"Huh?"
Meng Nan habitually checked his panel, and at first glance, he spotted a change—
A new "Talent" section had appeared!
"Talent: Deprivation!"
As his thoughts touched it, information flowed from the section—
[Deprivation: Lock onto a target. Once the target dies, you can acquire one of their abilities. Note: You can currently retain up to *3 Deprivation abilities at the same time. Note 2: Abilities acquired through Deprivation can be replaced by using Deprivation again.]
"Deprivation?"
"This—"
Meng Nan's heart leaped with joy.
After ten lifetimes, he'd actually gotten a boon like this.
With the "Deprivation" talent, if there was an ability he wanted, all he had to do was kill its owner—or wait for them to die—and he could copy that ability onto himself?
"Too powerful!"
Meng Nan felt as if fortune had dropped from the heavens.
A talent like this gave him far too many options!
In reality,
Meng Nan often needed to kill people to offer them as sacrifices and open future timelines.
Killing people was easy.
As long as he locked onto a target and killed them, he could deprive them of one ability. Even if he could only keep three abilities at a time, that still gave him three extra methods at minimum—a tremendous boon to a cultivator!
The only thing he couldn't determine yet was what exactly counted as an "ability" under this talent.
"Spells?"
"Cultivation techniques?"
"Or did it include skills like alchemy and artifact crafting?"
Meng Nan wasn't sure.
But conservatively speaking, "spells" were very likely included.
That left another question—
"I've cultivated the 'Giant Spirit God' secret art to the thirtieth level. If I kill a target like that and deprive them of their 'Giant Spirit God' secret art, would I get it at the initial stage or the thirtieth level?"
"Could I keep cultivating it?"
"Or would it be permanently fixed at the thirtieth level, impossible to cultivate or improve?"
All of that was unclear.
But it was easy enough to find out.
"I'll just kill someone and see."
Meng Nan set those thoughts aside, along with his delight at suddenly gaining [Deprivation], and began sorting through the tenth lifetime.
Ten lifetimes!
104 years!
A year and ten months since he'd gotten married; ten lifetimes in all, adding up to a hundred and four years.
All those lifetimes.
All those long years.
Meng Nan had gained quite a lot—
Cultivation.
Spells.
Alchemy.
Artifact crafting.
He'd made real headway in all of them.
There was no need to say much about alchemy and artifact crafting.
Both skills were steadily improving.
With notes from each lifetime to guide him, and with money to spare in later lifetimes, Meng Nan had made impressive progress.
He could now concoct a wider range of pills.
His artifact crafting was even more impressive—
The Soul Banner.
Talisman General Black Armor.
Meng Nan had obtained the former in his fourth lifetime. Once refined, it could nurture vengeful spirits and baleful entities within its banner, and even on its own, it was quite powerful when carefully cultivated. Fed with the Iron Token's Essence Blood, it became even more formidable.
The latter was the method used by the man who killed Meng Nan and Zhao Xiaoshuang in the third lifetime.
In his seventh lifetime, Meng Nan ran into that man and got the method for crafting the "Talisman General Black Armor" from him. Over the next three lifetimes, nearly forty years, he successfully mastered it.
Once he crafted these two artifacts in the future, Meng Nan's combat strength would surely grow even greater.
As for spells—
With both "Giant Spirit God" and the "Small Thousand Sword Array" reaching the proficient level, Meng Nan was among the best at the peak of the True Qi Stage, relying on his own strength alone.
If he faced Zhang He from Yanxia Ravine in his fifth lifetime again, he wouldn't need to gang up on him. He could easily kill him by himself.
As for cultivation—
By his ninth lifetime, Meng Nan had already reached the fifth level of Sense Imprint, opened his Three Cavities for the first time, and tried to break through to the Qi Refining Stage.
His tenth lifetime had been his second attempt.
"Three Cavities."
"Qi Refining."
Meng Nan recalled what had happened, then shook his head.
Both attempts had failed. Just like Zhao Xiaoshuang in his fifth lifetime, the moment he opened his Three Cavities, he'd died on the spot.
