A long time passed.
Ning Qi exhaled slowly, a fighting spirit rising in his eyes.
No matter what secrets the Great Yan Martial Saint held, he was confident that given enough time, surpassing him would be incredibly simple.
The secrets of Great Yan had, on the contrary, reminded him once again.
If he were to achieve Martial Saint status in the future and still see no hope for longevity, then breaking through and ascending was another path; in a vaster world, his potential would undoubtedly be higher.
Ning Qi's thoughts became even clearer.
"The Great Yan Dynasty has an unending line of Martial Saints; could it be that they are destined to forever dominate this land?"
Ye Qinghe scoffed.
"That's not necessarily true."
Her eyes showed no reverence for imperial power; instead, there was a hint of discontent.
Ning Qi could understand.
Martial arts Sects were subservient to imperial power, and two thousand years was too long, enough to breed countless conflicts, which had only been suppressed.
It only awaited an opportune moment, and then it would be earth-shattering.
"Senior Sister, during this trip down the mountain, I discovered traces of the Demonic Sect appearing in Qingzhou. This Demonic Sect is not simple; it seems to be related to the previous dynasty."
"Not only that, the attitudes of the martial arts Sects in various prefectures are quite ambiguous, and the borders of Great Yan are also stirring."
"You should know that only a hundred years have passed since the last time a Great Yan Martial Saint made a move. If they hadn't discovered something amiss last time, it would be impossible for them to start a second probe so quickly."
Ye Qinghe's expression gradually became excited.
"Little Nine, what do you think? Could it be that something has gone wrong within Great Yan, that the Martial Saint's lifespan is nearing its end? Or perhaps no new Martial Saint has been born?"
Ning Qi was a little surprised.
His Fifth Brother had also mentioned discovering traces of the Demonic Sect when he returned from his training, and now his Third Senior Sister had also found them. It seemed the Demonic Sect's movements were significant.
Listening to Ye Qinghe's conjectures, he merely shrugged slightly.
"In any case, no matter which it is, it's not something we can get involved in."
He hadn't even started practicing martial arts yet.
In the face of such a grand trend in the world, he was indeed a bit insignificant.
Even if chaos truly erupted, he could only go with the flow. Instead of thinking about this, it would be better to seize the time to improve himself. With enough strength, everything would come naturally.
"That's true."
Ye Qinghe mumbled a few words.
Suddenly, she realized that she was actually being lectured by a one-year-old child, and she couldn't help but fiercely pinch Ning Qi's face.
"Such a precocious child!"
Ning Qi ignored her.
He put the Great Yan Chronicle back and turned to pick up another book on geomancy to read.
This made Ye Qinghe feel a bit frustrated, and she couldn't help but run her fingers through her hair. She said angrily:
"Sometimes I wonder, Little Nine, is there an old monster living inside your body!"
Ning Qi paused his movements, then continued to lower his head and read.
"Oh, don't read anymore! You need to balance work and rest. Little Nine, if you want to work hard, there will be plenty of hardships to endure once you start practicing martial arts. For now, cherish this rare leisure time."
Ye Qinghe prattled on.
Ning Qi responded:
"Is practicing martial arts very difficult?"
Ye Qinghe's spirits lifted:
"Of course! To achieve anything in martial arts, talent alone isn't enough; you also need to be diligent enough and spend enough time."
"Take your Eighth Senior Brother, for example. His talent is top-notch even in Great Yan, but guess how long it took him to temper his body."
Ning Qi flipped through the pages, a constant stream of inspiration rising in his mind, extracting the essence into his own geomancy system. Even so, he still had enough energy to deal with Ye Qinghe.
"Five or six years?"
Ye Qinghe chuckled, tsk-tsking:
"It seems Little Nine, you haven't realized the difficult life ahead of you!"
"I'll tell you, from seven to eighteen years old, a full eleven years! Qin Yun diligently cultivated day and night without stopping, only then did he complete Body Tempering and step into the Inner Yuan Realm!"
"It takes that long?" This indeed surprised Ning Qi.
