The moment after the lamplight tore through the darkness, Lu Ming saw a strange face slowly emerge from the cold, damp black fog. It was the bluish gray of a corpse and covered in fine scales, while the warm yellow light that had felt so comforting came from a gray lump of flesh bulging from its forehead.
Inside the gray lump, rainwater seemed to be flowing, and the warm yellow light was formed from the lump itself.
It was hard to imagine the terror and despair someone would feel if they were lost in the black fog and, upon seeing that warm light, rushed toward it full of hope, only to see a strange face emerge from the fog.
Perhaps because the lamplight's deception had lost its effect, the flame slowly began to draw inward and fade.
Aside from two deeply sunken grayish-white eyes, the bluish-gray face had only a mouth, in which layer after layer of fine, sharp teeth emerged.
As the Rain Spawn emerged, its figure grew clearer. It was human in shape, but several times taller and more heavily built. Most importantly, it had four arms.
Its four arms were dark blue-green and covered in scales. Its hands were sharp, with webbing between the fingers.
This was the strange creature that bred in the black rain, a Rain Spawn!
The Rain Spawn was also riding something: a strange beast with a rotting fish's tail and a snake's head. It was a Spawn Beast, and it carried the Rain Spawn as it floated through the black fog, swimming slowly.
Lu Ming stared at the strange figure riding the Spawn Beast, his expression growing graver. As far as he knew, a Four-Armed Rain Spawn was as strong as a Great Divine Ability Practitioner in the Dharma Rune Realm.
With the help of the Spawn Beasts beneath them, they could roam and fly freely through the black rain and black fog, coming and going like fish in the sea.
The Four-Armed Rain Spawn approached the herb garden bit by bit through the black fog, finally stopping a little over ten feet from the Azure Light Restriction. Its cold, dead-gray eyes fixed on the herb garden protected by the restriction.
Hiss!
It suddenly opened its mouth, packed with fine teeth, and emitted a strange, inhuman sound wave.
Not long after the sound wave spread, two more clusters of warm yellow light appeared in the black fog behind it. Two Four-Armed Rain Spawn came swimming out of the fog on strange fish Spawn Beasts and lingered outside the herb garden.
"Three Four-Armed Rain Spawn?"
Qian Shan's expression soured at the sight. How could they be so unlucky this time? In the past, even a single Four-Armed Rain Spawn had rarely appeared here during the Black Rain Fog, yet today three had come at once?
Fortunately, Lu Jin had come along this time. With a Divine Ability Master like him standing guard, the herb garden would be safe.
"These Rain Spawn were drawn here by you," Lu Jin said, looking down at Lu Ming.
"Huh?" Lu Ming was somewhat bewildered.
"Rain Spawn like to eat Divine Ability Bones. The higher the grade, the more they like them. In their eyes, your Sub-Heaven-Grade Divine Ability Bone is a rare and nourishing delicacy," Lu Jin explained.
Lu Ming shuddered. He had not expected the Sub-Heaven-Grade Divine Ability Bone to have such a drawback. Wouldn't that mean he would draw the attention of countless Rain Spawn whenever he entered a Black Rain Zone from now on?
"You haven't condensed a Divine Ability Dharma Mark yet, so you can't conceal the fluctuations of your Divine Ability Bone. Once your Primordial Qi grows stronger, it won't be so easy for these low-level Rain Spawn to sense it," Lu Jin reassured him.
Only then did Lu Ming breathe a sigh of relief.
"Will they attack the herb garden?" Lu Ming asked.
"If they come in, I'll slaughter them," Lu Jin said calmly. If they had been Six-Armed Rain Spawn, he would have been somewhat wary today, but if they were only Four-Armed, they posed little threat.
Even so, Lu Jin had no intention of leaving the herb garden to kill them. Lu Ming was still here, after all, and he had to remain at his side to protect him at all times.
As the two spoke, the three Four-Armed Rain Spawn wandered outside the Azure Light Restriction on their strange fish Spawn Beasts. They seemed to be hesitating, having keenly sensed the dangerous presence emanating from within the restriction.
It was Lu Jin's killing intent.
It made them realize that a power capable of killing them lay within.
And since it was only the Rain Fog Period, not the black rain, they could not summon higher-level Rain Spawn.
Thus, after lingering for a long while, the three Four-Armed Rain Spawn ultimately did not attack the Azure Light Restriction. Instead, they slowly retreated on their strange fish Spawn Beasts, until they vanished bit by bit into the cold, damp black fog.
