First Glimpse

Before dawn the next morning, cold crows were already cawing ceaselessly from the bare branches.

At the roll-call area of the servants' quarters, dozens of servants stood in two lines with their necks hunched. Their faces were bluish-purple from the cold as they stamped their feet and breathed into their hands, white mist gathering above the crowd like a cloud of gloom.

Chen Ping stood among the people at the back, his eyes lowered as if lost in thought, while his peripheral vision quietly swept over his surroundings.

Standing in a corner of the front row was Hong'er, the little maid responsible for emptying the chamber pots at night.

She had always been the liveliest girl, but today she kept her head down. Her eyelids were swollen like ripe peaches, and several bluish-purple finger marks could faintly be seen on the exposed half of her wrist.

Her stance was strange, her legs unable to close together, her body trembling faintly as though a gust of wind could knock her over.

At that moment, the curtain of the main room was lifted, and a warm gust carrying the mingled scents of powder and wine poured out.

The guard instructor, Wang Meng, strode outside.

Unlike the cowering crowd, he wore only a single open-fronted shirt. His face was ruddy, and an oily sheen of post-indulgence glimmered over his fleshy features.

"Stand up straight, all of you! You look like plague-stricken chickens. Just looking at you brings bad luck!"

Wang Meng rolled two iron balls in his hand, his hawk-like gaze sweeping across the crowd.

When his eyes passed over Chen Ping, his hand paused slightly.

Over the past half month, although Chen Ping had eaten nothing but cold leftovers, his complexion had somehow become even rosier than those servants who ate their fill because of his cultivation of Longevity of Pine and Crane. His back had also unconsciously straightened somewhat.

Among this crowd of sallow, emaciated servants, he stood out.

"Hm?"

Wang Meng narrowed his eyes and let out a sinister snort through his nose.

Chen Ping's heart tightened, and he reacted instinctively.

His knees buckled, and his whole body immediately hunched over. He thrust both hands into his sleeves and tightly hugged his shoulders, while his teeth obligingly chattered, "C-c-c." He looked exactly like a quail frightened out of its wits.

The clarity that had lingered in his eyes vanished as well, replaced by murky cowardice, filled with fawning fear.

Wang Meng stared at him for two breaths. Seeing only a spineless weakling with no prospects, he gave a disdainful sneer and looked away.

"Enough. Get lost and work! Whoever dares slack off today, I'll skin him alive!"

The crowd scattered like startled birds and beasts, as though granted a pardon.

Chen Ping blended into the stream of people, still maintaining that timid, shrinking posture. Only after turning past the corridor and leaving Wang Meng's sight did his bent back straighten slightly.

The gun shoots the bird that sticks its head out. In Lin Manor, looking too spirited is a crime too.

He silently marked down another debt against Wang Meng.

There was no rush to settle it. He would let it accumulate first.

Time flowed like water, and half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Deep winter had arrived. A heavy snowfall wrapped the entirety of Qinghe County in a world of silver.

In the rear courtyard of Lin Manor, the snow lay a foot deep, crunching beneath one's feet.

Over the past half month, Chen Ping's life had been exceptionally regular.

He worked by day and trained at night.

With the chicken soup and rich food Yun Niang occasionally sent him, coupled with the coarse meat he bought by pinching every penny, the deficits in his body were gradually being replenished.

The most obvious change was his resistance to cold.

At this time of year in the past, Chen Ping's hands and feet would already have been covered in frost sores. Even wrapped in two layers of ragged cotton clothes, he could not stop the chill from seeping into his bones.

Yet now, wearing only a thin padded jacket as he stood in the wind, he felt as though a little furnace were hidden within his Dantian.

That warmth slowly flowed through his Meridians, melting away the cold wherever it passed.

This was the passive effect of Longevity of Pine and Crane.

It could not split steles or shatter stones, but it could lock in one's vital essence and keep the wind evil from invading.

"Hey! You, the one sweeping the ground!"

A roguish shout interrupted Chen Ping's thoughts.

Beside the well platform, the guard Lai San had a stalk of grass between his teeth as he eyed Chen Ping sideways.

Lai San was Wang Meng's lackey. He loved bullying the weak while fearing the strong, and relying on his bit of brute strength, he had tormented plenty of servants.

"Brother Lai San, what are your orders?"

Chen Ping hurriedly put on a smile and jogged over.

"Perfect. I have a basin of clothes here, changed out of Second Young Master's room. In this freezing weather, my hands are precious and can't touch cold water. Wash them for me."

A large wooden basin sat at Lai San's feet, piled high with thick cotton clothing and silk garments, with a thin layer of ice frozen over them.

Washing clothes in weather like this was miserable work that could freeze a person's hands useless.

Several servants drawing water nearby cast sympathetic looks over, but none dared make a sound.

Chen Ping glanced at the basin of clothes, then at Lai San's rascal expression that plainly said, "Wash them or get beaten."

If it had been before, he would most likely have argued a few words or begged for mercy.

But now...

"Brother Lai San thinks highly of this lowly one. It is this lowly one's good fortune."

Without another word, Chen Ping bent down and lifted the wooden basin.

