Cultivation: I can see the proficiency level

Ever since she gained sentience, Bai Jiuniang has disliked the cultivators of Tiemuling.

Every time Bai Jiuniang saw the burly young men coming down from Tiemuling, she would recall the scene from her childhood when she was chased, grabbed, and rubbed by the chubby little boy with his bare bottom, until her hair was covered in thick snot.

That chilling scene remains etched in his memory to this day.

Its current love of cleanliness is perhaps related to the thick snot it produced when it was a kitten.

However, the old Taoist priest had a very close personal relationship with Tiegusou on Tiemu Ridge, and Wang Mian had also known Tiegusou's apprentice Jiang Hao since childhood. Throughout the year, Jiang Hao would always come down the ridge to visit him several times.

Why is he here again?

As Bai Jiuniang squatted at the entrance of the cave, she twitched her nose and smelled the unique stench of sweat from the Ironwood Ridge cultivators, which was several miles away.

It turned its head and barked impatiently twice at the cave entrance.

Wang Mian stepped out of the stone chamber and looked out of the cave with a puzzled expression: "Jiang Hao is here?"

Only when Jiang Hao visits would Bai Jiuniang react with such annoyance.

As a baby, Bai Jiuniang was fluffy and adorable, and Jiang Hao would chase after her and hold her in his arms for a long time whenever he saw her.

However, when Jiang Hao was young, his nose always ran, and he was often covered in thick snot.

Jiang Hao always comes, and it tries to hide, but most of the time it can't escape Jiang Hao, let alone escape Jiang Hao's snot.

Years later, it still disliked Jiang Hao, and even disliked the senior Tiegu Sou on Tiemu Ridge. Bai Jiuniang believed that he spoiled Jiang Hao too much and allowed his disciples to bully the weak.

Now, Bai Jiuniang's cultivation level far surpasses Jiang Hao's, and Jiang Hao no longer dares to provoke her. She also ignores him, acting as if they don't see each other.

Nodding, Bai Jiuniang returned to the vine nest and curled her body into a ball of fluff.

Wang Mian was not surprised by its reaction. He turned around to prepare some tea. When he came out with the teapot, a burly figure was already striding towards him from not far from the cave.

"Brother Wang." Before he even arrived, a muffled voice preceded him: "I haven't heard from you for the past few months. Now that you've returned to the mountain, you didn't even inform me. All these days I've been worried sick."

If he hadn't climbed to the top of the tallest ironwood tree on Ironwood Ridge today and looked out, he wouldn't have known that the cave in Pine Forest Pool had been transformed into the Dragon-Slaying Stone, and he would have already returned to Fallen Mountain.

After consulting with his master, he hurriedly descended Tiemu Ridge and headed towards Songlin Pool.

Having observed Wang Mian from a distance and discovered that he was not missing any limbs, Jiang Hao finally felt relieved, and a smile returned to his large, bearded face.

"The fault lies with me, Brother Jiang, for causing you worry." Wang Mian gestured for him to sit down, poured tea into a large bowl, and placed it in front of him: "I've been so focused on cultivation these past few days that I forgot to inform the mountain ridge."

Sitting on the stone bench, Jiang Hao looked at Wang Mian with surprise, only to find that after a few months apart, Wang Mian's cultivation aura was much stronger than his own.

Did Wang Mian rob a small immortal cultivation clan's treasure trove on this trip?

"Seeing that you are alright, I am relieved." Jiang Hao picked up the large bowl and gulped down a mouthful of tea, his eyes full of envy: "Brother Wang, you must have made a fortune on this trip, right?"

He could only ask Wang Mian, with whom he had grown up since childhood, such a righteous way of dying.

I asked this question out of mere curiosity.

"I've managed to gain some things by chance," Wang Mian replied casually. "I wouldn't say I've made a fortune, but I don't have to go down the mountain for a while, which is enough for me to focus on my cultivation for some time."

Wouldn't that mean they'd be rolling in money?

Brother Wang is truly blessed; he must have gotten his hands on a big, fat sheep this time.

With a loud thud, Jiang Hao volunteered, "Brother Wang, if you ever go down the mountain again, please be sure to take me with you. I can not only be your shield, but also your mount... You only need to share a small amount of spirit stones."

Body-refining cultivators have to spend a lot of money on cultivation and progress slowly. Wang Mian often said that he was so poor that he only had a few spirit stones left. Jiang Hao thought that was just showing off, because he couldn't even afford a single spirit stone.

With spirit stones, one can exchange them for spirit herbs; with the spirit herbs, one can brew medicinal paste; and with the paste, one's cultivation level is transformed.

His family's cave in Tiemuling was so dangerous that even rat demons who went in would come out in tears.

Furthermore, he has abundant Yang energy, sufficient kidney water, and excessive internal heat. He is also impoverished and cannot even find a proper Daoist partner. Whenever his internal heat surges, he can only go to Yuanyangpo to have a female Daoist take his pulse.

Wang Mian, holding his teacup, asked, "Didn't your master often take you down the mountain?"

Senior Iron-Boned Elder is a veteran player from Fallen Mountain.

Jiang Hao couldn't help but sigh when this was mentioned.

"I made a mistake and ran into a scion of a powerful family. He's a real handful. My master was shot in the butt and is still lying in bed. I almost lost my life down the mountain." As he spoke, he opened his shirt and took out the white cloth that was used to pad with the medicinal paste.

On his chest, where his originally hard and thick bronze skin had been, there was now a long, narrow wound. The traces of foreign magic had not been completely removed, preventing the wound from healing.

Spots of blood seeped out.

"You just applied some herbs?"

Jiang Hao hummed in agreement, as is the case with body cultivators who are always in dire need of strength. In combat, they rely entirely on their physical strength and resilience. When injured, they rely on their constitution to withstand the damage. If seriously injured, they bury themselves in the ground; if slightly injured, they lie on their beds.

