A month passed in the blink of an eye.
Early morning.
In a small courtyard in Gaolin County.
Inside the house, a large medicinal bath barrel stood in the center.
Lu Chen sat cross-legged in the barrel, his eyes closed and his breathing long and steady.
The medicinal broth had originally been crimson as blood, brewed from herbs that replenished qi and blood. But after a night of cultivation, it had become as clear as water.
He had absorbed every last trace of its medicinal potency.
Lu Chen slowly opened his eyes.
His gaze was exceptionally bright.
Like a blade freshly washed in water.
Bracing both hands against the rim, he slowly rose.
Splash.
The medicinal water slid down his chest, shoulders, back, and arms with a soft patter.
The droplets did not linger on his skin. As though gently repelled by an invisible layer of force, they quickly rolled off.
His skin had a warmer, more lustrous sheen than before.
It was not the soft fairness of a woman's skin, but a jade hue suffused with qi and blood.
Quiet, resilient, yet concealing a keen edge.
His arms, chest, shoulders, back, waist, and abdomen-every inch of skin was dense and supple, as though secretly stitched together with countless fine threads. Outwardly, it merely looked smooth and lustrous, but Lu Chen could clearly feel something beneath that layer of skin, like an invisible suit of armor.
Lu Chen raised a hand and slowly clenched his fingers.
The qi and blood within him moved at his will.
Hum.
The next instant, golden threads abruptly appeared beneath his skin.
This time, they no longer merely flickered in and out of sight. They joined into a continuous whole.
From his wrists to his shoulders, from his chest to his back, from his waist