The Return of the Condor Heroes: Starting with a Suicide Note and Conquering All Realms

Lin Yuan swallowed the last mouthful of medicinal soup.

The white porcelain bowl was empty. He wiped the brown residue from the corner of his mouth with his rough sleeve and placed the empty bowl back on the mahogany tray. Throughout the process, his movements were as slow as rotten wood, his breathing was heavy, and his wrist even spasmed twice in mid-air with remarkable realism.

Outside the window, a peach branch drooped unnaturally.

Huang Rong stood quietly in the shadow of the tree trunk, her gaze like a tangible icicle, piercing through the cracks in the window and fixed on Lin Yuan's back. She watched as the young man drank all the medicine, watched him take off his tattered shoes, and collapsed fully clothed onto the wooden bed, even the movement of pulling the thin blanket over him revealing a frail, dying weakness.

Ten breaths later, Lin Yuan's breathing became long and weak.

Huang Rong's tense shoulders finally relaxed almost imperceptibly. She turned and left silently. The muscle-softening powder was colorless and odorless, but once ingested, its insidious power would seep into her limbs and bones like a bone-deep infection, silently corroding her internal energy and shrinking her meridians. From then on, this wolf cub would be nothing more than a useless dog that couldn't even hold a bowl properly.

A deathly silence pervaded the guest room.

Lin Yuan, lying on the bed, slowly opened his eyes.

A pure gold that sent shivers down one's spine ignited silently deep within the depths of the eyes.

Inside the stomach, the effects of the muscle-softening powder exploded completely. The extremely cold poison gas, like thousands of tiny ice needles, surged wildly along the bloodstream towards the twelve meridians, attempting to freeze and contract the walls of the meridians along the way.

Lin Yuan didn't use his internal energy to resist, nor did he even flinch. He acted like a cold-blooded spectator, letting the deadly poison penetrate his body unchecked.

Until the poisonous gas approached his dantian.

The dark red "Monarch Flame Inner Fire" that had been dormant deep within the dantian suddenly leaped up like a raging shark that had smelled blood!

Grade A dragon blood has awakened.

Dark golden blood pumped from the heart like a war drum, carrying a terrifying heat far exceeding that of mortals, flowing upwards. There was no agonizing tug-of-war of internal energy as depicted in martial arts novels, only a one-sided, dimensional crushing and slaughter!

laugh--!

The chilling poison, powerful enough to cripple even martial arts masters, was instantly enveloped and incinerated upon contact with the dragon's blood. Under the extreme heat, the poison rapidly disintegrated, forcibly refined into an extremely pure energy that nourished Lin Yuan's entire body.

Lin Yuan clenched his fist slightly under the brocade quilt, and his knuckles made a series of fine popping sounds.

Huang Rong's muscle-softening powder not only failed to destroy his foundation, but instead became excellent fuel to nourish the dragon blood. The meridians in his body, which had been stretched but were empty, were being filled little by little by this refined energy.

The golden eyes slowly faded. Lin Yuan closed his eyes again, continuing to play the role of the sickly, dying man in this dangerous guest room.

Huang Rong wanted to outlive him, so he used the "poison" of Peach Blossom Island to create a true monster body.

……

half a month later.

On Peach Blossom Island in the early morning, the sea breeze carries the salty smell and the fragrance of flowers.

In the Sword Testing Pavilion to the east, Guo Jing was instructing the Wu brothers and Guo Fu in martial arts. His deep shouts and the whistling of wooden swords cutting through the air drifted on the wind into the study to the south.

Inside the study, the fragrance of sandalwood wafted through the air, yet it couldn't dispel the suffocating oppression.

Huang Rong sat upright behind her desk, toying with a copy of the Analects in her hands. Yang Guo and Lin Yuan sat on a futon at the lower end.

Confucius said, "To learn and at due times to practice what one has learned, is that not also a pleasure?" Huang Rong put down her book, her cool gaze sweeping over the two of them. "Guo'er, you explain the meaning."

Yang Guo jerked his body as if pricked by a needle. He had sat there motionless for a full hour; his legs were numb, but even more numb was his pride. He abruptly raised his head, his eyes revealing the humiliation and rage of a wolf cub chained to a dog pen:

"Aunt Guo, I don't want to learn these pedantic texts! I want to learn martial arts from Uncle Guo! Da Wu and Xiao Wu can learn, even Guo Fu can learn, so why should I, Yang Guo, be stuck here reciting scriptures? Are you all wary of me?!"

Huang Rong's face instantly darkened: "Your father suffered because he couldn't distinguish right from wrong. I teach you to read so you can understand principles and cultivate your mind. The higher a person's martial arts skills, the more harm they can cause!"

"I don't even know martial arts, how can I cause trouble?!" Yang Guo suddenly stood up, his fists clenched tightly, his eyes red.

"Guo'er, sit down."

Lin Yuan, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable coldness.

Yang Guo turned to look at Lin Yuan, his eyes filled with resentment. His chest heaved violently a few times, and finally he gritted his teeth and angrily slammed his fist back onto the prayer mat.

Just then, a crisp, shrill laugh rang out from outside the window. Guo Fu, dressed in red, peeked out the window, carrying an unsharpened wooden sword.

