17: Chapter 17 Discovery

[The ninth year, another two years pass.]

[You achieve a Breakthrough to the Fifth Level of the Innate Realm.]

[You are very satisfied with this speed.]

[Feeling the daily improvement of the Innate True Qi within your body, it simply couldn't be more satisfying.]

[On an unremarkable night, your subordinate suddenly delivers a message.]

[In the study, you open the special letter that was delivered.]

[After reading it, your heart is filled with wild joy.]

[There is news about Gu Xuan!!]

[According to the records in the letter, there is a person named Gu Xuan in Hanbing City in the east, who is the same age as you.]

[Separated by the distance of a Dao, with your current speed, it would take at least a year to arrive.]

[He is an ordinary servant of the Gu Family in Hanbing City.]

[Yes, just an ordinary servant.]

[If that were all, it might just be someone with the same name, but there is a very important reason that lets you confirm his identity.]

[Nine years ago, Gu Xuan mysteriously disappeared!]

["Nine years ago, that was exactly the time I underwent Transmigration."]

["Gu Xuan, ah Gu Xuan, I have finally found you."]

["Next time, I will definitely make you pay."]

[You smile.]

[In the next simulation, once you obtain the new Ultimate Sword and complete the Fusion, your speed will definitely increase, allowing you to find him even faster.]

[According to the specific months recorded, Gu Xuan had also only disappeared suddenly after four months had passed.]

[Thinking of this, you heave a sigh of relief.]

[In this way, the probability of obtaining skill points in your next simulation is quite high.]

[The tenth year.]

[Early morning.]

[Holding a recurve bow, you pull the string taut. With a whoosh, a wooden arrow flies out, crossing a distance of a thousand meters to strike a large willow tree in the distance with precision.]

["Not bad, not bad."]

[You are very satisfied with your current technique.]

[Within a thousand meters, you hit your mark every time, with a maximum range of 1,500 meters.]

[For throwing knives and darts, your current range is only 500 meters.]

[Innate Sword Qi is even shorter, only 50 meters.]

[Now, you have a massive amount of hidden weapons stored in your space, most of them poisoned; launching them by surprise is incredibly effective.]

[Feeling refreshed, you Cultivate for two consecutive months, rewarding yourself well.]

[The tenth year.]

[The area surrounding Qingyun City has been managed by you until it is impregnable.]

[Your subordinates exceed twenty thousand in number.]

[You cannot guarantee that everyone is loyal to you, but you believe they will be loyal to their own interests.]

[Therefore, in most cases, you bind them with interests.]

[This includes the original forces of Qingyun City, dozens of bandit strongholds, and the subordinates you personally trained.]

[Over these years, you have accumulated a great deal of gold and silver, and many businesses have expanded to other prefectures, earning you a fortune.]

[Of course, in order to earn more, you have had to cooperate with local forces in those distant regions, conceding huge profits.]

[The gold, silver, and daily supplies accumulated in your space are enough for you to live in the deep mountains and old forests for hundreds of years.]

[The eleventh year.]

[Your Cultivation has not reached a Breakthrough, which is within your expectations.]

[However, the increase in True Qi is solid; your strength improves daily, and the destructive power of your Innate Sword Qi is becoming increasingly astonishing.]

[The twelfth year. In three years, you have crossed a minor Realm and achieved a Breakthrough to the Fourth Level of the Innate Realm.]

[You continue to Cultivate and manage your forces.]

[During this time, you also give up monitoring Li Hu's daughter; after all, you have already found Gu Xuan, so there is no need to treat her that way anymore.]

[You also know his specific location like the back of your hand, keeping it in your heart.]

["Huainan Dao, Badao Prefecture, Yongle Prefecture, Hanbing City."]

[The region you are in is Black Dragon Path, Huaguang Prefecture, Changye Prefecture, Qingyun City.]

[The two places are indeed very far apart.]

[But as your Cultivation continues to improve, your speed naturally increases.]

[Not only that, through your testing, you discover that the movement speed increase from the Ultimate Sword doesn't just apply to your own speed, but can also affect modes of transport.]

[In other words, if you ride a horse, the horse's speed will also increase.]

[Of course, you haven't found a horse faster than you yet, which is such a pity.]

[The thirteenth year.]

[Zhou Family.]

[In a quiet and elegant room, you skillfully pour a cup of tea for Zhou Zhuan and hand it to him.]

[Zhou Zhuan picks up the teacup and takes a sip: "Not bad, not bad, your skills are getting better and better, kid."]

[You chuckle: "Since that's the case, why don't you hand the Zhou Yous Void Control Art over to me?"]

["No, no, that is my Zhou Family heirloom; you are not my son, so I cannot give it to you."]

[Zhou Zhuan shakes his head while sipping tea.]

[You frown slightly: "But the blood of the Zhou Family flows through my veins."]

["That still won't do."]

[Zhou Zhuan's attitude is very firm.]

[You are quite helpless, but there is nothing you can do.]

[According to your observations over these years, Zhou Zhuan is not a Transmigrator, nor is he a Genius or a special character; he is just a passerby.]

[His Cultivation has always been at the Second Level of the True Qi Realm, and it is very difficult for him to achieve a Breakthrough.]

[Of course, this is related to you sealing his Meridians.]

[Zhou Yous Void Control Art, a seven-character Cultivation Technique, sounds very powerful, and you are still very interested in it.]

["Is the Cultivation Technique related to me?"]

[You ask suddenly.]

[Zhou Zhuan nods: "I named you based on the Cultivation Technique."]

[As expected.]

[After chatting for a while, you leave the room and the small courtyard.]

[All around, every area is guarded by your trusted aides. Under your sparing-no-cost training, some have already achieved a Breakthrough to the True Qi Realm and have great talent.]

[It won't take many years before these people will step by step replace the City Lord, the three Family Heads, the two Gang Leaders, and the like, becoming your true confidants.]

[There is no help for it; you really cannot trust those people.]

[However, this process needs to be carefully considered, and future interests must be distributed well, otherwise there will be future troubles.]

[The fourteenth year, nothing happens.]

[The fifteenth year, you achieve a Breakthrough to the Fifth Level of the Innate Realm.]

[Fifteen years have passed, and you are now thirty years old.]

[You have reached this age again.]

[The days are plain, but there is something to look forward to; you like this kind of life very much.]

[The sixteenth year, the first day.]

[You are sharpening a knife in the Cultivation room.]

[It is a twenty-centimeter-long throwing knife with a piece of blood-red silk tied to the handle.]

[In this simulation, you do not like drinking; you only like sharpening knives by yourself.]

[Besides throwing knives and darts, you can also sharpen iron arrows.]

[After sharpening them, you put them into your space to be poisoned, preparing for an opportunity to kill someone.]

[It is so romantic.]

[While sharpening, your ears twitch, and you hear a peculiar sound.]

[You stop your movements and turn around, somewhat puzzled.]

[Boom!!]

[A burst of explosive sound rings out; the sturdy wall of the Cultivation room is shattered, and a figure slowly walks out from within.]

[You frown, Innate Sword Qi coating your body, and you wave your sleeve to blow away the dust and smoke.]

[The figure walks over and chuckles: "Zhou You, what is your real name?"]

["Are you also from Blue Star?"]