The old man continued, “However, tens of thousands of years ago, *Withered Silence* was already lost. I never expected it to be hidden in this Land of Exile, and in such an unremarkable place. If I hadn’t stumbled upon it, *Withered Silence* might never have seen the light of day again.”
“One of the three supreme body-refining techniques of ancient times?” Lin Yun was shocked.
Then, he suddenly recalled that he had once read about the three supreme body-refining techniques of ancient times in an old text. One was still in circulation, but the other two were lost.
*Withered Silence* was one of the lost ones, named by Master Withered Silence after his own title. It was the culmination of his life’s work in cultivating the physical body, his proudest creation.
When Lin Yun had read the text, it only briefly mentioned this, and he had glanced over it with a sigh before moving on.
Now, with Yan Hequn’s words, Lin Yun fully remembered.
“This *Withered Silence* body-refining technique is truly remarkable. It greatly enhanced my physical strength, but its cultivation difficulty is equally immense. Of course, if we can’t leave this place, no matter how powerful the technique, it’s all for nothing,” the old man said.
Lin Yun, however, stared at the boulder, lost in thought.
How did Master Withered Silence die? And why was *Withered Silence* sealed here?
In the Land of Exile, there were countless boulders like this one. Discovering that this particular stone contained *Withered Silence* was nearly impossible.
Even immortals who had explored this Land of Exile in the past likely never found it.
“The master leads you to the door, but cultivation depends on you. Lin Yun, you’ve obtained *Withered Silence*, but how far you can take it is up to you,” the old man said.
He added, “By the way, Lin Yun, you can try absorbing the ‘desolate energy’ in the air of this Land of Exile to cultivate *Withered Silence*. It has a remarkable effect! I’ve tested it!”
Lin Yun didn’t respond, still fixated on the boulder, pondering the questions from earlier.
Why was such a powerful technique like *Withered Silence* sealed here?
Lin Yun felt there was more to it!
After thinking, he tried extending his divine sense into the boulder again to investigate.
“Don’t bother. I’ve already checked. There’s nothing in the boulder besides *Withered Silence*,” the old man said.
Lin Yun probed with his divine sense again and found no other discoveries.
He then placed his hand on the boulder, circulating his inner strength, but still found nothing unusual.
After trying various methods, he came up empty-handed.
“Is there really nothing else?” Lin Yun could only give up, frustrated.
He still felt it wasn’t that simple, but he truly found no anomalies.
“I told you, there’s nothing else,” the old man said.
“By the way, Senior Yan, you mentioned using ‘desolate energy’ to cultivate. What did you mean?” Lin Yun turned to the old man.
“The Land of Exile is filled with extremely volatile primordial energy, called ‘desolate energy’ for short,” the old man explained.
He continued, “Because this desolate energy is so volatile, absorbing it to cultivate your realm would, at best, shatter your meridians, and at worst, kill you. It’s like a potent poison. The reason this Land of Exile is considered a ‘great ominous place’ is precisely because of the high concentration of desolate energy!”
“But *Withered Silence* can convert desolate energy to temper and strengthen the body, with extraordinary results!”
“I see, I understand!” Lin Yun nodded in realization.
Woo! Woo!
The fierce winds still howled, carrying ghostly wails.
With his body now at the Pure Yang Body stage, combined with circulating inner strength and the Heart of Frost, the Land of Exile’s effects on Lin Yun were minimal, though some pain lingered.
“Senior Yan, if you’ve been here nearly a thousand years, absorbing desolate energy daily, your physical realm should be higher than just Pure Yang Body, Late Stage, right?” Lin Yun asked, puzzled.
“Who absorbs this stuff every day? I only persisted for the first hundred years after getting *Withered Silence*. I haven’t absorbed much desolate energy since,” the old man said.
“Oh? Why not?” Lin Yun asked, curious.
“You’ll understand once you try cultivating it,” the old man said with a mischievous grin.
Lin Yun sat down cross-legged and began absorbing the desolate energy in the air.
As the volatile desolate energy entered his body, it felt like a powerful explosive.
“Hiss!”
Lin Yun’s expression shifted slightly.
Absorbing this desolate energy came with considerable pain!
Moreover, in this wretched place, cultivating required full focus, preventing Lin Yun from circulating inner strength to resist the external torment.
The external environment’s agony, combined with the pain of desolate energy coursing through his body, created a dual assault that was excruciating!
Seeing the flicker of pain on Lin Yun’s face, the old man grinned smugly.
“Haha, kid, now you know why I stopped absorbing desolate energy? It’s effective, sure, but it’s too torturous, especially in this environment. It’s practically a fate worse than death!”
He continued, “Back then, I had no hope of leaving. No matter how strong I got, it was useless. Why keep torturing myself with desolate energy? So I stopped cultivating.”
Lin Yun didn’t respond. Instead, he quickly followed the meridian pathways of *Withered Silence*, guiding the desolate energy through a cycle before merging it into his flesh.
“The effect is indeed impressive!”
Lin Yun’s eyes lit up.
Using desolate energy to cultivate *Withered Silence* was noticeably effective!
As for the pain of absorbing desolate energy, Lin Yun could endure it.
After a short while, he became familiar with the process.
“Increase the intensity!”
Lin Yun began absorbing larger amounts of desolate energy.
While desolate energy was effective for cultivation, with Lin Yun’s Pure Yang Body, his physical level was already high. Advancing even one stage was extremely difficult and required vast amounts of energy.
Moments later.
“Not enough, increase it further!”
Lin Yun ramped up the absorption even more.
Woo! Woo!
A small vortex even formed above Lin Yun’s head as the surrounding desolate energy surged toward him.
With the increased absorption, the pain skyrocketed!
It was a process of pain mixed with satisfaction.
“What?”
The old man’s face changed drastically as he witnessed this, staring at Lin Yun as if he were a madman or a monster.
“This… this kid’s insane, absorbing it like that?” The old man swallowed hard, his throat dry.
Just watching made him shudder.
Sweat beaded on Lin Yun’s forehead, but he didn’t slow his absorption!
“Haha, exhilarating!” Lin Yun laughed instead.
Being thrown into the Land of Exile was meant to torment him.
But now, it had turned into an opportunity, and this place had become a cultivation haven!
This stroke of fortune naturally thrilled Lin Yun!
“Damn, what a lunatic! A lunatic!” Seeing Lin Yun laugh, the old man couldn’t help but curse.
