Chapter 217

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Chapter 217: Qiao Mu’s Era Is Over

Qiao Mu had no answer to what the Ouroboros Long Life Lock was, but since he couldn’t find a way to wake up from his dream early, how would he spend the next five years?

After aimlessly wandering in the dream world for three months, Qiao Mu unconsciously started practicing his punches on the streets of Yan City in the dream.

After all.

Life is like a roller coaster, if you can’t fight against it, then just enjoy it.

Qiao Mu thought this carelessly.

He wasn’t a bitter person, always a bit out of line. So, after the initial three months of confusion, even though he couldn’t say he had accepted it…accepting it was impossible.

"Being isolated for five years, I’m afraid anyone would go crazy, let alone two hundred years. What can I do to accept it…"

The mental strength of being in the 2nd rank of the Spiritual Refining Period far surpassed that of an ordinary person. He could vividly remember the dusty memories of his childhood, and now the experiences of training martial arts in the dream world for over two hundred years surged in his heart, making him feel a mix of emotions.

"Speaking of roller coasters…how did I practice my Iron Crotch Skill? Well, even though Iron Crotch Skill is a low-level skill, it’s still a martial art."

"Compared to the Iron Crotch Skill…how did I become proficient in the Art of Lovemaking, which I received from the Martial Saint, in my dreams?"

Qiao Mu fell into contemplation.

"Asshole Pointing Hand," "The Art of Identifying Fragrances," "Hard Hitting with a Big Stick," "Cloud-Seeking Hand of the Yellow Dragon"…

Memories appeared clearly in his mind.

Qiao Mu remembered clearly that he had studied the secrets of the Art of Lovemaking in his dreams, practicing diligently day and night, enduring the sweltering heat of summer and the extreme cold of winter.

With years of study, Qiao Mu had managed to achieve some mastery in the Art of Lovemaking.

"If the Art of Lovemaking doesn’t involve any practical exercises, how do you practice? Do you have to recite and write down the entire text?"

Qiao Mu suddenly realized this problem.

No! That’s not right!

It shouldn’t be like this!

If he was in a dream, there shouldn’t only be cities and streets around him, there should also be people.

Just like the Art of Lovemaking, even without practical exercises, there should be an imaginary training partner.

As Qiao Mu thought in his heart, suddenly there were people on the streets of Yan City.

The pedestrians were few and far between, probably only seven or eight people. They had pale faces and were thin, just like the impression Qiao Mu had of the residents of Yan City in the past.

However, these few pedestrians seemed to be covered with a thin veil on their faces. Their facial features were blurry and indistinct, without clear features.

"Are the pedestrians in a lucid dream not real people? Is it difficult to imagine real people?"

"If my mind is stronger, or if I am more familiar with someone, I should be able to clearly manifest them in my dreams."

"Although I cannot wake up from the dream, I am indeed the master of this dream."

So Qiao Mu realized.

At this moment, there was a loud thunder from the sky, and five big characters fell from the sky.

This! Is! Not! A! Big! Deal!

Qiao Mu looked up at the words in the sky, and suddenly understood something in his heart.

Since this is in a dream…

"Then it’s time to use my original secret technique, the Big-Wave Visualization Method," said Qiao Mu.

With a curious mind to explore the mysteries of the dream world, Qiao Mu decided without hesitation.

A blurry figure quickly formed in front of Qiao Mu.

It was a broad-minded woman, with flowing black hair and eyebrows like distant mountains. However, her eyes were tightly shut, like a fairy who had walked out of a painting… Everything was fine, except that Qiao Mu felt increasingly familiar with her facial features.

After careful consideration, it turned out that she bore a striking resemblance to the blind girl, Qiao Canxue, from before.

"Let’s try a different subject…" After pondering for a while, the person in front of Qiao Mu disappeared, leaving only a blurry figure without a clear face.

"Regardless of whether they are male or female, it seems like there are not many people I am familiar with and can vividly appear in my dreams," Qiao Mu said in astonishment.

After careful thought, the time that has passed in reality since coming to this world is less than a year.

This less than a year is almost two hundred years for Qiao Mu.

Every time he died, it often meant a change in identity and name. His original name was Qiao Mu, and later he became Qiao LinQiao Sen…Qiao Zhuosen.

In theory, a person of two hundred years old would have a wealth of experience. They would have met countless people in their lifetime, and there should be quite a few characters that can appear in their dreams.

But Qiao Mu is not like that.

In this less than a year, he didn’t really have too many people that he got to know or become familiar with.

From Yan City in Nan Province to Heyang City, and then to the Imperial Capital in Zhong Province, it seemed like he had seen a lot of scenery and experienced a lot of human emotions along the way, but it was just a passing glance.

