Several teams of yamen runners who had left Sanxiang City alongside Ren Qing and the others only arrived at Camel Peak Mountain's temporary camp in succession two days later.
Sure enough, they had encountered encirclement and slaughter by wild beasts along the way. Few yamen runners survived, and all of them bore injuries.
That was only because the Forbidden Guards had intervened. Otherwise, none of them would have survived.
Afterward, the beasts abruptly ceased their indiscriminate attacks. Perhaps Song Rong had realized he was wasting his efforts, or perhaps he had other plans?
Under Ren Qing's arrangements, the yamen runners gradually joined Camel Peak Mountain's excavation work.
The one-wheeled dirt carts he had designed were also built. With tools to transport the soil, efficiency had indeed risen greatly.
The temporary camp now had the faint outline of a village.
The military tents had been damaged by wind and rain, so the yamen runners built simple wooden houses around the Karst Cave.
The issue of water had been solved by the several mountain springs within Camel Peak Mountain. However, lacking large-capacity containers made transport troublesome. They could only wait until they found clay and fired pottery later.
The sole consolation was that there really was someone among the yamen runners who had experience with firing pottery.
Dawn had only begun to break.
Ren Qing opened his eyes and woke up. He spent several minutes maintaining the Great Miao Saber.
Then he went out alone to search nearby for traces of a wolf pack, intending to hunt a few wolves to cultivate the Divine Feet Scripture.
With Wolf Blood assisting him over the past two days, he had reaped quite a few benefits.
Ren Qing had secretly tested it in the mountain forest. His Werewolf Transformation had already reached his waist and abdomen. He estimated that it would not be long before he could transform completely.
When that time came, his strength would increase substantially. Especially once he adapted to wielding a blade with both hands after transforming, the speed at which he swung his saber might increase severalfold.
Unfortunately, he could not consume too much, or his body would be eroded into complete Beastification.
The progress of his other Arts was rather ordinary instead. In particular, without medicinal baths, the Human Skin Book could only be described as stagnant.
Ren Qing felt somewhat helpless about this, but fish and bear's paw could not both be had. If he truly encountered danger, he would simply expend lifespan to force an advancement.
He crawled away from the camp, using his Double Pupils to observe the beasts' tracks.
Yet after searching for more than an hour, the wolf pack seemed to have learned its lesson. He only found a wild boar rolling around in a mud pit.
Ren Qing cleanly smashed the boar's spine with a punch, then hoisted the hundred-plus-jin boar onto his shoulder and swiftly returned to camp.
He casually tossed it into the open space and gestured for Xiao Wu to come deal with it.
The other yamen runners in the camp remained calm at the sight.
Partly because they had become accustomed to it, and partly because after witnessing the Forbidden Guards' strange methods, their hearts no longer stirred a ripple.
Ren Qing was preparing to find a nearby spot to practice with his saber when he noticed that the inner camp was somewhat lively.
"Hehehehe..."
The purple-blue Frogman Forbidden Guard was named Huang Ziwang. He had just emerged from the Karst Cave and was washing the dust from his body with clean water.
When Huang Ziwang spotted Ren Qing, his gaze turned teasing, while strange laughter continued to spill from his mouth.
Ren Qing had yet to react when Huang Ziwang hurriedly signaled with his eyes for him to look into the distance.
Song Zongwu stood there with his four arms folded across his chest. He said coldly to Ren Qing, "Bring an iron pickaxe and wait for me in the Karst Cave."
"Alright, Senior Song."
Ren Qing's expression stiffened. What was due had finally come.
Song Zongwu had actually hinted two days ago that mining could temper the body. Ren Qing had merely pretended not to understand. He had not expected retribution to arrive so quickly.
Ren Qing gave a bitter smile, picked up an iron pickaxe, turned around, and burrowed into the deep, shadowy Karst Cave.
On the way, he noticed Guo Qing and several others, dirty-faced and dusty, pushing one-wheeled dirt carts. The dim light kept them from noticing Ren Qing.
Since he was going mining, Ren Qing chose to continue deeper inside, finally stopping before a fork in the passage.
