To obtain energy, Lin Dong knew of two simplest methods: one was the energy contained within spirit herbs, and the other was Yuan Power.
The former was relatively less feasible. After all, judging from the Stone Talisman's ability to refine spirit herbs into pills, it didn't seem to show much interest in the energy contained within spirit herbs. This meant only the latter option remained.
Thinking of this, Lin Dong hesitated for a moment before slowly closing his eyes. He mentally urged the Yuan Power seed within his meridians. A moment later, an extremely faint speck of light in the center of Lin Dong's palm began to stir. A faint wisp of Yuan Power wandered beneath the skin of his palm, but it couldn't break free from his body. After all, with Lin Dong's current strength, he couldn't control Yuan Power to that extent.
"Swoosh!"
But just as Lin Dong frowned in frustration, the mysterious Stone Talisman held in his palm suddenly trembled. Lin Dong then felt a powerful suction force surge forth from within the Stone Talisman!
Under this suction force, the wisp of Yuan Power circulating beneath the skin in the center of Lin Dong's palm was instantly devoured by the Stone Talisman. Furthermore, after consuming this strand of Yuan Power, the Stone Talisman seemed insatiable; another surge of suction immediately entered Lin Dong's body, relentlessly pulling Yuan Power from the Yuan Power seed.
This sudden development made Lin Dong's expression turn to one of slight panic. This Yuan Power seed was the fruit of his arduous cultivation over half a year. If the Stone Talisman absorbed it all, what would he do then?
While Lin Dong was still reeling in shock, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his palm. He hastily looked down, only to see the Stone Talisman, at this very moment, slowly embedding itself into the flesh of his palm!
The Stone Talisman's embedding speed accelerated, so by the time Lin Dong frantically tried to pull it out, it had already completely entered the flesh of his palm. Yet the spot was as smooth as jade, with no wound whatsoever.
As the Stone Talisman embedded itself into Lin Dong's hand, the suction force gradually weakened until it finally disappeared completely.
"This is..."
Lin Dong quelled the panic in his heart, looking at his palm. He discovered that at this moment, there was an incredibly faint symbol on his palm. This symbol appeared to be embedded deep beneath the skin; one wouldn't be able to notice it without a careful look.
Lin Dong was no stranger to this symbol, as it was exactly the same as the symbol on the Stone Talisman.
Staring at the mysterious symbol, Lin Dong was at a loss. He could feel the Stone Talisman embedded in his palm. Perhaps due to the flesh-and-blood connection, he felt a much deeper familiarity with the mysterious Stone Talisman.
Sensing the Stone Talisman in his palm, Lin Dong closed his eyes. With a shift of his thoughts, his consciousness instantly appeared in that dark spiritual space. And at this moment, in the spiritual space, the third light figure's body seemed to have regained a bit more of its radiance.
"The Stone Talisman, which perfects martial arts, truly requires Yuan Power to sustain itself..."
Upon seeing this, Lin Dong seemed to ponder something, then nodded. With a thought, he withdrew from the spiritual space. Ever since the Stone Talisman embedded itself into his flesh, he seemed able to enter that spiritual space at will.
"Inside my body, the Yuan Power is too weak. It's still not enough for the Stone Talisman to fully complete the Qi Men Seal. It seems this martial art is indeed a bit complicated..." Lin Dong clenched his fist, then muttered to himself.
"It seems I must quickly increase my strength..."
Lin Dong let out a soft sigh. Only now did he understand that if this Stone Talisman wanted to complete some relatively high-level martial arts, it would require a considerable amount of Yuan Power to sustain it. Previously, when he cultivated Tong Bei Quan or other First-Grade martial arts, the Stone Talisman could handle it. But only when encountering a martial art of the Qi Men Seal's caliber, and an incomplete one at that, would he need to use Yuan Power to urge the Stone Talisman.
With this thought, Lin Dong temporarily suppressed the impatience in his heart regarding the Qi Men Seal. He then sat cross-legged on the bed, took out a bottle of Stone Talisman Elixir, and dripped a few drops into his mouth, allowing his body to slowly absorb the pure medicinal power. As the medicinal power permeated, the seed of Yuan Power grew a little stronger...
***
Over the next month, Lin Dong continued to seclude himself indoors. Few people in the Lin Family saw him, as all his time was dedicated to cultivation.
And with him cultivating to the point of forgetting food and sleep, furthermore with the aid of the Stone Talisman Elixir and spirit pills, the results he achieved were extremely evident.
