The euphoria on Mo Fan's face lasted less than three seconds before it died completely.
"What the..."
Because he watched—with his own eyes—as that enormous flood of liquid spiritual energy surged through his meridians...
Poured into his Dantian, and then vanished without leaving a single trace.
Not one drop retained. It turned around and dispersed back into the air as if it had never entered at all.
Like a draft of wind passing through an open corridor.
Mo Fan knew this feeling intimately.
It was exactly like cramming for finals—forcing all that dense, complex material into your head...
Only to feel every single key concept glide smoothly across your smooth brain and disappear without leaving so much as a scratch.
When the cultivation technique completed one full cycle and stilled, Mo Fan looked inward at his Dantian.
Empty. As always.
Nothing remained except the same pitiful, barely visible speck of weak spiritual energy at the very absolute center—so faint it was almost insulting.
All that thunder, and barely a drop of rain!
Refusing to accept it, Mo Fan forced the technique to run several more cycles.
He pushed [ Death Vision ] to its absolute limit and stared hard at every microscopic change inside his body...
Trying to find where all that massive amount of spiritual energy was actually leaking to.
However, no matter how thoroughly he scanned, his body gave nothing away.
"Second-tier still isn't enough."
Mo Fan stopped his futile attempts and let out a long sigh, arriving at a brutally pragmatic conclusion.
To see the real secret of this body clearly, I probably need Death Vision at the third tier. And the third tier...
He glanced at the System panel.
That required reaching LV. 21—the equivalent of stepping into the Golden Core realm!
From his current level to LV. 21 was a chasm so wide it bordered on despair.
Mo Fan rubbed his throbbing temples and sank into a deep, frustrated silence.
Lack of resources.
The outer and middle layers of the underground mine pit had already been picked nearly clean—by him and his skeletons both.
The Tier-2 demon beasts that provided meaningful experience took centuries to mature. They weren't cabbages in a field.
You couldn't harvest them today and expect a fresh crop to grow back tomorrow.
Go deeper?
The thought surfaced for exactly one second before Mo Fan shuddered violently.
The moment he recalled that bizarre creature at the bottom of the strange sinkhole...
And that mental attack that had nearly flatlined his brain from a massive distance—his scalp went numb all over again.
He had absolutely no desire to repeat the torture of jumping back and forth on the threshold of the gates of hell again.
But then, just as he sat there grinding his teeth in frustration, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck Mo Fan's mind!
He recalled the side chamber in Lin Dong's hall—those neatly arranged skeletons. Giant apes. Fierce tigers. Savage wolves.
The residual pressure radiating from those beast bones indicated they were absolutely all above Tier-2 (Foundation Establishment) in life...
And there were even terrifying existences approaching Tier-3!
An extremely bold, extremely shameless plan gradually took shape in Mo Fan's mind.
Old man Lin Dong is a genuine Golden Core stage mighty figure!
Mo Fan's eyes grew brighter and brighter by the second. A faint green gleam entered them.
If I can find a reasonable excuse to get this Golden Core powerhouse to carry me...
Have him hunt down high-tier demon beasts and beat them half to death...
And then let me land the killing blow?!
The thought alone made him rub his hands together on the stone bed with barely contained excitement.
The next morning.
The morning mist had not yet dispersed.
The disciples of Hundred Forging Peak were scattered in small clusters at the base of the mountain gate, chatting idly.
Lin Dong's summons had gathered them all together on this rare occasion, giving this desolate peak an unusual trace of human vitality.
Right at this moment, they witnessed an extremely solemn and stirring scene.
They saw Junior Brother Lu Xiaoqi—spine ramrod straight, expression heavy as a condemned death squad soldier marching to his execution...
Walking step by deliberate step toward Lin Dong's residence with the grim resolve of someone who had already made peace with death.
"Is Junior Brother... going to be the old lunatic's guinea pig again?"
Zhao Ziwei held his bowl, his eyes turning red.
"What a man!"
Eldest Senior Brother Wu Mang was so moved he nearly wept, slapping his knee hard.
"Junior Brother is actively sacrificing himself for the peace of our Hundred Forging Peak—throwing himself into the fire so Elder Lin doesn't cause disasters for the rest of us!"
"We absolutely have to treat him better from now on!"
The disciples rose to their feet one by one.
They watched Mo Fan's "heroic" retreating figure in silence, silently giving him a thumbs up...
Their eyes filled with boundless admiration and high esteem.
Meanwhile, the "heroic" Mo Fan was already standing inside Lin Dong's stone hall.
