Hu Yuanyuan couldn’t help but worry. If reaching the Innate Realm took seventy or eighty years, she would miss out on the most vibrant part of her life—a prospect she absolutely didn’t want.
Initially, she thought reaching the Innate Realm would only take a few months. That buffer would give her time to mentally prepare, and then whatever happened with Li Feng wouldn’t matter. But seventy or eighty years? That could be her entire life. She couldn’t wait that long.
Though shy, she voiced her concern.
“Generally speaking, it takes about seventy or eighty years,” Li Feng nodded.
“What?” Hu Yuanyuan’s face paled, and she grabbed his hand nervously. “Seventy or eighty years? That’s way too long!”
“Too long? Not at all. Nowadays, which martial artist doesn’t need that long to reach the Innate Realm?” Li Feng wasn’t trying to scare her. With spiritual energy scarce and natural treasures hard to find, most martial artists never reached the Innate Realm in their lifetime.
“Can I stop cultivating?” Hu Yuanyuan asked anxiously.
“Cultivation is like rowing against the current—if you don’t advance, you regress. But your Snow Jade Art is unique to your Snow Jade Physique. Once you start, you can’t stop,” Li Feng shook his head. He felt her Snow Jade Art was similar to his Nine Heavens Heart Sutra—once begun, it had to be continued methodically.
“What? I can’t stop?” Hu Yuanyuan’s expression changed drastically. Did she really have to wait seventy or eighty years?
The thought of finally falling in love but having to wait decades to be together was unbearable.
In that moment, she regretted it. Why had she started practicing the Snow Jade Art? Without it, in seventy or eighty years, even her grandchildren would be married.
“Yes, you must continue cultivating the Snow Jade Art,” Li Feng confirmed.
“Seventy or eighty years to reach the Innate Realm, when life’s nearly over—what’s the point?” she said, devastated.
“If an ordinary person’s lifespan is a hundred years, breaking through to the Innate Realm grants two hundred years. That’s the point,” Li Feng explained.
“Two hundred years? That’s like becoming an old monster,” Hu Yuanyuan tried to laugh but couldn’t muster it.
“Cultivation is a battle against the heavens,” Li Feng said, looking at her. “Ordinary people need seventy or eighty years to reach the Innate Realm, but for me, it’ll take only one year.”
“What? One year?” Her eyes lit up.
“Yes, just one year,” Li Feng nodded. Within a year, he aimed to reach the Innate Realm himself and help Hu Yuanyuan do the same.
“Really?” she asked, incredulous.
“Really. I can’t let a beauty like you wait seventy or eighty years,” Li Feng teased, brushing her face. “A stunning woman like you? I’d love to devour you now. Waiting decades would drive me mad.”
“Ugh, you,” Hu Yuanyuan playfully swatted him, not resisting his touch, and felt relieved. One year was manageable.
“Didn’t you say reaching the Innate Realm is hard?” she asked, puzzled.
“Martial artists need vast resources to cultivate. Without them, progress is slow. With enough resources, it’s different,” Li Feng said with a smile. Besides resources, spiritual energy was crucial. With the dragon-shaped jade pendant and the jade from Du Sect, their spiritual energy needs were met for now.
“Aren’t resources hard to come by?” Hu Yuanyuan asked curiously. “Your Black Hawk Team consumes millions daily. How much is needed to reach the Innate Realm?”
“Resources for the Innate Realm can’t be measured in money,” Li Feng said, getting off her and sitting up. “Yuanyuan, let me show you a magic trick.”
“A magic trick?” Hu Yuanyuan was baffled, struggling to keep up with his shift in topic.
“Yes, look at the blanket on the bed.” Li Feng pointed, then waved his hand over it.
“What…” Hu Yuanyuan’s jaw dropped as the blanket vanished. “Where’d it go?”
“Where do you think?” Li Feng smiled faintly, then pulled her to her feet. “Watch this.” He waved at a chair.
In her stunned gaze, the chair disappeared.
“How is this possible?” The unbelievable change made her doubt her eyes. Was there such magic in the world?
