Chapter 5

At this moment, Zichen was fully focused on the changes in his dantian, his expression a mix of excitement and joy, to the point that he even ignored the changes in his body.

The energy surging from his heart, like fresh blood, rushed to every corner of Zichen's body, to his blood, bones, bone marrow, skin, and every part of his body, causing a transformation.

If the energy from the snow ginseng was absorbed by his heart, then now, after the heart had taken, it was giving back, and this return far exceeded the absorption, more than ten times the effort.

A 500-year-old snow ginseng required the heart to pay the equivalent of a 5000-year-old snow ginseng's pure energy. Only a fraction of this energy, less than one-tenth, entered the body and bones, while the remaining nine-tenths entered Zichen's dantian, beginning to repair it.

Zichen's body was transforming, and his dantian was being repaired. This was another great fortune after the previous one, and the cause of all this was naturally the silver-glowing sphere in Zichen's heart.

All the energy was released by the sphere, and the ability to repair the damaged dantian was not due to the snow ginseng's greatness, but because the sphere almost exhausted all its silver energy, making the silver sphere somewhat transparent.

The cold wind gradually stopped, and the snow in the sky had dissipated at some point. Although the ground was still covered in white snow, a ray of sunlight fell from the sky.

In the cold winter, a sunny day was a good day.

In such good weather, people's moods were often good, and Zichen's mood was very good. His damaged dantian had unexpectedly recovered, and although his strength had not returned to its peak, he was now a small guy with less than one layer of true qi. However, being able to store true qi made Zichen very happy.

Moreover, Zichen was also happy that his body had become stronger. After his first cultivation of the Heavenly Thunder Body Tempering Technique, his constitution had improved to a very high level, and its toughness seemed to be no less than that of a fourth-level ferocious beast.

Although the energy from the snow ginseng had been completely digested, Zichen did not feel hungry at all; instead, he felt very energetic.

Half a day had passed, and the sun was already high in the sky. The pursuers seemed to be coming.

After carefully erasing his footprints, Zichen hid behind a large rock. Since he knew Zhao Can very well, Zichen knew that the other party would soon catch up.

Whether it was for the snow ginseng or for himself, he would have to catch up, kill Zichen, and take the snow ginseng.

Time passed minute by minute, and even with the sun shining, Zichen felt a chill in the air.

Finally, after half an hour of waiting, Zichen heard a sound.

"That damn bastard, if I catch him, I'll flay him and tear out his tendons." The first voice to be heard was Lin Hao's.

Lin Hao was walking in front, cursing, his clothes torn and bloodstained, as if he had just been in a fierce battle. Lin Ying, who was following him, was also in a sorry state, his face full of anger. At the back was Zhao Can, his face dark, his clothes relatively intact.

Last night, he had miscalculated. After shouting outside the cave and getting no response, he had sent Lin Hao in.

But unexpectedly, Zichen was not there; instead, Lin Hao saw a large snake that was sleeping.

A fourth-level ferocious beast, a blood python.

Lin Hao let out a scream and quickly ran out, but he still managed to alarm the blood python.

In the middle of the night, in the valley, the three of them engaged in a fierce battle with the blood python. Although they managed to kill it by luck, they were all injured, their clothes torn, and Lin Hao suffered serious internal injuries.

"It's all your fault. You were so confident about understanding Zichen, but now you've been outsmarted." Lin Hao, who was injured, was harboring resentment and naturally vented it on Zhao Can.

And the latter, due to his miscalculation, could only endure it, despite having endured it for half a night.

"Hmm, they are injured. There must be a ferocious beast in the cave. From the looks of it, Lin Hao is the most seriously injured. I can take him out first, unexpectedly, and it will be easy to succeed." Zichen, hiding in the distance, carefully observed and planned.

Seeing Lin Hao's pale face and disordered steps, he made his decision.

He calculated the route of the three and slowly moved to the other side of the large rock.

"You, the only thing you're good at is playing tricks and attacking from behind. I don't know what kind of person you are, and what makes you worth having friends." Because of Zhao Can's so-called confidence, Lin Hao was injured, so he kept cursing on the way.

"Enough, Lin Hao, shut your dirty mouth." After enduring it for half a night, Zhao Can finally couldn't take it anymore and shouted at Lin Hao.

At this moment, the three were already near the large rock where Zichen was, and the distance between them was less than ten meters.

