In the room, Lin Dong sat cross-legged on the bed. He carefully pulled out a wooden box from his person, then used two fingers to pick out an Earthly Emperor Fruit from inside.
When the Earthly Emperor Fruit came into contact with the air, it immediately diffused a faint, intoxicating fragrance.
Lin Dong looked at the Earthly Emperor Fruit, then placed it in his right palm. With a thought, a wisp of Yuan Power began to flow out from within his Yuan Power seed, eventually pouring into the Stone Talisman hidden within the flesh of his palm.
"Buzz!"
As the Yuan Power surged out, the faint symbol hidden beneath the skin of Lin Dong's palm became visible. At that moment, a strange ray of light emitted through the pores of his palm, shining directly onto the Earthly Emperor Fruit.
Upon contact with that shining light, the Earthly Emperor Fruit instantly withered rapidly. Finally, woven by the light, it transformed into two dark yellow medicinal pills, resting quietly in Lin Dong's palm.
Witnessing this mysterious transformation, Lin Dong's eyes were filled with astonishment. In his heart, the mysterious Stone Talisman in his palm felt even more enigmatic.
"I've heard that some extremely powerful individuals can use life force to condense symbols, thereby gaining all sorts of miraculous effects. Could this Stone Talisman also have come into being because of something similar?"
Lin Dong held the now cool medicinal pills, lost in thought. He had, by chance, heard a few things about this, but for him, and even for people like Lin Xiao, such matters were too distant. Therefore, he didn't know much about the outside world.
Compared to the vast Great Yan Dynasty, Qingyang Town was truly too ordinary...
The outside world, I want to explore it too...
Lin Dong smiled, a surge of ambition rising in his heart. He believed that his footsteps would not stop here, in this small Qingyang Town!
"However, to achieve this, I first need to cultivate diligently, then consider the rest."
The ambition in Lin Dong's heart was quickly shattered by reality. He shrugged helplessly. Currently, he wasn't even at the top in Qingyang Town, let alone the outside world, which held even more wonders and dangers.
He put one of the dark yellow medicinal pills he held into his mouth. Lin Dong sat down cross-legged, feeling the essence of the medicinal power, like a surging river, spreading throughout his body. Meanwhile, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He then focused his mind and calmed his breath, absorbing the medicinal power, continuously nurturing the Yuan Power seed in his meridians.
***
Since the day Lin Dong dealt with the Xie family youngsters and even fought Lei Li without losing, his reputation among the Lin family youngsters soared. In fact, it even surpassed Lin He and Lin Hong.
Youngsters, after all, are spirited by nature. Previously, when conflicts arose with the youngsters of the Lei and Xie families, the Lin family youngsters mostly suffered losses. Not only were they left looking dejected, but they were also ridiculed. But now that Lin Dong had made a name for himself, the situation had changed. At the very least, if Lin family youngsters were to encounter Xie family youngsters in Qingyang Town now, the latter wouldn't dare to be as brazen and disrespectful as before.
Lin Dong, however, remained unconcerned by his sudden surge in fame. Most of the time, he was as before, diligently cultivating. If he happened to leave the Lin family and descend the mountain, he would only stroll around the martial arts hall. Occasionally, when other juniors invited him, he would politely decline, never acting overly ostentatious or arrogant in Qingyang Town.
And so, with Lin Dong's quiet life, two months quietly passed by.
During these two months, Lin Dong's cultivation did not falter for a single moment. Under this intense cultivation, the nascent Yuan Power in his meridians grew stronger and more condensed. Occasionally, when he probed deep into his Dantian, he could vaguely sense that sturdy obstructing wall beginning to waver and crumble.
Two months of cultivation had completely depleted the ten pills refined from five Earthly Emperor Fruits, along with the two remaining Fire Blood Ganoderma elixirs from before; all were consumed, leaving virtually nothing. Thus, midway through, Lin Dong was forced to return to the Transaction Hall, using the Stone Talisman Elixir to exchange for ten stalks of Grade Three spiritual herbs, just enough to support his cultivation for these two months.