In about a month, the seed of Yuan Power in Lin Dong's body had truly grown several times stronger. The Yuan Power contained within it was much stronger compared to before the Clan Gathering. This level, though not yet reaching the Eighth Layer, was not far off. As for the first layer of the Qi Men Seal, after continuous arduous cultivation day and night during this period, Lin Dong had also initially grasped it. The coordination between this seal technique and Yuan Power gradually showed signs of synergy. However, for the second layer of the seal technique, no matter how Lin Dong cultivated, he couldn't make even a trace of Yuan Power in his body fluctuate. Perhaps the reason was that his strength was too low.
Nevertheless, all in all, this month of arduous cultivation yielded no small harvest.
***
In the dense forest, Lin Dong sat cross-legged on a large rock, his eyes tightly shut. There were faint beads of sweat on his body; he had probably just finished an intense training session.
As Lin Dong sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, a wisp of Yuan Power in the surrounding world began to stir. Eventually, it followed his breathing and entered his body, proceeding to soothe his flesh and skin.
Of course, this trickling Yuan Power was clearly insufficient to satisfy Lin Dong's needs. Therefore, a crimson spirit pill entered his mouth and was gently swallowed at this very moment.
As the spirit pill dissolved into his body, a potent surge of pure medicinal power instantly erupted. This impactful sensation caused waves of comfort to spread through Lin Dong's flesh and bones.
The pure medicinal power surged like a tide. While tempering his bones and internal organs, it simultaneously transformed into a wisp of Yuan Power, merging into the seed of Yuan Power.
"Buzz buzz."
As more and more Yuan Power poured into the Yuan Power seed, the seed, which had always been still, suddenly began to tremble faintly. The faint mist that had previously hovered around it now transformed into a radiant glow, swirling around the Yuan Power seed.
As the faint mist transformed into a gentle glow, Lin Dong clearly felt the Yuan Power seed begin to flow along his meridians towards various parts within his abdomen. However, just as this movement was about to reach the final meridian, an invisible resistance appeared, like an unseen wall, blocking the moving Yuan Power seed.
Faced with this invisible barrier, the Yuan Power seed bumped against it a few times, but to no significant effect. Thus, it could only reluctantly give up...
"Body Tempering Eighth Layer..."
As the Yuan Power seed was blocked by that invisible wall, Lin Dong's tightly shut eyes slowly opened. He let out a breath, and a hint of joy flickered in his eyes.
The size of the Yuan Power seed was several times larger than it had been before the Clan Assembly, a level that officially marked his entry into the Body Tempering Eighth Layer.
"That obstructing wall must be the so-called Dantian Barrier," Lin Dong murmured to himself. "If I can break through it, the Yuan Power seed can enter the dantian and take root there, thereby completely solidifying my cultivation foundation..."
The sign of reaching the Body Tempering Ninth Layer was the Yuan Power seed taking root in the dantian. However, looking at his current state, he would still need to work hard for a while longer, perhaps before he could achieve this step.
Still, in just half a month, to advance from the Body Tempering Seventh Layer to the Eighth Layer, this speed was already exceptionally good. As for the Ninth Layer, it felt a bit too distant to consider; after all, one must eat their rice one mouthful at a time...
Jumping down from the rock, Lin Dong's body stood straight as a spear. His expression was solemn as he slowly formed a complex hand seal with both hands before him.
As this hand seal was formed, a subtle, yet distinct aura seemed to spread densely.
Lin Dong's hand seal rapidly changed. In just a single breath's time, he continuously transformed it into several complex incantation seals. As the seals changed, the Yuan Power seed within his body's meridians surged forth with Yuan Power, rapidly channeling it towards Lin Dong's palm.
"Shatter... shatter!"
Along with this, a ray of light from Lin Dong's palm grew increasingly bright, and a sharp shout suddenly burst from his mouth. His hand, forming the complex seal, turned and slammed powerfully onto the hard rock slab.
"Bang!"
As soon as the hand seal struck, the rock slab instantly exploded into fragments, scattering in all directions.
Lin Dong panted, his face flushed. Looking at the rock slab that had been utterly obliterated, an uncontrollable, wild joy began to surface in his eyes. After advancing to the Body Tempering Eighth Layer, he had finally succeeded in unleashing the first layer of the Qi Men Seal...
This power, even the Ten Echoes of Tongbei Fist couldn't compare to it. A Third-grade martial art was indeed extraordinary!