Time, like a white steed, galloped by, and in a blink of an eye, three years had passed.
In Bluestone City, a new residence appeared with a plaque that read 'Li Manor'.
Today, the weather was fair and beautiful.
In the courtyard of the Li Manor, the clear laughter of several children could be heard.
"Qingyue, Qinghe, come up! You can see very far from up here!"
In the western corner of the courtyard, against the wall, grew a twenty-meter-tall osmanthus tree, its branches and leaves lush and verdant, with some branches already extending to the neighboring property.
On a thick branch in the middle of the osmanthus tree stood a child of six or seven years old.
Below the tree, a boy and a girl, slightly shorter than the child in the tree, stood.
The boy shouted up, "Brother, come down quickly! If Mother sees you, you'll get spanked again."
"I'm not scared!" the boy in the tree declared stubbornly.
"Qinghe, are you really not coming up? That strange Masked Uncle next door is practicing his saber techniques again. It looks so powerful; even from this far, I can feel the Saber Qi, a tingling sensation on my skin."
Qinghe was somewhat tempted, yet also hesitant.
The boy in the tree was engrossed in watching the masked man next door practice his saber techniques. He unconsciously moved closer to him, not noticing that the branch was gradually thinning.
The girl, Qingyue, with sharp eyes, immediately shouted, "Brother, be careful! Don't go any further, it will break!"
Qinghe also saw it at this moment and was about to speak.
"Crack!"
The osmanthus branch snapped, and the boy in the tree cried out in alarm.
At this moment, the masked man next door suddenly flicked his sleeve, and a powerful surge of Magical Power emerged, promptly catching the falling boy and then gently pulling him in front of him.
The masked man was Li Feiyu, who was living in seclusion here, and the three children were his three children. The one who fell was his eldest son, Li Fengxing.
Li Fengxing still felt a lingering fear.
"Brother, are you okay?"
The voices of Li Qinghe and Li Qingyue came from next door.
Li Fengxing said, "I'm fine. Masked Uncle saved me."
Li Feiyu's lips curved slightly under his mask, and he smiled, saying, "Child, you are truly bold, openly peeking at me practicing my Cultivation Technique. Aren't you afraid I'll attack you?"
Li Fengxing's face showed an innocent smile, "Masked Uncle, didn't you save me? You're a good person!"
A child's world is this simple; whoever treats him well is a good person in his heart.
"Hahaha~"
Li Feiyu burst into laughter, "Interesting. Child, you watched me practice. Do you want to learn?"
"Can I?"
Li Feiyu nodded.
"Then, Masked Uncle, can I let my younger brother and sister learn too?"
"As long as they are willing, anyone can."
"That's great, Masked Uncle, you're such a good person!"
Li Feiyu said, "However, we must agree on three rules. I can guide you, but you must not tell anyone, including your mother."
"No problem!"
Teaching his children martial arts was also a way to quickly eliminate the original body's obsession.
Besides this reason, perhaps due to the body and memories at play, Li Feiyu also felt a great closeness to them.
"Perhaps this is the bond of blood."
Li Feiyu sent Li Fengxing back, then, using his ability to gather sound into a line, he remotely guided them when no one else was around.
He was currently at the sixth level of the Qi Refining stage, and his Divine Thought could cover the entire Li Manor.
Not only that, but in three years, he had once again purified his Spiritual Root, consuming five hundred years of Lifespan, which brought his Spiritual Root Aptitude to High Grade, increasing his Cultivation speed once more.
Because Li Fengxing and the others were still young, Li Feiyu didn't teach them any martial arts, but rather instructed them in strengthening and tempering their bodies, focusing on basic training.
In addition to this, every so often, he would give them tea infused with some powdered Marrow Washing Pill.
The Marrow Washing Pill could cleanse the marrow and Meridians, expand the Meridians, and enhance the capacity of True Qi.
Li Feiyu only had three pills, but these three were enough to lay a solid foundation for the three little ones, Li Fengxing and his siblings.
Another two months passed.
Li Feiyu was doing Alchemy in the Pill Chamber, and soon after, laughter emanated from the room.
"Finally, I've successfully refined the Yellow Dragon Pill!"
"Two Low Grade, one Medium Grade. I wonder if I can be considered talented?"
