Chapter 39

With the support of Lu Yi’s resources, Han Zhao’s cultivation speed increased further.

Just like that, half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Han Zhao stood in the middle of the courtyard ‘sword nurturing’ as usual.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the Afterlife Sword in his hand.

A breeze blew past, blowing up a few fallen leaves outside the courtyard. Two of the fallen leaves flew in front of Han Zhao and floated down.

“Clang!”

At this moment, Han Zhao suddenly opened his eyes. The Afterlife Sword at his waist was suddenly unsheathed. Like a dragon emerging from the abyss, it drew a perfect arc in the air.

Swoosh!

Both leaves are bisected longitudinally from the middle main vein, and the main vein of one leaf is conspicuously bent.

“Clang!”

Han Zhao drew a beautiful sword flower with the Afterlife Sword in his hand and sheathed it elegantly.

“This Sword Accumulation Technique is indeed extraordinary. I didn’t even use the sword qi nurtured in the sword body. Just a simple sword move is already so fierce! Although it only had one move, Sword Drawing, it’s very suitable for me.”

Han Zhao’s eyes flashed. He really didn’t know how powerful this sword energy that had been nurtured for nearly a year would be if it was unleashed at full strength.

[If this sword strike is completely unleashed, it’s about six times as powerful as when you use your saber technique with all your might.]

A system notification appeared.

“Six times the power! I wonder if it can threaten a Force Tempering Martial Master?” Han Zhao thought to himself.

[The proficiency of the Sword and Saber Duo has increased. The Saber Dao Aptitude has increased by five times. The Sword Dao Aptitude has increased by five times.]

[The quality of the ‘Sword and Saber Duo’ has increased!]

“The Trait has leveled up!” Just as Han Zhao was exclaiming about the power of the Sword Drawing Technique, a notification appeared on the system interface.

He quickly checked the effect of the new Trait.

[Sword and Saber Duo]: Green Trait. Increases Saber and Sword Dao Aptitude by five times. Increases the probability of comprehending saber intent and sword intent by two times (Maximum is Blue Trait).

“Comprehended saber intent and sword intent?!” Han Zhao’s eyes lit up when he saw the additional effects.

Although he didn’t know what saber intent and sword intent were exactly, something that involved the level of ‘intent’ shouldn’t be bad.

“I wonder if Master Lu knows?” Han Zhao thought to himself and prepared to find an opportunity to ask.

[Collected 30 Notification Fragments. Do you want to synthesize a Trait?]

[Synthesized once. Consumed 20 Notification Fragments, 5 taels of gold…]

At this moment, a notification appeared again.

“Yes.”

[Obtained one-time Basic Trait ‘Life Simulation’. Do you want to start the simulation?]

“No,” Han Zhao muttered in his heart.

During this period of time, he had been cultivating peacefully and had not done anything that might affect his future. Therefore, Xu Ling should be looking for him in the next few days according to the last simulation.

He wanted to wait a little longer.

Martial Arts: Mountain Splitting Saber Technique (Second Level Greater Mastery 65%), Life Nurturing Technique (Third Level Entry Level 19%)

Looking at his martial arts column, Han Zhao really hoped that his days could continue like this.

Unfortunately, although his Mountain Splitting Saber Technique had improved greatly in the past half a year, the consumption of silver was also very huge. He had already used more than half of the remaining 200 taels of silver.

This was the result of Lu Yi giving him resources.

If he could maintain this progress, he would be able to cultivate the Mountain Splitting Saber Technique to the Second Level Perfection in another year and a half at most. However, his wallet wouldn’t be able to last for such a long time.

He had to think of a way to earn money.

Ever since the Life Nurturing Technique broke through the upper limit, its progress had only increased by 9% after such a long time. It was really too slow!

He was short of money and Yin energy.

Moreover, the first bottleneck of the Blood Tempering Realm as a martial artist was not so easy to break through.

Xu Ling, Su Yun, Zhang Tianwen, and Li Fei far exceeded him in terms of foundation and resources, but they were all stuck at the perfected Bone Tempering Realm and had yet to break through.

With his foundation, he did not want to try to break through on his own. It was naturally the best choice to use his attribute points to break through in one go.

Just like that, Han Zhao spent another simple day in cultivation.

…

The next afternoon.

Xu Ling’s servant came to Han Zhao’s house and invited him to the Xu residence.

Han Zhao gestured for the other party to leave first and he would arrive later.

After the servant left, Han Zhao did not leave immediately. Instead, he returned to his room.

“System, begin the simulation.”

[19 years old. The combined caravan of the Xu family, the Su family, and the Zhang family escorted the goods to Jade Wind City.]

[You accepted Xu Ling’s request to follow the caravan.]

[Half a month later, when the caravan passed by a small village in the wilderness, they decided to sleep in the village at night. You felt that there was something strange about the village because after entering the village, the speed at which the Essence Soul Bead accumulated Yin energy increased greatly.]

[During the night, you were attacked by monsters and suffered heavy casualties. You wanted to escape from the village, but you found yourself walking in circles.]

[In the end, you used all your methods and escaped the village with Xu Ling. However, your injuries were not light.]

[Although they failed the mission and lost a large number of experts, you successfully saved Xu Ling. The Essence Soul Bead also accumulated a large amount of Yin energy and already turned pure black. It contained more Yin energy than when you first got it.]

[A large amount of Yin energy accumulated in your body. You felt a little uncomfortable.]

[On the way, you encountered a young girl in green. She shouted, “Lecher!”, and drew her sword to stab you. You were injured because of this.]

[Not long after you returned to Blackrock City, you died of illness from excessive Yin energy accumulation in your body.]

[The simulation is over. You can choose one of the following.]

[1: Obtain Trait (Not Selectable)]

[2: Obtained attribute points]

[3: Obtain any part of the life experience.]

[Current Balance: 21 taels of gold]

“?” A huge question mark appeared in Han Zhao’s mind.

Originally, everything was already developing in a good direction. The Essence Soul Bead was filled with ‘energy’, and he was only slightly injured.

Where did this green-robed girl come from?

He was a young man who had not leaked any Pure Yang Qi. How did he become a lecher?

“Could it be…” Han Zhao raised his eyebrows and thought of something. He still had a big brother, Han Cheng.

Han Cheng went out to travel when he was six years old and has yet to return.

With his aptitude, if he was still alive, it was not impossible for him to become a Force Tempering Martial Master.

If Han Cheng looked similar to him, it was understandable for this to happen.

However, if Han Cheng wasn’t dead, why didn’t he come back after so many years?

“If Han Cheng really caused this trouble, then I’m really unlucky in the simulation. It’s simply an undeserved calamity.”

“It’s just that there’s a ten-year age difference between Han Cheng and me. Even if we look very similar, I don’t think there’s a mistake.”

“Could this matter be related to the Essence Soul Bead?”

Han Zhao was full of questions.

After thinking for a long time, he still had no clue, so he decided not to think too much about it.

“Forget it, what’s the point of thinking so much? When we reach the place, I’ll simulate and add points on the spot. Who cares who she is? If she dares to provoke me, I’ll kill her with a slash!”

“I choose option two,” Han Zhao muttered in his mind.

[Attribute Points +3]