Chapter 3

The wind and snow were too severe, and the weather was bitterly cold, so the tribal people had entered the earthen fort early to rest. Lu Li and his sister walked through most of the tribe without encountering a single person.

The two entered a small earthen fort in the eastern corner. This fort was in a state of disrepair, with only three earthen houses. Lu Li helped his sister into the middle house, where a dim oil lamp was lit, and the charcoal fire crackled, making it warm inside.

"Big Sister, sit down quickly."

Lu Li helped his sister sit down, poured her a cup of hot water, and then sat at the table, eating ravenously. The dinner was not lavish, only one meat dish and one vegetable, but there was a large plate of rice, which was quite sufficient.

Sister Lu Ling seemed to have already eaten, sitting on the side watching Lu Li eat heartily. She had taken off her cloak, and her long, black hair fell down. Her beautiful face always carried a faint smile, and under the candlelight, she looked like a fairy in a painting.

Lu Li was really hungry. He had expended a lot of energy today, and he finished a large bowl of rice and all the dishes, finally standing up with satisfaction.

"Big Sister, this is the Body Tempering Pill."

He took out a yellow jade box from his chest and handed it over. Lu Ling took it, looked at it for a moment, and even sniffed it, then nodded and said, "It is indeed the Body Tempering Pill. If you take it, you should be able to increase your strength by four to five hundred pounds. Take it later, and pulling the coffin tomorrow won't be so strenuous."

"Big Sister!"

Lu Li's brows furrowed, and he asked in a serious tone, "Are you so sure that once I have ten thousand pounds of strength, I will definitely awaken my bloodline? In the vast Wuling County, there are fewer than thirty bloodline warriors, right?"

Lu Li had heard some things about bloodlines, and there were many legends among the people of the Northern Desert.

It was said that all human beings had a small amount of the blood of the ancient divine race within them. Through special rituals, there was a hope of awakening the divine bloodline, becoming a powerful bloodline warrior, and even obtaining miraculous bloodline divine skills.

The patriarch of the Liu family, the dominant force in Wuling County, was a powerful bloodline warrior, a Fourth Rank bloodline warrior with the bloodline divine skill "Flame Fire." It was precisely because he was a bloodline warrior that he could lead the Liu family to become the dominant force in Wuling County.

However, awakening a bloodline was not that easy. It was already good if one person in ten thousand could awaken it. In the past few decades, among the million people of Wuling County, only a few dozen could awaken a Second Rank bloodline or higher...

Therefore, Lu Li was very skeptical about whether he could awaken his bloodline. He couldn't even cultivate Spirit Power, so how could he possibly awaken a bloodline? If it weren't for Lu Ling saying it, he would have dismissed it outright.

"You can, you definitely can!"

Lu Ling nodded very confidently and said, "Even if ten thousand or a hundred thousand people can't awaken their bloodlines, you definitely can! Trust me."

Lu Ling had said this before, and Lu Li paused, frowning and asking seriously, "Why? Big Sister, can you tell me the reason?"

"No!"

Lu Ling shook her head and said, "Some things are better for you not to know now. I'll tell you after you awaken your bloodline. Just remember, once you reach ten thousand pounds of strength, you will definitely awaken your bloodline, and it will be a very powerful one. And... at that time, you will also be able to cultivate Spirit Power."

"What?"

Lu Li's body trembled, his face full of disbelief.

From a young age, he had tried to cultivate many times but could not cultivate even a trace of Spirit Power. Now, Lu Ling was so sure that he could cultivate Spirit Power after awakening his bloodline?

"Stop asking, just listen to me."

Lu Ling got up, leaning on her cane and walking toward her room. She turned at the door and said, "After taking the Body Tempering Pill, go to bed early. You still have to pull the coffin tomorrow. By the way... the Body Tempering Pill might make you feel uncomfortable, but you'll be fine if you endure it."

Lu Ling left, leaning on her cane, and Lu Li stood by the charcoal fire, still in shock from her words.

Spirit Power!

After awakening his bloodline, he could cultivate Spirit Power? Could he then enter the Spirit Martial Realm, open the door to the martial path, and become a true martial artist?

