At dawn, a morning breeze swept by. A willow branch on the charred Lightning Struck Wood gave off a gentle glow, enveloping the whole of Stone Village in a pale, hazy light. It was harmonious and peaceful, like a scene from a painting.
Two or three days had passed since they brought the Suanni Precious Body back to Stone Village. A lot had happened during that time, and it was hard to sum up. In short, it could be put in eight words: danger had come, but they had escaped unscathed, and reaped a bountiful harvest.
That night, Old Bei, the Sacrificial Spirit of Bei Village, hadn't been willing to stand by and watch the people of Stone Village take away the Suanni Precious Body, a treasure that could help him break through. In the end, he made his move and unleashed a small beast tide against the group from Stone Village. But Little One and Shi Linhu wielded the Ancestral Artifact and blasted away his lower half. Even then, he still wouldn't give up. He chased them all the way to the entrance of Stone Village, where Willow Deity killed him with a single poke of a Willow Branch.
He had practically delivered himself to their doorstep and walked straight into his own death.
Bai Yixin hadn't played much of a role on this trip, either. He'd just provided a bit of support and cleared out some fodder. Nothing much—only seven or eight giant wolves, two or three Fire Rhinos, Flying Pythons, Scorpion Tigers, and so on. Against tough opponents like Old Bei, Bai Yixin had just hung back on the sidelines, occasionally tossing out a Tornado to harass them or setting up a Wind Field.
All that had taken only half the night. The remaining half had been spent wiping out the Bei Village survivors.
Bai Yixin hadn't gone, though.
It wasn't because he was tired, injured, afraid, or a coward. The cost-benefit ratio simply wasn't worth it.
The Bei Village survivors couldn't even compare to the fodder—fierce beasts—and weren't worth a trip from him. He could earn more experience and money by going into the mountains for a midnight snack.
"I spent a whole day converting my cultivation, and I've finally reached the seventh level of Qi Refining!"
Sitting cross-legged before the charred Lightning Struck Wood, Bai Yixin exhaled a long, white stream of breath. His bright eyes gleamed with delight.
With a thought, a Game Panel slowly unfolded before Bai Yixin.
He didn't hide it from Willow Deity, because this mysterious panel was visible only to Bai Yixin.
[Name]: Bai Yixin. [Age]: 6/22. [Realm]: Seventh Level of Qi Refining (1/700). [Method]: Wind and Rain Summoning Art—Third Layer (6/100). [Skills]: Gale Sword Technique—Mastered (156/1000), Wind Manipulation—Storm (2/100), Minor Rain-Calling Art—Beginner (6/10), Breath Concealment Art—Mastered (8/1000), Minor Fireball Art—Somewhat Accomplished (1/100). [Experience]: 66 [Money]: 2460 [Talent]: Dao of Grinding. The Liver Emperor has a liver over his whole body. When entering a liver-grinding state, his efficiency increases exponentially over time.
Looking at the refreshed panel, Bai Yixin nodded, feeling quite satisfied with himself.
Skills generally had the following levels of proficiency: "Somewhat Accomplished," "Mastered," "Perfected," "Peak," and "Transcendent."
As for whether there were any levels beyond that, the answer was certainly yes. But that was a whole other realm.
Bai Yixin thought of experience as spirit stones, Spiritual Energy, or other highly concentrated, pure forms of energy.
Although the panel looked just like a game where you leveled up by fighting monsters, Bai Yixin had a real body of flesh and blood, not some digitized avatar. He couldn't directly add experience to a progress bar; it had to go through a conversion process.
As for his realm, cultivating a method was the converter. It turned experience into cultivation at a certain ratio.
For skills like divine abilities and secret techniques, experience was more like an accelerator. It couldn't directly increase his proficiency, but it could speed up how fast he gained it.
So, in theory, even without any fortuitous encounters, as long as Bai Yixin kept grinding away and didn't die halfway, he'd eventually become a powerful expert.
There was no need to explain money. It was the currency exclusive to the shop and couldn't be topped up. You either sold things to the shop or slowly ground it out yourself. You could earn "money" by fighting monsters or winning duels.