Ten lifetimes.
A hundred years.
Still no Qi Refining.
His progress was limited.
"Ninth and tenth lifetimes, failed to reach the Qi Refining Stage."
"It'll probably take a few more lifetimes to break through."
"Deprivation" was great, but for now, it didn't seem to directly help him break through in cultivation.
Meng Nan was still stuck outside the Qi Refining Stage.
If he wanted to break through, all he could do was keep opening future timelines, grind away at it, and try again and again.
But—
[Opening Progress—] [Base Progress: 0/6400][Required] [Spirit Sand: 0/4][Choose One of Two] [Sacrifice: 0/16][Choose One of Two]
From his fifth to his tenth lifetime, he'd opened a future timeline six times in all.
Of those six openings, he'd used "Spirit Sand" twice: one catty the first time, two catties the second. If he chose "Spirit Sand" again now, he'd need four catties.
"Four catties of Spirit Sand."
That wasn't a small amount even for Meng Nan in later lifetimes, let alone now.
Even if he searched the entire Tianlin Cave area carefully, with his current advantage of foreknowledge, he could gather at most thirty catties or so in a short time.
To get more, he'd have to venture farther afield.
And Meng Nan needed that Spirit Sand both to improve his cultivation and to practice the "Giant Spirit God" secret art.
He simply couldn't make ends meet.
Using it to open future timelines would leave him even more strapped.
So during the six times he'd opened a future timeline at the Inner Qi Stage, he'd used "sacrifices" for the other four. For his last opening, he'd sacrificed eight people at the True Qi Stage.
The next opening would require sacrificing sixteen people at the True Qi Stage.
There were quite a few villains at that cultivation level in the Tianlin Cave area, but most were scattered about, their whereabouts uncertain. Finding them one by one wouldn't be easy.
Not impossible.
It would just take a lot of effort and a great deal of time.
"Spirit Sand."
"Sacrifices."
Neither was easy to come by.
That was one problem.
And there was another.
The Inner Qi required for "Base Progress" had increased from 100 at the start to 6,400 after six openings.
Even at the peak of the Inner Qi Stage, one only had 500 Inner Qi.
In other words,
To keep opening future timelines while at the Inner Qi Stage, Meng Nan would have to cultivate through the Inner Qi Stage thirteen times over.
That would take a lot of time, too.
Before opening his tenth lifetime, Meng Nan had cultivated for nearly half a year.
His eleventh lifetime—
He couldn't keep grinding away!
On top of that, he'd learned something important in this lifetime. He'd need to go out in person before long.
On a long journey.
His Inner Qi cultivation wasn't enough.
He needed to reach at least the True Qi Stage.
"Time to advance!"
Early the next morning, Meng Nan immediately advanced to the True Qi Stage.
The next day.
At the cave dwelling on Angming Mountain.
Meng Nan sat at the entrance, watching Meng Xingzhe play nearby.
Meng Xingzhe had been born at the end of March last year. Now, at thirteen months old, he'd long since learned to run and talk, and was bursting with energy. He spent all day hopping about, climbing up high and scrambling down again.
Two little tails followed behind him: a pair of simple Talisman General Black Armor constructs.
One was made of earth, the other of wood.
Both were only as big as Meng Xingzhe, with big, round heads and a dazed, silly air. They played with him while keeping him safe.
Playing with Meng Xingzhe were three children from his uncle's family—
Meng Qingfeng.
Meng Qingshan.
Meng Qingyu.
And the youngest child in Qian Yu's family—
Qian Shumin.
The oldest was Qian Shumin, born in Year 13 of the Immortal Calendar. She was seven this year.
The youngest was Meng Xingzhe, only one year old.
But Meng Ba's youngest daughter, Meng Qingyu, wasn't much older. She'd been born in Year 18 of the Immortal Calendar, shortly before Meng Nan's wedding, and was not yet two.
The children were running wild together, all at the age of wetting their pants and playing in the mud.
A little older than them were Qian Yu's eldest daughter, Qian Shuxian, and her second child, Qian Jiangchuan. The former was fourteen, and the latter twelve. They were both nearly old enough to begin cultivating.
