I am dying of old age, and I have awakened to the character of longevity.

Back when I was a clerk at Li's Pawnshop, Xie An hated snowy days the most.

Not only was food scarce, but travel was inconvenient, and it was extremely easy to catch a cold. Getting through the winter was extremely difficult.

Now that I've stepped into the Refined Flesh Realm, coupled with the warm currents lingering in my body from the Longevity Exercise, I'm no longer afraid of the cold or heat. On the contrary, I feel that snowy days have a special flavor.

The same piece of land, different circumstances, and the scenery seen is also different.

Before Xie An could further express his emotions, he was tormented by the feeling of muscle soreness and numbness, causing him to twist his body.

Tingly and numb, especially itchy.

Xie An instinctively scratched his skin, but found that it didn't relieve the itch.

Just endure it and it will be fine.

But... …it's really itchy!

Sometimes, with a burst of twitching and soreness in a certain muscle, Xie An couldn't help but laugh.

The symptoms of soreness and numbness disappeared after about a quarter of an hour.

Phew!

Xie An relaxed his whole body, slowly got up from the snow, and performed a set of Five Animal Frolics.

Between punches and kicks, it caused bursts of sharp sounds of air being torn apart. The power brought about by muscle contraction was like a gushing spring, far exceeding any previous moment.

A set of health-preserving Five Animal Frolics was actually performed by Xie An with a taste of killing and ferocity.

"Hmm?"

"It seems... …the Five Animal Frolics have changed!"

Breaking through to the Refined Flesh Realm, also has this effect?

Xie An immediately didn't dare to be careless and performed it again.

Tiger Seeks Food.

Roar!

It was truly like transforming into a fierce tiger, letting out a majestic roar that shook the mountains and forests!

Although it was quite different from the real roar of a tiger, it already had six or seven similarities.

It really carried extremely strong lethality.

This discovery made Xie An pleasantly surprised.

"It is said that ordinary health-preserving masters need to cultivate the Longevity Exercise for twenty or thirty years before they can gradually achieve success... … I've only been doing it for two years, and it seems that I've already achieved some results."

Xie An suppressed the excitement in his heart and carefully performed the Five Animal Frolics again.

Tiger Seeks Food, Deer Runs Long, Bear Shakes and Moves, Monkey Plucks Fruit, Crane Flies... …

The power was surging, the five animals were familiar, and he could switch between them at will. Where did it look like the soft and weak Five Animal Frolics in the hands of a health-preserving master? It was clearly real martial arts with considerable killing power!

No less than the intermediate martial arts in the Sutra Depository.

"That is to say... …with the evolution of the Five Animal Frolics, I have directly mastered five types of fist and foot martial arts! ?"

Xie An couldn't help but secretly click his tongue.

Although compared to cultivating the Longevity Exercise, martial arts is a shortcut. But for a martial artist to master a martial art, it takes at least several years of accumulation to achieve success.

And Xie An is equivalent to mastering five intermediate martial arts in one breath?

Even Xie An, at his age, couldn't help but feel his scalp tingling with excitement.

Xie An instinctively thought that the progress of the Five Animal Frolics had greatly improved, and immediately pulled up the panel to check.

【Five Animal Frolics: Nurturing Inner Qi (49/100)】

【Fetal Breathing Exercise: Divine Light Appears (8/1000)】

【Remaining Years: 35 Years】

"The Five Animal Frolics have not made much progress... …"

"It seems that after the martial arts break through to the Refined Flesh Realm, the strength increases greatly, driving the Five Animal Frolics to transform."

Xie An felt that this analysis was reasonable.

The previous Five Animal Frolics were like a fruit knife, only able to cut fruit. Now, with the explosive increase in power, the fruit knife has become a machete, capable of slaughtering tigers and leopards.

Quantitative change leads to qualitative change.

"I'll test my single-arm lift."

Judging from the degree of transformation of the Five Animal Frolics, Xie An felt... …his lifting increase would be very exaggerated.

Xie An immediately found two stone locks weighing eight hundred catties each, tied them firmly with hemp rope, and tied a knot.

"The two stone locks together weigh sixteen hundred catties, the limit is nothing more than this."

