Reason for the Anomaly

The training grounds were deserted. Heavy with the night dew and the cold, a layer of white frost had formed on the surface of the stone locks.

These stone locks were forged from hard blue steel rock and had been left here to endure the elements for a hundred years, their weight unaffected by weathering.

In this Great Wilderness, people were accustomed to using jin, shi, and ding to describe the strength of Martial Practitioners.

The unit jin was similar to the shi jin on Earth. One shi was one hundred jin, and one ding was ten shi, which amounted to one thousand jin!

Seeing that no one was around, Yi Yun approached the stone locks. He picked up a fifty jin stone lock, lightly wiped away the frost, tensed his body, and lifted!

This stone lock was much lighter than Yi Yun had imagined; he could lift it with just one hand!

Yi Yun's heart leaped with joy. It was just as he suspected!

Next, Yi Yun chose a hundred jin stone lock.

This time, lifting it with one hand was difficult. Switching to both hands, it became easy again.

Taking a deep breath, Yi Yun stood before the two-hundred jin stone lock. He crouched down, gripping the bottom of the stone lock with both hands. His spine tensed like a drawn bow, and his legs exerted force that traveled to his waist.

"Lift!"

Yi Yun gritted his teeth and heaved the two-hundred jin stone lock over his head!

"I lifted it!"

Yi Yun was overjoyed. He held it for about three seconds before dropping the stone lock to the ground.

For a boy of eleven or twelve years old to lift a two-hundred jin stone lock—a weight more than three times his own body weight—would be utterly inconceivable on Earth.

His strength had increased so much overnight!

And strength was secondary; even more astonishing was his speed!

As a child, strength was his weakness, far inferior to that of an adult. However, his speed was not necessarily much worse. Facing Zhao Tiezhu's attacks before, Yi Yun was confident that his speed was at least twice that of his opponent!

His body had undergone a tremendous transformation!

Thinking back to the process of spitting out black blood and sweating out impurities, it was likely the legendary Marrow Cleansing.

His physical foundation had been extremely poor, and undergoing Marrow Cleansing had resulted in significant gains in both strength and speed!

He knew without a doubt that this change was brought about by the Purple Crystal. But why did the Purple Crystal cause such a transformation in his body? What was the reason?

Yi Yun subconsciously reached for the Purple Crystal at his chest, but to his surprise, his hand found nothing.

"Huh!?"

Yi Yun was greatly alarmed and quickly pulled open the front of his clothes.

The Purple Crystal was gone...

However, the coolness emanating from his chest had not diminished in the slightest.

What was this...?

Yi Yun lowered his head and gently touched the area where his heart was located. He had a strange feeling, as if the Purple Crystal was still there, never having left.

With every beat of his heart, the Purple Crystal seemed to vibrate along with it, as if it had merged with his heart.

And that faint, elusive coolness was released with each vibration of the Purple Crystal, flowing ceaselessly through his bloodstream to every part of Yi Yun's body.

Yi Yun raised his head and faintly saw the scattered Starlight in the sky converging towards him. To be precise, it was converging towards the Purple Crystal.

This Starlight entered his body and simply vanished.

The various phenomena related to the Purple Crystal had led Yi Yun to form a hypothesis.

The Purple Crystal could absorb energy!

In this world, in this universe, energy was fundamental!

From the grand movements of celestial bodies and the birth and death of stars, down to the small-scale construction of ant nests and the wilting and flourishing of grass, none of it could exist without energy.

According to the physics theories Yi Yun had learned on Earth, the entire universe began from a "singularity" containing infinite energy.

Energy could be converted into matter, into life, into everything.

And in this other world, the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi cultivated by experts was naturally a form of energy.

The Purple Crystal possessed a peculiar affinity for energy from birth.

It could absorb Starlight. Besides Starlight, the two attacks from Lian Chengyu that had harmed him were also a form of energy. This energy was likely something like "True Essence" that Lian Chengyu had cultivated.

It had lurked within his body, causing his entire body to stiffen. However, when this energy spread to his chest and touched the Purple Crystal, it was also absorbed by the Purple Crystal!

As for where the Purple Crystal's absorbed energy went, that was also obvious.

That invisible coolness accompanying the blood flow was likely the manifestation of energy. The energy absorbed by the Purple Crystal nourished his physical body along with his heart and blood. With every heartbeat, Yi Yun felt his body growing slightly stronger.

Recalling the Marrow Cleansing his body had undergone earlier, it was naturally due to the energy entering his meridians and blood.

Energy could alter material structures, bring vitality, and bestow strength and power!

His strength had surged from thirty jin to two hundred jin, a transformation that could be described as a complete rebirth.

So, what kind of energy possessed such efficacy?

A mere bit of Starlight, or the energy left by Lian Chengyu within him to cause harm, clearly wouldn't have such heaven-defying effects.

The answer was undoubtedly – Savage Bones!

While distributing rations, Lian Chengyu opened the wooden box of Savage Bones. Yi Yun saw many light spots fly out from the Savage Bones and into the Purple Crystal, where they were absorbed.

Savage Bones are the most precious and essential part of Savage Beasts, even more valuable than Savage Beast Meat!

The essence refined from Savage Bones can help a Warrior break through their cultivation realm, allowing a genius like Lian Chengyu to grow from an ordinary Warrior into a Purple Blood Warrior.

The preciousness of Savage Bones is self-evident!

Yi Yun, a boy with no strength to even truss a chicken, had no foundation whatsoever. His bones and muscles were as weak as they could possibly be. With such a physique, how could he not undergo a complete transformation after receiving even a small portion of the Savage Bones' power?

Understanding all of this, Yi Yun felt a sense of enlightenment.

He took a few deep breaths, slowly calming his mind. The Purple Crystal was undoubtedly a great treasure. It had merged with his body. With every beat of his heart, the Purple Crystal would inject energy into his bloodstream, tempering his body and improving his strength!

His strength grew with his heartbeat; his heartbeat was his cultivation. The Purple Crystal having such an effect was truly heaven-defying.

Despite obtaining such a treasure, Yi Yun did not show an ecstatic expression.

On the contrary, Yi Yun's face was somewhat solemn. Having lived two lives, even though Yi Yun hadn't experienced much in his first life, his mindset had changed considerably through this reincarnation.

When he first arrived in this world, Yi Yun was lost and his emotions fluctuated wildly. However, he slowly adapted to this place and had become calm.

With such a treasure before him, he couldn't be too greedy. It wasn't that he was free from desire or uninterested in such a treasure; quite the opposite. Knowing how precious the treasure was, he had to be cautious. If he became complacent, it would be easy for malicious individuals to spot a weakness, potentially leading to his utter ruin!

Yi Yun knew that the secret of the Purple Crystal could not be told to anyone.

Currently, the only person Yi Yun could trust in this world was his sister, Jiang Xiaorou. However, the fewer people who knew, the less danger there would be.

Treasures should not be shown to others. Jiang Xiaorou was just a frail woman, more susceptible to harm. If she knew too much, it could very well bring disaster upon her.

(Starting today, for the next two months, the update schedule will be the first update at 8 AM and the second at 8 PM. Seeking collections for the new book.)