Chapter 104: Finally Not a Little Girl Raising simulator

"Brother Xu, you went to kill monsters again!"

"Yeah, A-Niu, how have you been lately?"

"Hehe, I'm still the same, going wherever there's work."

Returning to Qingniu Town.

A loud, clear cry tore through the dark red sunset.

This sunset was not beautiful.

The sky was gloomy, as if a ghost domain were spreading; the residual heat of the sunlight could not penetrate the layers of darkness, leaving only a blurred red.

On the way home, Xu Xi received warm greetings from many people.

Some elderly grandmothers even used Xu Xi as a topic of conversation.

"A-Xi is a good boy in every way—he can earn money and knows martial arts—but he's too honest and easily taken advantage of. He needs to find a hardworking wife."

"Hey, Butcher Wang's family in the next town seems to have a daughter. Why don't we set her up with A-Xi?"

"You've gone senile! The next town has been gone for a long time!"

"Ah, right, look at me forgetting. The next town was eaten by monsters last year."

A Martial Artist's physical fitness is reflected in every aspect.

Including hearing.

Xu Xi gradually walked away, but his ears heard every word of the people's discussion behind him without missing a single word.

Was he troubled? Not really.

Embarrassed? Even less so.

Listening to the elders' chatter, what Xu Xi felt more of was actually compassion.

He paused and looked up at the sky.

Xu Xi's eyes calmly watched as the dome lost even its last bit of red, turning completely into deep ink, painting a depressing picture of varying shades.

It was a suffocating pressure of life and death, and even more so, a numb and helpless struggle.

[Since the first year of your Transmigration, Qingniu Town began its reconstruction.]

[But you discovered that the reconstruction of Qingniu Town had no end; it was always ongoing.]

[Because in the spring and winter of every year, large-scale Demon Tides would break out. Powerful demons would surge from the Hundred Thousand Mountains, frantically attacking peripheral Human Race settlements like Qingniu Town.]

[Tiangou swallowing the sun, Demon Foxes consuming essence, Corpse Demons spreading corruption, and Evil Tigers making thralls.]

[Facing those powerful and terrifying demons, even a Martial Artist with thick Blood-Qi would find it hard to resist; only those above the Innate level could engage them.]

[Naturally, a small town like Qingniu Town had neither a Xiantian Martial Artist to guard it nor aid from the Great Qian army.]

[Thus, every year you witnessed firsthand Qingniu Town cycling between ruins and reconstruction.]

[With your personal experience, you overturned the historical records in books; those were false statements and hypocritical whitewashing. The establishment and expansion of Great Qian did not bring safety to everyone.]

[The people of Qingniu Town, and all towns in Great Qian bordering the Hundred Thousand Mountains, lived in constant fear and anxiety.]

"Such a heavy art style…"

"It seems it's no longer a little girl raising simulation."

"Even though it's still far from a beautiful life."

[The danger level of the Martial Arts World far exceeded your imagination. While remaining vigilant, you continued to Cultivate your Physical Body and Blood-Qi with Persistence.]

[Your Cultivation speed slowed down, but you excelled in Persistence, improving a little bit every day.]

[Your martial arts skills were unrefined, but you excelled in Persistence, becoming a little more proficient every day.]

[You threw punches day and night without stopping.]

[You practiced stance training through winter and summer alike.]

[Streaming sweat witnessed your efforts, and lean muscles interpreted your will. Both your body and Realm grew steadily through Persistence.]

[Fifth year of the simulation: You are 20 years old. Qingniu Town faced another wave of demons, and you survived.]

[Sixth year of the simulation: You are 21 years old. There seem to be fewer familiar faces in Qingniu Town, but you still survive.]

[Seventh year of the simulation: You are 22 years old. You have become a well-known Martial Artist in the vicinity. Even without actively collecting them, people offer you gold, silver, and medicinal herbs. However, you are still stuck at the Marrow Cleansing Realm, as if something is missing.]

Spring went and autumn came; flowers bloomed and faded.

Over six years had passed in Xu Xi's simulation.

It was now the seventh year.

The progress of his martial Realm was not smooth. Xu Xi had been stuck at the Marrow Cleansing Realm for three years, but he remained calm, sensing that the Blood Exchange Realm was within reach.

If he could break through that Bottleneck, Xu Xi was confident he could surge forward and achieve a Breakthrough to become a Xiantian Martial Artist in one go.

"This simulation has no lifespan limit, and Blood-Qi Martial Arts is good for longevity. No rush, no rush; I have plenty of time for Persistence."

Returning from another actual combat.

Xu Xi walked along the street, sensing the Blood-Qi flowing within his body while pondering his subsequent training.

"Martial Artists advance with courage and vigor."

"Perhaps this time I should really take the brute force route and beat up everything in sight?"

Xu Xi pondered, quickening his pace toward home.

He planned to Cultivate some more, both to trigger the Persistence trait and to examine himself for the reason he hadn't been able to Breakthrough to the Blood Exchange Realm.

*Creak—*

He pushed open the heavy reddish-brown wooden door.

Xu Xi entered his home in Qingniu Town.

Beneath his feet was a path paved with square stone bricks, flanked by walls built of blue bricks. Willow trees hung all around, casting shifting shadows that danced with the wind.

There were no so-called paintings or antiques, nor were there any exquisite carved beams or painted rafters.

Xu Xi's residence was simple to the extreme.

Everything was for the purpose of training, freeing up as much space as possible so that Xu Xi could hone his martial arts and improve his Blood-Qi even at home.

Rounding a two-person-high Blue Steel Stone used for training, Xu Xi headed straight for the inner room, intending to clear his mind and Cultivate Blood-Qi Martial Arts.

Yes.

That was how it should have been.

"Hmm?"

He seemed to have seen something strange.

A brief flash of doubt crossed Xu Xi's face, followed by silence.

He silently closed the door, took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and opened the inner room door again.

It wasn't a hallucination.

It hadn't disappeared.

A girl, her entire body stained red with blood and looking severely injured, lay there quietly unconscious in Xu Xi's room.

"Did she fall from the sky?" Xu Xi looked up slightly and saw a huge hole smashed through the roof. Broken tiles fluttered in the wind, and broken beams dropped wood chips, providing an unobstructed view of the sky outside.

Xu Xi's judgment was correct; this indeed wasn't a little girl raising simulator.

Because the girl who fell into his room was already a grown young woman.

She looked to be about sixteen or seventeen.

"Is she a Martial Artist from a nearby village or town?"

"No, these clothes don't look like what ordinary people wear; they look more like they're from the counties in the heart of Great Qian. She's either wealthy or noble."

"Was she attacked by demons and severely injured?"

"Or was she attacked by someone and fell into an ambush?"

A red and white martial outfit, with an outer layer of exquisite and hard light armor.

Beautiful, but not weak.

Exquisite, but not fragile.

Her fiery figure wasn't just stained red with blood; her entire outfit and appearance were filled with a heroic and free-spirited aura like a blazing fire.

Coupled with the spear rolling nearby, her identity was further highlighted.

Gilded and sharp.

The handle had a dark luster.

"Interesting, she's actually in the Blood Exchange Realm. Things are starting to get interesting."