Having studied for a hundred years, why do you call me the Martial Saint?

"Someone who can live a long time?"

To be honest, Gu Shuxian's first thought was of himself.

With the existence of the Langhuan Pavilion, as long as one stays inside, one's lifespan will not naturally end, which is a kind of immortality in a sense.

However, he doesn't usually pay much attention to this.

On the one hand, I feel that I am still relatively young, and it is not good to maintain the body shape of a twelve-year-old. It would be inconvenient to do anything.

On the other hand, he always felt that there was no point in staying in one place for thousands of years without moving.

Live life to the fullest, live life to the fullest, and experience the world's wonders so that you won't have lived in vain!

Of course, he only thought these things in his mind and boasted about them.

He wouldn't take that kind of risky, precarious life, because he actually owns a cow.

Gu Shuxian thought for a moment before speaking:

"No, those who live past a hundred years old are either monsters or immortals."

Based on Gu Shuxian's understanding of this world, this is, of course, just his opinion.

Martial arts do not increase lifespan.

At least for the first nine realms, this is the case. Even if one steps into the True Essence Realm and becomes a Grandmaster, their lifespan will not be much different from that of a novice who has just begun practicing flesh cultivation.

At most, they will be healthier and have a higher ability to withstand risks.

Overall, it's quite fair; everyone lives to be a hundred years old, after which everyone just turns to dust.

As for some things called monsters, I have heard of them. They live for quite a long time, but most of them are not very intelligent.

Immortals exist only in vague legends; no one has ever seen one.

After listening, Elder Feng remained silent for a moment, then simply hummed in agreement.

He immediately lowered his head, picked up his pen again, and began writing and drawing on the booklet on his lap, without saying another word.

Gu Shuxian sensed that the other party was no longer interested in talking, and since he himself didn't have the ability to "reload" the game, he wisely got up, said goodbye, and left.

"Elder Feng, this junior will be returning now."

Old Man Feng didn't even look up; he just waved his hand casually.

Gu Shuxian turned and left.

……

Time flies, and some days have passed in the blink of an eye.

There are only eighteen days left until the outer gate competition.

Early in the morning, Gu Shuxian lay on his bunk, pondering things in his mind.

Deng Shifan successfully completed his bone-strengthening procedure a few days ago.

This is not surprising. Old Deng has been stuck in the Muscle Training Realm for many years, so he has a solid foundation. In the past few months, he has been using Bone Strengthening Cream continuously, which has allowed him to accumulate strength and make a breakthrough. It is only natural that he has made further progress.

Qian Le is still a little short. His eyes need to be through the hole in a copper coin before he can notice martial arts training, so his progress is naturally a few steps slower.

But in any case, this is a good thing.

The three of them agreed to go to a restaurant in Wancheng today to celebrate.

Therefore, Gu Shu was so free that he would finish reading his books during the day to avoid wasting a daily opportunity to reward himself for his diligence.

Gu Shuxian took a book from the bookshelf, flipped through it, and then tossed it aside.

"The book I wrote yesterday was so mysterious, with things like two-headed snakes and three-legged birds, yet it wasn't rated as a rare book. It's truly incomprehensible."

He grumbled inwardly, his gaze sweeping over the various "strange books" until it finally settled on a thin booklet.

The other day, that wandering swordsman gave me a missing piece.

"This book looks thin, let's read it first."

Gu Shuxian immediately picked up the book and turned to the first page.

I started reading it.

It contains all sorts of strange and wonderful little stories.

There was a craftsman who carved a magpie from bamboo and wood. It flew up and couldn't come down for three days. His father stole it and took it to fly. As a result, the people around thought it was a monster and launched a fierce attack. The craftsman's father was killed...

The craftsman made another wooden cart, which was pulled by a wooden figure. His mother rode in the cart, and the wooden figure pulled the cart all the way, never to return. The craftsman's mother was gone...

"What a ridiculous story. This guy is so unlucky... But it also seems like these things have something to do with him. It's hard to say."

Gu Shuxian made a few comments, then continued reading. There were other short stories about people, but they all seemed to be related to wood.

A craftsman presented a skilled dancer to the king, but the dancer flirted with the king's favorite concubine. The king was furious, and the craftsman panicked, hastily dismantling the dancer. It turned out that the dancer was made of various materials such as leather and wood pieced together...

Besides these, there are also puppet shows with acrobatic performances, and the miserable oxen and horses that carry grain and fodder—all sorts of strange and wonderful little stories.

It looked quite fantastical, and Gu Shuxian was about to praise the author's ingenious ideas when the book ended with:

Anyone who practices this art must bear the cost of losing one of these five things: widowhood, orphanhood, loneliness, disability, or disability. There is no way to avoid it.

"Wow, isn't this author incredibly unethical?"

Gu Shuxian's face darkened.

However, he suddenly realized that he had the character "孤" (gu, meaning "lonely") in his name, so it seemed that the curse couldn't affect him. He then became curious about what this technique was all about.

But after looking through it several times, he confirmed that it was just a collection of short stories and did not involve any special techniques.

"Those who curse others and refuse to pay for their lives will surely suffer the consequences!"

Gu Shuxian angrily closed the book and tossed it aside. This lousy book would probably be another one-day-old's review.

……

After some time.

Qian Le and Deng Shifan came to find him excitedly.

The three of them went down the mountain together and headed to Wancheng with ease.

We went to a restaurant recommended by Qian Le and asked for a private room by the window.

A few small dishes, the three of them sat around.

After several months of trading medicinal herbs, they were much better off financially, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them small-time millionaires. They could easily afford to eat out.

Although this amount of money is just a drop in the ocean compared to the expenses required for martial arts.

Take Deng Shifan for example. He needs five taels of silver for an Inner Breath Pill. Although he can buy it through charity, even if he empties his pockets, he can't afford to use it more than a few times.

The group chatted for a while.

Gu Shuxian suddenly asked, "What do you two senior brothers want to do in the future?"

Qian Le put down his chopsticks, thought seriously for a moment, and said:

"In the past, I thought that once the world was at peace, I would go down the mountain to do business, but now it seems that I don't know when this world will end."

He paused, then said:

"My current plan is to join the outer sect, work in the External Affairs Hall, and become a steward in the purchasing team, responsible for the sect's procurement. There are many intricacies involved, and definitely many ways to make money!"

Gu Shuxian nodded, seemingly agreeing with Qian Le's idea.

He then looked at Deng Shifan: "Senior Brother Deng, your dream... what do you plan to do in the future?"

After hesitating for a long time, Deng Shifan stammered, "I...I haven't thought about it."

Gu Shuxian smiled and suggested, "Since Senior Brother Deng doesn't have any ideas, why don't we move towards the direction of sect development in the future? For example, managing construction and repairs?"

"Huh? Build, build what?" Deng Shifan scratched his head.

Gu Shuxian said in a serious tone, "I always feel that our sect's library is not big enough. We should expand it properly when we have the chance."

"The library?" Deng Shifan looked bewildered.

Qian Le laughed, "Junior Brother Gu, you're hopelessly addicted to books. Junior Brother Deng will build you a library, and I'll buy the books for you. We'll move all the books in the world up the mountain for you—that should be enough for you!"

"Senior Brother Qian, I'm taking that seriously!"

"Haha, just kidding. Even if I wanted to, there probably wouldn't be enough space on this mountain to store them all!"

The three of them burst into laughter and clinked their glasses together.