"You know what's good for you."

Lai San gave a smug snort. Before leaving, he did not forget to threaten him. "Wash them clean. If you ruin the fabric, watch your skin!"

Chen Ping carried the basin to the well, found a sheltered corner, and squatted down.

He did not begin immediately. Instead, he first took a deep breath and adjusted his rhythm of breathing.

Pine Crane Breathing, long and distant.

Then he rolled up his sleeves and slowly immersed his hands in the bone-piercing ice water.

"Hiss—"

Even with his inner energy protecting him, the chill still jolted his nerves at once.

If others saw this, they would surely think he was suffering.

But in Chen Ping's perception, it was an entirely different world.

The icy well water stimulated the pores on the surface of his skin to contract sharply. To resist the cold, the warmth inside his body naturally gathered toward his hands.

One cold and one hot, the two forces repeatedly churned between the skin and flesh of his palms.

Chen Ping remained calm, even closing his eyes with a trace of enjoyment.

He scrubbed the clothes in the water, neither hurried nor slow, every exertion paired with a particular rhythm of breath.

As time passed, his hands not only failed to turn red and swell from the cold, but instead took on a warm luster like jade.

Wisp after wisp of heat, too faint for the naked eye to discern, rose from his fingertips and dissipated into the cold wind.

[Using the cold to stimulate the skin and flesh. Cold resistance slightly increased...]

[Longevity of Pine and Crane proficiency +1]

Half an hour later.

Chen Ping finished washing the last garment and withdrew his hands from the water.

Upon closer inspection, one would discover that the water in the basin was actually slightly warmer than when it had first been drawn.

He swiftly dried his hands with a cloth and hid them in his sleeves.

Inside his sleeves, his hands were scorching hot and brimming with strength.

Lai San, Lai San. You think you're bullying me, never realizing you're delivering experience points right to my door.

This sense of control—everyone drunk while he alone remained sober—felt even more satisfying than punching Lai San in the face.

That night, the blizzard sealed the doors.

The howling wind battered the window lattice, producing a sound that set one's teeth on edge.

Inside, a solitary lamp burned like a bean, its shadows swaying.

Chen Ping sat cross-legged on his bed, his five centers facing heaven. His entire body was like an immovable boulder.

Half a month of bitter cultivation, along with the stimulation of that Cold Water Skin Tempering during the day, had brought him to the threshold.

The warmth within him, once as thin as a little snake, had grown as thick as a finger. It surged endlessly through his Meridians, striking against some invisible barrier.

[Longevity of Pine and Crane: 499/500]

Only the final point remained.

Chen Ping held his breath and concentrated, guiding that current of warmth slowly into his Dantian before fiercely driving it upward.

Exhale—inhale—

As the final long breath cycle was completed, the number on the panel finally flickered.

[500/500]

An unprecedented coolness poured in from the Baihui Acupoint atop his head, washing through his entire body in an instant.

Immediately afterward, the warmth in his Dantian underwent a qualitative change, transforming into a thread of blue-green energy—vibrant with life, ceaseless and unending.

The muscles and skin that had grown somewhat dry from prolonged malnutrition made faint crackling sounds under the nourishment of that energy. Like dead wood meeting spring, they came alive once more.

Chen Ping abruptly opened his eyes.

In the dark, shabby room, a faint green gleam shone in his eyes. They were like the eyes of a beast in the forest, yet carried the clear spirit of a crane.

He slowly raised his hand and looked at it in the weak lamplight.

The skin on the back of his hand was smooth and taut, with a faint flowing gleam. When he clenched his fist, the collision of his knuckles no longer sounded crisp, instead producing a dull, resilient thud.

As his gaze focused, the panel suddenly updated:

[Skill: Longevity of Pine and Crane (First Layer: First Glimpse)]

[Effects: Light as a swallow, immune to heat and cold.]

[Remaining Lifespan: 72 years (Originally 58 years, +14 years)]

Seeing the line that read "Remaining Lifespan," Chen Ping's heart began pounding fiercely.

Seventy-two years!

In this chaotic age, where the average Lifespan was no more than forty, seventy-two was already a long life.

More importantly, this was only the first layer!

As long as I train, I can gain more life... As long as I train, I can gain more life!

Chen Ping clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his flesh as he used pain to confirm that this was not a dream.

The feeling of being able to see his life visibly lengthen filled him with greater ecstasy than ten thousand taels of gold ever could.

This was his greatest trump card against this cruel world, and the first foundation stone on his path toward immortality.

Yet before he could savor that joy, an urgent yet restrained knock suddenly sounded outside the door.

Knock, knock, knock!

Then Yun Niang's anxious voice came through the crack in the door, low and hurried:

"Brother Ping! Wake up! Don't sleep!"

"Wang Meng has brought the guards this way. He says a valuable Jade Pendant was lost from Second Young Master's room, and they're going to search every room!"

The green gleam in Chen Ping's eyes abruptly faded, and his pupils contracted.

Search the rooms?

In the dead of night, with the blizzard sealing the doors—what kind of room search was this?

Unless... Xiang Zhuang danced with his sword, but his true aim was the Duke of Pei.