First Steps into the World

"Chirp, chirp."

Early in the morning, the birds on the branches had just awakened. A thin mist permeated the entire mountain forest, and the rising morning sun cast beams of light through the dense leaves, illuminating a scene full of vitality.

On the mountain peak, atop a flat, cyan boulder, a thin youth dressed in brown hemp clothing sat cross-legged with his five hearts facing the sky. By the looks of it, he seemed to be practicing breathing and meditation.

The youth appeared to be about twelve or thirteen years old. He had red lips and white teeth, with well-defined features, a high-bridged nose, and thin lips. In particular, his two slender, sword-like eyebrows slanted upward into the few strands of black hair falling at his temples, making the youth's face appear even more perfect.

To be so handsome at such an age, one could imagine he would surely become even more dashing and extraordinary when he grew up.

"Hoo."

Exhaling a thin, long breath from his chest, he felt that faint, elusive trace of energy swimming within his body.

Lin Yiqing could not help but feel a sense of joy. There was nothing more satisfying than intuitively feeling one's own growth.

The path of martial arts was like rowing a boat against the current; the many hardships felt while forging ahead in the rapids could make one fall into a deep, intoxicating obsession.

The Body Tempering Realm was the beginning of martial arts. Unlike others who purely tempered their bodies, Lin Yiqing possessed a method for internal refinement—a memory from a very distant time.

Exhale the old and inhale the new, merely to prolong one's life.

Combining the internal and external allowed for a more comprehensive tempering of the flesh, and the benefits were even more obvious; his strength and physique were both far superior to those of his peers.

"Starting posture, grasp the sparrow's tail, single whip."

Following the moves in his memory, Lin Yiqing slowly stretched his body. Although his movements were slow, they were quite proficient. As he moved, the muscles and bones throughout his body were engaged, seemingly having the effect of tempering his entire frame.

Once the set was finished, he switched to other boxing techniques. The martial arts he had learned in his spare time in the past were proving to be of immense use here.

"Haha, everyone in the clan knows your dad is a loser! Only you still refuse to believe it!"

Suddenly, a mocking laugh drifted from the dense forest, followed by bursts of ridiculing jeers.

Lin Yiqing could not help but frown. This was the back mountain of the Lin Family, a place that was usually quiet and rarely visited, which was why he had chosen to practice his breathing techniques here.

However, for some reason today, many of the younger generation of the Lin Family had gathered at the foot of the mountain, and the sound of their arguing made him feel somewhat annoyed.

"You still dare to fight back! Hit him!"

"Brother Lin Dong, run! Don't hit my brother!" The sound of a little girl's crying and bursts of wild laughter echoed intermittently.

Hearing this, Lin Yiqing understood immediately; it was those people from the main branch causing trouble again.

The Lin Family of Qingyang Town was one of the four major powers in the town, having been entrenched there for many years.

Although they were not the most powerful force in Qingyang Town, their background was terrifyingly impressive.

They were a branch of the Lin Clan, one of the four great clans of the Great Yan Dynasty!

The Lin Family of Qingyang Town had once been part of the main clan.

It was a pity that decades ago, the head of the family, Lin Zhentian, failed a major mission, causing the Lin Clan to suffer immense losses, which led to them being exiled to Qingyang Town to establish this Lin Family.

Lin Yiqing's branch was also implicated and exiled here because their bloodline was very close to the main family line.

Unfortunately, after Lin Zhentian established the Lin Family, they were relegated to a side branch.

As time passed, and with the subsequent unfair distribution of benefits, various forms of suppression—both overt and covert—followed one after another. After his parents died in an accident during an escort mission several years ago, Lin Yiqing was the only one left of his line.

The cool wind from the mountain peak swept over him. Lin Yiqing stood quietly on the large blue rock, watching the farce at the foot of the mountain. Unsurprisingly, this was the beginning of that youth's rise.

"The pinnacle of martial arts, shaking the heavens and earth."

He whispered to himself, and a fire seemed to ignite in his eyes, as if he wanted to burn the firmament.

