Lu Changfeng and Chunzhu lived in the small courtyard.
Half a month later, the first batch of Celestial Silkworm Seed eggs hatched into adults.
Consuming the adult Exotic Beast Meat had a much better effect than the lesser-grade Earth Dragon jerky, but it was difficult to preserve.
Lu Changfeng kept some of the adult worms for himself and Chunzhu to consume, and successfully made the rest into jerky.
One Celestial Silkworm Seed laid eggs once a day, producing thirty eggs each time.
After the eggs developed into adults in fifteen days, Lu Changfeng would have thirty Exotic Beast Celestial Silkworms.
However, the volume of Celestial Silkworm Meat was much smaller than that of Earth Dragon Meat.
From the output of roughly one Celestial Silkworm Seed, Lu Changfeng now consumed two-thirds.
Chunzhu’s consumption was very low; she didn’t even need half of the remaining one-third.
The rest, along with the output from the other Celestial Silkworm Seed, was made into Exotic Beast Meat jerky for preservation.
Therefore, besides cultivation, Lu Changfeng and Chunzhu’s daily lives were quite busy.
They were busy air-drying and curing the Exotic Beast Meat, and would even lay it out to sun-dry when the sun was out.
There was no other way. The existence of the Exotic Beast Meat could not be revealed, as Lu Changfeng currently lacked the strength to do so publicly.
’I’ll just have to work a little harder myself.’
However, with the help of the Celestial Silkworm Meat, both Lu Changfeng and Chunzhu’s cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.
This feeling of rapidly increasing strength was extremely intoxicating!
After more than forty days, Lu Changfeng and Chunzhu gradually grew accustomed to their life of seclusion in the small courtyard.
The Lu Family Courtyard.
A horse-drawn carriage slowly pulled to a stop in front of the Lu Family’s small courtyard.
A burly man carrying a box knocked on the door.
Lu Changfeng opened the door, nodded at the sight of the burly man, and took the box.
He closed the courtyard gate and opened the box. A "human stick" appeared before Lu Changfeng’s eyes.
It was none other than Liu Hong of the Liu Family.
During the previous great battle that had annihilated the Liu Family,
Lu Changfeng had coveted the Middle Grade Talent Liu Hong possessed and had thus turned him into a human stick.
He had then handed him over to Liuu Ye for safekeeping.
It seemed Liu Hong was living quite well under the care of the Liuu Family.
Perhaps this meant Lu Changfeng could copy from him a few more times.
Today was the sixth refresh of Lu Changfeng’s copy ability for the year, so he had Liuu Ye send the human stick, Liu Hong, over.
’Copy him!’
"Copy successful!"
"You have obtained the Middle Grade Talent [Sabersmanship]!"
With the copy successful, Lu Changfeng put the vacant-eyed Liu Hong back into the box.
Luu Ye had said that by giving him some liquid food every day, he could be kept alive for a very long time.
After copying the Talent, Lu Changfeng took out a Blood Forging Realm Saber Technique he had prepared earlier: [Falling Leaves Saber Technique].
Now that he had Exotic Beast Meat, his cultivation speed had greatly increased. In addition, his progress with [Le Mountain Angry Vajra] was extremely fast.
He could now start practicing a new Martial Art.
Having just copied the [Sabersmanship] Talent, Lu Changfeng chose to cultivate the [Falling Leaves Saber Technique], which he had purchased for three hundred taels of silver from a place in the Inner City that specialized in selling Martial Arts.
For this, Lu Changfeng had also specifically bought a refined long saber. Of course, it couldn’t compare to the Treasure Weapon Autumn Water Long Sword, but it would suffice.
The Falling Leaves Saber Technique and Gale Swordsmanship were two completely different types of arts.
Gale Swordsmanship emphasized swiftness and powerful explosive force, making it suitable for surprise attacks and assassinations.
The Falling Leaves Saber Technique, on the other hand, focused on a meticulous Saber Array, suitable for entanglement and defense.
One saber, one sword—they provided Lu Changfeng with two distinct combat styles, which was excellent.
With the support of the Middle Grade [Sabersmanship] Talent, Lu Changfeng quickly reached the entry level for the [Falling Leaves Saber Technique] and began advancing toward the next Realm.
Thus, another copy cycle passed.
On a winter day, Lu Changfeng once again copied [Sabersmanship] from Liu Hong.