Xie An took a deep breath, stood firm with his legs, grasped the handle of the stone lock with his right hand, and gradually increased the force. If he found it difficult, he would replace it with a smaller stone lock to try... …

As a result, he actually lifted it up.

Terrifying!

"This is the effect of breaking through to the Refined Flesh Realm! ?"

No wonder the Five Animal Frolics have such an effect, it's all pushed up by strength.

Two years of Longevity Exercise accumulation, plus one year of martial arts training, finally ushered in a small explosion at this moment.

"Longevity Life, is really a good thing!"

Xie An, who has always had a stable mentality, couldn't help but laugh at this moment.

Although Xie An doesn't have outstanding talent in martial arts, he has the Longevity Exercise to continuously improve his body's upper limit and gradually release his potential. In two years, he went from a dying old man to a Refined Flesh Realm martial artist... …it's already quite perverted.

You must know that even a Second Level martial artist who has reached the Refined Flesh Realm Great Accomplishment, it is difficult to reach sixteen hundred catties with a single-arm lift.

Xie An is simply a humanoid machine.

Despite the huge progress, Xie An still patiently calmed himself down and carefully practiced the Heavy Mountain Saber and伏阳 Saber Technique, so that he could fully adapt to the brand new realm and ensure that he could exert sufficient strength. Only then did he stop.

After taking a comfortable bath, he put on the deacon's uniform, put on cloud boots, and carried a broadsword on his back.

After six days of seclusion, Xie An walked out of the other courtyard for the first time.

It was also a snowy day, compared to six days ago, Xie An's mood was very different.

Six days ago, Xie An held the Heavy Mountain Saber, and he was not afraid of martial artists who had just entered the Refined Flesh Realm. But facing Fang Baiyu, he still felt a lot of pressure.

So that day at the lonely grave on the mountain, he watched Wei Dian leave, watched Lin Yun helplessly... …and didn't dare to say any bold words.

Without ability, any verbal words are meaningless.

Now, Xie An knew that he had the power to protect the Blood Ridge lineage.

The boulder that had been pressing on his heart was shattered.

"Boss, you've finally come out of seclusion."

Little Liu, who was guarding the entrance, hurriedly came over to greet Xie An when he saw him.

Xie An nodded. "Has anything happened in Blood Ridge these past few days?"

Little Liu lowered his head, looking rather resentful. "Hall Master Fang sent a new deacon named Zhu Hu to take over the defense of Blood Ridge. He's also been ostracizing and suppressing Deacon Zhang Lin, ordering him around and making him do rough work like cleaning the toilets…"

Xie An frowned upon hearing this, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

He knew that Fang Baiyu might interfere with the Blood Ridge black market before the assessment.

He just didn't expect it to be so excessive.

Xie An suppressed the anger in his heart and said, "Go and call Liang Zhi and Wang Xiang over."

"Yes."

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Little Liu scurried off.

Tomorrow is the Laba Festival, the big day for Baiyu Hall's assessment. Since Xie An had come out of seclusion, Liang Zhi and Wang Xiang had naturally done so as well. Before long, the two of them rushed over.

"Boss, look at me, look at me…"

Wang Xiang couldn't help but wave his two sabers as soon as he arrived, showing off his sturdy, ox-like arm muscles.

"I see it, you've broken through to the Copper Skin Realm. Not bad." Xie An said calmly on the surface, but he was quite surprised in his heart.

To break through to the Copper Skin Realm after only a few days of seclusion.

Although Wang Xiang had enough accumulation, this perseverance was rare.

Wang Xiang was so excited to receive Xie An's praise that he thanked him repeatedly.

Liang Zhi, on the other hand, had sharp eyes and noticed the difference in Xie An's complexion. "Boss, you look much more powerful than before, have you broken through?"

Xie An didn't hide it. "Yes, I just broke through. By the way, has Zhu Hu interfered with the Blood Ridge black market's accounts?"

The black market's accounts were the foundation and the bottom line.

Liang Zhi looked ashamed and explained the situation of the past few days:

It turned out that Zhu Hu had brought a dozen or so experts to the black market a few days ago, taking over in the name of Fang Baiyu, and suppressing Wei Dian's old subordinates, often beating and scolding them.

