Plain and Unassuming

Songyi City could only take in so many refugees, and in recent days, that capacity had long since reached its limit. The refugees had all been settled outside the walls under exceedingly squalid conditions. The weather was growing colder by the day. Every morning during his patrols, he would see quite a few refugees frozen to death. "Yeah, I understand." Lin Zheyu nodded. He rarely left the city on ordinary days, and had not even set foot in the outer city. His daily life was exceedingly simple: home, the teahouse, Master Liang's residence, and occasionally, dragged along by Jia Yanyong and the others, a stroll through Wan Tower. That was all. ... Returning to his courtyard, Lin Zheyu stripped off his upper garments and continued his training. It had been several days since he last broke past his physical limits, and his essence, qi, and spirit had once again been nurtured to peak condition. Thud! Thud! Thud! In the dead of night, dull thuds resonated from the courtyard. Even though the wooden post was wrapped in thick, worn clothing, the sound remained somewhat loud, echoing within the walls. Fortunately, there were hardly any people living nearby, and the closest neighbors were far away; otherwise, someone surely would have come knocking to complain about the disturbance. More than two hours later. Lin Zheyu lay sprawled on the ground, panting heavily. [Heaven Rewards Diligence] Name: Lin Zheyu Origin Power: 6 Skills: Wild Bull Fist (Mastery 4%) Golden Goose Skill (Layer 1, 39%) Turtle Breathing Art (Layer 2, 26%) ... Early the next morning. He rose early, not heading to Liang Song's house today. With the prescription for the Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Decoction in hand, Lin Zheyu made his way to the pharmacies to buy medicinal herbs. The herbs for the Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Decoction were not easy to come by. He visited several pharmacies before gathering them all, and a single dose ended up costing a little over ten taels of silver. "Truly expensive. A single dose is worth more than ten doses of ordinary medicinal soup." Lin Zheyu muttered, aching a bit at the cost. He suddenly felt that the hundred-odd taels of silver he had saved up was hardly much at all—just enough to buy a dozen or so doses of herbs. Returning home, he took out the three doses of Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening herbs he had purchased and put them all into the medicine pot to brew. He needed to test the potency first. If a single dose of this decoction was inferior to ordinary ones, it wouldn't be worth the price. Chopping firewood, stoking the flames, he simmered the medicinal brew. Lin Zheyu brewed it a full five times, extracting every bit of medicinal potency from the herbs until not a trace remained behind. A rich herbal fragrance drifted through the courtyard. "This stuff is way more bitter than the previous decoctions!" Lin Zheyu took a small sip, his face instantly scrunching up. It was terribly bitter. Holding his breath, he gulped the decoction down in one go. Instantly, an intense surge of feverish heat swept through him. "The medicinal potency is fierce!" Lin Zheyu was astonished. The moment the liquid reached his stomach, he had felt the scorching heat flare up. If he waited even a few more minutes, he would probably be spurting nosebleeds. He immediately sat cross-legged on the ground and conveyed his intent: 'Use 3 units of Origin Power to advance the Turtle Breathing Art.' In an instant, mysterious energy gushed forth, drawing the decoction's medicinal potency to circulate throughout his entire body. His consciousness entered a peculiar state, embarking on a long, arduous cultivation as his comprehension of the Turtle Breathing Art deepened. Lin Zheyu's body was also undergoing immense transformations. Although neither his strength nor his speed increased, the muscles, sinews, and skin across his whole body grew firmer and tighter, and his aura turned even more restrained. Among them, the strengthening of his internal organs was the most profound. As the Turtle Breathing Art advanced, guided by the breathing technique, Lin Zheyu's internal organs were further tempered, completing the greater half of the journey through the Viscera Tempering Realm. Hoo... Hoo... Hoo... His breathing grew increasingly prolonged and continuous, and his heartbeat slowed down. Under the subtle adjustments of the mysterious force, his muscle density was further enhanced. While his strength had not risen much, from his outward appearance, he looked faintly slimmer, as if he had shrunken by a whole size. The aura emanating from Lin Zheyu dropped lower and lower, settling into something mellow, plain, and unassuming. The sharp, aggressive edge honed from his martial arts training gradually faded away, making him look even more like an ordinary scholar too frail to truss a chicken. A few breaths later. Phoo... Exhaling a long breath of turbid air, Lin Zheyu opened his eyes. [Heaven Rewards Diligence] Name: Lin Zheyu Origin Power: 3 Skills: Wild Bull Fist (Mastery 4%) Golden Goose Skill (Layer 1, 39%) Turtle Breathing Art (Layer 3, 0%) "Finally reached the third layer. Even if I elevate my strength to the Qi and Blood Realm right now, Master Liang won't be able to see through my power." A faint smile appeared on Lin Zheyu's face. He could finally advance his strength without restraint. Checking his physical condition closely, Lin Zheyu discovered that when circulating the Turtle Breathing Art with full force, he looked just like a frail scholar who had never practiced martial arts. The skin across his body had also become much smoother; the calloused roughness on his fists from his previous training now appeared almost identical to how it had looked before he ever practiced martial arts. "It actually has an effect like this!" Lin Zheyu was thoroughly amazed. If he cultivated the Turtle Breathing Art to the third layer's perfection, wouldn't his skin end up even tenderer and smoother than a woman's? After examining the upgraded Turtle Breathing Art for a while, Lin Zheyu gradually felt a sensation of feverish heat within his body. "The potency of those three doses of decoction I drank just now actually has leftovers—and quite a lot, it seems," Lin Zheyu thought to himself, pleasantly surprised. The constant heat radiating from inside his body proved that the remaining medicinal potency was substantial, far beyond what a martial artist in the Bone Tempering Realm could normally endure. As expected of an expensive brew costing ten taels of silver per dose—this money had been well spent. ...