Chapter 17: Tendons like bowstrings
While the Lian tribal clan was brewing the herbal medicine, Yi Yun had secretly come to the back of the Lian Clan Herb Mountain.
Facing the moonlight, Yi Yun stood on a boulder like a pine tree.
Yi Yun had previously used the opportunity to absorb large amounts of herbal essence using the Purple Crystal when Zhao Tiezhu was collecting the herbs.
Now the herbal essence was surging through his body like a firestorm!
The best way to absorb the herbal essence was to cultivate. During the cultivation process, he would digest the herbal essence and train up his body!
Yi Yun slowly straightened his left foot, with his left hand grabbing his left ankle. With his right knee bent, his body bent like a bow.
This was the 'Fierce Tiger Descends the Mountain' stance. Yi Yun had secretly learned the first six stances of the 'Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist' and he was able to gesture it accurately.
'Fierce Tiger Descends the Mountain' crux was to tighten the body's tendons. Yi Yun kept pulling his body till it hurt before punching with a roar!
"Ka-cha!"
Yi Yun had punched through a small tree in front of him!
However such a result was not satisfactory for Yi Yun. He didn't want the power from the fist, but to be able to push his tendons to their maximum.
In the five levels of Mortal Blood, the first three levels, Valiant, Vigor and Thunderous were simply a measure of the martial artist's body conditions. Through continuous training of the flesh, organs and bones, the body's hidden potential will be revealed, resulting in the realm of Vigor and Thunderous. It was all a natural process and not something one could aim for.
Yi Yun understood that by mastering 'Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist', he would have no problems reaching the fifth level of Mortal Blood. Because based on what Yao Yuan said, 'Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist' was a basic technique that even a Purple Blood realm person could employ to great effect.
"Ka-cha!"
A clear snap. Yi Yun broke a thin pinetree with the thickness of a fully grown leg. His fists were bruised, but it didn't matter. The herbal essence that the Purple Crystal absorbed were gathering in Yi Yun's body, slowly spreading, becoming part of Yi Yun's strength.
Yi Yun loosened his fists before clenching his fists again!
Yi Yun practiced "The Fierce Tiger Descends the Mountain" stance for the umpteenth time. Yi Yun's muscles were like a young tree sprout being watered, growing and thriving.
Yi Yun had trained from midnight to daybreak!
Despite the intense training, the Purple Crystal which had absorbed large amounts of herbal essence supplemented Yi Yun with the energy, causing him to be radiant and awake.
Yi Yun gave his all for every 'Fierce Tiger Descends the Mountain' stance. His tendons were pulled to their extremes every time!
Such intense training was also demanding on Yi Yun.
His body was sore. Besides the soreness, his body had already expended all the herbal essence he had previously absorbed. The essence had blended into Yi Yun's flesh and blood. Yi Yun's tendons were repeatedly pulled, slowly making them more resilient.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Yi Yun did not know how many punches he had thrown. Because it was physically demanding, Yi Yun's eyesight became blurry. His perception deteriorated but the pain from his punches and the pulsing feeling from the pull of tendons were extremely clear!
Yi Yun entered a wonderful state. It was without distractions, a state of semi-consciousness.
He had forgotten everything. The only thing he could remember was his body's tendons. Imperceptibly, Yi Yun had formed a mind map of his tendons and muscles. It was a magical feeling.
In this state of selfless training, Yi Yun could 'see' his meridians.
Sweat rained down and his fists bled.
The sweat had misted his eyes while he heard the faint whistling of the wind. Yi Yun only felt an intense pressure in front of him.
In that second, Yi Yun managed to conjure a strength of unknown origins. He roared as his tendons were pulled to their extremes before shooting out a punch!
"Peng!"
Yi Yun's practice had uprooted the pine tree, scattering the wood!
Amidst the flying sawdust, Yi Yun's body had clearly made a soft 'Peng!' sound.
Although it wasn't loud, it was extremely crisp. Just like the twang of a bowstring, it was especially clear in the wide open night sky.
Tendons like bowstrings. So this is tendons like bowstrings…
Yi Yun fell onto the ground staring at the sky with his arms wide open.
That last punch had used up all of his energy!
Yi Yun breathed in deeply. His right fist was mangled red with blood, but the pain made him even more excited!
He knew that he had made small progress towards his 'Fierce Tiger Descends the Mountain'!
This night was the first time he had practiced martial arts in his life. He was practicing the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's top technique–'Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist'. The twang of a bowstring using his tendons from 'Fierce Tiger Descends the Mountain' was something only a person with Mortal Blood level three, Thunderous, could produce.
But Yi Yun had managed to do it. Although it was soft, he was after all still in the realm of Valiant. He was also only twelve, his bones and muscles were incomparable to an adult's.
The results were not something any member of the warrior preparation camp could match. He had even exceeded Lian Chengyu's Valiant level from the past.
…
Yi Yun did not have a night's sleep, but so did the old man responsible for brewing the herbs in the Lian tribe drug room!
It took an entire night to brew the pot of herbs. Even the stones propping the pot up were red hot.
At dawn, a few strongmen came to pour out a large amount of black liquid from the pot.
