After Xu Ning left Tanyun Village all those years ago, some cultivators had noticed the anomaly of his cultivation and stayed to investigate.
However, after a year or two without finding anything unusual, they had to leave. The mortal realm was barren.
After all, the mortal realm lacked spiritual energy. Staying too long wasn't good for cultivators; their cultivation would slowly leak away.
But before leaving, they discovered Mei Miaomiao had cultivation aptitude and took her away to their sect.
"Mei Miaomiao?" The image of that woman—the innkeeper's daughter who had once shown interest in him—unconsciously surfaced in Xu Ning's mind. He hadn't thought of her in years.
"Speaking of which, she used to have a crush on me," Xu Ning couldn't help but say, a nostalgic smile on his face.
The thatched hut said nothing, having no comment on such matters.
Soon, Xu Ning finished building the new thatched hut and incorporated the legendary thatched hut into it, merging their capabilities.
Thus, Xu Ning settled down in his old home and began cultivating and upgrading various things in peace.
Snow Crystal Fruit and Heavenly Origin Peach were of paramount importance to his current cultivation goals.
Xu Ning knew that relying solely on meditation and practice, it might take hundreds of years to reach the Great Perfection of the four mortal-level divine-grade cultivation techniques. The later stages were too profound.
The later techniques were simply too profound. They were so complex that even Xu Ning sometimes felt he didn't fully understand them.
Therefore, these two auxiliary fruits became Xu Ning's next top priority. He needed them to accelerate his progress.
Later, Xu Ning found an opportunity to dig up Yu Jialiang's grave, an old score he had never forgotten.
That guy had bullied Xu Ning a lot back in the day, constantly letting his cattle eat Xu Ning's corn, making his life miserable for a while. It was a small revenge.
Five years later, Xu Ning upgraded both fruit trees to the mortal-level divine grade and began consuming the fruits regularly to aid his cultivation.
It had to be said, the effects of the two fruits reaching divine grade were truly remarkable. Not only did they accelerate his cultivation speed, but they also continuously improved Xu Ning's martial arts aptitude and comprehension, making his cultivation twice as effective with half the effort.
However, there were too many fruits for Xu Ning to eat alone. His trees produced more than he could consume. Right! He seemed to have a cheap apprentice somewhere out there.
Immediately, Xu Ning packed up the accumulated pile of fruits, placed a letter inside, and tied the bundle to Yingying Monster. "Yingying Monster, go. Deliver this to that brat Gu Mu. He needs it more than I do."
Yingying Monster, who had been cooped up and bored for a while, leaped into the air with enthusiasm and instantly disappeared into the night sky.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
A group of men in black, wielding knives, relentlessly pursued a young man carrying two coffins on his back through the forest. It was Gu Mu, now a grown man, and inside the coffins lay the bodies of Wu Dairou and another.
Nearby, more enemies flew past, quickly surrounding Gu Mu from all sides. They had been hunting him for days.
At this moment, Gu Mu's eyes were filled with exhaustion and despair. He was wounded, outnumbered, and out of options.
Scanning his surroundings, Gu Mu knew he couldn't escape. He murmured in despair, "Xiaorou, I can't avenge you anymore. I'm coming to join you. Wait for me."
"Don't give him a chance! Kill him!" one of the men in black shouted, eager to finish the job.
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As soon as the words left his mouth, all the men in black pounced, their blades gleaming.
Seeing this, Gu Mu didn't wait for death passively. He charged forward, preparing for a final, desperate fight. He would die on his feet.
Screech—
Just then, a terrifying shadow descended from above. Everyone looked up in horror to see a gigantic eagle, its size blotting out the moon and stars, soaring overhead with impossible grace.
At that moment, the giant eagle's talons suddenly lashed out downward, terrifying internal force emanating from them.
Boom—
Boom—
A terrifying explosion erupted below, instantly vaporizing the black-clad man in the center and blasting those around him to death mid-air. The forest was torn apart.
Gu Mu, carrying the coffins, stared at the giant eagle in the sky, his eyes filled with shock and recognition. "It's the bird Master raised!"
At this moment, Gu Mu was overwhelmed with emotion. Having spent so many years with his master, he had never seen his master's little bird display such terrifying power. It had been hiding its strength all along.
No wonder he always felt that his master's donkey and that bird were unfathomable. They were both extraordinary beings, far beyond ordinary animals.
