In the center of the modest stone room, a blood pool, about ten feet across, had been carved by hand!

The pool was filled with viscous, bubbling, scarlet blood. In its very center rested a fist-sized, grayish-white Stone Egg!

"Is this an altar or something?"

Su Yu took a step forward, approaching the edge of the blood pool. He glanced at an overturned wooden bucket nearby; its bottom was still stained with wet blood.

He crouched down, dabbed a bit of the blood from the bucket’s rim with his index finger, and brought it to his nose to sniff.

"It’s the blood of large livestock, like cattle and sheep. I suppose Ghost Mist Island hasn’t completely lost its conscience. That’s a slight improvement over the Water Snake Gang."

After confirming his surroundings were safe, Su Yu turned his attention back to the Stone Egg in the center of the blood pool.

With his keen perception, Su Yu could clearly sense the Qi and Blood energy from the livestock in the pool transforming into extremely faint wisps of red light, which were then slowly absorbed by the Stone Egg.

’Is it trying to hatch?’

Su Yu immediately understood what was happening. A sudden thought struck him, and he rummaged through his storage ring, pulling out a cowhide-bound journal.

It was the journal he had swiped from a hidden compartment while looting Qin Bashan’s two-story building earlier. He had only skimmed a few pages before, dismissing it as a boring log of the Water Bandits’ raids, and had tossed it into his ring without a second thought.

Now, Su Yu purposefully flipped to the latter half of the journal.

Just as he thought!

On the last few pages, he found an extremely detailed account of the blood pool and the Stone Egg.

’So that’s how it is...’

Su Yu’s eyes scanned the messy handwriting, reading ten lines at a glance, and the gleam in them grew brighter.

According to Qin Bashan’s journal, the batch of Stone Eggs had been accidentally discovered by one of the Ghost Mist Island’s Water Bandits while exploring an abandoned Ancient Cave Mansion in the Black Water River!

The Ancient Cave Mansion had clearly been looted clean by previous explorers, but half of a tattered ancient text and seven or eight Stone Eggs, sealed in dust for ages, had been left behind.

After the Water Bandits of Ghost Mist Island salvaged the Stone Eggs, they violently smashed a few to see what was inside. They discovered that most of them had long since dried up, their insides turning to lifeless ash. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Only four of the remaining eggs showed faint signs of life!

The bandits tossed one of them into a pot and boiled it, hoping to eat it as some great tonic, but it had no miraculous effects.

With the last three, Qin Bashan followed the fragmented ancient method recorded in the half-scroll to build this blood pool on the island. He attempted to use vast quantities of livestock blood, soaking them day and night, to forcibly hatch them.

Unfortunately, the hatching method seemed to be severely incomplete. To this day, the Stone Eggs have shown no signs of cracking open.

’Looks like my egg came from the same batch.’

Su Yu took his own Stone Egg from his storage ring. It was much smaller than the one in the blood pool. If his was a chicken egg, the one before him was a goose egg.

THUMP... THUMP...

The instant Su Yu brought his Stone Egg near the blood pool!

He instantly sensed a faint throb coming from within the Stone Egg in his hand, which had been silent for so long!

’Is it because it’s close to this dense Qi and Blood energy?’

A glint flashed in Su Yu’s eyes. Without hesitation, he crouched and slowly submerged his Stone Egg into the scarlet blood pool.

The moment it touched the blood, the Stone Egg began to absorb the energy within like a whirlpool.

’How is it that my smaller Stone Egg has a stronger life force?’

Su Yu was curious and tried to recall why that might be.

Perhaps it was because Yang Zhen had once nourished it with Wood Spirit Qi; after all, Wood Spirit Qi was an extremely pure form of energy.

While the Stone Egg was absorbing the energy from the blood, Su Yu summoned his panel to check his Martial Arts progress.

[Martial Arts]: Mountain-Shaking Demon Ape Fist (Minor Achievement 6920/7000)

[Martial Arts]: Spiritual Ape Demon-Slaying Saber (First Layer) (Major Achievement 8800/10000)

[Martial Arts]: Black Stone Body Forging Skill (First Layer) (Major Achievement 9900/12000)

[Martial Arts]: Vajra Fearless True Sound (entry-level 985/1000)

[Martial Arts]: Bibo Fish Dragon Skill (First Layer) (Major Achievement 1800/3000)

[Breakthrough Point]: 0 (Progress 61%)

’Just as I thought, the fight with Qin Bashan and his men raised the Skill Level of my Mountain-Shaking Demon Ape Fist by a lot. I only need 80 more points to reach Major Achievement!’

’My other Cultivation Techniques are also nearing their breakthrough points!’

Su Yu closed the panel, satisfied. ’This trip to Ghost Mist Island has been a real stroke of luck. Not only have I made a fortune, but my Martial Arts strength is about to see another huge leap!’

The stone room was too cramped to practice the wide, sweeping movements of the Mountain-Shaking Demon Ape Fist. So, Su Yu simply sat down cross-legged and began to focus on honing his Vajra Fearless True Sound.

As he was cultivating, Qin Yu, having finished her tasks, found Su Yu in the black stone room.

"Senior Brother Su, what is this?"

The moment Qin Yu stepped through the stone door, her attention was captured by the churning blood pool and the two Stone Eggs within it, her eyes filling with confusion.

Su Yu briefly explained what he had read in the journal. Qin Yu grew even more curious and leaned over the edge of the blood pool to examine the two Stone Eggs, but after staring for a long time, she couldn’t see anything remarkable about them.

"The blood in the pool is almost completely absorbed. Let’s just wait a little longer," Su Yu said, keenly aware that the pool’s color was gradually fading.

"Okay, I’ll do as you say, Senior Brother." Qin Yu nodded and stepped aside to wait quietly.