For the past six months or so, Qian Yu had often been away on errands, so Meng Nan and Zhao Xiaoshuang had been teaching the two children their letters and giving them their early education.
At that moment, they were studying.
They read in the morning.
They practiced swordsmanship in the afternoon.
Only at noon and in the evening did they have a little free time. Then they'd come over to hear Meng Nan tell strange tales and amusing stories, broadening their horizons.
The two of them were older.
Among them,
Qian Shuxian's life in Yinlian Village had been rather difficult. Aside from her mother, Qian Yu, her family favored boys, and everyone else looked down on her.
Qian Jiangchuan, on the other hand, was much more doted on.
Even though Qian Yu was strict with him, the rest of the family spoiled him, and it was hard to avoid him developing a bad temper. Fortunately, after half a year of Meng Nan's guidance—and his review of the child's experiences and personality in future lifetimes—Qian Jiangchuan had now started to straighten out.
The younger ones were still just flowers, but each was growing strong and healthy. One day, they'd all bloom.
As long as they didn't die young, they'd reach the True Essence Stage at the very least.
"Xingzhe, slow down."
"Meng Qingfeng, if you bully people again, I'll give you a wallop!"
"Qingshan, Qingyu, come over to your big sister. I'll protect you!"
In the pine grove in front of the cave dwelling.
Qian Shumin was only seven, but around the other children she acted like a little adult, telling everyone what to do and worrying herself silly.
"Xiaomin's not like her mother."
"Senior Sister hardly says a word, but this child never stops talking."
"Shuxian's more like Senior Sister, though."
Zhao Xiaoshuang sat beside Meng Nan, watching the children with an amused smile. Then she turned to Meng Nan and complained, "Senior Sister brought the three children over here, but you've been calling her off to do this and that. She's barely had any time to spend with them."
There was no way around it.
Meng Nan had received a great deal of information from the future, especially about the area around Tianlin Cave. He couldn't go out himself, so he had to leave it to Qian Yu.
He looked after the children for Qian Yu.
Qian Yu roamed the world outside.
It worked out as a fair trade, with neither of them losing out.
Qian Yu wasn't the sort to let children tie her down, either.
"By my reckoning, she'll be back soon."
At the mention of Qian Yu, Meng Nan counted on his fingers. His former aunt-by-marriage, now his senior sister, had been away for two months this time. According to the records from his tenth life, she should return the day after tomorrow.
"Will she be able to stay a little longer this time?"
Zhao Xiaoshuang looked at Meng Nan.
Whether Qian Yu could stay longer on Angming Mountain didn't depend on her. It depended on whether Meng Nan would keep sending her out.
"She should be able to stay longer."
"But—"
Meng Nan smiled. "We'll have to go out for a trip."
"We?"
"Me?"
Zhao Xiaoshuang was a little surprised.
She was pregnant, after all.
For the past two months, Meng Nan hadn't gone out once; he'd stayed by her side. But now he wanted to take her out with him?
"Twenty thousand li west of Tianlin Cave, there's a spirit herb that has to be taken as soon as it's picked. It'll do you and the baby good, so it's worth the trip."
Lately, in Zhao Xiaoshuang and Qian Yu's eyes, Meng Nan had become something of a "mystic."
Whatever he said now, he said with absolute certainty—
No fuss.
No explanation.
Just trust me.
Trust me, and you'll be fine.
Zhao Xiaoshuang didn't question him. Instead, anticipation stirred within her. "For my husband to make a special trip out of the mountain for a spirit herb, and even bring me along, it must be incredibly precious, right?"
Meng Nan had been on Angming Mountain for nearly a year. In that time, he'd guided Qian Yu to collect quite a few spirit herbs.
Some were rare enough to make even those at the True Essence Stage green with envy.
Yet Meng Nan hadn't gone out for even those. He'd simply sent Qian Yu in his place.
But this time, he was going himself?
Zhao Xiaoshuang didn't ask for details, but her anticipation was already sky-high.
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