Chapter 48: A Land of Good Fortune

The small temple was tiny, with only three rooms and a small courtyard. Time had taken its toll, the paint on the clay statue enshrined in the middle room had peeled off, its face was unrecognizable, and half of its body had even collapsed.

All three rooms were dilapidated, filled with dust, cobwebs, cracked walls, and holes in the roof. Shi Feizhe guessed that no one had lived here for at least twenty or thirty years.

Shi Feizhe cleaned up the place, then went to Zhao Family Market, dozens of miles away, and hired bricklayers and carpenters to make simple repairs to the three rooms, replacing doors and windows, and patching up the walls.

After seven or eight days of this work, the small temple, which had been uninhabitable, became clean and tidy.

Zhao Family Market was a town dozens of miles away. Most of the residents had the surname Zhao, so it was also called Zhao Family Town. Although it was a town, many merchants traveling east and west passed through it, making it quite prosperous. The medicinal herbs that Shi Feizhe needed for his martial arts practice were readily available.

As long as he went down the mountain once every half a month to purchase food and medicinal herbs, Shi Feizhe could be self-sufficient here and focus on his martial arts practice.

Especially since there was a cold spring behind the mountain, with low water temperature, perfect for martial arts training.

Shi Feizhe was very satisfied!

This was truly a land of good fortune!

Surely no one would come to disturb his martial arts practice in this place!

From then on, Shi Feizhe followed his plan, practicing stance training, swordsmanship, martial arts, and visualization every day. He practiced from sunrise to sunset, living a very disciplined life.

Half a year passed in a flash. It was already November, and the weather was gradually turning cold.

His body became increasingly strong, feeling like he could take on ten of his former selves. He wielded his rusty sword in the small courtyard, finally mastering the 《 White Jade Capital 》 sword technique.

The 《 White Jade Capital 》, 《 Caress My Crown 》, and 《 Receive Longevity 》 were all sword techniques from the 《 Twelve-Layered Pagoda 》 set.

《 White Jade Capital 》 was the most complex and intricate, followed by 《 Caress My Crown 》, while 《 Receive Longevity 》 was the simplest. After mastering these three sword techniques, one could generate Sword Qi by visualizing the “Divine Sword.” At that point, sword moves would be free from constraints, transforming complexity into simplicity, graceful and unrestrained!

After finishing his sword practice, he adopted a very contorted posture according to the Yin Law Stance from the 《 Dark Spring Divine Shadow Record 》, stretching his fascia and muscles. With his progress in the Rewarding Good Fist and Punishing Evil Leg techniques, he could finally practice the Yin Law Stance!

Originally, he had estimated that it would take him three to four years to reach the “Blood, Qi, and Spirit” completion and cultivate True Qi. However, after half a year of practice, he felt that he was indeed a martial arts prodigy. In another two years, he could achieve “Blood, Qi, and Spirit” completion and attempt to break through to the See the Truth Realm!

Just as he was practicing his stance training, he suddenly heard a “rumbling” sound.

He looked up at the sky, it was a clear day! Where was the thunder coming from? The sound gradually grew louder, followed by the sound of rushing water and waves crashing against rocks.

Shi Feizhe was puzzled, it hadn’t rained in days, where was the flash flood coming from?

Then, he jumped onto the roof and followed the sound. He saw a white line appearing in the distance between the valleys. The white line drew closer and closer, like a charging army, like a raging sea, beating against the vegetation and swallowing the animals in the mountains.

“What… is that?” Shi Feizhe watched as the surging water, coming from who knows where, formed waves as high as one or two hundred meters, rolling forward, sweeping away everything, destroying everything in its path.

“Damn it, is there a flood in the mountains? But floods don’t look like this? Could it be a tsunami? But there’s no sea!”

He was truly bewildered.

Without time to think about anything else, he went back to his room, grabbed his package of gold and silver, then went to the kitchen and took the leftover steamed buns, and ran for higher ground!

Fortunately, the mountain behind him was the highest peak in this mountain range. He ran towards the peak with all his might, running for half an hour before finally reaching the top. Looking down, he saw endless waves surging between the mountains. The entire mountain range seemed to have transformed into a vast ocean, with the peaks becoming small islands.

Thankfully, his three small rooms, located halfway up the mountain, were not submerged by the flood. The water level stopped just short of his hut, making it look like an elegant dwelling on an island in a lake.

But Shi Feizhe did not return to his hut. Who knew if this water, coming from who knows where, would rise again, would flood again?

He was not like those fools who camped at the river mouths. To be safe, Shi Feizhe stayed on the mountaintop until nightfall, and from nightfall until dawn.

The next day, when the water had mostly receded, he finished his stance training and went back down the mountain to his hut.

✿✿✿

This sudden flood was truly strange, making him cautious.

As he pushed open the courtyard gate, he saw a short old man sweeping the floor in the small courtyard. He looked so comfortable and at ease, as if this was his home.

“Huh?” Shi Feizhe was stunned. Could he have gone to the wrong place?

He looked at the open gate, it was the one he had replaced half a year ago!

“Who are you? Why are you at my house?” Shi Feizhe asked the old man.

The old man looked very old, with no beard or hair, only two long white eyebrows drooping down, covering half of his eyes. His face was rosy, and he looked very energetic. He wore gray, tattered clothes of an unrecognizable style.

His appearance was very ordinary, just like an old man from the countryside, except for his bright eyes.

“Who are you? And why are you at my house?” The old man was short, only reaching Shi Feizhe’s shoulder. He glanced at Shi Feizhe and asked back as he swept the floor.

“What do you mean your house! This is my house!” Shi Feizhe felt that this old man was being ridiculous. He said, “The pots, bowls, pans, even the broom in your hand, I bought them all from down the mountain. Of course, this is my house! I’ve been living here for almost a year!”

“Then what about a year ago?” The old man asked.

“A year ago, it was an abandoned house, of course!” Shi Feizhe said.

“This was my home decades ago. I haven’t been back for decades, I can’t believe it’s turned into an abandoned house!” The old man said with emotion.

“Hey hey hey… You’re not trying to scam me, are you? Seeing that I’ve fixed this place up nicely, you’re claiming it as yours?” Shi Feizhe didn’t believe him at all. He said, “The doors, windows, roof tiles, courtyard walls, I had them all repaired!”

“But you didn’t touch the courtyard, did you?” The old man suddenly asked.

“What?” Shi Feizhe didn’t understand.

The old man reached out and broke through the mud brick floor of the small courtyard, pulling out a wooden box from the soil three feet below.

After decades, the wooden box had collapsed, and the contents inside had turned into a black mass, unrecognizable. Only three characters were carved on the top of the box.

“Chong Jiuyuan”!

“See, my name is still on it!” The old man said with a smile.

He gently blew away the dirt on the box and carefully opened it.

“Why did you bury something with your name on it in my house?” Shi Feizhe said sullenly.

The old man’s expression froze!

A land of good fortune, there really was water!