Just eat the meat; leave the rest of the recovery to this body.

Eyes facing each other.

"Brother Wang, do you think my Ironwood Ridge can yield even half a spirit stone? Or half a pill?" Jiang Hao's tone was full of self-righteous indifference to poverty: "Ridiculous!"

Wang Mian sighed. These rogue cultivators from Luopo Mountain were so poor they were practically destitute. When he awakened his innate wisdom, they refreshed his understanding of the cultivation world.

He took out a jade bottle containing healing pills from his storage bag, poured out two pills, and handed them to Jiang Hao.

"Is this a healing pill?" Jiang Hao asked uncertainly, smelling the fragrance. The next moment, as if realizing something, his eyes widened like saucers: "Damn it, my brother, you actually got your hands on a storage bag?"

Healing pills, storage bags—his cultivation level had increased so quickly. He couldn't imagine what kind of big case Wang Mian had committed during his trip down the mountain to become so wealthy.

Wang Mian nodded.

I love seeing Brother Jiang's naive and unworldly expression.

"Keep the pills safe. Also, take one back for Elder Iron Bone. He's not the same as he was in his prime; he can't just lie in bed and heal himself forever." As he spoke, Wang Mian handed him the pills.

He placed two pills in his fan-shaped palm. The eight-foot-tall man hesitated, his Adam's apple bobbing a few times. Thinking of his damned mentor, he swallowed back the idea of ​​forcefully shoving the pills back into his hand.

He had no intention of taking a share of the spoils, yet he did.

"I...Brother Wang...this..." He tried to explain, but his tongue wobbled and he couldn't get his words out. His face turned bright red and his ears burned, but he still couldn't get his words out clearly.

"Stop, don't say anything more. We've known each other since childhood, why are you being so coy? Over the years, I've taken quite a few of Senior Iron Bone Elder's pills. When my master passed away, he was always taken care of by Senior Iron Bone Elder." Wang Mian chuckled.

Jiang Hao was not good with words, so Wang Mian could guess what he was going to say.

In this desolate mountain, not many people were kind to Wang Mian, but Jiang Hao and his apprentice on Ironwood Ridge were among them. Wang Mian was not a stingy or miserly person; having received help from his predecessors, he did what he could to repay their kindness.

Hearing Wang Mian say this, Jiang Hao nodded and put away the pills.

But in his mind, he was thinking that his master was more seriously injured, even his femur was broken. If he could take the pill, he would recover faster. He would save the last one to save his master's life in the future.

As for himself, the young body cultivator did not need elixirs; his body would heal itself.

"Brother Wang, there's another matter I need to tell you," Jiang Hao said. "I've heard that Hou Cheng's grandson has secretly returned to Luopo Mountain and is rumored to have become a disciple of the White-Browed Old Mother."

After staying down the mountain for several months, Wang Mian quietly disappeared from the mountain. He often inquired about Wang Mian's whereabouts, but he could not find out where Wang Mian had gone. Instead, he found out about Hou Cheng.

Wang Mian had told him to keep an eye out for news and inform him if there was any. Today, seeing the cave open, he rushed over without even finishing his master's medicine paste.

As soon as the words "Hou Cheng" were uttered, Wang Mian crushed the teacup in his hand into pieces, spilling the warm tea all over his hand and dripping onto the ground.

His chest heaved.

After several breaths, he finally calmed his chaotic thoughts and gradually loosened his grip on his knees.

"Thank you, Brother Jiang. This news is worth more than a bushel of spirit stones to me. I need to focus on cultivating my magic in the coming days, so I would appreciate it if you could help me find out about the White-Browed Old Mother."

"Alright, I'll definitely find out the color of that White-Browed Old Woman's underpants for you," Jiang Hao said earnestly. "Brother Wang, is there anything else I can do to help?"

He accepted the two healing pills, feeling undeserving of such a reward. Being able to do something for Wang Mian put his mind at ease, and he felt more secure about keeping the pills.

Seeing his enthusiasm, Wang Mian didn't expose his little scheme.

"Please, senior, help me find out where I can get some Meridian Opening Grass," Wang Mian said.

"Is it very important?"

Wang Mian looked at him for a moment before replying, "It's very important!"

"Alright, I'll remember this." Until he left, he didn't dare to look at Bai Jiuniang once, for fear of angering her and having her tie him up and whip him again.

After escorting him outside the cave, Wang Mian stood still, watching Jiang Hao's figure ascend the mountain path until he disappeared into the forest, before turning back into the cave.

The slight fatigue from days of cultivation was completely washed away by the words "Hou Cheng".

Practice!

Outside the cave, Bai Jiuniang gazed into the distance, her nose twitching, a hint of killing intent rising in her eyes. Only when she heard the sounds of Wang Mian practicing his swordsmanship did she gradually quiet down.

.............

Three days later.

Inside the stone chamber, the sound of swords rang out, sword moves danced continuously, and sword techniques flowed smoothly and naturally. With each swing of the magical weapon, one move followed another, one style after another, all displayed with unparalleled skill.

At a certain moment, when Wang Mian finished practicing the sword technique for the last time.

The sword light on the magical weapon in his hand suddenly increased several times over. The sword light was no longer illusory, but became solid. It was a kind of gorgeous and dangerous light.

The sword's edge flashed and disappeared in an instant, as easily as a knife cutting through tofu, leaving a groove of unfathomable depth on the stone wall.

The fact that this sword technique was so powerful even at the beginner level made Wang Mian feel that it was quite remarkable.

A golden light shone in my mind.

[Introduction to the Four Seasons Sword Technique: Practice diligently a thousand times, master the sword technique, and you will obtain the sword energy of the four seasons.]