Chapter 119: Perfection of Sinew and Bone, The Little Ones' Terrifying Talents

"He's broken through again, reaching perfection in the Sinew and Bone realm."

Standing in the courtyard, Lu Qing quietly contemplated the changes within his body.

Indeed, he had just successfully reached perfection in the Sinew and Bone realm.

Witnessing his master's breakthrough to the Innate realm had granted him a significant opportunity.

Just yesterday, he had achieved minor success in the Sinew and Bone realm. With the vital energy mist he absorbed during Master Guanli's breakthrough, he had broken through again in less than a day, stepping into the perfection of the Sinew and Bone realm.

If other warriors knew of such a cultivation speed, they would surely be stunned.

Moreover, Lu Qing felt that after entering the perfection of the Sinew and Bone realm, the vital energy mist that had transformed into life force energy was not entirely depleted. The remaining energy lurked deeper within his body, silently nourishing his physical body.

At this rate, he estimated that achieving the state of completion in the Sinew and Bone realm wouldn't be far off.

"Qing, what was that just now?"

At that moment, a voice filled with astonishment sounded.

Lu Qing turned his head and saw Old Man Zhang and a few other villagers staring at him with shocked expressions.

Apparently, they had been startled by the strange phenomenon of his body's bones cracking and the vibration of his qi.

"Oh, it's nothing. I had a slight realization about the martial way this afternoon, and I just broke through smoothly," Lu Qing replied.

Actually, while practicing his fists, he could sense the situation outside and was aware of Old Man Zhang and the others' presence.

Since they hadn't disturbed him, Lu Qing didn't pay it any mind.

However, seeing the worried looks on Old Man Zhang and the others' faces, Lu Qing felt that it would be better to cultivate in the bamboo forest behind the mountain from now on.

This time, he had cultivated in the courtyard because Xiao Yan and Xiao Li were both asleep, and he didn't want to go too far.

"I see. Then that's good."

Hearing Lu Qing's explanation, Old Man Zhang and the others heaved a sigh of relief.

Although they didn't understand cultivation matters, they knew from Lu Qing's words that it was a good thing, and they were happy for him.

After confirming that Lu Qing was fine, Old Man Zhang and the others gradually dispersed.

Lu Qing returned to the house and found that Xiao Yan and Xiao Li were still asleep. Not wanting to disturb them, he made himself dinner.

It wasn't until early the next morning that the two little ones woke up from their slumber.

As soon as they woke up, they cried out in hunger.

Lu Qing brought out the breakfast and fish he had prepared earlier, and the two little ones began to devour their food eagerly.

Taking advantage of their preoccupation with eating, Lu Qing used his ability to check on their conditions.

First, he focused on Xiao Yan.

Amidst the dense red light, a strand of golden light from her ability shone brilliantly before Lu Qing.

[Lu Xiao Yan: A human infant, female.]



[A lucky little one. After consuming the Earth Vein Spirit Liquid, she seems to have accidentally awakened a special talent.]



[Ice-like Musculature and Bones: The body is pure, without impurity or blemish, as clear as ice and as pure as jade. She is a natural-born cultivation genius, and cultivating water and cold attribute techniques will be twice as effective.]



[Due to absorbing the vital energy mist, rich in life force, that was condensed by the heavenly dao during the breakthrough to the Innate realm, there is a hint of innate dao body essence within her body.]



Lu Qing was first shocked by the strand of golden light in Xiao Yan's ability.

Then, as he read the last line, he drew in a sharp breath.

Innate Dao Body?!

This was a divine physique greatly revered even in the heritage of the Shen Fu Sect.

It was said that those with this divine physique were true children of heaven, beloved by the heavens.

Regardless of what they cultivated, they progressed at an unbelievably rapid pace, rarely encountering bottlenecks.

To put it simply, the path of rune cultivation was already challenging. Without true talent, one wouldn't even be able to enter its gates.

However, in the face of a true innate dao body, even the path of runes would become exceedingly simple. One could say that entering its gates would be as easy as eating and drinking, if not simpler.

He never expected Xiao Yan to possess a hint of the innate dao body constitution. Although it was just a trace, it was enough to showcase the terrifying talent she possessed.

If the Shen Fu Sect still existed, they would likely fight to take Xiao Yan under their wing, given their reverence for the innate dao body in their heritage.

After examining Xiao Yan's changes, Lu Qing turned his attention to Xiao Li.

Then, he saw that amidst the dense red light, a faint golden light from her ability shone once more.

[Black Night Spirit Raccoon: A mountain spirit beast, young form, female.]



[Extremely fast, with sharp claws that can shatter stones and rend gold, cutting through all things.]



[Possesses the innate skill to distort light with its fur and merge with the darkness.]



[In legends, the Black Night Spirit Raccoon loves to eat fish but is born with an aversion to water, leaving it to sigh at the sight of fish.]



[Due to absorbing the vital energy mist, rich in life force, that was condensed by the heavenly dao during the breakthrough to the Innate realm, there are signs of evolution towards an innate spirit beast.]



The golden light in Xiao Li's ability was even more concentrated than Xiao Yan's.

