Modification

"You are Shennong, destined to taste a hundred herbs and eat ten thousand beasts. Without a stomach strong enough, you won't cut it..."

Xu Yanwu muttered to himself, a large amount of energy surging from his body into Lianshan's.

"Let's start with Lianshan's first modification. Making him stronger won't happen overnight..."

As Xu Yanwu spoke, he began to focus his power on transforming Lianshan's body.

"Ah..."

Lianshan had no idea what was happening. All he felt was a burning sensation in his abdomen, and beads of sweat immediately broke out on his forehead.

"Brother Xu, what are you doing!"

"Teaching you how to get stronger!"

Xu Yanwu didn't offer Lianshan much explanation. As his power flowed into Lianshan's body, he had already sealed Lianshan's ability to move. The next step was to strengthen his body.

"Rapid digestion, physical enhancement core, reinforced stomach lining..."

Xu Yanwu modified Lianshan's stomach and intestines in one go. First was the rapid digestion ability, ensuring that situations like being overstuffed would no longer happen to Lianshan.

Next was related to physical enhancement. Xu Yanwu didn't directly strengthen Lianshan's body, but instead gave his stomach the ability to use digested energy to reinforce Lianshan's body.

If Lianshan could eat all the Honkai Beasts in the world, he might even achieve physical sainthood...

These were the two most important abilities. The others were merely to ensure Lianshan's digestive system could handle anything. While not particularly powerful abilities, they were more than enough for Lianshan.

Actually, Xu Yanwu wanted to give Lianshan a Saint Mark too, but he knew nothing about Saint Marks, so he put it aside for now.

He'd try to find other Saint Mark users to study with later before attempting to give Lianshan one... a Saint Mark that a man could also use.

After completing the modification, Xu Yanwu released his suppression on Lianshan and stood up excitedly, but his legs felt weak, and he almost fell.

"Damn it, I overused my energy again... feeling a bit drained..."

"Brother Xu?!" As Lianshan just managed to get up, he saw Xu Yanwu sway and thought he was about to fall. He quickly reached out to grab Xu Yanwu, but his hand accidentally sent Xu Yanwu flying.

"???"

Lianshan looked at his hand in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe he had done that.

"Splat..."

After being sent flying by Lianshan, Xu Yanwu landed on the ground. He got up, heard Lianshan's words, and became angry. He was in no mood to be appeased!

"You brat, do you know how much energy I used to make you stronger? And you still dare to lay a hand on me?"

Although Xu Yanwu was a bit weak now, he could still muster enough strength to give Lianshan a beating.

Besides, Lianshan's body had been modified by Xu Yanwu. Even if he got injured, he could heal himself after a hearty meal.

"Don't hit me, don't hit me! Brother Xu! What's going on! How did my strength suddenly become so great?"

Lianshan covered his head, accepting Xu Yanwu's "affection," fully expressing his confusion about the current situation.

"Nonsense! I made you stronger! Otherwise, you wouldn't even be able to beat Ji Lin! How could you possibly be worthy of her? Huh?"

Xu Yanwu spat out some dust he had inhaled when he hit the ground and continued, "But even now, your strength is still pathetic. Ji Lin's future growth is terrifying. Do you want to always be behind her, protected by her?"

"I..."

Lianshan clenched his fists tightly at Xu Yanwu's scolding.

"I'm not looking down on women, but I don't believe men should hide behind women! That's a man's shame!"

Xu Yanwu snorted, "Lianshan, do you want to stand behind Ji Lin, or stand in front of her and carry everything for her?"

"I..." Lianshan roared, "I want to protect Ji Lin!!!"

"Even if it costs me my life! I will protect her!"

Seeing Lianshan roaring at the sky, Xu Yanwu showed a gratified smile and reached out... then slapped Lianshan to the ground. "What are you roaring about? Are you afraid people won't know?"

"Don't mention what happened today to anyone."

Xu Yanwu habitually stroked his chin. "There's still a lot I can teach you. I just don't know how far you can go..."

By the time Xu Yanwu carried the dust-covered Lianshan, who had stumbled several times from his sudden surge of strength, back to the tribe, it was already dark. Torches were lit throughout the tribe, illuminating the work of the people.

"Lord Ying Long, you're back."

The guard saluted Xu Yanwu and then looked at Lianshan, who was slung over Xu Yanwu's shoulder, with curiosity. "Is Lady Jiang Zhu..."

"It's nothing. I took him out to see the world today. Where are Ji Lin and the others?"

Xu Yanwu waved his hand dismissively, inquiring about Ji Lin and the others' whereabouts.

"The Chieftain and Lady Chi Yuan are making new clothes with the women. After the attack, many of our winter preparations were destroyed. We need to hurry and get ready for winter before it arrives."

"Hmm?"

Xu Yanwu raised an eyebrow. Ji Lin was making clothes? Chi Yuan too?

Wow, this wasn't mentioned in Honkai Impact 3rd!

Is Ji Lin really that domestic?

Can fight Honkai Beasts on the battlefield and be a good wife and mother off the field?

Lianshan, you rascal, you've got a good eye!

"So, what are you guys doing here?"

Xu Yanwu watched the beast meat being cut into pieces with great interest, guessing, "Are you... curing meat?"

The guard was taken aback, then shook his head with a wry smile, "Lord Ying Long jokes, we don't have nearly enough salt stones to cure meat. We're just smoking jerky right now."

After saying this, the guard returned to his work, leaving Xu Yanwu standing there. He patted Lianshan's shoulder and asked softly, "Lianshan, has life in your tribe always been like this?"

"Mm... actually, this kind of life is already considered very good."

Lianshan's words carried a sadness of having seen the suffering of all living beings, "We are all so weak. Facing those terrifying monsters, we don't even have the slightest ability to defend ourselves. If Ji Lin hadn't stepped forward, we wouldn't even have this life."

Xu Yanwu fell silent for a moment, feeling that he should be able to do something.

So, Xu Yanwu patted Lianshan's behind and said, "Lianshan, I've changed my mind. You not only need to have great power."

"You also need to lead these people to their peak!"