At that moment, Lin Yun suddenly realized why Yan Hequn, the old man, had survived a thousand years in this place without dying—it was highly likely because he had cultivated *Withered Silence*.
Lin Yun immediately began memorizing the *Withered Silence* manual in his mind.
The process took a full four hours.
After fully committing *Withered Silence* to memory, Lin Yun retracted his divine sense and opened his eyes.
“This *Withered Silence*… I feel like I’ve heard of it somewhere before?” Lin Yun murmured.
“So, Lin Yun, I didn’t trick you, did I? Is this secret worth helping me for?” The white-haired old man, standing below the boulder, said with a smile.
During their journey, Lin Yun had shared his name, so the old man knew it.
“Senior Yan, since you’ve kept your word, I’ll keep mine. If I get a chance to leave, I’ll find a way to get you out too,” Lin Yun replied.
“What are your odds of getting out?” Yan Hequn looked at Lin Yun with eager anticipation.
“Conservatively, I’d say eighty to ninety percent,” Lin Yun said with a smile.
Lin Yun was confident that the Fire Cloud Emperor and Little Green Dragon would find a way to rescue him, which gave him such strong assurance.
“That high? Haha, great! Great!” The old man was overjoyed, practically jumping with excitement.
Lin Yun could fully understand his reaction. Anyone trapped here for a thousand years would lose control of their emotions at the prospect of escape.
“Lin Yun, if you get me out, I’ll owe you a huge favor!” The old man thumped his chest.
“Alright, I’ll start cultivating now.”
With that, Lin Yun closed his eyes and began comprehending *Withered Silence* in his mind.
*Withered Silence* was a pure body-refining technique.
It systematically categorized the strength of the physical body into eleven levels:
First Level: Mortal Body.
Second Level: Flawless Body.
Third Level: Diamond Body.
Fourth Level: Pure Yang Body.
Fifth Level: Myriad Forms Body.
Sixth Level: Heavenly Vast Body.
Seventh Level: Nirvana Body.
Eighth Level: Chaos Body.
Ninth Level: Origin Body.
Tenth Level: Indestructible Divine Body.
Eleხ: Eleventh Level: Sanctified Body (a legendary level; even the creator of *Withered Silence* never reached this stage).
Each level was further divided into early, middle, and late stages.
Lin Yun wasn’t sure which level his current physical strength corresponded to.
After all, his *Taixu Body Refining Technique* had reached the thirteenth stage, forging an extremely robust physique. Lin Yun had some confidence in his physical strength.
Not to mention compared to peers his age, even among Tribulation Realm cultivators, Lin Yun’s achievements in body-refining techniques surpassed most!
Considering that Lin Yun’s cultivation time was far shorter than those Tribulation Realm cultivators—who had practiced for hundreds or thousands of years—many of their body-refining techniques were inferior to his.
With his current physical strength, Lin Yun had an excellent foundation for cultivating any body-refining technique.
“Let’s begin!”
Lin Yun quickly entered a cultivation state, following the operational method of *Withered Silence*. He guided and transformed his inner strength through his meridians, converting it into golden specks of light.
Faint golden specks appeared within his body, then merged into every cell.
A faint golden glow enveloped Lin Yun’s body.
He could clearly feel his body undergoing changes!
Perhaps due to his strong physical foundation, this transformation didn’t take long before it ceased.
Lin Yun’s flesh, skin, muscles, bones, organs—all underwent a new transformation!
His physical body achieved a qualitative leap!
When the changes subsided, Lin Yun slowly opened his eyes.
Fourth Level, Pure Yang Body, Early Stage!
“Pure Yang Body, Early Stage—it’s a lot stronger than my previous physique!” Lin Yun smiled.
His previous physical strength was, at best, equivalent to the Third Level, Diamond Body, Middle Stage.
After cultivating *Withered Silence* for the first time, he directly reached Pure Yang Body, Early Stage—a significant improvement!
Without *Withered Silence*, he’d likely need to cultivate the *Taixu Body Refining Technique* to its sixteenth stage (out of sixteen) to achieve this level of physical strength.
In other words, Lin Yun’s current physical strength was roughly equivalent to the sixteenth stage of the *Taixu Body Refining Technique*.
“The first transformation with *Withered Silence* brought such a huge boost—not bad,” Lin Yun said with a satisfied smile.
He had always thought his physique was already formidable.
But according to *Withered Silence*’s classification of physical levels, his previous strength was only at the Diamond Body, Middle or Late Stage—hardly impressive.
It was like an ordinary student who excelled at basic mathematics, thinking they were strong, only to encounter advanced mathematics and realize how far they still had to go.
The *Taixu Body Refining Technique* was like ‘basic mathematics,’ while *Withered Silence* was ‘advanced mathematics.’
Undoubtedly, *Withered Silence* opened a new door for Lin Yun’s body-refining journey, giving him a fresh perspective and a more comprehensive, systematic understanding of body refinement.
“Let’s test it!”
Lin Yun slowly clenched his fist.
Boom!
A surge of immense power erupted from his body!
The strength unleashed at Pure Yang Body, Early Stage, was roughly equivalent to the sixteenth stage of *Taixu Power*.
Unlike other techniques, *Withered Silence* didn’t require a separate power manual. Upon reaching Pure Yang Body, every move naturally unleashed tremendous strength.
This was another distinction from the body-refining techniques Lin Yun had studied before.
No additional power manual was needed, yet the results were just as effective.
The white-haired old man stared at Lin Yun in astonishment. “You reached Pure Yang Body directly? Kid, you’re incredible! It took me centuries to reach Pure Yang Body, Early Stage, and I’m only at Late Stage now.”
“Senior Yan, my previous body-refining achievements were decent, so with a good foundation, cultivating *Withered Silence* came naturally,” Lin Yun said with a smile.
As he spoke, Lin Yun leaped down from the boulder.
Yan Hequn sighed. “That’s the difference. Even if we’re studying the same technique, I can’t compare. Your talent must be exceptional!”
“Reaching Pure Yang Body in one go relied on my prior foundation. Advancing further will require slow, steady cultivation, and it’ll likely be much harder,” Lin Yun said.
He knew how challenging *Withered Silence* was to cultivate!
“Don’t be ungrateful, kid. Pure Yang Body is already incredibly strong. Among Tribulation Realm cultivators, those who reach Pure Yang Body are one in ten thousand. *Withered Silence* is powerful, but each higher level is exponentially harder to achieve!” the old man said.
He continued, “By the way, kid, did you know? *Withered Silence* is one of the three supreme body-refining techniques of ancient times, created by a legendary powerhouse named ‘Withered Silence.’”
