Chapter 8: The Correct Way to Be an Immortal Couple

【You have gained the favor of the sect’s noble daughter, completing the acquaintance storyline.】

【Task “Acquaintance” completed. Reward calculation in progress.】

【Task rating: D.】

【Obtained 10 achievement points!】

【Name: Li Rui】

【Age: 0】

【Talent: Martial Bone】

【Achievements: 60/100】

This can happen?!

Li Rui was stunned—he had merely stood in the stable, yet somehow earned favor and gained “10” achievement points.

Truly, wealth falls from the sky while you sit at home.

He gained “10” achievement points without lifting a finger.

The sect’s noble daughter must be the young girl who walked with Zhu’s eldest son just now.

He didn’t even know what he’d done to earn her favor.

But he certainly wouldn’t refuse free achievement points.

Immortal Couple

Li Rui’s lips twitched.

He was old enough to be her grandfather—the generational gap was far too wide.

Though men remain youths till death, he preferred mature women with long legs; though her face was nice, her legs were neither long nor slender.

He simply couldn’t muster interest.

The next moment, he seemed to realize something, his eyes lighting up.

“Perhaps the ‘Immortal Couple’ achievement doesn’t require an actual romantic partnership, or even genuine affection, or even the same person!”

“As long as you gain favor, achievement points rise. The only requirement might be that the person must be sufficiently noble.”

The scope of favor is extremely broad.

It’s not just romantic love—respect counts as favor too.

At this moment, the Huaqing Sect girl was clearly a treasure trove of achievement points in Li Rui’s eyes.

Yet Li Rui had no intention of actively courting her.

Too much groveling won’t earn respect—it’ll only invite contempt.

Only true strength earns others’ respect.

In Yunzhou alone, there are no fewer than ten major sects like Huaqing.

Sect noble daughters number well over a hundred.

He now bears Martial Bone; his strength grows by leaps and bounds. When he grows stronger later, those noble daughters will come running—why fixate on just one Huaqing girl?

“Take it slow.”

Li Rui had long passed the naive, impulsive youth phase—steadiness and patience were the truest virtues.

Days passed one by one.

Zhu’s eldest son stayed unusually long, frequently bringing the three Huaqing disciples in and out.

Gradually, Zhu’s servants became aware of their presence.

Zhu’s servants had no entertainment.

Even Zhu’s master’s new sixteen-year-old concubine, taken three years ago, had been gossiped about for months—let alone this fresh Huaqing Sect affair.

In the training yard, Zhu’s guards chatted in small groups.

Li Rui was among them.

Naturally, the conversation turned to Zhu’s eldest son and the Huaqing Sect.

A young guard sparked the topic: “What realm do you think the eldest son and his fellow disciples are in?”

Yang Yong rubbed his chin: “The eldest son entered the ranks years ago. No word of breakthrough yet—probably all ninth rank.”

Hearing Yang Yong’s analysis, the other guards nodded in agreement.

Another guard said: “Could they possibly be eighth rank?”

At the words “eighth rank,” the others smirked.

How bold to say that.

Even some martial arts masters in town were only eighth rank. These three teenagers were roughly the same age as the eldest son—no more than twenty.

An eighth-rank under twenty.

Impossible.

No one could even imagine it.

Thinking of how they’d trained their whole lives without ever reaching the threshold of martial master, while others might already be eighth rank—the gap between people was wider than between dogs and humans.

Li Rui mostly just nodded along.

The words of that martial master from forty years ago surfaced in his mind.

“Train the skin, then the bones, then the tendons. Small, medium, then great training—only then do you enter the gate.”

When he was still young Li, not Old Li, he’d once dreamed he might be a martial genius, saved up years of silver, and happily joined a martial arts school.

Reality slapped him hard.

He didn’t learn a single martial technique—and got swindled out of five taels of silver.

It pained him for a long time.

But it wasn’t all loss—he learned the world’s cultivation hierarchy.

“When heaven and earth first opened, the Human Emperor established nine ranks. The world’s strong are divided into nine realms, each split into small, medium, and great training stages.”

“The first three ranks are Stone Skin, Bronze Bone, Willow Tendon—these are the Three Transcendent Realms.”

“Those who reach Willow Tendon have tendons and bones like iron, strength terrifyingly immense—one punch can wound on contact, kill on touch.”

Above that lies the Primordial Realm—too distant for Li Rui, since Qinghe County had no experts above Willow Tendon; perhaps only in Anning Prefecture could he learn more.

Entering Stone Skin is called “entering the ranks” in the martial world.

Once you enter the ranks, you may properly be called a martial master.

You can become an instructor in city martial schools, earning respect.

In the Zhu household, those not yet ranked are merely guards; once ranked, Zhu’s master hires them as household martial masters, automatically freeing them from lowly status.

But martial training is incredibly difficult.

Li Rui had lived in the Zhu household for years and never seen a guard rise to rank and gain freedom—not even in all of Qinghe County.

Time slipped by.

A three-day snowstorm turned the world white.

Inside the room.

Huh, huh, huh.

Li Rui trained bare-chested, his vigorous blood surging through his veins; even in freezing winter, he felt no cold.

His arms spun like windmills, faint whistling sounds rising—remarkably extraordinary.

Fist wind!

In his past life, some short videos claimed people could produce fist wind—but they merely used sleeves to stir air, nothing like Li Rui’s true fist wind.

Li Rui had secretly tested—he could now lift a four-hundred-pound stone pillar.

Incredible.

To bring Eight Brocades to this level was rare across all of Qinghe.

There are no useless techniques—only useless people.

Now, even with just Eight Brocades, Li Rui could kill.

All of this was thanks to Martial Bone.

Since gaining Martial Bone, his cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds—what others took years to master, he achieved in a single month, feeling his strength grow daily.

Suddenly!

He felt his blood boil, his heart pounding powerfully, even audible thuds.

He clenched his fist.

Li Rui stared at his palm in disbelief—in an instant, his strength had more than doubled!

Moreover, a translucent layer had formed over his skin, tough and resilient to the touch.

His pupils widened, then filled with wild joy.

Memories of the martial school instructor’s words flashed in his mind.

“Qi surges to the stars, skin like jade—enter the Stone Skin realm!”

(End of Chapter)