After the burial, Lin Le began sorting through the wolf carcasses. There were thirty or forty of them, far more than he could possibly eat—there were probably two or three tons of meat.
Lin Le had no intention of staying here for another ten days or half a month.
He found the corpses of the Alpha Wolf and the few intelligent wolves, separated their flesh and bones, and put them into a large pot to stew.
As for the ordinary wolves, Lin Le only removed their spines, extracted the marrow, and boiled that.
While he was at it, Lin Le rummaged through the villagers' homes and found some silver, as well as a martial art manual.
Bone Shrinking Skill. After learning it, one could alter one's body shape. Upon reaching mastery, one could obtain a Bone Structure known as Shark Bone.
Shark Bone gave one's bones greater flexibility and elasticity, and even regenerative capabilities.
In other words, those with this Bone Structure could regenerate severed, incomplete limbs.
Learn it!
After considering it for a moment, Lin Le made his decision. In his view, bones ought to be trained with the Mighty Bull Skill. Once the Mighty Bull Skill reached mastery, it would grant the Bone Structure known as Mighty Bull Bone.
But out here in this wilderness, who knew when he would find it? Better to train what was right in front of him first.
Moreover, the effects of Mighty Bull Bone overlapped somewhat with the Iron Plate Ribs and Coiling Dragon Tendons that were more easily obtained through Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training.
Now that he had a better choice, if he did not learn it now, then when would he?
The lotus in his inner landscape swayed, and a golden lotus seed dissipated.
One thought became one year. Lin Le spent it studying the Bone Shrinking Skill until he brought it to mastery.
My comprehension seems to have grown stronger. Is it because my divine soul has become stronger?
Lin Le returned to himself and could not help muttering.
He had thought it would take two lotus seeds to bring the Bone Shrinking Skill to mastery. Unexpectedly, one lotus seed had been enough to push it to mastery at the very limit.
Drops of Blood Essence Treasure Liquid fell. As Lin Le practiced the Bone Shrinking Skill, he ate the boiled wolf-meat porridge, while the Great Devourer Art circulated on its own.
A day later, Lin Le circulated his blood and qi. The framework of his body expanded, and his original five-foot frame shot up to seven feet tall.
But after only two or three breaths, Lin Le returned to normal. When he circulated his blood and qi again, he shrank to just four feet tall.
No wonder it's called the Bone Shrinking Skill. It simply isn't suited for combat, Lin Le thought.
The instant his bones expanded, Lin Le felt like a balloon. Any slightly penetrating attack from outside could cause tremendous damage to his internal organs.
When he compressed his bones, Lin Le felt his movements become severely restricted, while his organs were squeezed together, leaving him extremely uncomfortable.
If he wanted to fight, he would need to pair it with a martial art that strengthened the five viscera and six bowels.
Blood qi steamed upward, and red mist rushed toward Lin Le's restored four-foot-tall body. He nodded slightly. After eating the Alpha Wolf, he should be able to reach seven feet, more or less.
Just as he was about to continue training Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training, Big Yellow Dog suddenly began barking.
Lin Le strode over quickly.
At the entrance to the village, twenty or thirty people were carrying wolf carcasses with delighted expressions, while Big Yellow Dog barked furiously beside them.
In Big Yellow Dog's eyes, these wolves were Lin Le's prey. Outsiders had no right to touch them.
"What are you barking for? Keep barking and I'll eat you too!" One man grew impatient from the barking and grabbed a stone, hurling it at Big Yellow Dog.
Big Yellow Dog twisted aside and dodged the stone. Then, angered as well, it lunged straight at the man.
The man was fairly nimble. He dodged Big Yellow Dog's bite, then kicked at it.
Big Yellow Dog took the opportunity to bite down on his trouser leg and yank. The man immediately fell over.
"Ow!" The man landed on his backside and cried out in pain. He cursed angrily, "Damn dog, I'm definitely eating you today! Everyone, help me catch that dog!"
