"Could these Yin Pearls actually be secretly given to Father to use...?"
Lin Dong licked his lips, his eyes burning with heat as he stared at the three pea-sized Yin Pearls in his hand. It just so happened that Lin Xiao had currently regressed to the Earth Yuan stage. If he could absorb the Yin Evil Qi within these Yin Pearls, his strength would surely increase.
However, he first had to heal the injuries inside Lin Xiao's body. Otherwise, the longer these injuries dragged on, the more detrimental it would be for him.
"In the next few days, I'll find an opportunity to give Father some of the liquid from the Stone Talisman to see if it can heal the injuries inside his body."
Right now, the injuries inside Lin Xiao's body were too severe. Moreover, after so many years, they had inevitably become congested, causing immense damage to his body. If these injuries were not cleared away, Lin Xiao would probably be unable to safely absorb the Yin Evil Qi within these Yin Pearls.
"If Father can restore his peak strength from back then, his status in the Lin Family will surely be restored immediately. After all, even after so many years, there are only three people in the Lin Family who have reached the Heaven Yuan stage."
The Heaven Yuan stage was considered the mark of a top-tier expert in the entire Qingyang Town. In this place, whether a faction was powerful or not depended heavily on the number of Heaven Yuan stage experts they possessed. Therefore, if Lin Xiao could once again regain his Heaven Yuan stage strength, not only would his status rise, but it would also completely sweep away his years of misery. This was what Lin Dong, Liu Yan, and Qing Tan looked forward to seeing the most.
Thinking of Lin Xiao restoring his domineering demeanor from back then, Lin Dong could not help but chuckle. He then found a small bottle in his room and carefully placed the three Yin Pearls inside. If these were taken out, they would probably be enough to trade for a grade-three elixir. Their value was extremely high!
After finishing all of this, Lin Dong finally let out a long sigh of relief. Suddenly, an aching pain spread through his body. Although the Stone Talisman had helped him absorb the Yin Cold Qi emitted from Qing Tan's body earlier, his own body had still been invaded by a portion of this bone-chilling Yin Cold Qi.
"Has the cold qi invaded my body?"
Feeling the waves of aching pain inside him, Lin Dong's expression changed. However, right after that, he realized that this aching sensation seemed to physically cling to his skeleton, as if something was trying to drill into his bones and marrow.
"Bone tempering?"
This discovery caused Lin Dong's eyelids to twitch uncontrollably. The so-called bone tempering was the step to enter the fifth layer of the Tempered Body stage. This step involved refining the skeleton within the body to make the bones increasingly tough, thereby granting a massive boost to both strength and speed. However, Lin Dong had only recently entered the fourth layer. According to his estimates, even with the help of the Stone Talisman's liquid, it would take at least ten days or so for this sensation to appear. So why was it happening now?
"Could it be because of the cold qi from Qing Tan's body?!"
After pondering for a moment, Lin Dong guessed where the issue lay. Instantly, a look of astonishment appeared on his face. Could the icy Qi in Qing Tan's body actually have such a miraculous effect on body tempering?
"The icy Qi in Qing Tan's body is too powerful. Perhaps the Stone Talisman automatically filtered out the violent elements of the cold energy, leaving only the beneficial parts in my body," Lin Dong muttered, frowning. Back then, even Lin Xiao, who was at the Earth Yuan stage, had been forced to recuperate for half a month after being afflicted by this Yin Cold Qi. To say that he, at only the fourth layer of Body Tempering, could resist this cold energy on his own was simply a joke. Therefore, after thinking it over, most of the credit still belonged to this Stone Talisman.
"I didn't expect the icy Qi in Qing Tan's body to have such an effect, but it will still be some time before her next outbreak..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Dong couldn't help but scoff. Every time the icy Qi erupted, it caused Qing Tan immense suffering. If he had to pay such a price to obtain those so-called Yin Pearls, Lin Dong would absolutely refuse.
Suppressing these thoughts, Lin Dong lazily stretched his tired back and fell straight onto the bed. His eyes gradually closed, and the Stone Talisman on his chest once again emitted a faint glow.
During this period, Lin Dong had gained some understanding of the Stone Talisman. The dark space he entered seemed to be a spiritual space; his physical body could not enter it, but everything he learned inside could be perfectly brought back and applied in reality.
"..."
Within the dark space, the figure and the light shadow flickered once more, and crisp popping sounds rang out continuously.
Lin Dong watched with absolute concentration, not missing a single movement of the light shadow. Even the slightest tremor of its body was deeply engraved into his mind.
Having trained for so long, although Lin Dong could not claim to have reached the peak of perfection with the Penetrating Back Fist, he had certainly made steady progress. When he was in top form, he could often unleash all nine echoes.
However, despite his familiarity with the Penetrating Back Fist, he still had not made any significant progress regarding the so-called tenth echo.
"Crack, crack..."
Just as the ninth echo erupted from the light shadow's hand once again, Lin Dong's focus suddenly sharpened. In that instant, his consciousness experienced a slight daze. It felt as though he had merged with the light shadow itself. Every single exertion of force from the light shadow's body, even down to the twitching of its muscles, was vividly reflected in his mind, clear as day.
"Crack!"
A low, almost imperceptible echo rang out once more from the light shadow's hand. A fierce force coalesced in its palm, finally bursting forth with formidable power.
"So that's how it is..."
Lin Dong's eyes lit up, his face filled with excitement. He had finally discovered the secret behind the so-called tenth echo!
In this bizarre state, Lin Dong could clearly sense all of the light shadow's force and technique. The so-called tenth echo did not originate from the arm, but from within the body!
"Nine echoes are produced externally, while the tenth echo is emitted from within!"
"By coordinating the muscles and bones in this perfect manner, the force of the ninth echo is perfected, and then pushed to its absolute peak once more. This is the tenth echo of the Tongbei Fist!"
Lin Dong's body trembled slightly with excitement. Even Lin Xiao likely did not know of this unique method of coordination. If he had not entered that strange state earlier, it would have been impossible for Lin Dong to uncover the secrets of this tenth echo!
According to his estimates, if he could truly unleash this tenth echo, even though the Tongbei Fist was only a Grade Two martial art, its power would likely be extraordinary.
Although Lin Dong had not yet fully mastered the tenth echo, with this sudden comprehension, he believed that sooner or later, he would successfully master it!
Once he successfully mastered the tenth echo of the Tongbei Fist, it would undoubtedly become his trump card. At that time, even if he had to face Lin Hong, who was two levels ahead of him and possessed Yuan Power, Lin Dong would still be able to put up a fight!
Whenever he thought of Lin Hong trying to use such underhanded methods to force his father to agree to a marriage between Lin Hong and Qingtan, a fire of rage would burn in Lin Dong's heart.
"This time, I will beat you so badly that you won't have the face to ever bring this up again!"
Lin Dong sneered. With a solemn expression, he stood up and assumed the stance of the Tongbei Fist once more. There was still a massive gap between him and Lin Hong, so he had to work even harder!
"Pop! Pop!..."
Within the dark space, the youth once again moved with the agility of an ape. Sweat poured from him like rain, yet as if completely oblivious to fatigue, he executed the Tongbei Fist over and over again. The crisp popping sounds echoed continuously throughout the space!
He had to master this tenth echo as quickly as possible!