#33 - Seventh birthday
The next morning, Wang Xuan resigned from his position as the National Preceptor of Wu, intending to leave the Qin residence with Qin Qingwan. ♜ ♦ ♗ ♦
On the day Qin Qingwan left, only Chen Suya, accompanied by Xu Ming, and Wang Feng, accompanied by Xu Pangda, came to see her off.
No one else knew that Qin Qingwan was leaving today, not even her own father.
This was Qin Madam's wish.
If the others from the Xu and Qin residences knew Qingwan was leaving, they would surely have organized a grand farewell.
Various dignitaries would have come.
Qin Madam didn't want that; her daughter didn't need such a pompous display.
She simply wanted to give her daughter more time to say goodbye to her friends.
Xu Ming and the others watched Wang Xuan lead Qin Qingwan away from the Xu residence.
However, Qin Qingwan had only taken a few steps before she ran back.
Before Xu Ming could react, Qin Qingwan stopped in front of him, stood on tiptoe, and gave him a quick kiss.
Then, with flushed cheeks, she ran away.
Xu Ming stood there stunned, touching the cheek she had just kissed.
In both his lifetimes, the people who kissed him were always little girls like this.
However, Xu Ming knew that Qin Qingwan's feelings for him were just a kind of childhood friendship; after all, at such a young age, what did she know about the love between a man and a woman?
As Qin Qingwan gradually grew up, and as her cultivation improved, reaching higher and higher realms, she would meet all kinds of people.
She would encounter all sorts of exceptional talents by her side.
And how much of this childhood memory would she remember then?
How many people even remember things from before they were six years old?
They spoke of meeting again in ten years.
Ten years later, when they met, they would probably just nod and smile.
And in ten years, this six-year-old girl would have grown into a beautiful maiden of sixteen.
Xu Ming really wanted to see what she would look like then, to see how she would amaze the world.
Xu Ming returned to the courtyard and found the 《Mystic Heaven Heart Sutra》 under his pillow in his room.
"This silly girl, this kind of book can't be given to people so casually!"
Stroking the cover of the 《Mystic Heaven Heart Sutra》, Xu Ming shook his head.
In Xu Ming's mind, he had already imagined the little fool sneaking into his room and nervously placing the book under his pillow.
After Qin Qingwan left, Xu Ming's only friends were the Mystic Heaven Goose and Xu Pangda—one goose and one person.
Or rather, just one person.
Because that goose was still sleeping.
Even when seeing Qin Qingwan off, the goose had only roused its spirits with great effort.
After seeing Qin Qingwan off, the goose had gone back to sleep.
A month passed after Qin Qingwan left.
Although the Zhi Xing Academy had closed, Xu Pangda had not stopped his pursuit of knowledge.
Both the Xu and Qin residences actually had their own private schools.
But the private schools of the Qin and Xu residences were simply playgrounds for wealthy children.
There was no learning environment, and the teachers just coasted along.
So Wang Feng asked for some favors and arranged for Xu Pangda and Xu Ming to attend a relatively famous private school in the capital called "Qingfeng Academy."
Xu Ming did not refuse Madam Wang's kindness.
Although he couldn't participate in the imperial examinations, it was still useful to read more books, and he might even be able to catch a glimpse of the Confucian cultivation methods and use his tens of thousands of "Righteous Qi" attribute points.
Perhaps Xu Pangda felt that Qin Qingwan had left and Xu Ming had no one to accompany him.
Xu Pangda worried that Xu Ming would be bored, so he would bring things for Xu Ming to eat every day.
Or when doing homework, Xu Pangda would come to Xu Ming's courtyard.
Xu Pangda would read, while Xu Ming would exercise.
Xu Ming would read the 《Mystic Heaven Heart Sutra》 for an hour every day, and then practice the 《Ice Sun Swordplay》 for two hours.
Mainly, Xu Ming could only read the 《Mystic Heaven Heart Sutra》 for an hour at most before he would feel dizzy.
As for the 《Ice Sun Swordplay》, if he practiced for more than two hours, Xu Ming would feel like his body was being pricked by thousands of needles and would have to stop.
The rest of the time, Xu Ming would read books about this world.
In addition to Confucian classics, Xu Ming would also read books from other schools of thought in this world, which added different attribute points.
For example, books on the Mo family's crafting of mechanical contraptions added "Mechanical Talent" attribute points.
Books on farming added "Poison Resistance" attribute points.
The only thing that Xu Ming felt regretful about was that he had not yet found a copy of Little Liu Bei, and he didn't know what attribute points it would add.
After reading, Xu Ming would continue to exercise his body.
In the Xu residence, there were actually quite a few books on boxing techniques; after all, the Wu Kingdom was founded on martial prowess, and even ordinary people had books on martial arts at home.
However, Xu Ming had not officially entered the path of martial arts.
The Martial Practitioner realm is divided into ten levels.
They are—
Body Refining Three Levels: Clay Embryo Realm, Wooden Fetus Realm, Mercury Realm.
Qi Refining Three Levels: Heroic Soul Realm, Valiant Spirit Realm, Martial Courage Realm.
Spirit Refining Three Levels: Golden Body Realm, Far Journey Realm, Summit Realm.
Tenth Level: Limitless Realm (divided into three layers).
The Clay Embryo Realm is about initially shaping a person's body.
This is equivalent to a kind of body tempering.
However, the human body is too fragile before the age of eight.
Practicing boxing techniques before the age of eight, because of insufficient Qi and blood, will lead to an unstable foundation.
It may even be possible that because the human body's meridians are not mature enough, they cannot withstand the Martial Practitioner's true Qi, ultimately leading to death by explosion.
Xu Ming didn't want to take that risk.
However, Xu Ming wanted to find books about cultivation and learn some simple spells.
When Xu Pangda found out, he immediately asked his mother for help.
On the third day, Xu Pangda happily carried a pile of books to Xu Ming's courtyard.
However, Xu Ming found that the lowest required realm for these spells was the Qi Refiner's third level—Furnace Forging Realm.
However, although Xu Ming couldn't cultivate, he could still add attribute points.
For example, for this technique called 《Fire Control Art》 that Xu Ming was reading, every tenth of the book he read added "Fire Affinity + 0.5".
Because he couldn't cultivate these simple techniques, Xu Ming still needed to rely on the 《Ice Sun Swordplay》 to improve his realm.
But Xu Ming was curious.
The grade of the 《Ice Sun Swordplay》 was definitely very high.
But why didn't the cultivation of the 《Ice Sun Swordplay》 have any realm requirements?
Half a year later, with a roar within Xu Ming's body, a warm current flowed through Xu Ming's body again, and Xu Ming entered the Qi Refiner's second level—Clarity Heart Realm.
And it was in the second month after Xu Ming entered the Clarity Heart Realm that Xu Ming heard a piece of news.
Mister Xiao was impeached for advocating reform, but the Martial Emperor suppressed it.
According to Qin Madam, the court struggles were very intense.
Xu Ming didn't care; such things were too far removed from him.
Another four months passed, and it was Xu Ming's seventh birthday.
On this day, Wang Feng, Xu Pangda, and Qin Madam came to Xiaochun Courtyard to celebrate Xu Ming's birthday.
And on this day, neither Xu Xuenuo nor Qin Qingwan sent Xu Ming a birthday gift.
