Chapter 1

Zhou State, Linzhou, Anxi County.

The cold wind of the twelfth lunar month is like a knife.

At the entrance of the Qingshi Martial Arts Academy.

"Old sir, I beg you, please let me go in and see Master Liu. I've been stronger than others since I was a child, I've never lost a fight in the village, and everyone says I have good bone structure—I'm cut out for martial arts!"

"As long as the Master sees me, he will definitely take me as his disciple!"

"Once I have achieved success in martial arts, I will certainly not forget your kindness in introducing me, old sir!"

A youth in tattered clothes, sallow and emaciated, is pleading bitterly to an old man with white hair and beard.

The old man is silent for a moment, then says in a hoarse voice, "Go back. You are over the age limit. The academy's rules only allow for disciples under sixteen."

"But I... I'm only two years over..."

The youth's throat tightens, and every word is difficult to utter.

"Go back."

The old man shakes his head slowly and says no more.

The youth stands frozen there, his lips parting, before finally leaving with a face full of unwillingness.

"Sigh."

Watching the youth's departing back, the old man sighs lightly, a trace of emotion appearing in his cloudy eyes.

Once upon a time, he too was turned away like this.

The old man is named Jiang Ye, a transmigrator, but his experience is quite tragic—he could be called the shame of all transmigrators.

When he first arrived, he thought that with the experience of two lifetimes, even starting as a bottom-tier commoner, he could reach the pinnacle of life in this other world.

Then, reality taught him a lesson.

In this world, martial arts are supreme, so he wanted to learn martial arts to become someone superior.

But the tuition for martial arts academies is ridiculously expensive, and commoners simply cannot afford it.

He could only try to find ways to make money first, but he discovered that for bottom-tier commoners, doing business has only one outcome.

Small-scale operations enjoy only three days of glory before being targeted by the fifth day; if business gets slightly better, local thugs surround the door and petty officials demand money.

If one refuses to be "sensible," it is common for the stall to be destroyed and goods scattered overnight.

In those years, he tried everything and suffered every kind of hardship.

By the time he scrimped and saved enough for the academy tuition, he was already twenty years old.

At twenty, the tendons and bones are already set; he had passed the age for learning martial arts.

No respectable martial arts academy would accept such an "overage" disciple—unless you pay more, a lot more.

But where would he get the money?

It was at that moment he truly understood that in this world, a commoner without any foundation has almost no chance of turning their life around.

The days that followed were lived in a daze.

Spring passed, autumn came, and years went by, until the winter of his fiftieth year.

That day, he was cutting firewood on the mountain as usual when he stumbled upon a blood-covered man deep in the withered forest.

The man was covered in wounds, his breath weak, lying among the rocks with only a single breath left—he was the future master of the Qingshi Martial Arts Academy, Liu Qingshi.

Jiang Ye didn't think much; he carried the man back to his drafty thatched hut, saved his own food, found medicinal herbs, and cared for him day and night.

After Liu Qingshi recovered, he insisted on giving him a large sum of money as a reward.

Jiang Ye shook his head and refused.

Having struggled in this world for decades, he knew too well that a commoner without power or courage suddenly becoming wealthy is like a child holding gold in a busy market—it is ultimately a disaster, not a blessing.

Later, Liu Qingshi established a firm footing in Anxi County and opened this Qingshi Martial Arts Academy, and Jiang Ye became the old gatekeeper of the Qingshi Martial Arts Academy.

In a flash, twenty years passed.

"Time flies so fast. I'm actually seventy years old already."

Jiang Ye looks down at his wrinkled hands and sighs softly.

Seventy years since transmigrating, alone and having achieved nothing.

He has accepted his fate; he just doesn't know how many more years he can live.

Just at this moment—

A line of small text suddenly appears before his eyes.

【Fate: Ladder to Divinity】

【Effect 1: Superb Comprehension—No bottlenecks in the Martial Path; one day of cultivation is equivalent to one year of hard practice by others】

【Effect 2: Unlocked】

Jiang Ye is stunned.

