Chapter 14: Body Tempering with Yuan Qi

"How should we handle this Elder Sister Qing?" Qin Mu, barely able to stand, turned his gaze towards the girl beside him, her soul not yet settled from shock.

"Or perhaps... " Si Popo's eyes suddenly lit up. She nudged Qin Mu's shoulder with her own, nearly sending the struggling youth tumbling, and chuckled maliciously. "Why not keep her as a concubine? You were most adorable when you were young. Now that you've grown, you're not as cute as before. But if you and this little girl have a fat baby, that will certainly be very cute. Popo still dotes on little ones..."

Qin Mu glanced at Elder Sister Qing, whose face resembled a pig's snout, and hesitated. "Popo, perhaps not..."

*Pū.*

Cripple, having appeared behind Elder Sister Qing without a sound, raised a hand and coolly plunged a knife through the girl's heart. A simple, honest smile still graced his face. "Then we'll just kill her."

Qin Mu stared, tongue-tied, and stammered, "Cripple Grandpa, why did you kill her?"

"You said you didn't want her, so of course I killed her," Cripple replied, withdrawing the knife, his smile even more honest, as if he couldn't comprehend the question.

Qin Mu felt a blush of shame. He indeed had no intention of having children with Elder Sister Qing. But he was, after all, only an eleven or twelve-year-old youth. His daily companions were the old monsters like Ma Ye and Si Popo, and the neighboring villages were filled with fierce gods and malevolent spirits. There were very few youths his age.

He lacked playmates, yet his heart remained a youthful one.

"Let's head back," the Village Chief said, turning his head to look at the ruins in the valley.

Medicine Master chuckled towards Qin Mu. "We're all short of arms and legs; no one can carry you. So you'll have to walk back yourself. Oh, right, there's still the Four Spirits Blood here. You didn't come home last night, but the Four Spirits Blood was all prepared for you."

Qin Mu nodded, accepted the four white porcelain cups, and downed the Four Spirits Blood. He struggled forward, urging the 'Overlord Body Three Dan Skill' to resolve the power of the blood, while simultaneously recounting the strange events he had encountered within the valley ruins.

Si Popo's expression shifted slightly. "Gods and demons? A dark, large face, a skeleton girl? Interesting..."

The other villagers also found it interesting, but they offered no further opinions.

Qin Mu couldn't help but ask, "Popo, aren't you at all curious about the history of these valley ruins?"

Medicine Master sighed. "A divine kingdom that once flourished, now turned to dust and smoke. Divine bones clatter in the night, dancing. Perhaps their hearts hold unwillingness?"

Deaf, his eyes fixed on Medicine Master's lips, said, "No matter how unwilling, they are dead. What good is it? So being curious about the story here is mostly useless."

"Deaf, are you truly deaf?" Medicine Master looked at his ears. They were a pair of iron ears, forged from snow-white iron, even the ear holes were blocked. He asked curiously, "Will you know if I'm deaf if these two ears are inserted into your ear holes?"

Deaf pulled out his two iron ears from his head, revealing three-inch long iron plugs. These iron plugs could hold the iron ears in place. He said coldly, "Insert these two ears into your ear holes, and then you'll know whether I'm deaf or not!"

Medicine Master smiled faintly, saying no more.

Deaf, with a *pū* sound, inserted his two iron ears back into his ear holes and turned to Mute. "These two ears have been a bit uncomfortable lately. Help me remake them."

Mute the blacksmith nodded.

Qin Mu was truly speechless regarding these relatives of his. Medicine Master and the others' interest in Deaf's ear holes was greater than in the ruins, which he truly couldn't understand.

Si Popo laughed. "Mu'er, there are far, far too many secrets within the Great Ruins. Besides the divine city in the valley, there are countless more secrets. If you spend all your curiosity on these secrets, you won't have time for anything else."

The group began heading towards Disabled Old Village. The Village Chief's voice was low. "I see your knife work is quite strong. Your knife, one chi three cun long, could contend with that youth's treasured sword. Your tempering this time has brought you considerable progress."

Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly, and he voiced his doubts. "Why is my vital energy unable to control objects and make them fly like theirs? My vital energy can only seep into the willow branch by one chi three cun; it cannot go further."

Regarding controlling a sword with qi, he was very envious, but he was not yet able to do it.

Medicine Master secretly shook his head. The vital energy cultivated by ordinary people had no attributes; there was no way to control objects and make them fly, because there were simply no methods to enable ordinary vital energy to perform such a function.

For Qin Mu, as an ordinary person, to be able to support a one chi three cun willow branch with vital energy, and to clash head-on with a warrior's treasured sword like Qu Shixiong's without being chopped off, was already quite extraordinary.

The Village Chief's face was calm. "Your Overlord Body has not yet thoroughly awakened, and the Spirit Embryo God Store has not yet been excavated. There is no need to be anxious. Even without awakening your Overlord Body, you can defeat a peak warrior of the Spirit Embryo realm. Once you awaken your Overlord Body, your strength will far surpass those of your age."

