Chapter 3

"Sound!"

In the open space, Lin Dong stared at his fist, his small face filled with barely contained joy. However, when he looked up, he saw Lin Xiao slowly walking out of the forest.

"Hehe, I'll show Dad tomorrow and surprise him." Seeing this, Lin Dong grinned, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm. He quickly rolled up his sleeve and found his arm covered with blood-red marks, and some areas of the skin had been rubbed off, with fresh blood seeping out.

"Ouch..."

He hadn't noticed the pain while focusing on his practice, but now that he relaxed, the pain surged, making him wince. He knew this was due to practicing the Back Piercing Fist, the intense friction between his skin and clothes inevitably causing some injuries.

"There's still some time, I'll go soak there first..."

Lin Dong looked up at the sky, then suddenly turned and ran towards the depths of the back mountain. After about ten minutes, a steep cliff appeared before him. He scanned the area and carefully leaped down along some protruding rocks. These rocks were not very noticeable but formed a hidden path.

Lin Dong was quite familiar with this path, so he managed to avoid any accidents while being cautious. Soon, a cave hidden under several large rocks came into view.

The cave was extremely well-hidden, and with the surrounding protruding rocks, it would be impossible to notice unless one was specifically searching for it. Of course, under normal circumstances, no one would do such a thing.

Jumping into the cave, a cool sensation immediately washed away Lin Dong's sweat. The inside of the cave was much cooler than the outside, making it a great place to escape the heat.

The cave wasn't very spacious, and apart from a stone pool of about two to three zhang in the center, there was nothing special.

Approaching the stone pool, he saw clear water that was slightly cold, with a faint chill rising from it.

"Plunk!"

Reaching the stone pool, Lin Dong quickly took off his clothes and jumped in. The slight chill made him shiver, but he quickly adapted.

This cave was discovered by Lin Dong when he was a child, and only he and Qing Tan knew about it. The water here was much colder than elsewhere, and during the hot summer, Lin Dong loved to come here to bathe. However, apart from being cool, the water seemed to have no special effects.

Of course, this wasn't entirely true. After each soak, Lin Dong always felt his mind became exceptionally focused, and he could quickly enter a state of concentration, no matter what he did.

Previously, Lin Dong didn't think much of this feeling, but while practicing the Back Piercing Fist just now, he realized that in that state, his practice seemed to be more effective. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to make such rapid progress in such a short time.

"It must be an illusion, right?"

Lying in the stone pool, Lin Dong cupped the water, watching it flow slowly, his face wrinkled. If this water was really that magical, he would have cultivated some Primordial Energy long ago, not so slowly.

"Reaching the sixth level of Body Tempering, one can refine the bone marrow and generate Primordial Energy. Only with Primordial Energy can one truly be considered a cultivator!" Lin Dong smacked his lips, his face full of longing. However, among the younger generation of the Lin family, only a few had reached this level.

Primordial Energy, the most important thing in cultivation, was said to allow powerful cultivators to cause mountains to crumble and the earth to split with a mere gesture. Such immense power was unimaginable for Lin Dong, who was still at the initial stage.

The source of this power was Primordial Energy, a mysterious energy that floated in the universe. However, to absorb Primordial Energy, one must first cultivate a seed of Primordial Energy within oneself, which would then attract more Primordial Energy into the body.

Leaning against the edge of the stone pool, Lin Dong lay back with his eyes closed. After a while of daydreaming, he gradually fell asleep. The intense training of recent days had been too exhausting, and now that he finally relaxed, a deep fatigue spread through his bones.

As Lin Dong fell asleep, the cave became quiet again, with the water in the pool gently rippling.

"Drip..."

In the silence, the clear water in the pool suddenly rippled, and a drop of dark red blood slid down Lin Dong's blood-streaked arm and fell into the water.

With the drop of blood, the previously calm water suddenly began to boil. Bubbles with a faint red hue rose to the surface and burst around Lin Dong's sleeping body. Strands of pale red liquid spread out and, as if guided by intelligence, wrapped around Lin Dong's body and quickly entered through his pores.

As the pale red liquid entered Lin Dong's body, his muscles seemed to be violently compressed, and sweat poured out like a flood, gathering and dripping into the pool.

As the sweat, which contained some black impurities, seeped out of his body, Lin Dong's height, which had increased slightly after breaking through to the third level of Body Tempering, returned to its original size. It felt as if a swollen sponge had been squeezed, expelling all the water.

The boiling of the water did not last long, and after about ten minutes, it gradually subsided. As the water calmed, Lin Dong suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, "So hot!"

"Plunk!"

Shouting, Lin Dong dove into the pool and stayed there for a while before surfacing, gasping for breath, his face puzzled. When he woke up, he felt as if he was in a furnace, the intense heat making him cry out involuntarily.

"Why is it hot here?" After staying in the pool for a while and feeling the coolness again, Lin Dong climbed out, looking at the stone pool, completely baffled.

Standing by the stone pool, Lin Dong thought for a while and then shook his head in disbelief. He grabbed his clothes, about to put them on, when his gaze suddenly fixed on his arm.

"Huh?"

Lin Dong stared at his arm in surprise. He clearly remembered that it was covered with blood marks from practicing the Back Piercing Fist, but now they were all gone.

Lin Dong rubbed his arm in confusion, then his body stiffened, and an expression of disbelief quickly spread across his face. He realized that his arm's skin had become much harder!

This was a sign that he was almost reaching the fourth level of Body Tempering!

"How... is this possible?!"

Even as the person experiencing it, Lin Dong was stunned by this discovery. (For the updates of the new book, if there are no special circumstances, they will be completed before 9:00 AM. I will try my best not to keep everyone waiting too long. For a new book, support is crucial. I sincerely ask everyone to spend a little time to give "Wu Dong Qian Kun" a recommendation and add it to your collection. Thank you very much.)