Chapter Twenty: Three Years

  Time slips away, years pass by, and time always slips away from your fingers when you're not paying attention, leaving behind a trail of melancholy and longing. As for what's gained, it's like drinking water - the warmth or coolness is known only to oneself.

  For a monk, three years are just a snap of the fingers, and when calculated from that autumn to Majiacun, Gan Ping has spent three and a half years.

  Nowadays, Majia Village is no longer the dilapidated and simple village it once was. The outer wall still surrounds the village, but unlike three years ago, the original earth walls have been replaced by tall and majestic city walls made of bluestone, with a range that has expanded more than three times. The old village head, Old Horse Head, is now called Marquis Ma. In just three short years, Old Horse Head used the materials from the Iron Armor Turtle Cow's demonic beast to forge top-quality swords and mixed them with other weapons for sale, making Majia Village famous far and wide.

  Nowadays, Majiacun is a well-known rich place, and girls from all over the village are eager to marry here. Li Erniang no longer runs around matchmaking, and in the past, nobody wanted to marry into Majiacun even if they were told about it until dawn. Now, people from all over the village who want to marry their daughters here have almost worn out the doorstep. Mr. Zhang is still the private school teacher in the village, and although Majiacun has expanded a lot in the past two years, everyone still respects him very much, which is largely due to his good disciple, Gan Ping.

  Gan Ping gave several martial arts manuals to Old Ma two years ago, which he had retrieved from a storage ring. Cultivators who practice sitting meditation and internal energy cultivation can avoid illnesses, but even so, they still need a certain amount of time to cultivate their martial skills. For cultivators, when they make a move, it's like moving mountains and filling oceans, with unmatched power. Even ordinary disciples in the secular world are considered top-notch experts, so they tend to look down on worldly martial arts. However, in order to stimulate blood circulation, increase reaction speed, and gain an advantage in combat, many cultivators still learn a few worldly martial arts techniques and practice them regularly.

  In the storage ring of Xuan Mingzi, there were more than a dozen secret martial arts manuals, all of which he had snatched and put in the ring. Gan Ping picked out a few and handed them over to Old Horse Head, which also solved the doubts of the villagers about himself, no longer using the excuse of being born with divine power. This move also greatly reduced the vigilance of the villagers towards him, and Gan Ping could imagine this mentality. In a flock of sheep, if one lamb can kill a hungry wolf, the other sheep will definitely be vigilant, but if this lamb can share its method of becoming stronger with all the sheep, they will not think that the lamb is a monster, and people are no exception.

  Although these kung fu moves are looked down upon by those who practice them, they are simply a shortcut to heaven for ordinary people. With the precedent of Gan Ping, the villagers of Majiacun abandoned their original three-legged cat martial arts and began to cultivate these kung fu moves. In just two years, the level of martial artists in Majiacun has risen to a new level, with almost all men practicing the "Dragon Elephant Prajna Heart Sutra". Their physical strength and quality have improved significantly, and they can now forge iron with ease, creating better and better weapons. The blacksmiths of Majiacun are now famous far and wide, and no longer need to mix in monster materials to create top-notch weapons. The current Majiacun is like a newly born place, full of hustle and bustle.

  Gan Ping, the one who brought new life to Ma Jiaji, was now being dragged by the hand on the street, helplessly looking at the excited Ma Ling'er in front of him. Gan Ping was speechless. He was now a 13-year-old young boy, but due to practicing the physical training method of Bing Huo Rong Yuan Jue, he looked more mature than his peers. At first glance, he seemed like a handsome 15- or 16-year-old young man. Standing together with Ma Ling'er, everyone who saw them couldn't help but praise in their hearts: what a perfect couple, truly a match made in heaven.

  It's said that girls change at eighteen, and this saying is not false. At fifteen years old, Ma Ling'er has become even more beautiful. Originally a beauty in the making, she has blossomed into an even lovelier and more charming person over the past three years. Her eyebrows and eyes are like a painting, elegant and hard to describe, just like a flower bud waiting to bloom. At this moment, she is pulling Gan Ping along as they hurry, complaining, "Gan Ping, you bookworm, why are you so slow? Today is the day that the big merchant group from Xiao Yue City comes to Ma Jia Cun to sell goods. If we go late, all the good things will be taken by others."

  As Majiacun grew and prospered, more and more merchants came to buy weapons, and many shops appeared in the village. Many villagers no longer farmed, but instead engaged in trade. The prosperous Majiacun was even called Majiabao. This merchant group from Xiaoyuecheng was organized by several major commercial guilds in Xiaoyuecheng, gathering goods together to sell in various towns and villages. In the past, Majiacun was too poor, and this merchant group didn't bother to come. But over the past two years, Majiacun gradually became wealthy, and this year's visit from the merchant group was their first time setting up a market in the village.

  Maji Village is nearly a hundred miles away from Xiao Yue City. Ma Ling'er grew up in the village and had never seen the prosperity of Xiao Yue City, which was said to be legendary. This time, when she heard that the merchant group was setting up a market in the village, her lively nature made her eager to go. She didn't forget to call out to Gan Ping as she left, but Gan Ping was not enthusiastic about it. In the end, he annoyed Ma Ling'er, who grabbed his hand and dragged him along, pulling and tugging at him with an air of "if you don't come, I'll drag you away even if you're unconscious." Poor Gan Ping had a powerful physique, but he could only watch helplessly as he was being pulled away. The fire spirit seemed to know that it was going to join in the fun, jumping and leaping on Gan Ping's shoulder, chirping excitedly without stopping. Looking at Ma Ling'er's excited face and the jumping fire spirit, Gan Ping had no choice but to pinch his nose and follow along.

