Time flowed hurriedly through her fingertips, and another five years passed. Three unfamiliar figures appeared at the ironworks across the street. A closer look revealed that they were those who had once embarked on a long journey, now returned. They brought a little girl with them to visit, and the woman leading them froze the moment she saw the woman in the shop. Jiang He called out hesitantly.
"Brother Lin?"
Lin Yue was currently organizing medicinal herbs. Hearing the voice, she looked up. It had been twenty years; Jiang He was now in her thirties and was no longer the tender youth of the past. Her features had deepened, and a few strands of white hair had appeared, but her complexion was a healthy wheat color and her back was straight, making her look quite robust.
She held the hand of a five- or six-year-old girl whose eyes were sharp and lively, looking exactly as Jiang He had as a child.
"Are you looking for my elder brother? He passed away five years ago," Lin Yue said with a cold expression. After speaking, she lowered her head to continue organizing her herbs.
Jiang He’s expression froze upon hearing this. She thought of that gentle figure in her memory and found it hard to accept.
"That’s impossible... Brother Lin would only be in his fifties now. How could he be gone so early..."
Lin Yue made up an excuse. "He took a blade for his master, and they couldn't save him."
"Where is Brother Lin’s grave?"
"A very far place..." Lin Yue named a location.
It was too far, and it required passing through the bandit-ridden Wangsu Stream. Hearing this, Jiang He knew she would never be able to go and pay her respects in this lifetime.
She chatted with Lin Yue for a moment, but seeing that Lin Yue didn't want to engage, she took the child to buy some incense and joss paper to burn for Brother Lin.
They were technically the same person, after all. To hide her identity, Lin Yue did not want too much contact with her.
Jiang He still brought the child over to play and chat with her, sometimes staring at her in a daze. She sent gifts during festivals, but Lin Yue maintained a lukewarm attitude, only responding occasionally.
Old Man Jiang was in his seventies and was extremely happy to see his granddaughter and grandson-in-law return. Every day, he would stroke the child's head and talk about how he had roamed the world with a sword in his youth. The child’s eyes were full of longing, while his were full of nostalgia.
Two years later, Old Man Jiang passed away.
Jiang He's family of three moved into the blacksmith shop, and the child began learning to forge from her parents.
Lin Yue left the shop, returning a year later with a changed identity. Ten years passed, and that child grew up and left home, embarking on a long journey just as her parents had years ago...
The elderly proprietress of the bakery two doors down died suddenly. It was said her death was gruesome, with her internal organs exposed. The authorities sent people to investigate and discovered a large amount of skeletal remains beneath the locust tree in the backyard; rumor had it there were even a child's embroidered shoes.
The place was sealed for several months, and the ultimate truth remained unknown. However, later on, a martial woman in her thirties moved in and continued to run the bakery.
Within these ten years, still no one could solve that map. Lin Yue had changed her appearance; her facial contours were much deeper, and her hands bore the marks of time.
The neighboring shops changed owners, and the people collecting protection money changed as well. Lin Yue made a trip out of the county and returned with yet another identity to continue running the shop.
It was unknown who started the rumor, but word spread that there was a street in Puning County with a medicine shop at the end of it. The owner of the shop was a mysterious person who had issued a difficult puzzle; anyone who could solve it would be granted the owner's lifelong learning. For over a decade, the puzzle hadn't changed, and neither had the map.
Could there be some unknown secret hidden within?
Thus, more people began frequenting Lin Yue’s shop. Hot-blooded and curious young people arrived one after another.
It seemed to become a landmark for travelers. Lin Yue’s map went from being held in her hand to being framed and hung on the wall. Several people would move small stools to sit in a circle before the map, lost in thought and discussion. Those who couldn't figure it out after two months would go to other shops to work as apprentices.
Some even became obsessed with the study and refused to leave, only to be chased out by Lin Yue.
She occasionally heard that a master had opened a pre-exam training class outside. This person used copies of the map to point out feng shui, analyze the flow, and compare different versions. Although he hadn't solved it, he provided the "candidates" with many problem-solving ideas.
Even if they couldn't solve it in the end, they could at least say a few words and guess an answer to leave an impression on the owner. What if they got it right by chance?
Six years later, while Lin Yue was signing in one day, her age suddenly jumped from 99 to 100. The two digits became three. She couldn't help but be dazed for a moment, suddenly realizing that so much time had passed. The voices and faces of those people in her mind seemed to live forever in yesterday, yet they were also becoming a bit blurred.
As past events resurfaced, her thoughts were many. From that distant Dashantou Town to the capital, and then to Puning County—Doctor Chen, the Lin family grandparents, Madame Su, Wu Yang, Song Jiqing, Old Huang, the donkey... A century had passed in a flash, and they were now nothing but handfuls of yellow soil.
In the ironworks across the street, that old couple was busy; one was forging iron while the other was sewing clothes. Wrinkles had climbed onto their faces, and white hair stained their black locks. In a few years, their child would return and take over their work to continue forging iron.
