"Lin Tou, this is what I should do."
Lao Zhou said respectfully to Lin Sheng.
As an old man who had been through many hardships in the martial world for years, he was very clear about his current identity.
He had originally planned to leave Yangping Town and seek refuge with his relatives in the more distant Hongfeng County to make a living.
Although he highly approved of Lin Sheng's performance in Yangping Mountain, he did not think that a Martial Artist who had just stepped into the Body Tempering Realm could have much of a future, at least not in the short term, especially with the Zhenshan Tower being such a behemoth.
Having defected from it, he naturally had to hide far away, otherwise, there would be no good outcome if he was caught.
Moreover, he was also very clear about Lin Sheng's background; he was nothing more than someone from an ordinary family in Lin'an County.
Even if he had decent talent, he needed to grow up to have a future.
After all, he was not as young as Xiao Shi, who blindly worshipped Lin Sheng; even if Lin Sheng had shown him kindness, he still had to plan for his own future.
However, upon seeing that Lin Sheng could actually block Meng Yu, who was at the Forging Tendons Late Stage, and even mobilize five experts at the Forging Tendons Early Stage to escort them away, he was astonished.
This was clearly not something a Body Tempering Martial Artist could do.
Furthermore, he casually spent hundreds or thousands of taels of silver, a huge sum.
It was clear that his captain was definitely not as simple as he seemed.
This also changed his original idea, and he decided to stay by Lin Sheng's side.
After all, what Lin Sheng displayed was worth him taking a gamble, so his attitude towards Lin Sheng was more respectful than before.
"How is Xiao Shi doing?"
Lin Sheng nodded with satisfaction at Lao Zhou's attitude and asked again.
"Xiao Shi should be back soon too."
As Lao Zhou was speaking, hurried footsteps were already heard outside the courtyard, and it was indeed Xiao Shi jogging in with several packages on his back.
"Brother Lin, I bought the things you asked me to buy."
As soon as Xiao Shi entered the door, he put down the packages on his back and said breathlessly.
"Very good."
Looking at the packages on the ground, a smile appeared on Lin Sheng's face.
For the rest of the time, he was not in a hurry to cultivate, but instead gave some pointers to Xiao Shi and Lao Zhou on their martial arts cultivation.
Both of them cultivated the Raging Bull Fist, a martial art he had long since mastered, and he could be said to have quite a bit of insight into it.
"The Raging Bull Fist emphasizes strength; it uses strength to overwhelm others. Keep your legs bent lower, regulate your breathing, don't let it get chaotic, maintain this posture..."
In the courtyard, Xiao Shi and Lao Zhou assumed their stances, and Lin Sheng immediately saw their flaws.
Lao Zhou was slightly better, having cultivated for many years, but Xiao Shi was much worse, basically a complete mess.
Lin Sheng frowned, corrected their movements, and adjusted the most suitable stances for them based on their physical conditions; with his current insight, he could naturally do this easily.
Soon, both of them turned red in the face, their legs trembling uncontrollably, clearly unable to hold on; Lin Sheng ignored Xiao Shi and went to Lao Zhou.
He could see that Lao Zhou was basically on the verge of successfully stepping into the Body Tempering Realm; strictly speaking, he was only one step away.
"Hold on, keep your breathing steady, try to circulate the Qi and blood in your body."
Lin Sheng's voice rang out, and Lao Zhou endured his aching legs, which were about to lose sensation, and did as Lin Sheng said.
However, no matter how he tried to circulate his Qi and blood, the response was quite sluggish, always just a little bit short.
At this moment, his forehead was covered in sweat, and his clothes were already soaked.
"Break!"
A sudden roar sounded beside his ear, clearing his somewhat muddled mind; then, a strong hand gently patted his back.
Lao Zhou felt his whole body tighten, and the Qi and blood in his body surged, actually being completely circulated by him.
The feeling of exhaustion on his body immediately dissipated greatly, and he collapsed to the ground, a little dazed, but soon a look of surprise appeared on his face.
"I... I broke through!!"
His face was filled with joy; his talent was originally average, and he started martial arts late, which was why he had never stepped into Body Tempering.
Now that he had finally succeeded, how could he not be excited?
However, he quickly reacted and bowed respectfully to Lin Sheng, even changing his original address.
"Thank you, Lin... Master, thank you, Master."
He understood that without Lin Sheng's assistance just now, he would definitely not have been able to break through.
