Falling Ill

Yi Yun absorbed the energy from the Savage Bones at night, feeling full. During the day, he would sneak peeks at the people training in the Warrior Reserve Camp, watching Yao Yuan teach the Dragon Marrow Tiger Bones Fist.

The training grounds of the Warrior Reserve Camp weren't a restricted area, and people passed by regularly. As long as Yi Yun was careful, he could observe their training without being discovered.

After mastering the martial arts, Yi Yun would go to the back mountain to cultivate, fully digesting the energy from the Savage Bones and integrating it into his flesh and blood. This training rhythm was perfect.

After a few days, Yi Yun's Thunderous Sound Realm became increasingly solid. He could now hold his breath underwater for twenty-five minutes, a duration that was almost comparable to a dolphin's.

When there was still a month left until the Tai'a Divine Kingdom's Warrior selection, the strong men who were refining bones with Yi Yun fell ill.

Even though Yi Yun had tried his best to absorb the toxic blue energy, a significant amount of energy light spots still seeped into these people's bodies, causing them to contract what was called "typhoid fever."

After the first person fell ill, Yi Yun "fell ill" shortly after, and his "illness" was quite severe.

Yi Yun could no longer come to temper the Savage Bones. According to Jiang Xiaorou, Yi Yun had been vomiting and experiencing diarrhea, his face was pale, and he was extremely weak, unable to even get out of bed. Therefore, she had to request leave on his behalf.

Zhao Tiezhu, picking at his ear, listened to Jiang Xiaorou's description with a face full of schadenfreude. "Oh, vomiting and diarrhea? Pale face? Weak body? Tsk, tsk, tsk, wasn't he supposed to have a tough life? How come he can't even get out of bed this time?"

Zhao Tiezhu's voice was sarcastic. Jiang Xiaorou's expression turned cold, seemingly furious. However, in reality, she was just putting on a show. She knew that Yi Yun was perfectly fine and was only faking his illness.

"Your brother was a good-for-nothing anyway. It wouldn't have mattered if he died, but Young Master Lian is kind-hearted. Young Master Lian has already sent a pill!"

As Zhao Tiezhu spoke, he reluctantly pulled a bright red pill from behind his backside.

Zhao Tiezhu had no intention of giving Yi Yun a pill. He wished Yi Yun would just die from his illness. But Zhao Tiezhu didn't understand why Lian Chengyu valued Yi Yun so much that he specifically instructed him to deliver a pill and confirm that he took it.

Could Young Master Lian truly admire this little beast?

Thinking this, Zhao Tiezhu was very displeased.

"Young Master Lian is so kind!"

"Young Master Lian is too benevolent!"

At this moment, as the strong men who were tempering Savage Bones fell ill one after another, many people had gathered here to collect medicine. Seeing Zhao Tiezhu take out a legendary life-saving pill and intend to give it to Yi Yun, they immediately began to flatter Lian Chengyu.

These people had previously worried that Lian Chengyu wouldn't care about them. But now, seeing that even the useless brat Yi Yun had medicine, their strong men should also receive some.

Especially when they saw Zhao Tiezhu holding a bulging cloth bag in his other hand, which looked like cured meat, they became even more excited, and the scene became somewhat uncontrollable.

"Lord Zhao, my husband is also sick!"

"Lord Zhao, my child's father is even sicker, he's been vomiting for three days!"

A crowd surged forward, hoping Zhao Tiezhu would give them a pill and a piece of cured meat. Their eyes were full of anticipation, and they were practically begging him.

Zhao Tiezhu reveled in this feeling of being the center of attention. He thought that Young Master Lian was indeed soft-hearted, giving away such precious pills and cured meat to these commoners, what a waste!

Zhao Tiezhu had originally wanted to sneak a pill for himself, but Lian Chengyu had warned him in advance, so he had to give up. Especially since this pill was to be given to that little monkey, Yi Yun, which made Zhao Tiezhu even more unhappy.

"What's all the noise about! Everyone who is truly sick will get some!"

Zhao Tiezhu opened the cloth bag, counted the people, and distributed the medicine and cured meat.

Everyone who received a pill and cured meat expressed their gratitude, "Thank you, Lord Zhao! Thank you, Lord Zhao!"

"Why thank me? You should thank Young Master Lian. Young Master Lian will remember your contributions to the tribe. As long as you temper the Savage Bones diligently and do your part, Young Master Lian and the tribe will not mistreat you."

Zhao Tiezhu said with a sense of accomplishment, feeling as if he were a high-ranking official of the Lian Clan. At that moment, Zhao Tiezhu felt like he was part of the Lian Clan's leadership.

"Yes, yes, thank you, Young Master Lian." Some of the suffering people knelt down and kowtowed in the direction of the clan leader's courtyard.

Zhao Tiezhu was very satisfied with the effect. He distributed most of the cured meat and pills, leaving two pieces behind – one was the largest, and the other was the smallest.

The largest piece of cured meat was for Zhao Tiezhu himself. When Lian Chengyu had told him to distribute the cured meat, he had picked out this largest piece for himself.

The cured meat was accounted for. What if one piece was missing? Simple, just cut a small piece from the second largest piece of cured meat.

Of course, this small piece that was cut off was the smallest among all the cured meat. He gave this smallest piece to Jiang Xiaorou.

"This is yours."

Zhao Tiezhu said indifferently.

"You..."

