Chapter 136: Brother, I've Been Wanting to Hear This for a Long Time (Third Update - Please Subscribe)

During the trial crisis, Xiao Nan charged straight into the most perilous area.

First, he saw a glimmer of hope. Confident in his bronze mirror and the sword intent of the Four Seasons Sword, he believed he could essentially cut down any obstacle.

As long as he eliminated the Wolf Barbarian Priest, he could find an exit in that direction and break through the encirclement.

On the other hand, he harbored a certain lingering thought.

The golden light emanating from the statues and the priest was so familiar... He took a chance, and it actually worked.

The bronze mirror, as expected, did not disappoint.

He decisively reaped abundant rewards.

Within his mind’s bronze mirror space, a dazzling golden light shone forth, as if emitting a final roar...

Xiao Nan clearly sensed that an inexplicable will was being worn down and devoured by the bronze mirror, and the space quietly expanded just a little.

At the same time, his ethereal body became three-tenths more solid.

A gentle golden radiance emanated from him; golden ripples had thoroughly permeated his skin and muscles.

“This sign should mean my soul is evolving. Moreover, it signifies that my physical cultivation has broken through to a new level.”

Seeing this, Xiao Nan’s heart brimmed with joy, yet he could not help but harbor more conjectures.

Impatient, he withdrew his spirit from his mind, sensing the primordial energy of heaven and earth, his intent centered, with no thought or distraction.

A coolness poured down from above his head.

His pores seemed to open like gateways... Even at this moment of emptiness and thoughtlessness, a subtle satisfaction rose uncontrollably within him.

Rumble—

Amid the fluctuations of primordial energy,

Both his crown and perineum points twitched simultaneously.

Xiao Nan noticed a powerful torrent rushing over his skin, carving countless tiny channels.

The flow of energy spiraled up and down, connecting left and right... The circulation of qi and blood was like polished pearls, smooth and lively.

Yet, with a single breath, his skin and muscles tensed simultaneously, emitting a low buzzing sound.

He vaguely felt that the surface of his body had become both hard and resilient, yet supple and soft.

A strange sense of fulfillment surged in his heart.

Xiao Nan opened his eyes and looked at the smooth, jade-like skin on his arm, eager to test its toughness...

"Clang..."

Drawing his "Moonlight" sword without hesitation, Xiao Nan cut across his own arm.

A slight pain registered in his mind.

As the blade passed, his skin and muscles first sank slightly, then generated great resistance and elasticity.

The Chrysanthemum-patterned steel sword was slightly rebounded by this counterforce, and a few droplets of blood fell.

"Wow."

Xiao Nan examined the wound closely, joy filling his heart.

Against the "Moonlight" sword that could slice through iron like mud, his skin and muscles had only been cut with a fine line.

The blood that just seeped out began to coagulate... after a short while, it turned into a red mark, and the scar was already starting to close.

It wouldn’t be long before this red mark grew flesh and stitched itself up, spontaneously restoring to its original state.

“I have officially broken through to the first-rank warrior level. From now on, small firearms and ordinary weapons can basically be ignored.”

Xiao Nan laughed heartily.

At that moment, no one was in the courtyard; his mother and younger sister had not yet returned.

He casually went to the yard and picked up a heavy iron chain he had used for strength training before.

The chain weighed only eighty jin now, obviously no longer effective for training.

He did not bother to lift it but held it in his left hand and threw a punch with his right.

“Boom...”

The iron block shattered into fragments flying about.

Xiao Nan closed his eyes to sense, his mind calculating swiftly, then came to a conclusion:

“Strength is roughly equivalent to 2,100 jin, comparable to an ordinary second-rank warrior in the Muscle Refining stage. Meanwhile, the skin and muscles are firm, resilient, and not easily damaged.”

After shattering the iron chain with a single punch, he glanced at his knuckles and saw not a trace of a mark; they remained as smooth and lustrous as jade, delicate and solid.

Only then did he completely relax.

Until now, only after breaking through to the first-rank warrior could he truly feel the difference between this world and his past life.

In his previous life, no matter how hard he trained or how close he stood to the pinnacle of the world, he was still just flesh and blood—a mortal body.

But now, this flesh and blood body could no longer be called mortal.

His strength advanced a small step, but his civilization advanced a great leap.

This was the beginning of transcendence.

“Perhaps, the invasion from another world, under the threat of extinction and annihilation of our clan, inherently contains immense opportunities... The will of heaven is profound and unfathomable; it always leaves a sliver of hope, and a chance for transcendence.”

Regarding this crisis sweeping the world, never before had Xiao Nan so truly felt the hidden meaning within it.

Survival of the fittest—nothing more, nothing less.

...

Throughout the entire day, Xiao Nan was in high spirits.

Even after dinner, when his little sister Xiao Bei pestered him with ten or so questions, he bore it without a hint of impatience.

“I’m telling you, when those hundreds of barbarians charged, they were ferocious. Especially the wolf barbarian leader—they looked so hideous, with bits of human flesh stuck between their teeth. Three zhang tall, waist five zhang wide...”

“Isn’t that just a giant pancake?”

“Pancake... you foodie!”

Xiao Nan rubbed his sister’s hair irritably, making her sway like a roly-poly toy, then fixed his face and asked, “Are you even listening to the story?”

“Listen, keep going... Brother, I want to hear more.”

The little girl quickly tried to curry favor and help massage Xiao Nan’s arm.

Her face was all smiles.

This trick worked particularly well; Xiao Nan fell for it every time.

He smiled, eyes half-closed in comfort, and continued, “Back then, I thought, when that wolf barbarian priest unleashed his firestorm, if I didn’t take him down first, I’d have to kneel whenever he waved his staff. Right, Xiao Bei? What would you do?”

“Of course kill the priest first, then slash the barbarian leader, sweeping five hundred barbarians with one sword...”

“Ahem... cough cough.”

You’re a bit fierce, sis.

That moment, Xiao Nan lost even the mood to brag.

He felt that in front of his little sister, his own ideas were too conservative, like a weakling.

His deeds could not even begin to shock or impress.

Tan Qiuyi, standing nearby, listened to the siblings’ boasting with a smile.

She held a torn piece of clothing with a split seam, deftly threading a needle and stitching it up in a few strokes.

Over the years, she had grown accustomed to this.

Especially recently, Xiao Nan had been training diligently, often causing his qi and blood to burst, tearing his clothes after wearing them only a few times.

Tan Qiuyi was thrifty and never threw them away casually, instead mending them once or twice.

She would only stop when the tears became too obvious.

After listening for a while, she rubbed her slightly sore eyes and casually advised, “Xiao Nan, next time you encounter such situations, think twice before acting. Don’t take unnecessary risks.”

Xiao Nan’s heart trembled...

He detected the worry and fear hidden beneath Tan Qiuyi’s calm tone. She must have recalled something.

Perhaps it was the immense trauma caused when their father disappeared without return in the other world.

Ten years had passed, yet she had not recovered.

“Mom, rest assured, I never do anything without confidence.”

He hurriedly comforted her.