Mythical Cultivation

By the time Instructor Zhang led everyone back to the square, no one had recovered. Instructor Zhang knew that reality was a bit harsh for these half-grown children, but whether you admit it or not, this was reality. "Okay, do you want to know what happens next?" Instructor Zhang asked.

Everyone finally came to their senses. They had always thought that Instructor Zhang was strong, but only slightly stronger than themselves. Furthermore, Instructor Zhang always carried a book and walked slowly, like a teacher. It wasn't until today that they realized that this instructor, who usually led everyone's training, was not as ordinary as he seemed, but a hidden master.

Seeing that everyone had come to their senses, Instructor Zhang spoke, "You are all familiar with the initial three stages of Body Tempering. Now let's talk about the next stage, which is the true entry into the realm of cultivation. When you have fully tempered your body, you will need to begin to sense the free heaven and earth energy in the air around you. Only when you sense the heaven and earth energy around you and begin to absorb it, you will enter the next stage - the Qi Training Stage. As the name suggests, the Qi Training Stage is about refining the heaven and earth energy and using it for your own benefit. When you enter the Qi Training Stage, you are no longer limited to your own strength, but can mobilize the heaven and earth energy to fight for you, so your combat power soars, and this is just a side effect of the Qi Training Stage. As mentioned earlier, cultivation is actually a process of self-evolution. Once you enter the Qi Training Stage, you can easily live to be over a hundred years old. For those who have cultivated to a high level of Qi Training Stage, living to be one hundred and twenty years old is not impossible."

Hearing Instructor Zhang's words, Wu Ming rejected them. He had originally thought this was a martial arts world, thinking he was now a moderately skilled warrior, and that it would be nice to strive to become a great hero, wandering the martial arts world and avenging grievances. But when someone told him today that this was a world of immortal cultivation, Wu Ming's dreams vanished. Martial arts were his lost youth.

These thoughts flashed through Wu Ming's mind, but he immediately put them aside and asked the question that concerned him most. "Master Zhang, will you still teach us how to practice after we complete our Body Tempering? How should we practice? Do you have any secret techniques?"

"Since I have said so much today, I will tell you a little more so that you can know more in advance. My strength may seem very strong to you, but I am actually still a newbie in the world of cultivation. How can I teach you? When the time comes, there will be real cultivators to lead you to practice. Calculating the time, the time for the immortal sect to recruit disciples is almost here, less than two years left. You have to work hard, otherwise you will have to become a casual cultivator, or you can only wait for the next ten years to have a chance. However, the ten years of delayed time cannot be made up. Cultivation is to compete with God for time." Instructor Zhang said.

"Teacher Zhang, can you tell us about our surroundings? We have never been out. Won't we be laughed at if we go out in the future?" Taking advantage of today's opportunity, Wu Ming felt that he should learn more about this world. He has been in this world for fifteen years, but still knows nothing about the world outside the village.

"Since you asked, let me tell you. Our Lijia Village is actually very small. Lijia Village is located in Linshui County, Qingjiang Commandery, in the northern wilderness of Yunzhou. There are more than ten villages like ours under the jurisdiction of Linshui County, and Qingjiang Commandery has dozens of Linshui counties under its jurisdiction. The area within a radius of thousands of miles belongs to Linshui County. The world is much bigger than you can imagine. You will only know it when you go out."

"Why haven't we seen people from other villages? Don't we need to communicate with them?" Wu Ming continued to ask.

"You kid, I don't usually see you asking so many questions. Do you know why the village won't let you leave? Why are there patrols in the village? It's because it's dangerous. Otherwise, why would there be patrols? You have to know that humans are not the only intelligent creatures in this world. Animals and plants that have awakened and cultivated are called monsters, and they are naturally opposed to humans. The demon wolves you encountered in the previous trial can only be called beasts, not monsters. Animals naturally reproduce quickly, so birds and beasts can be seen everywhere in the wild. With such a large population, of course there are many who have cultivated into monsters. It's because there haven't been monster riots in the past ten years, otherwise Lijia Village wouldn't be as peaceful as it is now. Think about the monster riot more than ten years ago. How many fellow villagers lost their lives forever? Wu Ming, haven't you seen your parents? They lost their lives in the monster riot more than ten years ago."

