I am about to die of old age, and I have awakened the character of longevity.

Chapter 3 Miracle Effect
After working so hard all day, I only made a pitiful 1% progress in practicing the Five Animal Exercises.

But Xie An was filled with an unprecedented joy:
The longevity formula really works!
This is undoubtedly the only life-saving straw for Xie An, who has been wandering on the verge of death for a long time!
Next, as long as you work hard, you can increase your progress. When the progress reaches perfection, you will break through.

Maybe there will be an even bigger surprise after completing the initial glimpse of the path...

After two lifetimes of merciless beatings, Xie An no longer expected to be a lucky son or a genius. But this golden finger gave Xie An real and tangible hope.

As long as you work diligently, even if the progress is slow, as long as you persist, why worry about having no future?
"So hungry..."

I touched my empty stomach and realized that the lunch I had eaten had already been digested. I was starving again.

Since Xie An suffered a stroke, his organs have been completely failing, causing a rapid decrease in appetite. Even the sight of greasy meat has not aroused much appetite.

Have I ever felt so hungry and thirsty like this before?

It is said that hunger is the most uncomfortable feeling, but Xie An clearly felt at this moment that being hungry and wanting to eat... is also a blessing.

Xie An called He Chunli out the door and asked him to bring dinner. He also asked He Chunli to pay more attention to Zhang Bing's behavior, as he had bad intentions and needed to be on guard.

After eating and drinking, Xie An did not dare to sleep.

He clearly felt that he was still in an extremely weak state with his five internal organs failing, and he was afraid that he would die if he closed his eyes...

As the saying goes, the older you get, the more open-minded you become.

As far as Xie An's own personal experience is concerned, this is not the case.

The older people get, the more unwilling they become and the more they fear death.

For the past month, he has lived in fear of death, fearing that he would die the moment he closed his eyes.

When people are young, they know that they have a long life and there is no situation where they cannot wake up after closing their eyes, so they can sleep soundly.

But once people get old and encounter a disaster or illness, they will feel the fear of death up close, and they will really think that one day they will close their eyes and never wake up again...

"It's still early, let's practice for a few more hours."

Xie An is afraid of death...

After practicing hard until the early hours of the morning, Xie An was so exhausted that he couldn't even open his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day.

Xie An opened his eyes.

"Fortunately..."

After a quick wash and breakfast, Xie An returned to his room to practice the Five Animal Exercises.

In the following days, Xie An felt fortunate every time he opened his eyes...

Live every day as if it were your last.

Apart from taking medicine on time, I also grit my teeth and practice exercises.

The intensity of the practice of Five Animal Exercises has reached an outrageous level.

Although Xie An knew that practicing the Five Animal Exercises could increase his lifespan due to his longevity, the problem was that his own lifespan was already at its end and was rapidly fading...

One side is increasing, the other side is decreasing. It's a complete race against death!
If the increase cannot offset the decrease due to lack of diligence in cultivation... even if you have a cheat, you may still fail.

We are now in the most dangerous stage and we dare not rest for a moment.

It was evening seven days later.

After finishing a day of practicing, Xie An finally discovered something strange in his body.

There is a hot current that continues to stagnate in the lower abdomen.

This is a feeling I have never had before.

In the past, every time I practiced the Five Animal Exercises, I would feel a warm current flowing through my body. But as time passed, this warm current would disappear.

It's basically the same as when a person's body becomes hot after strenuous exercise and then slowly returns to normal.

But this time it was different.

It was autumn now, the nights were deep with heavy dew and a biting wind. Xie An clearly felt that his body was no longer as cold as before. A warm current stagnated in his lower abdomen, continuously generating heat.

There has been a significant and lasting improvement in the numbness and weakness in the hands and feet, and the back pain.

The panel in front of you shows:
[Five Animal Play: A First Look (10/100)]

Xie An breathed a sigh of relief. "Although the progress is only one tenth, my health has improved significantly. I should be over the stage of racing against death for the time being. At least I don't have to worry about not waking up every night!"

I was oppressed by the fear of death for more than a month...

Now I am finally free from the fear of close-range death.

Only a dying old man who has experienced this kind of fear firsthand will understand... how happy it is to be free from this feeling.

"Tonight, I can finally sleep peacefully."

It was the first time Xie An had a good night's sleep since his stroke.

The next day.

Xie An slept until noon before opening his eyes.

The bright sunlight shines through the thin window paper onto my face, making me feel warm. I can also hear the chirping of sparrows outside the window.

Xie An touched the warm hot water bottle in the quilt, and for the first time a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

The cultural customs of this world are similar to those of the ancient past. Some elderly people, fearing the cold, would wrap a copper kettle filled with hot water in a cloth bag and place it under their quilts to keep warm.

Commonly known as "hot water bottle".

Although Xie An's health had obviously improved, he was still old after all, and this autumn was particularly cold, so he couldn't get rid of the hot water bottle for the time being.

Wuqiao Town, a town under the jurisdiction of Qingwu County in Nanyang Prefecture, lies on the southeastern border of the Daqian Dynasty. The 800-li Dayin Mountains to the east block the warm currents flowing into the area from the East China Sea, resulting in a particularly cold climate in this area.

In late autumn, the land was covered in frost and ice, with occasional snow. Villagers dug cellars to store food for the winter. Even so, people still froze to death every winter.

In autumn and winter, when food is scarce, the bandits who usually hide in the mountains will come down the mountain to plunder villages in order to survive.

In order to survive the autumn and winter, the people not only had to face natural disasters, but also had to guard against bandits. Survival was very difficult.

Fortunately, there were constables stationed in Wuqiao Town, as well as a martial arts school staffed by martial artists. The villagers living in the town were much safer than those in the surrounding villages.

The Li family was a wealthy family in the town and had hired warriors to protect them. Ordinary bandits did not dare to touch the Li family's property easily.

This is also the reason why Xie An stayed in Li’s pawnshop.

Without martial arts skills and separated from a wealthy family, it would be really difficult to survive in this chaotic world...

"Practicing the health-preserving exercises for seven days has such miraculous effects. If I persist for a long time, my bones and strength will be greatly improved. It's not impossible to learn martial arts. If I can master martial arts, I will have the capital to survive in this chaotic world."

Xie An got out of bed and started a new day of practicing martial arts.

Just after lunch, Master Li sent a young maid to visit Xie An.

Xie An knew this maid, her name was Chunlan.

She is the head maidservant beside Madam Li and holds a high status in the Li family.

"Master Xie, the master said that you've been taking medicine but your health hasn't improved. This isn't a long-term solution..."

Xie An understood immediately.

Over the past month, the Li family has been spending a lot of money on medicine for Xie An...

Seeing that Xie An's condition did not improve, he did not want to waste any more money.

Although the money for the medicine was not much for the Li family, Xie An was just a slave in the Li family after all.

In this world, it's not uncommon for slaves to work as skilled laborers. While the pay isn't bad, slaves are still slaves after all...

Xie An had long been accustomed to this chaotic world and was not cynical at all.

"Then what is Master Li's plan?"

(End of this chapter)