In the latter part of the night, Li Yi stood guard in the room. He had not slept all night and hesitated not a mont to slay any ghost bold enough to approach, ensuring the safety of the area and also preventing the life span of the three from being stolen.
Thus the night passed.
Only when daylight dawned did the Yin energy filling the heavens and earth begin to rapidly disperse. So confused ghosts did not know to leave and were gravely injured by the sunlight, quickly dissipating. Those evil spirits simply could not survive the first sunrise. For a mont, the world seed purified.
However, Li Yi understood that only those ghosts posing no real threat had dissipated. The truly powerful, intelligent ghosts had already retreated before the dawn. These ghosts would reappear on the first day of the next month to continue stealing people’s life spans, an endless cycle.
His zealous ghost hunting last night had rely shielded the few people by his side.
In the grand sche of things in the Four Seas and Eight Continents, it was insignificant.
Li Yi now gazed at the sunrise, feeling a layer of gloom shrouding his heart. Until the issue of ghosts collecting life spans was resolved, the Four Seas and Eight Continents was not a very suitable world for living. The people here lived short lives with no chance for revolt. Cultivation and evolution were impossible because cosmic energy was scarce, making evolutionary progress too slow.
Even practicing martial arts offered no true way forward. Fan Zhizhou had said that after Refining God, if you dared to break through, you would be besieged by ghosts. You had to either settle with halting at Refining God and beco a Yin God after death, joining the evil ghosts that thrive on living humans’ life spans.
And it seed that the ghosts in this world were already nurous enough to reach a certain limit, not allowing any more Dharma Image masters to share their ’food’. Thus, the privileged ghosts of the past had completely cut off the path for newcors.
In such circumstances, one could only be a slave generation after generation, and a short-lived one at that. Who could endure this?
Even martial artists could rely make a living slightly better; they could change nothing.
Compared to Earth, the cruelty of this place was no less severe. Is it that the Four Seas and Eight Continents and Earth are sowhat special, or is each world like this? If every world is this cruel, what’s the point of crossing borders? Or perhaps I’m just unlucky to have landed in such a world. Maybe there are better, happier worlds out there; I just haven’t encountered them yet," Li Yi pondered deeply, his thoughts quite complex.
He reflected alone for a long ti, yet could not co to a conclusion.
Nevertheless, Li Yi understood that no matter where, being strong oneself was of utmost importance. Since every world was cruel, he would rely on his strength to carve out his own piece of the sky.
Thinking this, his resolve strengthened once more, and the sense of confusion vanished.
"Senior brother, I’ve got good news, both I and junior sister have broken through to the Blood Refining Realm,"
Just then, in that mont, Rong Niang and Zhao Qian ca out of the room. Both of them looked much younger, especially Rong Niang. Her cheeks were fair and tender, as if she had returned to being eighteen, her whole person radiating vitality.
Li Yi glanced at them, sowhat amazed, "You advanced to the Blood Refining Realm overnight?"
"Yes, junior sister and I supplented each other’s life spans. As our life spans increased, we found our Qi-Blood extraordinarily robust and our marrow richly filled. Unwittingly, we had achieved Perfect Marrow Refining. After that, new blood began forming from the marrow, formally entering the Blood Refining Realm," Rong Niang said excitedly.
"Unexpectedly, supplenting life spans could do this, but I can understand—more life span prolongs the body’s peak condition, which is very helpful for martial arts," Li Yi said. "Since you’ve used this chance to break through to the Blood Refining Realm, you should continue to diligently cultivate and strive to beco a Qi Cultivation Expert as soon as possible."
"Senior brother, it might be difficult for to advance in Qi Cultivation, but junior sister has great hope. She’s only sixteen, and for a sixteen-year-old to be in the Blood Refining already counts as a genius," Rong Niang humbly remarked.
Zhao Qian spoke, "I’m hardly a genius, Brother Yi is the true genius. I rely benefited from his light, fortuitously gaining life span and seizing this opportunity to break through."
Li Yi shook his head; "It’s not rely benefiting from my light. Those life spans were originally yours that were lost. Now, you’re rely taking them back. By the way, how much life span did each of you regain last night?"
"Rong Niang and I both regained twenty years of life span," Zhao Qian replied.
"Only twenty years? That’s not enough. People in the Four Seas and Eight Continents live only up to fifty years. Normally, you would lose at least forty years of life span. You need to regain at least forty years. Last night, I fought and gained over three hundred years of life span. Even halved, that’s about one hundred sixty years, which is sufficient for your use," Li Yi said.
Rong Niang approached and spoke, "Senior brother, we were thinking of giving so life span to master, so to the martial arts school, and the rest we’ll save for you, senior brother. You might need it in the future too."
"Good, we planned to reserve a hundred years of life span for you, Brother Yi. With this, you could maintain your peak state for longer. Who knows, maybe you could beco an unparalleled powerful figure," Zhao Qian also nodded in agreent.
