Pull!

She was waiting for Merlin to ask her something, and then she would tell him that she had only learned through imitation and couldn't truly master it.

But after waiting for a few seconds and realizing Merlin wasn't paying attention to her, Yol's expectant eyes gradually turned gloomy and lost.

Yol blinked and couldn't help but murmur to herself:

"Didn't you say you were going to teach me? Shouldn't you be demonstrating it hand-in-hand?

So what is this now?"

Not noticing Yol's muttering, Merlin's attention was completely occupied by the newly appeared skill specialization.

As Merlin's consciousness focused on the specialization, its specific information followed suit and appeared.

[Beginner Level Lynx Body Tempering Technique]: Yoga for shaping the body, Lynx for condensing form. Combining the agility of a Lynx, you've gained a preliminary understanding of a Lynx's flexible physique through yoga. Your body subtly exhibits the yielding nature of a Lynx.

Her breathing rose and fell slowly. Vaguely, the various yoga poses firmly etched in her mind began to blur. Simultaneously, complex Lynx stretching and shaping movements echoed in her mind.

Mimicking the operation of a Lynx's muscles and bones, synchronizing it with her own body, and maximizing the flexibility of her physique.

From breathing and movements to embodying the essence, Merlin's understanding of the Lynx was no longer limited to just the [Equipment].

Blinking, Merlin withdrew his consciousness from the equipment slots. The next second, he saw Yol staring at him with a bewildered expression:

"What... are you doing?"

Merlin's voice brought Yol back to her senses. However, after she reacted, her mouth twitched a few times, and she said with a subtle tone:

"Did you forget what you were preparing to do to me half an hour ago?"

Merlin's eyes widened slightly, then he reacted, coughed awkwardly, and apologized to Yol:

"Sorry, I was spacing out just now."

"I can tell. After all, you were completely ignoring me! It was like I was invisible just now."

Yol retorted at Merlin without a trace, but soon, she took a deep breath and looked at Merlin, her eyes filled with a hazy curiosity:

"Just now, I noticed your movements seemed to have changed. They looked more coordinated and graceful?

Oh, are you still going to teach me?"

Seeing her clearly in a slightly tipsy state from the aftereffects of the Monkey Wine, Merlin thought for a moment and then nodded:

"Yes!"

With that, Merlin moved in front of Yol and began to teach her hand-in-hand how to perform the yoga poses.

Since she was a beginner, he didn't immediately teach her the advanced Lynx Body Tempering Technique he had just comprehended.

Firstly, he hadn't perfected it himself.

Secondly, one couldn't get fat with a single bite.

However, he soon discovered her limbs were stiff, and Merlin said helplessly, "Let me help you stretch your muscles and ligaments first!"

"How do I do that?" Yol's face flushed, but she boldly asked for instruction.

Then, Merlin began to explain the key points of stretching.

A moment later.

Merlin and Yol sat facing each other, their hands gripping each other's wrists. Merlin's feet were braced against Yol's spread ankles.

Then, he exerted force outwards with his legs, and Yol's legs were slowly spread into a split. Yol let out heavy grunts from her nose and mouth.

Even though her wrists were in pain from Yol's grip, Merlin maintained his position.

Merlin said calmly to Yol:

"If it hurts, shout. There's no need to endure it."

Fine sweat beaded on Yol's forehead, but she just gritted her teeth and shook her head.

Seeing this, Merlin no longer held back and began to forcefully stretch her muscles and bones, starting with the ligaments between her hips...

Her waist, neck, shoulders, chest, spine, arms, legs...

Every corner of her body's ligaments was attended to. Towards the end, Yol could no longer help but let out screams.

Thus.

At Merlin's instruction, Yol continued to drink the Monkey Wine in large gulps, using her drunken state to numb her consciousness.

As time passed, both Merlin and Yol were covered in sweat and dust.

Occasionally, Black Flame would ignite in Merlin's hand, absorbing the calamities brought about by Yol's torn and broken ligaments.

An hour later.

Merlin placed Yol on a monkey hide. She lay there, completely limp like a puddle of mud, having lost consciousness.

There were no injuries inside or out; she was just exhausted, coupled with being drunk.

He covered her with a monkey hide large enough to conceal her body. Merlin then stood up, letting out a sigh of relief, his face etched with fatigue:

"Fortunately, I can absorb calamities. Otherwise, this process would have to be gradual.

But..."

At this moment, a sharp glint flashed in Merlin's eyes. As he pulled sinews and fully stretched Yol's ligaments, and with the continuous use of Disaster Absorption, Merlin gained a new understanding of his Devil Fruit ability.

After the ligaments tore and broke, even after being absorbed by him as disaster, the injured parts would heal. However, the stretched ligaments would not return to their original state.

