Xie An's advancing steps suddenly halted, the hand carrying the box seemingly paralyzed, frozen in mid-air.
While not to the point of a complete mental blank, Xie An indeed felt a inexplicable shock.
He had given up the small weapon he most wanted to cultivate in exchange for the White Ginseng Fruit, precisely out of consideration for Madam Li's past kindness, hoping to allow her to live a few more years.
The moment he obtained the White Ginseng Fruit, Xie An had spurred his horse on the road.
Unexpectedly, he was still one step too late.
After a long daze, Xie An finally spoke, "When did Madam leave?"
Chun Lan was crying so hard that her words were slurred, "Around noon. Han Li and He Ge'er went to call the villagers for help."
Noon…
If the Town Demon Division's White Ginseng Fruit could have been expedited…
But there are no 'ifs' in this world.
Madam Li wasn't from any official's family; there were no government agencies to make exceptions for her. She was just an ordinary woman.
Xie An said nothing more, but instead stepped forward, walked over the steps, crossed the threshold, and entered the room step by step.
In the dilapidated and simple room, it was quiet, filled with a pungent medicinal smell.
From afar, through the beaded curtain of the archway, Xie An saw the old woman lying on the bed.
At this time, Chun Lan also stopped crying, followed him in, and sobbed, "When she left, Madam was still murmuring Master Xie's name…"
Xie An walked towards the bed.
Scenes of the dignified and benevolent woman from the past flashed through his mind.
The visits during her stroke, the "Old Xie, take care" on that snowy night.
The past was like smoke; thirty-eight years of acquaintance had turned into yellow earth and dust at this moment.
Chun Lan took out a crumpled letter and handed it to Xie An, "Madam left you a letter."
Xie An stopped and took the envelope, tearing it open.
The letter paper was full of round spots blurred by tears, indicating that Madam Li was also weeping sadly when she wrote this letter.
Originally, Xie An thought that Madam Li would ask him to find Li Ru and Li Shaoyun.
If Madam Li had such a request, Xie An would naturally help.
However, the content of the letter was very simple, just one sentence: I still have a hundred taels of silver saved, consider it Chun Lan's dowry. I have no daughter, so I treat Chun Lan as my daughter. There are no elders in the family, so I trouble Old Xie to arrange the wedding for Chun Lan and He Ge'er. May Chun Lan be happy and healthy, and may Old Xie take care for the rest of his life.
Behind the letter, there was a hundred-tael silver note folded.
Xie An slowly walked to the bed, squatted down, and gently grasped Madam Li's cold, stiff, withered right hand, "Madam, rest assured. Chun Lan will be happy."
Afterwards, Xie An tucked her hand into the quilt, stood up, and bowed deeply to Madam Li.
He remembered that on the day he redeemed himself seven years ago, on a snowy night, Madam Li saw him out the door. The last words Xie An said to Madam Li were: Madam, take care.
Now, Xie An said these four words again.
"Madam, take care!"
"In the next life, be born into a good era, and no longer suffer the hardships of this chaotic world."
Just then, Han Li and He Chunli hurriedly arrived with the villagers. When they entered the room, they saw Xie An and stopped in their tracks.
Xie An turned around, "Madam Li, Tong Ying, accumulated virtue and did good deeds throughout her life, and died peacefully. Please spread the word and follow the rules of Black Shrine to let Madam have a good journey."
Madam Li was gone.
Xie An stayed in the Li residence for seven days, personally arranging the funeral affairs. He also invited a Taoist priest to perform rituals, and finally personally carried the coffin into the ground for Madam Li.
Because Madam Li usually accumulated virtue and did good deeds, and had an excellent reputation in Black Bridge Town, many people came to see her off…
After burying Madam Li, Xie An accompanied Chun Lan and He Chunli and Han Li to clean up the Li residence, and then took Chun Lan away from Black Bridge Town.
Before leaving, Chun Lan did not forget to wrap Madam Li's memorial tablet, stared at the Li residence for a long time, and finally knelt down and kowtowed, "Madam, if there is a next life, Chun Lan will still come to serve you."
After speaking, Chun Lan reluctantly left.
…
Night.
Xie Residence, courtyard.
Xie An lay on the rocking chair looking at the stars. Next to him on the corner table was a box containing the White Ginseng Fruit.
Madam Li was gone, and the White Ginseng Fruit was not used.
Xie An didn't feel good about it.
However, at his age, he had seen a lot of birth, old age, sickness, and death. He took many things lightly, and even if there was some regret and helplessness, it was only transformed into a sigh in his heart, not as emotionally intense as Chun Lan.
Fate is impermanent, birth, old age, sickness, and death.
