Yi Yun Refines Bones

"So, I can go and refine Savage Bones now?" Yi Yun asked excitedly.

Lian Chengyu let out a soft hum. To be so happy about going to his death, a person had to be truly pathetic.

"Thank you, Young Master."

Yi Yun was genuinely happy, not faking it. He had initially feared that Lian Chengyu, upon seeing him alive, would have a sudden fit and slap him a few more times, trying the same trick to kill him.

Although Lian Chengyu's underhanded tactics wouldn't be able to harm Yi Yun, it would cause a lot of trouble.

The first time Lian Chengyu failed to kill him, he might have thought it was an accidental slip-up. But if he failed a second time, he would definitely become suspicious, which would be bad news for Yi Yun.

Now, Lian Chengyu letting Yi Yun go to refine Savage Bones was exactly what Yi Yun wanted.

Refining Savage Bones would give Yi Yun time to breathe. Yi Yun's strength could be described as advancing by leaps and bounds; with another month or two, he would be completely different!

"Yun'er, why aren't you coming home for dinner?"

Jiang Xiaorou had been cooking. When she brought the food out, she found Yi Yun missing. Looking outside, she saw Yi Yun chatting with Lian Chengyu.

Jiang Xiaorou's heart immediately tightened. This was terrible! Lian Chengyu had already harmed Yi Yun greatly, almost costing him his life!

Worried that Lian Chengyu might do something to Yi Yun, she quickly walked over.

Although Jiang Xiaorou hated Lian Chengyu, she knew she couldn't openly confront him.

"So it's Young Master Lian."

Seeing Lian Chengyu, Jiang Xiaorou forced a smile. Then, she subtly pulled Yi Yun closer, shielding him behind her.

"Oh? Jiang Xiaorou, I remember you."

Noticing Jiang Xiaorou's small action, Lian Chengyu frowned. This little girl harbored quite a bit of hostility towards him!

Lian Chengyu disliked it when the low-class commoners of the Lian Clan showed him any disrespect. Perhaps because of his own inferiority complex in front of the prodigies of the great factions, he became even more insistent on maintaining his authority over those beneath him.

However, Jiang Xiaorou was, to some extent, a woman he admired, so he was unusually tolerant. He could slowly tame this woman.

Lian Chengyu left. Although he admired Jiang Xiaorou, he didn't show any particular eagerness towards her, nor did he exchange more than a few words with her. He was a superior; his interactions with women were more like bestowals rather than pursuits. He just needed to wait for Jiang Xiaorou to be desperate and then have Zhao Tiezhu step in.

Jiang Xiaorou watched Lian Chengyu's retreating back, clutching Yi Yun's small hand tightly. "Yun'er, what exactly is going on?"

"It's nothing, Sister Xiaorou, don't worry," Yi Yun replied.

Yi Yun was the one who had told Jiang Xiaorou about Lian Chengyu's harm to him. Since Yi Yun said it was fine, Jiang Xiaorou felt a little more at ease. These days, she had a vague feeling that her younger brother was no longer a pure child like before; he had his own thoughts.

But after thinking for a moment, Jiang Xiaorou felt something was amiss. "Yun'er, you're not thinking of going to refine Savage Bones, are you? You absolutely cannot go there!"

Yi Yun looked at Jiang Xiaorou with surprise. Jiang Xiaorou possessed a sharp intuition that astonished him. Although she didn't know the specifics of refining Savage Bones, she sensed that it was a dangerous task.

Yi Yun pondered for a moment, then lowered his voice. "Sister Xiaorou, I'm not as weak as you think. After this near-death experience, I feel completely different... Don't you remember me going to the mountains to gather herbs a few days ago? I could climb a twenty-meter cliff."

Hearing Yi Yun say this, Jiang Xiaorou also recalled it. She had indeed seen Yi Yun climbing the cliff face with incredible speed before and found it strange, but she had attributed it to Yi Yun's childhood fondness for climbing and gathering herbs, making it somewhat acceptable.

Now that she thought about it, Yi Yun's agility had indeed improved significantly. In terms of climbing sheer rock faces, he was no less capable than the members of the Warrior Reserve Camp.

With this thought, Jiang Xiaorou felt a little more relieved. Her brother had indeed changed.

Sometimes, surviving a great calamity could bring good fortune. Jiang Xiaorou had heard stories of people struck by lightning who not only survived but also gained special abilities.

Could Yun'er be in a similar situation?

That night, Yi Yun, as a new recruit, was led to the threshing ground.

The threshing ground was already surrounded by a wooden fence. Due to the so-called "Typhoid Fever" incident, the fence had been expanded, making it impossible to see inside from the outside.