Li Feng held up a space pouch, dangling it before her. “The bed and blanket are in here.”
“In there? Impossible,” Hu Yuanyuan shook her head. The tiny pouch was smaller than her phone—how could it hold a chair?
“This is a space pouch. It looks small but has four square meters of space,” Li Feng said gravely.
“Four square meters?” Hu Yuanyuan couldn’t believe it.
“A space pouch is a must-have for martial artists. Yuanyuan, this is my gift to you.” He handed her another pouch and taught her how to use it under her curious gaze.
“Li Feng, is this real?” Hu Yuanyuan struggled to accept it. Space pouches existed in fantasy novels, not reality.
“Try it and see,” Li Feng smiled.
She followed his instructions, still skeptical, doubting such a miraculous thing existed.
But her expression soon turned to shock.
“It’s… it’s real?” she stammered.
“Try it yourself,” Li Feng said, taking the chair out of his pouch.
“Okay.” Hu Yuanyuan nodded, storing the chair in her pouch and retrieving it several times, finally believing in the existence of space pouches.
“Li Feng, is this your latest product?” she asked, thinking such an item would be a massive hit on the market.
Li Feng was speechless.
Why did Hu Yuanyuan always think of money? Since when was she so profit-driven? And he certainly didn’t have the ability to invent such a thing.
“Not your invention?” she asked, seeing his silence.
“Yuanyuan, you overestimate me. This wasn’t my creation—it’s something our ancestors made,” Li Feng said with a wry smile.
“Our ancestors?” Hu Yuanyuan was stunned. She knew of the four great inventions, but they paled compared to this.
“Yes, created by our Chinese ancestors in ancient times, during the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors,” Li Feng nodded.
“What?” Hu Yuanyuan was incredulous. Space pouches in the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors? Why wasn’t this in textbooks or history books?
Seeing her confusion, Li Feng explained, “These are martial artist items, unknown to ordinary people. But now, apart from some martial artists, China’s top and first-class families know of them.”
“This is a low-grade space treasure. Higher-grade ones, like space rings, are as big as this villa, though I’ve never seen one,” he continued. “Ordinary people can’t know these exist. The martial artist world and the ordinary world are separate.”
“Li Feng, give me a moment to process,” Hu Yuanyuan said, overwhelmed by the shocking revelation. She needed time to digest it.
To her, even knowing about martial artists wasn’t as shocking as the space pouch. This was high-tech beyond current science, yet Li Feng said it existed thousands of years ago. How could she not be stunned?
She realised the world she knew had changed dramatically over the past month, filled with bizarre things she’d never heard of or seen.
“You said the Li family has these?” she asked after calming down.
“They must, but I haven’t seen them,” Li Feng replied.
“Then this space pouch?” she asked.
“I got it in the Hundred Thousand Mountains,” Li Feng answered. “With it, you’ll find many things easier. Important items can be stored safely, accessible only to you.”
“It’s unbelievable,” Hu Yuanyuan said, still struggling to accept it, though the evidence was undeniable.
“Yuanyuan, that’s the martial artist world. Even I’m shocked by some things,” Li Feng said, sitting her back on the bed. “This time, I got lucky, obtaining a space pouch and plenty of cultivation resources. We won’t have to worry about resources anymore.”
He took out two bottles of Foundation Pills and some herbs and jade, handing them to her. With the space pouch, she had a place to store them.
“With these, your cultivation will speed up. Aim for the Innate Realm within a year,” Li Feng said.
Watching her store everything in the pouch, he added, “Yuanyuan, keep the space pouch a secret. If someone knows you have it, they might come after you. It’s a fatal temptation for martial artists. When taking things out, do it somewhere private.”
“Got it,” Hu Yuanyuan nodded, understanding the danger of possessing such a treasure.
“Now, let’s cultivate together,” Li Feng said, taking out the dragon-shaped jade pendant.
“What’s this…” Hu Yuanyuan looked at it, puzzled. “How do you have a dragon jade?”