For now, though, Bai Yixin couldn't afford what he wanted, and the things he could afford weren't necessary. He needed to save his money to buy a good cultivation method.
Don't be fooled by the Wind and Rain Summoning Art's impressive name. It was actually unbelievably lame. It had only three layers, and could take him no further than the peak of Qi Refining. After that, all it could do was alter the weather on a small scale, letting him summon wind and rain with a wave of his hand.
It was a free method, after all. You knew how those went. It was useful, but not very powerful.
Still, it went very well with the Gale Sword Technique.
"Big Brother, what are you doing? Grandpa Chief asked me to come get you." Little One Shi Hao, who had secretly finished drinking his milk, spotted Bai Yixin sitting cross-legged beside Willow Deity. He licked his lips and greeted him.
"I'm absorbing the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth and circulating it through my meridians," Bai Yixin replied with a smile.
"Big Brother, what does that mean? I don't understand." Little One's big eyes blinked.
"If you want to learn someday, I'll teach you. Didn't you say Grandpa Chief was looking for me? Don't keep him waiting." Bai Yixin patted Little One's head.
"Right! We can't keep Grandpa Chief waiting." Little One grabbed Bai Yixin and ran toward Shi Yunfeng.
"Grandpa Chief."
"You're here. Sit down." Shi Yunfeng smiled as he watched Bai Yixin and Little One hurry over.
"Don't be nervous. I won't ask how you control the wind. I called you here to ask if you'd like to learn Bone Text from me. Once you've fused the Bone Text into your flesh and blood, you can undergo the Baptism with Little One." Shi Yunfeng stroked his beard, his eyes full of approval as he looked at Bai Yixin.
Who would've thought that Stone Village would come across a child who was an Immortal Reincarnation? They were truly blessed. Stone Village was destined to prosper!
"Grandpa Chief, there's no need to hide anything. If you want to learn, I can teach you. But what I cultivate seems a little different from the power Little One used that day."
Since the people of Stone Village didn't treat him like an outsider, Bai Yixin didn't feel the need to be selfish. Besides, he could say he already knew Stone Village fairly well, so he felt a natural fondness for them. Of course he was willing to share. It wasn't anything precious, anyway.
"Good, what a good child." Shi Yunfeng's gaze softened even further as he looked at Bai Yixin. The wrinkles on his face all smoothed out.
"Big Brother, I use Bone Text!" Little One called out.
"The truths of order are laid out in nature. All things possess a spirit, and the intelligent species favored by heaven are the clearest examples. The true meaning of the Dao is given tangible form in their bodies."
Seeing Bai Yixin's bewildered expression, Shi Yunfeng explained.
"Bone Text is a mysterious system of runes that humanity created by observing and imitating the primal markings of other species."
"Bone Text is only a form, a method. The right path is to truly turn it into your own strength. Otherwise, everything is rootless duckweed. Only strength of your own matters." Seeing the two boys listening intently, Shi Yunfeng continued.
"What do we have to do?"
"You must turn Bone Text into a part of yourself, so that your flesh and bones unite with heaven and earth and nature, just like those species favored by heaven. Otherwise, an imitation is only an imitation, and it will be difficult to bring out its true power."
As Shi Yunfeng explained the Dao of Runes, starting with the basics and working toward the deeper principles, Bai Yixin finally went from only half-understanding to grasping how to begin cultivating in the Perfect World system.
At first, Bone Text had to be nurtured with one's own vital essence and blood so it could grow stronger. But once it truly took shape and one's understanding deepened, the process could be reversed.
The runes could be fused into the body, becoming radiant light and Divine Radiance. Each rune became an eternal divine furnace, embedded in every inch of flesh, tempering the essence of heaven and earth and drawing divine energy into the body. From then on, both body and spirit were transformed completely.
This stage was called the Blood Moving Realm. At its peak, one's strength came purely from the flesh; a single swing of one arm could unleash a divine force of 108,000 jin.
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