Everything that was happening had already spiraled far beyond Lin Yun’s control. At this moment, he could only watch helplessly as events unfolded, completely powerless to intervene.

To make matters worse, it was at this exact moment that the side effects of swallowing three Qi Essence Pills at once began to surge violently. The intense, bloating pain in his meridians was so severe that Lin Yun nearly fainted.

He couldn’t afford to let his mind wander; his primary task was now to refine the Qi Essence Pills in his body.

However, it would normally take him an entire day to refine a single pill. Three at once caught him completely off guard. After just a dozen breaths, his vision went black, and he fainted.

Lin Yun was completely unaware that as he lay unconscious, both the War God Technique and the Demon Emperor Technique were operating simultaneously. Unlike usual, with Lin Yun completely unconscious, the two Cultivation Techniques began to circulate at a speed more than three times faster than normal.

With the aid of the two Cultivation Techniques, the Qi Essence Pills in his body were slowly refined. At the same time, his Cultivation, already at the Eighth Layer of Opening Realm, began rapidly advancing toward the Ninth Layer of Opening Realm.

In the desolate valley floor, the passage of time was nearly imperceptible. Long after Lin Yun had lost consciousness, Little Ape, who had been frantically absorbing the resentful energy, finally finished devouring the Resentful Spirit Body completely.

With the Resentful Spirit Body gone, Little Ape’s body was enveloped in a ball of red energy. Its human-height form floated in midair.

Dense resentful energy and Evil Qi now swirled around Little Ape’s body, and its fur had turned a stark crimson, the color of fresh blood.

An unknown amount of time passed. With all the Evil Qi and resentful energy in the valley floor absorbed by Little Ape, the area fell utterly silent, home to nothing but the skeletons of several hundred Demon Beasts.

Slowly opening her eyes, Chen Xin was the first to awaken. When she saw the stark white bones littering the ground around her, she screamed in terror. As a young lady from a Noble Family, she had never witnessed such a gruesome sight.

"Lin Shan... Lin Shan..." she cried out, her voice choked with sobs. The sight of the Demon Beast skeletons had thoroughly terrified her.

A full fifteen minutes passed before Chen Xin slowly began to acclimate to her surroundings. She struggled to her feet and, seeing Lin Yun unconscious nearby, rushed to his side. After confirming he was still breathing and had only fainted, she finally let out a small sigh of relief.

Lin Yun was unconscious, and Little Ape’s condition was even stranger. Chen Xin tried to approach it, but when she was about ten meters away, a mysterious force stopped her in her tracks. The force was like a protective shield, securely enclosing Little Ape within it.

There was nothing she could do. Chen Xin had never experienced anything like this before; it was a miracle she hadn’t broken down completely.

Deciding to leave Little Ape for now, Chen Xin used every ounce of her strength to drag Lin Yun over to a large boulder and prop him up against it.

For the next several days, Chen Xin kept watch over Lin Yun, eating the dry rations she had brought whenever she got hungry.

By now, Chen Xin’s clothes were tattered and stained, her face was just as grimy, and she looked nothing like the pampered young lady she was.

As she always did when she had nothing else to do, Chen Xin stared quietly at Lin Yun and mumbled to herself, "You know, it’d be great if you were just a little more handsome."

"Actually, I know you already have someone you love in your heart, but that doesn’t stop me from liking you. Ever since I was little, my father has controlled every aspect of my life. He even interferes with the friends I make."

"I’ve always dreamed that the man I marry will be someone I choose myself, someone I truly like. I refuse to be like everyone else and just accept whatever arrangements my family makes."

As she spoke, Chen Xin’s lips formed a dissatisfied pout. She was utterly repulsed by the idea of arranged marriages between powerful Noble Families, a practice her father endorsed.

Her pout was surprisingly cute. And just then, Lin Yun, who had been unconscious all this time, slowly opened his eyes. Chen Xin was still lost in her monologue when she suddenly heard his voice.

"Am I really that great?" Lin Yun asked teasingly, his voice still weak.

Realizing Lin Yun had heard her private thoughts, Chen Xin’s pretty face flushed crimson. She gave his chest a light tap before running off shyly into the distance.

Lin Yun was still weak from just waking up. A faint smile crossed his face as he watched her retreating figure. Then, he closed his eyes again to inspect his own condition.

The results of his inspection brought a look of utter shock to his face. Not only was he uninjured, but he had also reaped enormous benefits. He was now just a hair’s breadth away from the Ninth Layer of Opening; with the right opportunity, he could break through to the Ninth Layer of Opening Realm at any moment.

’Is this what people call a blessing in disguise?’ Lin Yun mused to himself, a smile on his face. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

After recovering some of his strength, Lin Yun found he was mostly fine and could soon walk around freely. His thoughts turned to Little Ape, who was absorbing the Resentful Spirit Body, and he stood up to go find it.

When he reached Little Ape’s position, he immediately saw it floating in midair. After several days, the Evil Qi and resentful energy surrounding it had weakened considerably. In fact, it would be more accurate to say they hadn’t weakened, but had been completely absorbed and refined by Little Ape.

"Little Ape..." Lin Yun called out as he walked toward it. However, just as had happened with Chen Xin, a mysterious force blocked him when he was about ten meters away.

’It’s this power again.’ Lin Yun was all too familiar with it; this was the same force that had bound him earlier.

"Break!" he roared, unleashing the Black Steel Tyrant Fist and throwing a punch at the empty air in front of him.

BOOM! Lin Yun’s fist slammed into the invisible force. The result, however, was astonishing—his full-powered strike hadn’t even caused a ripple.

After throwing several more punches, Lin Yun finally gave up. He felt completely powerless against this force.

Since he couldn’t break through by force, all he could do was wait. After the recent incident, Chen Xin became very bashful around Lin Yun. Sometimes, a single word from him was enough to make her blush beet-red.

Lin Yun could only offer a wry smile in response to her behavior. For now, his main concern was Little Ape.

An unknown amount of time passed before Little Ape, who had been completely still, finally began to change. The blood-red aura surrounding its body slowly faded away.

Once the blood-red aura had vanished completely, Little Ape’s eyes slowly opened. In the instant its eyes opened, Lin Yun felt that he was no longer facing Little Ape, but a true Heaven-Destroying Demon Ape.

’A bloodline awakening... Little Ape’s bloodline has awakened?’ he muttered in shock. Back in the Divine Realm, Lin Yun had only heard that Unparalleled Demon Beasts like the Divine Dragon, Phoenix, Vajra Divine Ape, and Heaven-Destroying Demon Ape possessed unique bloodlines that would awaken once they reached a certain stage of growth. He never imagined he would witness it firsthand.