"I heard your squad recruited a newcomer, so I came to take a look."

The alluring woman swept her beautiful eyes around and finally fixed them on Lou Yi: "Is it this young gentleman? He does seem quite talented."

"Haha, the people I recruit can't be bad, can they?" Shi Caifeng enthusiastically invited the alluring woman into the tent.

As soon as they entered, she couldn't resist reaching out to hug the other's soft waist, but was cleverly evaded.

"Hehe, Little Fengfeng, you're not being honest." The alluring woman laughed with a sound like silver bells.

"How have you been, Sister Yue?"

"Alas, still the same, neither dead nor alive. You know the strength of my squad, we can only wander around nearby, not daring to venture deep into the mountains."

"Have you considered changing bosses?"

"Hmph, is there any good boss? Those dog men look at me as if they'd devour me whole."

"Hehe, why not come to me, it's safe here." Shi Caifeng laughed.

"You? Not much better than them." The alluring woman gave Shi Caifeng a charming glance, seemingly rejecting, yet with a hint of flirtation.

The two chatted for a while, and then the woman left.

Shi Caifeng watched the other woman's hips sway as she left, unable to help swallowing.

Meanwhile, Wang Yiwen was already so angry her cheeks were flushed red, sulking back in the innermost part of the tent.

'She's quite the player.' Lou Yi was speechless.

Shi Caifeng was quite a rarity, even in his previous life.

However, this had nothing to do with him.

Currently, he only wanted to focus on hunting monsters and collecting energy.

In the following days.

Lou Yi followed the members of Cai Feng Squad, hunting monsters.

Such as the Wild Boar Spirit, a massive insect much larger than the one outside the city, and a black giant python over thirty feet long.

During breaks, he would also venture alone into the mountains to find traces of monsters.

However, the efficiency was still too low; he hadn't found a single one yet.

Though he did come across other squads transporting intact monsters, taking advantage of inspections to pick up energy scraps.

In just five days, his energy broke through 60, reaching the conditions for advancing his Petrification Talent.

Finding a quiet and safe area.

Lou Yi took out three Stone Spirits and one Phoenix Blood Stone, placing them in the palms of his hands, sitting cross-legged on the ground.

He looked at his attribute panel, mentally reciting advancement.

The stones in his hands melted at a speed visible to the naked eye, absorbed by his palms, leaving only some gray residue.

The talent section instantly changed: the state of Petrification advanced from proficient to expert.

A new memory formed in his mind:

It was still that familiar Monkey King.

Leading the group foraging during the day, lying on that sunken stone at night, absorbing the moon's essence under its light.

Its strength grew daily and nightly, eventually becoming the true king of the forest.

A hundred years later, its loved ones and children all aged and died, while the Monkey King remained youthful.

Yet its heart often dwelled in loneliness and torment.

One day, finally tired, it left the group and the mystical stone to die quietly alone.

Unbeknownst to it, bathing in moonlight for a century had awakened its body cells to automatically absorb moonlight. Even away from the stone, it was unaffected.

Even during the day, without seeing the moon, it could still receive its energy.

The Monkey King wanted death, yet its vitality grew stronger, each strand of fur emitting light, its skin more translucent...

In reality, Lou Yi opened his eyes, welcoming the sudden influx of energy into the void.

This energy quickly improved his internal organs, bones, blood, Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and countless cells.

The introduction to the Petrification Talent was as before:

Petrification (Passive): The strength of the body increases slowly over time.

Petrification (Active): You can choose to petrify a specific part of the body's surface for a short duration. The duration and area of petrification will increase with talent improvement.

The initial entry-level talent covered only palm-sized areas, while the proficient level covered an arm-sized area.

So, what about the expert level?

Lou Yi mentally recited 'Petrification'.

Immediately, most of his upper body was covered in a layer of gray-white.

This meant that after using the talent, he could have an additional layer of defense, equivalent to common leather armor, without any added bulk, not affecting agility at all.

As for wanting to further enhance defense.

With a thought, Lou Yi's upper body's gray-white receded like a tide, turning into more durable porcelain white, but could only cover one arm.

