Eternal Remembrance of the Martial World, Returning with White Hair; Wishing to Return to Heaven and Earth in a Small Boat

After breaking through to Qi Cultivation Level 1.

Chen Dengming did not immediately leave the mountain crevice area to return to the Gathering Place. Instead, he planned to spend a few more days consolidating his cultivation.

Compared to the crowded and chaotic Gathering Place, the mountain crevice was at least secluded enough.

Furthermore, he had been living here for several months and was familiar with its safety.

There were a few times when he encountered danger, even once encountering a Demon Beast that resembled a mountain spider. The Spiritual Might it exuded made his heart race. However, thanks to the Snake Gu's early warning, he managed to pass through unharmed.

As of now, he had officially become a cultivator, his self-preservation abilities had greatly increased, his lifespan had also extended significantly, and his status panel looked more substantial.

[Cultivator: Chen Dengming]
[Level: Qi Cultivation 1]
[Lifespan: 100/170]
[Spiritual Root: Metal, Wood (Mid-grade 5/100)]
[Martial Arts: Chen Family Martial Arts General Outline (Mastered 76/100)]
[Daoist Magic: Gu Refining Chapter (Proficient 1/100), Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique (Level 1 0/100), Life-Damaging Seedling Pulling Technique (Beginner 90/100), Great Fireball Technique (Beginner 1/100)]

After breaking through from Innate Mortal to cultivator, his lifespan directly increased by fifteen years. Coupled with the breakthrough in the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique, which extended his lifespan by another three years.

Therefore, his lifespan limit had reached a high of 170 years, a true second spring.

In comparison, spending eight years of lifespan to improve his Spiritual Energy affinity could not be considered a waste.

After all, the Life-Damaging Seedling Pulling Technique only needed to be cultivated once more to advance to the first level, at which point his lifespan limit would increase further.

The only regret was that the Great Fireball Technique, a Tier 1 Level 1 Daoist Magic, did not increase his lifespan limit upon learning it.

Chen Dengming guessed that this type of Daoist Magic was probably similar in level to the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique.

Thus, it did not extend his lifespan after learning it, which also proved the mediocrity of the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique.

Although he had a status panel, and cultivating could increase his lifespan, as long as he cultivated diligently and had enough cultivation methods, longevity was within reach in the future.

However, for cultivation methods of the same level, even if he learned ten or a hundred, only the first one learned or the one with the highest tier would extend his lifespan upon learning and each breakthrough.

This also motivated him to constantly pursue more profound cultivation methods when he was learning martial arts back then.

Now it seemed that cultivation also required the same old path: pursuing deeper realms that fell from broken cliffs.

Chen Dengming knew well that to do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools.

For cultivators, Spiritual Roots were the sharp tools for cultivation.

Ordinary people dared not rashly deplete their lifespan to improve their Spiritual Root quality.

He, however, dared to grind. As long as he had a long life, he would directly spend his life force.

That night.

Stars were scattered across the sky, and a full moon shone without polish.

Chen Dengming sat under the moonlight, breathing in and out, with a few strands of white hair, even whiter than the moonlight, growing at his temples.

This could be described as: "Forever remembering the Martial World turning white-haired, wishing to return to heaven and earth to enter a small boat."

This was also: "Stars scattered in the deep moonlight, the Dao heart hanging in the blue sky."

He once again consumed two years of lifespan to increase his Spiritual Energy affinity to Mid-grade 6. His cultivation speed had improved.

The Life-Damaging Seedling Pulling Technique finally broke through from the beginner stage to the first level, and his lifespan limit consequently increased by three years, reaching 173 years.

Theoretically, he still had seventy-one good years to live.

After the Life-Damaging Seedling Pulling Technique officially entered the first level, it began to progress towards the effects of the second level, requiring at least 180 years of lifespan to cultivate. At that time, his Spiritual Energy affinity would increase by fifty percent to one hundred and twenty percent.

Time flew by, and six days later.

At noon on this day.

A blazing fireball, the size of a human head, suddenly flew out of the mountain crevice. After flying eight zhang, it abruptly made a strange turn and smashed heavily onto the ground with a 'rumble'.

Instantly, sparks flew from the ground.

Some weeds were directly burned to ashes, leaving behind a scorched earth pit the size of a washbasin, emitting wisps of smoke.

"Great Fireball Technique, so this is considered entry-level. I can barely control the fireball to make simple turns, so it won't be too rigid in combat."

Chen Dengming, with ragged clothes and unkempt appearance, walked out of the mountain crevice with his hands behind his back. A faint, restrained Spiritual Might emanated from him, and his expression was slightly emotional.

His appearance remained unchanged. His forehead was broad, his eyes bright and gentle. Ignoring the beard covering his face, he could be considered handsome. However, the white hair at his temples was quite striking, giving him a somewhat evil charm of a mature man.

This white hair seemed to be a side effect of cultivating the Life-Damaging Seedling Pulling Technique.

Even though his lifespan limit continued to increase, it could not make the white hair disappear.

However, he considered himself a dedicated cultivator and did not care about these minor flaws in his appearance.

