novelraw Chapter 37 : Chapter 37
Chapter 37 : Chapter 37
Chapter 37: Another Breakthrough, the Tiger-Bone Stage
That was right. Lin Bai intended to use this rising momentum to break through another stage in one go.
Once the thought took root in his mind, he could no longer suppress it. As the saying went, one should strike while the spirit was high. That was exactly the state he was in now.
Lin Bai returned to the Meditation Chamber, took out a Three-Turn Tiger-Bone Pill, and swallowed it in one motion. Then he lay down and assumed a posture like a mountain lord at rest.
He looked like a fierce tiger returning after a full meal, lazily sprawled within its own territory. He appeared relaxed, yet in truth his body was quietly digesting its prey, turning the essence of what it had hunted into power.
The Tiger-Bone Stage was different from the Bear-Hide Stage. The Bear-Hide Stage was cultivated through medicinal baths and the moving exercise of the 【Bear Pounce Form】, whereas the Tiger-Bone Stage relied on pills and the still exercise of 【Mountain Lord Recline】.
Lin Bai calmed his mind and began to circulate that newly born force within his body.
As the medicinal power of the Three-Turn Tiger-Bone Pill dissolved and fused with his force, driving it onward, a torrent of scorching medicinal energy was guided into every bone in his body, reaching deep into the marrow itself.
Pain struck him.
It hurt.
It hurt terribly.
There was not a single part of his body that did not ache.
Lin Bai felt as though worms were gnawing on every bone in his body.
Pain was normal. He had already learned beforehand that the first bone tempering would be excruciating.
And yet, this pain seemed to be lasting too long.
The information in the inheritance had said that at most it would last a few minutes, but by now it felt as though around twenty minutes had already passed.
This was not an illusion. That much time really had passed.
“Something’s wrong...”
Just as his consciousness was about to be drowned by pain and blur away, his soul seemed to be drawn by something, and in the unseen depths he “saw” a strange sight.
A massive but dim giant skeleton floated in the void. Around it, a few faint points of light flickered sparsely and slowly merged into the bones.
Every place touched by those points of light gave off the faintest trace of golden radiance. But the skeleton was too vast, and the points of light were too few. That thin golden glow was no more than a cup of water against a burning cartload of firewood.
“This is... soul perception through the unity of spirit and flesh?”
Under normal circumstances, his cultivation was still far from the final stage of the Transcendent Realm, the Five-Viscera Spirits Stage. It should have been impossible for him to look inward upon himself.
But Lin Bai’s body, soul, spirituality, and instinct were all unusually powerful. At this critical moment, every aspect of him had spontaneously coordinated, forcefully opening a brief “back door” and allowing him a glimpse of his own condition.
Naturally, it did not last. The image had only flashed by for an instant.
But that was enough.
“The medicinal power isn’t enough!”
What would have been enough for an ordinary possessor of supreme-grade Spiritual Talent to break through smoothly was, for his absurd 129,600-point Star Chart talent, no more than a drop in the ocean.
That was what had created this awkward situation, where the medicinal power was insufficient and his breakthrough had stalled halfway, neither advancing nor retreating.
Once he understood the cause, Lin Bai grabbed the medicinal gourd beside him and poured most of the pills inside straight down his throat as though he were drinking water.
After that, he immediately returned to the posture of 【Mountain Lord Recline】 and began refining the pills with all his strength.
As the medicinal force of those pills erupted, a wave of heat spread through his entire body.
That heat dissolved Lin Bai’s pain and replaced it with the feeling of soaking in a hot spring.
Now that was comfortable.
“Haaah...”
Lin Bai slowly let out a long breath.
“Damn it. I nearly got myself killed.”
This result had all come from Lin Bai’s habitual way of thinking.
When he had cultivated the Bear-Hide Stage before, the first medicinal bath had been like simmering over a low flame, and his subconscious had kept increasing the dosage of medicinal powder the whole time. He had barely even noticed that he had long since exceeded the standard for ordinary people.
Then, when he reached the Tiger-Bone Stage, he had subconsciously prepared a “normal” dosage.
The result was immediate disaster.
The first bone tempering was all about doing it in one unbroken surge. The medicine had to be fierce enough to leave a deep cultivation imprint upon the bones.
Lin Bai engraved this lesson into his heart. He would never make the same mistake again.
But right now, the most important thing was to break through into the Tiger-Bone Stage. Otherwise, all the suffering he had just gone through would have been for nothing.
Lin Bai could now feel his whole body heating up. Though he could not look inward again, he felt that his bones had become heavier and denser.
He gathered his mind, and from his body came a series of low, resonant growls, like the prelude to a tiger’s roar shaking the forest.
This was not a meaningless sound. It was the very essence of the still exercise 【Mountain Lord Recline】, using a specific sound-wave frequency to cause the qi, blood, and force within the body to resonate together and temper the bones.
At this moment, the mind-calming effect of the formation within the Meditation Chamber was being brought into full play.
About half an hour later, Lin Bai’s body temperature began to drop, returning to normal.
He rose from the floor, lightly twisted his body, and rolled his neck.
