Although the Lian Clan was located in a barbaric wilderness and lived under incredibly harsh conditions, it possessed one place where medicinal herbs grew abundantly: Lian Clan Medicine Mountain!
The Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi around Lian Clan Medicine Mountain was slightly denser, allowing medicinal herbs to grow there. It could barely be considered a Spiritual Ground.
Although it was called a Spiritual Ground, that was only in comparison to the utterly impoverished Lian Clan. If it were placed among the great clans, Lian Clan Medicine Mountain would be nothing worth mentioning. After all, in the Great Wilderness, there were many places where the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi was slightly denser.
Ordinary great clans would choose auspicious lands to establish themselves. Such places were rich in resources and also beneficial for warriors cultivating.
Most importantly, for some unknown reason, those powerful desolate beasts and even wild beasts usually refused to approach these "Spiritual Grounds." This provided the clan's residents with an extremely important layer of protection.
Of course, from time to time, some wounded or provoked berserk desolate beasts would charge recklessly through everything, still causing certain small clans to be wiped out completely.
However, everything had its advantages and disadvantages. While Spiritual Grounds kept most desolate beasts and wild beasts away, they also made the animals near Spiritual Grounds exceedingly rare. Hunting prey was no easy task. The occasional rabbits and roe deer had long since been caught clean.
Thus, under normal circumstances, only Purple Blood Warriors had the ability to venture deep into the Great Wilderness and hunt prey.
The Spiritual Grounds in the Great Wilderness had always been coveted resources. This medicine mountain belonging to the Lian Clan counted as one of the lowest-grade varieties. Otherwise, how could the Lian Clan possibly have kept it?
Although the medicine mountain was low-grade, to the Lian Clan it was an incomparably precious treasure. It was the foundation on which they had established their clan.
Moreover, every time the villagers went up the mountain to gather herbs, they were thoroughly searched when they returned, precisely to prevent anyone from hiding medicinal herbs.
Yi Yun carried a herb basket on his back as he walked beside Jiang Xiaorou. He had just asked Jiang Xiaorou about the realms of martial cultivation.
The lowest level of martial cultivation was called Mortal Blood. Warriors whose cultivation was at the Mortal Blood level were called Mortal Blood Warriors.
Mortal Blood could not truly be considered a distinct realm. It was merely a general term for people who practiced martial arts.
Mortal Blood meant the blood of mortals. Mortal Blood Realm warriors were, in plain terms, mortal warriors. Although they practiced martial arts, they still had not completely separated themselves from ordinary people. In essence, they could not escape the word "mortal."
However, Mortal Blood Realm warriors were still far stronger than ordinary people. They could tear tigers and leopards apart with their bare hands and run as swiftly as galloping horses.
The Mortal Blood Realm was divided into five levels: the first, Valiance; the second, Qi Long; the third, Thunder Sound; the fourth, Meridians; and the fifth, Qi Attraction.
The first level, Valiance, was when martial artists practiced by constantly lifting weights, running, striking posts, and fighting, supplemented by precious foods such as ginseng, antler velvet, and beast meat. Little by little, they improved their physical constitution, greatly increasing their strength and speed!
Yi Yun was currently at the Valiance level. His strength had grown to two or three hundred jin, while his speed was twice that of Zhao Tiezhu. In this respect, Yi Yun was far stronger than ordinary Valiance warriors. One had to know that he was only eleven or twelve years old, yet his physical constitution was already comparable to that of a grown man.
In truth, Valiance could not even be considered the starting point of the martial path.
The second level of Mortal Blood, Qi Long, meant that after a martial artist's physical constitution had improved greatly, his breath became long and enduring. If Qi Long was cultivated to its limits, one could inhale a breath that twisted like a snake and exhale a breath that formed an arrow of qi. This was the so-called "inhaling like a snake, exhaling like an arrow." It was most obvious in winter. That arrow of qi could shoot four or five feet away, and might even pierce through paper!
Moreover, the heart rate of a Qi Long Realm warrior was only one-third that of an ordinary person. Yet every heartbeat supplied blood for much longer. Such a warrior could chase a thousand-li horse for half an hour and still not flush or breathe heavily.
The third level, Thunder Sound, referred to the body achieving complete harmony. The skin, flesh, tendons, membranes, and bones all became extraordinarily sturdy, and every part of the body could coordinate perfectly. One remained motionless like a venomous snake lying in ambush, yet moved like a male lion pouncing on a rabbit.
Because a Thunder Sound warrior's physical body had reached great completion, whenever he exerted his full strength, the joints and bones within his body would crack and produce a faint rumble of thunder. That was where the name Thunder Sound came from.
