After two cups of wine, you put on your boots.
"Young Hero, don't forget this servant. My name is Wenrou. Next time you come, you must find me."
"Wenrou will always wait for Young Hero."
She said this while helping you get dressed.
Wenrou.
What an interesting name.
"Why do you do this?"
Wenrou smiled bitterly: "I have no choice..."
"My father is a gambler and owes the gambling house thirty thousand taels. Although my mother is a woman, she has always disguised herself as a man to go to the capital for the imperial examination..."
"My elder sister married a scoundrel who constantly demands money from home. My younger brother married a scoundrel who contracted a serious illness and needs medication every day..."
Tragic, it's truly too tragic.
You couldn't help but shed tears.
"Don't worry, next time I come, I'll still find you."
A man's words are all lies.
You left the place called Wanying Building with a swagger.
You arrived at an inn and rented a room.
Although Wanying Building also offered food and lodging, you didn't like the atmosphere there.
You are a man of principle, emphasizing separation of business and pleasure.
"Customer, your meal."
The waiter in a short-sleeved shirt brought lunch.
After eating and drinking your fill, you sat on the bed, took out a Ningqi Pill, and began to Cultivate.
After dawn broke,
You had completely refined it.
Twenty Ningqi Pills directly allowed your cultivation to Breakthrough to the middle stage of Qi Condensation, and you were even not far from the high stage of Qi Condensation.
You then took out the fist techniques and leg techniques you acquired from the corpse, glanced at them, and immediately lost interest in Cultivating them.
For combat, the Tai Bai Ice Heart Skill is enough.
The Realm is still the priority.
Taking out the Tai Bai Ice Heart Skill, you began to change your Cultivation Technique and diligently Cultivate.
Three days later, you finished changing your Cultivation Technique.
The True Qi in your body transformed into ice-attributed Ice Heart True Qi.
With a full-power strike, you could freeze the enemy's heart meridians, killing them invisibly.
Picking up a pot of wine, you circulated your True Qi: "No, this temperature is still not enough to chill it."
You suddenly remembered that white liquor probably shouldn't be chilled.
You continued to diligently Cultivate in the following time.
Until a month later,
Jiulian City's soldiers suddenly searched the entire city for someone.
They were looking for a young man named Ye Gucheng.
You were not flustered, because they were completely perfunctory and not serious about their search.
But this also greatly reduced your sense of security.
It was also time to leave this place.
Taking out the map of Qiushui Commandery, you observed it carefully, then shook your head: "I still won't take the risk."
You planned to find a small place to hide and simply live out your natural lifespan.
As for Cultivation resources, unless absolutely necessary, you weren't prepared to contend for them.
After all, taking action carried risks.
After packing up, you wore a bamboo hat and black clothes, and left Jiulian City overnight.
Then you traveled east.
In the fifth month, you passed through fifteen commandery cities and arrived at a remote small fishing village.
Standing on the beach, looking at the sparse fishing boats in the distance, and feeling the touch of the sea breeze, you decided to stay here!
From this day on, you settled in the fishing village.
The fishing village was named Shan Jiao Village.
You weren't sure why it was given this name.
You gave the village chief a few taels of silver, and the village chief, with the villagers, built a house for you and left you a good amount of food.
By the end of the first year, with your continuous Cultivation, your cultivation Breakthrough to the high stage of Qi Condensation.
After this, without the aid of Ningqi Pills, it would be difficult to Breakthrough so quickly again.
Time flowed by day by day.
Your public identity was that of a failure in the imperial examination, a useless person who had lost hope in life.
This didn't attract anyone's attention.
Your life was as monotonous as ever.
Every day was nothing but Cultivation, eating, drinking, and sleeping.
The people in the village found you very strange.
Gradually, few people interacted with you.
Only the village chief, under your financial offensive, had his son, Xiaohu, deliver food and water at regular intervals.
In the fifth year, you were twenty years old.
After a full day of Cultivation, you sat in front of your door, fiddling with a nearby stone while watching the children playing in the distance.
As you watched, a figure suddenly approached: "Big Brother, I'm serious, please take me as your disciple."
A scrawny young man looked at you with a determined expression.
"No, thank you."
This was Xiaohu, the village chief's son, who was fifteen years old this year.
"Big Brother, I'm really serious. In these five years, I've read over thirty Wuxia novels and listened to storytellers thirty-one times at the teahouse in town. I already know the Jianghu like the back of my hand!"
Xiaohu pleaded further.
He had discovered your Cultivation early on, and as a young man, he was extremely interested.
"What nonsense are you spouting? You're fifteen this year, look at your dad, you were born when he was fifteen, and then look at you, every day..."
You continued your attack.
Xiaohu couldn't take it anymore: "Big Brother, stop talking..."
Forget it, practicing martial arts wasn't really what he was after.
Looking at his dejected back, you smiled happily.
Life, after all, you have to find some fun for yourself.
In the seventh year,
Xiaohu got married. His wife was the butcher's daughter from the east end of the village, and she looked quite good.
Getting married at seventeen was already quite late.
On the wedding day, you drank three cups of wine at the banquet and felt incredibly refreshed.
Xiaohu came over with his wife to toast: "Big Brother, when my son is born, can you take him as your disciple?"
"Get lost, get lost."
You chased him away.
In the eighth year, Xiaohu didn't have a son, but a daughter. He specifically came to you: "Big Brother, please give her a name!"
You were surprised.
In this era, naming rights were not ordinarily important.
Children's names were usually chosen by themselves, there was no reason to have an outsider name them.
"Big Brother, we're all uncultured, didn't you study?"
Xiaohu said with a grin.
You nodded, then pondered for a moment.
"Your surname is Bai, and your name is Xiaohu..."
Tiger, Taige...
"How about Bai Ge? What do you think?"
"Good, good, good, Bai Ge, what a great name!"
Xiaohu said excitedly.
You were a bit speechless. It was just a pun, was it really that exciting?
In the tenth year, your cultivation had improved a lot, but it wasn't time for a Breakthrough yet.
This year, Xiaohu's daughter was two years old.
When Xiaohu went out fishing, he often sent Bai Ge over for you to look after her.
Gradually, you also grew fond of this little child.
"Grow up healthy."
You gave her a small wooden sword and said with a smile.
In the twelfth year, late at night,
You, who were in the midst of Cultivation, felt a surge of energy!
You had broken through, finally broken through.
At this moment, you had stepped into the Peak of Qi Condensation, and the next step was Inner Strength.
You were full of anticipation for this.