  Ignoring the dejected and dispirited Gan Ping, Ma Ling'er walked quickly through the crowd with a happy stride. Since their engagement was settled that year, the adults of both families intentionally or unintentionally let them be together. Although Gan Ping appeared unwilling on the surface, being held by this delicate small hand made him, who had cultivated the Taiyi Pure Yang Heart Classic, somewhat moved in his Daoist heart and felt as if he were floating away without knowing where.

  Ma Ling'er is now a famous beauty in the surrounding areas, and many young people in the village have secretly admired her for years. Unfortunately, she had been betrothed to Gan Ping since childhood, so others could only admire her from afar, not daring to pursue her. Although Gan Ping appears refined and elegant like a scholar now, he was actually the one who defeated Tie Jia Kui Niu several years ago. After all, everyone has to weigh their own strength, whether they can withstand more than Tie Jia Kui Niu.

  Last year, a seventh-level warrior came to the village to forge weapons. This guy was considered a top-notch master, but somehow he teased Ma Ling'er and provoked Gan Ping, that evil star. He beat up this so-called high-handed person in front of ordinary people and threw him out of the village. Unexpectedly, that humiliated guy actually gathered a group of people to come to the village, speaking dirty words, which made Mr. Zhang, who had always been gentle, furious. With a wave of his sleeve, he no longer stopped Gan Ping. Gan Ping used a door bar to beat up those dozen or so martial arts losers until they were picking their teeth from the ground and didn't dare cause trouble again. That's how the reputation of Majiacun spread.

  It wasn't until after this incident that everyone realized that in Gan Ping's heart, Ma Ling'er was the untouchable reverse scale. Although he usually treated Ma Ling'er with indifference, when it came to critical moments, he could do anything for her. Ma Ling'er had also figured out this point about him and would drag him along every time she went out, even if he appeared extremely reluctant on the surface, but as soon as that small white hand pulled him, he would give in to everything.

  The merchant group from Xishan City was visiting Majiacun, a remote place, for the first time. The villagers were eager to see them and flocked to the market. In recent years, the village had become wealthy, and every household had some spare money, so the market was bustling with people coming and going. Most of these people knew Gan Ping and Ma Ling'er, the young couple, and greeted them enthusiastically, occasionally teasing them with a few words. This made Ma Ling'er blush, but she still held Gan Ping's hand tightly, refusing to let go. She glanced at him secretly and saw that he was calm and composed, seemingly unaffected, but from the tension in his hand, she knew he was pretending again. Rolling her eyes, Ma Ling'er pulled Gan Ping towards a sugar figurine stall across the way.

  With two sugar gourds in his hands, a sugar figurine, and a bunch of strange trinkets stuffed into his chest, Gan Ping walked gloomily behind Ma Ling. The fire on his shoulder was holding a bag of sugar-roasted nuts, savoring the delicious taste, and the shells of the nuts fell onto Gan Ping's collar, making him want to cry without tears.

  From morning till afternoon, even Ganning's second-layer Golden Sales strength was somewhat overwhelmed, but Maliang had no signs of fatigue at all, which made Ganning suspect that his own cultivation had regressed.

  Ma Ling'er walked quickly with her hands empty, and when she glanced at him, she saw Gan Ping's bitter expression. She jumped to his side in two or three steps and asked, "Gan Ping, are you tired?" "Oh, I'm fine." Gan Ping didn't dare say he was tired, anyway, they had to accompany Ling'er for a while, why bother causing trouble. "So you don't like being with me anymore?" "How could that be? Am I not very happy?" Looking at Gan Ping's insincere words, Ma Ling'er looked at him suspiciously.

  "Really?" "Of course it's true, I'm very happy now... happy..."

  Ma Ling'er burst out laughing at this sentence, leaned in close to Gan Ping's ear and whispered, "My good husband, when we get back I'll give you a massage, hehe." Gan Ping stood there frozen, Ma Ling'er leaning in close to his ear, the scent of a young girl wafting over, as gentle as an orchid, her words accompanied by warm breath that made Gan Ping's ears itch, and his heart flutter like his ears. For a moment he didn't react, staring blankly as Ma Ling'er walked away with a silvery laugh, before chasing after her.

  Ma Ling'er is fifteen years old this year and has become a big girl. The adults of both families have already decided to let them get married in another year. Although it's rare for a fourteen-year-old groom, it's not unheard of. Moreover, Gan Ping now looks more mature than Ma Ling'er, so whenever Gan Ping is unhappy, Ma Ling'er uses this trick to cheer him up, and it never fails. Although he knows he will eventually marry Ma Ling'er, when he heard Mr. Zhang and Old Ma's decision, Gan Ping was still a little caught off guard, but his heart felt sweet and pleasant.

  As they saw Ma Ling'er running further and further away, Gan Ping hurriedly chased after her. Ma Ling'er saw a jewelry stall ahead, filled with accessories that girls loved, and quickly ran towards it. Gan Ping held onto a pile of miscellaneous items, closely following behind them. What they didn't expect was that this trip to the street stalls would bring about a huge commotion.