Zichen was very cautious, his eyes fixed on Lin Hao, ready to strike.

Lin Hao was completely unaware. Hearing Zhao Can's rebuke, he turned his head and glared at Zhao Can, saying, "What did you say? Do you dare to—"

Before Lin Hao could finish his sentence, he saw Zhao Can's face change, and at the same time, his brother Lin Ying's face also changed.

Just as he was confused, he suddenly felt a gust of wind from behind, and then a long, white hand suddenly appeared in front of him, grabbing his head.

"Crack!"

A light sound of a broken neck echoed, and Lin Hao's eyes widened as he knelt on the ground.

The life force dissipated, and Lin Hao was dead. The previous turn had given Zichen a good opportunity to attack.

"Zichen, it's you, die!"

At this moment, two cold voices sounded, and then the two figures flashed, using a third-rate step technique, holding weapons, and charging at Zichen.

"Thud!" "Thud!"

The glint of knives and swords flashed, and two light sounds echoed. Zichen had already retreated several meters away, and in his hand was a bundle. On his right arm, there was a half-inch-long wound, blood flowing from it.

At the same time, he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder, which had also been pierced by a weapon.

In that instant, Zichen had successfully killed Lin Hao, but if he had retreated immediately, he would have been unharmed. However, he had his eye on the food in Lin Hao's bundle and took it, which delayed him, and as a result, Zichen had two more wounds.

"What, how is that possible?"

With one strike, Zichen was injured, but Zhao Can and Lin Ying were staring with wide eyes, disbelief in their eyes.

Although their attack was not full strength, it was still at eighty percent. Such a strike would not only sever Zichen's arm and pierce his left shoulder, but even a fourth-level ferocious beast would be injured. However, Zichen only suffered minor injuries, just skin wounds.

This constitution was truly terrifying.

"Hmph!"

Without stopping, Zichen, holding the bundle, started running again.

The two were now on guard, and with his unstable one-layer true qi, he naturally couldn't kill them.

"Ah, Zichen, you killed my brother, I'll make you die!" Lin Ying's roar echoed, and he held a long knife, charging in the direction Zichen was running.

Zhao Can, with a dark face, followed.

Another chase began.

But this time, with food, Zichen took the initiative. He kept going deeper, and his speed was very fast. With his tough constitution, he had already far outdistanced the two.

"It seems my estimation was correct. The toughness of this body is comparable to a fourth-level ferocious beast." After this battle, Zichen was very satisfied with his body's condition, but he was still puzzled about why he had changed so much.

And what was the energy that had emerged from his heart? All of this was still a mystery to Zichen.

The three, who were chasing Zichen with a damaged dantian, had instead lost one of their own. Zhao Can's face was even darker, and Lin Ying, who had lost his younger brother, was silent, his eyes turning red, determined to kill Zichen.

Neither of them gave up. One was for revenge, and the other was determined to kill Zichen.

Night fell again silently.

Zichen had not slept for several days and nights, but he was not tired at all; instead, he was very energetic. In these few days and nights, he had experienced life and death and two great fortunes. Even if he wanted to sleep, he couldn't.

After pulling away, Zichen started to cultivate, practicing the Heavenly Thunder Body Tempering Technique.

The surrounding earth and heaven's energy rushed to Zichen, entering his meridians. After one small cycle, it would enter his heart, just like before. The heart would absorb this energy, but then it would release a more refined, lightning-infused energy, like blood, to every part of his body and his dantian.

After an hour, Zichen opened his eyes, a hint of joy in his bright eyes.

The damaged dantian had been repaired, but his strength was gone, and the four layers of true qi were completely depleted.

Everything had to start from scratch, but after just an hour of cultivation, Zichen found that he had already reached the first layer of true qi and stabilized at this level. If given a few more hours, he could easily break through to the peak of the first layer.

From the first layer to the peak, Zichen believed he could reach it in less than a day. The first time he cultivated, it took him three months.

Three months in the past, compared to one day now.

Zichen's current cultivation speed was terrifying.

With food, a restored dantian, and a terrifyingly fast increase in strength, Zichen was prepared for a prolonged battle.

After eating some dry rations, he continued running, pulling away, and then cultivated for another hour.

By the time it was bright, Zichen had reached the peak of the first layer of true qi, ready to step into the second layer at any moment.