"Alright, the Body Tempering Realm provides a considerable boost to oneself. Go and adapt to it properly."
Lin Sheng nodded slightly; in fact, even if he hadn't intervened, with Lao Zhou's cultivation progress, he would have been able to succeed at the latest in another month or two.
His gaze fell on Xiao Shi, who was standing nearby with a look of anticipation, and he smiled slightly.
"You shouldn't think about it for now, but if you cultivate diligently according to the corrected stance I just gave you, with good luck, you can try to break through before long."
"I will definitely cultivate hard."
Hearing this, Xiao Shi's somewhat disappointed heart immediately burst with hope and determination.
Watching the two figures leave, Lin Sheng also turned around and returned to the quiet room.
The reason he guided the two in cultivation was not on a whim; it was because their cultivation was really a bit low, and it was time to improve it somewhat, making it easier to use them.
It also served as giving the two some benefits.
In the quiet room, he opened the packages Xiao Shi had brought, revealing the blood bags inside.
"As expected of Tongzhi County Town, which is much more prosperous than Lin'an; even without the Innate conditions of Yangping Mountain, they were able to procure so much high-grade ordinary beast blood at once."
Looking at the more than a hundred jin of high-grade ordinary beast blood, a smile appeared on Lin Sheng's face.
Such a large amount of high-grade ordinary beast blood was only the stock of one of the pharmacies on the three main streets in the County Town.
"However, the price is also two-tenths higher than in Yangping Town, but it's still acceptable; as long as the second imprint can be activated, it will be worth it."
He had also considered buying all the high-grade ordinary beast blood from all the pharmacies in the County Town directly, thinking that it should be enough to activate the second imprint.
However, after a brief thought, he temporarily dismissed this idea; after all, it was not a small sum, and it might attract the attention of those with ulterior motives; he did not want to cause trouble now, he just wanted to cultivate peacefully.
Suppressing the chaotic thoughts in his mind, he immediately calmed down and began to absorb all the ordinary beast blood into his body.
Half an hour later, Lin Sheng's eyes were slightly closed, his upper body bare, revealing the contours of his body like a sculpture.
Two circular red imprints were clearly visible on his chest; one was crimson like blood, while the other was also red but noticeably dimmer and incomplete, with about 1/10 remaining to form a complete blood-colored circle.
"It's 88%, one step closer to being completely activated."
Looking at the activation progress displayed on the panel, the corner of his mouth curved up.
In addition, he unexpectedly activated a high-grade ordinary beast, the Earth Tiger Lizard.
Its boost attribute was mediocre, comparable to the Tusker Mountain Pig.
After absorbing a large number of exotic beasts into his body, he had a more detailed understanding of the classification of exotic beasts.
Although there was a gap between low-grade and high-grade ordinary beasts, the gap was not too large and did not need much explanation, but high-grade ordinary beasts were not necessarily the same.
High-grade ordinary beasts like the Crimson Mane Horse, Tusker Mountain Pig, and Human-faced Spider all had a boost attribute of 4 points; even though there were clear differences in individual combat power, they belonged to the category of ordinary high-grade ordinary beasts.
Exotic beasts like the Black Tiger Ape, which could have a boost attribute of 5 points, were considered elites among high-grade ordinary beasts.
"The best choice of exotic beast for the second imprint is one that excels in Physique and stamina. So, what are the high-grade ordinary beasts, preferably high-grade elite ordinary beasts, that fit this condition?"
Lin Sheng fell into thought; during his time in the Hunting Beast Hall, he had a good understanding of various exotic beasts.
He thought for a long time about the exotic beasts that met his requirements and soon had a target.
"Exotic beasts that meet these conditions should prioritize turtle-type exotic beasts; in addition, bovine-type exotic beasts are also acceptable, the Black Rock Bull is a good choice..."
"Never mind, I'll make a list later and have Lao Zhou and Xiao Shi go to the city to gather information. If there's a suitable one, just take it down."
"In addition, some special high-grade ordinary beasts are also very valuable for absorption, such as those with high perception, high agility, etc., which can be useful at critical moments and are all worth paying attention to."
...
Deep in Yangping Mountain.
The originally colorful and dense miasma was now significantly thinner, and several long blood-colored light pillars could be clearly seen standing within the miasma, connected by streaks of bright red patterns, like entangled blood-colored chains.
Outside these blood-colored light pillars, several figures stood among them.