The defense capability of the porcelain white Petrification Talent had been tested before and was comparable to ordinary steel.

Lou Yi wasn't satisfied, continuing to test, reducing the petrification area.

The porcelain white on his arm quickly faded, leaving only a jade white fist.

The skin's surface shimmered with a slight sheen, like genuine white jade.

He took a plain knife made of hundred-refined steel with his left hand, pressing it forcefully across the surface of his right fist.

'Screech...'

A piercing sound rang out.

The edge of the plain knife instantly had fine notches.

This indicated that the jade white skin's strength had already surpassed hundred-refined steel.

Trying with the Profound Iron Axe, using seventy percent force, sparks flew, and only then did the jade white skin yield a wound.

And Lou Yi's seventy percent force amounted to several thousand pounds.

This meant that even ordinary martial artists wielding Profound Iron Weapons couldn't penetrate his skin in its strongest state.

'This talent, the more it advances, the more comprehensive it becomes in the later stages.'

'I truly look forward to the day of mastery, covering the whole body, how truly despairing that would be...'

Lou Yi looked at his attribute panel:

[Name: Lou Yi]

[Age: 19/62]

[Realm: One-Blood Warrior (34/600)]

[Cultivation Technique: Yellow Extreme Breathing Technique (Stage One, Expert 0/100 + Seven Heart-Eroding Grass + One Bone-piercing Orchid), Hu Family Breathing Technique (Uninitiated 0/10)]

[Skills: Lou's Axe Skill (Expert 0/100), Extreme Fist (Proficient 0/30), Stone Throwing (Expert 0/30), Light Body Technique (Expert 0/60), Basic Spear Technique (Entry 0/6), Secret Skill: Dragon Piercing Technique - Fragment (One), Qi Locking Technique (Entry 0/3)]

[Talents: Petrification (Expert 0/200 + 10 Stone Spirits + 3 Phoenix Blood Stones + 1 White Dew Stone)]

[Energy: 3]

With the talent's improvement, his age once again increased by two years, reaching sixty-two.

It seems that to significantly increase his lifespan, he could only rely on the advancement of the martial artist realm.

And the next level of talent had an almost terrifying resource requirement, a full two hundred energy points, plus that White Dew Stone he had never heard of.

...

With the advancement completed, Lou Yi returned to the camp.

Inside the tent.

"Qingde, have you heard of the White Dew Stone?" Lou Yi asked.

"The White Dew Stone, it's an extremely cold material, capable of freezing water," Shi Qingde said slowly, "It's a rare mineral used in forging certain exotic weapons, which I've read about in old texts."

These so-called exotic weapons were special armaments made by combining Profound Iron, monster bones, and other materials.

Not only did they surpass ordinary Profound Iron Weapons in hardness but also possessed some magical properties.

However, they're incredibly difficult to forge, with very few people in Wangjiang County capable, making them extremely precious, and difficult for martial artists to own at this level.

However, Lou Yi wasn't expecting to find one immediately, taking it slow.

"Why are you looking for such a thing, to forge a Divine Weapon?" Shi Qingde asked, puzzled.

"No, just asking."

The two were chatting.

"Little Fengfeng..."

At this time, a charming voice suddenly came from outside the tent.

'Boom boom boom!'

Shi Caifeng ran barefoot from the innermost part of the tent, her face filled with excitement.

"Sister Yue, how come you have time to visit today?"

The visitor was none other than the alluring woman Lou Yi had met a few days ago, whose real name was Liu Yue.

"I have a favor to ask of you." Liu Yue was wearing sheer purple clothing, with her fair skin faintly visible beneath.

Making Shi Caifeng's breathing noticeably heavier.

"We've known each other for so long, Sister Yue, no need to be formal. What is it?"

"On Mingxia Mountain, we discovered a Red Crowned Bird, as tall as a person. It's likely become a spirit. Would you like to cooperate with us to catch it?"

"Red Crowned Bird?" Shi Caifeng's eyes lit up hearing that.

Her focus instantly shifted from Liu Yue.

...

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