He blinks his eyes.

The text is still there.

It is not a hallucination.

After a long while, he takes a breath of cold air, extremely slowly.

About to be buried, and the golden finger has arrived?!

His hunched back straightens instantly.

One day of cultivation, equivalent to one year of others'...

What does this mean?

It means that his aging body, eroded by seventy years of time and frost, possesses the terrifying potential to reverse time!

It means that those bottlenecks and barriers that are as difficult as ascending to heaven for ordinary martial artists might be smooth sailing for him!

He thought he had reached the end of his life at seventy, but now he has completely started a second spring.

Because in this world, practicing martial arts to a certain realm can increase one's lifespan.

Jiang Ye once heard Liu Qingshi mention that once martial cultivation reaches the True Qi Realm, one can live for two sixty-year cycles without illness or disaster.

And with his current cultivation talent, once he starts practicing, let alone the True Qi Realm, even higher realms are within reach.

"I need a good excuse to practice martial arts."

Jiang Ye suppresses the excitement in his heart.

He knows that given his relationship with Liu Qingshi, if he proposes to practice martial arts, the other party will likely agree.

It's just that a seventy-year-old man, on the verge of death, suddenly proposing to practice martial arts is truly a bit strange.

Although their relationship is deep, the system must absolutely not be exposed.

"Old Jiang, what are you thinking about, so absorbed?"

A faint, refreshing fragrance comes from behind, interrupting Jiang Ye's thoughts.

Jiang Ye turns around to see a young lady in a lotus-green fitted martial arts uniform standing a few steps away.

Her skin is as white as snow, her eyebrows are like a painting, and a white jade hairpin loosely holds her black hair; she is Su Yan, an inner-court disciple of the academy and the eldest daughter of the Su family in Anxi County.

"It's Miss Su." Jiang Ye bows slightly, "Finished practicing early today?"

"Yes, we have guests at home today, so I went back early."

Su Yan smiles faintly and hands a box of exquisite, unopened pastries to Jiang Ye, "Extra snacks. If you don't mind, Old Jiang, take them and have a taste."

Like other wealthy young ladies, she often brings pastries as tea snacks when coming to the academy to practice; occasionally, if she practices too hard and forgets to eat, she gives the pastries to others.

"Miss Su is generous!"

Jiang Ye smiles as he takes the mung bean cakes and watches Su Yan's graceful figure depart.

He gently opens the box; the pastries are exquisitely made with a fragrant scent. He picks one up and slowly puts it in his mouth, the sweet and delicate texture melting away.

The thoughts in his mind also become active.

He has already thought of an excuse to practice martial arts.

"There are too many eyes and ears in the academy now; I'll wait until after the academy closes."

Jiang Ye feels settled in his heart.

He has endured seventy years; he can wait a little longer.

Throughout the afternoon, several more groups of people came to the door seeking martial arts, all of whom he dismissed with a few words.

Having guarded the gate for twenty years, his eyes have long been honed into the most precise ruler—whether the person's age exceeds the limit, whether their clothing and complexion suggest they can afford the high tuition, and even whether there is genuine persistence or just luck in their brows; he can estimate it with eighty or ninety percent accuracy with just one glance.

However, among these groups today, there were several sallow and emaciated refugees from other places with mixed accents, their eyes filled not only with longing but more so with the panic of having nowhere to turn.

"Refugees have even found their way to the academy gate..."

Jiang Ye leans against the door frame, watching the back of the last person stumbling away, his brows knitting together as he mutters to himself, "This world is truly becoming less and less peaceful."

He has lived too long and seen too much.

The Zhou State is currently plagued by frequent natural disasters and banditry, with people displaced—these are signs that the dynasty's fate is coming to an end and that chaos is rising.

The more chaotic the times, the more important martial strength becomes.