Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Thump, thump, thump!

The room's door was suddenly knocked on.

Immediately afterwards, a childish, sharp voice came from outside, "Young Master, the Qi Nourishing Soup is ready. Shall I bring it in for you?"

This voice was extremely familiar and distinctive.

A frail figure quickly appeared in Zhao Sheng's mind.

Zhao Xiaobao

His personal attendant. He had been serving him since he was eight.

"Come in!" Zhao Sheng replied calmly, as he remembered.

Then, he flipped out of bed, his feet landing silently on the floor, not even a speck of dust was stirred, his body felt unbelievably light.

Zhao Sheng was surprised; he had not expected the effect of "Light as a Feather" to be so pronounced.

The door was pushed open, and Zhao Xiaobao entered, holding a blue and white porcelain bowl with both hands.

After carefully placing the porcelain bowl on the table in the room, Zhao Xiaobao quickly stepped in front of Zhao Sheng and asked respectfully, "Young Master, the medicine is ready. Do you have any other orders?"

"Um, nothing else, you can leave now," he said.

After speaking, Zhao Sheng did not go to drink the medicine but instead walked over to the vanity mirror. The reflection showed a young man six feet tall, with rosy lips, white teeth, a high nose, and phoenix eyes, emanating a valiant bearing.

He was extremely handsome! This was good.

It should be enough to captivate a young lady from a Cultivation Family.

That's right!

Zhao Sheng's goal in this life was to marry one or even several women from Cultivation Families.

He vowed to have as many children as possible. He did not believe he could not eventually have descendants with a Spirit Root.

By then, he had completely assimilated Zhao Zhiqin's memories. Up until today, no descendant with a Spirit Root had been born to the Zhao family.

The descendants were incompetent, and now only the ancestor had to personally take action.

Zhao Xiaobao did not leave.

He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly spoke through clenched teeth, "Young Master, I just heard some bad news. I heard that Madam is going to cut down your food, clothing, and martial arts expenses. The Qi Nourishing Soup that was given every three days will now be given every seven days."

Zhao Sheng raised his eyebrows at these words.

The 'Madam' mentioned by Xiaobao referred to the main wife of Family Head Zhao. She not only controlled the daily expenses of Zhao Family's Castle but also participated in the management of the family's enterprises, including overseeing the finances.

Zhao Sheng turned around and sat down at the table, then asked, "Did the lady have any reason for this?"

Zhao Xiaobao spoke in a low voice, "It's said that the family business recently lost a large amount of silver. Using the tight turnover of silver as an excuse, she voluntarily reduced the expenses for all branches. Our third branch was cut by twenty percent."

"Hmm, since there's a shortage of silver in the house, cutting expenses temporarily isn't a bad thing," he said.

After speaking, Zhao Sheng picked up the porcelain bowl and gulped down the medicine soup in one go.

The bitter yet sweetly pungent familiar taste once again spread in his mouth, just like a hundred years ago.

"Young Master, you don't know. The young masters and misses of the first and second branches still get their Qi Nourishing Soup every three days, it hasn't changed to seven days," Zhao Xiaobao couldn't help but grumble.

Hmm?!

Hearing this, Zhao Sheng immediately frowned.

Ever since ancient times, the wealthy engaged in literary pursuits while the poor focused on martial training. Martial arts training consumes a tremendous amount, requiring not only a large amount of meat but also herbal soups to nourish the body.

Just the cost of a serving of Qi Nourishing Soup is five taels of silver, and there are already more than twenty direct lineage disciples in the Zhao family practicing martial arts. Just this one expense would cost the Zhao family at least thirty thousand taels of silver a year.

Given the Zhao family's large-size enterprise, they were only just managing to cope with these massive expenses.

Therefore, while he could tolerate the reduction in budget, unfair treatment was something he could not tolerate.

Zhao Sheng's mind raced, and he soon had an idea.

"Xiao Jiu, go out and inquire about the recent circumstances of the young masters and misses from the other two branches. After you find out, come back and tell me."

Zhao Xiaobao nodded in agreement, then quickly left the room.

