119. Five Years Later

The moon is shinning above a peaceful human village. It is the middle of night and an old man is grinding a nut outside his house using a mortar and pestle made of wood. The old man cannot sleep as his grandson eloped with a young girl from the neighbor and his son has gone after them and it has been a day now. Instead of senselessly worrying, he decided to be productive.

*Tak

*Tak

Each strike from the old man turns each nut into a powder.

After a few moments, the old man heard footsteps approached from behind. Even without looking, he knew who it was and using his divine sense, he felt the young man had come to say goodbye.

The young man is Clay who is approximately 19 years old now.

Clay observed the old man. The powder looks ordinary but when mixed with tea, it creates a fading sweet aroma and it is one of the things he had come to love by staying on this village for the past 4 years.

“So you want to elope as well?”

“No Elder. I was roaming prior to staying in the village and I have decided to continue on my journey. I have nothing to give in return to your kindness and all the care from everyone in village and with a thick face I came to bid farewell. I thank Gramps for the past 4 years.”

“At least show me your real strength before you leave? Not unless you want this old man to die worrying about a careless youngster.”

Clay was quite surprised at the sudden request of Gramps. He thought he had hidden his cultivation perfectly well but he was seen through at the end. Since he is leaving anyway, he restored his circulation and slightly released his aura as a Peak Late Foundation Establishment practitioner.

“This place is not the best and it is not the worst either. If one day you wish to retire, consider settling in this village. It’s a peaceful place to die and don’t forget to bring flowers on my grave.”

Clay turned around and started walking. While walking, he materialized his Qi to shape like scissors and cut his hair to change his overall appearance.

Five years ago when he left Crescent Moon Sect, he travelled towards the Warzone area to test his powers. It was there he realized how unbeatable and unstoppable he had become. Back when he was a Qi Condensation martial artist, he struggled to kill a Foundation Establishment Kulfagar Demon but after he had broken through to Foundation level, killing a Core Formation Kulfagar Demon was easy as spreading his aura. It is like his Dao has taken its true destructive form.

He remembered how he overpowered Liom and almost every enemy he has encountered easily fell prey to his terrifying power. Since it is a warzone, Mages from the east would sometimes show up and participate in battle and he did encounter a few misunderstandings with a few of them and like every other cultivators who wanted to kill him, he eliminated them easily without even lifting a finger.

Later, he wanted to venture further into the battlefield and find a Nascent Soul Demon but it was then it occurred to him how meaningless his journey had become. Just like those games he used to play back on earth, whenever the game becomes difficult, he would download cheats online to conquer the game. It was fun at first but having no real enemies to put up a fight, it became boring real fast.

It is the same feeling he had experienced after confirming his Dao Powers had become unstoppable.

It was then he remembered what he had always wanted to do which is to live an ordinary life.

He travelled towards the northern part of Gentris Kingdom and it was there he found this small village. After investigating for a few days, he found out that the head of the village is a Foundation Establishment expert in hiding.

Just like him, this old man had been restraining his powers and had lived with everyone like a normal person. It is the same exact thing he had in mind so he decided to join the village.

He was warmly welcomed by the old man and for four years, he lived a normal village life and in those four years, he had not shown anyone his strength.

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The kind of village life he had in mind is the same as his previous life but to his disappointment, he came to realize that being a farmer this time is close to being a slave. Speaking of his produce, 20 percent is tax, and 50 percent goes to village management leaving him only 30 percent.

While it may look unfair, that 50 percent is being managed by a sect nearby so that in times of unfortunate events like monster or bandit attacks, including bad weather, that 50 percent will come in handy as they will be used to help anyone affected.

In fact, their village had experience an uncontrollable pest infestation and a monster rampage for the past two years and the sect did help them.

The living condition is harsh but overall manageable and slowly did he adapt. Every day he would toil and meet up with his neighbor and friends for drink especially during little occasions. And it was a month ago when he finally got his chance for an arrange marriage.

