The Summons

The morning sun shone brightly, mist rising from the forest...

This ancient Great Wilderness welcomed a new day.

The herb-gathering work had stopped. Jiang Xiaorou was making breakfast, while Yi Yun was chopping wood in the courtyard.

He wasn't using an axe, but rather pointing his palm at a piece of firewood and striking down!

"Crack!"

With a crisp sound, the firewood split in two from the middle, the cut incredibly neat.

Yi Yun looked at the two pieces of firewood and muttered to himself, "A Warrior who has mastered the 'Dragon Marrow Tiger Bones Fist' can, within a minute, use both hands to split a tree stump into a pile of chopsticks of uniform size and thickness. If I practice martial arts for three months, I wonder if I can reach that realm."

As Yi Yun was thinking, he suddenly heard a commotion not far away.

Focusing his hearing, Yi Yun recognized Zhao Tiezhu's voice—

"People of the Lian Clan! Listen up! The clan elders have issued an order to recruit ten more strong men to temper their Savage Bones. Those interested can sign up, and the best will be selected!"

Huh?

Recruiting ten strong men to temper Savage Bones?

Yi Yun's heart stirred. He naturally thought of the previous few days when all the villagers who had tempered Savage Bones had contracted Typhoid Fever.

So many people had fallen ill before, only to be cured by a so-called "miracle pill."

Now they were recruiting new strong men to temper Savage Bones again, there must be some hidden reason.

Thinking this, Yi Yun dropped the firewood and walked towards the village's grain-drying ground.

From afar, Yi Yun saw Zhao Tiezhu standing on a high platform, shouting loudly.

Many clan members were alerted. The villagers who had previously been responsible for tempering Savage Bones had received many benefits. Besides Cured Meat and that miraculous pill, they often received grain subsidies.

Because of the previous exchange for Savage Bones, the Lian Clan's grain was extremely scarce now. Being able to receive more grain was something the villagers dreamed of.

"I sign up!"

"I sign up too!"

People rushed towards the temporary registration post Zhao Tiezhu had set up, afraid they would miss out if they were late.

"I, Wang Dahu, am willing to temper Savage Bones! I am a Second-class Male!"

A tall man, but with a slightly sallow complexion due to long-term malnutrition, stood before Zhao Tiezhu, looking at him with hopeful eyes.

"Second-class Male... barely..." Zhao Tiezhu looked Wang Dahu up and down, his gaze extremely critical.

Zhao Tiezhu was unaware that tempering Savage Bones could be fatal. This was a closely guarded secret within the Lian Clan. To prevent information leakage, only a handful of high-ranking officials in the Lian Clan knew about it.

The other members of the Warrior Reserve Camp were unaware that these Savage Bones contained deadly cold energy that would seep into the flesh and blood of those around them, eroding their lives, eventually sealing their vitality, and causing their internal organs to fail and die.

Therefore, Zhao Tiezhu still thought that tempering Savage Bones was a good opportunity.

Having the power to decide who got this good opportunity made Zhao Tiezhu quite smug. The direct benefit of power was that the people around him looked at him with more flattering gazes and spoke with effusive compliments.

Zhao Tiezhu's judgment of people was extremely picky. "Wang Dahu, go stand aside first. You're a backup. If there's no one better, it'll be you."

Hearing Zhao Tiezhu's words, Wang Dahu was overjoyed. He thanked him repeatedly and obediently went to stand aside.

"Hmm? Liu Er, you're signing up too? With your weak legs, you'll be blown away by a gust of wind! Do you know that tempering Savage Bones requires chopping wood, stoking the fire, and fanning the flames every day, from morning till night? Moreover, the temperature around the large cauldron is very high. If you lack stamina, you'll just faint!"

Zhao Tiezhu looked at Liu Er, who was as agile as a monkey, and waved him away impatiently.

The task assigned by Lian Chengyu was to select strong men as much as possible, and those who were weak and sickly were absolutely not to be chosen.

Villagers signed up one after another, but many were turned away, and few were accepted.

Yi Yun stood not far away, observing coldly. He had a gut feeling that there was something wrong with these Savage Bones!

However, even if there was something wrong, he had to investigate.

Because for Yi Yun, these Savage Bones were very important.

The herbs on the Lian Clan Medicine Mountain were almost all gathered. To continue his cultivation, he needed energy and nutrient supply. How could he survive on just coarse grain porridge?

"Hmm? It's you!"

Just as Yi Yun was contemplating his next move, he suddenly heard this familiar voice from behind him.

