#31 - Let’s elope! - Cultivating Immortality, Starting from Childhood Sweethearts

Inside the courtyard of the study hall.

The children were all holding their books, wanting Mr. Xiao to sign them as a memento.

Xiao Mo-chi naturally couldn't refuse, signing his name for one child after another.

Everyone bid farewell to Mr. Xiao, making the scene seem very sad.

"Mr. Xiao, we should enter the palace to face the Emperor."

After a stick of incense's time, Eunuch Wei urged him with a troubled expression.

Xiao Mo-chi bowed to his young students, and the students returned the bow.

Xiao Mo-chi straightened up, smiled, and turned to leave.

After the teacher left, many students didn't leave either, but wanted others to write their names in their books.

Xu Ming seemed to see the earliest version of a yearbook.

And the most intimidating, the one the entire study hall feared—the "class bully"—Xu Ming, even had a few young girls blushing as they wanted him to write his name.

"Xu Ming! You just wait! I will definitely beat you in the future!" Xiong Hai-zhi and his two companions walked over, hands on their hips, and said to Xu Ming.

Xu Ming smiled: "Alright, I'll wait."

"Hmph!" Xiong Hai-zhi and his companions snorted and turned to leave in a huff.

"Xiong Hai-zhi, Li San, and Wu Wei, the three of them seem to be going to the army next year," Xu Pang-da said to Xu Ming from the side.

"Next year? Aren't they only eight years old next year?" Qin Qing-wan counted on her fair jade fingers, looking somewhat surprised.

"That's right," Xu Pang-da nodded. "I heard my mother say that the best age to practice martial arts is eight years old. Eight-year-old children can enter the military camp to practice martial arts and strengthen their bodies. They are the children of military officials, so it's even more so. Mother said that in our Wu Kingdom, you can go to the battlefield to kill enemies at fourteen."

"..." Watching the backs of Xiong Hai-zhi and his companions, Xu Ming was somewhat silent.

The Wu Dynasty established itself with martial prowess, and it has become one of the top ten human dynasties in two hundred and fifty years, and there is a good reason for it.

"Let's go back."

Xu Ming and his companions walked out of the study hall.

Cai Die was already waiting outside the courtyard.

They walked back to the front of the Xu Country Manor, and just as Qin Qing-wan was about to follow Xu Ming to Xiaochun Courtyard to play, Cai Die said, "Miss, the Madam and the National Preceptor are waiting inside. Miss, please go back first."

"Oh, okay..."

Although Qin Qing-wan was a little disappointed, she still followed Cai Die back.

Qin Qing-wan wasn't surprised that the National Preceptor was at her house, because the National Preceptor would come once or twice every month.

"Mother, National Preceptor..."

Returning to the courtyard, Qin Qing-wan happily shouted.

"Qing-wan..."

Madam Qin wiped the corner of her eye, turned around, her eyes red, and looked at her daughter gently.

"Qing-wan, come, Mother and the National Preceptor have something they want to tell you..."

In Xiaochun Courtyard, his mother was cooking in the kitchen, while Xu Ming was practicing his sword in the courtyard.

[Sword Qi +3, Sword Intent +3]

Whenever Xu Ming practiced a few stances, attribute points would be added to his account.

As the attribute points of Sword Qi and Sword Intent gradually increased, Xu Ming felt that holding the peach wood sword seemed to be smoother, which was a mysterious feeling.

Xu Ming even felt that he could hear the voice of the peach wood sword.

A gust of wind blew, and leaves fell, and just a leaf floated in front of Xu Ming.

Xu Ming felt something in his heart, and gently swiped with the peach wood sword.

The peach wood sword didn't touch the leaves, but the leaves were split in half.

"This is Sword Qi?" Xu Ming said in surprise.

Moreover, compared to the tens of thousands of points of Righteous Qi he had accumulated over the past year, he still didn't know what to do with it.

Now, it was only dozens of points of Sword Qi attribute, and it had such an effect.

If it were tens of thousands of points of Sword Qi value and Sword Intent value, Xu Ming was a little afraid to imagine.

After eating lunch, his mother went back to her room to take a nap, and Xu Ming continued to practice the "Ice Sun Sword Technique", while Tian Xuan Goose was sleeping in its nest.

Xu Ming didn't know if Tian Xuan Goose had given up on itself or what.

For the past month, Tian Xuan Goose had been sleeping for at least seven or eight hours every day, which translates to fourteen to sixteen hours. It can be said that it only eats and sleeps, and it looks very tired every day.

Xu Ming thought it was sick before, and specially asked Sister Chunyan to invite a veterinarian over.

As a result, the veterinarian didn't know what was going on either.

In the end, Qing-wan was very worried and asked her National Preceptor to diagnose Tian Xuan Goose.

The National Preceptor just smiled slightly and said, "It's fine, no need to worry about it."

Then Xu Ming ignored it.

Just when Xu Ming had finally practiced the "Ice Sun Sword Technique" completely, Xu Ming suddenly felt a tremor all over his body.

It was like a warm current flowing through his entire body's meridians. This feeling was a bit too good, like the world's best masseuse giving you a full body spa, a hundred times more comfortable!

When the warm current rushed through, Xu Ming came back to his senses and found that his whole body was soaked with sweat, his body seemed to be much lighter, and his dantian also felt warm.

"What's going on?"

Xu Ming closed his eyes and looked at the sapling in his dantian.

The sapling was emitting a faint fluorescent light.

[You have entered the Qi Gathering Realm.]

As a string of words popped out in Xu Ming's mind, Xu Ming was stunned for a moment.

"Qi Gathering Realm? I... have embarked on the path of cultivation?"

Xu Ming decided to try the power of the Qi Gathering Realm.

Xu Ming walked to Tian Xuan Goose's nest, plucked two of its feathers, and placed them two meters away from himself. He swung his sword, and the two feathers were fine.

Then Xu Ming gradually adjusted the distance until it was half a meter away from the tip of the sword, and Xu Ming's sword qi cut off the goose feathers.

As for strength, Xu Ming didn't feel any increase. There was no increase in speed either.

"That shouldn't be..."

Xu Ming stroked his chin.

His sword qi had indeed improved a lot. Even if it was the Qi Gathering Realm, it was impossible for there to be no difference in strength and speed.

Xu Ming guessed that there was a possibility that the "Ice Sun Sword Technique" he practiced could use spiritual power, so after entering the Qi Gathering Realm, his spiritual power increased, indirectly increasing the power of the sword technique.

But he hadn't mastered other spells and had no way to bless himself with spiritual power.

Xu Ming felt that he needed to find some simple spells to learn.

As for the "Tian Xuan Heart Sutra"?

Xu Ming had been reading it for more than a year, and he still couldn't remember a single word.

That "Tian Xuan Heart Sutra" seemed to have special abilities, making you forget it as soon as you read it.

The problem came again.

How could he find some simple spells to learn?

"Brother Ming..."

Just when Xu Ming was at a loss, Qin Qing-wan ran into the courtyard.

Qin Qing-wan stood in front of Xu Ming, her eyes red and her nose red, looking like she had cried a lot.

"What's wrong?" Xu Ming held Qin Qing-wan's small hand.

"Brother Ming..."