The fourth level, Meridians, referred to opening the twelve orthodox meridians as well as the Ren and Du Meridians. Once the meridians were connected, a martial artist could sense the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi.
The fifth level, Qi Attraction, complemented the fourth level, Meridians. After sensing the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi, a martial artist could draw it into his body. When Qi Attraction was cultivated to its limits, the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi would transform his body, completing a process of shedding the mortal shell and being reborn anew. The martial artist would then officially step into the next major realm—the Purple Blood Realm.
Strictly speaking, the Purple Blood Realm was the true beginning of martial cultivation.
This realm was called the Purple Blood Realm because after a warrior cultivated his physical body to a certain degree, quantity would transform into quality. At the moment he broke through into the Purple Blood Warrior realm, all the blood in his body would become as dense as mercury. If a little of this blood were placed beneath the sunlight, one could see specks of purple-gold radiance shimmering within it.
That was how the Purple Blood Realm got its name!
Warriors who entered the Purple Blood Realm were already extremely powerful. They could support an entire small clan through their own strength. Thus, in the Great Wilderness, Purple Blood Warriors enjoyed exceptionally high status.
A Purple Blood Warrior who casually entered a medium or small clan would essentially become an emperor there. All the clansmen would obey his commands. He would hold the highest authority over the clan, possess the power of life and death, and be free to enjoy all the clan's most beautiful women. Every woman would even feel honored to be favored by a Purple Blood Warrior. Even the clan leader's daughter would obediently climb into his bed.
There was nothing that could be done about it. Imagine a young woman who ate thin porridge every day and lived from one day to the next. Then, one day, a hero suddenly appeared in her life, able to bring her the most sumptuous food and the most comfortable existence. How could she not throw herself into his arms?
In this era, people worshiped the strong, and women did so even more!
"Yun'er, I'll climb up to gather the herbs. You catch the herbs I throw down below."
As Jiang Xiaorou spoke, she had already climbed onto a vine. Lian Clan Medicine Mountain covered a vast area, and its terrain was extremely treacherous!
Most of the precious medicinal herbs grew on sheer cliffs, and they were not easy to gather.
Climbing cliffs to gather herbs was dangerous work, and people often died doing it. That was how the previous Yi Yun had fallen to his death.
Now that Yi Yun had finally come back to life, Jiang Xiaorou was unwilling to let him climb the cliffs again, no matter what.
How could Yi Yun let Jiang Xiaorou take the risk? He said, "Sister, you pick up the herbs below. Leave the top to me!"
"Yun'er, stop fooling around! You've only just recovered. Where would you get the strength to climb up..." Jiang Xiaorou stopped halfway through her sentence. She watched with her own eyes as Yi Yun sprang upward and grabbed the vine, then climbed up as nimbly as a monkey.
"Yun... Yun'er..." Jiang Xiaorou's eyes widened as she watched Yi Yun climb upward in rapid bursts. On the vertical cliff, he moved as if it were level ground. When had Yun'er become so agile?
Gathering herbs on a cliff was not something one could do simply by climbing high. It also required experience and familiarity with the habits of medicinal herbs and the places where they were most likely to grow.
For example, some herbs preferred shade, while others preferred sunlight. Some medicinal plants liked dry conditions, while others preferred moisture, and so on.
Although Yi Yun had crammed some knowledge of medicinal herbs the previous day, he actually knew only a limited amount.
He had originally planned to make up for this shortcoming with his nimble movements, but he soon realized that he did not need to...
After Yi Yun climbed seven or eight meters up the cliff, he suddenly saw faint points of light rising from beneath a large rock not far ahead.
The points of light lingered in the air for several seconds before suddenly flying toward him and directly sinking into Yi Yun's chest.
Following that, the faint coolness of the Purple Crystal became much more distinct. Energy flowed along his blood vessels and spread through all four limbs and hundreds of bones, making Yi Yun feel incomparably comfortable.
There was no doubt about it. The Purple Crystal was absorbing energy.
"Could it be..."
Yi Yun climbed over in a few quick movements and poked his head out to look beneath the large rock. Beneath it, there was astonishingly a scarlet-red fruit the size of a fist!
Pill Fruit, a low-grade medicinal herb of the Purple Blood Realm. Judging by its maturity, it was at least twenty years old.
Yi Yun's heart leaped with joy. Just as he was about to pick it, he discovered another point of light slowly flying from the surface of the Pill Fruit and entering his chest!
A few seconds later, a third point of light appeared, followed by a fourth.
The points of light grew more numerous, while the luster on the surface of the Pill Fruit seemed to have dimmed ever so slightly without anyone noticing. Unless one observed carefully, it was impossible to detect.
The Purple Crystal was absorbing the energy essence within the Pill Fruit!
Before you continue