Regardless of the reason he had arrived here, since he had come, he would never allow himself to remain mediocre! In this world where martial arts could reach the divine, how could he be content as an ant?

The great roc rises with the wind, soaring ninety thousand miles!

Lin Yiqing looked up at the sky, then turned and walked deeper into the forest.

The few people causing a ruckus here today were all from the younger generation of the Lin Family, mostly small fries in the early stages of the Body Tempering Realm. Such a confrontation held no value for him to learn from.

In this world, the path of cultivation prioritized body refinement; everything began with oneself.

So-called Body Tempering was simply the practice of cultivating one's own body, making it gradually stronger, eventually moving from the outside in.

When the muscles and bones within the body were strengthened to a certain level, a seed of Yuan Power would be derived. Only when this seed naturally appeared in the human body was one qualified to be called a cultivator!

Body Tempering was divided into nine stages. The first three were for strengthening the physique. When one reached the fourth stage, the benefits of cultivation would gradually manifest. At this level, the cultivator's skin would become as hard as wood or stone, and both physical strength and reaction speed would be greatly improved.

Lin Yiqing was currently at the fourth stage of Body Tempering: Skin Tempering! At this level, he could be considered to be in the upper echelon among his peers in Qingyang Town.

This was largely thanks to the boxing techniques he had learned previously; they were surprisingly effective at strengthening tendons and bones during the early stages of Body Tempering. Otherwise, with his status as a side-branch member, it would have been impossible for him to reach his current progress.

During the Body Tempering Realm, individual talent often did not manifest too much; one could even say that anyone could practice Body Tempering. However, the level one could reach depended on personal opportunity and the resources one obtained.

People from side branches usually had extremely scarce resources because the good ones were all supplied to the direct descendants, making it a hundred times harder for side-branch members to get ahead.

Many things that others could obtain easily might require a side-branch member to pay a huge price just for a glimmer of hope.

Taking the Lin Family as an example, it was almost impossible for side-branch members to obtain spiritual herbs or higher-level martial arts without making significant contributions.

Therefore, many side-branch members had to enter the mountains to search for medicinal herbs to support their cultivation.

Resources were also a significant test for Lin Yiqing.

Following the rugged mountain path, he searched incessantly for aged medicinal herbs and spiritual plants. Thanks to his past days and nights of studying medical theory and pharmacology, his experience was quite extensive.

In no time at all, the cloth bag at his side was already bulging. While spiritual herbs were rare, many common medicinal plants also held significant utility; the key lay in how one utilized them.

Furthermore, he possessed a unique trait of his own. Ever since he woke up in this world, he had been gifted with a special ability: he could perceive the fluctuations of heaven and earth's primordial energy within an incredibly short span of time.

At his current level of cultivation, he could only catch a fleeting, blurred image, yet even that was enough to benefit him immensely.

Gold, wood, water, fire, and earth—the properties of primordial energy belonging to different elements could be intuitively sensed by him.

It was miraculous, simply beyond imagination!

By organizing yin and yang and distinguishing the qi of the five elements, he was born with the innate ability to discern the essence of all things!

From qi to matter, he could grasp the combinations of different elemental energies. By consuming them, he could use this to refine his own yin nature and transform it into yang.

The implications were unimaginable. If he didn't become an alchemist, it would be a total waste of such a talent!

All things in heaven and earth were born from the transformation of qi.

At this moment, in his eyes, the spiritual herbs growing in the mountains were all surrounded by clusters of multicolored primordial energy, making them incredibly conspicuous. Among them, a small, crimson-red grass was the most eye-catching.

"A first-grade spiritual herb, Red Sun Grass!"

Lin Yiqing couldn't help but beam with joy. This was a primary ingredient he had been searching for for a long time; he hadn't expected to find it today.

"Red Sun Grass, Gold Jade Branch, White Frost Vine... excellent. With these herbs, I might be able to attempt brewing a batch of auxiliary medicine for the Body Tempering stage!"

Looking at the herbs in his bag, a smile couldn't help but spread across Lin Yiqing's face.

