WU DONG QIAN - KUN
chapter 4: the secrets of the stone pool

"Illusion ... An illusion ... It must be an illusion!"

Stupidly staring at his arm for a moment, Lin Dong closed his eyes and firmly inhaled a few breaths of air. Only when his mind gradually calmed down did he once again gently caress his arm, though it was still slightly trembling.

Under its touch, the outer layer of skin feels quite hard. Although it had yet to reach the level of hardness of stone or wood, Lin Dong's skin was clearly several times harder than before!

This was indeed a sign that he was just about to advance into the 4th Layer of the Tempered Body. He only needed to wait for this type of skin to harden a little more and then it would actually be in the 4th Layer of the Tempered Body.

However.... Lin Dong's mouth fell open, disbelief on his face like he had seen a ghost. He had just advanced to the Tempered Body 3rd Layer today and had not even been half a day since then. How could he suddenly be on the verge of progressing to the 4th Layer of the Tempered Body?

This miracle instantly caused Lin Dong to become somewhat dizzy. Blushed red with excitement, he continued to pacing back and forth on the side of the stone pool. If he could continue at this kind of speed, were the top 3 in the Family Competition worth mentioning? Even if it was the Ten Years Clan Meeting of the Lin Clan, he would not be worried in the slightest.

"How ...... does this happen?"

Although he was still dizzy from happiness and excitement, Lin Dong had matured at an earlier age than most, therefore he managed to regain his calmness and intelligence after a while. Her tiny face wrinkled as she began to recall all the details of this affair. However there was nothing strange about the cave, so, after looking around the cave slowly, his gaze finally stopped on the stone pond.

"Could there be something strange about this stone pool?"

A shocked expression flashed across his face, but soon after he quickly shook his head. Since young, he had soaked in this stone pond many times, yet this was the first time something like today had happened!

What the hell is going on?

It was impossible because of the Red Ginseng as it was only a tier 1 elixir. The fact that it allowed him to reach the 3rd Layer of the Tempered Body in 10 days was already a heaven-shattering achievement.

“There must be something different today.”

Lin Dong tightly pursed his lips, stubborn determination on his little face. He understood that it would be very important for him to discover the mysteries within.

“I'm more tired than usual today......but this is not the first time.......I slept here? I've slept here before .... ”.

Lin Dong crouched down beside the rock pool, his brows tightly intertwined in his mind., His palm involuntarily moved to caress his arm, and he froze. His gaze slowly moved to repair his arm; where many traces of blood used to be ……

"Blood?"

Lin Dong's eyes were bright. He suddenly took out a small dagger hidden in the crack within the pile of rocks near the stone pond he had previously left behind.

Lin Dong gently sliced his fingertips with a dagger, causing a drop of blood to appear. He hesitated for a moment before carefully dripping it into the stone pool.

"Sclap!"

The sound of blood dripping into the pond resounded clearly within the silence of the cave. However, Lin Dong kept his eyes sharply peeled to the location where a drop of blood had fallen.

Just as a drop of blood touched the stone pond, waves of ripples appeared as the reddish hue of blood gradually disappeared. Water bubbles quickly emerged from the quiet stone pond, shocking Lin Dong. A reddish liquid was faintly visible within each bubble.

As the pink liquid seeped into his body, Lin Dong's palm suddenly experienced a burning sensation. This sensation was exactly the same as what he felt when he suddenly woke up. Moreover, this time he could clearly feel that as the liquid seeped into his palm, the skin on his palm gradually became harder.

“This is indeed the problem!”

As he noted the change in his palm, Lin Dong's petite face instantly lit up. He guessed correctly! The water in these stone pools requires blood to activate their special properties.

Lin Dong gripped then stretched out his palm several times, only to find that the skin on this palm had indeed become much harder than the rest of his body. Furthermore, this effect is achieved only after a short exposure. According to Lin Dong's calculations, he estimated that the effects of this water were truly legendary and even exceeded the effects of the expensive level 3 elixir sold in Qingyang City.

“Hmm, how can this water bring amazing effect that even exceeds elixir level 3?”

Over the years, Lin Dong had discovered that the water from the stone pond was just an ordinary spring. Although the water was refreshing, Lin Dong was quite certain that this spring had no special effects. However, now that he had faced this situation, he was unable to find an explanation.

Lin Dong sighed deeply while rubbing his forehead. This mysterious stone pool had too stirred up his emotions and he decided to lie down beside the stone pool to take a breath. Regardless, even though he was unable to uncover the reason why this stone pond had mysterious powers, this discovery was still very beneficial to him.

Because of his injuries, Lin Xiao needed some herbs to maintain his health. However, this potion was expensive and due to Lin Xiao's stubborn nature, he refused to receive financial support from the Lin Family. Because of this, he often tried his luck and went elixir hunting alone. Inevitably, this resulted in Lin Dong being unable to enjoy the same privileged training conditions as his peers in the Lin Family.

Therefore, at this moment, the effect of the stone pond was very important to Lin Dong.

"The effect of this stone pool really should be kept a secret!"

Lin Dong clutched his little fist. He understood that he not only needed the help of this stone pool, but if news of this stone pool spread, it would definitely cause a huge commotion. At that time, perhaps some other faction in Qingyang City might be involved and this might wreak a small havoc for the entire Lin Family.

“Having possessions is not a sin, but it will often cause problems!”

Although Lin Dong was young, he clearly understood this principle.

As Lin Dong tightly pursed his lips, he formulated a plan in his heart. Just as he was about to leave, something suddenly caught his attention and he gently flinched. He immediately turned his gaze to the ceiling of the cave as he caught a glimpse of the flickering light there.

Under normal circumstances, if Lin Dong faced this situation, he would not give the slightest notice. However, now that he knew the effects of the stone pond, he became very attentive to the entire area around the cave.

Lin Dong kept his eyes firmly locked to the location where he saw flickering lights. Under his watchful gaze, a flickering light appeared again. However, it seemed like the light was flashing a little faster. Immediately after, a beam of light fell into the rock pool.

Due to the light rays, soft ripples appeared on the surface of the stone pond.

Lin Dong stared at the location where a ray of light fell into the rock pool. As he swallowed, he remembered glimpsing what looked like a deep red liquid within the light. The liquid ... was exactly what Lin Dong saw after his blood fell into the stone pool.

“It looks like the secret is hidden on top...”.

Lin Dong softly muttered as his eyes shone and he raised his head to stare at the ceiling of the cave above.