The autumn wind was bleak and desolate.
The ground was covered in withered yellow leaves, like a golden carpet. A light breeze blew, and the leaves rolled with a faint rustling sound.
Anshan City, Anling Cetery.
Most of the trees here had shed their sumr green, trading it for the splendid, motley colors of autumn.
Maple leaves burned like fire, and ginkgo leaves shone like gold.
An occasional bird flitted past, its lonely cries adding to the cetery’s desolation.
"Aunt, may you have a safe journey."
Sunlight filtered through the sparse branches, casting mottled patterns of light and shadow on Hu Qi.
He was dressed in a formal black suit, which made his posture seem even more upright and tall.
His expression was calm as he placed the bouquet of fresh flowers he was holding before a headstone.
On the stone monunt was a photograph.
The person in the photo was a middle-aged woman who looked to be in her forties.
Below it, a na was inscribed.
Hu Lei.
This person was the aunt of this body’s original owner.
’Then again, calling it "this body" isn’t quite right anymore.’
After perfecting his Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent Bloodline and breaking through to the Void Realm, he had reforged a new True Body.
Strictly speaking, he no longer had any blood relation to the body’s original owner.
It was even debatable whether Hu Qi himself could still be considered a carbon-based lifeform.
However, that didn’t stop him from coming here to pay his respects.
More than a hundred years had passed since then.
By Hu Lei’s age, she would have been 150 or 160 years old.
With the current technological level of the Inner Earth World, it wasn’t as if they hadn’t tried to develop potions to extend one’s Lifespan.
On the contrary, with the advancent of technology, the dical industry had also progressed by leaps and bounds.
Most previously incurable diseases could now be treated. They were no longer insurmountable illnesses where one could only wait quietly for death after a diagnosis.
People could even undergo surgical procedures to prevent their physical appearance from aging.
Although this surgery was expensive, it was extrely popular and sought after by won.
After all, won tended to place more importance on their appearance than n.
However, the problem of life expectancy still had no good solution.
Currently, on Earth Star, there were several thods to extend one’s Lifespan.
The first was to inject a Genetic Optimization Potion, which not only extended Lifespan but also improved one’s physical constitution.
However, not only was this potion expensive, but users also developed a tolerance to it. Generally, only the first three injections were effective.
After three shots, a person’s life expectancy could reach about 120 years.
The second was genetic screening and optimization of embryos.
This thod could easily disrupt the natural laws of reproduction and might lead to unforeseen consequences.
However, its effects were better than the first thod, extending the average life expectancy to around 130 years, but it had to be perford while the person was still an embryo.
As for the third thod, it involved cybernetic enhancent. This was slightly less expensive than the first two.
However, the body could easily reject the chanical parts. Whether it increased one’s Lifespan was a matter of luck; it was even possible for it to cause an early death.
Only those on the verge of death would attempt it.
Among the three, the first thod was the most widely used by ordinary people.
Beyond these, there was the path of Secret Martial Arts. As long as one could break open their Essence Elent Divine Treasure and advance to beco a Martial Arts Family, they could extend their Lifespan to two hundred years with no side effects.
However, because of the decline in Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy, various Spiritual Materials and Treasure dicine could no longer survive. By now, most Treasure dicines had gone extinct.
Only so ordinary Secret dicines could still be produced, and just barely.
The difficulty for a Secret Martial Artist to break through to the Martial Arts Family level was now even higher than before.
Under these circumstances, for her to have lived to 150 or 160 was a ripe old age, surpassing ninety percent of the world’s population.
It should be known that Hu Lei was just an ordinary person. Combined with years of hard labor, her body had many minor ailnts. If Hu Qi hadn’t used his True Essence to repair and nourish her body before, she would never have lived this long.
Besides him, there were other people in the cetery.
He glanced at the siblings, Li Yi and Li Yi, who were kneeling on the ground and sobbing their hearts out. Behind them stood a group of people.
Hu Qi shook his head.
He didn’t offer any words of comfort.
Instead, he turned and walked to the side.
Li Zhenguo had passed away a year earlier, and now Hu Lei had followed him.
This was no small blow to the two siblings.
What they needed now was to vent their emotions.
Not to hear empty platitudes like "my condolences" or "they wouldn’t want you to be so sad."
A hundred years had passed.
The appearances of Li Yi and Li Yi remained unchanged, showing no signs of aging.
