Chapter 200 : Pregnant
Chapter 200: Pregnant
Du Yiluo’s explanation truly frightened Long Tao.
A blood-soaked battle every single moment without interruption? No rest at all?
Good heavens—this kind of meat-grinder-level war intensity could probably only be sustained for ten years by races like the Asura and those of the Hungry Ghost Path, beings who completely feared no death.
If such a war intensity occurred on their side, let alone ten years, any force would likely collapse within ten days. The advantage of not dying in war was simply enormous.
“So with your current identity and strength, can you join the Rakshasa Legion now?”
He could not help but look Du Yiluo up and down again. “With your current strength, can you enter the Rakshasa Legion?”
“Hmm… I could probably be a squad leader. If I’m lucky, maybe I could muddle my way into becoming a centurion.” Du Yiluo shrugged.
“That’s lower than I expected. I heard from a True Person that your strength should be around the Mid-to-Late Golden Core Stage.”
“It can’t be helped. That’s the Rakshasa Legion—it’s not the same as ordinary legions. Although my strength is roughly what you said, it’s still not enough. You have to understand… back when the Ancient Heavenly Court still existed, the Rakshasa Legion’s strength could even contend with the Heavenly Court’s great armies.”
Upon saying this, Du Yiluo suddenly looked a bit dispirited.
“At most… I’d only qualify as a Heavenly Soldier. I heard that to become a Heavenly Soldier, the minimum threshold was Golden Core. Sigh… thinking about it like that, the Ancient Heavenly Court really was absurdly powerful. Back then, the overall cultivation realm of your human cultivators was higher than it is now, so Golden Core might not have been as rare as it is today. But it was still Golden Core! Anyone who could reach that realm had at least some destiny luck, talent, or insight. Yet the Heavenly Court had the ability to stuff all those people into armor and use them as ordinary soldiers.”
Long Tao listened with fascination. In the present era, even the weakest Golden Core cultivator could obtain the position of elder in some sect or faction, big or small. But in ancient times… they could only serve as the lowest-level Heavenly Soldiers in the Heavenly Court, not even—
“Alright, the warehouse is here. Hurry up and take the food back. Don’t let your wife wait too long.”
Du Yiluo’s words suddenly interrupted his thoughts. Long Tao stopped thinking further, packed dried rations and vegetables from the warehouse, and returned to his house.
…
During the following ten days, Long Tao lived quite a fulfilling life.
In the mornings he practiced swordsmanship with Xin Wushe.
At noon he ate with several other young people trapped in the village like him, chatting and exchanging thoughts.
Although they were not particularly close, there was little sense of distance between them anymore.
In the afternoons he meditated, using internal observation to barely cultivate the Weaving Soul Returning-to-Origin Art.
Though he did not dare be certain, he felt that he had faintly begun to grasp the sensation of turning his Divine Sense into “needles” and starting to “weave the soul.”
But what made his emotions most complicated—and most unforgettable—was naturally every night.
True Person Mingzhu seemed to have gradually grown accustomed to this regular married life.
Her initial complaints and embarrassment slowly diminished.
In fact… Long Tao vaguely felt that she had begun to relish it.
Every night now, she would lie in bed early, waiting for him with a gaze that appeared calm but was actually unquestionable, as if expecting him to hand over his “marital duty.”
After these days of passion, Long Tao had arrived at an important life realization: for mortals, monogamy truly existed to protect men.
That evening, Long Tao attempted to initiate a rational discussion.
“True Person, how about we rest tonight? Your body is mortal now, so it should also need some recuperation, right?”
Mingzhu did not even raise her eyelids. “No. I don’t dare gamble. What if just missing once causes that ghostly thing to take another wisp of Divine Soul? Will you take responsibility? Alright, stop dawdling and hurry up.”
Perhaps it was his imagination, but Long Tao seemed to see a faint curve at the corner of Mingzhu’s lips after she said that—revealing a hint of laziness and allure completely different from her usual cold demeanor.
…
Xin Wushe had already been waiting there, holding the Natal Sword that never left his side.
When he saw Long Tao in this state, a rare trace of amusement appeared on his usually expressionless face.
“Looks like you can’t hold out anymore either. I already reminded you—your body is mortal now. You should know moderation with those nightly matters.”
Long Tao smiled bitterly.
“Senior Xin, I would like to exercise moderation… but on her side… she seems a bit… addicted.” He truly could not find a more tactful word.
