Gari! And Cultivation!

Before long, Her consciousness returned to clarity.

The two got up.

Yol stretched her graceful form dramatically in place, looking at herself with surprise:

"I feel like all the bones in my body have become lighter, and my body feels so agile?

And it doesn't hurt at all."

Lami, rubbing her sleepy eyes, wrinkled her nose and looked at her blankly:

"Sister, you smell sour and stinky. Did you wet the bed last night?"

Merlin couldn't help but chuckle, letting out a laugh, but Yol pinched Lami's face with a dark expression:

"You're the one who wet the bed! I'm twenty years old, how could I possibly wet the bed?

Lami, you can't just slander your sister like that!"

However, after finishing speaking, Yol also wrinkled her nose slightly, realizing that she did indeed have a slight sour, sweaty smell on her.

She couldn't help but look at Merlin, her gaze suspicious: "You didn't do anything naughty to me last night, did you?"

Merlin rolled his eyes at her: "You kept making 'mmm, uh-huh' sounds all night, your throat is hoarse, don't you remember?"

Yol's face instantly turned bright red, and she stammered as she looked at Merlin. After a few seconds, she rolled her beautiful eyes in exasperation.

"Nonsense! You made my whole body hurt last night, those were screams of pain, not 'mmm, uh-huh'!

At most, there were just a few more muffled groans."

Lami looked at Yol blankly, but soon asked curiously: "Are your waist and legs sore and weak now, Sister Yol?"

Yol looked confused, "Why do you ask?"

Lami said with a smile like a little adult: "Because Father and Mother used to say similar things for a while."

Hearing this, a subtle expression appeared in Merlin's eyes. He looked at Lami, about to say something, then said helplessly:

"You really are Dr. Trafalgar's good daughter!"

Yol also realized it at this moment, her face stiffened. She clenched her fair hands into fists and said faintly:

"Lami, if I were to spank your butt later, what kind of sound would you make?"

Lami blinked, her expression a little conflicted, but after thinking for a few seconds, she said to Yol with a serious face:

"Lami is grown up now and won't cry anymore. I'll hold it in, at most it'll be... uh, mmm, uh."

Yol stared at Lami blankly, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Merlin glanced at Lami, the corner of his mouth curling up. This girl was definitely dark-hearted, must be a family trait, this scheming nature?

She truly is Law's sister.

Merlin remembered that the outwardly well-behaved youth was actually inwardly repressed and completely scheming.

And their father was the same.

A whole family of "black"-hearted devils.

Lami sneakily glanced at Yol, then looked at Merlin curiously: "Brother Merlin, why is your clothes wet?"

As she spoke, she took a step forward, placed her hands on Merlin's thighs, and asked doubtfully:

"You'll get sick if you wear wet clothes."

Merlin briefly explained about the spring, and Yol quickly said:

"Then I'll go wash up too!"

Saying that, she grabbed Lami and went to the backpack, took out the soap from the bag, and rushed out of the cave without looking back.

"Wait a moment." Merlin called out to her. Yol turned back in confusion. Merlin pulled out the dagger from the sheath tied to his outer thigh and threw it over:

"Take this for self-defense."

Yol reached out and caught it precisely, a smile appearing in her eyes, and nodded:

"Thanks!"

Watching the two of them leave, Merlin walked over to the backpack, picked up his katana, and also headed out of the cave.

Not long after.

In the forest, Sniffing the lingering scents of different creatures in the air, as well as faint, plum blossom-like footprints on the ground.

Tracking the scent, Merlin increased his speed, moving swiftly and nimbly through the woods.

Five minutes later, Merlin stopped under a large tree, his gaze fixed on a herd of elk about two hundred meters away, heads lowered, grazing on tender grass.

Merlin noticed that the elk were almost all between two and three meters long.

He calmly observed their direction of travel, which was to the left. Merlin then circled around in the forest and crouched down in a one-and-a-half-meter-tall bush in the elk's path.

His breathing became steady, and Merlin remained still like a sculpture, like a lynx hiding its form to ambush prey.

Time ticked by.

Before long, the elk, while eating tender grass, arrived at a not-slow pace. Merlin's eyes narrowed slightly. Soon, the herd was within a hundred meters.

Merlin continued to lie in ambush, motionless. Fifty meters... thirty meters... ten meters, five meters. At this moment, Merlin had already chosen the plumpest elk at the very front.

With a body length of two meters, it had a pair of beautiful, sturdy, forked antlers on its head. At this moment, Merlin suddenly burst from the bush, his leg muscles tensing, unleashing the power of his lower limbs.

In almost the blink of an eye, he darted to the very front of the herd. His sudden appearance startled the elk, causing them to panic and let out distressed bleats. Clang! The sound of a blade being drawn.

The katana was unsheathed, and black flames spread from his right hand towards the blade, creating a black arc of fire.

Merlin's blade stabbed into the neck of the chosen elk in the blink of an eye. With a flick, the blade sank in halfway.

The startled elk let out a miserable cry and, as if to take Merlin down with it, lifted its leg to kick at him.

At this moment, his excellent dynamic vision captured the elk's movement. Merlin reacted in advance, pushing off the ground and leaping back, pulling the blade from the elk's neck, drawing a spray of blood.

