63: Chapter 63 Record of the Hundred Refinements of Azure Weapons

"You hold a bowl of noodles, listening very carefully."

"The Old Ancestor of the Martial Dao Sect, the only Earthly Immortal in Great Qing, is dead."

"This news explains many things. Back when Wei Feisen was running rampant, the reason the Martial Dao Sect played deaf and dumb, issuing that notice for all Schools to accept the Black Tiger Gang setting up branch headquarters, was not because they feared Wei Feisen, but because the Old Ancestor had been severely injured in a battle with the Black-robed Puppet and was already unable to look after themselves."

"And now that the Old Ancestor is dead, the Martial Dao Sect has lost its highest combat power and cannot even hold its own territory."

"After passing through Yanzhou and entering Jizhou, there was even more news."

"The major Schools no longer need to fear the Martial Dao Sect. Ambitions suppressed for hundreds of years have all emerged. Territories are being snatched, resources are being seized, and Genius Disciples are being poached. Schools with strength are expanding everywhere, while those without are either being annexed or seeking refuge with larger ones."

"The Great Qing imperial family was originally a signboard supported by the Martial Dao Sect. With the Old Ancestor dead, the signboard has mostly collapsed. The military governors of each province are holding troops for their own benefit, taxes are no longer paid, imperial edicts are treated as waste paper, and the Emperor's decrees cannot go beyond three hundred li of the capital."

"In a teahouse in Yuzhou Province, you heard news related to the Cangyun Sect."

"'That new Sect Head of the Cangyun Sect, what was his name again... Senior Brother Gu Changfeng, right, that's him. I heard he has already reached the Great Grandmaster Realm and is now getting close to the imperial court. A while ago, he led people to Jizhou and attacked a branch of the Qingya Sect, claiming it was to 'suppress the rebellion' for the imperial court.'"

"'Bah, what 'suppress the rebellion'? Isn't that just looting a burning house? Anyone can snatch territory under the banner of the imperial court.'"

"'Don't say that. The Cangyun Sect is, after all, of the Righteous Path. And I heard that Senior Brother Gu Changfeng has signed a covenant with the imperial court to assist the imperial family in reunifying the world. The Emperor personally conferred upon him the title of 'Great General Protecting the Nation'.'"

"You finish your tea, put down the copper coins, and stand up to leave."

"Senior Brother Gu Changfeng."

"That Sect Head's head Disciple who used to follow behind you, diligently offering tea, that man whose confession you had once rejected with a cold face, is now a Great Grandmaster. He sits in the seat of the Cangyun Sect Leader and is still trying to stir the chessboard of the world."

"You do not have many emotions about it."

"Everyone has their own path. Senior Brother Gu Changfeng chose the path of power and is thriving; it has nothing to do with you."

"A month later, you arrive at Linyuan City."

"There is a long line at the city gate. Among those entering the city are many refugees with their families in tow, ragged and sallow-faced."

"You are not short on money. With nine years of savings, plus the tea money you 'tearfully accepted' from those who tried to chat you up along the way, you have tens of thousands of taels in hand. You spent three days renting a two-story shop in a quiet alley in the west of the city. The front is for selling books, the back is for living, and it comes with a small courtyard that has a water well."

"A few days later, 'Ink Fragrance Bookstore' opened for business."

"You dress yourself as a widowed female book merchant, spending your days copying and writing behind the counter, selling storybooks, legends, and primers, and occasionally writing letters for others."

"The shop's business is average, but you were never relying on this for a living anyway. This shop is just a foothold, a place where you can wait quietly."

"After settling down, you finally have a block of time to do something that has been shelved for a long time: Cultivate the Green Vessel Hundred Forging Record."

"You have long since fully comprehended the four Cultivation Techniques left behind by Wei Feisen. The 'Cloud Breaking Palm Sutra,' 'White Python Entwining Silk Strength,' and 'Nine Turns Returning Yuan Technique' are all superior martial arts, but they are essentially within the scope of martial arts and are of little help to your current predicament."

"Only the Green Vessel Hundred Forging Record is different; it is a body-tempering Cultivation Technique."

"This Cultivation Technique is different from all the hard qigong you have come into contact with before."

"Ordinary hard qigong Cultivates rigid external force, copper skin and iron bones, indestructible bodies. When practiced to a deep level, the whole person becomes like an iron tower, full of muscles, looking like a human weapon. This is also the reason why you did not choose to Cultivate it."

