Longevity by Grinding Skills-Chapter 42: What?
He slowly circled the courtyard, deep in thought. He finally recalled that when he had turned around, Qin Bo had glanced behind the courtyard wall, and his demeanor had instantly become strange.
Reaching the wall, Xu Yunfan slowly squatted down. With a burst of strength, he began prying up the shattered bluestone bricks one by one.
When he saw the soil underneath, his brow arched slightly. With his Minor Achievement in mining skill, he could tell at a glance that this patch of soil was much newer than the surrounding area, clearly showing signs of having been disturbed.
It had been buried a long time ago, leaving the soil in a state that was neither new nor old—the traces of digging were from about three years prior. Although someone had tried to cover it up, the attempt was far too crude for him to miss.
Xu Yunfan turned, quickly found an iron shovel, and began to dig.
Empowered by the effects of his Minor Achievement in mining, the iron shovel sliced into the earth as if it were tofu, quickly carving out a pit.
"CLINK!"
A crisp sound rang out as the descending shovel struck a hard object.
Xu Yunfan’s heart stirred, and a sliver of anticipation grew within him. ’Qin Bo prized this thing so highly. It’s probably a Divine Skill Manual, or maybe some Heavenly and Earthly Treasures.’ With that thought, he reached in and hauled an iron box out of the dirt.
He eagerly opened the box. The moment he saw its contents, his expression became a complex tapestry of shock, confusion, and utter disbelief.
"What the hell?!"
「Half an hour later.」
Qin Bo slowly regained consciousness.
He tried to move but found his hands and feet securely bound by iron chains. No matter how hard he struggled, the chains didn’t budge an inch.
"Is this yours?"
Xu Yunfan’s voice, tinged with an odd quality, reached Qin Bo’s ears.
Qin Bo looked up and saw a transparent glass bottle at Xu Yunfan’s feet. Submerged inside was a truly unthinkable object.
"Give it back!!"
Qin Bo’s eyes nearly burst from their sockets. He stared, wide-eyed, his body twisting madly. Veins popped out all over his skin like writhing earthworms. He unleashed such astonishing strength that the chains binding him scraped and screeched.
"So it really is yours?!"
Seeing Qin Bo’s reaction, Xu Yunfan’s expression was one of sheer disbelief. He finally understood why Qin Bo had been so desperate to get this ancestral home back, why he’d had a complete breakdown upon seeing the broken bricks, and even why he’d suddenly pulled a knife and stabbed him, leaving a small gash that was still on his waist.
The trickle of blood had already dried; if he didn’t treat it soon, it would start to scab over.
Still, the incident had left him with a degree of psychological trauma.
’If that guy had stabbed me with a Sharp Blade Level weapon, wouldn’t I have been a goner?’
This filled him with a sense of urgency. ’I have to speed up my training and reach Perfection. Maybe then I can find an even stronger Horizontal Training True Skill, one that would make me fearless against Sharp Blade Level weapons.’
As for the small, severed object soaking in the glass bottle... it was a man’s most important possession.
The moment Xu Yunfan realized what it was, his expression was a priceless sight. His hand trembled, and he nearly threw the glass bottle away.
He gently nudged the glass bottle with his foot. The liquid inside sloshed, and the submerged object swayed along with it.
"Where did this glass bottle come from?"
’Although I’ve spent most of my time lately immersed in raising my Skill Level, I’ve still gone out for a few strolls.’
’The windows on the city’s buildings are all, without exception, made of paper. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a glass bottle like this, as clear as crystal.’
"Don’t touch it! Touch it again and I’ll kill you! You’re worse than an animal! If you’ve got any guts, let me go, and we’ll fight for real!"
Provoked by the gesture, Qin Bo began to roar madly, spewing an endless stream of curses at Xu Yunfan.
Xu Yunfan acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing. He took a yellowed book from the box.
He had flipped through it earlier, and its contents had left him stunned speechless.
This guy, Qin Bo, had actually been trying to reattach what was severed, conducting one insane experiment after another. The book contained detailed records of nearly a hundred human experiments.
In other words, over the past few years, Qin Bo had murdered at least a hundred people.
His test subjects ranged in age from eight-year-old children to eighty-year-old men. None were spared.
As Xu Yunfan read through the gory records, a chill shot up from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, and his heart went cold as ice.
’I always thought I’d become quite cold-hearted since I transmigrated, but compared to this utterly depraved monster, Qin Bo, I’m practically a saint.’
Xu Yunfan slowly closed the experimental log, his gaze toward Qin Bo a mixture of pity and revulsion.
Being subjected to Xu Yunfan’s gaze, Qin Bo’s face twisted, his expression verging on madness.
"You’re not allowed! You’re absolutely not allowed to look at me like that! Why did you go through my things? WHY?!"
Xu Yunfan sighed helplessly. "Buddy, if you wanted to be like the King of the Wheel, I wouldn’t have judged you. You could have just told me. It’s not like I’d stop you. Why hide it so securely? You had me thinking it was some incredible treasure. There was no need to create such a bitter feud over this."
’What’s the big deal?’
’I really don’t have anything against eunuchs.’
Qin Bo had calmed down slightly. He stared intently at Xu Yunfan, his eyes bloodshot and completely red.
’I don’t know what this ’King of the Wheel’ Xu Yunfan mentioned is, but it’s obviously not a compliment. Still, anyone who knows my secret... absolutely cannot be allowed to live.’
Seeing Qin Bo’s expression, Xu Yunfan’s own demeanor grew cold. ’This man is clearly unhinged. There’s no way to reason with him.’
He said coolly, "You’re a grown man. Why suffer as a eunuch? Once you advance far enough in the Martial Dao, with the power of Celestial Human Transformation, regrowing what was lost is a simple matter."
The image of Li Haomiao regrowing his own limbs was still seared into his mind, a testament to its shocking power.
’To think that human power could achieve such a feat.’
’It’s beyond imagination.’
Qin Bo almost lost his composure all over again. He stared at Xu Yunfan and suddenly let out a cold, sharp laugh.
"The power of Celestial Human Transformation? You think it’s that easy to attain? First comes the External Training of Tendons, Bones, and Skin, uniting the three into one. Then you move from the external to the internal, Refining Flesh, blood, marrow, and qi. There are the Martial Arts Eight Realms, starting with the Flesh Refining Realm, and each new level is a world of its own. To possess the power of Celestial Human Transformation, one must at least be a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster. You speak of it so lightly, but how many in this world can ever reach that height?"
As if realizing that Xu Yunfan had already seen his deepest secret, Qin Bo stopped trying to hide anything.
His voice was low and heavy. "I was raised by a palace eunuch. This eunuch had three adopted sons. He said there was one opening to enter the palace, but it required... purification. When the three of us drew lots, the one who drew the longest straw would be the one to be castrated and sent to the palace. I clearly marked the lots and drew the shortest one, but that damn eunuch forced me into it anyway. Just as I was about to be sent to the palace, who would have guessed he’d have a stroke and just... drop dead."
Qin Bo lifted his head, his face a twisted mask of laughter and tears.
"He died before I got there, so my connection was gone. No one cared whether I was purified or not. They just told me to go back where I came from. Of course, I couldn’t accept that! Since the ancient legends spoke of Immortals who could restore what was lost with a wave of their hand, I poured my heart into finding a way. But in the end... it was all for nothing!"