Similarly, there was an additional line in her description.

"Innate spirit beast, what is that?"

However, Lu Qing didn't understand the implications of this new line.

There was no record of innate spirit beasts in the heritage left by the Shen Fu Sect.

But judging from Xiao Yan's situation, this innate spirit beast was likely an extraordinary creature as well.

Chapter: Fishing Again

"I never expected that after sleeping for a whole night, the two little ones would gain such great benefits."

In contrast, he had only broken through to the Sinew and Bone realm after a hard day's cultivation, which now seemed rather ordinary in comparison.

"Big brother, what's wrong? Do I have rice on my face?" Xiao Yan asked, feeling puzzled as Lu Qing stared at her in a daze. She reached up to touch her face.

"No, big brother is just thinking about something. Keep eating," Lu Qing replied, snapping out of his trance with a smile.

At the same time, he made a mental note to himself.

The better the innate talent of the two little ones, the harder he would have to work to nurture them; otherwise, he would be wasting such a good opportunity.

"Okay," Xiao Yan said, resuming her meal after seeing that nothing was wrong.

At that moment, Lu Qing felt his pant leg being tugged a few times. Looking down, he saw Xiao Li sitting upright in front of him.

"What is it, Xiao Li?" Lu Qing asked.

Xiao Li pointed to her empty food bowl with her small paw, and Lu Qing looked over to see that it was indeed empty.

"You finished so quickly?" Lu Qing exclaimed in surprise.

He had given Xiao Li her usual portion of fish, and it usually took her a while to finish eating.

Could her appetite have increased after absorbing the vital energy mist?

"Xiao Li, are you still hungry?"

"Meow~" Xiao Li nodded.

"Alright, I'll get you some more."

It seemed like her appetite had indeed increased.

Lu Qing got up and headed towards the kitchen.

When he arrived, he realized that there were only a few fish left in the tank, not enough to fill a bowl.

Due to his focus on cultivation and anticipation of Master Guanli's breakthrough, Lu Qing hadn't gone fishing in the past few days.

As a result, their stock of fish at home had dwindled significantly.

Lu Qing scooped up the remaining fish and brought them to Xiao Li.

"Xiao Li, this is all that's left. Will it be enough for you?"

Xiao Li looked at the few fish jumping in her bowl and then at Lu Qing, her large eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Stop, stop! I understand, I'll go fishing for you right now, no crying!" Lu Qing quickly assured her upon seeing her expression.

The glistening in Xiao Li's eyes gradually faded.

"Big brother, did Xiao Li eat all the fish?" Xiao Yan asked at that moment.

"Yeah, big brother hasn't had time to go fishing these past few days, so we've eaten all the fish at home," Lu Qing replied.

Hearing this, Xiao Li's eyes glistened with tears once more.

"Xiao Li, be a good girl. In a while, we can go fishing with big brother, and you can eat the freshest fish," Xiao Yan said, patting Xiao Li's back to comfort her.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Li immediately looked up at Lu Qing.

Lu Qing nodded, "Sure, we can go fishing together."

After all, Xiao Li had the invisibility talent, so there was no need to worry about being seen by others.

She had also joined them on their fishing trips a few times before.

Seeing Lu Qing's permission, the little black beast immediately became happy again, her tail standing tall and proud.

She loved going fishing with Lu Qing.

In her eyes, Lu Qing's ability to use a bamboo pole to catch the fish that she could only watch but never catch was both amazing and impressive.

Knowing that they would be going out soon, Xiao Yan quickly finished her meal.

She gobbled down her food and exclaimed, "Big brother, I'm full! Let's go fishing now!"

"Wait a moment, let me wash the bowls first," Lu Qing said, shaking his head. He gathered the bowls and chopsticks and took them to the kitchen to wash and put away.

Only then did he retrieve the fishing gear.

Fishing rod, basket, net, bait...

Once everything was prepared, the two little ones were already waiting patiently.

Xiao Yan had a small bamboo basket on her back.

It was made by an elderly villager skilled in bamboo weaving, as Xiao Yan often followed Lu Qing around, whether it was running errands or going fishing.

She needed her own basket to carry her small toys and other trinkets.

"Big brother, I'll help you carry some things," Xiao Yan said as she took the bamboo tube containing worms and hung it around her neck.

She then slung the net over her shoulder and marched forward, pointing ahead, "Let's go!"

She dashed out ahead of them.

Lu Qing found this amusing and locked the door before following after her.

As for Xiao Li, she had already entered her invisible state and jumped into Xiao Yan's basket.

With Xiao Yan's improved physical condition, the little extra weight was nothing to her.

In the village, Xiao Yan ran ahead while Lu Qing followed at a leisurely pace.

Some villagers saw them and immediately understood what they were up to.

"Ah Qing, you're going fishing again?" a villager asked.

"Yeah, just going to fish for a bit," Lu Qing nodded.

"I really don't understand why you like fishing so much. You catch so many fish, don't you get tired of eating them?" the villager expressed his confusion.

They often saw Lu Qing going fishing and always returning with a good haul.