Who can avoid it?
It's just that some people live longer, and some people have shorter lives.
Madam Li lived for more than sixty years, which can be considered a long life in this chaotic world.
However, Madam Li's natural death greatly awakened Xie An's inner vigilance.
Since cultivating the Life-Nourishing Technique, Xie An had more than forty or fifty years left. Even after eight years, the remaining years still slowly increased. This made Xie An's perception of old age to some extent dulled.
In addition, the great improvement of martial arts and Bright Jade Skill, the acquisition of status and power… all of these made Xie An's perception to some extent dulled.
This time, Xie An felt a great sense of urgency.
However, Xie An didn't feel anything, people are like this. Just like many people in his previous life, they usually enjoyed smoking and drinking, but after going to the hospital and seeing several scenes of life and death outside the operating room, they immediately vowed to quit smoking, drinking, and other bad habits.
A few days after leaving the hospital, they started messing around again…
After drinking two cups of purple bamboo leaf tea, Xie An slowly stood up.
"Martial arts power, official power… although they bring me great convenience, these good things will also make people dull to distant crises. They are all double-edged swords."
Xie An felt that he seemed to be doing well now, a fifth-rank chief, Bright Jade eighteen levels, and he was also familiar with the princess, and backed by the grand princess…
However, there is an upper limit to life in this world.
Martial masters live for one hundred and fifty years, grandmasters for three hundred years. There is also a limit of four hundred years of life. No one has broken the limit of four hundred years in five thousand years.
Even if he has the Longevity fate and the Bright Jade Skill… if everything goes smoothly, he can live for more than three hundred years at most.
And then what?
Become the next Madam Li?
Xie An, as a transmigrator, was unwilling!
Although these things are still far away, Xie An felt that he must make plans in advance.
After all, it is still unknown whether the Longevity fate can break the life limit of this world. Xie An felt that it was probably impossible. The reason is also very simple: Su Yuqing once said that the four-hundred-year life limit is determined by the human body of this world. And Xie An is a soul transmigration, not a body transmigration. His body is still from this world, so it will also be restricted.
Unless… the Longevity fate can change the body and achieve some kind of great transformation.
A great transformation of life, similar to mutation and evolution, requires changing genes at the species level.
Based on the current abilities shown by the Longevity fate, Xie An felt that it was still many levels away from changing gene species…
Even, Xie An also felt that the four-hundred-year life limit in this world, in addition to the limitations of the body, may also be restricted by some kind of law. Otherwise, no one in the Great Qian Dynasty would have broken this limit in five thousand years.
The demise of the Tianbao Dynasty was because of the word 'Longevity'.
Longevity…
Xie An silently recited these two words in his heart, vaguely feeling a mountain-like weight, a suffocating difficulty.
At Xie An's age, although he still had some interest in power, when he asked his heart… the biggest obsession in his heart was only the word 'Longevity'.
Previously, Xie An didn't have enough strength and too little accumulation, Longevity was just two words on paper.
Now that Xie An has accumulated a lot, he can think about it.
"Fortunately, I still have at least fifty-eight years of life, so I don't need to be too anxious, but I can't slack off."
He began to make some plans for the future.
"First, break through the Bright Jade nineteenth level as soon as possible, achieve rejuvenation, and reach the level comparable to a martial arts grandmaster…"
Xie An realized there was a problem: Everyone says that breaking through the nineteenth level can be comparable to a martial arts grandmaster, but these are just other people's claims, and Xie An is not sure what it is actually like…
After all, the High Priest was killed by Su Yuqing.
Xie An vaguely felt that this 'comparable' had a certain degree of exaggeration.
But what is certain is that breaking through the nineteenth level can rejuvenate is true, and even if the combat power is not comparable to a martial arts grandmaster, it will not be too far off. There will always be a huge transformation.
At least he needs to get the three-hundred-year lifespan like a martial arts grandmaster, so that he can calmly seek immortality and ask for longevity.
Moreover, in the five thousand years of the Great Qian Dynasty, countless emperors had sought immortality and enlightenment without success. For Xie An to try to unearth something on his own… it was akin to searching for a needle in the ocean. He would need to borrow the power of the Great Qian court to have any chance.
Even to pursue a mere probability, there is strength in numbers.
Therefore, Xie An felt that his path through the Demon Suppression Division was the right one, but it was not enough… In the future, he would need to become a State Chief, or even a National Chief, to have enough authority to mobilize thousands of forces to seek immortality and enlightenment, fulfilling his desire for eternal life.
After this planning, Xie An felt that there were no major shortcomings and could proceed along this path.