“Oh?” Xin Wushe raised an eyebrow and smiled again. “Then you can only wish yourself good fortune and work harder in the future.”
Then he suddenly seemed to recall something, and his expression turned serious.
“By the way… have you two received a Knocking Task these days?”
Long Tao did not know why he suddenly asked this, but he answered immediately.
“I received one once. The True Person hasn’t received any. Is something wrong?”
“She hasn’t received one? As expected… I can tell you something then. Du Yiluo and I haven’t received any Knocking Tasks either.”
“Why…?” Long Tao asked instinctively, but immediately realized the key point and hurriedly added, “Could it be… because you are… Golden Core?”
“That’s what I think as well. Du Yiluo is an Asura, and her cultivation system differs from ours, so I wasn’t sure before. But now that Mingzhu hasn’t received any tasks for more than ten days, I can be fairly certain—Golden Core-level cultivators probably won’t receive Knocking Tasks.”
“Is there some special reason?”
“I don’t dare make any concrete speculation yet.” Xin Wushe shook his head. “But this might be a breakthrough point. Perhaps Golden Core-level beings have some other use to whatever is controlling all this behind the scenes.”
“Alright… if you can’t figure it out, don’t think about it for now. Let’s finish today’s sword practice first. As I said before, for the Riverside Step, the key isn’t just the sword moves—the footwork is equally important. Today I’ll start teaching you the movement technique in this method. It’s called ‘Step Tides Rise.’”
…
More than half a shichen later, today’s sword practice finally ended.
As Long Tao’s swordsmanship gradually began to look somewhat decent in recent days, Xin Wushe had even started occasionally sparring with him using a tree branch. Of course, it was truly just “sparring.”
Xin Wushe always sat casually on that large rock, most of his body completely motionless.
With only his right hand moving, a simple flick of the wrist was enough to accompany Long Tao’s “practice” until the end. In fact, only his forearm and wrist moved—he did not even bother to shift his shoulder.
“Alright, that’s enough for today.” Xin Wushe tossed aside the branch and, unusually, gave a bit of positive feedback. “You’re finally starting to look the part. Let’s see whether before leaving this damned place—or dying here—you can force me to move my shoulder. If you can do that… your swordsmanship will truly have entered the door.”
Without giving Long Tao a chance to respond, he turned and left the village on his own.
Long Tao had gradually realized that Xin Wushe’s purpose for leaving each time was not merely hunting.
With his swordsmanship, it was almost impossible for him to fail to catch prey. Yet many times he still returned empty-handed. When he went outside the village, he was likely investigating the terrain and searching for clues.
When Long Tao returned to the house, he saw Mingzhu chatting with Du Yiluo in the courtyard.
The two women had grown closer recently. Just as he was about to step forward and greet them, a strange figure suddenly appeared at the courtyard gate.
“Vil… Village Chief?”
At Long Tao’s exclamation, Du Yiluo and Mingzhu quickly turned to look as well. The three of them stared cautiously at the Village Chief, waiting for his reaction.
The Village Chief wore that smile that seemed measured by a ruler. His gaze landed on Mingzhu, and he spoke in an exaggeratedly joyful tone.
“Oh… both husband and wife are here? Good, good! Suyue, this is wonderful news! Earlier Physician Xu checked your pulse and confirmed it—it’s a happy pulse! Haha, our village will finally have another child. This is a great celebration for the whole village! During these days you must be careful. Don’t stumble or bump into anything. You must nurture yourself well!”
The three of them froze at once.
Mingzhu hurriedly touched her abdomen and looked at the Village Chief in surprise.
“I… when did I ever see that… Physician Xu?”
“Haha, wasn’t it half a month ago? Newly pregnant women tend to forget things easily. Long Tao… take good care of your wife. Don’t just think about having fun. This old man will take his leave.”
As they watched the Village Chief’s departing back, the three of them fell into silence.
Every time they saw that eerie existence walk away, their minds seemed to become tangled chaos.
However, just as Mingzhu was about to say something, she suddenly felt an extremely subtle yet strange swelling sensation in her lower abdomen.
She instinctively lowered her head and placed a hand there. Her expression instantly changed.
Her belly had actually enlarged slightly—visible to the naked eye.
Although it was still faint, it was definitely different from just a moment ago.
True Person Mingzhu’s breathtakingly beautiful face filled with disbelief. Her voice carried a trace of helpless bewilderment.
“I… I think I’m really pregnant.”