Martial Arts: My talent multiplier increased

Day 3 of the Secret Realm.

The terrain of the underground forest began to slope downwards. The surrounding trees grew thicker, their canopies intertwining so densely that not a breath of air could pass through. The cold light from the dome could only barely cut through a few gaps, casting mottled white spots on the ground.

Fang Yuan walked ahead. His double-strength soul perception network maintained a radius of twenty zhang. In the complex terrain of the dense forest, narrowing the perception range could improve the accuracy of capturing details.

Tie Meng followed half a step behind on the right. His right shoulder injury had recovered by about 70%, and the bloodstains on his iron arm guard had dried to a dark brown. He now walked much lighter, trying to step on the same spots where Fang Yuan had stepped.

The sound of water could be heard ahead.

It wasn't the gentle murmur of flowing water. It was the roar of a huge, heavy object crashing into the water, creating waves that pounded against the rocks.

Fang Yuan raised his right hand.

Tie Meng's steps froze on the spot. His breathing also slowed down.

Fang Yuan didn't rush to get closer. His doubled spiritual perception spread out in the direction from which the sound came, like ripples on water.

The water temperature is wrong.

According to the information transmitted back from the sensing network, the air temperature in the area ahead is dropping at an unreasonable rate. Water vapor is condensing in mid-air, turning into tiny ice crystals that fall downwards.

There was no violent fluctuation of clashing blood and qi. There was only an extremely pure, bone-chilling sense of oppression.

Fang Yuan made a hand gesture. The two of them lowered their bodies and, using the bushes as cover, silently made their way to a moss-covered rock.

The gaze extends beyond the edge of the rocks.

Below was a deep pool, several tens of feet in circumference. The water was black.

On the shallows in the middle of the pool, a monstrous beast the size of an ox was going berserk. Its body was covered in palm-sized black scales, and it had a single horn on its head. Each lunge created huge splashes on the water's surface.

Peak of the Bone Refining Realm.

The monster's blood energy was extremely volatile. In the outside world, it would take an entire elite mercenary squad to sacrifice themselves to hold it off.

But it's not hunting right now. It's struggling.

The target of the monster's attack was a woman in white.

She was slender. Her long white dress remained dry by the muddy pool. Her face was veiled by a thin layer of cold mist, revealing only a pair of clear, almost transparent eyes.

Lin Qingxue.

The Lin family's eldest daughter, whose cultivation level was suppressed, was at the entrance.

Fang Yuan adjusted his breathing to the most even frequency. He activated twice his comprehension and stared intently at the battle below.

This was not an evenly matched battle. It was a one-sided dismantling.

The massive body of the demonic beast slammed into her with immense force. Lin Qingxue didn't take the hit head-on, nor did she dodge significantly. Her feet glided lightly across the water's surface.

The water was frozen. Using the friction of the ice, she turned her body at an extremely tricky angle.

Just in time to let the monster's horn pass.

The left palm extends out.

There was no sound of wind breaking, no shockwave. A fair palm gently patted the scales on the side of the demon beast's neck.

"Click."

A very slight crackling sound.

A ring of pale blue frost exploded instantly on the black scales, centered on the point where the palm struck. The monster froze for a moment.

Just this half-breath.

Lin Qingxue's right palm struck the monster's forelimb joints, mid-spine, and hind leg knees in succession.

Each strike was accompanied by that pale blue frost.

Fang Yuan lay prone on the rock, his pupils slightly constricted.

Her movements were so clean. Not a single ounce of unnecessary force, not an inch of ineffective displacement. Every touch precisely severed the monster's muscle power chain.

His cultivation level was suppressed to the Bone Refining Realm by the secret realm. However, the level of his martial arts skills and the precision of his control over power were products of a completely different dimension.

Dimensionality reduction strike.

Less than twenty moves.

The monster's limbs and joints were completely corroded by frost. Its massive body lost its support and crashed onto the shallows. Before the black water could even splash, it was frozen into an ice sculpture.

Lin Qingxue walked to the head of the monster. She raised her hand and pressed her palm against the top of its skull.

The cold air penetrated straight into the brain.

The beast's heavy breathing abruptly ceased. Its life force was extinguished.

Clean and neat.

Tie Meng lay sprawled beside Fang Yuan, his Adam's apple bobbing violently. He had witnessed countless deaths in the underground arena, but he had never seen such a method of turning slaughter into art. That woman killed a peak-stage Bone Refining Realm demon beast more easily than he killed a chicken.

below.

Lin Qingxue crouched down. She lightly traced a line on the monster's skull with her right fingertip, and the hard skull cracked like tofu. She retrieved a dark blue beast core from within.

