A Blood-Moving Realm has arrived in the world of The Return of the Condor Heroes.

The two men crouched down and began processing the tiger bones. Apart from their conversation, the forest was utterly silent.

Before long, the whole tiger was cleaned up. The tiger meat, tiger bones, and tiger tendons were sorted and put away, and the tiger blood was carefully put into the skin bag. These were all rare and nutritious ingredients.

Zhang Huai carefully wrapped the tiger penis and stuffed it into his personal pouch, secretly thinking that this tiger penis was very nourishing and he would soak it in wine to drink later.

The tiger hunt was just a side story; the two quickly packed up their belongings, shouldered their bundles, and continued searching for medicinal herbs in the mountains.

As evening approached, the sun began to set, its afterglow painting the sky a warm red, casting dappled light and shadow through the woods.

The two finally found all the herbs they needed, and their bundle was stuffed full, with the aroma of herbs mixed with the scent of plants surrounding them.

In front of the cave.

"Senior, we're back!"

Zhang Huai called out to the sleeping old man, his voice echoing softly in front of the empty cave.

The old man groggily opened his eyes, a flash of anger in them. He said irritably, "Why are you shouting so loudly? Can't you see I'm sleeping? You've disturbed my peaceful slumber; you'll regret it!"

"Oh dear, please forgive us, senior. We were just anxious." Yang Guo quickly stepped forward, his tone respectful yet earnest. "We've already gathered the herbs. We'll need your guidance on how to process them and prepare the medicinal bath."

With just a few words, Yang Guo quelled the old man's morning grumpiness.

Although the old man still had a stern face, he relented and said with some surprise, "So fast? Let me see it."

Upon hearing the old man's words, Zhang Huai immediately untied his bundle and poured all the herbs he had found onto the bluestone slab in front of the cave.

Safflower, angelica, mugwort, he shou wu, ling zhi... dozens of herbs are laid out, with plump roots and tender leaves, and a rich medicinal aroma.

The old man squatted down, examining the herbs on the ground one by one, and said, "Safflower, angelica, mugwort, hmm, not bad. Huh? This is... tiger bone?" He picked up a piece of tiger bone that was glistening with oil, his eyes gleaming slightly.

Upon hearing the old man's question, Zhang Huai immediately replied, "Yes, senior. Brother Yang and I encountered it by chance while gathering herbs. We were originally going to let it live, but it dared to bare its teeth at me, so how could I tolerate that? I knocked it out with three punches."

As he spoke with great enthusiasm, he inadvertently used his old speaking habits, his tone carrying a hint of youthful pride.

"Ke'ou? What does that mean?" The old man put down the tiger bone and asked with some confusion.

"That's our local dialect, it means to defeat." Zhang Huai scratched his head, getting carried away and inadvertently using his old speaking habits, his tone carrying a hint of youthful pride.

"Kuo, that sounds quite catchy." The old man nodded knowingly, smacked his lips, and said, "Tsk tsk tsk, you're quite lucky. There aren't many tigers left on Zhongnan Mountain. Over the past few decades, countless have been killed and used to make medicine or soak in alcohol, especially one this big. I haven't seen one in a long time."

Tiger bone is used in medicine; combined with these herbs, the medicinal bath's effects will definitely be multiplied, which is quite a bargain for you.

"We were so lucky, so lucky! It was all thanks to your guidance, senior, that we were able to find these medicinal herbs." Zhang Huai quickly cupped his hands in greeting, then pressed on, "So, what's next, senior?"

"You're so stupid! What can we do? Boil some water! It's a medicinal bath, which is to boil medicinal herbs in water and soak in it, allowing the medicinal properties to penetrate the body and cleanse the meridians and marrow." The old man's tone was somewhat impatient.

"Oh, oh." Zhang Huai nodded quickly. He naturally knew it meant taking a bath, but he didn't expect the old man to describe it so simply and bluntly.

But the problem is, what can he do now that he doesn't have a pot?

He squatted there and thought for a moment, then his gaze suddenly fell on a huge rock not far away that was taller than a person, and his eyes lit up.

Zhang Huai quickly ran over, circled the rock, gripped the bottom with both hands, took a deep breath, and with his muscles slightly tensed, he slowly lifted the boulder, which weighed several thousand kilograms.

He moved steadily to the front of the cave, gently placed the stone down, and the ground still trembled with a dull sound.

Zhang Huai clapped his hands, dusted them off, and turned to Yang Guo: "Brother Yang, I want to use this to make a bath. Your swordsmanship is superb, could you help me carve a hole in the top of this stone? It needs to be big enough for one person to sit down, and at least half a zhang deep."

Yang Guo glanced at the incredibly hard boulder, then touched its surface, feeling the cold, hard texture on his fingertips.

Yang Guo pointed to himself: Me?

But seeing Zhang Huai's expectant eyes, he still gritted his teeth and agreed, "I'll give it a try."

Having said that, he picked up his weapon, leaped onto the boulder, channeled his inner strength, and concentrated all his power into the tip of his sword.

After a series of ingenious actions, Yang Guo stopped, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and panted heavily.

Zhang Huai thought everything was fine and excitedly climbed up to take a look, but there was only a shallow pit the size of a bowl on the stone surface, which could not even be called a hole.

The two stared at each other, speechless for a moment, creating a rather awkward scene.

