17: Wenyuan Powder

Back at their lodging, Lin Mo first arranged for the shaken youth to wash up and rest, giving him clean clothes and preparing food for him.

The youth claimed his surname was Fang, with the single given name Han.

He came from a small place in the north called Hanshan Village. His hometown had suffered a disaster, and his parents had both died. He had fled with a family heirloom short sword, eventually making his way to Qinglan City.

Having run out of travel money, he had no choice but to try and sell his ancestral item, only to nearly have it stolen by the Black Wolf Gang.

Lin Mo asked a few questions about the geography and local customs of Hanshan Village; Fang Han's descriptions indeed bordered the area where Qingyuan Town was located, and his accent matched as well.

This youth had a simple mind and a straightforward history; he didn't seem to be faking.

After reassuring Fang Han, Lin Mo finally took a careful look at tonight's gains.

The newly Acquired leather fragment, when compared with the beast-skin parchment, had a very high similarity in material and scent, and the style of the markings was also close. However, there was too little information; it could only serve as supporting evidence and couldn't provide more clues for deciphering yet.

The focus was on that rusted sword.

Lin Mo gripped the hilt again, concentrating his senses.

The sense of Qi within his Dantian once again produced that faint resonance, as if a weak aura—either from the same source as his Qi or very similar—was hidden inside the rusted sword.

He tried to guide a wisp of Qi, injecting it into the hilt with extreme caution.

Buzz... a nearly inaudible hum came from within the rusted sword!

On the thick, seemingly natural rust on the blade, a few tiny spots seemed to flash with a dim, almost imperceptible glimmer for an extremely brief moment!

Had Lin Mo's eyesight not far exceeded that of ordinary people and had he not been fully focused, it would have been impossible to notice.

At the same time, the wisp of Qi he injected did not dissipate but was absorbed by the blade. Although it was only a tiny amount, the sensation of it being absorbed was exceptionally clear.

And the sense of resonance within the blade seemed to strengthen slightly as a result.

"This sword... can absorb and store Qi? And even resonate?" Lin Mo was shocked.

This was definitely no ordinary weapon! It might not even be a simple martial arts weapon! Those rust stains... were likely a form of disguise!?

"Wu, what do you think?" Lin Mo handed the sword to Wu.

Wu took it and carefully stroked the blade, especially the spine and the most heavily corroded areas. He then tapped it lightly with his knuckles, tilting his head to listen.

After a long while, he said in a low voice, "Master, the material of this sword is by no means ordinary steel. It feels very dense to me, and it has a kind of vitality.

These rust stains are unevenly distributed. The rust layer is particularly thick on the spine and at several key nodes, making it look more like it was applied later rather than naturally formed.

I suspect that the rust itself might be some kind of special coating or sealing layer used to hide the sword's original appearance and characteristics."

Lin Mo nodded; this coincided with his own guess.

A sword with a special material that could absorb energy and resonate was of inestimable value.

Fang Han's ancestors were likely not simple, but after so much time, the Legacy had been severed, and his descendants merely treated it as an ordinary old item.

"Try to study it and see if you can clean off part of the rust without damaging the blade, or find out the composition of this rust layer and how to remove it. Be extremely careful."

Lin Mo handed the sword to Wu and gave solemn instructions.

"Yes, your subordinate will do his utmost." Wu took it solemnly, his eyes flashing with the excitement of facing a challenge.

After dealing with these matters, Lin Mo asked Er and San about their other observations of the Ghost Market.

He confirmed that there were no signs of the Black Wolf Gang immediately launching a large-scale pursuit or retaliation, but this matter likely wouldn't end easily.

"As for the Black Wolf Gang, have the intelligence network team focus on monitoring them. Find out their sphere of influence, their leader, and their backers. For now, we will wait and see."

Lin Mo commanded. He didn't want a full-scale conflict with the local thugs too early, but if they didn't know their place, he wouldn't mind pulling out this thorn.

"As for that Fang Han, settle him in the courtyard for now and observe him for a while. If his Heart-Nature is reliable, perhaps we can train him."

Lin Mo had some favorable feelings toward Fang Han's status as a fellow townsman and his simple character; moreover, having saved him, it could be considered fate.

Having an extra hand who was well-known and had potential was not a bad thing.