Crack, crack.
Those were the sounds of Lin Bai’s bones settling into place, much like the popping of knuckles.
Then he bounced lightly a few times, feeling the changes in his body.
“A close call, but I’ve broken through into the Tiger-Bone Stage. From here on, I just need to temper it carefully.”
Although a small “accident” had occurred during this breakthrough, the result had been good.
As he spoke, Lin Bai casually threw a few punches and kicks through the air. They were different from before. Now his strength had surged enormously, and his fists and feet were both fast and vicious.
There was even a sharpness to them now.
The Bear-Hide Stage tempered flesh, mainly increasing defense. The Tiger-Bone Stage tempered bone, mainly enhancing offensive power, its most direct expression being a tremendous increase in strength and force.
Within the Dao Path inheritance Lin Bai had received, there were two lines that described the relationship between bone tempering at the Tiger-Bone Stage and one’s strength.
“Temper the bones and transform the marrow, and one’s strength surpasses a thousand tripods.”
“When marrow is full and bones are firm, one’s force can shatter mountains and rivers.”
After stretching his body, Lin Bai even felt as though he had grown a little taller.
“Today is truly a good day. I broke through two stages in a single night.”
For other people, every step along the Dao Path was a bottleneck. Some extreme Martial Artists even had to fight for their lives in order to break through in the midst of battle.
But for Lin Bai...
They could argue with his 129,600 points of supreme-grade Spiritual Talent.
Lin Bai cast a Detection Skill on himself and wanted to see how much his four attributes had increased.
Name: Lin Bai
Strength: 9.5 → 27.2
Agility: 11.5 → 18.0 + 5.2 (23.5)
Physique: 10.5 → 42.7
Spirit: 9.1 → 21.2
Level: Transcendent-Mortal · Tiger-Bone Stage
Skills: Beginner Blade Arts, Archery Mastery, Basic Medicine, Yunzhou North Mountain Army Scout Breath-Concealing Art (Minor Mastery), Basic Talismans, 【Beast-Taming Martial Artist】
Talents: Metamorphosis, Shared Journey
Evaluation: Your future holds great promise. A hidden dragon lies in the deep.
Lin Bai’s note: An attribute value of thirty points is roughly the normal level of an extraordinary-grade Spiritual Talent holder after advancing into the Extraordinary Realm.
Because he had already completed cultivation of the Bear-Hide Stage, the increase in his Physique was enormous. And since cultivation in the Transcendent Realm was, in essence, the shedding of the mortal body, Physique naturally far surpassed his other three attributes.
“Good, good. Very good indeed!”
Humming an off-key little tune, Lin Bai went outside into the courtyard and brewed himself a pot of tea.
Lin Bai had more or less figured out the meal-delivery times in the Martial Academy. Every day at six in the morning and six in the evening, a food box would be teleported onto the table.
If the food box was still on the table when the time came, it would be taken away automatically. There was no need to clean up after oneself.
Since his breakthrough had taken place deep into the night, the six o’clock evening meal had long since passed. There was no hope of getting a late snack.
“Caw, caw~”
Mo Ling flapped her wings and landed on his shoulder, eagerly craning her little head toward the teapot.
“Soon, soon. The water hasn’t even boiled yet. Wait a little longer. I really don’t understand how you, a crow of all things, like drinking tea so much.”
“Caw!”
Mo Ling protested from the side, meaning that crows also had the right to drink tea.
“All right, all right. I apologize.”
“As an apology, the first cup goes to you.”
Lin Bai lifted the teapot and poured the first cup for Mo Ling.
As a Transcendent-Realm Exotic Beast, Mo Ling naturally was not afraid of heat and began drinking it at once.
Lin Bai shook his head again and again at the sight.
“Tsk, tsk. Xiao Ling, that is not the proper way to drink tea. You should wait until it cools a little first, then savor its flavor.”
As he spoke, he pressed his palm lightly above his own cup of tea. A gentle strand of force flowed out, precisely drawing away the heat from the tea.
Martial Artist force truly was worthy of being called a universal tool. It was fierce in battle and practical in daily life.
Only when the tea had cooled to a suitable temperature did he nod in satisfaction and disperse the heat-holding force from his hand.
But Mo Ling rejected Lin Bai’s suggestion. As a tea-loving and intelligent bird, she had her own judgment.
Namely:
What kind of bird drank cold tea?
Lin Bai lifted his cup and drank it down in one gulp, letting out a long, contented sound. His body relaxed completely as he slumped into the stone chair.
After finishing her own portion of tea, Mo Ling obediently flew down into Lin Bai’s arms and curled up in a comfortable position.
The stars glittered overhead, and the night breeze was gentle. The little crow in his arms breathed in a slow, even rhythm.
Lin Bai half reclined there, holding Mo Ling as he relaxed beneath the night sky of Firecloud Grotto-Heaven.
Lin Bai had observed that the stars within Firecloud Grotto-Heaven moved according to a pattern. It was probably some special formation.
But he had no desire to investigate it now.
Right now, he only wanted to lie there.