There were five mine tunnels before Ren Qing. They likely belonged to the five Forbidden Guards respectively, and knocking sounds continuously came from two of them.
He examined them carefully. The third tunnel entrance did not seem to have been carved out, because large areas of the rock bore corrosive traces.
It might well have been that Frogman Forbidden Guard's mine tunnel.
As for the remaining mine tunnels, some bore claw marks, while others looked as though they had been forcibly punched out with fists half a meter wide.
Only the first mine tunnel looked relatively normal.
After Ren Qing waited for a moment, Song Zongwu approached carrying five or six iron shovels.
"Senior Song..."
Ren Qing gave an awkward grin in greeting. Just as he was about to explain, Song Zongwu spoke earnestly.
"Ren Qing, I know your talent is quite good, but because..."
Mindful of the other Forbidden Guards inside the cave, Song Zongwu stopped there and said, "The more so it is, the more you must temper your body and precisely grasp every shred of strength."
Ren Qing dearly wanted to tell him that he could advance the Human Skin Book at any time, but after opening his mouth, he wisely closed it again.
"Ren Qing, lend me your saber."
Ren Qing hurriedly handed over the Great Miao Saber.
Song Zongwu drew the saber from its sheath, studied it carefully for a long while, then sighed. "That boy Liu Hu's craftsmanship has improved again. I almost failed to recognize it."
"Senior Song, you use a saber too?"
"No, but this will suffice."
Just as Ren Qing was puzzled, Song Zongwu gently stroked the blade with his palm, then fiercely slashed at the Stone Wall.
Sparks flew in all directions!!
A square stone block two meters across slowly fell away, immediately sending dust billowing everywhere.
Ren Qing's heart leaped into his throat. The Great Miao Saber was indeed of good quality, but it was absolutely not capable of slicing iron like mud. The blade would surely be damaged by this.
Song Zongwu handed the Great Miao Saber back to Ren Qing. "Don't worry. I may not know how to use a saber, but at least I won't damage one."
Ren Qing glanced at the Great Miao Saber and found its edge still as bright and clean as new. Even some of the Blade Oil he had applied remained.
A smile appeared on Song Zongwu's face. "Use the iron pickaxe to excavate first. Once you gradually adapt, you may switch to the saber."
"Thank you, Senior Song."
Ren Qing spoke with complete sincerity. Relying on the Information Flow, he truly lacked tempering. Thankfully, Song Zongwu had awakened him in time.
"It's nothing."
Song Zongwu waved a hand.
The reason he valued Ren Qing so highly was only partly due to his talent. More importantly, Ren Qing had remained true to his heart in regard to his Arts.
As long as one swallowed human eyes raw, the Eye-less Method would inevitably undergo Aberration into a Hundred-Eyed. Even if one returned from a lost path, the direction of Aberration should have been toward a Single-Eyed.
Yet Ren Qing had advanced into the unheard-of Double-Pupil User. This showed that from beginning to end, he had never intended to take a shortcut by consuming human eyes.
The Taotie Method was the same. Compared to the Food Eater and Giant Stomach, the Vice-Stomach User was more difficult to cultivate. The former two could grow stronger through massive consumption of food.
Yet Ren Qing had still chosen the Vice-Stomach User, which was also the direction of Aberration Song Zongwu considered to have the greatest potential.
Song Zongwu patted Ren Qing's shoulder and said, "As you dig deeper, the rock within the mountain will become harder and harder. Even I do not find it easy."
Ren Qing could not help asking, "Senior Song, why use an iron shovel? Wouldn't using your bare hands be faster?"
Song Zongwu picked up an iron shovel and lightly squeezed it, turning it into a lump of scrap iron.
"To me, an iron shovel is like tofu. Using it, I can comprehend lifting heavy things as though they were light, allowing me to better restrain my own strength."
After speaking, he headed toward the first mine tunnel, leaving Ren Qing staring in stunned silence.
Huang Ziwang passed by Ren Qing with a strange laugh and stepped into the third mine tunnel.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. As expected of Old Song. You've made me want to dig dirt from dusk till dawn."
Not long after, a pungent odor drifted out from within, accompanied by the sizzling sound of corrosion.
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