Meanwhile, the Yingying Monster had already dealt with all the black-clad men. It flew into the jungle, quickly captured one survivor, and threw the severely injured man in front of Gu Mu.
Looking at this man, Gu Mu's eyes were filled with hatred. This was the leader who had been chasing him, the one who had killed Wu Dairou.
Without hesitation, Gu Mu stepped forward and crushed the man's head with a single stomp. Justice was served.
After a long pause, Gu Mu finally looked at the Yingying Monster beside him and bowed respectfully. "Uncle-Master, thank you."
The Yingying Monster nodded, tilted its head, and took the bundle off its back, handing it to Gu Mu.
From Master? Gu Mu quickly took it and opened it with trembling hands.
Inside the bundle were a pile of fruits whose aura made his heart tremble with power. Judging from their appearance, they were Snow Crystal Fruits and Heavenly Origin Peaches, but the energy they gave off was completely different from anything he had felt before.
There was also a letter and several books wrapped in cloth.
Gu Mu quickly opened the letter and began to read, his hands shaking.
"Gu Mu, boy, by the time you read this letter, your master will no longer be here. I have left this world."
Upon seeing the opening sentence, Gu Mu froze, his face filled with sorrow. His body went limp, and he knelt on the ground, the letter clutched to his chest.
"No, Master—"
Xiaorou was gone, and now Master was gone too. Gu Mu felt he had no desire to live anymore. The two people he cared about most were taken from him.
No, he thought, forcing himself to calm. Xiaorou's revenge is not yet complete. I cannot die. I must live for her.
Immediately, Gu Mu picked up the letter and continued reading, steeling himself.
"I have nothing material to leave you, but these fruits were obtained by chance and should be of great use to you in your cultivation. Use them wisely."
"By the way, the cultivation technique I'm passing on to you is from ancient times. It's a divine technique that can be cultivated up to the eleventh level, beyond anything in the mortal world. The last two levels are recorded in those books I've included."
"Unfortunately, I never managed to cultivate to the tenth level in my entire life. My time ran out. I can only place my hopes on you, my disciple. I hope you can reach a realm surpassing that of a grandmaster and live a life I never could. That's all I have to say. Take care, my disciple."
Holding the letter tightly, Gu Mu clenched his fists with fierce determination. He would take revenge for those he lost. And after he took his revenge, he would live—for his master, for Xiaorou.
Immediately, Gu Mu began cultivating using the fruits left by his master, determined to grow strong.
Meanwhile, the Yingying Monster had quietly departed, returning to Xu Ning.
In the blink of an eye, thirty years passed.
Gu Mu became a martial arts legend. Strange phenomena reappeared in the world whenever he fought. He swept through the martial arts world, causing it to tremble at his power.
However, he was still on the path of revenge. Another confidante he had met had been killed, this time by a cultivator who had descended into the mortal realm. Now he carried three coffins on his back.
In the same year, Xu Ning cultivated all four of his cultivation techniques to the eleventh level of perfection, becoming what he called a Martial God—a realm beyond grandmaster.
Of course, the title of Martial God was given by Xu Ning himself. There was no official name for what he had achieved.
In the mortal realm, Xu Ning had nothing left to pursue. He had reached the peak of what was possible. He could now go to a cultivation sect and begin a new journey.
With his current strength—his unparalleled foundation—he should be able to barely protect himself against some newcomers to cultivation, the lower levels of the Qi Refining realm.
Reaching the Martial God realm, according to the thatched hut, his foundation in cultivation had reached an unprecedented level, better than any mortal before him. He was ready.
Of course, Xu Ning couldn't recklessly rush into the world of cultivation. Instead, he transformed into a child, settled in a small mountain village far from his old haunts, and waited for a sect to come and accept disciples naturally. He would start from the beginning.
Two years passed, and the sect's disciple-recruiting envoys never arrived at his village. Xu Ning, however, had a blast playing with the village children, mingling with them as if he had truly returned to his childhood. It was a peaceful time.
Finally, one day, the sect's envoys arrived in the village.
All the village children gathered to have their spiritual roots tested with excitement.
Xu Ning, of course, went along too, blending in with the other children.
In the end, three village children tested and found they had spiritual roots:
Xu Ning with his five-element mixed spiritual root, the lowest quality; Wang Ergou with a three-element mixed root; and Li Yun with a four-element mixed root.
The sect members looked at the three, sighing with disappointment. None of them were the geniuses they had hoped for.