11 The Reason for the Change

The training grounds were empty. Due to the moisture at night and because of the cold weather, a layer of dew had covered the rock weights, speckling them white.

All of these rock weights were made out of azure steel. They were not worn down by the elements bearing down on them for centuries.

In this wilderness, people used catties, picul and cauldrons as measurements of a martial artist's strength.

The measurement of catties was similar to that of Earth, which was half a kilogram. A picul was a hundred catties. A cauldron weighed ten piculs, so it weighed a thousand catties, or five hundred kilograms.

Seeing that the place was empty, he went and stood in front of the row of rock weights and chose a fifty catty rock weight, or twenty-five kilograms. He wiped the dew off the rock weight and lowered his body. Rise!

The rock was lighter than Yi Yun expected. He could lift it using one hand!

Yi Yun was delighted; it was as he guessed!

Following that, Yi Yun chose a fifty-kilogram rock weight.

This time, it was a bit tougher to lift it with one hand. With both hands however, it was easy once again.

Taking a deep breath, Yi Yun stood in front of a hundred-kilogram rock weight. He squatted down and placed both of his hands under the rock weight, he then tightened his muscles as strength arose from his hip to his feet.

"Rise!" Yi Yun gritted his teeth and lifted the hundred-kilogram rock weight above his head!

"I've raised it!" Yi Yun was delighted. He held it up for about three minutes before he threw the rock weight on the floor.

To be able to lift a hundred-kilogram rock weight, which was about three times the weight of a twelve year old boy, it would be something mind-blowing on Earth.

His strength had increased exponentially overnight!

And strength wasn't the only thing; the increase in his speed was even greater!

As a child, strength was his main weakness, and it was much worse than adults. However, his speed was comparable. Previously when he faced Zhao Tiezhu's attack, Yi Yun was convinced that his speed was at least twice that of his opponent's!

His body had undergone a tremendous change!

Thinking back about when he vomited black blood and the dirty sweat, that was probably the legendary marrow cleansing.

His body, which had a terribly poor foundation, had undergone a tremendous increase in both strength and speed after the marrow cleansing!

The transformation was without question a result of the Purple Crystal. However, why did the Purple Crystal bring about such a change to his body?

Yi Yun tried touching the Purple Crystal by his chest but found nothing but emptiness.

"Huh!?" Yi Yun was alarmed and hurriedly unwrapped his clothes.

The Purple Crystal had disappeared…

However, the cool feeling in his chest had never decreased one bit.

What is this?!

Yi Yun lowered his head and lightly touched his chest where his heart would be. He had a strange feeling that the Purple Crystal was there all along and had never left him.

With every heartbeat, the Purple Crystal vibrated, as if the Purple Crystal and his heart had merged into one.

That faint coolness also spread throughout Yi Yun's body with every vibration by meandering through his veins.

Yi Yun raised his head and saw the tiny dots of starlight in the sky fly towards him, or more accurately, to the Purple Crystal.

The starlight entered his body and disappeared.

Yi Yun had a couple of hypotheses for the various phenomena the Purple Crystal had exhibited.

The Purple Crystal could absorb energy!

In this world, in this Universe, energy was the building blocks of everything!

From the large spinning galaxies, star formation and supernovae, to the small ants building nests or the wilting of grass, nothing could escape the need for energy.

From the physics Yi Yun learned on Earth, the entire Universe began from a particular point consisting of infinite energy.

Energy could convert into matter, turning into life, turning into everything.

And in this strange world, the Qi cultivation of experts was naturally also a form of energy.

The Purple Crystal had a natural affinity with energy.

It could absorb starlight as well as other forms of energy. The two attacks by Lian Chengyu were also a form of energy. That form of energy must be a form of "Qi" that Lian Chengyu cultivated.

The Qi had hidden in his body, causing his whole body to go numb. However, when that energy reached his heart and touched the Purple Crystal, the Purple Crystal absorbed it!

It was also obvious where the energy the Purple Crystal absorbed went.

That coolness that flowed within his veins was a manifestation of energy. The energy the Purple Crystal absorbed spread throughout his blood flow and nourished his body. With every heartbeat, Yi Yun could feel his body grow a little stronger.

Thinking back to his body's marrow cleansing, it must have been a result of energy entering his veins.

Energy could change the composition of every element; it could give life to people, giving them power and strength!

His strength had grown from being able to lift fifteen kilograms to a hundred kilograms. This change could be considered a complete metamorphosis.

What energy could have caused this?

Just the tiny bit of starlight, or the energy Lian Chengyu left in his body couldn't have been enough to cause such a fate-defying change.

The answer was undoubtedly the piece of desolate bone!

When the rations were being distributed, Lian Chengyu had opened the wooden box holding the desolate bone. Yi Yun then saw many light dots fly from the desolate bones and into the Purple Crystal. The Purple Crystal had then absorbed them all.

Desolate bones were the most precious part of a desolate beast. All of its essence was in its bones, and they were worth a lot more than desolate beast meat!

The essence refined from the desolate bones could cause a warrior to make a breakthrough, it would allow a genius like Lian Chengyu to breakthrough to the Purple Blood Warrior level.

The value of desolate bones was unbelievable!

A weak child like Yi Yun, without any foundation and a weak body to boot, had no reason not to metamorphosize after taking in the tiny amount of energy from the desolate bones.

After figuring this out, Yi Yun felt enlightened.

He breathed in deeply and calmed himself down. The Purple Crystal was no doubt a great treasure. It had combined with his body, and with every heartbeat, the Purple Crystal would inject energy into his body through his veins, raising his power!

For his power to increase with every heartbeat and for him to cultivate himself with every heartbeat, the Purple Crystal's effectiveness was fate defying.

Even with such a treasure, Yi Yun's expression did not betray his tremendous joy.

Conversely, Yi Yun's face grew serious. Having lived through two lives, even though his first life was limited in experience, Yi Yun had already undergone several mental changes thanks to his reincarnation.

When he first entered this strange world, Yi Yun was confused. However, after acclimatizing, he turned calm.

With such a treasure, he couldn't be too greedy, nor be without any desires. He knew that if he got carried away and flaunted his treasure, it was very possible that it would be seen through, and that would lead to trouble!

Yi Yun knew that he could not reveal the secret of the Purple Crystal to anyone.

In this strange world, Yi Yun could only trust his sister, Jiang Xiaorou. However, if one less person knew about it, there would be less danger.

The treasure had no owner. If Jiang Xiaorou, a weak and easily hurt girl knew too much, it could cause her harm.