Those birdcalls she had heard in her dream last night must have come from them.
Song Zhizhi took some leftover dry rations from her storage pouch and placed them by the window. Then she shut the window, changed clothes, and went outside to find something to eat.
Ten Thousand Swords City was bustling at this hour. Song Zhizhi found a breakfast stall, ordered a steaming bowl of wontons, and ate at an unhurried pace.
Perhaps because the plants and animals in the Cultivation World all contained spiritual energy, Song Zhizhi felt that the wontons here were even more delicious than those she had eaten in her previous life. Without realizing it, she ate three large bowls before she barely felt full.
After paying, Song Zhizhi was just about to leave when she suddenly overheard the conversation of the diners beside her.
"The Sea Demon Tides in Extreme Sea City have been breaking out more and more frequently these past few years. There might not have been one in ten years before, but recently there's been one every three to five years."
"The Demon King has fallen. With no Demon King to restrain those Sea Demons, I'd say the war from ten thousand years ago will soon be reenacted."
Song Zhizhi stopped in her tracks. Had the cause of the Human-Demon War in the original novel—the Sea Demon Tides of Extreme Sea City—already begun at this time?
Song Zhizhi's heart sank. She knew better than anyone that a war between humans and demons would erupt in this world ten years from now. She did not have Song Miaomiao's female lead halo, and the original owner's aptitude had been mediocre. Without a sect's protection, she would have a hard time preserving herself once the war began.
Song Zhizhi was quite afraid of dying. If she wanted somewhere to shelter her in the future, she had to give her all in the Sword Sect selection half a month from now.
Filled with lofty ambition, Song Zhizhi returned to the inn and seized every moment to cultivate diligently.
This body had originally possessed the cultivation of the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining. Recalling the original owner's cultivation memories, Song Zhizhi closed her eyes and immersed herself in a profound state of cultivation.
She sensed threads of warm spiritual energy rushing into her body. After circulating through her meridians for one cycle, they were compressed into red spiritual energy as thin as hairs and settled into her Dantian. It felt as though a warming patch had been stuck to her lower abdomen, continuously radiating heat.
After one night, Song Zhizhi felt that she had already touched the barrier of the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining. She estimated that another two nights of cultivation would allow her to break through to the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining. This should have been good news, yet Song Zhizhi frowned.
Something was wrong. In her memories, the original
owner had suffered
under the torment of Dual Water-Fire Spiritual Roots. Her cultivation progress had been slower than ordinary people's, and she had cultivated for eight years before breaking through to the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining. Yet her progress from this single night of cultivation could rival the original owner's achievements from an entire year.
Why was her cultivation speed so much faster than the original owner's? It seemed comparable to that of a Single Spirit Root.
Though Song Zhizhi could not puzzle it out no matter how she thought about it, absorbing spiritual energy faster was not a bad thing in the end. She made the most of her time and immersed herself in cultivation.
Author's note:
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River Lantern Wishes
After meditating and cultivating for two hours, Song Zhizhi's stomach rumbled furiously with hunger. Unable to endure it, she went downstairs and wolfed down three large bowls of Spirit Rice before finally feeling full.
Even someone as slow to notice things as Song Zhizhi sensed that something was off. Her appetite seemed to have grown over the past few days, and she was becoming hungry more easily. If she skipped even one meal, hunger would leave her limbs weak and stars dancing before her eyes. Apart from her appetite, the only other change was her increased cultivation speed.
Could it be that as her cultivation speed increased, her appetite would increase as well?
Song Zhizhi wanted to find a doctor to examine her, but Ten Thousand Swords City only had physicians who treated mortals. Healing Cultivators who treated cultivators were nowhere to be found.
She could only meditate and look inward, examining her meridians and internal organs. Naturally, she found nothing unusual. Only the spiritual energy around her Dantian seemed somewhat more active than usual, but that activity would not harm her body.
Song Zhizhi decided that once she entered the Sword Sect, she would find an opportunity to seek out a Healing Cultivator. Her instincts told her it was probably not a serious problem.
She hastily finished dinner. As dusk descended, bright lanterns lit up one after another along Ten Thousand Swords City's main streets, illuminating them as brightly as day—no worse than modern streetlights.
The nights in Ten Thousand Swords City seemed even livelier than elsewhere.
"Young lady, today is the Wanning Festival in our Cultivation World. Would you like to buy a river lantern? If you release one into the river on the Wanning Festival, the Dao of Heaven will bless you and grant all your wishes."
A street vendor enthusiastically promoted a lotus-shaped river lantern to Song Zhizhi.
The Wanning Festival was an extremely important holiday in the Cultivation World. It was said to have been established to celebrate victory in the Human-Demon War ten thousand years ago, and its significance was much like National Day.
Song Zhizhi knew more than anyone else. On the Wanning Festival ten years from now, the Barrier between the Human Realm and the Demon Realm would collapse, and the two realms would once again plunge into the flames of war.
The war between the Human Realm and the Demon Realm was the main storyline of the original novel. It lasted for several hundred years, and Song Miaomiao grew throughout the war, eventually becoming the leader of the Cultivation World. She led cultivators to slaughter the Demon Race, along with the Demon Race's leader at the time, Xie Xiuji, and brought the war to an end. Yet after that battle, the Cultivation World was gravely weakened, the world's spiritual energy rapidly declined, and after the female lead, no one ever ascended again.
Song Zhizhi sighed. Although she knew where this world was headed, no one would believe her if she spoke of it. And with her strength alone, it was impossible for her to prevent the Barrier from collapsing. War would come sooner or later.
Ten years. This world still had ten years of peace...
At this moment, Song Zhizhi had no idea that because of one tiny action of hers, the future's most powerful Demon King had already been swept away by the flutter of her butterfly wings, and the future had changed by more than half.
Of course, those were matters for later.
At this moment, Song Zhizhi held a river lantern as she stood by the moat. Though the river outside Ten Thousand Swords City was called a moat, it looked more like a great river several hundred meters wide. A flight-ban Formation had been set over its surface. Everyone who came to release river lanterns into the moat could only walk to the designated area.
The lights by the moat were not as bright as those within the city. Men, women, old, and young along the bank held river lanterns of various shapes in their hands, their expressions devout as they set them upon the water.
"Dao of Heaven above, please bless my father with smooth sailing in all things while he is away. Please do not let him encounter any danger."