After cleaning his body, Yang Kai finally picked up the bottle of Blood-Coagulating, Bruise-Dispelling Ointment and held it beneath his nose, gently taking a sniff.
He discovered that the medicine really was fragrant.
He immediately felt refreshed and invigorated, unconsciously shaking his head in appreciation.
He removed the bottle cap and scooped out some ointment, preparing to apply it to his injuries.
But Yang Kai suddenly stopped.
He hurriedly brought over a bowl of water, placed the ointment from his fingertip into the water, and carefully stirred it until it was evenly mixed.
Only then did he begin treating his wounds with the diluted medicinal water.
Although Blood-Coagulating, Bruise-Dispelling Ointment was quite effective for external injuries, after being diluted like this, its effectiveness would undoubtedly be greatly reduced.
But Yang Kai had only this one bottle of ointment.
Naturally, he had to use it sparingly.
After using up the entire bowl of medicinal water, Yang Kai finally finished treating his injuries.
However, something puzzled him.
The smell of the Blood-Coagulating, Bruise-Dispelling Ointment seemed different from what he had smelled earlier.
Not only was it no longer fragrant, it even had a slightly pungent and spicy odor.
After getting dressed, Yang Kai picked up a blackened roasted sweet potato from the stove and swallowed it down in a few large bites.
Then he collapsed onto the bed and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Light streamed through several holes in the roof, making the little hut appear somewhat bright.
The furnishings inside were extremely simple.
There was only a bed.
There were not even any tables or chairs.
Even on the bed itself, there was only a piece of deerskin bedding about the size of a tabletop and a square black stone pillow.
These were all of Yang Kai’s possessions.
The deerskin bedding had come from a deer Yang Kai had once hunted.
He had skinned it and dried the hide himself.
Although it was not very thick, it was just enough to keep out the cold.
As for the black stone pillow, Yang Kai had found it on one occasion when he left High Heaven Pavilion and went hunting in the Black Wind Mountains behind the sect.
The black stone was perfectly rectangular.
It was one foot long and three fingers thick.
It looked like stone, but when touched, it did not feel like stone.
It also did not have the weight of stone.
Yang Kai had no idea what it actually was.
In any case, it worked extremely well as a pillow, so he had never bothered thinking too deeply about it.
Yang Kai had been sleeping on this black stone pillow for more than a year.
He did not know whether it was merely his imagination, but whenever he slept on it, he always seemed to fall asleep very easily.
While sleeping, Yang Kai dreamed of the battle from earlier that day.
Again and again, Junior Brother Zhou Dingjun sent him flying.
Again and again, Yang Kai stood back up.
The unwillingness to yield and the determination within his heart continued to ferment, while hot blood surged violently through his chest.
As the dream continued, the hot blood in his chest surged more and more fiercely.
The sleeping Yang Kai’s face twisted in pain.
Yet his expression remained incomparably resolute.
Within his heart existed an unwavering persistence.
Even if his feet had to tread across mountains of blades or his body had to be roasted in seas of fire, he would still face it without fear.
Yang Kai, still trapped within his dream, failed to notice that the black stone pillow beneath his head had begun emitting a deep and mysterious glow.
As Yang Kai’s emotions rose and fell, the glow grew increasingly intense.
Within the dream, Yang Kai continued reliving what had happened that morning.
Zhou Dingjun knocked him to the ground over and over again.
When Yang Kai stood up for what seemed like the thousandth time, the stubbornness and determination that had been building within his heart suddenly erupted.
Without hesitation, he charged forward and violently knocked Zhou Dingjun down.
The moment Zhou Dingjun fell, his appearance suddenly blurred.
Then, astonishingly, he transformed into Yang Kai himself.
At that moment, Yang Kai’s emotions finally became calm.
He did not become calm because he had defeated his opponent in the dream.
He became calm because he had defeated himself.
He had overcome the fear and submission within his own heart.
A faint but extraordinary sensation naturally rose from within him.
It felt as though there was no longer anything in the world—
no person, no matter, no force—
that could ever make him submit.
In reality, the black stone pillow beneath Yang Kai’s head suddenly erupted with a burst of black light.
The black light spiraled out from the stone and hovered in midair for several moments.