No one maintained a long-term relationship with Qiao Mu, because he died too quickly.

Before they could get to know each other well, he was already a pile of bones.

Old Huang from Yan City, Sheriff Qian from Heyang City, a female chief constable, or Hai Wuya from Imperial Capital… they were all like that.

In fact, this was a deliberate choice he made.

As a peculiar man who was either seeking death or on the path to death, being with him meant danger and death. So from Yan City onwards, Qiao Mu intentionally or unintentionally kept his distance from others.

So along the way, from small towns to big cities, every region held multiple sets of Qiao Mu’s bones.

People say that members of the Qiao family value loyalty over life and death, carrying on the spirit of ancient chivalry. But he was always alone, with nobody knowing his true identity, believing that there was a mysterious and powerful martial arts family in the world.

Familiar long-term friends and companions didn’t exist, and the only company he had was his own bones. So for a moment, Qiao Mu couldn’t think of any familiar figure that could appear in his dreams.

Earth Sword Immortal still had an elder brother named Lu Yanbei, while Qiao Mu had many brothers, they were all him in disguise.

After thinking it through, there were only two "characters".

One of them was Qiao Canxue, who Qiao Mu had known before he started his crazy pursuit of death.

Second, there was an Impermanent Demon Cat that couldn’t speak but kept following him persistently.

"Life is as lonely as a snow avalanche…"

A colorful cat dashed out from the shadows, then cautiously approached Qiao Mu step by step, eventually collapsing at his feet and sticking out its tongue, pretending to be paralyzed.

"Although, however…isn’t it a bit pitiful to dream about stroking a cat?"

Qiao Mu sighed, and all the figures, both people and cats, vanished without a trace from his dream.

In their place stood a tall and strong man, with cold and stern features that didn’t reveal his actual age.

This was the Martial Saint.

Although Qiao Mu didn’t have many familiar friends, he still had familiar enemies.

In this dreamlike world, the sky was adorned with a bright moon, casting a gentle moonlight on the well-defined muscles of the Martial Saint, just like when Qiao Mu first encountered him.

Even though it was in a dream, the appearance of the Martial Saint still felt very overwhelming.

"Come and face your doom." The Martial Saint in the dream beckoned gently to Qiao Mu.

"This is not the real Martial Saint, but the Martial Saint in my mind. It is limited by my understanding of the Martial Saint and doesn’t represent the true power of the Martial Saint."

"But it can represent his true character…"

Qiao Mu took a deep breath and shot through the air like an arrow.

"Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method!"

His whole body’s energy surged like a tidal wave, as if an endless sea of blood-red internal strength rushed out.

No matter how hard Qiao Mu fought, the Martial Saint just sat on the divine altar, effortlessly blocking all his attacks with a gentle finger.

If Qiao Mu’s internal strength was like an unstoppable river, then the Martial Saint was like a dam blocking the river. No matter how violently the water surged, the dam always stood higher, stopping all attacks.

"Is there really such a strong Martial Saint in reality?"

Suddenly, memories flooded Qiao Mu’s mind of when the Martial Saint first appeared, slashing with his sword and extinguishing Saintess Wu Qingxin’s Etching Bones Li Fire, overpowering her completely.

With his current perspective, he naturally noticed the extraordinary aspects of it all.

Etching Bones Li Fire was a technique created by the Immortal Gate cultivators specifically to deal with ordinary martial artists, so it was definitely not something to be taken lightly.

The internal strength and the Etching Bones Li Fire of the Immortal Gate were like water and fire, similar yet different in their own ways.

Even someone as strong as a first rank Spiritual Refining Period cultivator couldn’t withstand the Etching Bones Li Fire head-on, they could only rely on their spiritual refining instincts to evade. If they happened to be burned by it, they could only unleash their internal strength temporarily to resist, and then swiftly strike to escape.

However, the Martial Saint’s performance on that night was far beyond just that.

In Qiao Mu’s eyes, he was the only martial artist who could extinguish the Etching Bones Li Fire of the Immortal Gate. No one else could achieve such a feat.

"Could it be superb internal strength? Is the Martial Saint in the same superb rank as the Earth Sword Immortal?"

"So, what makes superb internal strength different? How can it completely defeat Etching Bones Li Fire? And how can a martial artist reach the superb rank?"

With a single thought, Qiao Mu stopped his actions and stood up straight, looking at the Martial Saint in front of him.

Quietly and without a sound, another figure appeared beside the Martial Saint.

Earth Sword Immortal.