Even though Li Yi had said he didn’t need the life span, they instinctively wanted to reserve most of the resources for him, hoping that Li Yi might achieve extraordinary successes in the future.
Li Yi smiled and said, "I appreciate your kindness. Just keep it and use it yourselves. Besides, I ntioned yesterday that if it’s not enough, I’ll go out and fight for more at the beginning of next month. Let’s leave this matter for now. Today, you should go tell the master the good news and help him recover the lost life span as well,"
"You’re right, Brother Yi, I’ll take care of it now," Zhao Qian nodded repeatedly and then went back into the room to start preparing.
"You should go too, Rong Niang. This matter needs to be kept secret; don’t let anyone know. And share so of the life span with Shou Hou as well. He has also been working hard recently and shouldn’t be left out," Li Yi said.
"Alright, Brother, I’ve rembered." Rong Niang responded affirmatively.
"I’m going back to continue my cultivation. If anything happens at the martial arts hall, please notify . Also, tell master that I’ll be leaving this place in a few days to return to my original world," Li Yi added.
Rong Niang’s expression changed, and she hurriedly asked, "Brother, when do you plan to leave?"
"I’m not sure yet. I’m thinking of observing for a few days and will leave after master’s injuries have fully healed," Li Yi said as he walked toward the training area.
Rong Niang followed him and asked, "Are you going back alone this ti?"
"Probably. I ca in a hurry this ti and wasn’t well-prepared. Next ti, after I finish my business there, I’ll co back to visit," Li Yi said. "By the way, you and Zhao Qian should co back earlier today. I want to guide you in cultivation and see if you can adapt to the cultivation thods from our side."
Rong Niang’s gaze grew complex as she looked at Li Yi’s departing figure, a surge of longing erged in her heart. She wanted to go with her brother, but she didn’t know how to phrase it, worried that speaking rashly might annoy him.
Moreover, the brother showed no intention of taking soone with him when leaving.
"Brother, you go ahead with your cultivation, sister and I will be back soon," Rong Niang still didn’t have the courage to ask and chose to focus on the task at hand instead.
After the two left, Li Yi continued to train alone at the martial arts field.
He was still benefiting from the effects of the Hundred Tiger Ginseng Pill he had taken the day before, continuing to mobilize his Qi-Blood and nourish his bone marrow, striving to enhance his Martial Arts Realm and further strengthen his abilities.
However, Li Yi was acutely aware that his cultivation speed had slowed down.
A robust physique was an advantage, yet at this point, it was also a disadvantage.
To achieve Perfect Marrow Refining, Li Yi had to spend more ti and consu more resources than ordinary martial artists. This realm couldn’t be achieved quickly, even for an Evolver, but the slow progress also had its benefits—his Marrow Refining Realm was several tis, even dozens of tis, stronger than that of an ordinary Qi Cultivation Expert.
Even though his cultivation speed had slowed down, Li Yi did not slack off; he continued his cultivation as usual.
During this period of Li Yi’s cultivation, Jin Dafu, a servant he had previously taken in, ca by with a dozen other servants, including maids, footn, a cook, and handyn. Though only a dozen people, each was carefully selected by him for being very reliable.
"Master, are you satisfied with these people?" Jin Dafu respectfully waited for Li Yi to inspect the servants he had brought to the training field.
Li Yi glanced at them and said, "That will do. Settle these people down and let them do what they are supposed to do. A grand mansion needs so liveliness."
"As you say, master. I’ll see to it right away. Su Qiao’er, you stay and take good care of the master." Jin Dafu then pointed out a young and beautiful maid to stay, then led the others away from the training field.
Before long, the servants under Jin Dafu’s direction began working, cleaning up trash, sweeping the yard, organizing clutter, and two of them guarded the mansion gates.
With the addition of these dozen people, the place started to look proper.
Having servants to take care of things, Li Yi could concentrate on his cultivation without worrying about nial tasks.
And so, while he was cultivating in the afternoon,
Jin Dafu ca running over in a rush, "Master, the City Lord of Sanyang has co to visit."
"Fan Zhizhou?" Li Yi suddenly opened his eyes while channeling his Qi-Blood and frowned, "I know. Tell him to wait for in the hall. I’ll be there shortly."
He rembered that just last night he had talked with Fan Zhizhou about the matter of ghosts, and he didn’t expect a visit so suddenly today.
Could it be that he was eager to Cross Border?
Li Yi thought for a mont and continued his cultivation briefly, then cald his Qi-Blood and ended his day’s practice, while the maid Su Qiao’er, who had been waiting nearby, already had a basin of water and a towel ready.
"Master, wash your face." Su Qiao’er said softly.
Li Yi took them without ceremony, washed his face, then cleaned his hands and strode away.
Since he was in the Four Seas and Eight Continents, he had to accept this master-servant concept.
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