The leader was a grizzled old man in armor who exuded authority without being angry; it was General Long Zilu, the commander of Linjiang.
General Long Zilu looked the same as before, the only difference being his messy silver hair.
The armored figures who had originally followed beside him were all gone.
In their place were a burly man in heavy armor holding a large saber, a seemingly frail middle-aged scholar, and an old man in official robes.
The three stood behind General Long Zilu, their heads slightly bowed, looking respectful.
Occasionally glancing at the old man in front of them, there was a hint of fear in their eyes.
"General, this Phantom Demon Beast is now completely sealed. It's estimated that it won't cause any trouble for decades."
The frail-looking middle-aged man, who resembled a scholar, paused slightly and was the first to break the silence.
The man in official robes and the heavily armored man beside him immediately echoed him.
"That's right, thanks to the General's early detection this time, this Phantom Demon Beast was nipped in the bud and didn't cause greater destruction."
Their words were full of flattery; if someone who knew the identities of these three people saw them, they would probably be greatly surprised, because each of these three was a big shot in the County Town.
The heavily armored man was Duan Tong, the County Lieutenant of Lin'an County; the scholar and the man in official robes were the Governor of Tongzhi County and the Governor of Shannan County respectively, and these three counties were also the three towns closest to Yangping Mountain.
Hearing their words, General Long Zilu just nodded indifferently.
"This Phantom Demon Beast is one of the most troublesome types among demon beasts. Although we were lucky this time to Seal it before the situation further deteriorated, it needs to be reinforced with blood demon fangs every 50 years."
"Your subordinates understand. Every 50 years, your subordinates will prepare the population needed for the blood sacrifice in advance. The General can rest assured about this."
Hearing General Long Zilu's words, the three reacted quickly and spoke in a hurry.
"Very good. With this Phantom Demon Beast in the mountains, no one is allowed to go deep in the future. Besides that, there is one more thing."
"General, please tell us what it is. We will definitely do it."
The three said in quick succession.
However, the next moment, Duan Tong's sturdy body was sent flying directly, flying dozens of meters and crashing through countless trees before stopping.
This blow shattered all of Duan Tong's heavy armor, and his body was covered with countless large and small wounds.
"General..."
He just wanted to say something, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he heavily spat out a large mouthful of blood.
Then he saw General Long Zilu's figure had already appeared nearby.
"There's a demon beast like the Phantom Demon Beast in your territory, yet you didn't detect any abnormality and were instead squabbling in the city. This is a small lesson for you. If there's a next time, you won't need to live."
General Long Zilu's indifferent voice sounded, but as he spoke, his nose twitched slightly, and his originally cloudy pupils suddenly flashed with crimson, subconsciously licking the drops of blood on his lips.
Duan Tong did not notice this, he just nodded frantically; at this moment, even though he was seriously injured, he couldn't care less.
If not for his heavy armor protecting him, he would have died on the spot from that blow; the proximity of death filled his heart with fear. He endured the severe pain of his broken bones and muscles and opened his mouth to say something.
"Your subordinate will..."
Pfft!
However, the next moment, a sickening sound of flesh being pierced rang out, and Duan Tong's voice came to an abrupt halt; his eyes flashed with confusion, and soon a look of disbelief appeared, he lowered his head slightly and saw a hand with fine scales had already plunged into his chest.
"No need, I've changed my mind..."
General Long Zilu's somewhat hoarse voice sounded as he withdrew his hand from the other's chest, holding a still slightly beating, fresh heart.
His cloudy eyes had now completely turned crimson, with a hint of bloodlust, greedily looking at the heart in his hand, then his mouth opened to an unnaturally wide arc, revealing a circle of teeth squeezed together in his oral cavity.
As crunching sounds rang out, the heart quickly disappeared.
Slurp...
A slender crimson tongue extended from General Long Zilu's mouth, licking clean the blood stains on his cheeks.
He seemed to still be unsatisfied and licked the corner of his mouth, his crimson eyes falling on Duan Tong's lifeless body on the ground.
The next moment, he directly buried his head in the corpse's chest cavity, and as crunching sounds of chewing rang out, soon Duan Tong's sturdy body was left with only a relatively complete, white skeleton.
At this time, the two Governors of Tongzhi County and Shannan County were both filled with fear in their hearts, yet they did not dare to make any movement, fearing that even the slightest action would attract the other party's attention.