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Until he confirmed that every bone and joint in her body was more pliable than an average woman's, he finally stopped.
Then, with a slight nod, he praised, "You have quite the body, having consumed so much Bone-dissolving Powder yet still surviving. As expected from the most noble bloodline in the world, truly extraordinary."
The muscles at the corners of the young woman's eyes twitched uncontrollably, with hatred visibly boiling within her gaze.
However, this expression on her delicate, beautiful face lacked any trace of menace.
"By the way, today's the Mid-Autumn Festival, and little Tong sent us a box of mooncakes."
While speaking, Lin Yue casually pinched the cheek of the woman on the bed, deftly retrieving a walnut-sized brown medicinal ball from her mouth and placing it aside, "It's a pity your teeth can't handle mooncakes now, better stick to porridge for the time being."
The young woman struggled to open her mouth, her tongue and lips numb and frozen, incapable of uttering a word.
"Hungry? Or just want to curse me?"
Lin Yue glanced at her calmly, "Don't rush. With your physique, the medicine's effect will only numb your speech for a little while once the Ebony Numbness Ball is removed. Just wait."
Moments later.
"Drink quickly."
Lin Yue held a bowl of vegetable porridge mixed with medicinal powder in one hand and pinched the young woman's nose with the other, pouring it into her mouth.
The woman, seemingly starving, swallowed as best as she could despite her slow and stiff tongue.
In no time, the bowl of porridge was finished.
Lin Yue placed the empty bowl on the table beside him, picking up the brown Ebony Numbness Ball, preparing to shove it back into her mouth.
"Wait... wait."
The young woman anxiously spoke, but her words were slurred as the numbness had not completely passed.
Lin Yue paused, looking at her with interest, "You want to say something?"
The young woman stared at him intensely, remaining silent for a moment before speaking with some difficulty, "I know you hate me deeply, but why won't you torture or kill me? Crippling me, keeping me like this—what's the point?"
"The point?"
Lin Yue laughed, a smile of genuine delight on his face, "Seeing you reduced to this state, a worthless person awaiting death, fills me with joy. How could it be meaningless?"
The young woman was taken aback momentarily, then gritted her teeth, speaking angrily, "You despicable commoner! If you have the guts, just kill me, I... mmm..."
Before she could finish, Lin Yue squeezed her thin cheeks, forcing the Ebony Numbness Ball back into her mouth, stuffing it until she couldn't utter a word.
Soon, the medicinal power of the Ebony Numbness spread, numbing her tongue and lips.
"Everyone believes you're my unwed wife, Su Ziqiu, so why would I kill you? Besides, it's only been two months, enjoy yourself slowly."
Lin Yue sneered, wiping the saliva off his fingertip on her blanket by the bed with a hint of disgust.
Then he stood up and walked out of the room.
Outside, he sat back down on the recliner in the courtyard, gazing silently at the wide and spotless sky.
After a while, he sighed quietly.
"How much longer can this be concealed if things continue like this..."
He didn't know how much time had passed.
A breeze brushed against the golden leafed elm in the courtyard, making the golden leaves rustle.
Suddenly—
"Dong!"
A sound like a mighty bell being struck suddenly reverberated in Lin Yue's mind!
At the same time, everything before his eyes seemed to freeze, the elm leaves no longer swaying in the breeze, leaving the world in silence.
All was still.
Only the majestic, resonant bell sound, like rolling thunder, echoed in his mind.
"Finally, today's sound has arrived. How many rings?"
Lin Yue, long accustomed to it, wasn't surprised, only feeling a hint of joy in his heart.
He immediately listened carefully.
"Dong!"
After another resonant bell, a distant, ethereal whisper, indistinguishable between male or female, followed in his mind—
"Do you know? Though there are various paths of cultivation in the world, only seven can hope to break through all Heavenly Barriers. Of those seven, the most promising path, can only be cultivated by the awakened bloodline of the Imperial Family of Great Yong..."
Then, the ethereal whisper vanished without a trace, and the frozen elm leaves regained motion in the breeze.
Everything returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
"Seven paths? The most promising path of cultivation, only the Imperial Family can train?"
Lin Yue frowned slightly, then sighed helplessly in his heart, "Although it's a Second Ring level secret, I don't even have the aptitude for cultivation, it's of no use to me..."
This was his quirk.
Or rather, a mysterious ability he awakened upon arriving in this world.
In this world's parlance, it should be called 'Innate Divine Power.'
Every one to two days, strange bell sounds would suddenly echo in his mind, followed by a whisper revealing a 'secret' unknown to him.
Judging from the pattern over the past year—
The more times the bell rings before revealing the secret, the 'higher' the level of the secrets he hears seemed to be.
In one year, he had obtained two to three hundred secrets.
The highest-level secret was once an Eighth Ring, followed by a Fifth Ring, a Fourth Ring, and two instances of a Third Ring.
There were only six Second Ring secrets.
As for over two hundred other secrets, they were all First Ring level.
First Ring secrets were mainly small secrets of ordinary people around him.
For example, Uncle Wang from next door was born infertile, yet has three children.
Or Xiao Yue from the Drunken Spring Pavilion buried a hundred and fifty taels of silver under an old locust tree in the north of the city.
And the plump shopkeeper Zhang Hai from Guangju Pavilion, known for being verbally harsh to women, yet his body is quite modest, earning him the nickname Ruan Xiao'er.
Starting from the Second Ring, the secrets mainly involved cultivators.
For instance, the Bone-dissolving Powder formula.
He discovered it through a Second Ring level secret, finding it among the relics of a Daoist cultivator.
He also learned about 'Innate Divine Power' through a Second Ring secret.
Indeed, very few in this world would awaken Innate Divine Power, a phenomenon occurring once in millions, without any discernible pattern.
Moreover, if the Imperial Family bloodline of the Great Yong dynasty awakens, it might awaken Innate Divine Power as well.
However...
A unique Innate Divine Power like his was likely an anomaly.
The secrets at the Third Ring level were matters that ordinary people could never come into contact with.
The Fourth Ring secrets revealed to him more miraculous aspects of the Great Yong Imperial Family.
A Fifth Ring secret led him to an extraordinary treasure coveted even by cultivators.
As for the Eighth Ring...
He dared not reveal even the slightest hint.
It was a terrifying secret, one that could shake the entire world.
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