In the Northern Desert, who wouldn't want to become a martial artist, a mighty warrior who could look down on all directions? Who wouldn't want to stand out and enjoy endless glory and wealth?

"Refine the Body Tempering Pill!"

Lu Li hurried out, entered his room, and didn't even bother to bathe. He took out the Body Tempering Pill and swallowed it, then drank a few sips of water and sat on the ground, nervously waiting.

Lu Ling had said that refining the Body Tempering Pill would be uncomfortable, and Lu Li thought that a pill that could increase several hundred pounds of strength would certainly cause some special reactions in the body.

"Hot~"

Sure enough, Lu Li soon felt something strange in his body. A warm current spread from his throat to his entire body, making him feel warm and very comfortable.

"Huh?"

After a moment, Lu Li realized something was wrong. His body was getting hotter and hotter, as if he had been thrown into boiling water, and his skin began to turn red and feel hot...

"Endure!"

Lu Li gritted his teeth and persisted. He sat cross-legged on the ground, one hand gripping a piece of wood, the other hand covering his mouth to prevent himself from making a sound. Lu Ling was in the next room, and Lu Li didn't want her to worry.

"Ugh~ Ugh!"

As time passed, after about an incense stick's time, Lu Li felt as if he wasn't in boiling water but in a furnace, the heat unbearable.

He desperately covered his mouth, the other hand gripping the wood so tightly that the hard peach wood began to deform, his fingers deeply embedded in it.

Drip, drip!

Sweat dripped from his forehead, forming a stream that flowed down, soaking his clothes, his face covered in veins, and his entire face distorted.

"Snap!"

After three incense sticks, the peach wood stick could no longer bear the pressure and was crushed by Lu Li. At that moment, he finally felt the temperature in his body begin to drop, and he felt a great relief, opening his mouth and taking deep breaths.

After two incense sticks, the temperature in his body returned to normal. Lu Li felt as if he had been drained of all energy, and he climbed into bed, pulling the covers over himself and falling into a deep sleep.

"Phew..."

After Lu Li fell asleep, a faint sigh came from outside the window.

Lu Ling stood outside the window, covered in snow, clearly having been there for a long time. She glanced at the window, a faint smile on her lips, and then limped back to her room with her cane.

What Lu Ling didn't know was...

After a while, the ancient beast tooth around Lu Li's neck suddenly glowed, emitting a faint white light, flickering like a firefly in the night sky.

Lu Li had already fallen into a deep sleep and had no idea that the beast tooth necklace he had worn for over a decade could actually glow.

...

The next day, before dawn, Lu Li woke up. He always woke up at this time, having formed a stable biological clock.

The beast tooth necklace, which had glowed all night, had already returned to its original state, ancient and dark yellow, like an ordinary wild beast's fang.

"Ugh, it stinks!"

He smelled a pungent odor and quickly got up. He found that his body was covered in black mud, and even the bed was dirty.

"This..."

He stood up, confused, and after a moment, suddenly punched the air. A faint whistling sound echoed, and his eyes lit up.

"My strength seems to have increased. The Body Tempering Pill works! This black mud, could it be the impurities expelled from my body? Did the pill refine my flesh and blood?"

Lu Li thought for a moment, then waved his fist excitedly and said, "To the mountain! How much has my strength increased? I'll test it on the mountain."

Without bothering to clean the bed, Lu Li hurried out of the room, leaped from the back courtyard, and ran toward the mountain behind the earthen fort.

After running for several miles, Lu Li arrived near a large round boulder. He looked around to make sure no one was there, then grabbed the boulder with both arms and lifted it, holding it high and running through the forest.

The round boulder was over a meter in diameter and weighed at least two thousand pounds. But in Lu Li's hands, it felt as light as paper. He ran through the forest with the boulder held high, as fast as the wind, like a human-shaped giant beast.

After running for over ten miles through the forest, Lu Li arrived at a valley with a pond. Above the pond, a giant waterfall cascaded like a hanging galaxy, the scenery very beautiful.

"Boom!"

Lu Li threw the boulder heavily onto the edge of the pond, took a few deep breaths, and shouted with joy, "Five hundred pounds! My strength has increased by more than five hundred pounds. The Body Tempering Pill really works. Hahaha, ten thousand pounds of strength is just around the corner!"