"That little beggar is so stupid, he can't even memorize a single word of the book, and my mother has to watch over him every day." Guo Fu made a face at Yang Guo.

Yang Guo retorted sarcastically, "You think you're smart? If you're so smart, how come you can't even master the Yue Maiden Swordplay like a dog? Uncle Guo sighed three times just now, and I heard it all!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Guo Fu's face flushed red, and she raised her wooden sword, ready to charge inside.

"Fu'er, go back and practice your sword!" Huang Rong coldly shouted.

Guo Fu stomped her foot angrily, glared at Yang Guo fiercely, and then turned and ran away.

Huang Rong withdrew her gaze, looking at Yang Guo who resembled a hedgehog, her tone even colder: "Guo'er, you are naturally impulsive and harbor deep resentment. Today, you will copy the first chapter of the Analects ten times. Lin Yuan, you supervise him; he is not allowed to eat until he finishes copying it."

"Yes, Madam Guo." Lin Yuan lowered his head slightly, his eyes showing obedience.

Huang Rong turned and left.

"Bang!" Yang Guo kicked over the inkstone in front of him. Thick black ink splattered on the blue bricks, like a shocking pool of dead blood.

"Brother Lin! Why won't you let me speak? They're just trying to protect us! They don't treat us like human beings at all!" Yang Guo lowered his voice, a desperate roar escaping his throat.

Lin Yuan ignored the mess Yang Guo had left on the ground. His gaze seemed to pierce through the void, fixed intently on the distant Sword Testing Pavilion.

"Copy the book." Lin Yuan uttered only two words, without a trace of emotion.

Yang Guo was stunned, staring at Lin Yuan with disbelief, as if he were seeing this elder brother who had once risked his life to protect him for the first time.

But Yang Guo didn't know that Lin Yuan at this moment simply didn't have the energy to care about the grievances of ordinary people.

Dragon Blood Talent, fully activated.

The image on his retina was instantly reconstructed. In Lin Yuan's eyes, Guo Jing in the distance was no longer a mortal body, but an extremely precise data model.

Guo Jing is demonstrating the Nanshan Fist Technique.

But under Lin Yuan's hidden golden eyes, Guo Jing's movements were forcibly slowed down into frame-by-frame slow motion. The angle at which his shoulder blades rose, the muscle fiber contraction during the twisting of his waist and abdomen, the skeletal conduction path during the sinking of his lower body... even the flow trajectory of the Dragon Subduing True Qi within Guo Jing's body was analyzed by the golden eyes as clearly as peeling away layers of an onion!

This is an absolute dimensional reduction attack.

The martial arts moves and routines that require years of practice to master are like basic building blocks being disassembled in the face of the terrifying analytical abilities of the dragon bloodline.

After completing a set of Nanshan boxing techniques.

Lin Yuan's brain had completely disassembled and reassembled it, and even, relying on computer-like instinct, eliminated three unnecessary force-generating movements. He not only "stole" this set of boxing techniques, but also saw through its flaws.

Then, Guo Jing took the wooden sword and demonstrated the Yue Maiden Sword Technique.

The frequency of wrist rotation, the trembling arc of the sword tip, the golden ratio of footwork...

The demonstration is over. Lin Yuan slowly closed his eyes, the essence of the sword technique already etched into his muscle memory like a steel stamp.

Huang Rong thought she could use a few tattered books to restrain them and trap them in the study. Little did she know that Lin Yuan was sitting on that futon, openly absorbing Guo Jing's lifelong martial arts knowledge, bone and all.

……

It was late at night. Peach Blossom Island was completely silent, except for the dull rumble of the waves crashing against the rocks.

The guest room was dark; you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

Lin Yuan stood shirtless on the blue brick floor. Half a month of dragon blood transformation and muscle-softening powder had shed his sickly weakness. His muscles were now smooth and firm, as if they contained explosive power capable of tearing through steel at any moment.

He closed his eyes, and the actions Guo Jing had taken during the day flashed through his mind.

Step back half a step with your right foot and suddenly exert force from your waist and abdomen.

"call--"

Lin Yuan unleashed a punch! Without using any true energy, relying solely on pure physical strength, the force of his punch actually tore through the air, producing an extremely sharp sonic boom.

He retracted his fist, took a deep breath, and punched again.

This time, he mobilized the "Inner Flame of the Sovereign" within his dantian. A surge of dark red, violent energy erupted into his right arm along the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian—this was the ultimate killing move combining the One-Finger Divine Skill's energy pathway with the Dragon Clan's incantation!

A layer of dark red light, distorting the air, instantly appeared on the surface of the fist.

"Bang!"

The fist froze in mid-air. The air in front of it was compressed to an extreme degree, then exploded under the terrifying heat. A pungent, acrid smell instantly filled the room.

The destructive power is more than doubled. If this punch were to land on a person, it would not only shatter bones, but the compressed, intense heat of the Sovereign Flame would instantly penetrate the enemy's internal organs, burning them directly into a charred mess from the inside out.

Lin Yuan slowly withdrew his fist, calmed his breathing, and suppressed the inner fire of the Sovereign Flame back into his dantian.

He walked to the table, picked up the now-cold tea, and took a sip.

Suddenly, his hand holding the teacup froze in mid-air.