Of course, upon his subsequent return to the Transaction Hall, Lin Dong had to carefully and secretly change his trading location. The matter of the Stone Talisman Elixir was connected to that mysterious Stone Talisman, so it was better to be cautious.
During those two months, while Lin Dong made decent progress, Qing Tan's advancement would surely leave anyone who knew about it wide-eyed and dumbfounded.
Perhaps due to her wondrous physique, Qing Tan didn't use many spiritual herbs during her cultivation, yet her cultivation speed was only slightly inferior to Lin Dong's, despite his mysterious Stone Talisman.
In two months, Qing Tan, with an incredibly smooth progression, directly advanced to the seventh layer of Body Tempering. During this time, she hadn't undergone any rigorous training, yet her body's speed in absorbing the Yuan Power of heaven and earth seemed far superior to that of ordinary people.
Faced with Qing Tan's peculiar situation, Lin Dong could only stare in bewilderment. Even Lin Xiao, upon returning home one time and learning of this, reacted similarly, his face filled with astonishment, unable to figure out what exactly had happened no matter how much he pondered. Ultimately, they could only attribute this change to Qing Tan's unique physique.
Although the specifics were somewhat vague, Lin Xiao and Lin Dong could still sense that Qing Tan's physique was extraordinary. This extraordinary nature brought both joy and worry. Therefore, after a discussion, the father and son decided that Qing Tan should temporarily keep this secret, as no one knew what kind of trouble might arise if it were to spread.
Meanwhile, after witnessing Qing Tan's rapid cultivation speed, Lin Dong returned to the Lin family's Martial Arts Hall to search for some martial arts seemingly suitable for girls to cultivate. His first task was to use the Stone Talisman's light projection to perfect these martial arts, and only then did he begin teaching them to Qing Tan, so that she would have some strength for self-defense.
***
As the hunting day drew nearer, Qingyang Town grew increasingly lively. Although there were still approximately two months until the hunt, this did not stop many people from placing bets on the topic.
Everyone knew that hunting, in a certain sense, was regarded as another game played by the major powers of Qingyang Town. Each hunt, the various powers all sought to win a certain amount of prize money. This prize money was, in fact, quite substantial, and it was clear that whichever family emerged victorious, all of it would belong to them. In the past, the Lei and Xie families, followed by the Lin family and the Mad Blade Martial Arts School, had all, thanks to these hunts, taken away a considerable amount of prize money, making others envious.
As for this particular hunt, naturally, many people speculated who among the four major powers would be the ultimate victor. Of course, at this moment, the most promising contender was still the Lei family, because even though there were many powers within Qingyang Town, the Lei family possessed a formidable legacy. And currently, Lei Li, the Lei family's junior, held the undisputed position as the strongest among the younger generation.
Rumor had it that Lei Li might very well break through to the Earth Yuan Stage before the hunt. If that were truly the case, the Lei family would have an eighty percent chance of winning this hunt…
In the shadow of Lei Li's brilliance, the juniors of the other three major families seemed rather dim by comparison.
***
As for the outside world's discussions and speculations, Lin Dong, silently focused on his cultivation, remained oblivious. Even if he had known, he probably wouldn't have paid much attention. Until the outcome was clear, any speculation was useless.
Due to his diligent cultivation, time quietly passed, and by the middle of the second month, Lin Dong's cultivation had made significant progress. During those two months, he had assaulted the obstruction in his Dantian nearly two hundred times, and finally, with full preparation and a single burst of effort, he completely shattered it. When that seed of Yuan Power, carrying Lin Dong's wild joy, broke through the obstruction and rushed into his Dantian, Lin Dong could feel a kind of transformation blossoming from the depths of his body…
This feeling was like a hidden dragon ascending to the heavens, a fish entering the vast ocean.