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Chapter 10: Sixteen years old, the middle stage of Qi Refining

Time flies. After Zhang Wei helped his cousin Li Sheng deal with his uncle's funeral, a year and a half passed in the blink of an eye.

It was midsummer. In a forest outside Luyang City, a grizzly bear was running at high speed in the forest, looking panic-stricken, as if there was an even more terrifying beast chasing it.

sizzle-

Suddenly, there was a sound as if electric current was flowing, and a figure with electric light flashing all over his body broke through the dense jungle and rushed towards the grizzly bear in front.

The figure ignored the complex terrain of the forest and would appear ten meters away every time he blinked, getting closer and closer to the grizzly bear.

The grizzly bear also noticed the abnormality behind it and ran faster. The sound it made was like pulling a broken bellows, and its tongue stuck out long.

But even so, it had no intention of fighting to the death. Despite its huge body, it didn't even have the courage to resist.

The grizzly bear is not slow, and can reach a speed of 15 meters per second when it bursts out at full speed. Even a martial arts expert who is good at light work may not be able to beat a grizzly bear at a short distance.

However, this speed was much slower than the figure behind him who was flashing with lightning.

In just three breaths, the distance between the two was shortened to five meters.

It was at this moment that the figure stretched out his right index finger and middle finger and pointed them as a sword, stabbing at the grizzly bear that was still running at high speed in front of him!

Boom——

In an instant, a blue winding lightning as thick as a toothpick crossed the mountains and forests, directly crossing a distance of several feet and striking the grizzly bear that was running at full speed.

Snapped---

With a crisp sound, the huge grizzly bear's body instantly straightened, and then slowly fell to the ground. All four limbs were stretched straight, as stiff as an inflated balloon doll.

Snap, snap———

Behind the grizzly bear, there was a sound of footsteps stepping on dead branches and rotten leaves. A tall and handsome young man waved his hand to dissipate the lightning on his body and walked slowly towards him.

Looking at the bear corpse on the ground and combining it with the distance he had walked, the boy quickly assessed his current strength through calculation.

"With my current total spiritual power at the middle stage of Qi Refining, I can probably maintain the Five Thunder Sword Curse for two minutes, or fire it three times at a long distance, with the farthest distance being five meters. The voltage can directly kill a grizzly bear. It's powerful, but unfortunately it can't be used for a long time. To be on the safe side, I'd better use the Five Elements Magic."

Zhang Wei sighed, there is no way, this is a common problem of ancient cultivation methods. Although the power of the spell is strong, it also consumes a lot of spiritual energy.

Because these methods were developed based on the past when the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was abundant, and they did not take into account the current dilemma of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth being polluted.

However, after the great changes in heaven and earth, the cultivators developed new techniques and spells to adapt to the new environment, which reduced the consumption of spiritual energy.

Although its power is weak, at least its consumption is low and its battery life is long.

"But the speed is quite fast, five meters in the blink of an eye. There is almost no possibility for mortal warriors to dodge. Even a cultivator in the middle stage of Qi Refining like me has to cast defensive spells or talismans in advance to block it. If it is caught by surprise, I am afraid that even a cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refining will be defeated."

That's right. After a year and a half, relying on the three hundred taels of silver he got from the Fuwei Escort Agency and Ding Hao, Zhang Wei immediately found a beautiful place in the nearby mountains and forests to build a villa after returning home. He moved out of the Zhang family under the pretext of studying hard in seclusion.

In fact, he secretly continued to study how to generate electricity. Finally, half a year ago, he successfully broke through after more than 50 electrotherapy sessions with a simple waterwheel generator and became a cultivator in the middle stage of Qi Refining.

And now Zhang Wei is only sixteen years old!

A sixteen-year-old in the middle stage of Qi Refining would be praised by all casual cultivators for his promising foundation building skills. Even among the disciples of the sects, Zhang Wei was considered promising at a young age, so it was not a bad idea to fight for the precious spiritual items for foundation building.

Unfortunately, Zhang Wei is now a casual cultivator, and a well-known person without spiritual roots. He can only hide this joy, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous.

Zhang Wei squatted down, holding the grizzly bear's thick waist with both hands, and with a force, he directly lifted the grizzly bear's body weighing hundreds of pounds by the waist and carried it on his shoulders. Then he ran in the forest without any impact on his pace.

Compared with the bear's corpse, Zhang Wei, who was only 1.8 meters tall, was still too thin. From a distance, it looked like a bear flying in the mountains. The two hunters who came into the mountains to hunt were so scared that they ran down the mountain as if they were escaping.

……

Thirty miles east of Luyang City, in a forest, there is a simply decorated villa. There is also a small river next to it, and a waterwheel is turning creakingly under the push of the water flow.