Although the Eldest Princess was good, she was just a large tree to seek shade under for now.
But Xie An felt that he should not rely on her for the long term, nor should he form a dependence. He needed to carve out his own path little by little.
However, Xie An's strength was not yet sufficient, and he could not form an equal and mutually beneficial cooperative relationship with the Eldest Princess. Once he broke through to become a Martial Arts Grandmaster, he could cooperate with the Eldest Princess, achieving mutual benefit.
"No rush, one step at a time."
Glug.
Xie An took a big gulp of Purple Bamboo Leaf tea, then left the Drunken Scholar's Chair and returned to his room to sit cross-legged and intensely cultivate the Bright Jade Skill.
In the courtyard, only the Drunken Scholar's Chair was swaying back and forth…
The latest novel is first published on Six/Nine/Book/Bar!
Xie An's days became peaceful again.
Unable to improve the Fate Grid Fusion, then cultivate intensely. Although the progress was slow, improving a little was still an improvement.
Because of Chunlan's arrival, the Xie residence was well-managed inside and out. Yuhe also put more energy into the affairs of the Demon Suppression Division.
Xie An had gone to the Tang Family Fortress to ask Tang Zhengyang about the matter of his lifespan being stolen, but Tang Zhengyang was also at a loss. Xie An had no choice but to give up. In the end, Tang Zhengyang decided to go into seclusion, entrusting the Tang Family Fortress to Xie An.
Xie An readily agreed and gave the White Ginseng Fruit to Tang Zhengyang.
Three months passed quickly.
Autumn passed and winter came.
The time came to the beginning of October, entering winter, and it was snowing.
The central courtyard of the Xie residence.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh ~
With his upper body bare, Xie An revealed his streamlined muscles, holding the Demon Suppression Famous Blade, tempering his blade skills in the icy snow. Compared to three months ago, Xie An's blade skills had made considerable progress.
The blade skills he practiced were no longer the clumsy Blade Pressing technique of Heavy Mountain Blade, but had become sometimes elegant and unrestrained, sometimes swift as thunder. Stirring up the snow all over the ground, the two large camphor trees were violently shaken by the impact of the blade wind.
There was no Blade Pressing technique, but it surpassed the Blade Pressing technique in every way.
When he put away the blade, Xie An waved the blade lightly towards the stone lock in the corner of the wall, and suddenly there was a "crack" sound. The stone lock was split in half in mid-air.
"Internal Force released externally, killing people ten steps away. Truly extraordinary."
Xie An made a judgment with a smile.
Not bad.
In the past three months, Xie An relied on the powerful potential energy accumulated by the Bright Jade Skill, coupled with the Internal Force Pill resources of the Demon Suppression Division, and had already tempered his martial arts to the seventh level of Internal Force. After three days of tempering, he finally adapted to the method of releasing Internal Force externally.
The Blade Pressing technique was just a castrated version of the external release of Internal Force.
Now that he had the external release of Internal Force, every swing of the blade was a killing technique, so why use Blade Pressing?
However, the potential energy of the Bright Jade Skill had been exhausted, and martial arts could not advance rapidly next. It was really unpleasant.
"Martial arts are indeed much better than the Bright Jade Skill in the way of attack. After all, this is not the Immortal Cultivation World. Being in the Great Qian Dynasty, it is really impossible not to practice martial arts." Xie An walked to the eaves, put down the blade, and picked up a sweat towel to wipe the sweat from his face.
"However, practicing both the Bright Jade Skill and martial arts can indeed complement each other, doubling the effect. I have practiced martial arts for eight years, reaching the seventh level Martial Master from scratch, which is already very outstanding."
Xie An had specially asked Zhao Qing'er for information. Even in the capital, where geniuses gathered, it was rare to reach the seventh level Martial Master in eight years. Even Zhao Qing'er and Wei Haoran broke through to the seventh level Martial Master at the age of thirty.
But Zhao Qing'er provided a piece of information: Su Yuqing broke through to become a Martial Arts Grandmaster at the age of twenty-eight.
In other words, Su Yuqing had broken through to become a Martial Arts Grandmaster before coming to Nanyang Prefecture.
It had been thirty years since she broke through to become a Martial Arts Grandmaster.
Xie An felt a chill down his spine every time he thought of this.
Comparing people is infuriating.
What kind of monster is this Eldest Princess?
Xie An shook his head, swept away the distracting thoughts in his heart, sat cross-legged in the living room, and opened the panel.
[Current Longevity Fate Grid: Level 1.]
[Current Fusion: ]
[Bright Jade Skill: Frost Descends 81/100]
After three months of intense cultivation, the Bright Jade Skill had increased by ten points of progress.
