Chapter 211 – Peculiar Young Boy
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“What’s your name? May I know what school you are from?” The woman in red eyes twinkled as she looked at the drenched-in-sweat Lin Ming. She found it difficult to keep herself calm.
In addition to the fact that this youth did not fear the pressure that was brought about by the Vermillion Bird’s bloodline, he was even able cause the Thunder Flood Dragon’s origin will to feel a faint sense of terror; he was definitely a person of extraordinary means.
Perhaps there was something special about his body, bloodline, or soul. Or maybe, he came from some ancient mystical family.
Hearing the lady ask for his name and school, Lin Ming hesitated. He was prepared to give her the fake name ‘Mo Lin’ that he made up, but at this moment, the woman in red said, “There is no need to say it if you find it inconvenient.”
Although Lin Ming’s hesitation wasn’t very evident, the woman in red still noticed. If he had some special bloodline or came from a secret martial cultivation family, then he might be reluctant to disclose his identity.
“I saw you climbing Thundercrash Mountain before. Did you manage to ascend by yourself?” The woman in red casually asked.
“Yes. I am a thunder-attribute martial artist, so I have a very strong resistance to the power of thunder. Otherwise, there was no way that I would have made it that far.” Lin Ming said with a self-deprecating smile as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Oh.” The woman in red inadvertently uttered. She was quite startled; the Thunder Lizards didn’t just have powerful thunder-based attacks, but their formidable bodies were extremely dangerous weapons.
Even if he had absolute immunity to thunder, a boy merely at the Peak Bone Forging stage would find it impossible to arrive at the snowy mountain region. This could only mean that this youth had a strength that far surpassed other martial artists at the same level of cultivation.
To reach peak Bone Forging before he was 16, this result was simply nothing to the talents of major sects and large aristocratic families. But, if his cultivation reached the peak Bone Forging stage, and he also had strength that surpassed someone at the same cultivation, then that was surprising.
There weren’t many young talents like this even at Divine Phoenix Island.
The two fell into a brief lull of silence. Lin Ming sat cross-legged on the ground, constantly revolving the True Primal Chaos Formula to suppress the violent power of thunder within himself. This Thunder Soul was simply disastrous to absorb. Not only that, but it also contained the origin will of the Thunder Flood Dragon within it. Otherwise, the woman in red would not have been left in such a powerless state.
As he circulated the true essence within his body, Lin Ming quickly entered into the ethereal martial intent state. His conscious control separated from his body, and his true essence began to spontaneously revolve through the most perfect route possible. His physical condition rapidly recovered. Meanwhile, the fiery power of thunder was also subdued by the Heretical God Seed.
The woman in red had also been sitting in meditation and recovering her condition, focusing on imprisoning the Thunder Soul within herself. Her eyes were glued onto Lin Ming as he practiced.
Martial intent?
She carefully observed him for less than half an incense stick of time to determine that she hadn’t been mistaken. This boy, he had actually comprehended his own martial intent!
The woman in red gasped. She thought that he was just a trivial little boy of the mortal world, but he kept surprising her over and over again. First, he had suppressed the origin will of the Thunder Flood Dragon, then, his true strength and age came into an amazing contrast, and now, he had actually comprehended a martial intent!
It had to be known that the woman in red had reached the extreme Xiantian realm, and had even taken a half-step into the Revolving Core realm. To someone at her level, there were very few things that could surprise her. Even the top geniuses of large sects and great families would only earn a little nod from her. Yet, in the mortal world, she had actually encountered a little boy that looked as harmless as a bunny, and yet, had so many impressive qualities.
A martial intent was exceedingly rare. In tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of martial artists, there might not be a single person that had comprehended one. It was an incomparably precious ability. It wasn’t something that came from martial talent or cultivation. Rather, it could only be created by one’s own hands.
If parents were talents, then their children would mostly be talented too. Large sects have gone through thousands upon thousands of years of accumulated development and the screening of individuals in order to produce countless talents. The strong enjoyed more resources, while the weak were eliminated. The ones that remained were the elite of the elite. The children of these extraordinary characters would also be extraordinary.
While being an amazing talent, they would also have limitless precious pills and rare elixirs growing up. They could use true essence stones as they pleased, have top-tier cultivation methods and skills, and also have the best master and teachers. This person was destined to set foot into the Xiantian realm. Even if an average person of the mortal world cultivated for a lifetime, they still wouldn’t even touch their toes; this was the result of the difference in birth.
But even to these young talents of large sects, for a 15 year old to reach the Bone Forging stage or Pulse Condensation period, and simultaneously comprehend a martial intent, this sort of thing could only be considered serendipity.
One’s heart of martial arts and martial intent were related. The purer and more substantive one’s heart of martial arts, the higher their chances of being able to comprehend a martial intent. But to the majority of geniuses in the large sects and families, they had lived their lives peacefully and were free of worries. At the start of their path, their parents had already paved their road with riches. By only traveling across vast, flat lands, how could they possibly have a strong heart of martial arts?
To those that had suffered the tribulations of torment and suffering, traveling the bumpy road of life, being born short of resources and not even having much marital talent, it would be difficult for them to break through to the Pulse Condensation period even in their twenties. However, it wasn’t too strange or fearful for someone like this to comprehend a martial intent.
But this young boy in front of her, he was so young and yet so ridiculously strong for his cultivation. Not only that, but he had also comprehended a martial intent. He was simply an evil omen, a monstrous genius!