There were over thirty people involved in refining Savage Bones, divided into day and night shifts.

Yi Yun was assigned to the night shift, which consisted of about a dozen people. While these individuals weren't as robust as those in the Warrior Reserve Camp, they were all broad-boned. Yi Yun stood among them like a little chick in a flock of geese; his height only reached their chests.

Seeing Yi Yun, the dozen or so burly men were stunned. Their expressions clearly showed their disbelief: could such a small, scrawny child be chosen to refine Savage Bones?

Setting aside his strength, his height alone meant he couldn't even reach the rim of the large cauldron while standing on a stool. How could he add "Li Fire Water" to it?

"Kid, are you kidding us? Someone like you can refine bones?"

"What can that skinny body of yours do? Your thigh isn't even as thick as a piece of firewood!"

Seeing Yi Yun's condition, the men were quite displeased. If Yi Yun didn't have to work but still got a share of the cured meat, they wouldn't be happy.

Yi Yun couldn't be bothered to reply. He nonchalantly sat down on a pile of firewood, letting them talk.

"Time for porridge!"

A burly man from the Warrior Reserve Camp carried over a bucket of porridge. Those refining Savage Bones were provided with porridge, likely a welfare benefit from the Lian Clan's higher-ups to ensure the smooth progress of the Savage Bones refinement. Only with a full stomach could they have the strength to work.

As soon as they heard porridge was here, the burly men's eyes lit up, and they rushed over without hesitation.

With a "whoosh," the bucket of porridge was quickly emptied. Yi Yun, being at the back and intentionally jostled and excluded by the others, found only the dregs left by the time it was his turn.

Yi Yun felt a sense of helplessness. The saying "poor villages breed uncivilized people" had some truth to it. It wasn't that everyone in poor villages had bad character, but rather that poverty could narrow one's horizons. If you acted like a good person, you'd starve.

"Get to work! Get to work!" the man from the Warrior Reserve Camp shouted.

The dozen or so burly men walked scattered towards the large cauldron, replacing the day shift.

Yi Yun lagged behind, walking slowly, his eyes fixed on the large cauldron.

To others, Yi Yun seemed stunned by the giant bronze cauldron being scorched by the purple fire. It was true, the cauldron was enormous; Yi Yun's height didn't even reach two of its "ears."

In reality, however, Yi Yun's vision was filled with faint specks of light, like a swarm of fireflies dancing in the night sky.

What profound energy! This is the power of Savage Bones, the legendary—Savage Power!

These endless specks of light made Yi Yun incredibly excited. Although Purple Crystal had absorbed some Savage Bone energy before, it had been from a distance, and not much. It was nothing like this, being in direct contact with the Savage Bones.

Compared to this, the Purple Jade Ginseng and Black Lingzhi he had absorbed previously paled in comparison. It was like a poor man accustomed to simple fare suddenly encountering delicacies—Yi Yun was ecstatic.

This was like a grave robber entering an emperor's tomb, or a weasel entering a chicken coop!

This Savage Bone energy would all be his.

"Kid, what are you spacing out for? Go chop wood!" a sturdy man said, tossing an axe in front of Yi Yun.

Only then did Yi Yun snap out of his daze and happily went to chop wood.

"This kid, is his brain broken!" the sturdy man grumbled, then returned to his own task. He and a few others were responsible for chopping the Purple Fire Wood.

This Purple Fire Wood was the crucial source of fire. It was incredibly sturdy and extremely heavy; it took several strong men, equivalent to first-class sturdy men, half a day to chop off a segment of Purple Fire Wood as thick as an arm.

These sturdy men worked with all their might because those who performed well could be promoted to foreman and receive an extra portion of cured meat and grain.

Yi Yun, while happy, didn't get carried away. He knew that refining Savage Bones was also related to the so-called "typhoid fever"!

He had to investigate what was causing the typhoid fever. If even Purple Crystal couldn't resolve it, then no matter how great the reward, Yi Yun would have to flee.

So, while chopping firewood with one hand and absentmindedly with the other, Yi Yun carefully observed the large bronze cauldron, which was glowing red from the heat.

Slowly, Yi Yun discovered the issue.

There were two colors of light specks flying out from the cauldron.

The first was purplish-red. These specks were the majority, dancing aimlessly at the cauldron's mouth. Yi Yun found that with just a thought, these specks would fly towards him.

As Purple Crystal merged with Yi Yun's heart, and Yi Yun himself broke through to the second layer of Mortal Blood, he had somehow gained the ability to actively control Purple Crystal's energy absorption.

He could choose to absorb or not absorb.

As for the other color of these light specks, it was an ice blue