From that old man to them, and then to the person on the long journey, they came and went, went and returned, and returned and went again. Generation after generation, an unending lineage.
Perhaps this too is longevity.
Lin Yue took up her brush and wrote down the Guiwu Technique. Guiwu, returning to nothingness—from the self to the non-self. If one were to go against it, would that be longevity?
The tip of the brush hovered over the white paper, unmoving for a long time. The figure sitting at the table stared blankly, immersed in her own thoughts.
Suddenly, the brush tip trembled slightly, soaking into the ink, leaving trail after trail of ink marks across the xuan paper.
By the time the tea on the table had grown cold, the brush stopped. Setting it aside, she picked up the dozen or so pages and read them from the beginning.
After a moment of contemplation, she gave up on the initial thought and decided to call it the Rejuvenation Technique.
The general outline was as such, though not yet perfect. The rest would be filled in with the passing years.
As spring and summer transitioned, five years passed in the blink of an eye.
Lin Yue had long since perfected the Rejuvenation Technique and had personally practiced it. However, her vitality was so flourishing that her appearance remained frozen at eighteen, making it impossible to experience its actual effects.
She could only hire an apprentice to test it.
But after being posted for over twenty years, not a single person had been able to solve the puzzle. That charlatan had long since retired, and his son had inherited the family business, continuing the training classes. The map had become a legendary unsolved mystery.
It seemed that bookstores were even selling pirated copies.
Lin Yue posted a recruitment notice at the entrance of the medicine shop. The job was for odd chores, and the wages only covered basic food and shelter, yet she listed a long string of requirements.
Many people still applied.
After rejecting several people, Lin Yue added a few more requirements. Many came, and since their conditions were similar, it was hard to choose.
Eventually, she recruited a girl with a decent bone structure. Once the trial period passed, Lin Yue immediately taught her the Rejuvenation Technique. Combined with sword skills adapted from Li Le’s Canghai Sword Technique, it was considered middle-of-the-upper tier; it would still be useful even after reaching First-Rate.
While the girl practiced, Lin Yue adjusted the technique based on her feedback.
The map continued to hang on the wall, attracting many curious people. Among them were white-haired First-Rate elders and various individuals who loved solving difficult puzzles.
Fortunately, they cared more about the map. Since there were no Master Realm figures among them, and she didn't cause trouble or have enemies, she didn't need to deliberately go into hiding.
The map was once stolen, vanishing overnight. Those who had come to solve the puzzle were all panicked, but Lin Yue simply sent someone to a bookstore to buy a copy to hang back up for them to continue viewing.
Only then did people truly realize that the map was just a map and nothing more.
After that, the number of people coming to the medicine shop to view the map decreased significantly.
Another five years passed. The girl had completed her studies and was in the prime of her youth, her internal energy having reached the half-step Second-Rate level. Lin Yue had her leave, telling her to return in fifteen years.
At this time, Lin Yue disguised herself as a woman in her forties.
Having been at the First-Rate peak for forty-seven years, Lin Yue’s internal energy was unfathomably deep. Feeling the swelling of energy within her meridians, she channeled her internal energy and began to perform Tai Chi.
She had not yet broken through to the Master Realm. To reach the Master Realm, the Martial Realm, Mental State, and Intent Realm were all indispensable.
The Martial Realm meant practicing one's martial way to the point of perfection. The Mental State meant not being swayed by external joys or sorrows, reaching a state of forgetting both the self and the world. The Intent Realm manifested as a controllable special mental power, or rather, the sublimation of willpower.
Qi force is a type of qi. A martial artist guides the movement of this qi through concentrated mental power; internal energy is this circulating qi force.
A person's mental power is naturally balanced and peaceful, without attributes. However, it can become extreme or gentle due to changes in the environment. Martial artists can use this point, utilizing martial arts to deliberately guide and nurture these changes. This is how intents such as Sword Intent and Fist Intent are born.
By visualizing one's own martial way with mental power, condensing its form and controlling its state, a martial artist will subconsciously mix it into their internal energy once they have gained comprehension. This allows them to control the outward release of internal force to form martial astral qi.
However, such a change cannot be achieved through simple training. It requires talent and a sufficiently thorough understanding of one's own martial way, along with a firm Dao Heart.
Martial Intent is the greatest obstacle for many First-Rate peak martial artists trying to break through to the Master Realm. Once internal energy reaches a certain depth, one can begin to seek comprehension. Many people at this stage start seeking opportunities for breakthroughs, constantly challenging themselves and pushing their limits to stimulate their potential in life-or-death situations, thereby comprehending their own Intent.
The deeper the internal energy, the more mental power is needed to circulate it. One's control and comprehension of mental power will also improve, and merging powerful internal energy with the martial way becomes easier. But because the cultivation of internal energy progresses so slowly, few people wait until they are old and frail to seek comprehension.
Lin Yue did not lack time, so taking this path would naturally involve fewer twists and turns.
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