Chapter Seventy-Four: Tempering Muscles and Refining Bones

When Ye Dong awoke in a daze, he found his master and his companions gazing at him with concern.

“You’re awake!” Chen Yao nodded at Ye Dong with relief, gently patting his shoulder.

“What? What happened to me?” Ye Dong was bewildered, blinking several times as he stared blankly at the people before him. “Hey, why are you all crowding me like this? Are you up to something shady?”

“Have you forgotten what just happened? Try to remember!”

“Just now?” Ye Dong closed his eyes in deep thought, then recalled that he had been engulfed in a sea of blazing flames.

“Fire!? That’s right, everything was fire!” Ye Dong, just awakened, was still shaken. “The fire spread from my heart!”

Zhi Zhang and Da Chun and Xiao Bao exchanged knowing smiles. “You passed out—was it the pain that knocked you out?”

Ye Dong squinted, trying hard to remember. Suddenly, he reached out and pinched Zhi Zhang’s face hard. “Zhi Zhang! You’re alive!? Am I not dreaming?”

“Ouch!” Zhi Zhang cried out in pain. “Hey, if you want to know whether you’re dreaming, shouldn’t you pinch yourself? Why pinch me so hard?”

Ye Dong, hearing this, lightly slapped his own cheek and was amazed. “I can feel my face! I can feel it!”

Liang Lingzhi, rubbing her face, complained, “Exactly, if you can feel it when you pinch yourself, that’s proof enough!”

Suddenly, Ye Dong unexpectedly slapped Xiao Bao and Da Chun.

“You! Why did you hit me?!” Xiao Bao and Da Chun both covered their faces and cursed.

“Even you idiots can feel pain, so this must be the real world! Everything before was just an illusion!” Ye Dong was overjoyed. “None of you are hurt? Wonderful, wonderful!”

Tears welled up in his eyes as he gripped Xiao Bao and Da Chun’s hands, his words full of emotion.

Da Chun rubbed his cheek and punched Ye Dong’s shoulder. “You did it! You made it to the last stage!”

Ye Dong, still confused, looked to Chen Yao and Daoist Wei Zi for answers. “Master, Grandmaster, what happened to me?”

Chen Yao’s face was full of affection as he spoke softly, “The suffering you endured was not an illusion, but real pain. Congratulations, my disciple, you have withstood the agony of tempering muscle and bone. Your body has undergone its transformation.”

“What!?” Ye Dong looked at his hands and feet. “Changed? How? I still have two arms and two legs!”

“The change is within. You can’t see it with your eyes,” Daoist Wei Zi chuckled. “Your master is right. You are indeed blessed. Not only have you gained the Divine Eye, but my drop of blood has fused with your True Fire, and your mundane muscles and bones have been refined into the Transcendent Body. Truly remarkable!”

Ye Dong was baffled, only understanding the words “Divine Eye.” “Me!? I’ve gained the Divine Eye!?”

Chen Yao and Daoist Wei Zi exchanged smiles. “If you don’t believe us, you can open your Divine Eye right now and see for yourself.”

“Oh my!” Hearing their confirmation, Ye Dong suppressed his excitement and hurriedly recited, “Heaven and earth’s mysteries, myriad energies at the root. Through countless trials, I attain my powers. Open the Divine Eye, perceive the origin, swiftly as the law commands!”

A dull roar echoed in Ye Dong’s mind. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the fluorescent pond shrouded in vast red and green mist. He jumped to his feet, discovering countless hands and feet clawing at the clear water beneath the surface, as if trying to drag all life in the water into hell.

“How can this be!?” Ye Dong squinted at the incredible scene. “Master, what are these strange things?”

Chen Yao explained, “The red is baleful energy, and the green is resentment. The hands and feet below belong to the souls of ghosts.”

Ye Dong gasped, glancing back at Liang Lingzhi and the others. Unexpectedly, he stumbled to the ground, pointing straight at Da Chun. “Da Chun, there’s a ghost behind you!”

Da Chun’s face changed dramatically at Ye Dong’s shout, and he leapt behind Chen Yao. “Master, save me!”

