Chapter 64

Lan Ling sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and waited for the demon star to refine him with the dragon power.

"Master, I have an idea," the demon star said.

"Go on," Lan Ling replied.

"We have absorbed a lot of dragon power this time, so I think we should not only enhance the strength of your arms but also appropriately strengthen the strength of your waist," the demon star explained. "The waist is the central axis of the human body, the key to overall strength. If the strength of the arms and the waist becomes too imbalanced, it can lead to damage to the lumbar vertebrae."

The demon star made a lot of sense, and Lan Ling said, "Then let's do as you suggest."

Closing his eyes, he entered the mental illusion realm and clearly saw the demon star in the darkness.

At this moment, it had become much brighter, incomparable to its previous state, showing how rich the absorption had been this time.

"Boom!" The demon star's light suddenly contracted, releasing a powerful surge of dragon power energy, which moved to the dantian, then to the tendons and meridians of the arms, and was suddenly released.

Instantly, Lan Ling clearly felt his arm jump, swell, and burn, as if it were about to catch fire.

It seemed that this power was indeed too great.

"Boom... Boom... Boom..."

Next, the demon star continuously released dragon power, inch by inch refining Lan Ling's arm tendons and meridians. It was even more painful than before because the energy was much greater.

After a full five hours, the refinement of the arm tendons and meridians was complete.

Next, the bones of the arm were refined, which took three hours.

Finally, the strength of the arm was refined, which took two hours.

After a total of ten hours, the dragon power refinement of the arm was complete.

"How much strength do my arms have now?" Lan Ling asked.

"Four hundred catties," the demon star replied. "About the level of a third-grade warrior archer."

Lan Ling was incredibly delighted. His goal was only three hundred catties, but he had unexpectedly surpassed four hundred catties.

This dragon power refinement had increased his arm strength by one hundred and fifty catties.

"How much of the dragon power energy from this absorption remains?" Lan Ling asked.

"Eighty percent remains," the demon star replied.

Lan Ling was truly amazed. To increase his strength by one hundred and fifty catties had only used one-fifth of the dragon power.

He knew very well that to increase strength by one catty through dragon power refinement required at least several hundred times the energy. Moreover, the demon star had only absorbed a small part of the dragon power from Meng Tuoluo.

"Master, next, I will refine your waist with dragon power. This will consume much more dragon power energy," the demon star said. "The tendons and meridians of the waist are more numerous, and the volume of the waist is much larger than the arm."

"What is my current waist strength?" Lan Ling asked.

"If we include the hips and thighs, the maximum is nearly two hundred catties," the demon star replied. "Waist strength is rarely discussed in isolation."

"Understood," Lan Ling said.

Next, the demon star refined Lan Ling's waist and hips with dragon power.

It continuously released dragon power energy, inch by inch refining the tendons and meridians of the waist.

This time, it took a full eight hours to complete the refinement of the waist tendons and meridians. Then the bones of the waist, and finally the muscles of the waist.

In the end, the complete refinement took seventeen hours.

"Master, your waist strength has now reached three hundred catties," the demon star said. "This dragon power refinement has increased your waist strength by three hundred catties."

"How much of the absorbed dragon power remains now?" Lan Ling asked.

"Thirty percent," the demon star replied.

Lan Ling was astonished. The dragon power refinement of the waist indeed consumed much more, about three to four times that of the arm.

The demon star said, "I will store the remaining thirty percent of the dragon power for your unexpected needs."

By "unexpected needs," it meant critical strikes. A warrior typically had three to five opportunities for a critical strike with dragon power each day.

The effect of a critical strike could be two to three times that of a normal attack.

Lan Ling asked, "How many critical strikes can I perform with the dragon power you have stored?"

"About one hundred times," the demon star replied. "Including your own bloodline dragon power, you have three critical strike opportunities each day."

"My own bloodline dragon power? Do I have a dragon bloodline?" Lan Ling was surprised.

"Of course, you have been tested, and it is a golden dragon bloodline," the demon star replied. "This is probably because you come from another world."

Lan Ling said, "But when I was on Earth, I didn't have any dragon power at all."

"That's because Earth lacks the energy environment, while the Inflamed Dragon World has it. After you came to this world, the dragon power in your bloodline gradually awakened," the demon star explained.

Lan Ling said, "So, the normal martial cultivation methods of this world are also useful for me."

"Yes," the demon star replied. "However, that is just an added benefit. The fastest way to improve cultivation is undoubtedly through the absorption of energy."

"What about the talent of my dragon bloodline?" Lan Ling asked.

"Your dragon bloodline power is gradually awakening, so apart from your mental talent, other talents are still slowly growing and have not yet stabilized," the demon star replied.

"Mental talent, is it not part of the dragon bloodline talent?" Lan Ling was puzzled.

"In a certain sense, it is," the demon star replied. "Mental talent is unique."

