cleansing.
Meng Nan's cultivation foundation was already there. Even though he had switched to a different path, all paths led back to the same source. Before long, he had caught up with his past life.
Next, he cleansed his five viscera, bringing True Qi Body Cleansing to complete perfection.
And then.
As True Qi surged through him, his blood changed without his even realizing it—growing thicker, heavier, and purer.
This was Blood Renewal.
After Blood Renewal came Marrow Cleansing.
Again, it all happened naturally, like water flowing into a channel. He didn't need to move or cultivate at all throughout the process.
He only had to feel it closely.
Once Marrow Cleansing was complete, the impurities in his body were further purged.
Now his flesh, sinews, skin, bones, five viscera, blood, and marrow had all undergone a baptism, renewed from top to bottom.
His body grew stronger.
It pressed down on his True Qi.
His True Qi was forced to rise and transform.
Until a wisp of Primal Qi descended, enlightening the True Qi and transforming it into True Essence.
Thus.
The final hurdle before Qi Refining—
"True Essence!"
"Success!"
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