"This...this stone is too hard." Yang Guo smiled wryly and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Brother Zhang, I've tried my best, but I'm afraid it's impossible to chisel it open."

Master Lü, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it any longer and impatiently waved his hand at the two of them, saying, "Get down here, both of you. You can't even handle this little problem. You're really useless."

The two climbed down from the boulder. The old man walked to Yang Guo's side, and without saying a word, snatched the sword from his hand.

Then, with a light leap, it landed on the boulder like a wild crane.

The old man's inner energy surged forth, a pale blue aura swirling around him like a thin mist. The two standing below could vaguely see the faint shadows of the flowing inner energy—a sign that his inner energy had reached its peak and was about to solidify.

The old man's iron sword trembled slightly, and a pale blue sword aura emanated from the tip of the sword, silently seeping into the stone surface.

The stone surface appears to be completely still, but if you listen carefully, you can hear a faint "rustling" sound coming from inside the stone.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

The old man leaped down from the boulder, tossed the sword back to Yang Guo, and said calmly, "That's enough."

The two quickly climbed up and saw that there was a deep, round hole in the middle of the rock, big enough for one person to sit cross-legged.

The cave walls were as smooth as a mirror, with neat edges and no cracks. The depth was exactly half a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters), as if it had always existed there.

Yang Guo and Zhang Huai were amazed by the old man's profound inner strength.

It wasn't that Zhang Huai couldn't handle the stone, but rather that he lacked the strength to achieve such precise control. With a single strike, the entire boulder would shatter into pieces.

Immediately afterwards, the two of them got busy again.

Yang Guo gathered dry firewood from the surrounding area, piled it in a circle, and the campfire blazed brightly, slowly heating the boulder.

Zhang Huai ran to the distant mountain stream and carried bucket after bucket of spring water into the bath.

Soon, the water in the stone pool was heated to a boil.

Zhang Huai dared not delay and hurriedly added the prepared herbs one by one in order:

First, add warm herbs such as safflower and mugwort, then add nourishing herbs such as angelica and he shou wu, and finally evenly sprinkle tiger bone, which has been ground into fine powder, into the pool.

As the herbs were added, the boiling water churned even more violently, and the rich aroma of the herbs mixed with the faint fishy smell of tiger bones was invigorating.

Zhang Huai stayed by the stone pool, constantly stirring with a wooden stick to ensure that the herbs and tiger bone powder were fully dissolved and that the medicinal effects were evenly distributed.

After about an hour, the water temperature gradually dropped to a suitable level, and the aroma of the medicine became mellow and mild.

Zhang Huai immediately stripped off his clothes and jumped into the stone pool.

Feeling the warmth of the medicinal soup, which exuded a faint herbal aroma, he felt every pore on his body open up.

The medicinal liquid inside the wooden barrel was a pale gold color, with safflower, angelica, and other medicinal herbs floating quietly on top, emitting a pure and mellow aroma.

Zhang Huai sat cross-legged in the stone pool with his eyes closed, only his shoulders exposed. Warmth slowly seeped into his body, as if his muscles and bones were being caressed by a spring breeze and warm sunshine.

At first, I felt very comfortable. But after a while, as the medicine penetrated deep into my bone marrow, I felt a mix of numbness, itching and pain, as if countless tiny insects were crawling and gnawing in my meridians.

Zhang Huai circulated his qi and blood, focused his mind, and guided the medicinal power to cleanse his entire body.

Black impurities, like ink, seeped from the pores and sank to the bottom of the pool, gradually making the medicinal liquid cloudy.

His face was sometimes flushed, sometimes pale, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, but he remained as still as a mountain.

As the water temperature slowly decreased, the originally pale golden medicinal soup was stained black by impurities.

After the effects of the medicine had completely worn off, Zhang Huai slowly opened his eyes. His breathing was long and deep, his skin was firm, and he felt as light as a swallow with every movement. His muscles and bones were filled with unprecedented agility and strength.

Zhang Huai stretched his arms briefly, and the soreness he used to feel after exerting himself was completely gone. He could feel that he could exert at least half a percent more of his strength.

Although half a percent of his power may not seem like much, Zhang Huai could only unleash half a percent of the power at the limit of the Blood Refining Realm before. Now that he can unleash 10 percent, it means that his power has doubled.

That's one-tenth of the power of the Blood Removal Realm's peak stage—ten thousand eight hundred jin!

Zhang Huai was overjoyed. He was now absolutely confident that even if the Five Great Masters of the World came in person, as long as he could touch the opponent and not let the opponent deflect his force, he would surely die after taking one punch!

This power is enough to shake the vast majority of masters in the world.

Yang Guo had been watching over Zhang Huai for a long time. When Zhang Huai opened his eyes, he asked expectantly, "Brother Zhang, how are you feeling? How was the medicinal bath?"

Zhang Huai simply smiled faintly, a hint of confidence flashing in his eyes, and said in a steady tone, "Better than ever before!"

"Stop showing off." The old man walked over unnoticed, arms crossed, and scolded irritably, "Hurry up and put your clothes on. The little thing is so small, aren't you ashamed?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Huai looked down and realized he was still naked. He immediately blushed and quickly grabbed some clothes from the side and put them on.

Zhang Huai: Senior, are you being polite?