Upon hearing the news about his parents, Wu Ming interrupted Zhang Jiaoshi and said, "Jiaoshi Zhang, can you tell me about my parents?" After all, although he had seen his parents as a child, he hadn't seen them for ten years. Although he had some suspicions, he still felt unwilling to accept the fact that they were not confirmed.

"Didn't your grandfather tell you? Go ask your grandfather. I can't say much about this. I've said so much today. You should go back and digest it carefully. Think about whether you should seize the opportunity in more than a year, or be content to be a mortal or a casual cultivator. Let's go." After saying this, Instructor Zhang turned and left.

Wu Ming could sense that Zhang had said too much and didn't want to discuss his parents, which was why he dismissed everyone. "Keep going, Wu Ming! I hope you can be my rival again in the future," Li Fei said, then walked away with his head held high.

Wu Ming probably understood what Li Fei meant. If he didn't keep moving forward and couldn't enter the Immortal Gate, he wouldn't be worthy and would have no chance of being his opponent.

I returned home feeling depressed. Grandpa was lying on a recliner in the sun. When he saw Wu Ming coming back, he sat up and asked, "Why do you look unhappy today? Did something happen?"

Wu Ming walked over to his grandfather, took his hand, and said, "Grandpa, are my parents dead? They're not working in the county town and are too busy to come back."

"You silly child, don't you see that they send things back every year at the end of the year? Why do you think so?" Wu Tianlong said.

"Grandpa, please don't hide it from me. Instructor Zhang accidentally let it slip today, so just tell me."

"This bastard deserves a beating. How can you just say that? Ah Ming. It's not that I don't want to tell you, but I'm afraid you'll keep thinking about it if I tell you. I was planning to wait until you're older to tell you, but you already know everything, so I won't hide it from you. Don't ask, just listen to me. I'll tell you what I should tell you, and I won't tell you what I shouldn't tell you even if you ask me." Wu Tianlong said.

"Okay, Grandpa, I'm listening."

"This matter dates back to thirteen years ago. Your parents were just in their early thirties, in the prime of their lives, and you were born just over a year ago. I was just enjoying the happiness of family life. Suddenly one day, the patrol team discovered that the birds and beasts within a radius of a hundred miles began to run around in panic, so they immediately reported it to the village chief. The village chief immediately called everyone to a meeting because it was suspected that there was a monster riot. So he immediately sent someone to report to the county, and it was me who went to report. As a result, before I came back with the report, the monster riot started. The village immediately activated the formation while sending people to hunt monsters around the village to relieve the pressure on the formation. After all, the formation needs spirit stones to activate. If the spirit stones are exhausted, you can only wait for death. And your parents happened to be the group of people who went out to hunt monsters. At the beginning, "It went smoothly, and we killed several monsters. But then we encountered a tough opponent, a monster that seemed to have reached the peak of Qi training. They quickly suffered heavy casualties. Your parents volunteered to cover their retreat so that the rest of their companions could return to the formation. They died at the hands of the monster before they could receive help from the village. By the time I returned from the county with reinforcements, your parents had already sacrificed their lives for a day. The village formation was broken, and the villagers had suffered heavy casualties. If I had returned a little later, the village might have been gone. In the end, I and the reinforcements repelled the monster. You were less than two years old that year. Later, so that you could grow up happily, I told you that your parents were going out to earn money. Poor son and daughter-in-law." Wu Tianlong was in tears at the end of his speech.

"Grandpa, don't be sad. I will always be with you," Wu Ming said while hugging Wu Tianlong. "Tell me which monster killed my parents. When I become stronger, I will seek revenge."

"You don't have to worry about this. You are still young. I will avenge you." Wu Tianlong said.

"But, Grandpa, you are so old now. You should just stay at home and enjoy your retirement. Leave the revenge to me."

"I know you are filial, but the monster is too powerful for you to resist. Let me, an old man, take the revenge."

Wu Ming couldn't win the argument with his grandfather, so he could only agree verbally and watch his grandfather when the time came. However, he didn't know that he had no say in what happened next.