Lately, Lin Yun’s training had all been about mastering mysteries—this retreat, though, was pure power-up time.
Body refining had always been key for him, his ace for punching above his weight!
Without it, facing high-tier foes, even with killer attacks, he’d crumble if his defense couldn’t keep up.
Decision made, Lin Yun entered the One Thought Clarity Tower to kick off this round of training.
Elsewhere.
Yi Cheng stormed out of Zhu Clan, fuming.
“Ungrateful sod, I invite him personally and he says no, if you don’t win the prefecture round, let’s see how you step down, you’ll never join Dongyuan Prefecture then—deluded fool!” Yi Cheng snarled.
Meanwhile.
Lin Yun was deep in training mode.
Body refining gobbled spirit crystals, especially at his level—the consumption was insane, but he was flush for now, no worries there.
Three months outside meant fifteen months in the One Thought Clarity Tower.
Plenty of time to level up.
Two months in.
His body strength had been creeping up.
Now, Taixu Body Refining’s eleventh layer was done!
It’d chewed through 10.24 million spirit crystals.
Next layer? 20.48 million—a sum most Mahayana realm cultivators couldn’t dream of.
“Body toughness is noticeably up, next, Taixu Power can hit eleventh too,” Lin Yun said with a grin.
His physique now? First- and second-rank Mahayana realm cultivators could hack at him standing still and not scratch him.
Barring freaks with crazy leapfrog skills, of course.
Then, he tackled Taixu Power.
With eleventh-layer Body Refining locked in, it took just two days to nail eleventh-layer Taixu Power.
His strength jumped again.
No doubt, he’d climbed another rung!
During this, he tried pushing Taixu Body Refining to the twelfth layer—too soon.
Forcing it meant inhuman pain and snail’s-pace progress, his body hitting limits fast.
“Probably need Tribulation realm to keep climbing,” he mused.
After testing, he shelved Body Refining, shifting focus.
“Hm? Fire Mystery’s back!”
Right then, he noticed his Fire Mystery had recovered.
Since eating the Fire-Warding Spirit Fruit, he’d been locked out of it, like he’d never grasped it.
From the fruit to now—plus Water Mystery training—over ten months in the tower, recovery in just under a year wasn’t odd.
With Fire Mystery back, he could fuse four mysteries.
“Next, soul-sense,” Lin Yun murmured.
It’d been ages since he last trained it—last big jump was the Devil Fruit from the Ten Thousand Flowers Contest, boosting him four ranks.
Crossing the beast mountains left no time, and in Fire Cloud Empire, he’d gone all-in on mysteries.
Soul-sense was another clutch card for leapfrog fights.
Now, he could settle in and grind it.
He dove into Fire Carving Flow sculpting in the tower.
Training time flew like a fleeting horse—three months gone in a flash.
…
Inside the One Thought Clarity Tower.
Lin Yun wielded a carving knife on a stone, fast then slow, sweat beading on his forehead.
No inner strength here—just wrist power and Fire Mystery fusion, tough work.
His technique stood apart from other cultivators.
Focus was key too.
Finally, he stopped.
A lifelike statue stood before him.
Pretty damn good.
But he stared, lost in thought.
“Two months, carving’s improved a bit, soul-sense too, but not much,” he muttered.
“My Fire Carving Flow’s hit a wall, big leaps in skill are tough now.”
Even stalled, daily carving with this level still honed his soul-sense faster than most cultivators by miles.
But he wasn’t content to plateau.
His eyes lit up, “Wait, I can fuse multiple mysteries now—why not mix others into Fire Mystery for carving?”
A wild idea—what’d happen?
He had to try!
First, he’d blend in Water Mystery, clashing with Fire—what’d that do?
“Let’s go!”
No hesitation—he grabbed a fresh boulder and started.
Half an hour later.
*Boom!*
Mid-carve, the statue collapsed into rubble.
“No good, fusing these wrecks the sculpture,” Lin Yun eyed the mess, wryly chuckling.
“Or maybe my control’s off? Again!” He wasn’t quitting easy.
Failure ate time and energy, but exploring the unknown meant flops.
Didn’t stop him.
Soon, another collapse—failure.
“Try other mystery combos,” he pressed on.
Failure!
Failure!
Failure again!