Not a single person spoke.
Seeing that everyone around him remained still, the man knew something was wrong.
He slowly turned his head and saw a youth carrying a blade quietly watching him, not a trace of emotion in his eyes.
No one present was a fool. Seeing the youth's fair, clean appearance and his cold, composed bearing, they knew he came from a wealthy household. With a blade in hand, there was no need to doubt it—the wolves here had certainly all been killed by him.
After all, it was commonplace for children of wealthy households to become Martial Masters at a young age.
It was simply that no one had expected this young master to still be here. They had only dared take the wolf carcasses after noticing they had gone unprocessed for a day.
"What did you say you wanted to eat?" Lin Le spoke calmly, but to the man on the ground, his voice struck like thunder.
The man immediately caved. He knocked his head against the ground. "Young master, this lowly one wanted to eat dog shit. Please do not take offense."
"Apologize to him, and this matter will be over." Lin Le pointed at Big Yellow Dog.
The man was decisive. He immediately turned and began kowtowing to Big Yellow Dog. "Lord Dog, I'm sorry! This lowly one had eyes but failed to see!"
"Woof." Big Yellow Dog barked once, seemingly willing to let the matter pass.
"Roll back." Lin Le said.
The man truly rolled back into the crowd.
"Who's the leader?" Lin Le looked at the crowd.
A man with a somewhat fair face stepped forward. "That would be me, young master."
His tone was uneasy. In his eyes, children of wealthy households would surely travel with guards.
Even if this youth before him was only a first-limit Martial Master, his guards would at least be second-limit Martial Masters, not something a first-limit Martial Master in his thirties like himself could compare to.
"Where are you from?" Lin Le asked.
"Qingye County," the man answered.
Qingye County? Wasn't that the county beside Bailian County? Lin Le's thoughts turned as he asked again, "What is the situation in Qingye County? Has the flood been stopped?"
"It has," the man nodded.
"If it has been stopped, why travel so far away? You don't look like merchants." Lin Le asked.
"Demon disasters, sir," the man explained. "The imperial qi still hasn't gathered even now. Every few days, a whole household dies in the city. The villages outside the city are dying off village by village. No one can sit still anymore."
"How many days has it been since the flood was stopped?" Lin Le asked in confusion.
"Fifteen days already," the man said.
Lin Le's brows immediately furrowed. That should not have been the case. Half a month was enough for the imperial qi to begin gathering.
"What about the authorities?" Lin Le asked. "Have they taken no measures?"
"They sent constables to patrol day and night, and even hired several cultivator families to kill demons." At this point, the man could not help sighing. "But it has done no good. Just as many people keep dying, while all kinds of taxes grow higher and higher. We truly can't hold on any longer."
"I understand." Lin Le nodded slightly. "Take the wolf meat and wolf pelts if you want them. I can't take them with me anyway."
"Thank you, young master!" The man immediately bowed to Lin Le in delight. What he feared most was Lin Le holding them accountable for taking the wolf carcasses earlier, because they were Lin Le's property.
They had taken them without asking. If they had encountered someone even slightly more violent, they might have had their legs broken—or even been beaten to death alive.
Lin Le waved a hand and turned to leave. In his inner landscape, five more points of merit entered, combining with the remaining merit to condense another lotus seed.
After gathering up the wolf meat, the group hurried away, seemingly afraid Lin Le would change his mind.
Lin Le did not care about them. What concerned him was that the imperial qi had still not gathered.
Under nature's adjustment, the imperial qi should have begun gathering, especially since the flood had passed.
But if the flood had passed and the imperial qi still had not gathered, it could only mean the source of the disaster remained. The flood could erupt again at any time.
There was another possibility: someone was controlling the imperial qi, preventing it from gathering.
Combining this with the information from before, Lin Le narrowed his eyes and uttered a single sentence:
"The wealthy gentry's money shall be returned in full; the common people's money shall be split seventy-thirty."
Before you continue