The voice was deep and somewhat gentle and refined, but upon hearing it, Yi Yun's expression changed!

It was Lian Chengyu!

Hadn't Lian Chengyu gone into seclusion? According to Zhao Tiezhu, he was supposed to be in seclusion for three months. How had he come out so early?

Originally, according to Yi Yun's plan, after Lian Chengyu came out of seclusion in three months, his own strength would have surpassed Lian Chengyu's, and he wouldn't have feared Lian Chengyu at all. But now, Yi Yun had only been practicing martial arts for six or seven days. Even with the miraculous Purple Crystal, Yi Yun couldn't possibly defeat Lian Chengyu, who had been practicing martial arts for ten years and had reached the fifth level of Mortal Blood.

However, Yi Yun thought about it carefully. He and Lian Chengyu didn't have any deep-seated hatred. Lian Chengyu killing him was probably just a casual act, like a person seeing a mouse in their house and killing it. But if they couldn't catch it, they wouldn't tear down the wall to get it; it wouldn't be a life-or-death struggle.

Yi Yun turned around. Before making eye contact with Lian Chengyu, his expression had already calmed down.

And upon seeing Lian Chengyu, he immediately put on a look of flustered panic.

"Young Master... Young Master Lian?"

Yi Yun took a step back, seemingly startled by Lian Chengyu's sudden appearance.

Lian Chengyu frowned. This brat, he wasn't dead?

Originally, Lian Chengyu's attempt to kill Yi Yun was casual. The main reason was that Lian Chengyu felt Yi Yun harbored resentment towards him. Lian Chengyu worried that during the crucial stage of refining Savage Bones, food shortages and deaths would inevitably stir up public anger. Lian Chengyu feared that Yi Yun, who was good at inciting the masses and harbored resentment towards him, would become a catalyst for rebellion.

Lian Chengyu pursued the highest Martial Arts, seeking unparalleled glory above all others. With such a goal, his mindset was akin to that of emperors and kings. In Lian Chengyu's eyes, someone of Yi Yun's status was insignificant. To eliminate potential dangers, killing him was a simple matter, nothing to dwell on. Lian Chengyu had killed many people; during this single refining of Savage Bones, countless others would die.

Killing Yi Yun was a minor incident, and Lian Chengyu hadn't paid much attention to it. He hadn't even bothered to confirm if Yi Yun was dead. It wasn't until he emerged from seclusion and found Yi Yun alive that he felt puzzled.

He, Lian Chengyu, had tried to kill a lowly commoner, and failed? How could this be? Was his power insufficient?

"What are you doing here?" Lian Chengyu asked.

"Replying to Young Master, I heard Master Zhao say they were conscripting strong men to refine Savage Bones. I also heard they give out cured meat there, so I wanted to try."

"Oh?" Hearing Yi Yun's words, a trace of contempt flashed in Lian Chengyu's eyes. Yi Yun was only twelve years old, but on the day rations were distributed, his words and actions were far from those of a twelve-year-old. Furthermore, he had the ability to incite the masses to cause trouble, making Lian Chengyu feel he was an unstable element, capable of stirring up chaos.

But now it seemed Yi Yun was, after all, just a child. Someone whose eyes were only on cured meat – how much could he achieve?

Lian Chengyu couldn't be bothered to deal with Yi Yun anymore, except for the inexplicable fact that he hadn't managed to kill him earlier.

"Since you want to go refine Savage Bones, why aren't you inside registering? Why are you standing out here watching?"

"This... this, to be honest with Young Master Lian, Master Zhao requires applicants to be at least Second-class Males, and I... I..."

Yi Yun's voice trailed off here, seemingly ashamed and finding it difficult to speak because of his lack of strength.

The contempt in Lian Chengyu's eyes intensified. This idiot, he had overestimated him earlier. It made sense, though; what kind of schemes could a twelve-year-old child have?

Actually, Lian Chengyu forgot that he himself wasn't much older, only seventeen. Among seventeen-year-olds, he was considered quite knowledgeable, but he was still somewhat immature. Moreover, he could never have dreamed that the twelve-year-old Yi Yun before him possessed the soul of an adult.

"Since you have this intention and are willing to contribute to the Lian Clan, I can't very well refuse. I see you have some ambition and are a promising talent, so I'll make an exception and give you this opportunity."

Lian Chengyu "encouraged" Yi Yun with a few words.

This idiot could barely contribute anything. Although he was sickly, he could be used to absorb the cold poison; his constitution wouldn't matter.