Si Popo and the others were also very satisfied with Qin Mu's performance. That Qu Shixiong was a peak warrior of the Spirit Embryo realm, moreover, he could control his sword with qi, and it surrounded his body, clearly indicating he was not far from the Five Luminaries realm.

Yet Qin Mu, without awakening his Overlord Body, had beaten him to death with a small wooden stick. Clearly, Qin Mu was indeed the unheard-of 'Overlord Body'; the Village Chief had not deceived them!

Medicine Master's eye corner twitched. He thought to himself, "The matter of Mu'er having an ordinary physique will eventually be impossible to hide. By that time, these guys, disheartened, will likely turn the world upside down... However, Mu'er using a small wooden stick to actually beat a peak warrior to death is indeed strange. Perhaps there truly is an Overlord Body? Or is it the effect of the Spirit Blood?"

Having seen much and knowing a great deal, at this moment, he was also somewhat baffled, his heart filled with confusion.

After drinking the Four Spirits Blood, the vital energy within Qin Mu's body became increasingly lively. Its circulation speed gradually increased, allowing his swollen muscles and fascia to slowly recover. The speed of his qi and blood circulation also gradually accelerated, and the feeling of fatigue in his body gradually dissipated. Unconsciously, his footsteps quickened, and his speed became faster and faster.

Ma Ye, Cripple, and the others revealed surprised expressions but said nothing, always following him.

Cultivating the 'Overlord Body Three Dan Skill' while running resulted in faster cultivation improvement. This was a new discovery for Qin Mu. With the supplement of the Four Spirits Blood, the speed of his cultivation improvement would be even higher. Therefore, Qin Mu unconsciously increased his running speed, somewhat losing himself.

He quickly forgot the soreness of his muscles. His speed constantly increased, and the operation of the vital energy within his body also became faster and faster. It passed through his four limbs, through his hundred bones, and even connected to his hair, nails, and skin texture, where vital energy gradually seeped in.

Gradually, his speed surpassed his previous full-strength running speed. Even so, Qin Mu was not self-aware, only feeling that the more he ran, the smoother it felt, and the happier he became.

His sweat began to seep out from his skin pores. This sweat was not transparent, but rather very turbid. Besides black dirt, there were also white fat particles in the sweat that flowed out. It was just that Qin Mu had not yet detected the changes in his body.

Medicine Master and the Village Chief and the others each revealed shocked expressions, silently glancing at each other.

"Ma Ye, when did you begin vital energy quenching your body?" Medicine Master suddenly asked.

Ma Ye said in a low voice, "At the peak of the Spirit Embryo realm. When I was practicing my fist, I suddenly struck out my first divine ability. My first divine ability was to quench my body with fist technique, my vital energy like a green dragon entwining silk."

Medicine Master looked towards Cripple. Cripple said, "I was also at the peak of the Spirit Embryo realm. That day, I was running in the wind, trying to catch up to the fierce wind. I thought that after catching up to the wind, I could step on the tip of the wind and walk in the sky. Then, I discovered the mystery of vital energy quenching the body, my vital energy like the wind blowing through a hundred orifices. As a result, in my joy, I fell from the tip of the wind and almost died."

Medicine Master sighed. "I was also like this. I wanted to use the Spirit Embryo God Store as a medicine refining furnace, and my own vital energy as the medicine, to refine myself into a taste of medicine. Thus, I discovered the mystery of vital energy quenching the body, my vital energy like fire burning flesh. While Mu'er has not yet broken through the wall, he has already begun quenching his body."

Cripple laughed. "The Overlord Body is indeed strong; it is something we Spirit Bodies cannot envy."

Medicine Master's face was strange; he said no more.

Overlord Body?

If he truly was an Overlord Body, he wouldn't be so surprised.

Cripple and Ma Ye and the others could blame all this on the Overlord Body, but he knew the truth. Qin Mu, with an ordinary person's physique, had begun vital energy quenching his body one step earlier than a Spirit Body, truly making him, a strong individual with vast knowledge, unable to help but sigh.

"Mu'er's Overlord Body hasn't awakened yet. If he awakens his Overlord Body and controls objects and makes them fly with Overlord Body vital energy, hehe, perhaps even the Yan Kang National Teacher from that year wouldn't have been as fierce as him?" Si Popo said excitedly.

Medicine Master's heart sank. He looked at the Village Chief.

The Village Chief was also silent.

This world originally had no Overlord Body, and naturally no Overlord Body vital energy. Ordinary vital energy could not control objects and make them fly. By then, the matter of Qin Mu discovering he could not control objects and make them fly would be exposed.

But before that, Qin Mu first needed to undergo the so-called "Overlord Body awakening." To achieve "Overlord Body awakening," he needed to break through the wall, to break through the Spirit Embryo wall.

How could an ordinary person break through the wall?

The Village Chief's eyebrows furrowed. Would continuing to drink the Four Spirits Blood still be useful? How long could he hide this?