Zhou Xing and Zhang Lin had both been assigned to do hard labor, carrying water, chopping firewood, cooking, tending horses, and cleaning toilets. Whenever Zhu Hu was in a bad mood, he would whip and scold them.

Liang Zhi, the accountant, was also kicked out of the house by Zhu Hu and even received a beating.

Liang Zhi rolled up his sleeves, revealing bruises and bloodstains from the whip on his arms. Wang Xiang lifted his trouser legs, revealing multiple whip marks on his legs.

Xie An was shocked to see this.

Fang Baiyu's suppression of Wei Dian's old subordinates was already excessive, but he had actually resorted to such ruthless tactics.

Moreover, Liang Zhi and the others hadn't reported such a big matter. It was simply because they remembered what Xie An had told them before—no visitors during seclusion.

Liang Zhi and the others endured even the greatest grievances and didn't disturb Xie An's breakthrough.

Xie An saw it all and remembered it in his heart.

"Where are Zhang Lin and Zhou Xing?"

Liang Zhi pointed to the stables in the distance. "They're preparing horse feed in the stables."

"Liang Zhi, have someone prepare lunch, and then invite Zhu Hu and his group to my courtyard in my name. Just say that I… am giving them a welcome feast. Be sure to invite everyone under Zhu Hu's command."

Leaving these words, Xie An hurried towards the stables.

Wang Xiang was puzzled. "Brother Liang, what does Boss mean? Is he really going to give Zhu Hu and that scoundrel a welcome feast?"

Liang Zhi pondered for a long time, but he didn't understand Xie An's meaning either. Finally, he said, "Zhu Hu has Hall Master Fang behind him. As the steward here, Boss should treat him well. Alright, stop talking nonsense and hurry up and prepare."

Wang Xiang muttered, "What a coward. Being bullied like this, and still having to give them a welcome feast."

Pa.

Liang Zhi knocked him on the head. "Be careful what you say. Boss's intentions are not for you to speculate."

Wang Xiang drooped his head. "Understood."

…

Meanwhile, when Xie An arrived at the stables, he saw Zhang Lin limping as he chopped horse grass and mixed it with soybeans. Zhou Xing, with a bruised and swollen face, was fetching water next to him.

Needless to say… Zhang Lin's leg was crippled by Zhu Hu. Zhou Xing's face was also…

"Brother Zhang."

Xie An called out.

Only then did Zhang Lin look up in shock. When he saw Xie An, his eyes suddenly turned red. He threw away the horse grass in his hand and limped over, hugging Xie An tightly, almost sobbing. "Old Brother!"

Xie An hugged his shoulders in return, feeling very uncomfortable in his heart.

Zhang Lin was a man in his forties, yet he had been reduced to this state.

Xie An didn't want to upset Zhang Lin, so he asked Zhou Xing, "What happened to Brother Zhang's leg?"

Zhou Xing was filled with resentment. "The other day, Zhu Hu put his horse in the stables, and just because it neighed a few times in the middle of the night, Zhu Hu said that Boss hadn't fed it enough, and then smashed Boss's leg with an iron rod.

It's too much!

They're too much!

I told Boss to leave this place a long time ago… but Boss insisted on staying, saying he wanted to fight alongside Second Deacon."

Xie An felt very uncomfortable after hearing this.

After Zhang Lin's emotions had stabilized slightly, Xie An released Zhang Lin and squatted down to carefully check the other party's leg injury.

Fortunately, it hadn't injured the bone, only the tendons and muscles.

Xie An breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, Xie An looked at the peerless horses in the stables. "Zhou Xing, which one is Zhu Hu's mount?"

"It's the big white horse in the middle."

"Okay, during lunch later, bring this horse to my courtyard." Xie An instructed Zhou Xing, then helped Zhang Lin leave the stables. "There's no point in feeding a dying horse. I'll help you to my courtyard to apply medicine. There must be an explanation for this matter."

— — — —

ps: Fourth update, it's also 15,000 on the first day of release, there's a bit of atmosphere~