Not wanting to waste time, Su Yu closed his eyes and resumed his training of the Vajra Fearless True Sound.

His chest swelled like a bellows, drawing the surrounding air and the remaining Qi and Blood into his lungs, before violently compressing and vibrating it.

"Hah!"

A deep, explosive shout, like muffled thunder, boomed through the narrow stone room.

The terrifying sound wave sent violent ripples across the blood pool, and even the two Stone Eggs at the bottom trembled slightly.

[Vajra Fearless True Sound Skill Level +2]

Standing to the side, Qin Yu’s eyes widened in astonishment.

’A sound-based technique?’

’Senior Brother Su is cultivating even an obscure and rare Martial Art like this?’

’Just how terrifying is his comprehension!’

She had once heard her father mention that strange Martial Arts like these sound-based techniques were extremely difficult to master. Not only did they require incredibly strong internal organs, but the required aptitude for a Martial Artist’s control over their Qi and Blood was absurdly high.

Yet looking at Senior Brother Su, who made it look so effortless, he had not only mastered the entry-level but seemed to be on the verge of reaching the Minor Success Realm...

Qin Yu took a deep breath, suppressing her shock. A sense of proud acceptance washed over her face.

If it were anyone else, she would have found it unbelievable. But since it was Senior Brother Su, everything seemed to make perfect sense.

Back when his innate talent was abysmal, he had relied on his monstrous comprehension to leave countless geniuses in the dust. Now that his physical foundation had been completely reborn, it was only natural for him to soar to new heights with that same level of comprehension!

...

[Vajra Fearless True Sound Skill Level +2]

[Vajra Fearless True Sound has broken through to the Minor Success Realm]

[Martial Arts]: Vajra Fearless True Sound (Minor Achievement 1/1500)

’A breakthrough!’

The next instant, Su Yu’s eyes snapped open. A profound, grand, and solemn Zen-like enlightenment washed over him like a spiritual baptism.

"A Bodhisattva lowers his brow, showing compassion to the six realms; a Vajra glares with fury, thus subjugating the four demons..."

At that moment, he not only achieved a qualitative leap in the art’s Qi and Blood vibration techniques but also gained a profound, intuitive understanding of the Buddhist principles embedded in its core tenets.

It was a moment of pure inspiration.

Su Yu didn’t need to consciously gather his power. He simply opened his mouth and naturally uttered an ancient, obscure Sanskrit syllable.

"Wàn!"

In an instant, a sound like a great temple bell boomed through the narrow stone room!

The sound contained not only a domineering sonic force but also a spiritual pressure, imbued with Buddhist might, that made one’s very soul tremble.

"Ngh..."

Caught off guard at such close range, Qin Yu felt a sharp pain in her eardrums. The normally stable flow of Qi and Blood from her Flesh Refining Realm instantly reversed for a moment under the resonance of the Sanskrit syllable!

A powerful wave of vertigo slammed into her mind. Qin Yu’s face turned deathly pale, her body went limp, and she stumbled, nearly falling beside the blood pool.

Su Yu instantly noticed her distress. He moved in a flash, appearing at her side, his strong arm wrapping securely around her waist to steady her.

"Junior Sister Qin, are you alright? I just had a breakthrough in my Martial Arts, and some of the power leaked out. I couldn’t control it properly."

Leaning against Su Yu’s chest, Qin Yu took a few gasping breaths, forcibly circulating her Qi and Blood to calm the turmoil within. Only then did she regain her footing, her heart still pounding with fear.

"I’m alright, Senior Brother Su." She looked up, her eyes filled with unconcealed shock. "That Martial Art of yours is terrifying! I wasn’t even in the direct path of the sound wave, but I felt my Qi and Blood reverse, and my spirit felt like it was struck by a sledgehammer."

Su Yu nodded and analyzed calmly, "This is likely your first encounter with a sound-based technique that includes a Spiritual Attack. Plus, I caught you completely off guard, which is why the effect was so significant. If you were prepared for it in a real fight and used your Qi and Blood to protect your heart meridian, you probably wouldn’t be affected so easily."

"What you say makes sense, Senior Brother," Qin Yu added. "However, in a battle between masters, the line between life and death is razor-thin. If you were to suddenly unleash this sound-based technique in the heat of battle, even if it only stunned your enemy’s spirit for half a breath or made their Qi and Blood stagnate for an instant, it would be a fatal trump card, enough to turn the tables in a second!"

"That’s true. Junior Sister, circulate your Qi and Blood with all your might. Let’s try it again." Su Yu also wanted to test its limits in a combat-like scenario.

"Alright, Senior Brother, I’m ready!"

Qin Yu’s expression turned serious. She immediately circulated the Qi and Blood of her early-stage Flesh Refining Realm to its absolute limit.

Su Yu took a deep breath, his chest swelling.

"Wàn!"

The Sanskrit syllable rang out again!

The invisible sound wave, like a physical blast of air, surged toward Qin Yu once more.

Qin Yu was prepared this time, circulating her Qi and Blood to resist it.

VMMMM—

But Qin Yu’s body still stiffened uncontrollably! Her clear eyes once again glazed over in a brief, vacant daze.

Though she recovered in an instant, for an expert like Su Yu, whose speed was unparalleled, it was more than enough time.

CRACK!

Just as the two of them were testing the power of the sonic attack.

A sharp, clear sound, like shattering crystal, suddenly echoed from the nearby blood pool.

Su Yu and Qin Yu whipped their heads around to look.

In the center of the blood pool, the Stone Egg that Su Yu had placed there—apparently impacted by the powerful resonance of the Sanskrit syllable—

had a crack snap across its previously indestructible, grayish-white shell!