Qingyun Xiaozhu, the name Zhang Wei gave to his villa. It doesn't cover a large area, but the scenery is nice. Zhang Wei has been hiding here for more than a year to practice.

At this moment, a group of people were standing at the door of Qingyun Cottage, led by a middle-aged man with a very unhappy expression.

Zhang Xiong felt a slight headache and asked, sucking his teeth, "You said... that bastard didn't study hard in the house and ran into the mountains to hunt?"

Zhang Da at the door said timidly: "Yes...it's like this."

"You guys aren't following either?"

Zhang Xiong almost said this through his teeth. Zhang Da quickly knelt down and explained: "In reply to the eldest master, the second master didn't allow us to follow, and... and the second master's martial arts is higher than ours..."

"If he doesn't let you follow him, then why don't you follow him?" Zhang Xiong roared, "Does his martial arts skills mean he can tear tigers and leopards apart alive? Or can he travel 800 miles a day? What if he falls down in the mountains or runs into a blind bear, can he beat him?!"

Zhang Da raised his head and wanted to confess, but when he saw the scene behind Zhang Xiong, he couldn't help but widen his eyes and muttered: "Ah...it should be possible..."

Zhang Xiong was so angry when he heard Zhang Da's words that his eyebrows stood up. He shouted, "What do you mean it should be possible? Zhang Da, let me tell you, if anything happens to my second brother, I will sink you..."

"Big brother!"

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Xiong heard a familiar voice. He immediately stopped scolding Zhang Da, waved his sleeves, turned around and scolded Zhang Wei: "Humph, you still know..."

As soon as he turned his head, Zhang Xiong saw a grizzly bear's head with its tongue hanging out facing him. His eyes widened and after he realized what was happening, he jumped three feet high in fright. Then he tripped over the steps and sat down on the edge of the steps.

"Ouch——"

Anyone who has experienced the pain of having their coccyx hit should understand Zhang Xiong's pain at this moment. Zhang Xiong immediately covered his buttocks and turned sideways to wailing. The servants next to him who were also frightened did not react until then and hurriedly supported the master of the Zhang family.

Zhang Wei, who was carrying the dead bear to scare his brother, knew something was wrong. He quickly threw the dead bear aside and supported Zhang Xiong worriedly, saying, "Brother, are you okay?" Zhang Xiong gasped and ordered the servant beside him, "Bring...bring my horsewhip. I'll whip you to death, you little bastard!"

After a while, Zhang Wei welcomed Zhang Xiong into the villa with an apologetic look on his face, explaining, "You will be turning 35 in two days, so I wanted to go into the mountains to hunt for a fur coat for you. I happened to see this bear, so I killed it and brought it back."

Zhang Xiong's attitude softened after hearing this, but he still scolded him in a harsh tone: "Humph! I'm glad you have this intention. But this is too dangerous! What if something goes wrong?"

"You can't do this anymore."

"Yes, yes, yes..." Zhang Wei nodded in agreement, then changed the subject: "By the way, brother, how come you have time to come to my place today?"

Zhang Xiong sat down in the main seat, but he was very gentle, fearing that his buttocks would be injured again. He took out a red letter from his arms and handed it to Zhang Wei.

"I have good news for you. Congratulations, Zijie. From today on, you are a scholar. You are a man of honor!"

Zhang Wei was stunned for a moment, then he took the letter and looked at the six big words "Written by Student Zhang Wei" on it, and his eyes couldn't help but feel dazed.

Once upon a time, when he didn't know about the existence of the world of immortal cultivation, his biggest dream was to achieve success in the imperial examination.

Because this is the most convenient and safest way for him to get ahead. After all, it is too dangerous to get fame right away. No matter how good his martial arts skills are, he can easily be shot to death by stray arrows in the chaos of the army.

However, ever since he learned about the existence of the world of immortal cultivation, he has focused on it. Although he has not completely given up this subject, he is no longer working as hard as before.

After officially entering the path of Buddhism, he only picked up the books and studied hard for a few months half a year ago in order to appease his brother Zhang Xiong.

So now that I know that I passed the county exam, I feel a sense of absurdity: “How could I pass this?”

But it is still worth being happy that it passed.

Then Zhang Wei opened the letter, omitted the bunch of flowery words of praise at the beginning, and turned his attention to his own ranking.

"Fourth in Luyang County?" Zhang Wei was stunned. He just wrote it casually at the beginning, but he could get the fourth place among thousands of students in Luyang County?

However, Zhang Xiong saw Zhang Wei's expression as excitement, so he poured cold water on him and said, "Are you proud? Think carefully about why you didn't get into the top three!"

Zhang Wei said: "Because the way of thinking of the person who made the test paper is different from mine."

Zhang Xiong: “…”

Where's my whip?

