Stone Essence Milk

"Pfft!"

With his iron essence saber held in his mouth, Wang Yu leaped out of the river like a great fish and landed on the muddy bank. Then he staggered, nearly falling to the ground.

The golden light on his skin had vanished, but his face was blood-red and his body burned hot. A blood-red pattern flickered between his brows, his spiritual sense was muddled, and his head felt extraordinarily heavy.

Complete bloodline awakening!

The sensation was familiar. Wang Yu knew what had happened without needing to guess.

He had never imagined that the river water would stimulate the Iron-Eater Crocodile bloodline within him into a fully awakened state. No wonder he had swum so fast.

Without overclocked synchronization mode forcing him to remain conscious, he would probably have passed out long ago. Now he could only muster his remaining strength and race toward a patch of woods not far from the bank.

Rumble!

Wang Yu glanced back and saw an enormous ball of fire shoot into the sky from the center of the Redwater River. Amid the roiling black mist, he could just make out the huge tower ship slowly sinking beneath the water.

"Four Fiends of Misty Mountain, I will never let you have your way! Just wait for the Hundred Treasures Pavilion to hunt you down!"

"Feng, you're courting death!"

The dwarf's furious voice rang out from the tower ship. A huge crescent-shaped phantom flashed within the black mist, followed by Elder Feng's scream. After that, no further sound emerged.

Horror gripped Wang Yu. Enduring his body's discomfort, he kept sprinting and plunged straight into the woods.

Faster, faster!

Wang Yu darted between the trees. With the astonishing perception granted by Overclocking synchronization, he suddenly spotted his target: a concealed tree hollow screened by dense bushes, large enough to shelter two or three people his size without trouble.

Rustle, tumble.

Almost crawling and rolling, he pushed through the bushes and plunged headfirst into the hollow. Fortunately, there were no wild animals, insects, or snakes inside, only a thick layer of dust.

With his last shred of lucidity, Wang Yu quickly restored the bushes at the entrance to their original state and even scattered some dust over them. Then he disengaged Overclocking synchronization. His vision went black, and he collapsed.

This time, he had another very long dream.

In the dream, he became a green crocodile with four short legs, born in an enormous swamp. A huge female crocodile fed him until he grew a little bigger, after which he left the group to hunt alone.

After countless life-or-death struggles and devouring innumerable fierce swamp beasts, he grew larger by the day. By adulthood, he was seven or eight times larger than the ordinary crocodiles known on Blue Star.

At some point, whenever he had stored enough fat, he began finding a cold, damp place and sleeping for many days.

Each time he awoke, he could sense certain hard stones buried deep underground from far away. He became extremely fond of gnawing on and swallowing them, which caused harder scales to grow over his body. This gave him exceptional defenses against other ferocious prey, letting him sweep all before him.

After an unknown length of time, he clashed with another giant crocodile during a hunt.

That giant crocodile was a size larger than him, with a single black horn growing from its head. After a fierce struggle, it sank its jaws into one of his vital spots...

So dry. I need water!

After an unknown amount of time, through his parched mouth and throat, Wang Yu felt a sweet liquid flow into his mouth. It spread in wisps of coolness, stirring his entire body, as though every cell brimmed with a craving for that sweetness.

He smacked his lips instinctively, then abruptly woke, opening his eyes and sitting up. The next instant, however, his body went rigid.

A figure sat cross-legged beside him, her graying hair secured with a black wooden hairpin. It was Madam Yin.

The old woman's red-and-green dress was somewhat tattered, her face was haggard, and she held a small white bottle.

"Senior Yin, you..."

Alarm and uncertainty filled Wang Yu. One hand instinctively pressed down on the iron essence saber nearby, but before he could voice his question, Madam Yin interrupted him with a wave:

"Brother Wang, you've just completed your bloodline awakening. Hurry and sit down to cultivate with breathing exercises. You must wait until the abnormalities on your body disappear before getting up."

Abnormalities on my body?

Wang Yu froze, then instinctively lowered his head to look at himself. What he saw shocked him.

His exposed hands were covered in densely packed pale-green markings.

He hurriedly rolled one sleeve high up his arm.

His entire arm was the same. It looked utterly bizarre!

Horrified, Wang Yu had no time to say anything more. He hurriedly sat cross-legged and began circulating the Yin Water Art according to its formula. The surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth began surging into his body.

A quarter of an hour later, when he opened his eyes again, the green markings on his arms had vanished, leaving his skin smooth and normal once more.

"Thank you for watching over me, Senior."

Wang Yu breathed a sigh of relief, stood, and cupped his hands toward Madam Yin in thanks.

"Cough, cough... Brother Wang, you're very bold, undergoing bloodline awakening without anyone to guard you. The process consumes a great deal of vital energy, and if something outside disturbs you, your bloodline can easily turn against you. If I hadn't fed you a bottle of Stone Essence Milk, you would probably have slept for several more days." Madam Yin coughed twice and smiled at Wang Yu.

