The end of the 1960s, Gangziying, located on the border of Outer Mongolia.
Although it’s in Inner Mongolia, it’s not far from Heilongjiang. The residents are mostly Han Chinese, with only a few Manchu and Mongolian people, and other ethnic groups are even rarer.
For example, the Oroqen people.
In this era, those who didn’t live here couldn’t imagine how difficult life was.
A cool breeze blew in. Even though it was summer, the people here still wore fairly thick clothes.
It’s unavoidable. Even in the summer, the temperature here is still low.
The chill wind brushed against a young boy’s face, making him tighten his collar involuntarily. He looked up at the azure sky, reaching out to catch a falling leaf drifting from afar. He sighed softly as the green leaf in his palm was blown away again by the wind.
“Too slow, too difficult. It’s been two and a half years, and I still haven’t finished the first level of the Qingyuan Sword Art. At this rate, forget about becoming an immortal, I don’t even know when I’ll reach the peak of Qi Refinement!”
Xu Lang sighed softly in his heart, a sense of urgency flashing in his eyes.
It wasn’t his fault. He had been in this world for two and a half years, carrying a high-level cultivation technique that could reach the Nascent Soul stage. He had initially thought that he could continuously improve his cultivation, but after more than two years of hard work, he hadn’t even completed the first level of the technique.
Gazing at the distant sky, Xu Lang thought about his strange experience, suppressing the excitement in his heart and silently comforting himself.
“What else is there to be unsatisfied about? I’m already more fortunate than most people!”
Yes, it was fortunate. At least his efforts could bring tangible results, making him stronger little by little.
Xu Lang was not from this world. He was an ordinary college graduate from Blue Star.
When he was eight years old, a natural disaster took away all his family members. Fortunately, he survived. Even after more than ten years, he still clearly remembered those resolute faces wearing camouflage uniforms.
These Chinese soldiers wearing camouflage uniforms gave Xu Lang a second life.
The earthquake not only took everything from Xu Lang, but also took the lives of many compatriots. He was just one of the lucky survivors, and a survivor without any disabilities.
From then on, Xu Lang decided to become a soldier like them. After more than ten years of hard work and study, he finally realized his dream and was about to become a glorious People’s Liberation Army soldier.
But fate played a trick on him. Just before Xu Lang was about to become a recruit, he fell asleep while playing the mobile game “Immortal Cultivation” due to staying up late. When he woke up again, he was near Gangziying.
At that time, Xu Lang was completely dumbfounded. Not only did his body revert to that of an eight or nine-year-old, he almost froze to death in the harsh winter. He would have been hard-pressed to survive if not for the old Party Secretary and the villagers who took him to the village.
From then on, Xu Lang became a member of Gangziying.
At the same time, the complete cultivation technique of the Qingyuan Sword Art appeared in his mind. He vaguely remembered that he had been a perpetual unlucky person when he played the Immortal Cultivation game. He finally had a streak of luck and drew this top-tier cultivation technique from the gacha.
He wondered if this was related to what was happening now.
Xu Lang had thought about this question many times, but he never found an answer. It was futile to think about it.
Unconsciously, Xu Lang had been living in Gangziying for about two and a half years. During this time, he spent most of his time cultivating. Fortunately, he was able to practice this magical technique, and a strange energy appeared in his meridians.
This made Xu Lang overjoyed. He knew very well that this Qingyuan Sword Art was from the novel “Immortal Cultivation.” It was the cultivation technique that Han Paopao, who often protected everyone, practiced. He had played this game because he had read the novel.
The Qingyuan Sword Art had thirteen levels. The first three levels were the Qi Refinement stage, the next three were the Foundation Establishment stage, the middle three were the Golden Core stage, the next three were the Nascent Soul stage, and the final level was the Divine Transformation stage. Each stage had accompanying supernatural powers.
Completing the first three levels allowed one to manipulate sword energy with their hands, the innate supernatural power of the Qi Refinement stage.
There were many other supernatural powers, but they were meaningless to Xu Lang at this stage. It was unknown if he would ever reach the Foundation Establishment stage.
He remembered that cultivation required a spiritual root. People with spiritual roots seemed to be very rare in the world.
Xu Lang didn’t know if cultivation in this world required a spiritual root, but he was able to practice this technique. How could he stay calm?
However, after more than two years of hard work, Xu Lang still hadn’t mastered the first level of the technique. This progress made him frustrated and then calm again.
After some reflection, Xu Lang came to the conclusion that there were several possible reasons for this situation.
One, his spiritual root was too weak, unrelated to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Two, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was too thin in this world, and his spiritual root was not bad.
Three, his spiritual root was poor, and the spiritual energy was also very thin.
There was another possibility, perhaps cultivation in this world didn’t require a spiritual root.
Xu Lang wasn’t sure which one it was, but he had a few guesses. He guessed that he belonged to the last one!
Xu Lang believed that cultivation in this world might not require a spiritual root. He didn’t think he was a lucky person with a spiritual root. But he would have to wait until he had the ability to protect himself before he could let his loved ones and friends try cultivation.
To be honest, this technique wasn’t suitable for Xu Lang at this stage. A basic technique like the Longevity Technique would be more useful. At least it would be relatively easy to cultivate, and it also had several spells. Those spells would be very useful to him.
However, the Qingyuan Sword Art was a top-tier technique, but it didn’t have any of these basic spells. It seemed to disdain recording these spells, which was embarrassing.
Therefore, other than being more agile and having a stronger physique than his peers, Xu Lang didn’t look any different from ordinary people.
The Qingyuan Sword Art, a top-tier technique, was currently just a technique that could increase Xu Lang’s lifespan and physique.