Chen Yao laughed, unconcerned, and drank with Daoist Wei Zi.

Suddenly, Ye Dong felt a chill on his shoulder. He turned to see a shriveled old hand with long fingernails resting on him.

“Damn!” Ye Dong shuddered, slapped the ghost’s hand off his shoulder, and barked, “Get lost!”

The ghost chuckled, revealing itself—it was the goofy ghost Ye Dong had encountered at the wild graveyard.

“Gentlemen, it’s been a while!”

Ye Dong cursed, “So it’s you, you clown! If you’re going to eavesdrop, just do that—why put your arm around me?”

The goofy ghost picked his nose and replied, “What? I thought we were friends now. Isn’t it normal to put my arm around you?”

Hearing this lame excuse, the four of them shouted in unison, “Not normal at all!”

“I’ve been here all along—you just couldn’t see me!” The ghost kept picking his nose. “Ask the two Daoists if you don’t believe me! I witnessed Xiao Bao and Da Chun getting the ‘Beast Eye,’ and Zhi Zhang gaining the ‘Woman’s Eye.’”

“What!? What nonsense is that?” Ye Dong looked at the three in confusion. “You didn’t get the Divine Eye?”

The trio shook their heads, touching their noses. “No.”

“Then what are the Beast Eye and Woman’s Eye?”

Chen Yao smiled as he explained, “With the Beast Eye, you can understand the speech of animals. The Woman’s Eye lets you read a woman’s heart.”

“Wow!” Ye Dong’s eyes lit up. “Those are powerful skills!”

Xiao Bao smiled awkwardly, “Compared to yours, ours are far inferior.”

Chen Yao laughed heartily, “If you master these abilities, they’ll be invaluable. Each of you has your own talents, and it’s a rare fate that you’ve come together. Go on, thank your Grandmaster!”

The four knelt and sincerely thanked Daoist Wei Zi.

Daoist Wei Zi laughed. “Our Taiyi Celestial Sect may not have many members, but each is a formidable talent. The future of our sect is in your hands!”

…

After leaving the ancient well, the five returned to the safe house.

Ye Dong voiced his thoughts. “According to the clown ghost, it wasn’t Lord Wei who killed him, but Li Xing. Can we deduce that Li Xing was responsible for the killings, while Lord Wei handled the sorcery?”

Officer Li agreed. “As the leader of the tomb robbing gang, Lord Wei would never leave evidence of his crimes. The safest way is to have someone else do the dirty work, and Li Xing is the best candidate.”

Ye Dong clenched his fingers. “In other words, Li Xing is Lord Wei’s knife. If Lord Wei gets caught, Li Xing will be the scapegoat.”

Liang Lingzhi added, “If we can sow discord between them, we might find a way to break them from within.”

Officer Li nodded in understanding. “Exactly, it’s crucial. You all need to keep an eye on their actions and look for opportunities to drive a wedge between them.”

Less than twenty-four hours remained before Ye Dong entered the first ancient tomb for his adventure. Everyone present seemed tense; after all, once inside, Ye Dong and Hui Yan’s lives would hang by a thread. To be blunt, if something went wrong, even retrieving their bodies would be difficult.

“Nervous?” Ye Dong asked Hui Yan, who was sitting beside him.

Hui Yan smiled, lips pressed together. “Of course. You lunatic never stick to the script, and I’m just afraid you’ll end up in pieces.”

Ye Dong smiled serenely. “I have two treasures—no, three treasures.”

Hui Yan’s brows arched. “Aside from True Fire and Divine Eye, when Qinggang is in my hands, what third treasure do you have?”

Ye Dong chuckled. “I have the body of a Diamond Child!”

Hui Yan’s cheeks flushed faintly. “Nonsense. While you have time, you should rest.”

With that, she turned and left. From a distance, Liang Lingzhi watched the two, half-squinting, gazing at Hui Yan’s retreating figure and shaking her head with a sigh. “It seems Hui Yan truly doesn’t like Ye Dong. Brother Dong, looks like yours is just a one-sided love…”