```
Time slips away.
Seasons change.
In the blink of an eye, another three years had passed.
Over the past three years,
the situation in White Stone Dao had become increasingly chaotic and treacherous, even affecting the many industries of the Gu Family, where Gu Qingfeng belonged.
Even
forces within the Blood Refining Realm had taken advantage of the situation, attempting to swallow up the Gu Family.
But one and a half years ago, Gu Qingfeng personally took action, defeating a well-known Martial Artist of the Blood Refining Realm with overwhelming force in front of an audience, which sent shockwaves through White Stone Dao.
Even now,
it finally dawned on others
that the Gu Family Master, who had always kept a low profile, was actually a formidable force in the Blood Refining Realm.
Judging by his ability to kill a fellow practitioner, he was at least at the Mid-level of the Blood Refining Realm, and possibly had even stepped into the Late Stage.
With that,
the Gu Family had instantly become a renowned and powerful clan in White Stone Dao.
Because of this,
many forces came to visit, hoping to establish relations with the Gu Family.
After all, with White Stone Dao currently in chaos and the surrounding areas in turmoil, maintaining ties with a strong clan could prove beneficial.
However,
Gu Qingfeng had no intention of getting involved in Martial World affairs and politely declined all attempts at connections by various forces.
But even so, the Gu Family's reputation in White Stone Dao had become very prominent.
——
"Boom—"
In the backyard of the Gu Family, Gu Qingfeng was practicing the Fiery Sun Divine Palm. With each movement and technique, his bountiful Blood Qi Power surged like fierce flames, and the terrifying heat erupted with tremendous force at every turn.
When he was halfway through the set of hand skills, Gu Qingfeng's body trembled, and the originally intense Blood Qi Power suddenly soared, raising the temperature of the backyard considerably.
"Boom!"
He struck down with a palm,
reducing the rocks to dust.
Afterward,
Gu Qingfeng retracted his move and stood still, calming his boiling blood energy, then glanced at his attribute panel.
…
Name: Gu Qingfeng
Age: 35/100
Realm: Blood Refining Mid-level
Martial Arts: Gu Family Boxing (Unbreakable level one), Iron Body Skills (Body as hard as iron level one), Big Stone Breaking Hand (Small Success), Iron Leg Skill (Small Success), Iron Refining Finger (Small Success), Fiery Sun Divine Palm (Beginner of the fourth layer)
Upgrade Points: 0
…
"I've finally reached the Beginner stage of the fourth layer!"
Gu Qingfeng's expression was one of satisfaction.
After three years of arduous cultivation, he had successfully perfected the first three layers of the Fiery Sun Divine Palm. Just now, an epiphany had allowed him to breakthrough from the Perfection of the third layer and step into the Beginner stage of the fourth layer.
Although the Perfection of the third layer and the Beginner stage of the fourth layer were only a small step apart,
the breakthrough in the Fiery Sun Divine Palm allowed Gu Qingfeng to feel his strength increasing significantly.
At that moment,
a woman in a green dress, with skin as soft as cream and a pretty face, walked over. Seeing the sweat on Gu Qingfeng's forehead and the powdered rocks, a slight smile appeared in her eyes.
"Congratulations, my husband, on your further breakthrough in cultivation!"
"My lady has arrived."
Seeing the woman approach, Gu Qingfeng smiled faintly. His eyes grew tender when he noticed her slightly swollen belly.
This woman, named Xu Yulan, was the legitimate daughter of the White Stone Dao's Xu family. A year ago, the Xu family had met with disaster, and she was the only one to escape to the Gu Family. Ultimately, Gu Qingfeng stepped in to rescue her.
```
From that point on,
Xu Yulan took up residence in the Gu Family.
In less than two months,
Gu Qingfeng married Xu Yulan.
The reason he married Xu Yulan was not only because he felt a connection with her, but also partly because he wanted to see if he could have a few more children.
Indeed,
it was to have more children.
Ever since the awakening of the "Golden Finger," Gu Qingfeng's only child was Gu Yang, and he could only benefit when his son made a breakthrough.
However, as martial artists progress, breakthroughs become increasingly difficult.
Like now,
since Gu Yang's breakthrough to the Late Stage of the Refining Skin Realm, he hadn't managed to achieve Refining Skin Perfection in three years.
It was like this even at the Refining Skin Realm.
Once one reached the Blood Refining Realm, it would only take more time.
Even though practitioners of the Blood Refining Realm had a longer life span than ordinary people, it was limited, and Gu Qingfeng could die of old age at any moment.
Therefore,
he had to change his approach.
Marrying Xu Yulan
was one way for Gu Qingfeng to test the abilities of his "Golden Finger."
He wanted to see if, once Xu Yulan's child was born and he taught them the ways of Martial Arts, their breakthroughs would also provide him with Upgrade Points.
If that were true, Gu Qingfeng would have to change his future plans.
Many thoughts flashed through Gu Qingfeng's mind, and he said to Xu Yulan, "The wind is strong today, my lady. You should rest well. It would be bad if you caught a cold and affected the child."
"My body is strengthened by the soup herbs daily; the child in my womb is certainly healthy. My lord need not worry."
Xu Yulan smiled slightly, and hearing this, Gu Qingfeng also nodded slightly.
To ensure that the child Xu Yulan was carrying would have a talent like Gu Yang, Gu Qingfeng specially found an excellent prescription and spared no expense to purchase many valuable medicinal herbs to administer to Xu Yulan daily.
In one year's time,
not to mention how the child was, even Xu Yulan herself benefited greatly. Had it not been for the inconvenience of practicing Martial Arts due to her pregnancy, she might've been able to break through to the Mid-level of the Refining Skin Realm.
You see,
Xu Yulan's talent wasn't strong.
When she married Gu Qingfeng, she was already twenty years old, barely stepping into the Initial Stage of the Refining Skin Realm.
Now, in less than a year, she was almost qualified to aim for the Mid-level of the Refining Skin Realm, which shows just how much effort Gu Qingfeng had put into this.
At this moment,
Xu Yulan's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and her face showed a bit of pain.
Seeing this, Gu Qingfeng's expression changed abruptly, and he hurriedly supported Xu Yulan, "My lady?"
"My lord needn't worry; the child just kicked me, it's nothing."
Xu Yulan smiled like a blossoming flower, and only then did Gu Qingfeng relax.
Afterwards,
he accompanied Xu Yulan back to the bedroom to rest properly, then went to find a doctor to take her pulse.
Half a day passed,
and Gu Qingfeng came out of the bedroom with the doctor.
"Doctor Liu, how is my wife's condition?"
"Mr. Gu, rest assured, your wife is in good health, and the fetus is very healthy as well. It's estimated that the delivery will happen in another two months."
Doctor Liu chuckled.
Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng was overjoyed, then he called someone over, "Escort Doctor Liu on his way!"
After speaking,
Gu Qingfeng took out a silver note from his chest and handed it to Doctor Liu as a token of his gratitude for the hard work. The latter's face split into a wide grin as he saw the amount on the silver note.
Once Doctor Liu had left, Gu Qingfeng looked back in the direction of the bedroom and then called for two maids.
"Take good care of my lady, and let nothing go wrong, or I will hold you responsible!"
"Yes, Master—"