"But the Green Vessel Hundred Forging Record is not like that."

"Its core is not 'hard,' but 'forging.'"

"Just like a swordsmith repeatedly folding and forging a steel billet, it uses True Qi to temper the bones, flesh, blood, Meridians, and internal organs over and over again, making every inch of the body denser and tougher, while not changing the external form."

"Simply put, after successfully cultivating it, you are still you; where you should be soft, you are soft, and where you should be slender, you are slender, but your ability to withstand a punch is several times what it was before."

"This Cultivation Technique is simply tailor-made for you."

"Outside the simulation, Lin Shuangwan hears this and subconsciously looks down at herself."

"She pinches the soft skin on her arm, imagining what she would look like with muscles bulging and veins popping all over her body."

"...No."

"It's too much of an eyesore."

"She still prefers herself soft."

"Well, she admits she is a bit vain."

"Her gaze returns to the simulation."

"You begin to formally Cultivate the Green Vessel Hundred Forging Record in the small cultivation room in the backyard of the bookstore."

"The process is not easy. This Cultivation Technique requires the cultivator to transform True Qi into extremely fine threads, infusing the whole body along specific paths; each round of infusion is a 'forging.' The feeling in the Early Stage is like countless fine needles piercing into the bone joints at the same time, causing cold sweat to pour down from the pain. But relying on the talent of a Martial Arts Prodigy and the foundation of a Great Grandmaster's cultivation, it took half a year to Cultivate it to the Minor Achievement Realm."

"The changes after reaching Minor Achievement are very intuitive."

"Your skin looks no different from an ordinary person's, but in reality, ordinary blades can no longer easily cut your epidermis. You once tried taking an ordinary iron knife and forcefully slashing your forearm, but it only left a white mark without even breaking the skin. Your bone density has also increased significantly; the same force striking your body causes at least 40% less damage than before."

"Days pass by, and the world rots day by day."

"You lived in Linyuan City for half a year, watching with your own eyes as this city went from 'getting by' to 'barely surviving.'"

"First, grain prices tripled. With wars in every province, most grain transport routes were cut off. Rice shops in the city closed one after another. The remaining ones raised prices arbitrarily; a dou of rice went from thirty wen to ninety wen, then to one hundred and fifty. An ordinary person's monthly wages were only enough to buy ten days' worth of food."

"Then came the refugees. An endless stream of refugees poured into the city. They fled from provinces and counties affected by the flames of war, wearing nothing but rags, some without even shoes. The open spaces in the city were filled with shacks. After winter set in, every morning, people would find corpses frozen to death at the base of the walls."

"The government could not manage it, nor did it want to. The prefect of Linyuan City ran away two months ago with his family and the gold and silver he had extorted, leaving behind a group of yamen runners to maintain order symbolically."

"You saw a woman kneeling at the city gate with two children in front of her. The older one was seven or eight years old, and the younger one was still in swaddling clothes, with a straw stuck to their body. The woman kowtowed until her forehead bled, shouting, 'I beg a kind-hearted person to buy them, just give us a bite to eat.'"

"Passersby lowered their heads and quickened their pace; no one stopped."

"You have also seen worse."

"A small village thirty li outside the city, which you passed by when you went to buy firewood, had a large pot at the village entrance boiling not vegetables, but bones. The shape of those bones... You only took one look before turning your gaze away."

"An old man crouched at the base of the wall at the village entrance, his eye sockets sunken, looking at you hollowly."

"'Don't be afraid, guest,' he said in a dry, hoarse voice. 'They are not children from our village, but exchanged from the village next door.'"

"It seemed that if they exchanged them with another village, their conscience would feel a little better."

"You didn't speak, turned around, and left."

"After returning to the city, you saw a group of children at the entrance of the alley."

"There were six or seven of them, the oldest no more than ten years old, the youngest three or four, barely clothed, huddled in the corner of the wall. The oldest boy was holding a smaller girl in his arms. The girl was as thin as a piece of firewood, her eyes disproportionately large, watching you without a sound."

"You brought out a pot of porridge from the shop."

"'Eat.'"

"Six or seven pairs of eyes lit up at the same time. The older boy first looked at you vigilantly, then looked at the girl in his arms, hesitated for two breaths, put the girl down, picked up the bowl, and fed her first."