Spirit Condensation Realm, Return to Simplicity

You were delighted by the child's breakthrough. From the three Longevity Pills, you took one and went to the Blazing Sun Holy Land to hand it to Ye Chen. Ye Chen didn't actually lack lifespan, but over the years, the resources you'd given this child were truly not much compared to the others. You gave him this Longevity Pill hoping he could trade it for some resources within the Holy Land, making things a bit easier for him.

In the four hundred and fifty-second year, your cultivation broke through to the early Spirit Condensation Realm.

That same year, because of this breakthrough, Mysterious Grade pills had almost no effect on you anymore. You decided to move to Yangzhou Prefecture to live. With your current strength, you could be considered top-tier even there. Only in a place like that could you regularly buy Earth Grade pills through auctions.

That same year, the Min Family of Pingcheng sent half their family assets to you as compensation. When you truly stepped into the Spirit Condensation Realm, the Min Family finally panicked, afraid you might remember them one day and wipe them out. They hurriedly came to your door to apologize and make amends. You had no intention of destroying the Min Family, but you accepted the gifts without hesitation.

After all, moving to Yangzhou Prefecture would require a large sum of money to exchange for Earth Grade precious pills to support your future cultivation, so as not to slow down your progress. Only after you accepted the gifts did the two Min Family Ancestors truly relax.

You saw all these moves clearly, but in your heart, your resolve to grow stronger only deepened. Though you seemed imposing now, the Min Family had shown you the trembling fear of small-time figures. You didn't want yourself or your family to end up like the Min Family one day, cowering before Infant God Realm experts. The solution was to become stronger than others, so you could have a say and never have to bow your head again.

In the four hundred and fifty-third year, you led some members of the Ye Family to establish a foothold in Yangzhou Prefecture, setting up the Ye Family's clan grounds in Jiancheng.

Among the many forces in Jiancheng, the Imperial Court was the strongest. The officials assigned here were all from the Blazing Sun Holy Land. The current prefect of Yangzhou was the strongest martial artist in the entire prefecture, said to have reached the mid Infant God Realm.

The prefect was also called the governor. Besides him, the Yangzhou Governor was also an Infant God Realm expert. These two stood above all other forces within Yangzhou. Apart from the official faction, the other three top forces in Jiancheng had their strongest at the Spirit Condensation Realm. Your entry into Jiancheng made all three factions nervous, but they didn't make a move against you right away.

That same year, the City Lord's Mansion, having learned that Ye Chen was a member of the Ye Family, extended an invitation to you. At the banquet, the Yangzhou Governor was very warm toward you. Through conversation, you learned that the Yangzhou Governor, Shi Wenming, was actually your youngest son Ye Chen's third senior brother.

Because Ye Chen had been promoted to one of the Golden Twelve Sons of the Blazing Sun Holy Land, the Holy Land's Third Elder took a liking to him and accepted him as a disciple, making him the Third Elder's fifth and final personal disciple. After this banquet, the official faction in Jiancheng grew much closer to you and the Ye Family, essentially treating you as half their own.

Because of this banquet, the other three top forces in Jiancheng intensified their investigation of the Ye Family. When they also learned that Ye Chen was one of the Blazing Sun Twelve Sons, they became even more wary of you and dared not make a move.

You had no reaction to these moves from the three major forces. As far as you were concerned, you were happy to see it. Being able to steadily raise your cultivation without any incidents was your lifelong pursuit.

In the five hundred and eighty-fifth year, the First Ancestor passed away from depleted lifespan. For the first time, you experienced the pain of losing someone close.

That same year, because of the Ancestor's death, you bid on a Heavenly Origin Pill at the Jiancheng auction and gave it to your mother, Lin Lan. After taking the Heavenly Origin Pill, relying on years of accumulated foundation, she broke through to the late Earth Origin Realm. Then, because of the Heavenly Origin Treasure Pill, she immediately advanced again, reaching the Heavenly Origin Realm. Her lifespan increased from a thousand years at the Earth Origin Realm to two thousand years, leaving her with over a thousand years to live.

In the seven hundred and twentieth year, your Mayfly Step Slash and Thousand Mountain Snow, two sabre techniques, had their essence extracted and their dross discarded, merging into a new sabre technique. Based on its characteristics, you named it Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow. Its grade rose to Mysterious Grade Middle Rank, breaking through Peak Attainment and reaching the Return to Simplicity realm.

That same year, because Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow had reached Return to Simplicity, your physical condition improved dramatically. In that moment, you felt an overwhelming sense of invincibility. You knew it was an illusion, but if you had to describe it, you felt that ten of your former self couldn't beat you now.

At the same time, you had a premonition that Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow's limits were far from reached. After that, you collected a large number of sabre technique Martial Skills, but most were Mortal Grade and useless to you. What you needed were techniques at least at the Yellow Grade.

In the seven hundred and fifty-sixth year, since creating Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow, you had been collecting sabre techniques through various markets. Aside from auctions, the results weren't great. From auctions, you gathered six Yellow Grade sabre techniques and even spent a fortune to bid on a Profound Grade Low Rank sabre technique.

Even in a big city like Jiancheng, few people were willing to sell Martial Skills. This wasn't without reason. Not only were Martial Skills precious, but no one dared to accept copied sabre techniques—there were too many tricks that could be played. Only originals could be sold, and whether a Martial Skill was an original could be seen at a glance by an expert. Originals all retained the imprint of the technique's original creator.

For thirty-six years, you had been searching for Martial Skills that could be integrated into Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow. It wasn't until this year, when you finally reached the Peak Attainment realm with a Yellow Grade Low-Rank Martial Skill, that you once again felt the insight you'd had when merging techniques before.

You incorporated some of the strengths of that Yellow Grade Low-Rank Martial Skill into Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow, but it remained only at Mysterious Grade Middle Rank. You knew this was far from enough, but you were willing to keep deducing and improving Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow.

In the seven hundred and eighty-eighth year, your cultivation rose to the mid Spirit Condensation Realm.

That same year, through hard training, you cultivated the remaining five Yellow Grade sabre techniques to the Peak Attainment realm. You deduced these techniques, removed the impurities, and integrated all the strengths that suited Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow into it.

You succeeded, but Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow was still only a Mysterious Grade Middle Rank Martial Skill.

In the eight hundred and sixty-fifth year, your Mountain Shaking Fist advanced to the Return to Simplicity realm. Because of your deep understanding of Mountain Shaking Fist, you attempted to integrate it into Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow as well. But one was a fist technique, the other a sabre technique—the difference was vast. Still, you felt it wasn't impossible to merge them. You didn't give up on deducing the fusion of the two techniques.