What he did care about was that this period of over three months of arduous cultivation in the wilderness was coming to a temporary close today.

It turned out that practicing the Great Fireball Technique a hundred times was easy, but practicing it ten thousand times was not.

The main reason was that his Spiritual Energy recovered very slowly.

Each casting of the Great Fireball Technique consumed ten percent of his Spiritual Energy.

Chen Dengming could only cast it ten times even in his prime.

After those ten uses, his internal Spiritual Energy would be depleted, requiring him to practice the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique six times to fully recover, which would take about half a day.

In a day of twelve shichen, Chen Dengming would need six shichen just to practice the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique twelve times.

Practicing the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique twelve times would only be enough to recover his Spiritual Energy twice, allowing him to practice the Great Fireball Technique twenty times a day.

To improve the Great Fireball Technique from beginner to introductory level, he would need to practice diligently for five consecutive days.

Currently, he had cultivated the Great Fireball Technique to the introductory level, gaining a preliminary grasp of a Daoist Magic.

The Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique had also improved slightly through his unremitting practice over these past six days.

However, it would still take at least three more months of persistent, arduous cultivation to break through to the second level of Qi Cultivation.

A person is like a bow, needing both tension and relaxation.

He had decided to improve his cultivation environment and planned to return to the Rogue Cultivator Gathering Place to assess the situation first.

When he left, he was still a Mortal.

Now, returning, he had become a Cultivator.

The immense shift in identity between these two states was the difference between a god and a mortal in this Cultivation world, a leap in class.

Even with Qian Yuan's bounty still active, the search was for a Mortal.

No one would dare to casually investigate a Cultivator, nor would there be any need.

Because once one became a Cultivator, even the Golden Character Workshop would re-evaluate Chen Dengming's value and would not mistreat such a meritorious individual.

But for a Mortal whose life was cheaper than grass, that might not be the case.

He employed his movement technique and departed swiftly.

Movement techniques from the Mortal world, when executed with Spiritual Energy, naturally became more rapid, faster than a gale, covering dozens of feet in an instant. In the Mortal Martial World, this was an absolutely unimaginable speed, but it also consumed Spiritual Energy quickly.

Chen Dengming tried his best to coordinate his body's musculature with his stride to conserve Spiritual Energy, exploring more convenient, efficient, and energy-saving methods of rapid movement in practice.

By now, he understood why, when he had witnessed Cultivators fighting in the past, they almost always fought while standing still.

Even the occasional evasive maneuvers were quite clumsy.

While this was partly due to the lack of refined martial arts among the Cultivators in this region, it was more likely because they had to consider the expenditure of Spiritual Energy.

"Among the three Daoist Magics gifted to me by that female Cultivator at the Ascension Convention, one was the Great Fireball Technique, another was the Wood Escape Technique, and the last was the Gold Touch Technique.

The Wood Escape Technique is a Level 1, Grade 2 Daoist Magic, while the Gold Touch Technique is a Level 1, Grade 4 Daoist Magic. I need to increase my strength further before I can cultivate them. It seems I need to go purchase some other useful Daoist Magics."

As Chen Dengming pondered, his senses suddenly stirred. His ears caught the sound of the wind, and his expression changed slightly. He immediately altered his movement technique, leaping backward into the woods to his left.

Almost as soon as he held his breath and concealed himself, a figure streaked past his original position, their feet not touching the ground, moving with incredible speed.

Chen Dengming didn't look, but he could judge from the sound of the wind alone, and he frowned.

"Divine Speed Technique?!"

He didn't want to cause trouble. In the Martial World, it's best to mind your own business; speaking too much only leads to trouble, and trying to be a hero only brings annoyance.

He immediately and quietly wrapped his cloak around his face like a mask.

Just as he was about to slip away from the other side of the woods, he heard two more gusts of wind approaching, one after the other. Cursing inwardly, he stopped again.

However, it seemed his slight movement had caused his aura to leak. Not long after the two gusts of wind passed, they actually turned back. A voice, cold yet tinged with a smile, came from outside the woods.

"Hey! Jiang Qiang, you little brat, you've got some nerve, hiding in the woods! You almost lost us. Come out!"

Chen Dengming, ".~~~?~"

He continued to hold his breath, motionless.

Another cold female voice came from outside the woods, followed by a strong fluctuation of Spiritual Energy, and the air began to heat up.

"Jiang! If you're a man, come out! Still trying to hide at a time like this? Are you a turtle?"

Chen Dengming was annoyed.

What kind of messed-up situation was this?

He had deliberately avoided trouble, yet they were dragging him out. He wasn't the protagonist, couldn't they just leave him alone?

Thanks to Ai Zhuang Nan Qiang, Yang Mou Ren Yi Ge Mian Zi, Shi Luo Xing Yu, Xin Yu Jian, Shu Jian Hua San Jue, Ye An Shi, Shen Lan Hai Yang, Jiang Shi Ju Ti, and other readers for their rewards. I won't list them all. The book's performance is quite good and stable right now. I sincerely ask all my fellow readers to develop the habit of following along and reading, thank you. As for updates, it's still 6k per day. That's quite a lot, and tomorrow will be the same.