35: In a coma, nourishing one's vital energy is paramount.

The couple worked together, one lifting the upper body and the other the legs, carefully carrying the unconscious, blood-covered Li Qinghe into the house and gently placing him on the kang bed.

"Dashan! Oh, Dashan! What do we do? Qinghe has lost so much blood!"

Looking at the still-bleeding wounds on her son, Madam Zhang trembled all over, her tears falling uncontrollably, her hands shaking so much she didn't know where to put them.

"Stop crying! Crying doesn't do a damn bit of good!"

Li Dashan let out a low growl, forcing himself to stay calm.

"Listen! You go right now and wake up Qinglin and Qingshan! Tell them, immediately! Wake up all the hired hands, light the torches, hitch the donkey cart, and head to town! Go to Jishi Hall! Even if they have to break down the door, they must bring the best doctor back for me! Go!"

"Okay, okay! I'm going right now!"

Madam Zhang was jolted awake by her husband's roar. Wiping away her tears, she stumbled out to bang on her sons' door next door.

Li Dashan leaned down, looking at his son's pale face and those terrifying wounds; his heart was bleeding.

He took a deep breath and roared at Li Qingshan and Li Qinglin, who had rushed in with their clothes in disarray:

"Stop dazing around, Qinghe is about to lose his life! Listen to your mother! Go to town! Ride the donkey! Use the fastest speed! Bring the doctor back!"

Li Qingshan and Li Qinglin were also stunned by their brother's tragic state. They only snapped out of it upon hearing their father's roar. Without even having time to dress properly, they threw on their coats and rushed out to call the men.

The courtyard was suddenly filled with the sounds of panicked voices and footsteps.

Li Dashan turned and spoke urgently to Madam Zhang, who was suppressing her tears while frantically trying to find cloth strips to stop their son's bleeding:

"Take your daughters-in-law and use cloth to stop Qinghe's bleeding! Wrap the wounds tight! I'm going to find Uncle Shouxin! He's an old hunter with experience; he'll definitely have emergency wound medicine at home!"

After saying that, he grabbed the massive tiger skin roll left under the porch, stuffed it haphazardly into a corner of the woodshed, and covered it with firewood.

Then, without looking back, he rushed out of the house and ran toward Li Shouxin's small courtyard at the west end of the village!

...Azure Profound Upper Sect, Military Dao Peak, single-person stone house.

Nearly two months had passed.

Sitting cross-legged on the stone bed, Li Qingfeng's aura was now completely different.

He was bare-chested, wearing only a pair of trousers.

His originally thin frame was now covered in a layer of sturdy, explosive muscle lines, looking like steel forged through a thousand refinements.

His skin had taken on a light wheat color, covered with small scratches and freshly scabbed wounds—proof of day after day of brutal training.

His hands, especially the fingers and thenar space used to grip the bow, were covered in thick calluses, and his knuckles were thick and powerful.

His gaze was as sharp as an eagle's, as if he could sweep over scenery kilometers away.

Within his Dantian, that initial thread-like Golden Spirit Qi had now been nurtured into a stream, rushing incessantly, carrying the characteristic sharpness and tenacity of metal as it washed through his slightly sluggish Meridians.

As the Spiritual Qi circulated, a faint sound of clanging metal seemed to resonate within his body.

Succeeding in nourishing Qi was only the first step.

After everyone was able to independently induce Qi, the true trial of Military Dao Peak had only just begun.

Every day before dawn, they were startled awake by the crack of Iron Yama's whip, followed by endless weighted running, climbing cliffs, striking iron posts, and practicing dull but lethal basic weapon Moves (stabbing, chopping, sweeping, upward slashing, parrying)... Every movement required power to flow through the entire body with absolute precision.

At the slightest slackness or deformation of movement, the cold shadow of a whip would strike the body without mercy.

Wang Tiezhu once received three solid whip strikes because his spear thrust was unstable, adding new injuries to his back.

Combat sparring was even more of a daily occurrence.

On the small martial arts field opened next to the stone house residential area, every day was filled with the clanging of weapons, muffled groans of injury, and Iron Yama's heartless shouting.

With his steady Heart-Nature and natural affinity for the bow and arrow, Li Qingfeng made rapid progress in combat.

His arrows were fast and tricky; several times during training in chaotic group battles, he helped his team kill opponents (using headless training arrows; being hit in a vital spot counted as elimination), earning Wang Tiezhu's immense admiration.

And the Foundation of all this was the Golden Halberd Spirit Induction Art.

Among this batch of new Disciples, Li Qingfeng was the fastest to succeed in inducing Qi, and his aura Foundation was the most stable.

During the first Qi Nurturing assessment for new Disciples, when he operated the mantra, the Golden Qi flowed smoothly around him, and the metallic sounds were clear and steady, far surpassing the others.

For the first time, Iron Yama's cold and heartless face showed an expression of 'passable' toward Li Qingfeng.

"I announce that the first place in this Qi Nurturing assessment is Li Qingfeng!"

Iron Yama's icy voice announced as he tossed over an exquisite white jade bottle.

Li Qingfeng was quick-eyed and steady-handed as he caught it.

The bottle felt slightly cool in his hand. He opened the stopper, and a rich, pure medicinal fragrance wafted out. Inside were ten longan-sized, perfectly round, pale-gold Medicinal Pills.

"Qi Accumulation Pills, Grade One Medicinal Pills. Take one before daily cultivation; it will help you increase your Spiritual Qi and shorten your Qi Nurturing time."

Iron Yama was brief and to the point.

Li Qingfeng gripped the jade bottle, his heart filled with joy.

This bottle of pills was the recognition he had earned with his sweat and strength, and even more, it was the boost to help him charge toward a higher Realm!

At this moment, Li Qingfeng slowly opened his eyes, feeling the surging Golden Spirit Qi within him.

The stream-like Spiritual Qi had already filled his Dantian and began to faintly impact that threshold representing the 'Spirit Enlightenment Realm First Layer: Qi Ming Pulse Gate'!

He could feel the existence of that barrier, hard and blurry.

The Golden Spirit Qi in his body was like a surging tide, impacting that dam time and time again. Although it hadn't broken through yet, every impact made the barrier tremble slightly, and the sense of stagnation in his body lessened by a fraction.

Soon! A sharp light flickered in Li Qingfeng's eyes.

The effect of the Qi Accumulation Pills was even better than he had anticipated.

He was confident that within these few days, he could mobilize the Golden Spirit Qi in his Dantian to break through the 'Qi Ming' pulse gate in one go and truly step into the Spirit Enlightenment Realm!

He stood up, walked to the wall, and picked up the metal bow that had accompanied him for two months.

As the cold bow frame met his hand, the Golden Spirit Qi in his body seemed to be drawn, naturally flowing to his arms and faintly resonating with the bow.

He gently brushed the bowstring, his gaze turning toward the small window of the stone house.

Outside the window were the steep and dangerous cliffs of Military Dao Peak, and further away, his hometown, hidden by the sea of clouds in an unknown direction.

Eldest Brother should be married by now, right?

The new house at home should also be finished, right?

I wonder how Father and Mother's health is?

Fourth Brother... is he still hunting?

Waves of homesickness passed through his steadfast heart, only to be replaced by an even stronger fighting spirit.

Become stronger! Only by becoming stronger can I protect all of this!

He gripped the bow in his hand, feeling that heavy responsibility and desire.

The Qi Ming Pulse Gate—I must succeed!