Extremely slow.
Although Xie An was mentally prepared, he still felt it was a bit slow.
He knew that the Bright Jade Skill was a top-level longevity and health preservation technique, possibly an existence close to immortal magic. Even masters like Tang Zhengyang and Li Changchun calculated the time span for practicing the Bright Jade Skill in hundreds of years.
With the blessing of the Longevity Fate Grid for intense cultivation, this progress was already remarkable.
But when it comes to practicing kung fu, who would think it's too fast?
"According to this progress, it will take at least half a year or even a year to fill it up. We still have to find a way to improve the Fate Grid Fusion. A level one Longevity Fate Grid is still a bit rubbish after all. It would be great to enter a level two Fate Grid sooner."
During this period, Xie An often went to Zhao Qing'er to ask if Huang Silang had confessed to other Dog Demons. As a result, Huang Silang was very stubborn and would not say anything even with severe torture.
This was a bit abnormal.
Judging from Xie An's initial contact with Huang Silang, Huang Silang was a spineless person.
Why wouldn't he talk about the Dog Demons?
If something is abnormal, there must be a demon.
Xie An felt that Huang Silang must know where there were more Dog Demons.
When the time comes to kill a few Dog Demons, he would have the Bright Jade Skill Nineteenth Section, and the level two Fate Grid would be promising…
Xie An took a bath, changed his clothes and went out to the small kitchen on the southwest side of the backyard, and happened to see Chunlan and He Chunli preparing breakfast inside.
Compared to three months ago, Chunlan's mood was much better, and she was more cheerful.
While Chunlan was in charge of the cooking, He Chunli pinched her butt, making Chunlan blush, "You're not serious."
He Chunli smiled and said: "Hehe, I broke through to the Blood Rushing Realm today, so I'm here to tell you the good news."
Cough cough cough.
Xie An coughed twice.
Whoosh!
The two people in the kitchen immediately stiffened, lowered their heads, and their faces turned red to the roots of their necks.
"Master Xie."
"Master, why don't you make any sound when you walk."
Xie An said: "If I made a sound when I walked, I would have missed this good show of flirting."
These words almost made the two of them want to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Xie An felt it was almost enough. If he continued to talk, the two of them would not be able to live. He then said: "Is breakfast ready? If it's ready, give me a portion and I'll send it to the backyard."
Seeing Xie An change the subject, Chunlan breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly prepared a breakfast and put it on a wooden tray.
There was soy milk, fried dough sticks, buns, noodles, and meat sandwiches, which was very rich.
Xie An picked up the tray and left.
He Chunli took the opportunity to ask: "Master, who lives in the backyard?"
In the past few months, Chunlan and He Chunli knew that someone lived in the backyard. They had to prepare an extra meal every time, which was sent by Xie An or Yuhe. If neither of them were there, Chunlan would do it. Chunlan only knew that there was a very beautiful woman inside, but she didn't know her identity.
Chunlan twisted He Chunli's arm, "You still need to ask? Master Xie must be hiding a beauty in a golden house."
"Don't talk nonsense."
Xie An smiled and scolded, then carried the tray to the backyard.
Su Yuqing was still wearing a light blue Luo skirt, which was fitted at the top and loose at the bottom, very elegant and slender. The years had not left any traces on her face, but instead made her more and more beautiful.
In the past, Xie An would take the time to deliver food to Su Yuqing and ask for advice on some martial arts doubts. Every time Su Yuqing patiently explained, which allowed Xie An to avoid many detours.
You must know that Xie An did not have extraordinary talent in practicing martial arts. He was able to achieve his current achievements entirely because of the blessing of the health preservation technique and his diligence.
Having a Grandmaster living at home made things much more convenient.
When Su Yuqing was eating, Xie An sat next to her and watched.
Su Yuqing didn't feel embarrassed. She finished eating slowly, put down her chopsticks and said: "You have broken through to become a seventh level Martial Master, congratulations."
Xie An said: "Thanks to the Eldest Princess's care, I have achieved a little. Being a fifth-rank Chief, I won't be criticized for getting to the top through connections."
Su Yuqing chuckled: "Let others say what they want to say."
Xie An was about to break through the Nineteenth Section of the Bright Jade Skill, so he asked: "Can the Eldest Princess tell me the details of when you killed the High Priest?"
Su Yuqing raised her beautiful eyes slightly, "You want to ask, after breaking through the Nineteenth Section of the Bright Jade Skill, can it really be comparable to a Martial Arts Grandmaster?"
Xie An smiled embarrassedly: "Nothing can be hidden from the Eldest Princess. Can you tell me?"
