Chapter 68: Fated to Never Experience the Joys of Cultivation!
“Learn!”
[Ding!]
[-2000 Farm Points]
[Congratulations, Host. You have gained Mastery over the First Fold of the Ninefold Thunderblade.]
Hence, the System Notification echoed in Jiang He’s head, followed by a wave of information that entered the brain. As his epiphany coursed all over his body, a sharp Sword Qi even pulsed around him.
“What a shame!”
“My place is too small and I can’t cast it, or I could test the power of the Ninefold Thunderblade.”
He glanced at the System Panel.
[Name: Jiang He]
[Cultivation: Rank Five Advanced]
[Ability: Royal Sword]
[Martial Arts Cultivation: Indestructible Diamond (Initiate+), Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms (+), Blind Princess’s Eight Practices (First Practice+), Strengthened Nine Yang Technique (First Tier+), Ninefold Thunderblade (First Fold+)]
[Owned Land: 888m²]
[Farm Level: 3 (EXP 1500/5000)]
[System Backpack: 12 boxes]
[System Shop: Unlocked]
[Farm Points: 1850]
“My cultivation is actually still Rank Five Advanced?”
“But my fighting ability has clearly at least doubled…”
“And my Farm Points are less than two thousand, again!”
Even as Jiang He complained, he decided to cultivate his martial arts without using the System since he was idling anyway, thereby experiencing the joys of cultivation.
First, he tested the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms.
He had only learned six styles, meaning that there were twelve left. However, after he practiced all of the remaining twelve styles, he could not cast them in the blink of an eye.
After that, he tried the Indestructible Diamond, but after cultivating after over half an hour, the System still showed that it remained at Initiate and did not improve to Mastery.
Then, the Blind Princess’s Eight Practices.
He dashed off from his house to the entrance to the village under a single breath and back, but did not even manage to learn the Third Practice.
“Forget it…”
“So troublesome.”
Jiang He shook his head with a bitter smile, sighing. “I guess I really can’t experience the joys of cultivation for the rest of my life now. Moreover, the Strengthened Nine Yang Technique that is claimed to be compatible universally for all martial artists was a little exaggerated, but perhaps that could only be seen if I mastered the Nine Yang Technique itself.”
Meanwhile, the workers at his home were laboring in a frenzy.
Wang Sizhen had arranged for two of them to build a wall around the yard.
At the same time, he had put on an apron and set up a stove outside the yard to cook two whole pots of wolf meat. He appeared taken aback, and when Jiang He approached, he asked, “What meat did you get, Jiang He? This stuff doesn’t look like beef.”
“Wolf meat.”
Jiang He did not hide the truth, and said, “I’ve been to the mountains a few days ago when I ran into a pack of wolves, and managed to kill a few.”
“What?”
Wang Sizhen lowered his voice to speak quietly. “Could they have been Ferals? The news reported that over seventy percent of wildlife up the mountains have mutated into those frightening things.”
Pausing, he then laughed, “By the way, Jiang He, had you heard about the founding of a Martial Arts Academy (MAA) in the city? Is the screening process strict? I’m considering registration.
“…”
Jiang He was at a loss for words at that.
‘Your son has already learned to use soy sauce1, why would you register at the MAA?
‘Are you really that obsessed with martial arts?’
Still, after thinking about it, Jiang He understood.
Which youngster had not dreamt of becoming a martial artist? Wang Sizhen was even a little obsessed about it—when they played around as children, he would often have a cornstalk pinned at his hip, calling himself the Thirteenth Warrior on a moment’s notice and beating up the old locust tree at the village entrance, to the point that it was not fully grown even now.
“Wouldn’t there be age restrictions in MAA recruitment?”
Jiang He said after thinking about it. “Still, Feral meat could greatly improve the physicality of normal pepper, so do eat more and wash it down with some salad. You just might be surprised.”
Wang Sizhen’s eyes twinkled.
As the workers’ boss slash cook, he did have a little special authority here.
Meanwhile, Jiang He glanced at his phone to find a message from Wang Siyu. It seems that she had a mission and left early in the morning with Li Fei, Su Ze, Liu Xue, and the others, and would not be coming to eat.
After saying goodbye to Wang Sizhen and have him set aside a stack of cucumbers and a few catties of cooked meat, Jiang He climbed into his sports car for a joyride.
When he got one, he activated the auto-drive.
He lowered his seat so that he was leaning, and he turned on his radio, queueing several songs with strong bass and put it on loop. After that, he took out a handful of qi pellets, listening to songs as he downed the pellets leisurely.
Naturally, perhaps because he had too much qi pellets, they were basically ineffective now. Nonetheless, it works just fine as a snack, unlike cucumbers which he got sick of after a few sticks.
Besides, the walnut tasted good too.
Its shell was thin and its insides fragrant, and most importantly there was no need to peel it. Jiang Hu would have a few every day, and feel the distinct growth of his spirit recently. Furthermore, the radiance of that little luminous blade in his head had brightened considerably and became more solid.
After having the qi pellets and two walnuts, Jiang He’s nodded in satisfaction when he saw that the vast sea of blades and the luminous blade tha hovers above it with his inner vision. “At this rate, my Sword Qi raging over three thousand miles would not be a pipe dream.”
Meanwhile, he was driving along Lingzhou city.
He noticed then that there were many tall buildings built around the city itself, and new residents had already moved in to some of the completed ones.
At the same time, military bases were being built outside, and it had been said that electric fences would be raised as well in order to form a protective perimeter.
The Revival of Qi was a natural disaster on apocalyptic proportions. Even so, the country had spent much labor and resources to set up a multitude of countermeasures, as opposed to how things were at foreign nations.
Even if there had many multiple incidents of feral attacking cities, to the extent that several towns and villages were directly lost, combined with a rising death toll, but that was still countless times better than outside the country.
Their population was now centralized, and the military had taken control.
That policy was implemented airtightly, whereas outside the country…
Just yesterday, Jiang He read an article that said there were still people taking to the streets in protest for human rights, along with Awakened who are wreaking havoc and disorder.
Meanwhile, it was now afternoon as Jiang He returned home.
The progress on his mansion was quick, and he estimated two more days until work was finished.
After some thought, he said, “Everyone, there’s no need to work overtime tonight. Go home, and have a good rest.”
Then, after seeing the workers off, Jiang He climbed into his sports car again with high hopes.
Yes.
He was sticking to the script.
Having singled him out, the Sky Demon Cult would probably attack him soon, and night was the best time for them to strike!
“The Tranquil Heavenly General and the Earth Demon Heavenly General… can I kill those two rank-seven grandmasters?”
Still, time flew, but Jiang He did not even catch so much as a sight of the Sky Demon Cult.
His high hopes were soon reduced to disappointment.
At night, he was still lounging in his car, popping qi pellets and walnuts.
Even so, he only felt a monotonous dullness.
“Why aren’t the Sky Demon Cult sticking to the script?”
Outside, the stars were few but the moon bright, and vague croaks from frogs could be heard.
It was already one in the morning, but Jiang He, tossing and turning, could not fall asleep even as he swiped through various videos.
“This won’t do!”
“It’s too boring!”
“Even if the Tranquil Heavenly General and the Earth Demon Heavenly General wouldn’t come for me, why can’t I go looking for them?”
Of course, that was not the entire reason for his boredom.
To prevent them from ambushing him, Jiang He had not had a good night’s sleep over recent days. If he did not get rid of them and kept having high hopes… kept being worried, who else could really bear such a life?
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