Chapter 58: Cultivation

"I have given you the opportunity; I hope each of you will seize it and become a Martial Artist." After Meng Yifan finished speaking, Meng Dayong began to explain the *Wild Ox Strength* technique to the young men.

The young men listened with rapt attention, not daring to miss a single word. Each of them possessed a heart that longed to become strong, and naturally, they cherished this hard-won opportunity.

Besides these fifteen young men, there were seventeen other villagers from Qinghe Village. Among them, ten were elderly people over sixty years old, already aged and frail.

There were also two disabled individuals: one had lost an arm, and the other was lame in one leg. Finally, there were three children only seven or eight years old.

As Meng Dayong taught the martial arts technique to the young men, these others also gathered around to listen. Meng Yifan did not stop them, but his cultivation resources were limited; he could only provide one Condensing Qi Pill to each of the fifteen young men to help them embark on the path of a Martial Artist.

As for the others, if they wished to learn the technique, they would have to rely on their own diligent study and hard practice.

Those elderly people had almost no chance; they were too old, and their meridians were basically blocked. To try and cultivate now was harder than ascending to Heaven.

Those two disabled men had once been excellent hunters in the village, but unfortunately, they had encountered a large number of fierce beasts while hunting in the mountains. Although they had escaped back by luck, they had ended up disabled.

They were not young anymore, both being thirty-five or thirty-six. Their meridians surely contained many impurities, and without the aid of cultivation resources, it would be very difficult for them to step onto the path of a Martial Artist.

Unless there was a martial arts genius with excellent aptitude among them, they would likely have no connection to the path of martial arts.

Those three children, only seven or eight years old, were at the most suitable age to begin cultivating martial arts. Meng Yifan called them over and personally taught them the cultivation technique.

*Wild Ox Strength* is a Yellow-grade Lower-tier Technique; it is easy to enter, but its cultivation limit can at most reach a Second-grade High-tier Martial Artist. Meanwhile, *Hunyuan Strength* is a Yellow-grade Upper-tier Technique; by cultivating this technique, one can reach up to a Third-grade Intermediate Martial Artist.

The young men needed to become Martial Artists as quickly as possible to grow strong and prepare for battle, so Meng Yifan had them learn the easier-to-master *Wild Ox Strength*.

The children, however, had relatively fewer impurities in their meridians and were more suited for cultivation. Meng Yifan intended to teach them *Hunyuan Strength* to spare them the pain of switching techniques after they reached the Second Grade Martial Artist level later on.

These three children—two boys and one girl—were named Meng Qingshan, the boy who looked rather scholarly named Meng Qinghe, and the girl named Meng Qingyu. The three of them were also Meng Yifan's clansmen within the five degrees of mourning.

In Meng Yifan's original memories, they had often played together in the past—catching fish in the river, trapping crabs, climbing trees to pick fruit, and raiding bird nests. Their relationship had always been very good, and because Meng Yifan was older, the three children were very obedient to him.

"In a moment, I will explain the *Hunyuan Strength* technique to you; you must all listen carefully," Meng Yifan said.

"Big Brother Meng, we will all study diligently," Meng Qingshan said in a firm tone.

During the three years of famine, compounded by the Demon Beast siege on the village, Meng Qingshan's immediate family had all perished. In particular, his father, in order to create an opportunity for him to escape, had desperately blocked the fierce beasts entering the village, only to be bitten to death and then eaten bit by bit.

Meng Qingshan used the opportunity his father had desperately created to successfully escape into a cellar. Through a ventilation hole, he had witnessed the entire process of his father being eaten by the fierce beasts.

At that moment, his heart felt as if it were being twisted by a knife. He desperately wanted to rush out and fight the beasts, but he had only been able to escape because his father had traded his life for it. If he had rushed out then, it would have been suicide, and his father would have died in vain.

From that moment on, Meng Qingshan had a desperate longing to become strong. Meng Yifan had killed the Flying Tiger Demon that besieged Qinghe Village, which could be considered as avenging Meng Qingshan. He felt very grateful to Meng Yifan in his heart, but he had never had the chance to say it.

"That's right, Big Brother Meng, don't you worry; we will definitely study well with you," Meng Qinghe also said. His situation was slightly better than Meng Qingshan's; at least he still had a grandfather alive, and the two of them relied on each other for survival.

Children of poor families mature early. Although Meng Qinghe was only eight, he already knew that he had to become strong as quickly as possible so that he could take good care of his grandfather.

Having the opportunity to follow Meng Yifan to cultivate techniques and become a Martial Artist was a rare chance for Meng Qinghe, and naturally, he would firmly grasp this opportunity.

Meng Qingyu also nodded firmly. Girls are naturally precocious, and after experiencing several hardships, her relatives were long gone.

This time, following Meng Yifan and Meng Dayong into the city, Meng Qingyu had seen that in the shantytowns outside the city, many girls her age had already been forced to sell their bodies in exchange for a little pitiful food.

This scene deeply shocked Meng Qingyu's soul. She did not want to fall into such a plight; only by becoming strong could she control her own destiny. Now that the opportunity was placed before her, no matter what, she would certainly cherish this chance to change her fate.

Meng Yifan nodded and began to explain the *Hunyuan Strength* technique to them, word by word. The three children also focused their attention and listened carefully.

The young men and children of Qinghe Village were all cultivating. Even those white-haired old men, whose muscles and bones were stiff, struggled to sit cross-legged, palms facing Heaven, attempting to cultivate True Qi.

Although they knew that the hope of cultivating True Qi and becoming a Martial Artist was extremely slim, they still wanted to try—what if there was still hope?

Everyone was studying hard. Before they knew it, half a day had passed. The introductory knowledge of the technique had all been explained; what remained was for them to cultivate on their own.

Meng Dayong remained in the courtyard to continue leading everyone in cultivation, while Meng Yifan, carrying the Silver Notes, went out to purchase supplies. The first things he needed to buy were the medicinal herbs that had grown for fifty years, as mentioned by Liu Zhongyong.

On his way to buy the herbs, Meng Yifan passed by Luolong Street and discovered that many yamen runners were standing outside the courtyard of Lv Fugui's house, having already sealed it off. There were also coroners examining the corpses to deduce the time of death.

"Shopkeeper Lv's whole family has been killed."

"A good killing! This Shopkeeper Lv cheated, kidnapped, and sold people, bullied his neighbors, and committed all sorts of evil. This is retribution."

"Keep your voice down. Don't you know that Shopkeeper Lv is a relative of our County Magistrate Lu? If County Magistrate Lu hears you, he will surely reward you with several dozen strokes of the rod."

The person who had just spoken well was startled and quickly shut his mouth. County Magistrate Lu held absolute power in Luolong County; he was indeed not someone they could afford to offend.

After a while, another middle-aged man whispered, "I heard the screams from here in the middle of the night yesterday."

"Then why didn't you come out to look, or at least go find the patrolling yamen runners to report the case?"

"Easy for you to say. Shopkeeper Lv was a Second Grade Middle Stage Martial Artist. The murderer who dared to kill his whole family must be at least a Second-grade High-tier Martial Artist. If I had dared to come out, those ruthless people would have just chopped me down with one blade."

Many onlookers had gathered around, discussing the matter. Meng Yifan listened for a while, then left the area to hurry and buy the medicine.