Five Years

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, another five years had passed.

Chu He had stayed at the book depository for a full fourteen years.

He was twenty-eight years old now.

His body was built sturdily and well-proportioned, and he had retained his good looks. There was nothing scruffy about appearance. He looked like an angel from the heavens, if he dared say so himself.

In these five years, his cultivation had risen to the Fifth Level of the Third Turn.

He had realized that although he had an abundance of resources, his progress was becoming slower and slower.

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However, he did not mind.

He had all the time in the world.

He cultivated, read, and enjoyed himself.

Nevertheless, the book depository was less lonely than it had been after the addition of Lin Xueling.

In the past few years, the Lin family’s situation had become even worse, which resulted in no one even asking about Lin Xueling even though she had basically moved into the book depository.

Lin Xueling was anxious to ease her family’s worries.

She had been overjoyed and ecstatic upon realizing that Chu He’s guidance was effective, which resulted in her taking her cultivation more seriously than ever.

In five years, she had mastered the Precelestial Seventh Erudition.

From the level of the Postcelestial Fifth Erudition to the Precelestial Seventh Erudition, she had crossed twelve minor realms, which was equivalent to one full realm.

If word of her progression speed had got out, who knows how many prodigies would be jealous of her?

Of course, Lin Xueling had managed to cultivate this quickly not just because she had a natural talent and had been willing to put in the hard work, but also because Chu He had given her special attention.

Countless treasures had been put into his System Space following his check-ins, and many of them were no longer of any use to him in his current level. When he ate the items now, it did little more than leave a fragrance in his mouth. Nothing would even happen when it reached his stomach.

He might as well retrieve and liquefy them now to inject into Lin Xueling’s body.

The two had been together for more than seven years at this point, and it would be impossible to claim that they have not developed any kind of feelings toward each other.

Besides, he still needed to check-in at the book depository. If the Lin family was destroyed, he would also be affected by that. He was not really afraid of that happening, but it would still be troublesome.

His one fear was trouble.

Thus, training a master for the Lin family was his way of avoiding trouble.

If it was something he could do without needing any extra hassle, why should he not go for it?

“Brother Lil Chu, the family elder can’t hang on for much longer. He’s aging so rapidly that he looks different every day.”

Lin Xueling’s eyes were bloodshot as she walked into the book depository. She must have just been crying.

“Birth, aging, sickness, and death are unavoidable parts of being human. Your family elder might be the king of the Xia clan and can live up to three hundred years old, but accidents always happen. No one can know for sure what will happen next in their lives.”

Chu He sighed.

Martial artists could live up to two hundred years old once they mastered the Precelestial Eruditions. Another hundred years would be added to their lifespan if they became a demi-king.

As far as he knew, the Lin family elder was just about two hundred years old now. Based on his cultivations, he should be able to live for another hundred years if everything went well.

However, that was only if there were no incidents.

The minute such an accident occured, it did not matter how long your life expectancy was.

“Brother Lil Chu, you have a solution, don’t you?”

Lin Xueling’s eyes shone as she gazed expectantly at Chu He and asked with a hopeful tone.

In the five short years she had spent at the book depository, her cultivation had gone from the Postcelestial Fifth Erudition to the Precelestial Seventh Erudition. The speed at which she had progressed was unbelievable.

She was well aware of her competency. She might be good, but she was merely talented and could not even be considered a monster.

However, now that the Lin family was in trouble and both cultivation resources and family disciples had dwindled, Chu He could no longer brush off the anomaly of the speed at which she had progressed despite the circumstances with a simple ‘I just worked hard’.

Her sister, who was older than her by two years and just about on the same level as her in terms of talent, worked even harder than she did but was still on the Postcelestial Ninth Erudition. No one even knew when she could begin training for the Precelestial Eruditions.

It was too big a gap.

Lin Xueling knew that the reason behind all this was probably because of Brother Lil Chu.

At one point, she had even fancied that Brother Lil Chu was some kind of great master.

Even though Chu He had always told her that the only reason he could teach her was that he was well-read and knew much about both the past and the present, he claimed he was just a mediocre cultivator.

However, Lin Xueling refused to believe such claims that were used to coax children. If it were that easy, the Xia clan would be filled with demi-kings. Perhaps a genuine king would even exist among their ranks.

Chu He felt his resolve crumbling as he gazed into Lin Xueling’s hopeful eyes.

He could easily turn a blind eye to anyone in the entire world.

However, he could not bring himself to be hard-hearted toward the little girl he had spent several years with.

“Little girl, I’m just an odd-job man at a book depository. How could I have the ability to reverse heaven’s fate when your family elder has suffered such serious injuries that even the foundation of his martial skills has been destroyed?”

Chu He sighed as he shook his head.

If an average martial king did not mind sacrificing the primary source of their martial skills, they could try to save the Lin family elder.

However, Chu He’s specialty was in the physical body. Every move he made was capable of killing someone. Saving lives was not his field of expertise.

Of course, even if he could save him, Chu He was not willing to waste the source of his martial skills.

He would not mind helping if he could do it without trouble, but if it required a lot of concentration…

His relationship with the Lin family elder had not reached that level of closeness yet.

Nevertheless, he did possess a treasure that could help extend the Lin family elder’s life.

It would not solve the root problem, but it would extend his life by a few years.

Lin Xueling had a disappointed expression on her face, but she did not say anything else.

She had once thought that even if Brother Lil Chu was a great hidden master, there was still probably no way to save the family elder’s from his wounds!

The only reason she had run to him for help was that the immense despair had made her desperate to search for a ray of hope.

In the following period, Lin Xueling buried herself in cultivating and worked even harder than she had before. It was almost comparable to insanity, the way she refused to rest and lost the smile she usually had on her face whenever she saw Chu He.

It was not because Chu He’s rejection had angered her, but because the Lin family elder’s wounds had worsened again and he had little life left. This caused the atmosphere in the Lin family to become even heavier, and the looming storm of stress had affected her.

Chu He could not stop himself from sighing when he saw her like that.