In other words, the effects of stretching and training were preserved on her.

Merlin pondered, "Absorbing disaster only absorbs the disaster itself. Disaster can be the negative state resulting from unrestrained training.

It's like peeling away layers of an onion, removing the unfavorable factors for the person while retaining the beneficial ones.

That makes sense. The recovery effect I get from absorbing disaster is a manipulation of cause and effect, not time travel."

Upon realizing this, a brilliant light gradually bloomed in Merlin's eyes.

"Then, in the future, I can expend stamina and mental energy to use my ability to ignore the injuries that appear after training, thereby accelerating my own cultivation progress."

"Although the scope of using Devil Fruit abilities is limited to the specific conceptual range of that type of fruit.

However, within the scope of the fruit's abilities, it can indeed achieve effects that can be described as miraculous."

Merlin sensed the peculiar ability he now possessed after equipping the Disaster Fruit, an ability to absorb, store, and release disaster.

The core of this fruit's ability lies in the "absorption," "storage," and "release" targeting the concept of "disaster."

And what is disaster?

With his skillful use over these days, Merlin had come to understand the key to the ability.

Calamities and hardships existing within living beings can all be attributed to disaster.

As for damage to objects, Merlin currently had no leads; he couldn't mend a broken mirror or restore broken items.

A hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes, "I wonder if awakening the fruit will bring about some peculiar changes?"

Merlin shook his head at this point, no longer dwelling on things he couldn't do yet. The current disaster effects could already be considered an incredibly powerful ability.

As long as his stored disaster "bullets" were "insidious" enough, could he possess the threat of a surprise kill against any living being?

Perhaps.

Merlin didn't dare to say for sure.

Because this world ran deep, and the power of Haki, which he had learned about, could already be used to counter Devil Fruit abilities.

Then, based on the many literary works he had read...

There were ability types similar to "Magic Resistance."

So, if one day, someone possessing Haki were to appear, they might be able to counter or be immune to his disaster ability.

Therefore, Merlin's gaze became resolute:

"I must develop my abilities, but I must also continuously strengthen my mind, skills, and body. Relying solely on the power of my Devil Fruit won't get me far."

Unconsciously, Merlin had uttered words similar to those of a certain "teacher."

At this moment, two faint, yet successive snores reached his ears.

Merlin looked at the two of them sleeping on the monkey hide, "It's getting late."

Merlin moved to Yol's right side, sat on the monkey hide, and placed his backpack in position.

He used it as a pillow, covered himself with the monkey hide, and gently closed his eyes.

A moment later, Merlin entered a light sleep.

Whenever there was a noise from outside, Merlin would open his eyes, vigilantly listening to everything around him.

The next day.

Amidst the noisy chirping and squawking of monkeys outside the tree hollow.

Merlin's eyes, which had been slits, slowly opened, and after a while, his consciousness fully cleared.

He sat up, the monkey hide sliding off him, and Merlin exhaled a breath of turbid air:

"It's starting to smell!"

His sensitive nose could detect the stench of rotting flesh emanating from the monkey king's corpse at the cave entrance.

Soon, grabbing the tail of the monkey corpse, which was the only part with fur, he dragged the decaying "lump of meat" out of the cave.

After moving several hundred meters away from the ancient tree, under the watchful eyes of the monkeys in the surrounding fruit trees, Merlin threw the corpse into a pit.

Afterward, Merlin went to the foot of a cliff not far from the ancient tree, where there was a clear mountain spring.

This was also the drinking spot for this group of monkeys.

The spring emerged from a long, narrow rock cave, about two meters long and half a meter wide, nestled against the cliff face. Clear water gushed out from here.

It was clear to the bottom, about a meter deep. The bottom of the spring was a rock fissure, and the water flowed out from these gaps.

Then, the spring water flowed along the crevices between the cliff face and the rocky ground, seeping directly towards the right.

Looking at the spring, Merlin thought he could lie down in it completely.

Thinking this, Merlin did just that. He took off his clothes and jumped into the spring, washing his clothes along with himself.

Before long, wearing clothes wrung out but still damp, Merlin walked towards the ancient tree.

Upon returning to the tree hollow, he already had a pile of various fruits in his arms.

He went to the pile of furs and saw Yol still sleeping. Merlin gently patted her cheek, "Yol? Wake up!"

However, she was clearly still hungover. Merlin began to call her continuously, patting her face. Yol's tightly shut eyelids started to tremble. Seeing this, Merlin thought for a moment, then pressed his thumb firmly onto her philtrum.

Soon, Yol's eyes snapped open, and she became clear-headed. Seeing this, Merlin let go and smiled.

"You're awake! Then get up!"