When the Rain Spawn withdrew, Lu Qingyan, Lu Jinglei, and Qian Shan all breathed sighs of relief. It was naturally best to scare the strange creatures away without a fight. If they had clashed, no one knew whether more Rain Spawn would have been drawn over, and even if they could have killed them in the end, it would hardly have been worth it if the herb garden had been damaged.
Lu Ming wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Although no battle had broken out tonight, the tense atmosphere had still left him feeling suffocated.
And this was only the Black Rain Fog. The spreading rain fog would not bring many Rain Spawn, but the arrival of the Black Rain Season would be different. Countless Rain Spawn would break through the seal as the black rain raged, among them many Six-Armed Rain Spawn comparable to Divine Ability Masters.
Every outbreak of the Black Rain Season was a crisis of survival for Qingyuan Market, and who knew how many people would die in it?
"What's wrong? Scared? Do you want to go home tomorrow?" Lu Jin slowly relaxed his bony hand around his pipe. Seeing how tense Lu Ming looked, he smiled and asked.
Lu Ming thought for a moment, then asked, "How long will this Black Rain Fog last before it clears?"
"It should last three or four days."
"Then I'll stay. There are only ten days left until the academy meet. I want to use the environment here to cultivate. My progress should be a little faster than at the academy," Lu Ming said.
Lu Jin was taken aback, then a trace of appreciation appeared in his eyes. He had not expected that, after the terror he had just experienced, Lu Ming would not only refuse to shrink back but also intend to stay and cultivate using the rain fog's special effect of compressing Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi. Such resolve was remarkable.
"All right. Then focus on your cultivation these next few days. I'll stay with you."
"Sorry for the trouble, Grandpa," Lu Ming said with a grateful smile. If Lu Jin, a Divine Ability Master, were not standing guard over the herb garden, he really would not dare stay here.
"Why be so polite with your grandpa? You're the last hope of our Lu Clan. I can give up anything to guard your path."
Lu Jin raised his pipe and took a long, hard puff. Smoke rose as his aged voice sounded gentle yet resolute. "Including this old life of mine."
"All right, we've been at it all night. Get some rest first. You can get up and cultivate tomorrow."
The next day, as daylight broke, the rain fog that had blanketed heaven and earth as thickly as ink began to thin rapidly. But once night fell and the rain Qi spread, the fog would come sweeping back.
It would repeat like this for several days before finally subsiding.
Lu Qingyan, Lu Jinglei, and the others hurried to check the Divine Ability Restrictions for signs of erosion by the rain fog. At the same time, they searched the surrounding mountains and forests to make sure no Rain Spawn remained.
Lu Ming did not slack off. Instead, he used the power of a High-Grade Bone Refining Pill to begin his third round of bone refining.
But now that he had reached the third round, Lu Ming could clearly feel the process growing more and more difficult. In the past, he could distinctly sense the changes in his Divine Ability Bone after taking one High-Grade Bone Refining Pill, but now that improvement had diminished considerably.
Clearly, the third round of bone refining was the most difficult stage of the Bone Refining Realm.
At this rate, even if Lu Ming exhausted all the High-Grade Bone Refining Pills he had over the next ten days, he might struggle to complete even a third of the third round...
Even so, Lu Ming did not grow impatient. Cultivation could not be rushed, after all. He continued methodically refining the Bone-Tempering Pills, and once he had absorbed most of their medicinal power, he practiced the divine abilities he had learned.
Flame Blade, Lesser Thunderlight, and Golden Plasma Fire, from which he had just condensed his first wisp of golden flame.
Lu Jin stood guard beside him, offering guidance from time to time.
As the sky was about to darken, Lu Qingyan and the others returned to the herb garden and activated the Azure Light Restriction, ready for battle.
Night fell over heaven and earth, and the cold, damp black rain fog swept back in once more, just as expected.
But unlike the previous night, as soon as the rain fog began to spread, the familiar warm yellow lights appeared deep within the dense black fog.
And this time, there were six of them!
Lu Ming, who had been about to begin cultivating in the special environment of the black rain fog, felt his heart sink. Not only had the Rain Spawn from the previous night returned, but they had also summoned more helpers this time!
It seemed he had still underestimated the attraction his Sub-Heaven-Grade Divine Ability Bone held for Rain Spawn.