Then it entered Yang Kai through the Baihui Acupoint at the top of his head and instantly disappeared.
At the same time, an ancient and desolate aura descended.
It was like the overwhelming force of an ocean tide.
Like the crushing might of a collapsing avalanche.
Before this aura, any person would seem utterly insignificant.
Yang Kai suddenly opened his eyes.
His entire body was drenched in sweat, and lingering fear still gripped his heart.
That aura had awakened him.
After calming himself, Yang Kai gave a dry laugh.
To think that he had actually frightened himself awake because of a dream.
It really was somewhat ridiculous.
He rubbed his face and used the light coming through the holes in the roof to judge the time.
Immediately, he felt annoyed.
He had actually slept for two full hours.
It was already almost evening.
Yang Kai hurriedly got up.
He lifted the deerskin bedding off his body, carefully folded it, and then adjusted the position of the black stone pillow.
Just as he was about to get out of bed, Yang Kai suddenly frowned.
He turned his head and stared blankly at the black stone pillow.
Something felt…
different.
Puzzled, Yang Kai reached out and picked up the black stone pillow again.
The moment he weighed it in his hand, he discovered that something really had changed.
The thing had actually become much lighter.
Strange.
How could a stone suddenly become lighter?
Yang Kai casually tossed it upward.
And with that toss, a problem immediately appeared.
It was as though a thick, heavy book had been thrown into the air.
The pages suddenly spread open with a rustling sound.
Yang Kai stared in stunned disbelief and actually forgot to reach out and catch it.
Smack!
The black stone pillow fell to the ground.
Yang Kai continued staring at it in disbelief.
Shockingly, the black stone pillow had actually opened up on the ground exactly like a book.
Wasn’t this a stone?
How had it suddenly turned into a book?
Yang Kai had slept on this black stone pillow for more than a year.
No one understood what it looked like better than he did.
He had never discovered that it was actually a book before.
How had it suddenly changed today?
It was like an old turtle suddenly shedding its shell and turning into a snake.
Only after a long while did Yang Kai bend down and pick up the black book.
The instant it entered his hands, a strange feeling suddenly rose within his heart.
It felt as though the book and his bloodline were somehow connected.
Yang Kai carefully examined it from beginning to end.
Eventually, he had no choice but to admit that the black stone pillow truly was a book.
It had a thick cover.
Its pages were also thick.
But what left him speechless was that there was not a single written character anywhere inside the black book.
Every page was completely blank.
Furthermore, Yang Kai could not understand what material the pages were made from.
He gently tried tearing one with his hand.
Unexpectedly, he could not tear it at all.
This truly was interesting.
He had slept on this thing for more than a year, yet only today had he discovered its true appearance.
But what use was a black book without any words?
Yang Kai turned it over and examined it repeatedly, but discovered nothing.
Almost as if driven by some unseen force, Yang Kai opened the book to the first page.
Refusing to believe there was truly nothing there, he widened his eyes and stared intensely at the completely blank page.
Only a moment passed before Yang Kai suddenly noticed a change.
As he focused his attention, the ancient and desolate aura that had appeared in his dream once again descended.
A line of large golden characters slowly appeared before Yang Kai’s eyes.
“With blood as the guide, the Golden Body shall descend. Until the Divine Art is complete, the Golden Body shall not perish!”
The aura struck directly into his heart.
Yang Kai abruptly slammed the black book shut.
His hands and feet trembled uncontrollably.
Only after taking several deep breaths did he finally manage to calm himself somewhat.
Yang Kai did not know what kind of secret this black book contained.
He only knew that the object he had picked up in the Black Wind Mountains probably possessed an extraordinary origin.
After remaining silent for a long time, Yang Kai opened the black book again.
This time, he immediately saw the lines of golden characters on the first page.
So…
it had not been a dream.
Gradually, several additional lines of writing slowly appeared.
“Proud Bone Golden Body, dominating all beneath the heavens. Only an unyielding soul is worthy of making it descend!”
Eight lines.
Thirty-two characters.
They filled the entire page.
The words gave off an overwhelming feeling—
as though between heaven and earth, only one existence stood supreme.
It was almost as if even the words themselves were filled with a cold and domineering authority.