Seeing how small her cured meat was, Jiang Xiaorou knew that Zhao Tiezhu was deliberately targeting her. She was furious, but she knew that protesting was useless. She put away the cured meat.

Yun'er hadn't eaten meat in so long.

"How's your brother doing?" Zhao Tiezhu asked lazily, tucking the largest piece of cured meat into his embrace.

"Didn't I just say it!" Jiang Xiaorou replied irritably.

"Heh heh, I'll go with you to take a look. Who told me to be so kind and care about my people." Zhao Tiezhu implicitly distinguished himself from the common folk, referring to Yi Yun as "my people" with a very annoying tone.

As for why he wanted to see Yi Yun, it was naturally due to Lian Chengyu's instructions. Otherwise, he wouldn't bother. Zhao Tiezhu couldn't understand why Lian Chengyu cared about this little monkey.

In fact, Lian Chengyu had only casually instructed Zhao Tiezhu and hadn't taken the matter too seriously. His ambitions were high; he wanted to become someone important and enjoy endless glory. How could he care about a small figure like Yi Yun?

He was just curious why Yi Yun could survive multiple near-death experiences.

The first time, he fell while gathering herbs and was buried in a grave, yet he still managed to crawl out.

The second time, he secretly intervened and sent a life-threatening surge of Vital Energy into Yi Yun's body, but it still couldn't extinguish Yi Yun's life force.

This time, while tempering the Savage Bones, with the cold poison contained within the Savage Bones, plus the toxicity of the Blood Dissolving Pill, Lian Chengyu wanted to know if Yi Yun could possibly survive this time.

In Lian Chengyu's opinion, Yi Yun was like a cockroach. Cockroaches are weak, but their vitality is tenacious. Even if crushed flat with a single stomp, with all their internal organs burst, they could still live for a day or two without food or water.

Yi Yun seemed to be in a similar situation, his strength so weak it was negligible, yet he had survived multiple near-death experiences.

"Bang!"

The courtyard gate was kicked open, and Jiang Xiaorou's clear, angry voice rang out, "What are you doing!!"

"Haha, come to see your brother."

Zhao Tiezhu swaggered in and immediately saw Yi Yun lying on the bed.

At this moment, Yi Yun's face was covered in sweat, his hair wet and sticking to his forehead. In front of his bed was a basin containing what looked like vomit, and the entire room was filled with a sour, foul odor.

"Damn, this is disgusting!"

Zhao Tiezhu wrinkled his nose in disgust, tossed the Blood Dissolving Pill to Yi Yun, "I really don't know what kind of rotten luck you have to get special treatment from Young Master Lian. Look at you, you're worse than a beggar. Just looking at you makes me sick. Hurry up and take the medicine!"

Yi Yun expressionlessly picked up the Blood Dissolving Pill that had fallen beside the quilt. Jiang Xiaorou quickly brought over a bowl of water.

The moment Yi Yun got the Blood Dissolving Pill, he could feel its energy attribute.

The energy within this pill was pitifully small. It didn't contain any valuable medicinal herbs, but it was highly toxic.

Good pills contain energy themselves. When a person takes a pill, its medicinal power is released, flowing into the body and naturally healing injuries and illnesses, revitalizing the person.

However, a low-quality pill like the Blood Dissolving Pill, which contains almost no energy of its own, relies on certain toxins to stimulate the human body, forcing out its potential without regard for consequences.

While taking such a pill would lead to a quick recovery, it would significantly shorten one's lifespan.

Yi Yun certainly wouldn't take a pill that was all harm and no benefit.

Even with Zhao Tiezhu watching, it wasn't difficult for Yi Yun to deceive him. He pretended to swallow the Blood Dissolving Pill and took a sip of water. It looked like he drank a lot, but in reality, as soon as the bowl was moved away, Yi Yun spat the water back into it.

Then, Yi Yun made a great effort to swallow, though he had no water in his mouth to begin with. Naturally, he didn't swallow anything.

Immediately after, Yi Yun feigned weakness, acting as if even drinking water was difficult, and began to cough violently.

Jiang Xiaorou quickly grabbed a rough cloth and wiped Yi Yun's mouth. During the process of wiping his mouth, Yi Yun, without a trace, spat out the Blood Dissolving Pill, leaving it in the cloth.

This way, once the cloth was wrapped up, nothing would be visible.

Zhao Tiezhu was already looking disgusted and impatient. He certainly couldn't see through Yi Yun's act. In fact, even if Lian Chengyu himself had been there, he might not have realized Yi Yun had spat out the medicine.

After all, Yi Yun only looked like a twelve-year-old child. Who would suspect he was capable of such a performance?

"Consider yourself lucky. Taking this pill will not only save your life but also make you a bit more energetic, so you don't always look like a sickly person, half-dead!"

After saying this, Zhao Tiezhu turned and left.

Once Zhao Tiezhu was gone, Yi Yun narrowed his eyes and looked at the Blood Dissolving Pill wrapped in the cloth. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. Lian Chengyu was ruthless, willing to kill so many people just to refine a single Savage Bone!

This other world was nothing like Earth.

On Earth, if two children argued and one stabbed the other with a knife after school, such incidents, because they were rare, might even make it onto Tencent or Sina's online news.

But in this world where strength reigned supreme, if someone killed another in a fit of anger over a minor disagreement, well... would that even be considered news?

On Earth, due to peace and the rule of law, murder was a grave offense. Here, killing someone was akin to slaughtering chickens or dogs.

Often, you didn't even need a reason to kill someone; simply disliking them was enough.