This was the entire pot's essence.
"Hmm… these herbs are the best this time. We could still brew it another three times or so. Although it will be less effective, it's still extremely precious. You guys can use it to shower. The herbal dregs will be left for the commoners. It will be needed when the desolate bones are refined!"
The Lian tribal clan's imperfect brewing techniques could only obtain 20% of the herbs' essence. This was their limit.
And Lian Chengyu could only absorb half of the herbal essence obtained by the tribe through soaking.
Which was to say, Lian Chengyu could only absorb 10% of the herbal essence.
The ratio may sound low, but it was understandable. A normal person was unable to absorb a large percentage of the food they ate, not to mention herbs that were a hundred times harder to absorb.
The bucket of black herbal liquid was sent into Lian Chengyu's isolation chamber.
Lian Chengyu had already heard that valuable herbs like Dan Guo, wild ginseng, Black Fungus and licorice were in that pot of herbs!
Lian Chengyu's cultivation had reached the point of breakthrough. He was most in need of the herbs to enrich himself.
"Good! Good! It came just in time!"
Lian Chengyu looked at the black herbal liquid with a face full of excitement.
He disrobed and jumped into the hot liquid naked.
The temperature was above ninety degree celsius, sufficient to cook any meat. Even a Mortal Blood fifth level like Lian Chengyu felt pain all over his body.
But this temperature was the optimal temperature for absorbing the herbal essence. Such hot water could open up the pores and let the herbal liquid enter the warrior's body through his pores.
Chapter 18: If you cook any further, it will be overcooked
Soaking in the herbal liquid was excruciating and to protect his body, Lian Chengyu circulated his Yuan Qi through his body. Yet it was extremely painful, but thinking that he could one day enter the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom to learn the 'Tai Ah Sacred Technique' and become someone who lorded over the people, Lian Chengyu endured it further!
Lian Chengyu's willpower to become stronger was matchless.
A person with weaker willpower would have taken advantage of his status as a young master of the tribe to eat well and partake in debauchery. At best, he would be a distinguished young master, but he would have never match the stature Lian Chengyu enjoyed.
"Young Master Lian has great will!"
"Young Master Lian is like an iron man!"
"It's not possible for a normal person to soak in this boiling herbal liquid! Young Master Lian is a dragon amongst people!"
Seeing Lian Chengyu being boiled red like a lobster in the herbal liquid, the surrounding lackeys including Zhao Tiezhu started sucking up.
The way they spoke was unlike them for they usually used foul language. However, to suck up, they purposely chose to use big adjectives.
"Make the fire bigger!" Lian Chengyu shouted while gritting his teeth. It was extremely painful immersed in ninety degree Celsius liquid. Veins protruded on Lian Chengyu's forehead, while his skin turned red while they stretched and curled.
Under such a condition, if one were to label Lian Chengyu as a "dragon amongst people", he was at best be related to a lobster (lobster in Chinese is literally dragon shrimp).
He was indeed at his limits, but the effects of the herbal liquid were weaker than he expected! How could that be?
"Make the fire bigger?" The lackeys looked each other in the eye, full of admiration of Lian Chengyu.
"F**k! Young Master Lian said to make the fire bigger, what are you idling for? Why? Do you think Young Master Lian cannot bear it? Young Master Lian's willpower and ability is not something you can fathom!"
Zhao Tiezhu was more senior, so he gave his subordinates a lesson.
After reprimanding them, he moved the large pile of timber into the stove himself. The fire cracked as the flames grew bigger.
Seeing Lian Chengyu reaching a key moment in his cultivation progress, Zhao Tiezhu purposely took a large fan to fan the flames.
The fire was so large that the flames were about to burn Lian Chengyu's hair.
"Young Master Lian, do you feel good?" smiled Zhao Tiezhu excitedly.
Lian Chengyu could no longer say a word. He had gritted his teeth so tight to the point of his teeth chipping. Besides his tightly clenched fists, his skin was boiled to the point of cracking. Yet, he did not obtain the desired effect.
"What happened?" Lian Chengyu thought angrily. Under Zhao Tiezhu's special treatment, his body was about to melt.
Human skin would shrink under high heat to the point of cracking. This phenomenon was appearing on Lian Chengyu's body!
But Lian Chengyu couldn't care less. He was considering the scary possibility in the deep recesses of his mind. It was a fear that choked him.
Having reached such a high level of training and being one step away from the Purple Blood realm, Lian Chengyu was very sensitive to every development in his body.
He knew that he was immersed in a pot of high-grade herbs but his heartbeat rate had not increased. His body had been polished, but the results were not evident.
He could not absorb much from a tank filled with good herbs!
Lian Chengyu had realized that he might have reached the point of a "bottleneck"!
Lian Chengyu had heard from his master, Yao Yuan that when martial artists practiced martial arts, they were prone to hit bottlenecks, especially when they were about to break through to a new level. Some people could be stuck with their bottlenecks for life!
The martial way was without end. In the long path of practicing the arts, one had to continuously break through to new realms. A bottleneck would eventually happen, but Lian Chengyu could never believe that he faced his first bottleneck when breaking through to the Purple Blood realm.