"And that's with your Eighth Senior Brother's innate Genius. For others, it takes even longer. In Great Yan, anyone under thirty is considered part of the younger generation. Those who can reach the Inner Yuan Realm by twenty are considered peerless geniuses."
"Although Little Nine, you are definitely a Genius, it's perfectly normal for it to take ten years to temper your body."
"Now you know, right? There will be plenty of hardships in the future, no need to rush for a moment now. What's that saying? 'As long as you're willing to suffer, you'll have endless suffering.' How about it? Shall Senior Sister take you to play? Senior Sister always regrets now that her carefree eight years as a child were too short."
Facing Ye Qinghe's incessant chatter and expectant gaze.
Ning Qi merely glanced at her indifferently, and responded.
"Oh."
He didn't think he would need that long.
The world of a Genius, a Mortal would not understand.
Ye Qinghe was instantly exasperated, feeling like she had wasted her breath.
After that.
No matter how she tried to strike up a conversation, Ning Qi no longer paid attention to her. He was completely immersed in his own world of enlightenment.
Ye Qinghe sighed, lying back on the rattan chair in the courtyard, and then, at some unknown point, she fell sound asleep.
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Ning Qi glanced at Ye Qinghe, a slight smile on his face.
Third Senior Sister was boisterous, but she was actually afraid he would be lonely.
However, he was not lonely.
With his maxed-out Comprehension Ability, he gained something every single minute and second, and that feeling was actually quite exhilarating; it was just something ordinary people couldn't experience.
...
Time flowed by leisurely.
Life on Zhenwu Mountain was very comfortable. Compared to his previous life, where he was unable to move in a sickbed, this life was truly too beautiful.
Although his body was small, he could at least move freely, and he had a Master, Senior Brothers, and Senior Sisters who loved him, which made Ning Qi very content.
In a blink of an eye.
Two and a half years had passed since his discussion about longevity with Dragon Mountain Daoist.
Ning Qi was three years old.
In these two and a half years, his Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters had all taken immense care of Ning Qi. Every time they went down the mountain, they would bring him a pile of things. Knowing that Ning Qi liked to collect ancient texts, they would consciously seek out and bring back books. In their leisure time, they would come to play with Ning Qi.
And his Master, Dragon Mountain Daoist, also patiently taught him, without holding anything back. Aside from not allowing Ning Qi to come into contact with martial arts too early, he held nothing back, which made the other Disciples a little envious.
Furthermore.
Ning Qi discovered that his Master had gone down the mountain several times in between, seemingly to track down the culprit who massacred Snow Plum Manor three years ago, but it seemed to be unsuccessful.
Dragon Mountain Daoist never proactively spoke to Ning Qi about the events of that year, perhaps hoping that Ning Qi would be carefree and not be blinded by hatred. However, he didn't know that Ning Qi clearly remembered everything that happened that day.
Ning Qi was not in a hurry.
He needed time to grow.
When the time came, he would resolve it himself.
In these three years, he had displayed enough intelligence to make Dragon Mountain Daoist and Luo Wentian, among others, look forward to how astonishing Ning Qi would be once he started dabbling in martial arts.
They had estimated Ning Qi's bone formation time more than once.
They generally believed he had a chance to complete it by six years old.
But what they didn't know was that the changes within Ning Qi's body were growing greater day by day.
In the early morning.
Ning Qi got up.
His expression was expectant, yet calm; everything was within his expectations.
He circulated the Congenital Bone Tempering Skill as usual. The last trace of extremely fine Innate Qi within his body, accompanied by the final cycle, completely dispersed throughout his body. A mysterious power from heaven and earth seemed to surge into his body.
In an instant.
Ning Qi's body trembled slightly. An unprecedented sense of satisfaction rose from his heart, as if some incomplete part of his body had finally reached Perfection. He even vaguely felt a deeper connection with heaven and earth, something he had never experienced before.
There were no earth-shattering phenomena. Ning Qi opened his eyes, a look of joy flashing within them.
Two and a half years, nine hundred days and nights of persistent cultivation.
His bone structure had finally completely formed!