"Now he's choosing which injuries are profitable…"
The minor damage continuously refined Lin Diyu's blood. He turned his enemies' hatred into his own physical armor. Every drop of blood he shed was immediately paid back in a surge of red Ink that knitted his flesh tighter and denser than before.
He reached the Fifth Verse. The Resonant Verse.
By the twenty-fourth day, the entire dynamic of the mountain had shifted.
The Blotted Banner mercenaries began to panic. Morale collapsed. They abandoned their outer patrols entirely and consolidated their forces higher up the mountain.
Lin Diyu pursued them relentlessly.
The gorge opened into a wider clearing, bisected by a roaring and ash-choked river. The water raged violently against the jagged rocks, drowning out the sounds of the wind.
Waiting beyond the bridge was a reinforced squad of Blotted Banner mercenaries.