After everyone had left the room, Zhao Sheng stood up and walked over to the bed. He reached out and took down the Hundred Refinement Sword hanging above the bed's headboard.

Whoosh!

The sword slid out of its scabbard with a familiar feel in his hand, much like his sword "Floating Light" from a hundred years ago.

In fact, this Hundred Refinement Sword was crafted exactly to the specifications of "Floating Light," with the same weight and length.

The true renowned sword "Floating Light" was kept as a family heirloom, worn at the waist of Family Head Zhao Hexing.

Swish,

With a flick of his wrist, Zhao Sheng suddenly displayed a flourish of a six-petal sword flower.

When he executed the first technique of the Floating Light Sword Skill "Plum Blossoms Six Petals," a continually darting and dodging figure instantly appeared in the room, with sword lights evolving in sync with each of his moves, birthing and vanishing in transformation.

Gradually, the sword lights in the room grew denser, eventually gathering into a mass of light that moved unpredictably and completely enveloped him.

An hour later, Zhao Sheng stopped, his back drenched with sweat.

He casually threw the sword in his hand. The next second, the Hundred Refinement Sword incredibly sheathed itself back into its scabbard.

Full name: Zhao Zhiqin (Zhao Sheng)

Life Span: 15/120

Constitution: Hundred Year Constitution (Mortal Level), Light as a Feather (Mortal Level)

Talent: Dynamic Vision (Mortal Level)

Skill: Floating Light Sword Skill (Great Success), Cloud Dragon Three Changes (Great Success), Emerald Tide Technique (Beginner)

"Not bad, the feel is still there."

Looking at the data on the book page, Zhao Sheng nodded in satisfaction.

Although he had reincarnated, he had not forgotten the martial arts experience gained over a lifetime.

After practicing dozens of times, he had cultivated both the Floating Light Sword Skill and the Cloud Dragon Three Changes to a Great Success Realm.

Once a few years passed and his body fully matured, and his Inner True Qi reached Small Success, he could easily retrain several martial arts to the peak realms of his former life.

...

The Nanyang Zhao Family had two important locations: the ancestral home in Nanyang City and the Zhao Mansion, built 150 years ago.

Located thirty li outside of Nanyang City, the Zhao Mansion was backed by mountains and faced the water, with vast flat fields suitable for farming in front of it.

The estate alone covered nearly fifty acres, bolstered by thick, solid stone walls and eight protruding five-zhang-high arrow towers at the corners, making it appear like a heavily fortified stronghold.

Thus, it was also known as Zhao Family's Castle.

The castle was filled with halls and lofty buildings, densely populated inside, but nearly five acres in the southeast corner were left empty.

This area was covered with thick yellow soil, and the wall sides were lined with swords, spears, axes, halberds, wooden stakes, archery targets, and other various martial arts equipment. This place was the Zhao Family Training Ground.

The next day, Zhao Sheng, dressed in white garments, casually walked into the training ground with the Hundred Refinement Sword in one hand.

At that moment, the training ground echoed with shouts, and several of the Zhao Family's direct lineage young masters and misses were earnestly practicing their sword techniques, their faces flushed with exertion.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Sheng cracked a slight smile.

Perfect timing!

He approached a handsome young man about twenty years old and cheerfully said, "Third Brother, shall we have a bout?"

Third Brother, named Zhao Zhijing, was twenty-one this year, the legitimate son of Family Head Zhao Hexing, and ranked third among the Zhao generation.

Having the highest level of martial arts among those present, he naturally became Zhao Sheng's target to establish his might.

Zhao Zhijing halted his sword movements, turned around to see who it was, and immediately laughed, teasingly said, "So it's Little Nine. What's up? Feeling itchy and wanting your third brother to loosen up your skin?"

Zhao Zhijing did not take Zhao Sheng seriously at all.

Not to mention the six-year age difference between them. Even if one considered just their cultivation levels, he was one of the first two in the current generation of the Zhao Family to advance into the Third-rank Realm.

Little Nine, Zhao Zhiqin, hardly practiced the Floating Light Sword Skill proficiently, and was no match for him.