At this point, the dragon power refinement was completely finished. Lan Ling's cultivation had officially surpassed his original goal, reaching the level of a third-grade warrior archer.

The entire dragon power refinement took a day and a night. Now, there were only less than nine days left until the final exam.

Lan Ling left the room to find Meng Tuoluo, but Meng Tuoluo no longer intended to see her. Moreover, the entire Viper Tribe was preparing to relocate south, leaving the Ten Thousand Great Mountains and heading to the southern wilderness. This was the price of not killing Suo Lun.

Otherwise, the enraged Zhi Ning and Zhi Li could have wiped out the Viper Tribe within a few months.

So, Lan Ling never got the answer to her question about the man who had deeply wounded Meng Tuoluo.

However, Meng Tuoluo had prepared a beast mount for her, along with two bows, one weighing three hundred and fifty catties and the other five hundred catties.

The first bow was for normal use, and the second was for critical strikes with dragon power. There were also one hundred arrows, all coated with black gold.

Additionally, there was a package. When Lan Ling opened it, she found the head of the Shadow Spider Queen.

At that time, the Southern Barbarian Border City was offering a bounty of over a thousand gold coins for the head of the Shadow Spider Queen. Strictly speaking, the Shadow Spider Queen was indeed killed by Lan Ling.

Upon closer inspection, she noticed a line of text on the head: "The head contains deadly poison, do not touch."

The head of the Shadow Spider Queen contained deadly poison? But this was normal, and Lan Ling quickly tied the bag tightly.

Then, under the guidance of a barbarian leader, Lan Ling was blindfolded, mounted the beast, and left the Viper Tribe in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.

...

She clearly felt that the beast could traverse steep mountain paths as if they were flat ground.

After two days and two nights of galloping through the mountains, Lan Ling finally left the Ten Thousand Great Mountains and arrived at the southern border wilderness.

The barbarian leader pointed east, indicating the direction of the Shadow Spider Queen's cave, then spurred the beast and galloped back into the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, disappearing in moments.

Lan Ling put on the barbarian's beast clothing and a mask with the Viper Tribe's emblem.

As long as she had this emblem, neither other barbarians nor hunters would dare to attack her. At least for now, if Zhi Ning and Zhi Li were to turn against them, anyone with the Viper Tribe's emblem would be doomed.

Without rest, she galloped through the wilderness for two days and two nights, finally reaching a familiar place.

This lake was where Lan Ling had woken up after Meng Tuoluo had taken him out of the Shadow Spider Queen's cave.

It was only a few dozen miles from the Shadow Spider Queen's cave.

Lan Ling identified the direction and headed south, re-entering the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.

After traveling several dozen miles on steep mountain paths, he suddenly saw the familiar cliff and valley.

He dismounted from the beast and stealthily entered the valley, quickly finding the entrance to the Shadow Spider Queen's cave.

...

"Brother, all the women here have been violated, except for this one with the most fiery figure and the most beautiful face," a lecherous voice said. "But her martial arts are too high. Once we untie her from the spider silk, she will attack us. But if we don't untie her, we can't violate her."

"I'm determined to have this woman," a sinister voice said slowly. "The moment I saw her in the inn, I swore that I would have her."

"Is that so? Have the courage to try," a familiar voice said, which was Ye Jingyu's.

From this brief dialogue, Lan Ling could infer an incredibly evil and ugly truth.

When the Shadow Spider Queen was killed by Lan Ling, Meng Tuoluo had taken him away without hesitation, rescuing only the barbarians of the Viper Tribe and leaving the rest in the cave to fend for themselves.

Everyone here was tightly bound by spider silk, completely unable to move. However, some were luckier, as Meng Tuoluo's sword or the Shadow Spider Queen's bone projectiles had torn their spider silk during the battle.

Thus, they were freed, while the rest remained bound.

Then, the most hideous scene unfolded. These people began to kill and rape.

The lecherous man had said that almost every woman had been violated, except for Ye Jingyu.

Because Ye Jingyu's martial arts were too high, they did not dare to untie her.

Lan Ling was incredibly relieved that at least Ye Jingyu was still alive and had not been violated.

"Your martial arts may be slightly higher than mine, but I am also a high-ranking warrior, and I have over a dozen brothers," the sinister voice said. "And you haven't eaten human flesh, so you've been starving for over ten days. But now, do you still have the strength to fight?"

"You can try," Ye Jingyu said coldly, her voice fierce but clearly showing weakness.

"No, no need," the sinister voice said. "I've already sent someone to the Southern Barbarian Border City to buy Pulse-Cutting Soul Water. It will be here soon. Once you drink the Pulse-Cutting Soul Water, all your tendons and meridians will be destroyed, and your martial arts will be completely nullified. At that time, you will be at my mercy. I've said it before, the moment I saw you in the inn, I decided that I would have you, and not just once. I want you to be my woman, and I will sleep with you every day."

...