Where there are people, where there is Jianghu, there is chaos, there is death.

Especially in this remote town without government control?

On a bleak autumn night, cold rain drizzled continuously.

Wind chimes under the eaves jingled faintly, dreamlike.

The owner of the Cold Smoke Meat Shop, Li, was just putting down the wooden pole propping up the oiled paper window when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps approaching from afar. Someone was running hastily, chased closely by others.

He glanced outside and saw figures flooding in from the alleyhead, led by a pair of children running ahead.

Their black hair clung wetly to their foreheads, with a slightly taller girl on the left and a boy on the right.

Behind them was a group of brawny men looking like retainers, wielding sticks and shouting loudly.

Snap!

The boy fell to the ground.

The girl paused, quickly stopping to help him.

But in that moment, both were already surrounded by the retainers.

The torches blazed, illuminating the white bricks and black tiles, the yellow moss between cracks, as well as the separated retainers and a Jianghu traveler standing emotionlessly with a long sword on his back.

The Jianghu traveler approached, looked at the two children, and said, "You dare to steal the sacrificial offerings of Lord Huang?"

The girl didn't respond, instead directly holding the boy's head, then used her hands to cover her own head, as if ready to be beaten.

The Jianghu traveler sneered, "If you stole, then be prepared to be caught."

The boy shouted, "We are hungry!"

The girl covered his mouth, silently lowered her head, closed her eyes, and tightly covered the back of both their heads.

The Jianghu traveler hesitated slightly but then still raised his hand and gestured.

The retainers immediately surged forward, ready to strike with their sticks.

In Cold Smoke Town, stealing Lord Huang's offerings was courting death!

But just then, a gentle creak broke the standoff.

The Jianghu traveler turned to look and saw someone approaching from afar, holding a lantern and propping up a paper umbrella. Recognizing the person, he said, "Boss Li?"

Song Yan came closer, blocked the two children, and said, "I will pay."

The Jianghu traveler asked curiously, "Are these two kids your relatives?"

Song Yan shook his head.

The Jianghu traveler asked again, "Do you pity them?"

Song Yan shook his head again.

The Jianghu traveler asked, "Then why are you interfering?"

Song Yan said, "Life has never given them a chance; I want to give one."

The Jianghu traveler laughed and said, "Twenty taels!"

Song Yan, without another word, began fetching silver from his pocket.

The Jianghu traveler sneered, "Gold!"

The boy angrily said, "Bullshit, we just stole a bit of meat, not worth even an ounce of silver! Why do you demand twenty taels of gold?"

The girl again desperately covered his mouth.

Song Yan said, "Wait," then turned back to the meat shop, soon bringing out a box of silver coins and copper plates, counting out silver equivalent to twenty taels under the eaves.

The Jianghu traveler watched him seriously counting the money and suddenly said, "Boss Li, oh Boss Li, I've met you for the first time, Huo Boxin is impressed."

Song Yan handed over the silver, but the self-proclaimed Huo Boxin suddenly pushed it back forcefully, saying, "You have honor, I like it. Today I won't take a penny, I will explain to Lord Huang myself."

Having said that, he stood up, waved his hand, and said, "Let's go!"

The retainers left with him.

Song Yan looked at the two children and asked, "What are your names?"

The boy said, "I'm Tie Niu! My sister is Tie Niu! We're from the neighboring town. Our parents went on a business trip, saying we'd stay there for two months. But six months have passed and they haven't returned. My sister and I have nowhere to eat, so we..."

As he spoke, he lowered his head, not daring to meet Song Yan's eyes.

Clearly, he was lying.

However, the fact that they weren't locals and had been hungry for a long time was true.

Song Yan beckoned with a smile, "Tie Niu, Tie Niu, come to my home."

The girl stood up, bowed deeply to him, then pulled the boy's hand and entered the Cold Smoke Meat Shop.

Song Yan went to the kitchen and prepared two bowls of shredded meat noodles.

The two children devoured the food hungrily, ate to satisfaction, then took a hot bath before going to bed.

The girl, watchful, didn't sleep at first, but eventually dozed off as dawn approached. When she awoke, startled, she relaxed upon seeing the hot noodles on the table.

So it went, for several days...

The three became familiar with each other.

Song Yan routinely managed the meat shop business. Since some customers required home delivery, he occasionally left the shop, with the two children helping to watch it.

Three months later, on one particular day...

Returning to the meat shop after a delivery, he found the two children missing.

He rushed inside and discovered that a lot of money was missing from the money box, and there was a letter next to it.

The girl's handwriting was delicate and graceful, showing traits of a proper tutelage.

The letter read: Uncle, my name isn't Tie Niu, nor is his Tie Niu. We tricked you because we didn't want to get you involved. The less you know about us, the safer. Now, I've borrowed 10 taels of gold from you for travel expenses. If we return alive, I will repay you a hundredfold and regard you as a father! If we cannot return alive, we will repay you in the next life by working tirelessly.

Song Yan put down the letter, then took out pigskin, and began making skins.

After finishing, he shook the shadow puppet, then skillfully destroyed it, turning it into aspic.

When all was silent and the late-night wind blew in from the distant prairie, he grabbed a jar of fine wine, sat quietly under the eaves, listening to the wind chimes flutter, listening to the light fall of winter snow, then took a swig, his gaze refocusing on the panel.

[Name: Song Yan]

[Years: 147/35258]

[Realm: Ninth Layer of Refining Profound]

[Magic]

"Profound Mountain Tenfold Transformation into Mulberry Field"

"Wind Mountain Movement"

"Two Steps to Heaven"

All three spells marked as "(Perfection) (First Successful Deduction)".

But now, he possessed the Ghost Profound Root and Earth Profound Root.

This meant he could not only progress further but also mutate his cultivation technique.

He decided to conduct some deductions.

In the year 1025, the Profound Mountain Tenfold became elevenfold.

In the year 7800, Wind Mountain Movement transformed into the Five Elements movement.

In the year 11600, Two Steps to Heaven merged with "Profound Mountain Eleven Stacks" and "Five Elements", becoming "One Step to Heaven".

In the year 10290, "One Step to Heaven" directly underwent the perfect mutation with Ghost Profound Root, transforming into "One Step to Heaven".

Standing in the snow, the owner of Cold Smoke Meat Shop, at the moment when "One Step to Heaven" was formed, felt an unimaginable transformation around him. It was a change that far exceeded the Refining Profound level; the terrifying magic power, even unused, had already fed back into him, spawning mysterious powerful energy within.

Song Yan hurriedly scanned the panel.

[Name: Song Yan]

[Years: 147/4543]

[Realm: Late Stage of Ancient Crimson Palace Realm]

[Magic]

"One Step to Heaven" (Perfection)

He stared at the six words "Late Stage of Ancient Crimson Palace Realm" and fell into silence.

He realized that he had enhanced physically without having to go through the "Nine Blood of Crimson Palace", and the enhancement was even above "Nine Blood of Crimson Palace"!!

Suddenly, he gently raised his hand, exerting a slight amount of power.

The universe where he was followed his hand, grinding towards the skies.

Heavy snow danced backwards into the sky!

...

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