He had techniques but no spells. He couldn’t use the many abilities that cultivators possessed.
As for creating his own spells? Xu Lang didn’t dare to try.
He didn’t dare. He believed that there was only one outcome for doing so: he would most likely cripple himself!
Furthermore, with Xu Lang’s current cultivation level, any ideas were useless. The spiritual energy in his body couldn’t support it. He would have to wait until later.
As the saying goes, rely on mountains to eat mountains, rely on water to drink water. Over the past two and a half years, Xu Lang hadn’t exactly lived on charity, but it was close.
When Xu Lang was younger, the old Party Secretary had arranged for someone to adopt him, but he refused. Living alone would at least keep his secret.
So, after much consideration, he arranged for Xu Lang to stay at Yanzi’s uncle’s house. Yanzi’s uncle had passed away, and his house had been empty. The house next door was Yanzi’s, so it was safe in case of any problems.
This era wasn’t very safe. Due to Gangziying’s special location, there were many mountains around, and a primitive forest was not far away. Wild animals occasionally attacked people at night.
Although such incidents were rare, they weren’t nonexistent.
Xu Lang had even heard that a bear had entered the village at night. He didn’t know if it was true or not, but it was most likely true. However, he hadn’t seen it himself. In the two and a half years he had been in the village, he had never seen a wild animal attack the village.
Yanzi’s father was a famous old hunter in the village. He raised hunting dogs, and he and his daughter often went hunting in the mountains. Xu Lang had even gone with them, though a bit shamelessly.
Because Xu Lang was too young, the old Party Secretary didn’t let him work in the fields. In this era, people worked to earn work points. If they didn’t work, they wouldn’t have food, so Xu Lang initially relied on handouts to survive.
Later, he learned hunting techniques from Yanzi’s father and even got a puppy from Yanzi’s house to raise. He could occasionally catch some prey in the forest using traps, and after a while, Xu Lang was able to support himself.
Sometimes he was lucky and got a lot of prey. He would even send some of it to the brigade as a way of repaying the villagers, letting the old Party Secretary distribute it to some families in need so they could have some meat.
After all, Xu Lang was just one person, and he couldn’t eat that much food.
But many families in the village had several children, and their living conditions were naturally more difficult.
Kindness begets kindness. One must know how to repay favors. Besides, people in this era were simple and united. At least there were no incidents of helping elderly people and being scammed.
It was the most difficult era, but also the best.
Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded.
“Xu kid, we’re having a feast today. Let Yanzi make us some roasted roe deer meat with honeycomb. You’re in for a treat.”
The fat man shouted, and two figures came into view, one fat and one thin. They were both young men in their late teens.
Lao Hu was not actually thin, but compared to the fat man, he was thin no matter how you looked at it.
Lao Hu said with a smile, “Today I went for a walk in the old forest with your fat brother. He found a huge honeycomb, about the size of a calf without legs. Thankfully, I, your brother, am brave and clever, and I dared to fight and dare to win. Applying the fine traditions of our revolutionary soldiers, I led the little fat man on a charge and took down the honeycomb.”
“Chestnut Yellow hunted a wild rabbit today. Roasted wild rabbit with pine needles and honey, it’s so delicious, you can smell it ten miles away! It’s a pity that all this deliciousness went into your fat brother’s stomach. I’ll take your Xiongda into the forest again another day, and let you taste my cooking.”
“Wild rabbit roasted with pine needles and honey, there’s nothing better! It leaves a lingering aroma.”
As Lao Hu bragged, he couldn’t help but lick his lips, clearly savoring the taste of the wild rabbit.
These two were Hu Ba Yi and Wang Kai Xuan. Coupled with the location of Gangziying, the educated youth going to the countryside, Yanzi, and the “Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Technique” in Hu Ba Yi’s hands, Xu Lang didn’t believe it was a coincidence.
Xu Lang knew something about the book “Ghost Blows Out the Light,” both the book and the adapted film and television dramas. It was simply too famous.
Even a few days before he transmigrated, Xu Lang had watched videos online about the reviews of “Ghost Blows Out the Light” and “Tomb Raiders,” as well as the ancient storylines of the two books.
Although some of the plots were completely different from reality, the main storyline should not have changed much. Even if Xu Lang only remembered part of it, it still had a huge impact on him.
At least, Xu Lang wasn’t completely in the dark.
Listening to Lao Hu bragging about his exploits, Xu Lang sneered, “You two have been here for a while, not just for a day or two. How can you be so clueless?”
“You two actually thought about roasting meat in the old forest? And you say it smells delicious ten miles away? Aren’t you afraid of attracting the bears from the forest?”
“You two are only going with Chestnut Yellow and his hunting dog. How dare you? You’re asking for trouble roasting meat in the old forest!”
“Haven’t you seen the village half-face? When he was young, he was licked by a bear. The bear’s tongue had barbed flesh, and one bite took away half his face. He looked scarier than a ghost. If any of you were licked by a bear, you wouldn’t even be able to find a wife!”
“The old Party Secretary told you not to cause trouble, and you don’t take it to heart at all.”
Hearing Xu Lang’s barrage of questions, the two finally realized the danger. They had been really lucky.
The fat man looked at Xu Lang, who was lecturing them seriously. Although he was a little scared, he wouldn’t back down.
He retorted, “You’re just a little brat acting like a grown-up. What haven’t I seen? It’s the bear’s luck that it didn’t come. If it did, I’d deal with it too, and bring it back to treat the villagers. They need to see our courage and fearlessness!”
Xu Lang laughed, “You really are fearless. Otherwise, you wouldn’t do such a stupid thing. Go ahead and brag, little fat man. I’ll just watch you show off…”