Li Yi, with the help of the smart-brain Hu Qi had modified for him, had successfully broken through to the Qi Dao Grandmaster Realm before the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy was completely depleted.
However, because the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy was now depleted, he could only seal his own power and display, at most, the strength of a Martial Arts Family.
Speaking of which, it was worth ntioning that in the third year after the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy was depleted, soone had actually invented a special thod to absorb trace amounts of Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy from plants and fruits.
Although this small amount of Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy was not enough to allow a Qi Dao Grandmaster to use their powers freely, it was barely enough to support a Qi Dao Grandmaster moving about in the outside world.
They no longer needed to remain in constant seclusion, sealing their True Essence to prevent it from dissipating.
Of course, this was on the condition that they didn’t use any abilities exclusive to a Qi Dao Grandmaster.
Doing so would consu their life force. Even so, their combat power and Lifespan were far beyond what an ordinary person could ever hope to match.
By now, Li Yi had long since married and had children.
He was now a great-grandfather, with four generations living under one roof. The group of people behind him were his descendants.
However, compared to the two Li Yi siblings, most of these people, with a few exceptions, didn’t show much sadness on their faces.
As for Li Yi, she had also practiced Secret Martial Arts. With the help of nurous Spiritual Materials and Treasure dicine, she had managed to open her Essence Elent Divine Treasure, although it was only of the Lower Class.
Her lifelong Cultivation would be stuck at the Qi Blood Furnace Realm, but she would still live much longer than an ordinary person.
However, perhaps because of that incident at school long ago, she had rejected every man who confessed his feelings to her and had remained single ever since.
"Brother Qi, I’m sorry. You had to see in this state."
「After a while.」
Li Yi managed to compose himself. Seeing Hu Qi standing to the side, he got up and walked over.
"I’m the one who should be sorry," Hu Qi shook his head.
Although he was powerful now, he still couldn’t extend Hu Lei’s life.
In the end, Hu Lei was just an ordinary person whose body couldn’t withstand an infusion of too much power.
The only other option would have been to upload her consciousness and turn her into a smart-brain AI, allowing her to live on in another form.
But this thod was not mature. The only successful case was that Celestial Fate Person from the Noki Civilization. Favored by the Power of Fortune, his success was to be expected. For an ordinary person to attempt it, the mortality rate was extrely high—it was no different from suicide.
And even if it succeeded, the person would gradually lose most of their human emotions, becoming like a machine.
He had ntioned this option to Hu Lei before, but she had refused.
"I know. You did everything you could!"
Li Yi shook his head.
At this mont, streaks of silver had appeared in his hair.
For Li Yi, this should have been impossible.
A Qi Dao Grandmaster’s Lifespan was a full seven hundred years.
Only a little over a hundred years had passed for him.
For this to happen, there could be only one explanation: he had expended a massive amount of True Essence Power in an attempt to extend Hu Lei’s life, causing a deficit in his own Lifespan.
To put it bluntly, Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy was a manifestation of the world’s origin, a form of Vitality.
If a Qi Dao Grandmaster consud too much True Essence and couldn’t quickly replenish it from the outside world, they could only overdraw from their own Lifespan.
As if sensing Hu Qi’s gaze, Li Yi gave a bitter smile.
"I knew it was useless, but I couldn’t just stand by and watch."
"Don’t do it again," Hu Qi said, pointing a finger.
A flash of white light shot from his fingertip and entered Li Yi’s body.
「The next mont.」
Li Yi’s silver hair instantly turned jet black.
The True Essence he had consud was also replenished.
"Thank you!" Li Yi said gratefully, feeling the changes in his body.
At this, he seed to rember sothing.
He looked toward his younger descendants, who were still paying their respects.
He gestured and called out,
"Xiaoya, Little Lake, you two, co here."
Hearing this, a young girl and a young boy stepped out from the group.
At the sa ti, Li Yi explained to Hu Qi.
"Brother Qi, this is my great-grandson and great-granddaughter. Their aptitude for practicing Secret Martial Arts is passable. They’ve already reached Qi Blood Three Transformations Perfection."
He then turned to the two who had walked up beside him.
"This is your Great-Granduncle. Greet him quickly."
Hearing this, the two looked at Hu Qi with so curiosity.
They didn’t speak right away.
The reason was simple: Hu Qi looked far too young. At a glance, he didn’t seem much older than they were.
But after seeing the look in Li Yi’s eyes, they hesitated for only a mont before preparing to speak.
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