Martial Arts, the Fairy's Cultivation

Purple lotus hangs high.

Bang!

Lin Dong braced himself with one hand and suddenly leaped high into the air. He paused for a moment in mid-air before plummeting down, his legs landing heavily on the ground. The heavy impact left two shallow dents in the rocky cliff face.

"You've gotten stronger again."

Feeling the immense power surging through his body after breaking through the bottleneck once again, Lin Dong's eyes shone brightly, and his whole being exuded a high-spirited aura, like a tireless lion.

"Again!"

As if responding to Lin Dong, the purple lotus above slowly rotated, further strengthening the field and making Lin Dong feel the same pressure as before.

Gravity-based body training provides comprehensive improvement, from the inside out, leaving no obvious weaknesses in any part of the body.

As for the training method that Mu Zi tailored for Lin Dong, it was not something that ordinary people could withstand. The pressure released by the purple lotus was always close to the limit that Lin Dong's body could bear. At first, Lin Dong found it extremely difficult to even move a finger in the face of that pressure, but after he persevered with an amazing tenacity, the improvement in his physical strength allowed him to gradually adapt to the pressure under the limit.

As time went by, Lin Dong gradually became able to act freely under heavy pressure and became more and more adept at handling things.

Feeling a definite increase in strength, Lin Dong became even more diligent in training his physical body, exhausting every last bit of strength in his body each day until he could no longer lift a finger before ending his day's training.

With such intense exploitation of his body's potential, if it weren't for the powerful breathing techniques passed down by Mu Zi and the extraordinary effects of the "Locking Yuan Pattern," Lin Dong probably wouldn't have been able to continue cultivating as usual on the second day.

Unbeknownst to her, Lin Dong's training intensity had already exceeded Mu Zi's expectations. His desperate attitude towards becoming stronger moved even the usually indifferent Mu Zi.

That frenzied posture seemed to be holding one's breath, as if trying to prove something.

Mu Zi gazed at all of this, lost in thought.

As the sun set, Lin Dong finally dragged his exhausted body to the side and sat down on the ground, panting heavily.

I thought you would keep putting on a brave face.

The white embroidered shoes came into view. Lin Dong barely managed to look up and saw that the white-clad fairy had appeared beside him at some point. Her pair of glass-like purple eyes were staring at him, as if trying to see right through him.

Lin Dong's lips twitched slightly, forcing a tired smile. For the first time, he heard a different meaning in Mu Zi's calm tone.

"Are you concerned about me, Miss Mu?"

Mu Zi didn't pick up the conversation. After a moment of silence, she suddenly spoke, her words carrying a hidden meaning: "You're really wary. You don't even tell me the truth?"

"What?" Lin Dong was taken aback.

"Do you think I can't see that you're putting on a brave face in front of me because you don't want to reveal your weakness to others?"

Mu Zi's eyes remained calm and indifferent: "Actually, you were already on guard against me, weren't you?"

Lin Dong's pupils contracted slightly, and he immediately fell silent.

Cautious? Perhaps. Given Lin Dong's personality, it is indeed extremely difficult for him to completely trust someone of unknown origin, even if the other party has shown him goodwill from beginning to end. But to be fair, deep down, Lin Dong may still harbor a last shred of wariness.

It has nothing to do with stance; it's just an instinctive caution that Lin Dong developed from his past experiences.

But as the two spent more time together, Lin Dong gradually lowered his guard. Whether Mu Zi admitted it or not, the concern she occasionally showed was genuine. Perhaps Mu Zi didn't even realize that her kindness towards Lin Dong wasn't entirely based on exploitation.

"From the very beginning, I could see your caution and prudence. You're always on guard against something. Doesn't that get tiring?"

"Tired?" Lin Dong shrugged and smiled faintly. "When you're traveling alone, you always have to be careful, right?"

After a moment's hesitation, Mu Zi gently gathered her long skirt and sat down next to Lin Dong in his surprised gaze, showing no disgust at Lin Dong's disheveled appearance covered in sweat after his training.

"If you don't mind, you can tell me what's on your mind."

Lin Dong turned his head slightly, looking at the beautiful profile of the woman with her light veil half-covered, and his heart suddenly calmed down.

After a long silence, he took a light breath and said calmly:

"When I was very young, my father's foundation was deliberately destroyed in a martial arts competition. The person who did this was Lin Langtian, a core disciple of the Lin clan, and the so-called number one genius of the Great Yan Dynasty."

In a martial arts contest, if one's skills are inferior, there is usually nothing to say, but Lin Langtian is an exception.

"He didn't need to fight in the ring, but he deliberately poisoned my father just to show off!"

Beneath Lin Dong's calm tone lay a suppressed rage. He had clearly heard it back then: Lin Langtian, who was not yet twenty at the time, did not need to participate in that year's clan competition. However, after learning that Lin Xiao came from a branch family, he deliberately went on stage and, in front of everyone, destroyed Lin Xiao's meridians with a single move.

After that clan gathering, Lin Langtian began to show his talent, quickly rising to become a leading figure among the younger generation of the Lin clan and even the Great Yan Dynasty. As for Lin Xiao, who became a stepping stone, he was merely a member of a branch family and was utterly insignificant compared to the highly sought-after prodigies.

But in Lin Dong's young heart, hatred quietly began to grow towards the culprit who ruined his father.

"From the day I was able to cultivate, I vowed that one day I would defeat Lin Langtian with my own hands and avenge my father."

"I don't have Lin Langtian's background. I can only rely on myself. If I hadn't been careful, I might have died in Qingyang Town long ago and wouldn't have been able to get to where I am today."

Lin Dong did not hide anything and recounted his past experiences in detail.

He found a stone talisman in the back mountain, showed his talent in the clan competition, encountered Xiao Yan in the hunting competition, destroyed the Black Dragon Village, fought the Lei and Xie families, and incurred enmity with the Blood Robe Sect because of the Yang Yuan Stone mine. He then went alone to Yan City to keep his appointment for a life-or-death battle...

Lin Dong's journey has been fraught with danger; if he were to make a single wrong step, he would fall into an abyss of no return.

Having faced danger countless times, I have only just begun to possess the strength to protect my family.

The boy's calm words caused Mu Zi's beautiful eyes to flicker slightly. After learning about Lin Dong's past, her gaze towards him was different.

"So he paid so much to get to where he is today."

Although Lin Dong spoke lightly, Mu Zi could understand the pressure the person in front of her had faced over the years.

Faced with an enemy who could wipe out an entire family with just a single finger, despite harboring resentment, he could not reveal it in the slightest. He could only conceal his claws and secretly accumulate strength until he was qualified to confront his enemy head-on.

Knowing all this, Mu Zi couldn't help but feel moved.