In the following days, Lin Mo's life became more compact and disciplined.

He Cultivate daily without ceasing, and his sense of Qi grew steadily with the help of the remnant moves from the beast-skin parchment and the medicinal power of the three yang grass.

It had already condensed into a clear and stable stream of Qi, circulating repeatedly through simple Meridians paths, nourishing his body, enhancing his five senses, and making his control over power increasingly refined.

The Death Warriors' cultivation feedback continued unabated. Although the individual feedback was small, it added up over time, and the effect was significant.

Wu made preliminary progress in his research on the rusted sword.

Through extremely careful scraping and medicinal liquid testing, he discovered that the composition of the rust was complex.

It contained various metal oxides and unknown mineral particles, had extremely strong adhesion, and seemed to have a weak insulating and absorbing effect on energy.

Using several special acidic medicinal liquids combined with light heating, he successfully cleared a grain-sized piece of the rust layer in an inconspicuous spot on the crossguard.

It revealed the strange metal body beneath, which was as dark as the night sky yet faintly flowed with a wisp of eerie light!

The texture and luster of that metal were completely beyond Wu's knowledge.

He didn't dare to try again easily for fear of damaging the sword body, so he instead began to record various test data and phenomena in detail.

Lu, on the other hand, successfully used three yang grass along with other supplementary medicines to formulate a wen yuan powder with mild medicinal effects, suitable for the Death Warriors' current Physique.

Taking a small amount before daily cultivation could significantly speed up the condensation and circulation of Qi without side effects.

After Lin Mo took it himself, the effect was even better.

After settling into the lodging, Fang Han was initially a bit reserved and timid.

But seeing that Lin Mo and the others, though men of few words, did not mistreat him and instead gave him food and clothing and let him do some chores within his capability, he gradually felt at ease.

Occasionally, he would curiously watch the Death Warriors training, his eyes revealing envy.

After observing for a few days and seeing that he was diligent, simple-minded, and grateful, Lin Mo had Si allow him to watch from the side during training and occasionally point out some of the most basic body-strengthening movements and breathing techniques to him.

Fang Han studied extremely seriously, and his progress was actually quite good, showing decent latent talent and Heart-Nature.

Research on the beast-skin parchment also made Breakthrough progress under the continuous learning and feedback of insights from the Death Warriors.

Combining a large amount of scattered information, Lin Mo finally deciphered the meaning of a relatively complete small section of diagrams and symbols at the beginning of the beast-skin parchment.

What was described was not a simple transference of Qi and blood, but a basic technique called Aperture Condensation!

It aimed to condense, compress, and store the dissipated essence of Qi and blood into several specific hidden acupoints outside the Dantian through specific breathing rhythms, body postures, and mental guidance!

According to the description, successfully condensing the first hidden aperture could significantly increase the capacity of Qi and blood and the quality of the sense of Qi, making the Inner Breath more condensed and pure, laying a solid foundation for subsequent Breakthrough that far exceeded ordinary methods!

This Aperture Condensation Method was clearly countless times more sophisticated than the simple circulation in a brief discussion on qi and blood transference!

Although the beast-skin parchment only recorded the method for condensing the first hidden aperture, the Qi Sea Acupoint, and the subsequent content was incomplete, the value of just this introductory part was already inestimable!

Without hesitation, Lin Mo immediately began to try according to the deciphered method.

With his current fine control over the sense of Qi and his powerful Mental Energy, supplemented by the three yang grass medicinal powder, it took only three days for him to successfully compress and condense a portion of his Qi.

At the location of the Qi Sea Acupoint, a tiny but stable vortex was formed!

Once the vortex was formed, he immediately felt that although the total amount of Qi within his Dantian had temporarily decreased, its purity had more than doubled!

It circulated more smoothly and powerfully, and its nurturing effect on the body was also significantly enhanced!

More importantly, the vortex at the Qi Sea Acupoint was like an extra battery, capable of storing more and purer Inner Breath!

He immediately taught the first layer of the Aperture Condensation Method to Si and the other Death Warriors who had already developed a stable sense of Qi.

The Death Warriors had superb execution; although their progress was slower than his, they also began to attempt condensation one after another.

Once successful, the quality of the Inner Breath fed back to him would also improve accordingly!

Their strength was growing solidly at an unprecedented rate.