Instantly, Merlin dodged under the leg the elk had kicked out.

At the same time, black flames engulfed the elk, and the scarlet lead color corroded its fur.

Calamity. Scarlet Lead.

The elk wailed and collapsed to the ground with a thump, twitching.

The hunter exposed his fangs.

The herd fled in panic.

A few breaths later, the surrounding elk had already run a hundred meters away.

Merlin then stepped forward and thrust his blade into the elk's neck, opening a long, narrow gash.

Blood flowed, and the elk gradually stopped moving.

Merlin placed his left hand on the elk and recalled the scarlet lead calamity, his left middle finger turning scarlet once more.

Before long, carrying the dead elk, Merlin arrived at the mountain spring.

He skinned, gutted, and cleaned it.

Carrying the whole deer back to the ancient tree, he called out to Yol to gather firewood and start a fire. Soon, pieces of clean venison were placed on the fire to roast.

And while the meat wasn't cooked yet.

Merlin began to formally teach Yol and the other to practice yoga.

He guided them hand in hand.

He broke down and explained each pose, and their progress was pleasing. Especially Lami, who was only seven years old. Her body hadn't fully matured yet, making her nimble and flexible, so she learned quickly.

As the two of them learned the basics of yoga and began to stretch and exercise their bodies.

Merlin also began to quietly explore his own Lynx Body Tempering Technique.

Sometimes he would lie prone on the ground, motionless, slowly changing his breathing rate.

Sometimes his figure would erupt in short, explosive sprints within a small area.

Other times, his body would perform various difficult twisting movements in place.

Or he would stand up and, coordinating with combat footwork, begin to throw continuous punches and kicks at the air in front of him.

He felt the power in his limbs.

The sound of rushing air accompanied the continuous swings of his hands and feet.

He also occasionally flipped the venison roasting by the fire. As time passed, the rich aroma of roasted venison filled the surroundings.

The grilled meat was ready.

Deer legs, ribs, cheeks.

Heart, liver, penis.

Paired with Monkey Wine, they ate large chunks of meat.

The venison's skin was charred yellow, the inside firm and tender, sprinkled with a light layer of salt, enjoying this incredibly tempting delicacy.

Half of the venison was eaten during the meal.

It was also noon.

The sun was bright today, and the temperature was very comfortable. The three of them took a midday nap and soaked up some sun to supplement their calcium.

Then, Merlin led Yol in doing push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. Basic physical fitness was the foundation of everything.

Although they were doing basic exercises, there were many variations.

Lami continued with her yoga, stretching her delicate body.

Because she was still young, Merlin didn't want to torment her violently. The little girl who had lost her parents was already unfortunate enough. He wanted her to have a relatively happy childhood!

Despite this, Lami didn't slack off. If anything, the girl had remarkable resilience. Her yoga progress was impressive, and she never once complained about the hardship.

Once her body had accumulated enough fatigue, she'd even beg and act cute, asking Merlin to absorb her exhaustion, a state of calamity.

Too bad!

Merlin refused her without mercy.

If she was tired, then she should rest, eat venison, eat all sorts of fruits, drink spring water, or sit on the rocks and watch Merlin and Yol go through basic physical training…

Time passed quickly.

A week flew by in the blink of an eye.

It was now late October.

The temperature in the mountains had also begun to grow increasingly cold.

And today, was the third day since Merlin and the two others had moved into the giant tree's hollow near the pool.

Four days later, the environment inside the tree hollow had already become dry.

The sky darkened.

In a corner of the tree hollow, a circle of faintly glowing ore stones was piled up.

This made the interior less dark.

Layers of thick, warm deerskin and bearskin were spread out to form carpets and beds.

And an alligator skin was secured with bamboo planks at the entrance, serving as a door.

"Fourth Brother is a Paramecia Ability User. He can control and spew flames, capable of launching world-ending attacks. But the Snake Demon is cunning; her treasured Devil Fruits are many, many… In the end, Fourth Brother was still captured by her through trickery.

Alright, that's all for today. I'll tell you the rest tomorrow."

Merlin had slightly altered the story of the Calabash Brothers, changing the brothers' innate talents into Devil Fruit Abilities and the Snake Demon's treasures into Devil Fruit weapons.

At this moment, Lami stared intently at Merlin, her face on the verge of tears:

"Brother Merlin, how could you do this? You only tell half the story each day? What happened after Fourth Brother was captured? How did the Snake Demon, with her Snake-Snake Fruit, deal with him?

Third Brother, who had the Iron Fruit Ability, was already stitched up by the Snake Demon using her Stitch Fruit weapon. So what will happen to Fourth Brother? Flames aren't afraid of ropes!"

Yol, holding her rapier in her arms, also spoke with some frustration:

"It's not late now. Why don't you finish the story before we rest?

You're leaving us hanging like this. I'll get insomnia tonight."

Merlin remained unmoved. He lay on the deerskin blanket and chuckled lightly:

"Want to hear the rest of the story? Just wait! I'll tell it again tomorrow night!"

Yol: "... (eye roll)"

Lami: "... (crying face)"

Merlin: "?! (bracketed smile)"