Being engaged or married at the age of 15 is a normal custom but since he is an outsider, nobody wanted to offer their daughters but after almost 4 years of being a hardworking farmer, someone finally noticed his industriousness and reliability. A matchmaker came to bless the lonely and not-so-handsome but capable stud.

The only problem is, the woman or rather the teenage girl they wanted him to marry is someone who Old Gramp’s grandson is secretly in loved with and they eloped a day or two days ago.

Clay knew Old Gramp’s grandson and that guy is a Peak-Mid Condensation expert and destined to become the next village head.

He knew those couple will return soon and as an outsider, he did not want to make it difficult for everyone especially for Old Gramp’s grandson. While he still wanted to stay, he knew how fickle human mind and heart is and he does not want to come to a point when Old Gramp’s grandson wants him dead. He had been wanting to avoid killing and he admits he was the cause and triggered people to go after his life but to have someone come after his life because of teenage infatuation is just too much.

While he was thinking where he should move next, it got him to retrospect life. He could reveal his strength to any place he wishes to settle a life with and maybe do whatever he wants but being powerful in this world will mean to rule over people and that means to rule over a territory.

Back on earth, when his grandfather died, he inherited the family poultry business and while it looks insignificant when compared to a huge company, he still had to manage less than fifteen employees. People who do not know anything about micromanagement would only care how much profit the business is making but if there is a technology that would read the owner’s thoughts, then they will shocked by how much time is spend in worry.

He may be over thinking it but he can choose to cultivate in seclusion after acquiring what he needs but having invested of 4 years of living like a mortal, he had to weigh his options and not be reckless on becoming a cultivator again.

As someone who will continue to retain his memories when he dies, maybe this time, he should continue to cultivate and study the relationship of Qi and Mana with his long life. Who knows when he dies and gets reincarnated again and will not have a chance to cultivate, then maybe that time will be his perfect chance to live a normal life. For now, he’ll take advantage of this great start, live a long life and maybe study a bit about primordial energies and maybe figure out his origins.

Clay smiled and stretched his neck.

When he was at least six mountains away, he activated his wings and levitated. He looked at the village one last time.

“How time flies. Meh! At least I don’t have to marry an underage teenage girl.” Clay thought before turning around and flew towards his destination.

Clay propelled himself northwards. His goal this time is to breakthrough to Core Formation and to do that, he needs to find the final ingredient to refine a pill.

Back at the warzone, he was able to gather all other ingredients he needed and similar to how he got the ingredients for Barnachea Healing Pills, his wealth came from looting the items of the cultivators who wanted him dead.

At first, it was the Kulfagar Demons because he showed up within their so called territories. Then later, it was every other cultivator who saw the lightning tribulation caused by his pill concoction. Having learned to properly control his Dao Powers, he did a test and concocted a pill and this time, the Formation at the center of the pill has been reinforced with his Dao at a minimal level. Although it was a success, the pill he concocted still attracted a lightning tribulation and was destroyed in the process. He was tempted to protect the pill by utilizing every ounce of his Dao Power but he did not take the risk.

Cultivators who saw the tribulation thought it was a treasure being birthed so they all went after his life. He did not intend to fall from cheap tricks and since everyone was vicious in their killing methods, he had no choice but to kill everyone.

It was on the second pill that he realized that no matter how small the Dao incorporated during the concoction process, the pill would still trigger a tribulation and attracted nearby greedy cultivators so he stopped.

During his journey of finding a village to settle in, he did encounter Alchemists with better Essence Flames and it was then that he understood the difference between a fully matured Human Class Essence Flame and a sub-standard flame which he integrated with. If he did not have Fire Crystals or his Dao, Qi Enhancement Pills is probably his limit. He wanted to part with his current Essence Flame but he felt like his Dao is directly connected to it.

Since four years ago after finding the village, ideas about improving his cultivation and his Alchemy has been halted given his choice to live a normal life but now that he made up his mind and pursue a long life, it is time to pick up from where he left off.

And to start, he needs to find the final ingredient to concoct a Core Formation Breakthrough Pill.

Clay slowly descended upon the sight of a city. From his estimate, he should be near the border Gentris and Angkar Kingdom.