Fang Yuan's attention was not on the beast core.

He noticed two things.

First, Lin Qingxue's right hand, which was holding the beast core, trembled slightly the instant it left the monster's skull. It wasn't the kind of muscle fatigue from overexertion, but rather a loss of control over some internal physiological mechanism.

Secondly, when she stood up, the cold mist that had been obscuring her face dissipated by half an inch.

Fang Yuan could see the lower half of her face clearly.

The lips were extremely pale, almost bloodless. The skin was so white it had an unnatural bluish-gray tinge.

With twice the comprehension, he quickly cross-referenced these physical signs with the medical knowledge in the Martial Arts Hall's library.

Muscle trembling after exertion. Abnormal body surface temperature. Insufficient blood supply to the face.

This is not a depletion of true energy.

This is due to internal cold invading the body.

A kind of cold poison originating from deep within the bone marrow, or a congenital cold syndrome.

Fang Yuan scratched his finger on the rock.

A woman of extraordinary talent and power, with cultivation levels ridiculously high, would come to this low-to-mid-level secret realm and even suppress her cultivation level. It certainly wasn't for a few pieces of ore.

For the medicine.

Tie Meng leaned closer. His voice was extremely low, almost a whisper.

"Lin Qingxue. The eldest daughter of the Lin family of Qingyun County."

Fang Yuan did not turn around.

Tie Meng's expression was somewhat complicated. It was a look that mixed reverence and old grudges.

"The Lin family gave my family a sum of money to save our lives back then. I remember her father's kindness."

Tie Meng clenched his fist as he spoke. But he didn't move. He knew that if he jumped out now, he would most likely be mistaken for a treacherous enemy and frozen solid.

Fang Yuan quickly went through the sand table in his mind.

Should I go out and say hello?

The risk was extremely high. Lin Qingxue had just been in battle, and her cold illness was on the verge of flare-up; her vigilance was at its peak. Four large men suddenly jumped out from behind the rocks; their instinctive reaction was undoubtedly to attack.

Moreover, what value can we provide by going out now?

There was nothing there.

It's better to offer help in times of need than to add to someone's already good fortune. There's not even snow right now; going over there will only annoy people.

Fang Yuan decisively retreated.

"withdraw."

One word. No beating around the bush.

Tie Meng didn't hesitate. The two of them silently retreated down the rocky ridge they had come from. Fang Qi and Fang Zheng provided backup from a distance, and the four of them quickly escaped the pool's perception range.

They retreated two miles.

After confirming that it was safe, Fang Yuan stopped.

Tie Meng leaned against a thick tree trunk and finished what he hadn't said earlier.

"I heard that Miss Lin has health problems." Tie Meng recalled the rumors he had heard in the mercenary circle in his early years, "She needs special drugs to suppress her condition every once in a while. This time, she is probably not going into the Hundred Beast Cave for cultivation, but for a spiritual herb that only grows in a specific secret realm."

Fang Yuan's right hand unconsciously reached into his robe.

My fingertips touched the cold medicine bottle.

Yangyan Dan. An experimental product in the secret chamber of Baicaotang.

It possesses pure Yang properties. Originally, it was used to stimulate a burst of Qi and blood power in a short period of time.

But if you add the Crimson Flame Flower he picked in the cave yesterday...

Crimson Flame Flower is a high-level spiritual herb with extremely hot properties. Replace the Blazing Sun Grass in the original recipe with the fire poison of Crimson Flame Flower.

Purification. Temperature control.

The improved Yangyan Dan has enough pure Yang medicinal power to suppress extremely severe internal cold.

Fang Yuan's mind was racing with calculations.

A powerful and formidable young woman with a deep background.

A deadly cold disease that could erupt at any moment.

A top-quality medicine that is exactly what's needed.

This is not an ordinary transaction. This is called monopolistic investment.

As long as the medicine is delivered to Lin Qingxue at the moment when her cold illness fully manifests and she most needs life-saving treatment.

The benefits will be immeasurable. Not only can it acquire top-tier resources from the secret realm, but it can even establish connections with the Lin family in the county town.

Fang Yuan's fingers rubbed the surface of the medicine bottle.

But he did not immediately begin refining the medicine.

The time isn't right yet. And the medicine can't be given away for nothing.

Fang Yuan tucked the medicine bottle back into the deepest part of his body, placing it close to his underwear.

"Let's go." Fang Yuan looked towards the depths of the forest.

Tie Meng straightened up and followed.

The soles of their boots rustled softly on the thick layer of fallen leaves. Ahead lay the entrance to a canyon shrouded in dense fog. A faint, dark red glow peeked through the mist.