Chapter 6

"Hmm..."

In the room, when Lin Dong groggily opened his eyes, sunlight was already pouring onto his face. He opened his eyes and looked at the sunlight streaming into the room. Suddenly, he sprang up from the bed, but as he was about to take a step, an intense soreness suddenly surged from within his body, almost causing him to buckle and fall to the ground.

"This..."

The sudden soreness left Lin Dong stunned. The feeling was as if he had been training hard all night.

"That wasn't a dream?!"

Suddenly, Lin Dong seemed to remember something, and a look of shock appeared on his face. Then, he gritted his teeth and supported himself, assuming the stance of the Through-the-Back Fist with great familiarity, as if he had practiced it countless times. However, he knew that he had only learned this set of boxing techniques from Lin Xiao the day before.

In the room, the young man's expression was solemn as he smoothly performed the set of boxing techniques. Immediately, the sound of his arms rubbing against his sleeves echoed throughout the room.

"Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!"

When the set of boxing techniques produced five crisp sounds, Lin Dong's body stopped, and his face was filled with a strange expression, a mix of shock, wild joy, and a bit of fear.

"How could I have progressed so quickly..."

Lin Dong looked at his palms and muttered to himself. He could feel that the five sounds might not be his current limit. If he wanted to, reaching seven sounds would not be a difficult feat!

This speed left Lin Dong bewildered. Among the younger generation of the Lin family, many had practiced the Through-the-Back Fist, but few could reach the level of seven sounds at his age.

"What's going on here?"

Lin Dong furrowed his brows and, after a moment of contemplation, his hand suddenly touched his chest, pulling out a mysterious stone talisman from his inner pocket. This was the item he had obtained from the cave the day before.

If there was anything suspicious about Lin Dong, this stone talisman would definitely be the top suspect.

"Is this thing really that miraculous?"

Lin Dong held the stone talisman, and a faint cool sensation spread from his palm. Under this coolness, the soreness in his body seemed to lessen slightly.

Suppressing the emotions in his heart, Lin Dong carefully put the stone talisman back in his inner pocket. He could vaguely sense the extraordinary nature of the talisman. If this news got out, it would likely cause significant trouble, so it was best to keep it a secret from everyone else.

After putting away the stone talisman, Lin Dong opened the door and went out. He first ate a simple breakfast prepared by Liu Yan, then darted into the cave. His body was still very sore, and if he continued intense training, he might injure himself. Fortunately, for Lin Dong, who had discovered the wonders of the stone pool, this was not a big problem.

Dripping fresh blood into the stone pool, Lin Dong soaked comfortably for half an hour before getting out. Not only did the soreness in his body disappear, but his condition seemed to have returned to its best state.

Feeling the hardness of his skin, Lin Dong's face lit up with joy. At this rate, he would likely be able to officially enter the fourth stage of Body Tempering in just a few days!

Climbing out of the stone pool, Lin Dong performed another set of Through-the-Back Fist, this time with all his might, holding nothing back.

"Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!"

Seven sounds!

As he finished the set, Lin Dong's face turned red with excitement. With these seven sounds of the Through-the-Back Fist, he was confident that if he encountered Lin Shan again, he would not be helpless as he was last time!

After being excited for a while, Lin Dong calmed down, chuckled to himself, and then climbed out of the cave to continue his daily rigorous training. Although he now had the miraculous effects of the stone pool, Lin Dong understood a simple truth.

In the path of cultivation, the most important thing is oneself. External assistance can make your cultivation smoother, but how far you can go ultimately depends on yourself.

Therefore, he could not let the stone pool make him neglect effort and diligence. In the end, that was Lin Dong's greatest wealth.

...

A day of hard training. In the evening, Lin Xiao, with a serious expression, came to inspect Lin Dong's cultivation. He had always been very strict and demanding with Lin Dong's cultivation.

However, this strictness turned into surprise and satisfaction when he saw Lin Dong produce three sounds with a set of Through-the-Back Fist. Even though he tried to maintain his composure, the relaxed expression on his face revealed his inner joy and contentment.

Seeing this, Lin Dong felt relieved and secretly smiled. If Lin Xiao knew that he could now produce seven sounds with the Through-the-Back Fist, how would his expression look?

...

The summer was scorching, and the young generation of the Lin family were all working hard to cultivate, as they all understood that in half a year, there would be the Lin family's clan competition. This competition was extremely important for them.

The Lin family was not a powerful and prestigious clan, so it was impossible for every member to enjoy the best treatment. To receive the best spiritual medicines and martial arts training from the clan, one had to stand out.

This clan competition was a platform for them to distinguish themselves. It might be their first official competition in life, but in a sense, it also determined their future achievements.

A person who is heavily cultivated by the clan will generally have a smoother path than someone who relies solely on their own efforts, of course, with some special cases being exceptions...

Since everyone was preparing intensively for the clan competition, no one disturbed Lin Dong during this period. He was happy to have peace and quiet. In the ten days since he obtained the mysterious stone talisman, he almost every night entered a dark space after falling asleep, where there was a perfect "teacher."

The nine sounds of the Through-the-Back Fist became increasingly difficult to master, especially after the seventh sound, where the difficulty increased exponentially. Therefore, even after ten days of hard training, Lin Dong could only勉强 produce the ninth sound, and that was only when he was in good condition. As for the so-called tenth sound, he had no clue how to achieve it.

However, Lin Dong did not feel discouraged because he knew very well that being able to produce nine sounds of the Through-the-Back Fist in just ten days was an incredibly fast speed.

This was evident from Lin Xiao's reaction when he checked Lin Dong's progress. When Lin Dong only produced six sounds, Lin Xiao's gaze became a bit strange. He had taken two months to reach the sixth sound when he was practicing the Through-the-Back Fist, while Lin Dong achieved it in just ten days. This speed left even the strict Lin Xiao speechless.

While diligently practicing the Through-the-Back Fist, Lin Dong did not stop strengthening his body. Instead, he secretly increased the intensity of the training regimen set by Lin Xiao several times, thanks to the miraculous effects of the stone pool. As a result, although he felt like a dead dog every time he entered the stone pool, he would emerge half an hour later, refreshed and with all the soreness in his muscles gone.

This rigorous training, though arduous, was extremely effective. In just a few days, his skin became increasingly hard, and sometimes he could even punch stones directly. When performing the Through-the-Back Fist, the power he generated was significantly stronger.

At this rate, reaching the fourth stage of Body Tempering should not take long...

(Early morning, writing, and updating... Just a thousand votes away from the seventh place, dear brothers and sisters, please cast a recommendation vote after reading the update. Thank you.)