novelzi Chapter 360 - 232: Third Life, the Northern Great Wall, I as the Defender, Guarding This City Alone, Unrivaled in the World
Chapter 360 - 232: Third Life, the Northern Great Wall, I as the Defender, Guarding This City Alone, Unrivaled in the World
The day he achieved it, nature’s spiritual energy spontaneously surged toward him, causing his Realm to soar.
In just three years.
He had already reached the Seventh Realm of a Qi Cultivator.
Across all three of his lifetimes, this was the fastest he had ever cultivated.
At only twelve years old, he had already successfully passed the Third Level of Qi Refining. The Spiritual Qi in his Qi Sea was perfectly whole, without leakage. He had achieved Foundation Establishment, obtained Divine Techniques, and cultivated all the way to the Purple Mansion!
One day.
A carriage pulled up next door. A youth in fine clothes alighted, an air of nobility inherent in his features. He was escorted by a tall, elderly man and attended by a lovely, beautiful Maid.
His status seemed quite distinguished.
Lu Mingyuan looked at the Maid and was suddenly reminded of Zi Yun and Hong Wan.
And his wife, Qi Muxue.
He missed them dearly.
’I wonder how time is passing in the outside world.’
At least here, a year he experienced was a genuine year.
This Scroll World was an inexplicably lonely place.
"Hello. We’ll be neighbors from now on. I’m Cao Yunqing. What’s your name?"
Lu Mingyuan was silent for a moment, then gave a slight nod. "Zhou Yuan."
’He hadn’t expected them to meet again like this.’
’There didn’t seem to be any hostility.’
’He didn’t recognize me.’
’His second life must not have been easy, either.’
The next day, Cao Yunqing and his beautiful Maid moved into the residence, but the old man had vanished.
One rainy night.
Cao Yunqing suddenly hopped the wall to chat with Lu Mingyuan, asking with a smile,
"Zhou Yuan, do you know this town’s secret?"
Lu Mingyuan didn’t speak, just watched him impassively.
"Looks like you don’t."
Cao Yunqing continued, talking more to himself than anyone, "Have you noticed that people come and go from this town every year? By the way, how did you get in? I had to pull quite a few strings."
Lu Mingyuan answered, "I don’t know. I was just brought here. I’ve been here since I was born."
A flash of surprise crossed Cao Yunqing’s face. "You mean you’ve been here for more than a decade?"
"Something like that."
Cao Yunqing grew serious. "Then you’re truly impressive. Only two kinds of people can stay in this town for so long. One kind is the unwanted, the hopeless dregs. The other is a True Dragon native to this land, one who cannot be easily revealed to the world. Which are you?"
Lu Mingyuan said impassively, "How would I know?"
He changed the subject. "Speaking of which, with a status as distinguished as yours, why come here to live a hard life?"
Cao Yunqing chuckled sheepishly. "I’m here to get my credentials burnished. I heard that people who stay here get a boost to their luck."
"So that’s how it is."
Hearing this, Lu Mingyuan gave a slight nod.
"You have no idea. Back in the Middle Ages, this place was..." Cao Yunqing started to say more.
But he was interrupted by a placid, elderly voice. An old woman stood on the threshold, her hands clasped behind her back.
"What are you two doing in here? The rain has stopped. Zhou Yuan, hurry up and drain the water from the fields, or everything will be flooded."
"Yes, Grandma."
Seeing the old woman, Lu Mingyuan dutifully shouldered his hoe and headed out to the fields.
"My apologies... I should be heading back."
Cao Yunqing offered an apologetic smile and left the house.
As he left, he paused on the threshold of his own residence, watching Lu Mingyuan’s retreating back with a thoughtful expression.
「Three years passed in a flash.」
Lu Mingyuan was now fifteen years old.
His Cultivation speed was extremely fast. He had already achieved the Essence Qi Condensing Pill stage, formed his own Golden Core, and reached the Ninth Realm.
However, he hadn’t revealed his level of Cultivation to anyone.
Having learned his lesson from two lifetimes, in this life, Lu Mingyuan had grown wiser.
’I’ll cultivate until I’m strong enough, and only then will I emerge.’
’I won’t go out wandering around until I break through to the Fourteenth Realm.’
After Cao Yunqing’s hints, and combining them with memories from his first life, he had a good idea of the town’s origins.
This was the place where the Destiny of the Central Plains World’s Cultivators was at its most potent.
He had heard whispers of it in the outside world.
The Great Wall, as it was known, had been maintained by successive Dynasties to defend against invasions from the other two worlds.
The people living near the Great Wall were never disturbed by the wars of the various Dynasties. The imperial Courts never sent troops to invade the region, even when the Celestial Mandate changed hands and a new Dynasty arose.
The town had always remained, and its inhabitants lived in peace.
Considering what Cao Yunqing had said,
they were all here to bask in its Destiny, which required them to live here for several years.
As for the goal of the Dynasties and Sects, it was simple: to nurture the prodigies of the Human Race.
One day, when he was fifteen,
the familiar blood moon phenomenon appeared in the skies above Qingping Town.
Upon seeing this, Lu Mingyuan’s first instinct was to go home.
Grandma had once told him that if he ever encountered danger, he should just stay home. The divine statue in the town would protect its people.
Sinister winds howled outside his window as demonic clouds obscured the moon.
He stayed at home for a full day and night.
Only after everything had finally settled and the sky had cleared did he venture outside.
He found that all was calm. Nothing seemed to have happened.
But Grandma’s usual attitude had changed. She was watching him from across the room with a serious expression.
"Zhou Yuan... come here for a moment."
Lu Mingyuan followed her stooped form, his heart filled with apprehension.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.
"Grandma, what’s wrong?" Lu Mingyuan asked cautiously.
Grandma’s face broke into her familiar, kind smile. "I originally thought I would wait until you turned sixteen to tell you everything. But now, my time is almost up. I’m afraid I can’t wait that long."
Lu Mingyuan looked her over carefully, saying in surprise, "But Grandma, your complexion seems perfectly fine."