"Just remember to teach me the Sunrise Qi Technique."
"Don't worry. My, Li Haomiao's, word is my bond. Once we're out of these Eight-Hundred-Mile Desolate River Ice-Plains, I'll naturally teach you."
Xu Yunfan didn't bring it up again. Although Li Haomiao seemed a bit unreliable and was afraid of ghosts, so far he had kept every promise he'd made.
A while later, Fang Mushan returned empty-handed, a look of embarrassment on his face.
"My apologies, you two. Prey is so hard to find these days. I searched all over, but... huh?!"
His eyes widened in shock as he stared at the whole sheep roasting over the fire.
"Where did this come from?"
Xu Yunfan, with a calm expression, slowly turned the roasting sheep.
"Your teachings were excellent, Brother Fang. I spotted this rock sheep the moment I went out and hit a vital spot with one arrow. A lucky catch. I didn't expect to find so many animals still living here in this eight-hundred-mile desolate river. I thought we'd be stuck eating moss."
Fang Mushan stood stunned for a long moment. He subconsciously met Li Haomiao's gaze, but Li Haomiao just calmly looked away. Fang Mushan sighed.
"I know what this is. Beginner's luck."
Fang Mushan muttered to himself. When some people take up a new hobby, like fishing, their first catch is always bigger and more plentiful than anyone else's.
Fang Mushan mumbled, "Tomorrow... you probably won't be so lucky tomorrow."
Li Haomiao couldn't agree more.
After they ate, Xu Yunfan tanned the sheepskin using plant juices Fang Mushan had collected and hung it up to dry. Then, he went back to swinging his Iron Pickaxe, digging the cave deeper to continuously temper his Copper Body Skill and increase its Skill Level.
He had eaten most of the Grain Avoidance Pills. He estimated that he would reach the Skill Level for Great Success in his Copper Body Skill within a few days.
Li Haomiao and Fang Mushan had grown used to watching Xu Yunfan resume swinging his Iron Pickaxe to deepen the cave.
Li Haomiao said lazily, "If you want to cultivate the Copper Body Skill to Great Success, you need to use it in conjunction with Secret Medicine. Just burying your head in hard training like this, using a Hammer Technique to temper your body, will only end up hurting you."
Without turning his head, Xu Yunfan kept swinging his pickaxe.
"You don't know a damn thing."
"..."
Normally, many Martial Arts require external aids for practice, especially those that also involve Horizontal Training.
With the help of external Secret Medicine, his cultivation efficiency would surely improve. Xu Yunfan felt a bit helpless but wasn't discouraged. 'Since I've already started learning the skill, as long as I persevere, mastering the basics is only a matter of time.'
Besides, there was the Linn Character Technique, which was obscure and difficult to understand, filled with allusions and terminology from the Daoist Sects. If not for the Empowerment Technique and his Attribute Panel, it would probably take a high-level Daoist master who had spent decades studying the Daoist Canon to even be qualified to comprehend it.
After exhausting himself cultivating the Copper Body Skill, he rested for about ten minutes. Then, he sat down, formed a Two-Handed Seal, and silently chanted the Supreme Kindness Heart Spell, his mind gradually entering a state of emptiness that wasn't truly empty.
'You have cultivated the Linn Character Technique once, grasping at its meaning superficially. You feel as if you've gained something, but upon careful reflection, you've gained nothing at all.'
'You hold your breath and concentrate your spirit to cultivate the Linn Character Technique. A flash of Spiritual Light seems to cross your mind, but when you try to grasp it, it has already vanished.'
'...'
The Linn Character Technique also had a Visualization Image, but unfortunately, he hadn't even crossed the threshold of understanding, let alone grasped its essentials.
Cultivating with such intense focus for nearly half an hour was already his limit. Continuing any further would truly damage his spirit.
His only consolation was that ever since he started cultivating the Linn Character Technique, even though he hadn't mastered the basics, his sleep quality had become excellent. No matter how exhausted he was during the day, he would wake up the next morning full of energy, refreshed and revitalized.
Finished with his cultivation, Xu Yunfan fought off his drowsiness and crawled out of the deep tunnel he had dug. Under the watchful eyes of Li Haomiao and Fang Mushan, he rolled into a corner, lay down on a mat of wild grass he'd gathered during the day, and fell into a deep sleep.
"Lord Yang, are you sure they dug this?"
A middle-aged man in armor, leaning on a longsword and sporting a handlebar mustache, looked at Yang Gan, who was inspecting the cave up ahead, with a face full of disbelief.
The corner of Yang Gan's eye twitched as he carefully crumbled the soil between his fingers.
"This soil is fresh, dug within the last few days. And... there are traces of a fire for roasting animals in the fireplace. It's proof they stayed here."
"This cave is big enough for six or seven people, and they even carved out a fireplace. That would take at least two or three decent practitioners who have entered the Martial Dao an entire night to accomplish. Lord Yang, are you saying they did nothing all day but dig a cave?"
Yang Gan said grimly, "Lord Xuu, based on my years of experience in tracking and hunting, this is indeed a newly dug cave. And it was made with an Iron Pickaxe. They came from Ninggu Tower, and this is definitely the direction the King of Yan's party is heading. I've also heard that Fang Mushan is with them."
"Fang Mushan..."
Lord Xuu stroked his handlebar mustache with two fingers, lost in thought.
"The son of the Grand General of the Realm, Fang Wen. I've heard of him. He has Innate Divine Strength. If he were the one digging, it's plausible he could excavate a cave like this in a few Hours. But do they have nothing better to do?"
Just then, a head popped out from a tunnel extending from the lower part of the cave.
"Reporting, My Lord! There's another tunnel inside the cave, at least forty meters long, and it opens up into a decent-sized space."
Yang Gan: "..."
'The King of Yan is on the run, and he has the leisure to dig out such a massive cave?'
Lord Xuu's eyes narrowed as he looked at Yang Gan.
"Lord Yang, if you're wrong and we don't catch the King of Yan's party, we'll all have to face the consequences. Especially you, Lord Yang. You swore a military oath. If you fail, knowing General Zhang's temperament, he'll likely have you beheaded as a public example."
Yang Gan's heart skipped a beat. He snorted coldly, stood up, and said, "My Yang Family made its name in tracking and hunting. My ancestors once accompanied the late emperor, tracking prey for him. We have our own unique methods. This is absolutely their trail. There is no mistake."
A silence fell over the group, and no one said anything more.
Zhang Shuyang had let Yang Gan temporarily lead thirty elite soldiers, but not to command them. Strictly speaking, Yang Gan was just a guide.
But even though he was just a guide, Lord Xuu's party had no choice but to follow in whichever direction Yang Gan pointed.
After resting for a night in the mountain pass, the group set off again at a rapid pace. When they tracked their quarry to the next site and saw a cave even larger than the last, the corner of Yang Gan's eye couldn't help but twitch.
Someone in the group couldn't help but whisper, "Do they have endless energy? In this freezing environment, they still have the time and mood to dig out multiple rooms?"
Yang Gan crumbled the fresh soil beneath his feet and muttered, "We're close. This cave was dug no more than two days ago."
He was fuming inside. After all, to have his professional tracking skills doubted was a tremendous insult.
When the time came, he would definitely get his pride back.
...
...