If it were them, they would have gotten sick of eating fish every day.

Tasting it occasionally was fine, but how could anyone stand the fishy smell if they ate it daily?

"It's alright, this is my hobby, and I like eating fish. Master also enjoys having fried fish with his drinks," Lu Qing explained.

Chapter: A Surprising Catch

Lu Qing smiled and replied, "I can't very well tell them that we have a fish-loving, big eater at home, can I?"

"Fried in oil? That must taste amazing! No wonder Old Doctor Guan likes it so much!" the villagers exclaimed, their eyes widening in surprise.

The thought of frying the small fish in oil was something they dared not even imagine, as it would surely be incredibly fragrant.

However, oil was not cheap, and even if they knew the recipe, they wouldn't dare spend the money on it.

"It's pretty good. If you have time, feel free to come by and try some," Lu Qing invited.

"Haha, if I have the chance, I'll definitely take you up on that offer," the villagers eagerly replied.

After chatting with the villagers for a while, Lu Qing and Xiao Yan left and headed to the river outside the village.

The first place he went to was the mysterious fish spot.

This had become Lu Qing's habit.

Every time he went out fishing, he would always spend some time at this spot, hoping to catch another mysterious fish.

After all, he had promised Xiao Li that he would let it taste the deliciousness of the mysterious fish again.

Unfortunately, since catching those two golden loaches, he had not been able to catch another mysterious fish.

Previously, Lu Qing had marveled at the unexpectedly high number of mysterious fish in the small river outside the village.

Now, it seemed that it wasn't that the river had an abundance of mysterious fish, but rather that he had been in a 'newbie protection period' when he had first arrived in this world, allowing him to consecutively catch those fish.

Now that the protection period was over, he couldn't even catch a single scale of the mysterious fish, let alone the fish itself.

Lu Qing had considered searching for other sections of the river to find a new mysterious fish spot.

However, after exploring ten miles upstream and downstream, he had failed to discover another spot where mysterious fish appeared.

There were other beginner spots, but none of them indicated the presence of mysterious fish.

Eventually, Lu Qing concluded that the river outside the village probably only had that one mysterious fish spot.

As for the reason, it had to be the blood apricot trees on the shore of the fishing spot.

Those trees were the fundamental reason for the appearance of the mysterious fish.

However, Lu Qing had never been able to figure out the origin of the blood apricot trees.

He had once plucked a few blood apricots to show Master Guanli, but even the master didn't recognize the fruit. He only commented that it was a pretty good medicinal herb after testing its medicinal properties.

Even Master Guanli couldn't explain why the fruit attracted the mysterious fish.

Sitting by the fishing spot, Lu Qing skillfully attached two blood apricot fruits to the hook and cast his line into the water.

During this period, Lu Qing had upgraded his fishing rod once again.

Aside from the fishing line, which was still made of snow silk, he had replaced the rod and hook.

The hook, in particular, was specially customized by a master blacksmith in the city, and it had cost him a considerable sum.

He had spent ten taels of silver on ten hooks, making each hook worth one tael.

In terms of weight, each hook was even more expensive than an equal amount of gold.

When Ma Gu heard the price of the hooks, he was so shocked that he gave Lu Qing a strange look.

He never expected that Lu Qing would have such an extravagant hobby, spending so much money on just a few hooks.

Of course, Lu Qing didn't mind Ma Gu's reaction.

After all, he wasn't short on money these days. Not only did he have the silver he obtained from Kuaihuo Village, but Master Guanli also had a large amount of gold and silver that they didn't know what to do with.

Spending a bit of money on customized hooks was nothing to him.

Besides, you get what you pay for, and the quality of the hooks crafted by the master blacksmith was indeed exceptional.

They were almost as durable as his battle sword, and aside from fishing, they could even be used as exotic weapons.

After casting his line, Lu Qing patiently waited.

Xiao Li appeared and crouched next to him, intently staring at the float.

As for Xiao Yan, she had taken out her toys from the small basket on her back.

She knew that both Xiao Li and her brother would be completely absorbed in fishing and wouldn't have time to play with her, so she entertained herself.

Seeing Xiao Li's serious expression, Lu Qing couldn't help but find it amusing.

The little guy really had the potential to become a little fishing enthusiast. If only its claws were better at grasping things; then, he could make a small fishing rod for it.

Time passed, and the hook had been in the water for a while, but there was still no movement.

Lu Qing was used to this by now.

In fact, he even suspected that there were no more mysterious fish left in the river.

The only reason he still came to this spot was out of habit and a tiny bit of hope that he might get lucky again.

After a while longer, as the float remained still, Lu Qing prepared to reel in his line and move to another spot to fish for regular fish.

He had fished at this spot many times before, and the number of fish here had dwindled, so it was time to give it a rest.

Just as Lu Qing reached for his rod to reel it in, the float, which had been floating motionlessly on the surface, suddenly trembled and then quickly sank beneath the water.

"Nice! Another sneak attack!" Lu Qing exclaimed, instantly gripping the rod.

At the same time, Xiao Li's eyes widened in surprise.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end