Xue Wei instantly fell to the ground, and the cultivation technique he had just gained fell from his hand and landed on the ground next to him. Seeing that he had dropped it, the young boy did not panic but quickly picked it up before he stood up. He straightened his body and wiped the snow off his clothes.

"I apologize for walking into you, sir," he said as he raised his head and looked into the eyes of a tall, handsome man.

The man had long black hair which was tied up beautifully on top of his head. His eyes were as blue as the endless ocean, and his body was draped in a dazzling blue robe with silver embroidery.

Those deep blue eyes looked directly into Xue Wei's, and they instantly widened as they were filled with surprise and shock. Even so, he did not withdraw his gaze. Instead, it intensified over time.

"Kid, look where you are walking." A chuckle sounded from beside the handsome man, and Xue Wei's eyes were finally dragged from the deep blue eyes that seemed to gaze into his soul. He saw that an alluring woman was standing by his side. Her hair was silver like beautiful moonlight, and her eyes were also blue, but where the man had eyes the color of the deep ocean, this woman had light blue eyes that resembled ice.

When she saw Xue Wei's eyes, her brows furrowed slightly, and she looked as if she was deeply pondering something. Both she and the man were in deep thought as if running into Xue Wei had caused an earth-shattering revelation. Their change confused the young man greatly, and he decided to apologize once more thinking that they were very mad at him.

"I apologize for bumping into you; I was too preoccupied today as something good happened," Xue Wei said with a slight bow, and the man finally snapped out of whatever had caught his mind.

"Do not mind it; do not mind it at all," he said with a devilish smile on his handsome face. "We are travelers who have come to the taiga for a mission, but we seem to have gotten lost when we saw this small town, so we decided to stop for a few days and buy provisions."

"I see, then you should come to my father's medicinal house! We sell the best pills, pastes, and herbs that are needed for a trip to the Northern Taiga!" Xue Wei said excitedly.

Although the city had its own mercenaries who went to the outskirts of the taiga quite often, it was rare for travelers to stop by since Lingyun town was one of the smaller towns on the outskirts of the taiga. Most travelers would go to the bigger cities instead.

"Your father owns a medicinal house? Could it be that he is an alchemist?" the man asked curiously as he squatted down to look eye to eye with Xue Wei, but the young child just shook his head.

"Daddy is an apothecary! He can make pastes and is very proficient with raw medicinal herbs, but he cannot create medicinal pills." Pausing for a moment, the child smiled, showing two dimples on his cheeks like the very depiction of innocence. "But don't worry, father gets medicinal pills from the merchants so you can buy real medicinal pills at his shop too! You have to come visit!"

Hearing the eagerness in the child's voice, the handsome man looked into the eyes of this youngster and smiled mysteriously.

"Don't worry," he said as he gently patted the child on top of his head. "I will definitely make sure to come visit your shop. Now run along and do your chores," he laughed, and Xue Wei nodded his head, bowed slightly to the man and woman, and rushed back home.

"I have never seen anyone as beautiful as those two people," he mused to himself as he ran down the street towards his father's shop. "Maybe they are fairies! I’ve heard in legends that such beautiful people exist, but I never thought they were real!"

Thinking this, the small child just laughed to himself and thought no more about the encounter. Although they were beautiful, they were both real. Thus they could definitely not be fairies, but the child was still dreaming when he reached home, and his eyes were sparkling with excitement as he saw his father.  

"You seem excited," his father commented when he saw Xue Wei coming inside the door. "Was it really that exciting to get the cultivation technique from those three old men?"

"Don't call them old men. You’re an old man!" Xue Wei laughed. "They are at least a decade younger than you, and they are real martial artists! They served in the army and returned as heroes. Aren't they amazing?"

Xue Wei's eyes glistened with excitement as he thought about this, but his father just laughed and shook his head.

"They are actually older than me. Older than me by quite a bit! But as you said, they are martial artists, and thus their life has been extended compared to normal people like myself. I can prolong my life with the use of herbs, but my youth will never return."

"Martial artists, on the other hand, are all able to prolong their lives. Those that are the same rank as our three old Overseers are able to live to be two hundred years old, double the lifespan of a normal person. And rumor has it that if you become strong enough, then one day you could even become immortal!"

Xue Wei had never before heard his father speak about martial artists, but he was filled with excitement. He nodded his head seriously, showing that he was listening to what was being said.

"I don't understand why you wish to become a cultivator, to be honest," Xue Wei's father said with a sigh. "I understand the allure of becoming a hero, but heroes usually die young. Geniuses fall from the skies as often as the rain, and I would never want to see you, my dear son, die an early death. Also when you enter the army at the sixteenth year of your birth, you will not become just common infantry like the others. Because of your background as an apothecary's son, you will become a member of the Medicinal Corps."

"But father, I want to learn martial arts!" Xue Wei said pleadingly. The two of them had often discussed the same thing, but neither truly wished to give up. It was just that Xue Wei's father had backed down enough to allow him to go and pick up the cultivation technique and study it. As for whether or not he could truly become a martial artist, no one could tell. The road a martial artist tread was simply too long.

Sighing, Xue Wei's father shook his head and waved his hand, "I need to look after the shop. Why don't you go to your room and study this martial art you received?" he said with a tired voice, but Xue Wei, who was caught up in his excitement, did not notice his father’s tiredness and just ran out of the room to the back of the shop where their living quarters were located.

Xue Wei ran to his room and sat down on his bed. His hands were shaking from excitement, and a silly grin was on his lips. He could not contain his excitement, and he instantly opened the copy of the cultivation technique and started to read.