Li Yuanqing closed his eyes as he stood by the lakeside of Clearwater Lake. He could feel the energy surging within his body, attacking the meridians in his body time and time again. It was a natural process for him to advance.
For most martial artists, the advancement to an advanced martial artist was almost a narrow escape of death and impossible to cross. It was as easy as eating and drinking for Li Yuanqing who was standing by the lake.
Success! It was so simple!
Li Yuanqing jumped from an intermediate sixth-grade martial artist to an advanced seventh-grade martial artist with ease. His lifelong wish back then was to break through the sixth-grade and become an advanced seventh-grade martial artist.
He had thought that he would have to spend the rest of his life doing that. He had not expected that in the Wilderness, it would take him less than a year from his meridians to be destroyed to easily advance to a seventh-grade advanced martial artist. Furthermore, this was in order to strengthen his foundation.
Advancing easily was not difficult. What’s difficult was that it was like building a house. Only with a strong foundation could a house be built higher.
This time, Li Yuanqing advanced at a steady pace. At the same time, his Clear Sky Swords Art had also advanced from the Rudimentary Understanding level to the Proficiency level. He had better proficiency than half a year ago. When his Clear Sky Sword advanced to the Master level, he would be able to achieve the might of a Martial Saint!
Martial Saints were the most powerful existences in the Northern Kingdom. Only with the presence of a Martial Saint would the Northern Kingdom be able to stand strong and not fall. Only then would they be able to suppress the various families and dukes and prevent them from acting rashly.
With the Clear Sky Sword in hand, Li Yuanqing cleaved towards the lake, only to see white waves rolling for hundreds of feet. The rumbling sound traveled far and wide, causing the garrison to panic, thinking that there was an earthquake.
They rushed out of the camp one after another, only to discover that everything around them was safe and sound. It seemed like a false alarm!
Summer in the Wilderness was the best season of the year. It was not too hot at this time, and the trees were lush and green. Walking in the forest was rather relaxing as Li Yuanqing strolled among the trees.
Occasionally he would pause to see if there was any possibility of signing in. Finally, he signed in again next to a pile of strange stones.
[Congratulations to the host for signing in successfully. Reward: Wallbreaker Pill!]
One: Reward of 100 Wallbreaker Pills!
Two: Reward a copy of Manipulation Arts!
Wallbreaker Pill?
Li Yuanqing already had a few hundred of these pills in his possession. Furthermore, he had already advanced to an advanced martial artist, so he really could not use them for the time being. The Manipulation Arts seemed to be quite useful.
At least it was better than the Wallbreaker Pill.
Therefore, Li Yuanqing chose the Manipulation Arts this time. This time, a ray of white light rushed into his brain and he memorized the mental cultivation method of Manipulation Arts.
This Manipulation Art was actually somewhat similar to the Puppet Art, but it was a bit more advanced.
Learning the Manipulation Art could nurture inner demons. Then, one would place the inner demon on a certain person and use the inner demon to control that person. Although the person controlled by the inner demon was no different from an ordinary person, they would become a puppet. Even if they died, they would not betray their master.
Li Yuanqing was very interested in the power of this Manipulation Art. He started trying to nurture his inner demon. The nurturing of the inner demon required some time to accumulate. What Li Yuanqing did not lack in the Wilderness was time. He started to actively nurture the inner demon seed.
Furthermore, the inner demon seed would slowly grow stronger. According to the classification of the Manipulation Art, once the inner demon seed reached level four, it could control martial artists below Martial Saint. After reaching level five, it could even control Martial Saints.
This gave Li Yuanqing hope. The inner demon that even controls Martial Saints made him put all his focus into it. He was almost unwilling to be distracted by anything else.
It was not until the second year of his stay in the Wilderness that Li Yuanqing saw his sister, Li Zhaoyang, standing before him. Compared to when they were separated, Li Zhaoyang had grown much taller. She was very thin but her eyes were very determined. When she saw Li Yuanqing, her eyes were a little red!
“Brother, you, you…” Initially, Zhaoyang wanted to say that her brother had suffered. However, when she looked at her brother who was like an immortal, she could not bring herself to say that he had suffered. She could lie about other things, but her brother’s complexion could not lie to her. Hence, Zhaoyang wiped her eyes and smiled.
“I’m very happy to see that you’re doing well, Brother. Hehe, Third Brother pretended to be sick for two years because he didn’t want to come to this fief. Father doted on him and let him stay in the prosperous Capital city!”
Princess Zhaoyang was much taller than the last time they met. At this time, the twelve year old sensible little girl had already grown into a slender and elegant lady. She was like a willow sprout in the early spring, so tender that people could not take their eyes off her.
“He’s quite ambitious. I’m afraid he’ll cause some trouble. Let’s not talk about him anymore. Did you come here today for something?”
Li Yuanqing looked at his little sister indulgently. He could ignore everyone in the palace, including his father. However, he was unable to do so for his little sister, Zhaoyang. This was because the little girl who had wet his clothes with her tears had truly treated him as her closest and dearest person.
“Brother, Father is in a good mood today. I begged him and sneaked out to see you. I’ll go back and beg him to let you return to the Capital. We siblings can still be together over there, and this wasteland is too desolate…”
Even though she was twelve years old, Zhaoyang was still too short to reach Li Yuanqing’s shoulders. She tugged at his sleeves and looked up at Li Yuanqing with her palm-sized face, pleading.
“No, this place is quite good. I live quite well here, so I won’t be going. Oh right, are you already a third-grade martial artist? You’re going to advance to an intermediate martial artist. I have some things for you. Don’t tell anyone, including Father…”
He touched Zhaoyang’s head and passed her one hundred Marrow Cleansing Pills, one hundred Wallbreaker Pills, and one hundred Restore Origin Pills.
“Take it. I am not by your side. You have to become stronger to protect the person you want to protect. Do you understand?”
Zhaoyang’s eyes widened and her breathing quickened after seeing these things. She looked at her brother in shock, not knowing what to say, even if there were some pills that she had never seen before. However, as the princess of the royal family, she knew how precious these pills were.
The reason why he did not want her to tell their father was because he had never seen so many treasures before. Her brother was in the wilderness, but he had so many treasures. It means that he had secrets on him.
The surprise in Zhaoyang’s eyes couldn’t be hidden, but she obediently didn’t say anything. No matter how many secrets her brother had, she would never tell anyone, including her father.
Because her father had a few sons and she only had one brother.
When Princess Zhaoyang returned to the Imperial Palace and was summoned by her father, she only said that her brother seemed to be living quite well there. In reality, the Wilderness was not that desolate.
However, her father was enraged.
“Unfilial son, just let him stay in the Wilderness forever. You are not allowed to see him next time. You must cultivate well. If you are lucky enough to advance to a peak sixth-grade martial artist, I will prepare a Wallbreaker Pill for you to advance…”
Her father’s promise left Zhaoyang a bit disappointed. In truth, having a Wallbreaker Pill was the best when a third-grade martial artist advanced to the fourth-grade. But, her father had promised that he would only give her a Wallbreaker Pill when she was about to advance to the seventh-grade.
Her brother treated her really well. Zhaoyang sighed in her heart.