Breakthrough: Blood-Qi Mountain Sinking

Lin Yi looked up at the sky. The sun hung slightly west of directly overhead—not early, not late, exactly lunchtime.

His stomach promptly gave a loud growl in agreement, as if urging him to get moving.

"Mm... time to eat. Hahaha, you need a full stomach to have the strength to cultivate."

He rubbed his hands together, and his feet unconsciously started toward Biao's home.

After taking a few steps, he paused again and muttered inwardly, I'm not mooching a meal. I'm properly coming to visit Brother Biao. Having a bite to eat while I'm at it is perfectly reasonable.

With his excuse ready, his stride immediately became righteous and confident.

Before long, Biao's stone house came into view.

"Brother Biao—I came to see you!"

He called out at the door. Before long, it was pulled open from within.

Xiao Hu poked his head through the crack. The moment he saw Lin Yi, his round eyes immediately lit up. "Brother Lin! Come in! My father's inside!"

Lin Yi entered the inner room and saw Biao leaning against the wall at the head of the bed, his left arm tightly bound in wooden splints and hemp bandages.

His complexion was far better than when he had been carried back that day. Though several claw marks on his face had scabbed over, his eyes had regained their usual spirit.

When he saw Lin Yi enter, Biao grinned, his teeth as bright as ever.

"You're here, kid Lin."

"Brother Biao, how are you feeling?" Lin Yi sat on a low stool beside the bed and looked him over from head to toe. His Spirit Eyes swept over him without a trace. The bones in Biao's left arm were properly aligned, the fracture had begun to heal, and the qi and blood in his meridians flowed normally.

"The rest are just flesh wounds. They'll heal up in a few days. It's this left arm," Biao said, lowering his head and giving the arm bound up like a rice dumpling a shake. "The village chief said I'll need to rest for at least a month before the splints can come off."

After saying that, he laughed heartily a few more times. "But it's no big deal! The fact that we both came back alive means Heaven has shown us mercy. What's a month or so? It's a good chance to rest!"

Lin Yi laughed along with him, but his gaze lingered on Biao's face for a moment longer.

Biao laughed loudly, yet Lin Yi clearly saw the faint layer of worry beneath his eye sockets.

The two chatted a little longer about the hunting team and the tribe's recent affairs. Then footsteps sounded outside, and Xiao Hu entered with his mother, carrying a large clay pot between them.

The instant the lid was lifted, the scent of meat mixed with the bitter fragrance of herbs rushed at them. A layer of golden oil floated atop the broth, while huge chunks of meat rolled within it.

"Perfect timing, Xiao Lin. Eat lunch here, and don't you dare stand on ceremony!" Sister-in-law Biao set the clay pot down heavily on the table, then turned to fetch bowls.

"Thank you, Sister-in-law." Lin Yi was polite with his words, but the way he accepted the bowl was remarkably honest.

The meal was lively and bustling.

Though Biao could not move his left arm, his right hand was anything but clumsy. He stuffed meat into his mouth while rambling to Lin Yi about old tales from the hunting grounds.

Xiao Hu occasionally chimed in from the side, making everyone at the table laugh.

As Lin Yi quietly ate, he noticed from the corner of his eye that Biao's hand would unconsciously pause several times as he picked up food. His gaze drifted toward the door, toward the forested mountains beyond the tribe.

That unconscious gaze, filled with concern, stood in no small contrast to his words: "It's a good chance to rest."

Lin Yi did not expose him.

After the meal, he helped clean up the bowls and chopsticks. Standing at the door, he turned back to Biao, who was still propped up in bed, and said one thing.

"Brother Biao, there's only one thing you need to do now: heal properly. Leave everything else to me."

Biao froze for a moment and looked up at Lin Yi. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he merely nodded slowly.

The way he looked at Lin Yi was no longer quite the same as before. Before, he had looked at him as a newcomer who needed guidance, as a younger talent with monstrous gifts.

But now, there was an added steadiness in that gaze—the sense that Lin Yi could be relied upon.

Lin Yi said no more. He waved at him, turned, and walked out through the courtyard gate.

After returning to his own room, he shut the door.

Lin Yi sat cross-legged on the stone bed, adjusted his breathing, and once more activated the Savage Bull Art.

