Turbid Sha

Besides, even if he hadn't said anything, Ling Qing had already planned to do just that.

After hearing Li Li say that Firewood Mountain's trees were unusual, he had used the Heart of Nature to sense the woods.

Unlike ordinary trees, full of life and thriving, the trees here seemed to have grown by gathering turbid baleful qi.

That was why they were so unnaturally hard.

The turbid baleful qi within them was so dense that even Ling Qing, who had wanted to use the Heart of Nature to sort out the forest's energies, couldn't budge it.

After practicing along the way, the Spirit Restraint and Transformation Method still hadn't reached the entry level.

He couldn't bind the spirits of heaven and earth or wield their authority. At most, he could draw on the natural spiritual energy around him to aid his cultivation of the Way of Nature.

But his ability to perceive all things in heaven and earth had grown much stronger.

The sight of the Land God refining ghostly baleful qi from the Chang Ghosts had left a deep impression on him.

Afterward, he had made a point of learning about the different kinds of baleful qi.

As the saying went, purity gave rise to astral qi, while turbidity gave rise to baleful qi.

Anything tainted by heavy, turbid qi was prone to producing baleful qi, to a greater or lesser extent.

Of all the turbid baleful qi on earth, that formed from the earth itself was the most abundant. It could practically be found everywhere; only its quality varied.

That was why the first kind of baleful qi he had sensed with the Sha Refining Technique was this earth-born variety.

Generally speaking, the closer it was to the surface, the more dispersed it became; the deeper underground, the more stagnant it grew.

It was rare for baleful qi on the surface to be this condensed.

He hadn't expected these trees to contain such dense, heavy turbid baleful qi.

Baleful qi this dense was usually buried deep underground or at the roots of towering mountains, where it lay heavily concentrated.

If he could refine it with the Sha Refining Technique, then setting it in motion would split the earth and collapse the mountains. Its ferocity would be unmatched.

Fortunately, the turbid baleful qi was stagnant and hadn't been stirred by him.

Otherwise, with qi of this potency, even drawing out a single wisp might have entangled him in baleful qi, crushing him into a pulp in an instant.

So he didn't dare use Natural Perception on Firewood Mountain again, afraid that he might accidentally get tainted by the baleful qi.

He set to chopping wood in earnest.

"Crack!"

After more than ten consecutive swings, Ling Qing finally cut through the branch and couldn't help letting out a long breath.

Every swing left his bones and muscles numb from the shock. Yet, perched in the tree, he had to brace himself with his legs to keep his balance and avoid falling.

Only after trying several times did he find a way to manage it.

As he chopped, he combined it with the Tiger form from the Five Animal Frolics, using the recoil to temper his bones and sinews.

Then, just as he was about to lose control of the force, he immediately switched to the Bear form, adjusting his posture to steady himself and letting the lingering vibrations work through his muscles.

At the same time, he spread his arms like a crane's wings to keep his balance and avoid falling.

Xingyi had an internal training method called the Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sounds. After combining the Five Animal Frolics Ling Qing had learned with the Druid inheritance, he had gained a similar method of internal training.

Whether it was the tiger's roar, the ape's cry, the crane's call, the deer's bellow, or the bear's growl, each form had its own method of internal training.

All used the vibrations of the bones, sinews, and muscles to exercise the internal organs, strengthening the body within and training it without.

The increase in the Five Animal Frolics' proficiency on his skill panel told him that this really was a good way to train.

He glanced around when he had a moment. Every so often, someone would be knocked off a tree by the recoil.

It seemed not everyone could find a way to chop wood by drawing on what they had learned.

After nearly losing his balance when the tree swayed, Zhang Zhe gradually found a way of his own.

His movements weren't as broad as Ling Qing's. He simply raised his hand, and each time, the axe in his grip blurred into a string of afterimages.

He was clearly using small, springing movements to dissipate the recoil.

But Ling Qing had no time to watch the others.

As the labor continued, the same exhaustion he had felt while climbing the mountain returned.

It did no harm to the body, yet still left a person too tired to move.

As long as he stopped, he felt much better. But the moment he started working again, he was overcome with physical and mental exhaustion.

Hard labor was tiring enough on its own, and now he had to endure this torment as well.

No wonder they called it grueling. It was practically driving people away.

Few of those who had entered the dungeon were fools. They all knew what this meant.

They could shirk and slack off, but then there was no way they would truly join the sect, obtain immortal arts, or learn the Great Dao.

At best, they might end up like Wang Sheng, learning a few shallow spells before being sent down the mountain.

Or they could give the work everything they had, though there was no telling when they might be taught immortal arts.

The point was to temper everyone's character, resolve, and steadfast devotion to the Dao.

Those who sought immortality and studied the Dao had to be able to endure hardship and loneliness alike.

The other chores were probably just like chopping wood.

Liu Yun wasn't unaware that complaining was useless and might even displease the master.

But having never suffered hardship before, he truly couldn't bear it.

As the saying went, only one who could endure what others couldn't and achieve what others couldn't was a true man.

Ling Qing hadn't suffered much either and couldn't exactly call himself a true man. But he had always known how to be content, and he had Natural Force to sustain him.

For Ling Qing, who had glimpsed nature's vast, boundless, and selfless spirit and could recover his energy with Natural Force, these trials of the mind and body—

were more an opportunity to understand and hone himself in the Way of Nature.

They were certainly hard to endure, but not as difficult as he had imagined.

Most important of all were the numbers on his panel, which kept climbing.

The visible progress brought a sense of accomplishment and gave him even more drive to push on.

Ling Qing looked at the branches he had chopped down. He climbed down, bundled them into two sheaves, tied them with rope, and hefted them onto his shoulder.

"I can carry more."

He tested the load and found he hadn't reached his limit, so he climbed back up and chopped a few more branches.

After bundling them together, he nodded with satisfaction.

The load now rested right at his limit. He had to use all his strength just to lift it and move.

What was more, he had to maintain the Five Animal Frolics' techniques for exerting force at all times.

"Up!"

Ling Qing lowered his waist and sat into a horse stance like a bear, setting the load on his shoulder.

Then, like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey, he suddenly thrust upward and hoisted the load.

"Let's go!"

His steps fell like a crane's claws. He planted his foot, moved like an ape, and sank his body.

The firewood on his shoulder rose into the air. Once his step was firmly planted, he shifted back into the Bear form, and the load settled onto his shoulder again.

He didn't rush to rise. The moment the load made solid contact, he sank with it, dissipating some of the force as it came down.

As soon as it settled, before its momentum had died, he sprang up again and gave the middle of the load a sharp bump.

The firewood at both ends bounced up. Holding one hand beneath the load, he sprang forward like a nimble deer.

His other arm swept out like a crane's wing, both to speed himself up and to keep his balance.

With each upward thrust, drop, and catch, each yielding motion, bounce, and spring, the firewood kept rising and falling.

It saved him a great deal of strength while helping him get used to the martial arts and control his force.

Carrying the firewood also generated a jarring force, though it was nothing like the recoil from chopping.

As long as he kept his footing and walked steadily, step by step, the force tempered his whole body like a blacksmith's hammer.

He would need to purge the impurities from his body and forge refined steel from pig iron.