"Thank you for helping me, Senior Yin. I never expected my bloodline to awaken at a time like this. Is the Stone Essence Milk what's in that bottle? It really is useful. How did you find this place, Senior? And how long was I asleep?" Wang Yu glanced at the bottle in the old woman's hand and pursed his lips. He could still feel his body's intense craving for it as he asked curiously.

"You weren't asleep for very long, only about half a day. As for how I found you, it was naturally thanks to the Ghost Hounds I rear. They aren't particularly powerful spirit beasts, but their noses are fairly keen, so they're useful for finding people."

"I used a few tricks to escape at the time. From a distance, I saw the Iron Arrow sink. Only after those bandit cultivators, the Four Fiends of Misty Mountain, had left did I return to these woods and find you."

"When I discovered that your bloodline was awakening, and happened to have a spiritual liquid like Stone Essence Milk on me, naturally I had to lend you a hand." Madam Yin gave a brief explanation, looking kindly and benevolent.

"The Four Fiends of Misty Mountain have left? Did any of the other fellow cultivators escape?" Wang Yu felt a weight lift from his heart.

He had already discreetly checked his belongings. There were no signs that anyone had disturbed them, and his flexible sword was still there. Only then did he truly relax.

"I don't know whether anyone else escaped. But even if they did, most probably wouldn't dare linger nearby. I had another reason for returning here."

"The Four Fiends of Misty Mountain may have a fearsome reputation among rogue cultivators, but daring to attack a magical ship belonging to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion was truly audacity enough to blot out the sky. I've already informed the pavilion through a secret art. A guardian elder should be on the way here by now. Hmph, when the time comes..." Madam Yin first shook her head, then gave a cold snort, her expression turning vicious.

"An elder from the pavilion?" Catching the implication, Wang Yu paused.

"Hehe, I forgot to tell you, Brother Wang. I'm actually a covert guard of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion. Like Fellow Cultivator Feng, I was responsible for the Iron Arrow's safety on this voyage. Unfortunately, old Feng's luck was poor. The Blood Enchantress of the Four Fiends of Misty Mountain caught him with a sneak attack. Otherwise, with his late Qi Refining cultivation, he would certainly have escaped with his life." Madam Yin chuckled, then added a few regretful words of explanation.

"So you're a member of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, Senior Yin. That puts my mind at ease. By the way, just who are these Four Fiends of Misty Mountain? How can they be so vicious as to dare hijack an entire magical ship?" Wang Yu let out a long breath. Though he was still inwardly shocked by her identity, he asked about something else.

"The Four Fiends of Misty Mountain are powerful bandit cultivators who only appeared in the last three or four years. All four are reportedly at late Qi Refining, practice demonic cultivation arts, and each possesses an extremely powerful graded magical artifact. But they've always operated around Prosperity Prefecture in the Yu Kingdom. It's rather strange that they dared cross the border into our Wu Kingdom this time..." Madam Yin also grew thoughtful.

"Never mind. Even if there's something suspicious about it, someone will naturally get to the bottom of it. But you've awakened your bloodline, Brother Wang. Have you awakened any innate abilities...?"

"Hehe, I really am getting senile. How could you casually tell others something like that? First, let me congratulate you on awakening your bloodline power, Brother Wang. As long as the spirit root you condense in the future isn't too poor, you'll qualify to join an immortal cultivation sect. This Stone Essence Milk has remarkable effects in replenishing vital energy and nourishing the body. There's still more than half a bottle left. Consider it my congratulatory gift."

Madam Yin offered repeated congratulations and tossed the little bottle straight to him.

"I'm already deeply grateful that you guarded me, Senior. How could I accept something so precious as well?" Wang Yu fumbled to catch the bottle, feeling rather overwhelmed by the favor.

"Don't stand on ceremony, Brother Wang. It's simply fate that brought us together. When I first met you that day, I knew you would be extraordinary in the future, but I never expected you to awaken your bloodline so soon." Madam Yin grew somewhat wistful.

"Did you already know that day that I would awaken my bloodline, Senior?" Wang Yu put away the bottle, puzzled by her words.

"You must have already partially awakened your bodily bloodline before, but not completely, so some of your aura leaked out. That was how my spirit hounds noticed it. Now that you've fully awakened, that won't happen anymore." Madam Yin answered with a smile.

"I see. Your spirit hounds even have an ability like that, Senior?" Amid his surprise, Wang Yu recalled the two black hounds he had seen on the deck that day, and envy unwittingly showed on his face.

"Hehe, it's merely a trifling Beast Taming Art... Unfortunately, I don't possess a bodily bloodline like yours, Brother Wang. Otherwise, why would I only command ungraded canine spirit beasts like these? After all, Bloodline Awakeners are the best suited to becoming powerful beast tamers." Madam Yin's words carried deep significance.

"Senior Yin, what do you mean...?"

Wang Yu's heart stirred. Just as he was about to question her further, a sudden boom rang out overhead. The entire tree hollow burst apart in an instant, revealing blue skies, white clouds, and dazzling sunlight.

Startled, Wang Yu seized the iron essence saber beside him, rolled, and sprang to his feet, staring warily upward.