"Oh? You say you gained considerable insights from contemplating the [ Form-Intention Fist ] last night?"
Lin Dong sat on his jade throne and looked down at Mo Fan's respectful expression at the bottom of the steps.
A flicker of surprise passed through those sunken eyes.
"Yes, Elder."
Mo Fan clasped his hands together, his tone earnest—even carrying a trace of fanaticism.
"This disciple spent last night repeatedly deducing the principles of Form-Intention Fist in his mind—the essence of mimicking the force generation of a hundred beasts."
"Although I gained some small insight, I always feel that fighting on paper ultimately feels superficial."
"If I cannot personally observe the combat postures of high-tier beasts, if I cannot verify the fist technique in real life-or-death combat..."
"I fear this disciple will never truly grasp the heart of this Form-Intention Fist, no matter how long I study it!"
"Therefore, this disciple presumes to make a bold request:"
"I beseech the Elder to take me deep into the mountains, find one or two powerful ferocious beasts, and allow me to fight them with my life on the line—to verify the Great Dao through blood and bone!"
Every word landed with weight. The delivery was righteous and resolute.
Hearing this, Lin Dong felt a deep satisfaction settle over him.
After all, in the Mystic Realm's cultivation world, the concept of "power-leveling by killing monsters for experience" simply did not exist.
From Lin Dong's perspective, the young man before him wasn't just a prime experimental subject with excellent physical constitution...
He was a genuinely hardworking seeker of the Dao, the kind willing to temper himself between life and death!
"Good! 'Fighting on paper ultimately feels superficial'—well said! What courage!"
Lin Dong shot to his feet and laughed twice, loud and sharp.
"This old man will grant your wish today! Let's go!"
Before the words had fully left his mouth, his wide sleeve swept outward.
CLANG——!
A blinding streak of cyan sword-light wrapped around both of them instantly.
Golden Core sword-riding speed was in an entirely different category from Foundation Establishment flight—the difference between clouds and mud.
Mo Fan felt his vision blur.
In the span of a single breath, they had crossed a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers, plunging directly into the depths of a primordial mountain range.
The moment they landed, before Mo Fan even had time to settle his churning stomach...
He acutely perceived it—from within the dense ancient forest surrounding them, the faint but unmistakable pressure of auras.
Every single one starting at Foundation Establishment, minimum.
"Just stay here and do not move. This old man will return shortly."
Lin Dong dropped those words and vanished on the spot.
"..."
Mo Fan swallowed his saliva. Before he had even fully adjusted to the danger of his surroundings...
BOOM!
A loud bang split the sky above.
Less than half a cup of tea's worth of time had passed, and Lin Dong's silhouette reappeared in mid-air once again.
Dangling casually from his hand was a giant ape beast—three full zhang tall...
Covered in iron-gray fur all over, and radiating a terrifying, ferocious pressure!
It was just that this originally insufferably arrogant Foundation Establishment beast had clearly been on the receiving end of a unilateral, brutal beating from Lin Dong at this moment.
Covered in flowing fresh blood and with a guttering aura...
It was thrown by Lin Dong like a dead dog, smashing onto the open ground in front of Mo Fan with a thud.
This was the terrifying chasm between major cultivation realms.
Before a Golden Core cultivator, a Foundation Establishment demon beast didn't even have the qualification to run away.
Swish——!
Lin Dong extended two fingers like a sword and casually drew a closed formation barrier across the ground—a circle ten zhang in diameter...
Sealing Mo Fan and that giant ape inside together.
"Although this wild monkey is at late-stage Tier-2, this old man has already severely injured it and sealed off more than half of its true essence."
Lin Dong stood outside the barrier with his hands behind his back...
His tone as casual as a teacher arranging an in-class pop quiz.
"Its current strength should be roughly comparable to yours. Go. Do not hold back; let this old man see your comprehension!"
Inside the barrier.
ROAARRR——!!!
The giant ape's eyes had already gone completely bloodshot.
With murderous intent boiling, it beat its chest and unleashed a deafening roar!
Mo Fan looked at this ferocious beast before him—three zhang tall, bleeding...
Yet still brimming with a sense of terrifying oppression despite having critically low HP.
He silently swallowed his saliva, clenched his fists tightly, and assumed the starting stance of the [ Form-Intention Fist ].
Listening to the ape's heavy, ragged panting. Looking at the sealed barrier surrounding him on all sides.
The corner of Mo Fan's eye twitched violently, letting out an extremely helpless complaint in his heart.
Old man... you've basically just thrown me into an MMA cage fight here?!