Zhang Xiong scolded him, "How much time have you wasted preparing for the immortal cultivation over the years? And how much of your studies have you neglected in order to practice martial arts?"

Zhang Wei argued, "But martial arts can strengthen the body. There is a saying that goes, 'civilize the mind and brutalize the body.' Reading and martial arts are never contradictory. They complement each other."

Civilize the spirit and brutalize the body?
Zhang Xiong's eyes lit up, but his dignity as an older brother prevented him from bowing his head so easily.

"Having said that..."

At this time, Zhang Wei said again: "Brother, I heard that every time there is a court meeting, there are dignitaries in the court who fight over something and then beat people up. In serious cases, even bones are broken. If I don't train my body well, what should I do if I get bullied by others in the court in the future?"

With your fist that can kill a bear, you still let others bully you? I just ask you to be gentle and don't beat the shit out of them!
Zhang Xiong coughed twice, then pretended to be angry and said, "Ahem... Don't make irresponsible comments on the affairs of the ministers in the court. It is not something that a little scholar like you who is not even a juren can get involved in! Wait until you pass the imperial examination and can get a position in Yundu!"

After hearing Zhang Xiong's words, Zhang Wei knew that this topic could be passed. Then he heard Zhang Xiong say: "By the way, in two days, the Luyang County Academy will hold a Luming Banquet. All the students on the list will go there, and you have to go too."

Zhang Wei wanted to refuse, but when the words came to his lips, he thought about how he had been busy with cultivation recently and had not had any contact with outsiders for a long time. If he didn't go and participate in this kind of thing, his brother would nag him to death. So he changed his tone and agreed.

"Yes."

Zhang Xiong nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "Also, Zijie, you are not a child anymore, it's time for you to start a family. As a man, he will become more stable only after he has a family."

Zhang Wei looked horrified, "You're not going to tell me about a marriage, are you?"

"If I force a marriage on you, won't you hate me to death?" Zhang Xiong raised his eyelids and glanced at his brother and said, "This Luming Banquet will not only have the students from Luyang County who have made the list, but also the young men and women of marriageable age from the major families in Luyang. Don't just focus on eating, drinking and singing with others at the banquet. Open your eyes and see if there's anyone you like."

"If you meet a girl from an aristocratic family that you like, it's best if she's from the direct line of the family, but if you're from a side branch of the family, don't do anything to harm her. I won't agree. But if it's a female member, then I won't say anything. Just be happy."

Zhang Wei heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this. He was afraid that his brother would come up with an idea and arrange a marriage for him on the spur of the moment, which would put him in a difficult position.

As for why the Lu Ming Banquet allowed the young men and women from the aristocratic families to attend, and even had a category for female members.

This is also because although the overall background of the Five Realms and Seventy-Three Kingdoms is a feudal society, due to the existence of immortal cultivators, although women are still in a disadvantaged position overall, the situation is much better than in the feudal era of the previous life.

After all, once one starts practicing Taoism, the physiological differences between men and women can be ignored. In fact, women can even practice some special skills faster and have stronger combat effectiveness.

In the high-end combat power level above the five-domain foundation building level, female cultivators account for a considerable proportion. In this case, it is unrealistic for the feudal society to persecute women as unscrupulously as Zhang Wei did in his previous life.

For example, women have, to a certain extent, gained the right to take civil service exams and the right to marry autonomously.

Female students are the product of this situation. In Yunguo, they can pass the imperial examinations and become officials just like men, and rise and fall in the officialdom. Some countries even have female prime ministers or empresses.

And in Zhang Wei's opinion, this so-called Lu Ming Banquet was not so much a graduation banquet held by the academy as it was a matchmaking meeting held by the aristocratic families of Luyang County in order to compete for official resources.

This kind of thing is not uncommon, Zhang Wei had seen a lot of it in his previous life. So it was not surprising. The reason why Zhang Xiong put forward the range requirement is mainly because the female students who can pass the examination for the title of scholar have good knowledge and family background, which is enough for the Zhang family to recognize. Or they are the direct descendants of other families. Marriage can stabilize the relationship between the two families.

It's not the same as for the side branches. The status of the daughters of the side branches is not enough to match the status of Master Zhang Er. They are used to win over those poor students who have no background and no money. Unless the male students are very powerful, no family will marry their daughters to poor families.

So after Zhang Wei agreed, Zhang Xiong, as the elder brother, immediately waved his hand, and the servants who followed him immediately handed over all the information of the women at the Luming Banquet to Zhang Wei, along with their portraits. After instructing him to look carefully and choose carefully, he left with satisfaction.

"My brother..."

After bidding farewell to Zhang Xiong, Zhang Wei looked at the thick stack of portraits in his hand and couldn't help but smile bitterly. But his heart was warm.

(End of this chapter)