This time, he was not merely cultivating. In his mind, he broke down the fragments concerning blood-qi tempering within the Inkshadow Leopard Divine Markings piece by piece, making subtle adjustments and merging them into the existing circulation framework of the Savage Bull Art.

After one circulation cycle, the new version of the Savage Bull Art had taken shape. Its efficiency had improved by around thirty percent; the changes were minor, but exceedingly effective.

When Lin Yi opened his eyes again, it was already dark outside. He did not go mooch a meal from anyone else. Instead, he took down the half of an Inkshadow Leopard hind leg hanging in the corner and lit a small fire outside.

He slowly turned the entire hind leg over the flames. Sitting by the fire alone, he ate the whole leg, feeling the surging blood-qi from the Inkshadow Leopard meat rise from his stomach and wash through his limbs and bones, warm and comforting.

After eating, he smothered the fire with dirt and returned to the stone bed, closing his eyes and sinking into cultivation.

Nothing happened through the night. When he opened his eyes again, the sky outside had only just begun to brighten.

He lowered his head and looked at his chest. The pain from the fractured ribs had basically vanished, leaving behind only a slight soreness. The fullness of the qi and blood within his body had increased by another measure compared to yesterday.

"Probably a little over two thousand pounds. Half the qi and blood I cultivated went toward nourishing my injuries. Once I'm fully healed, the speed can be even faster."

He rose and stretched his limbs, feeling refreshed from head to toe.

There was still some Inkshadow Leopard meat left in the corner. He simply carried it all outside and roasted it in two batches.

He gnawed through one meal at noon, then had another at night.

By the time he swallowed the last bite of meat, dusk was spreading inch by inch from the distant mountain ridge. He put out the fire, wiped his hands, and sat back down on the stone bed.

The morning of the third day.

Lin Yi's breathing grew heavier and steadier in the darkness.

The qi and blood within his body was like a rising tide, layer pressing upon layer, wave driving wave, continuously surging upward.

The self-circulation of the Savage Bull Art also accelerated. The blood-qi provided by the Inkshadow Leopard meat was fully digested and merged into that rushing tide.

When that tide climbed to a certain critical point, the aura around his body suddenly sank sharply.

The churning qi and blood seemed to find a deeper riverbed, plunging downward all at once—sinking into his bones, into his tendons and membranes, into the deepest foundation of his flesh. Then, like a mountain finally setting its roots firm, it settled solidly there.

He slowly opened his eyes. A heavy, solid pressure spread from around his seated body.

Even the air in the stone house seemed several degrees denser than before.

Lin Yi lowered his head and looked at his palm, lightly clenching it. A crisp sound of compressed air rang out from his hand.

His heartbeat was deep and powerful. Each beat sent even more qi and blood coursing through him, while the density of his bones and muscles had clearly risen to a new level.

Blood-Qi Mountain Sinking. Eighty thousand pounds.

He gently exhaled a breath of foul air, and the corners of his mouth lifted. Eighty thousand pounds of strength, combined with the enhancement of the Savage Bull Diagram, meant an explosive force of at least one hundred sixty thousand pounds.

The village chief's surprised voice suddenly sounded from outside. "You broke through?"

Lin Yi pulled open the door. The village chief stood outside with one hand still raised to knock, his eyes sweeping up and down Lin Yi's entire body.

He fell silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head and laughed.

"Less than a month. From nothing to the Sinking Mountain Realm. I've lived for decades, and this is the first time I've seen something like this with my own eyes."

Lin Yi scratched his head and chuckled. "I haven't reached the Dragonlike Realm yet. No rush."

The village chief looked at him for a while, laughing as he cursed him once. Then he stuffed a leaf-wrapped bundle into Lin Yi's arms.

"Bone soup. Drink it while it's hot. You've been gnawing on nothing but meat these past few days, haven't you? Time to have some broth."

Lin Yi accepted the bundle and lowered his head for a sniff. A rich aroma of meat and herbs filled his nose.

Cradling the bundle, he unwrapped the leaves and took a large gulp from the bowl of bone soup, still hot enough to scald. Warmth slid down his throat into his stomach, ironing his whole body into comfortable ease.

He finished the last mouthful of soup, set the empty bowl on the stone platform beside him, stood up, and gave a long, deep stretch.

His joints crackled in a rapid series of pops.

"Village Chief, I want to go hunting alone."