[You obtained cultivation techniques, martial skills, and a large sum of money]
[You took out three cultivation manuals and examined them carefully]
[Cultivation techniques are graded from low to high: third-rate, second-rate, first-rate, top-tier, and sect-defining techniques]
[The two third-rate Skin Refining manuals were immediately tossed back into your storage space]
["Common trash, not worth mentioning!"]
[You turned your attention to the Bone Tempering technique - the Golden Saber Technique]
[The Golden Saber Technique was the prized treasure of the Golden Saber Martial Arts School, a first-rate technique]
[The reason the Golden Saber Martial Arts School ranked second among all martial schools in Xian'an County was precisely because of this manual]
[You decided to cultivate the Golden Saber Technique - its fierce and powerful nature perfectly suited your needs for Bone Tempering]
[You could also practice the second-rate movement skill Cloud Treading Steps as a backup - if you couldn't win a fight, at least you could escape]
[You planned to quietly leave the Golden Saber Martial Arts School and find a secluded place to cultivate]
[Once you mastered these techniques, you'd reappear and give them a good scare]
[You left your room and arrived at the school's entrance]
[The gatekeeper, who had been instructed not to let you leave freely, stopped you]
[Your eyes darted around as you claimed you were going to buy osmanthus cakes for Wang Yulin's favorite treat]
[The gatekeeper still refused to let you pass, leading to a standoff]
[Seeing no progress, you were about to give up and consider sneaking out through the dog hole at night]
[Another gatekeeper who couldn't stand watching intervened - he knew you were Wang Yulin's devoted admirer and that Wang Yuanyi would beat you up]
[Feeling some sympathy, he let you go, reminding you to return early]
["I'll definitely be back!" you nodded vigorously]
[After leaving, you bought a fast horse and rode day and night, putting great distance between yourself and Xian'an County, arriving at neighboring Yanggu County]
[You were in the Great Qian Nation, occupying the wealthy southern regions]
[To the north lay the larger but poorer Jin Yue Nation]
[The two nations had been warring for centuries, becoming sworn enemies]
[Below the national level were provinces, counties, and villages]
[In Yanggu County, you found the best blacksmith shop in town]
[You requested the smith use the finest materials to forge you the sharpest longsword]
[You needed it to practice the Golden Saber Technique]
[The smith agreed, asking you to return in half a month]
[Unwilling to wait, you demanded it in three days]
[The smith insisted a fortnight was tradition, unchanged since his great-grandfather's time]
[Without another word, you added fifty taels of silver]
[The smith immediately made a decision that betrayed his ancestors: "Return in three days for your peerless treasure blade!"]
[You stayed at an inn where the warm, comfortable room was infinitely better than the drafty thatched hut from your previous life's village]
[You began attempting martial cultivation but felt an intangible restraint, as if not fully adapted to this body]
[After two frustrating days of this sensation, you were completely baffled]
[On the second night, you secretly returned to your previous life's Stone Cave Village]
[You paid respects to your former parents]
[As you prepared to leave, you discovered your former neighbor - an elderly man and his five-year-old granddaughter - were starving to death]
[The little girl used to follow you around calling you "big brother" and loved playing with you]
[The pair had gone days without food, too weak to flee the famine]
[With your current wealth and resources, you left them a hundred taels and a large roasted chicken before slipping away]
[Thinking deities had blessed them, the pair knelt crying and worshiping toward the dark sky]
[At that moment, you felt a weight lift - the intangible restraint vanished completely]
[Looking up, you seemed to understand something]
[Without lingering, you returned to the inn overnight]
[Resuming cultivation, everything now flowed smoothly]
[You cultivated through the night until the next afternoon]
[Though you hadn't condensed true qi yet, you'd grasped the fundamentals]
[At the smithy, you collected your expensive longsword]
[The blade proved incredibly sharp and resilient - you named it "Cry of the Swan Goose"]
[The smith included a delicate dagger made from leftover materials]
[Seeing he'd had time for this extra, you realized you'd overpaid those fifty taels]
[But satisfied with your sword, you didn't dwell on it]
[Leaving Yanggu County, you rode south to distance yourself from the Golden Saber School and avoid Wang Yuanyi]
[Along the way, you encountered many refugees - entire families starving]
[They shied away from a mounted traveler like you, knowing only important people rode horses]
[After days of hard riding covering over a thousand li, you finally abandoned your horse to blend with refugees]
[Unlike the starving masses, food was never your concern]
[Each night you secretly ate well from your storage space, maintaining peak condition]
[After two days with the refugees, you reached a sparsely populated village]
[With only about a dozen widely-spaced households, you decided to stay]
[You approached one family - an elderly couple and their unmarried thirty-something son]
[For three measures of coarse rice, they explained the village situation]
[Willow Tree Village currently had seventeen households with many abandoned homes]
[You chose a dilapidated house with a small courtyard, not far from the elderly couple]
[After repairs, your thatched shack became a countryside mansion]
[You even planted a peach tree that brought life to the courtyard]
[Living reclusively, you devoted yourself daily to martial cultivation behind high walls]
[Through persistent practice of the Golden Saber Technique, you gradually mastered the Cry of the Swan Goose]
[After six months of cultivation supplemented with medicinal baths, you generated your first wisp of true qi]
[You had officially begun your martial path]
[Your physical abilities noticeably improved - boundless energy and strength]
[You could now easily lift hundred-pound millstones with one hand]
[Against six or seven ordinary men, you'd emerge victorious without trouble]
[Though not yet at early Skin Refining stage, you knew reaching it was only a matter of time]
[In high spirits, you made a rare outing]
[After necessary shopping at the nearest market]
[You returned to find the elderly couple's bachelor son waiting outside]
[Over these months, you'd learned about their family]
[Their son, Miao Jiayao, thirty-two, remained unmarried due to poverty]
[Seeing you never worked yet lacked nothing, they guessed your wealth]
[Recognizing your extraordinary bearing, they kept their distance - until today]
[Based on experience, when long-lost contacts suddenly appear, they want money]
[But to your surprise, Miao Jiayao wasn't here to borrow]
[The elderly couple had adopted a thirteen-year-old girl and invited you to witness the occasion]
[Puzzled, you wondered why this struggling family would take in another mouth to feed]