The herbs he had gathered today were the raw materials for the Body Tempering Pill he had been conceptualizing for many days. Now, only a practical attempt remained to see the results.

He remembered how, in the past, he couldn't help but complain whenever he read those legendary stories—why didn't the big shots in those worlds ever practice alchemy?

They would refine various spiritual herbs and heavenly treasures directly, and pills were only condensed manually once one reached a certain realm; more often, they just condensed primordial energy into pills.

The pill culture was far inferior to his previous world.

However, this might also be related to the overall environment. In this world, slaughter occurred at every moment, and countless powerhouses fell; where would they find the energy to research and develop such things?

Moreover, the pills of this world had their own unique characteristics.

But for Lin Yiqing, he possessed sufficient vision, unconstrained imagination, and the alchemical understanding he had gleaned from the masters of his past life. It would be a waste not to try and develop alchemy!

Thinking of this, Lin Yiqing hurried toward his home.

A small, inconspicuous courtyard made of blue bricks, standing on the outskirts of the Lin Family estate—this was Lin Yiqing's home.

Ever since his grandfather's generation followed Lin Zhentian to migrate here, they had endured many hardships, and by today, the family fortune they had once earned had long since withered away.

The empty courtyard appeared somewhat dilapidated, but that was fine; with no one to disturb him, he didn't have to worry about his activities being discovered.

Due to his limited strength, Lin Yiqing could not yet extract the essence of spiritual herbs using the methods of a cultivator, nor did he have a professional alchemy furnace to assist him. Therefore, he had to resort to clever, unconventional means.

He remembered reading in his past life about a cultivation master who, in his youth, used an induction cooker to refine body-tempering medicinal liquid. Surely, he could try the same!

Under the stove, a fierce fire roared, heating a blackened, heavy iron pot. Once the water boiled, it was time to add the herbs.

"The Red Sun Grass has a fiery nature, so I'll add the Gold Jade Branch to balance it."

Lin Yiqing stared intently at the swirling medicinal soup in the pot, keeping a constant watch on the changes in the liquid.

Deep within his sea of consciousness, a faint cyan light flickered, and the scene before his eyes suddenly transformed into clusters of colorful qi.

In that instant, he saw the surging primordial energy and the degree to which it was merging.

Orange and apricot-colored energies surged; at first, they were completely incompatible, as distinct as oil and water, unable to mix.

However, the moment he added the new spiritual herb, the Gold Jade Branch, the two substances acted like butter in high heat, rapidly melting and blending with the new energy. Finally, they collapsed into a cluster of earthy-yellow primordial energy.

"Haha, it worked!"

Watching the yellowish medicinal juice in the pot slowly transform into a black medicinal paste, Lin Yiqing's solemn expression finally softened, and he couldn't help but grin.

If the big shots could refine it, then surely I can too! Who says I'm not an alchemy genius?

Refining medicine in an iron pot—an essential skill for every beginner!

Once it cooled slightly, Lin Yiqing hurriedly scooped the semi-solid black paste from the pot and placed it into a long wooden tray carved with many cylindrical grooves. By sliding the two halves of the vessel together, he quickly formed the paste into pills.

However, even though the pills were made, he didn't consume one immediately.

After all, this was a prescription he had researched and determined himself. He still needed to test it to ensure the pills truly had no side effects and possessed the efficacy to assist in body tempering.

Thinking of this, he turned and grabbed a scrawny wild rabbit from a cage in the corner of the kitchen. After forcing the pill into its mouth, a faint glow swirled in Lin Yiqing's eyes.

Under this magical vision, he saw the earthy-yellow primordial energy within the pill seep into the rabbit's body like mist.

The muscles and bones that came into contact with the earthy-yellow energy acted like greedy sponges, rapidly absorbing the medicinal power. It was as if a spring breeze had brought rain, quickly repairing the rabbit's withered muscles, and even its bones began to emit a faint luster.

A moment later, looking at the now more spirited rabbit, Lin Yiqing finally broke into a joyful smile. This attempt at compounding and refining medicine was undoubtedly a success.