Qiao Mu had never seen Earth Sword Immortal make a move himself, but he had fought alongside him when he transformed into a sword. So, even though he could imagine Earth Sword Immortal in his dreams, he couldn’t picture how he fought.

"Although limited to my own understanding, in this dream, both the Martial Saint and Earth Sword Immortal can be my training partners."

"Perhaps, from both of them, I can discover a path to the superb rank."

In the martial world, there are a total of nine ranks. However, this is a classification created by the Great Yan Imperial Court.

Forty years ago, there were only ten superb martial artists in the entire martial world. Each one, like Earth Sword Immortal, was a powerhouse of their era, pioneers of martial arts who managed to forge a path even when there seemed to be no way forward.

"What is superb rank’s internal strength? Maybe I can learn something from it."

With a thought, an old man in a Taoist robe appeared beside him.

This person is Elder Taoist Qingzhuo from the Great Dao Sect. His face is blurry and his figure is faint, not as solid as Earth Sword Immortal and Martial Saint.

The surroundings suddenly changed into a half-collapsed desert city, while Taoist Qingzhuo floated in the air, holding a spell in his hand.

After reaching the 2nd rank of the Spiritual Refining Period, his memory became extremely strong, able to remember everything at a glance. That’s why Qiao Mu in his dream could replay the battle that just happened.

After carefully observing the previous battle, Qiao Mu noticed something obvious.

As a person in the Spiritual Refining Realm, Qiao Mu couldn’t actually threaten Taoist Qingzhuo’s life.

Even though Taoist Qingzhuo was injured, both of Qiao Mu’s sneak attacks were dodged in time, without success.

Taoist Qingzhuo only got hit by one sword throughout the whole fight, which was the first move of the "Heavenly Slashing Swordsmanship" guided by Earth Sword Immortal.

"Without Earth Sword Immortal, my inner strength can only reach a limited distance, which is qualitatively different from superb inner strength, and I am not qualified to challenge Elder Qingzhuo…"

After replaying the battle in his dream, Qiao Mu came to this conclusion.

"Perhaps, this is the correct way to enter dreams."

This thought emerged in Qiao Mu’s mind.

Putting aside the matter of imprisonment, being able to have a lucid dream in the second rank of the Spiritual Refining Period is actually a good thing.

In his lucid dream, Qiao Mu can have more freedom than before. He can manifest Earth Sword Immortal and Martial Saint as his training partners.

He is no longer limited to closed-door cultivation. He can also deduce techniques, explore the path to a superb rank, or replay a battle.

"If I break through to the first rank of the Spiritual Refining Period, or even a superb rank, I believe the world in my dreams will become even more real… But that’s a story for another time."

The biggest problem Qiao Mu faces now is time.

"There is… five years left."

"In the dream, I isolated myself for five years…"

"If I concentrate enough, maybe time will pass faster in my perception?"

In the dream, Qiao Mu raised his fist and struck at Martial Saint.

………..

On the edge of the desert, Anxi Pass.

The soldiers on the city wall looked puzzled, discussing in whispers. Not long ago, they noticed something strange deep in the desert, where there was a flickering lightning-like flash.

General Madame Bai, dressed in armor, was also among them. Her face was solemn as she put down the monocular All-seen Mirror in her hand, her eyes filled with deep astonishment.

Suddenly, in the depths of the desert, she saw a collapsed solitary city?

That city, wasn’t it destroyed in the Inhuman War forty years ago, leaving nothing behind, not even a single piece of tile?

In the past twenty years, she had tried countless times to use the All-seen Mirror to look into the depths of the desert, but had never succeeded. Why was she able to see that lonely city today?

Various questions lingered in Madame Bai’s mind. When she was feeling confused, she suddenly felt something and looked towards a corner of Anxi Pass.

Madame Bai practiced the original "Spiritual Technique" which allowed her to connect with practitioners of the "Martial Saint Spiritual Technique."

And with this glance, she also saw an old man walking out from the corner, freely moving in this important place of Anxi Pass, with a vacant expression in his eyes.

"Stop! Who goes there?" she suddenly shouted.

The old man visibly startled, looked up and glanced at Madame Bai before realizing:

"So it’s a real person…"

"I am surnamed Qiao, Qiao Shui," said Qiao Mu, his eyes calm and serene.

"You may have met the young descendants of the Qiao family, who are passionate and strong-willed. Now, I will take them back home."

The passionate and strong-willed descendants of the Qiao family have passed away.

Being kind is like water, benefitting everything without contention.

From today onwards, Qiao Mu plans to be a gentle, rational, neutral, and objective person, cherishing life and staying away from prison, going with the flow, and finding contentment.

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