He could not accept it!
He was a favored child of the Heavens, a golden dragon trapped in shallow waters. He just needed a tiny amount of stimulus to soar into the sky!
How could a mere Purple Blood realm be his bottleneck! !
He couldn't believe it!
"More fire!" Lian Chengyu was struggling with all his might as he shouted angrily.
"More… even more fire?" Zhao Tiezhu began to feel something was amiss. He saw the skin on Lian Chengyu's arms and legs split apart. There was no need for him to be cooked to such a state.
"Young… Young Master, if you cook any further… it will be overcooked…" the bunch of lackeys said hesitantly.
"I want more fire!" Lian Chengyu roared as loud as an angered lion.
Zhao Tiezhu could only obey by fanning the flames with his subordinates.
The flames grew stronger. The herbs in the liquid bubbled. The pot of herbs had boiled!
Even Lian Chengyu had trouble staying within the boiling water. Besides, his body had not been able to absorb much of the herbal essence. He finally roared with his Yuan Qi exploding out of his body.
"Boom!" The herb tank exploded, scattering the burning hot liquid!
"Ouch!"
The surrounding lackeys immediately yelled in pain from the scalding.
Thankfully they were all clothed. Although it was scalding hot, the temperature had already decreased tremendously after landing on their clothes. Besides, they had thick skin to endure the burns.
It was too f**king hot.
However, these lackeys were masters at sucking up. They knew that Lian Chengyu would become a warrior of the kingdom, and could be a Tai Ah Divine Kingdom Knight one day. If they sucked up to Lian Chengyu, they would have a thriving future.
Hence, including Zhao Tiezhu, several lackeys ignored their burns and prostrated on the ground shouting, "Congratulations to Young Master Lian for his mastery!"
The scene of Lian Chengyu exploding the herb tank was impressive. Zhao Tiezhu and the others misunderstood it as Lian Chengyu having broken through. They didn't waste time sucking up!
But… the jolly laughter of Lian Chengyu and him awarding them did not happen. On the contrary, Lian Chengyu's body was all red. His flesh had already cracked, making him look extremely ferocious.
"Scram!" An extremely angry Lian Chengyu kicked Zhao Tiezhu and the other lackeys, sending them tumbling.
Zhao Tiezhu was dumbfounded from the kick. He did not dare make a sound even though his butt hurt tremendously. He had no clue what had happened.
"All of you scram!" Lian Chengyu shouted loudly. The lackeys were scared stiff and hurriedly ran off.
Suddenly Lian Chengyu raised his hand, "Come back!"
Lian Chengyu's gaze was cold, "Show me the herbal dregs!"
"Yes, yes!"
The lackeys did not mutter a word. They scrambled away and brought back the herbal dregs without a word.
Lian Chengyu rummaged through the herb dregs, and questioned the brewing process. His face turned increasingly ugly.
There was no problem with the herbal dregs. There were plenty of good herbs used in it. In fact, even a physician from a large tribe would not be able to tell. Who could have thought that someone had the ability to absorb all of the herbal essence without the secret process of brewing?
After seeing the herbal dregs, Lian Chengyu confirmed that he had met his bottleneck!
"Damn it!" Lian Chengyu smashed his fist into the wall!
He had shown talent in martial arts since young. Yao Yuan had previously said that he would be among the best even in a large tribe.
The problem wasn't because of his body; it was because of this Lian tribal clan!
"The herbs the tribe gave me were too weak! The talented young in the large tribal clans soak in herbs from young. They eat desolate bones for meals. How could I compare with them!"
Lian Chengyu gripped his fists. He hated his circumstances. He hated that he was not born in a rich family, but in this desolate place.
"This poor Lian tribal clan has obstructed and delayed me seventeen years of my time! If I were born in the royal family of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom, I would have long reached the Purple Blood realm, or an even higher realm… and might even vie for the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's royal throne!"
Having thought this, he could no longer stand by the Lian tribal clan. He hated the Lian tribal clan; all of the resources of the Lian tribal clan were not enough for his grooming!
Why couldn't I be born in the imperial family?
Why couldn't I enjoy all of that!
Their starting point was somewhere my Lian clan could not even see! Yet, I am climbing up like a dog! I hate it!
"Come!" Lian Chengyu shouted. Zhao Tiezhu didn't dare to be any slower and ran towards Lian Chengyu without a sound.
"Pass my order. Set up the cauldron, and gather the fit men in the village to begin refining the desolate bones!"
Zhao Tiezhu's heart jumped. It was finally beginning. It was supposed to be a couple days later. "About the herbs…"
"Keep picking!" Lian Chengyu's voice was indifferent. The Lian Clan Herb Mountain was the most valuable possession of the Lian tribal clan, and the picking of herbs was always regulated to prevent over-harvesting.
But now, Lian Chengyu was prepared to leave the Lian tribal clan in a few months. The Lian Clan Herb Mountain was no longer of value to him, so he was willing to squeeze everything from it.
Being stifled by the bottleneck, the herbs did little for him, but it was better than nothing.
As for the desolate bones… now was the time for the desolate bones to aid him in breaking through the bottleneck…
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
26 Power
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