Not having realized it, the woman in red’s gaze had filled with curiosity.
This boy had some many unusual secrets; just who was he?
A quarter hour quietly slipped by. Under the help of the ethereal martial intent, Lin Ming was able to quickly suppress the restless power of thunder within his body. He rose up, saying, “Let’s go. If I remember correctly, there’s a cave not too far away that we can hide in. During the night the forests of the Southern Wilderness are haunted by vicious beasts; if we stay here we won’t have a decent rest.”
Because most of the power of thunder within the woman in red’s body was siphoned off by Lin Ming, she had returned to a passable condition. She took out several miracle medicines to feed to the Vermillion Bird, and then woman and bird followed Lin Ming forwards.
“That’s right, I forgot to ask, did the Thunder Flood Dragon die?” Lin Ming suddenly thought of this, asking.
“It’s not dead. But, it’s injuries are heavier than mine, and I’ve killed off most of its descendants.” The woman in red casually said.
“Oh…..” Lin Ming let out a breath. Good thing he had run away quickly, or else he might have died in the aftermath if he stayed on the mountain summit. He didn’t believe his defensive capabilities were better than the Purple Thunder Lizard.
“If it hasn’t died then we should be careful.” Lin Ming said as he walked in front of the woman in red. He had been backtracking on the traces of flames that were left behind by the Vermillion Bird. The traces hadn’t disappeared and were far too obvious.
The woman in red followed Lin Ming in consternation. Although her cultivation was 108,000 miles from Lin Ming’s, in terms of experiences within the night forest and life skills, her ability was lacking compared to Lin Ming. She was usually flying in the sky; there was never any time she had to pass through a forest on foot.
As they walked, Lin Ming neatly cleaned up any traces of their path, and also took a moment to hunt a blue-eyed deer. For the several days since his adventure on Thundercrash Mountain, he had only been surviving on dried rations and water from his spatial ring; he was getting sick and tired of the bland taste.
The two quickly arrived at the cave. The interior was extremely humid and wet. Lin Ming lit a fire, and looked for some dry hay to spread on the ground. He apologised to the woman in red, “Sorry, this might be a bit of an inconvenience for you.”
Afterwards, he took out a knife and began to skin the blue-eyed deer. His hands moved like the wind. The manner in which he sliced open the deer seemed chaotic and messy, but after several minutes, Lin Ming actually grasped at it and ,with his hand, extracted more than a dozen strips of white tendon from the deer.
The woman in red’s eyelids jumped. It seemed that Lin Ming hadn’t been randomly cutting with his knife, but had actually been removing the white tendons from the blue-eyed deer. These white tendons crisscrossed each other and were woven like a net. To remove them was an extremely tedious and complicated task.
But Lin Ming had used a very short time to complete this, and not only that, but the white tendons that he pulled out hadn’t broken, the flesh had been cleanly sliced off.
The woman in red was a bit clueless on how it had been done. To achieve this level of finesse, one would have to be very familiar with the body structure of the blue-eyed deer, and also have to undergo years of knife training. This was something that only a chef would ever do.
What was this? Why would such a talented martial artist be a chef? And looking at the way his knife had achieved such a consummate degree of skill, this young boy had probably been a chef for many years already.
Lin Ming saw the woman in red blankly gazing at the white strips of tendons in his hands and explained with a smile, “Blue-eyed deer has a very good flavor, but it has too much coarse tendon; it will affect the taste, so it’s best to take it out.
As Lin Ming spoke, his hands weren’t idling. He used the knife to cut open the deer and dress it. Then, he made a few more seemingly random cuts and pulled out a pile of bones.
Lin Ming then took out a thick branch, hung the blue-eyed deer on it, and began to grill it over the fire.
The woman in red found that the deer Lin Ming had hung over for grilling had already been neatly marked and patterned by Lin Ming. The distance between every cut was even; it was extremely neat and structured.
Seeing this, her expression became increasingly strange. What sort of background did this young boy have? If she didn’t know of Lin Ming’s strength, she would have really thought he was some famous cook.
After a quarter-hour passed, the deer meat began to turn into a glazed, golden yellow color. A little bit of fat had been melted by the flames, dropping into the fire below with a sizzling sound.
As for the white tendons and bones, Lin Ming didn’t waste any of it. He took out a pot from his spatial ring and placed the bits into it with some water, then placed it over the fire to cook as soup.
The soup boiled; the barbecue was sweet and savory.
Soon, the cave was filled with a delicious fragrance. Even though the woman in red primarily ate vegetables, she was unable to stop drooling as she smelled that delicious aroma.
As for that hefty Vermillion Bird, it began to restlessly fidget. It even seemed to have forgotten that its wing was wounded. Its brilliantly flame-colored eyes were locked onto the barbecue in Lin Ming’s hand as if wishing it could swallow it down whole.
Because the flame had roasted the meat, the cuts on the deer meat had risen; just looking at it caused one’s appetite to increase.
Even though it had been grilled for so long, there was not a single charred bit on the barbecue. It was a delicious golden-brown, glistening with melted fat. The woman in red was impatiently waiting. Of course, she was careful to conceal her eagerness and continued to appear tranquil and calm.
At this time, Lin Ming took out a collection of bottles and jars from his spatial ring. After opening them, it turned out to be salts and various other spices that were purchased at the southern tribes.
When Lin Ming ran into the Na sisters, he had been buying salt at a southern tribe.