The weather was cold. To prevent Liu Hong from freezing to death, Lu Changfeng usually placed him by the stove to warm him by the fire.
In order to synthesize a High-Grade Sabersmanship-type Talent,
Lu Changfeng took very meticulous care of him.
’From the looks of it, he should be able to last another two copy cycles, allowing me to successfully synthesize a High-Grade Sabersmanship-type Talent!’
In addition, with the help of the Celestial Silkworm Meat, Lu Changfeng was gradually approaching Blood Forging Fourth Layer Perfection.
In a few more months, he should be able to break through to the Blood Forging Fifth Layer.
The end of the year was approaching, and his gains and growth this year had been excellent.
Both Lu Changfeng and Chunzhu were in high spirits.
Lu Changfeng specially set up a hot pot in the courtyard. He prepared the seasonings himself, and with the addition of high-quality ingredients, he and Chunzhu ate with nonstop praise.
A knock came from the courtyard gate.
Lu Changfeng put down his bowl and chopsticks and went to open the gate.
Outside was Lu Changfeng’s ’disciple’, Hei Niu.
The small courtyard wasn’t suitable for Hei Niu, so he usually lived and trained at the Changle Martial Arts Hall.
"Master, Grandmaster is... not going to make it!"
The moment Hei Niu spoke, Lu Changfeng’s expression changed.
"Let’s go!"
Lu Changfeng threw on an outer coat and headed to the Changle Martial Arts Hall with Hei Niu.
In the courtyard of the Changle Martial Arts Hall where his master, Zhang Desheng, lived alone, Liuu Ye and several senior Named Disciples were present.
"You should go in quickly. Master is waiting for you. Second Senior Brother is inside too," Liuu Ye said.
Lu Changfeng nodded, pushed open the door, and walked inside.
"Master, Changfeng is here!" Zhou Feng, who was by the bedside, said to Zhang Desheng on the bed.
Lu Changfeng took a few steps forward and saw that Zhang Desheng on the bed was already skin and bones.
The little giant who was once over two meters tall, with a physique as sturdy as a mountain, was no more.
His complexion was dark, and his face was full of the aura of death.
Although Lu Changfeng had sensed for the past half-year that his master did not have long to live,
seeing his master’s current appearance shocked him to the core. It was the first time since his transmigration that he had faced the life, aging, sickness, and death of someone important, pulling him out of the fantastical world of this realm’s Martial Arts.
’This world, just like my previous one, also has life, aging, sickness, and death!’
’If I don’t want to die, I have to cultivate to become even stronger!’
’At the end of the Martial Arts path, perhaps Longevity exists! A way to escape this sea of suffering!’
"Changfeng, you’re finally back," Zhang Desheng said slowly. "You are my most prized disciple. It’s a pity I won’t be able to see the day you soar."
As he spoke, he tried desperately to focus his eyes but couldn’t. He could only make out Lu Changfeng’s hazy figure, unable to see his features clearly.
Just looking at him like this, Zhang Desheng was content. At least, before his passing, he was surrounded by so many of his disciples.
"You don’t need to be sad. The truth is, I suffered a fatal injury on New Year’s Eve last year. I should have died long ago. To have barely clung to life for a year is already a blessing. I’ve finally managed to arrange my affairs."
"You two, I originally planned to hand the Martial Arts Hall over to Changfeng. But he hasn’t matured enough yet, and I am dying more than a decade too soon. The few of you alone won’t be able to support the Martial Arts Hall."
"So, I’ve taken the liberty of selling the prime piece of land the Martial Arts Hall sits on. It sold for fifty thousand taels of silver."
"Adding the Martial Arts Hall’s usual savings, I’ve gathered a total of eighty thousand taels of silver under my bed, along with some Martial Arts Techniques. You three martial brothers can split it all evenly."
"In the future, if you have the ability, revive the Changle Martial Arts Hall. If you don’t, then there’s no need to worry about it."
"After the Martial Arts Hall is disbanded, I want all of you to hide in the Inner City. Find a way to join the Wang Family or some other powerful and noble family. An age of chaos is coming. It’s no shame to cling to the powerful to survive."
"Sigh... that’s all. Call Liuu Ye in. I have a few more things to say."
Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng exchanged a glance and quietly backed away.
They hadn’t taken more than a few steps when they realized the old man on the bed had stopped breathing.
Zhang Desheng was dead.