Li Feiyu looked at the Medicinal Pills, chuckled foolishly for a while, then sorted them by quality and placed them into different porcelain bottles.
"While the feeling hasn't disappeared, I must stabilize it more."
Li Feiyu enveloped a portion of medicinal ingredients with Magical Power, cast them into the Pill Furnace, and began Alchemy again.
At the same time, an injured Qi Refining stage Cultivator from the Ghost Spirit Sect arrived at the Mountain God Temple on Wushi Mountain, a few miles outside Bluestone City.
He wore a black cloak, which was somewhat tattered and stained with blood, and his entire body was shrouded in black Qi.
The black Qi was a result of his injuries causing a backlash from his Cultivation Technique. It was precisely because of this that he did not rashly enter the city, but instead recuperated and suppressed his injuries in this sparsely populated Mountain God Temple.
Half a day later, the black Qi on the Cultivator's body receded into his body.
"Pfft~"
He suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and his face appeared pale.
"Relying on self-recovery is too slow. If I delay reporting to the Young Sect Master, then I'll be in big trouble."
"It seems I must refine some human essence blood."
The Black Robed Cultivator licked the corner of his mouth, letting out a sinister, terrifying laugh, "Speaking of essence blood, children under ten years old are the freshest and most vibrant."
From his demeanor, it seemed that committing such heinous acts was not a one-time occurrence for him.
Blood-red light gleamed in the Black Robed Cultivator's eyes, then he looked in the direction of Bluestone City.
...
Three days later, the news of children going missing in Bluestone City spread like wildfire, thoroughly alarming the local government.
On the streets, a large number of soldiers and yamen runners patrolled daily, reminding every household to keep a close watch on their children.
Although Li Feiyu stayed indoors, he could hear anyone discussing it nearby through his Spiritual sense .
"Children missing?"
"Was it done by ordinary people or Cultivators?"
He was somewhat worried about his adopted children next door, so he decided not to continue Alchemy these few days.
Once he started Alchemy, he had to focus his mind and concentrate fully, allowing no room for error.
"If it's a Cultivator, I hope their strength isn't too great, otherwise, it will be difficult to handle."
Despite the strict investigation, children in the city continued to disappear day after day. Soon, rumors began to circulate that monsters were responsible, causing widespread panic.
A few nights later, a figure flew into Bluestone City; it was the Black Robed Cultivator.
Hidden by the night and being in the air, no one discovered his presence.
"Judging by the sound, the children in this household are of good quality, but I wonder what their blood tastes like?"
The calm voice spoke terrifying words, making people shudder upon hearing them.
The Black Robed Cultivator slowly descended above the courtyard. With a flick of his sleeve, a gust of cold wind surged, violently blowing against the windows.
Li Feiyu observed covertly, "He's stronger than me, but not yet at Great Perfection of the Qi Refining stage. His aura is somewhat unstable, so he must have suffered a serious injury."
He simultaneously estimated the opponent's potential combat power and calculated his own.
With top-tier offensive and defensive Magical Artifacts, and Talisman Treasures as a trump card, he had no shortcomings in terms of Magical Artifacts.
As for Cultivation Techniques, the Inferno Apex Meridian Art was definitely not an ordinary Cultivation Technique. Although it only contained content for the Qi Refining stage, the Magical Power it cultivated was exceptionally pure and profound.
It was as if the Cultivation Technique itself had the effect of refining Magical Power.
Li Feiyu, having inherited all of Xu Changfeng's legacy, now possessed a substantial fortune for a Cultivator in the Qi Refining stage.
A sharp glint appeared in his eyes, "I can fight. If absolutely necessary, I'll burn my Lifespan and unleash the power of the small Universe!"
Although he had consumed a significant amount of Lifespan learning Alchemy recently, he still had three hundred and forty-five years remaining.
"To openly break in and abduct people like this, the person who came must be a Demonic Path Cultivator."
"If possible, I might as well inquire about some news of the Spirit Control Sect from him."
His Spiritual sense firmly locked onto the Black Robed Cultivator, and the moment he was about to break in, Li Feiyu unleashed a Phantom Divine Needles!
Like a phantom, like a shadow, almost imperceptible!