Problem: Qi and Blood Control

On the grounds, the hunting team members stood in a neat row.

Every one of them stood straight, their weapons at hand, their gazes all fixed on Lin Yi.

In those eyes, weathered by ferocious beasts and windblown sand, there was curiosity.

"Hey, I told everyone to gather ages ago. We were just waiting on you." Biao's booming voice had returned to normal. "But I didn't tell them what it was for. You tell them yourself."

Looking at the thirteen faces before him, the little spark in Lin Yi's heart slowly flared up. He stepped forward twice and stood before them, skipping any more pleasantries.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why you were gathered here." His voice was not loud, yet it reached every ear with perfect clarity. "Next, I'll teach you a martial skill."

The instant his words fell, the Bluestone Grounds went silent for a breath.

Then the crowd erupted like a boiling pot.

"What? A martial skill?"

"Really? A martial skill? The kind only great tribes have?"

"We can learn martial skills too?"

"Brother Lin, where did you get it?"

The overlapping barrage of questions made everyone's ears buzz.

Disbelief was written across every face. Some of the older hunters were even breathing harder, their rough palms unconsciously tightening around their weapon grips.

To people who had spent their entire lives practicing only the Bluestone Blood-Transporting Method, the words "martial skill" carried the weight of clouds on the horizon—visible but untouchable. They had never dared imagine that one day, it would fall into their own hands.

Biao stepped forward at the right moment, pressing his fan-sized palm down through the air. "Stop making noise! Quiet down! It's real! I saw Lin use it with my own eyes! He created it himself, so learn it without worry!"

The three words "created it himself" crashed into the crowd, stirring an even fiercer commotion than before.

This time, however, it was a low murmur filled with amazement and reverence.

"He's only been here a few days... Is that even something a person can do?"

"A monster. He really is a monster."

"Our Bluestone Tribe... are we about to produce some great figure?"

Stared at by these broad-shouldered men as though he were some kind of monster, Lin Yi braced himself and raised a hand again. "All right, all right, quiet down. I'll demonstrate it once now."

He said no more and walked to an open spot in the center of the grounds.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. The blood qi within him stirred with his thoughts, surging explosively along the crimson patterns of the Savage Bull Diagram.

Those patterns rapidly surfaced beneath his skin. Blood-gold light shone dazzlingly in the sunlight, instantly spreading across his arms, chest, and back.

The heavy phantom of a savage bull vaguely condensed behind him. Though it was only an outline that flashed past, the pressure it released made several hunters in the front row unconsciously retreat half a step.

Lin Yi opened his eyes, and the patterns on his body slowly faded.

Turning sideways, he began to explain.

"This is the Savage Bull Diagram. Once activated, it increases strength by a little more than double. Now I'll go through the steps in detail first. Follow along and sense the flow of your blood qi."

Over the next half hour, Lin Yi broke the pattern-condensing process of the Savage Bull Diagram into seven or eight stages, explaining each one alongside its breathing rhythm and key points of exertion.

At the same time, he used his fingers to point at the corresponding Aperture Points on his body, allowing everyone to see clearly the direction in which the patterns rose and fell.

After finishing, he took several steps back. "Now, each of you give it a try. Don't force yourselves to condense the entire pattern. First, try guiding your blood qi toward the corresponding Aperture Points and sense the initial outline of the pattern."

The hunting team members scattered, each finding an open patch of ground. Following Lin Yi's example, they closed their eyes and steadied their breathing, trying to drive the blood qi in their bodies toward the surface of their limbs and skin.

Lin Yi paced back and forth through the grounds, observing them.

The first team member turned red from holding his breath. Several crooked bloodlines surfaced on his arm, only to disperse when they had connected halfway.

The second member urged his blood qi for a long time. It did surge up, but it could not take shape at all, flowing wildly along his arm like a puddle of water with no master.

The third had it even worse. His face turned purple from the strain, and in the end, he coughed violently twice without condensing anything at all.

After making one round, Lin Yi's heart sank bit by bit.

No one had managed to condense a complete pattern.

Forget a complete one—even the most basic segment was beyond most of them.

Biao came especially close to making his blood qi explode within his body. His blood qi was enormous, and once he activated it, it burst forth so completely that he could not control it at all. Usually, when he moved his blood qi, he simply blasted it out. Trying to use it within his body now had nearly caused an explosion.

Fortunately, Lin Yi stopped him in time.

Most people struggled even to guide their blood qi steadily to the surface of their bodies, let alone condense it into fixed patterns on their skin and connect it to the corresponding Aperture Points.

Lin Yi suddenly realized a problem he had never anticipated before.

Controlling his own blood qi had always come as naturally as moving his hand. He could send it wherever he wanted and shape it into whatever form he wished.

He had assumed that was normal. But now, it seemed that precise blood-qi control was itself a talent—and he happened to possess it.

Perhaps it was the fine control granted by the Super Brain, or perhaps the transformation of spiritual energy during his transmigration had given him mastery over his body far beyond that of ordinary people.

But the people of the tribe did not have that.

These men had spent their whole lives smashing rocks with brute force. Their blood qi was indeed abundant, and the foundation of their Tidal Surge Realm was as solid as could be.

But asking them to turn their blood qi into fine threads and embroider patterns across their skin was truly making things difficult for them.

Lin Yi clapped his hands, signaling everyone to stop.

"Everyone, stop for now." He walked to the center of the crowd, his face showing no disappointment. Instead, it carried renewed drive.

"I've already seen the problem. Your blood qi is plentiful and your foundations are steady, but your control isn't precise enough. You can't condense your blood qi into fixed patterns."

He swept his gaze over the somewhat dejected and bewildered faces around him and smiled. "It's all right. This is merely the first hurdle we've encountered."

"Next, I'll train you specifically in blood-qi control. Once you learn how to control the blood qi within your bodies with precision, learning the Savage Bull Diagram will be as natural as water flowing downhill."

Biao scratched the back of his head and asked in a low, somewhat embarrassed voice, "Um... is blood-qi control easy to learn?"

Lin Yi looked at him and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I have a way."

His mind was already racing as he devised a training plan. Since directly condensing patterns would not work, they would start from the very basics and make the blood qi travel narrow paths, honing their control precision step by step.