Thumb - Shao Shang

"Xiang'er!"

Ye Dong shouted loudly, infusing his Qi into his feet, and with a step, he rushed towards the roof. At the same time, a brilliant Qi burst out from his right hand, attacking the middle-aged man.

Xiang'er anxiously shouted, "Big Brother Ye, hurry, leave me alone!"

The middle-aged man gave Ye Dong a cold glance, seemingly not noticing any movement from him. Suddenly, Ye Dong felt a chilling sensation rushing towards him, causing him to stagger back several steps.

It was evident that the middle-aged man's strength far surpassed Ye Dong's.

"Who are you? Apart from that old man and this girl from the Liu family, there shouldn't be anyone else. Never mind, I'll kill you first!"

As the middle-aged man spoke, he casually raised his hand, and a huge crescent-shaped blade aura appeared in the air, surrounded by a string of icicles, carrying an icy chill that seemed to freeze everything in its path, slashing towards Ye Dong.

Although knowing he was outmatched, Ye Dong wouldn't just stand by. With gritted teeth, Qi surged in both his hands, forming a massive shield-like Qi mass, standing in front of him.

Qi Condensation!

This was the first move recorded in the simplest martial technique, "Qi Gong," that Ye Dong found in his family's library. Because Ye Dong hadn't progressed in his Spirit Seals cultivation, he could only perform this basic move.

However, even this simple Qi Condensation was quite powerful. The middle-aged man raised his eyebrows noticeably upon seeing the immense amount of Qi formed into a shield in Ye Dong's hands.

Though Ye Dong's Qi Condensation seemed powerful, when the shield collided with the crescent blade aura, the outcome was clear. The tangible Qi mass that Ye Dong had formed was shattered instantly upon impact, while the crescent blade aura remained intact and continued its fast approach towards Ye Dong.

Having exhausted all his Qi with that move, Ye Dong found himself defenseless. Coupled with the boundless chill carried by the blade aura, his body was covered in a layer of frost, rendering him unable to move.

With a sword-like arm, Ye Dong made a final effort to defend himself against the oncoming crescent blade aura.

"Puff!"

A sound, audible only to Ye Dong, echoed within him. The Spirit Seal he had been stimulating at the Shao Shang acupoint with his right thumb suddenly broke through!

A powerful suction force emanated from the Shao Shang acupoint, absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy greedily and channeling it into Ye Dong's body. The spiritual energy flowed rapidly according to the patterns observed within the blood-colored figure's aura.

"Swish!"

A brilliant light burst forth from Ye Dong's arm, illuminating the endless night. With a heavy swing, a tremendous aura exploded, colliding with the crescent blade aura and causing a massive shockwave that overturned the nearby wooden house.

"Boom!"

The crescent blade aura was easily shattered by Ye Dong's move!

The middle-aged man finally showed a look of shock on his face, clearly not expecting Ye Dong to break through his attack. For a moment, he was stunned, forgetting to act, and just stared dumbfoundedly at Ye Dong.

With his sword-like arm, Ye Dong had exhausted all the spiritual energy that had just entered his body. He swayed slightly, showing signs of fatigue.

Finally, the middle-aged man snapped out of his daze, his face twisting into a grimace. "Kid, you're lucky this time!"

With those words, he suddenly leaped into the air, disappearing into the darkness.

Ye Dong watched the middle-aged man's figure disappear into the distance. Although he wanted to chase after him, his body couldn't bear it. After swaying for a moment, he spat out blood again. At that moment, a gust of wind blew, and the missing Lao Ye Ye finally appeared beside Ye Dong.

"Ye Dong, are you okay?"

Seeing Lao Ye Ye, a glimmer of hope rose in Ye Dong's eyes. He urgently pointed in the direction the middle-aged man had fled. "Lao Ye Ye, forget about me, quickly go save Xiang'er. He went that way."

In just a few words, Ye Dong felt a wave of dizziness. He swallowed the blood that was about to spew out again and even managed to force a smile on his face.

After giving Ye Dong a deep look, Lao Ye Ye nodded vigorously. "Wait for me!"

After saying that, Lao Ye Ye also soared into the air, turning into a beam of light and disappearing into the dark night sky.

Watching Lao Ye Ye chase after him, Ye Dong couldn't hold on any longer. He sat down on the ground, closed his eyes in a hurry, and began to absorb spiritual energy to replenish his depleted reserves.

With his eyes closed, Ye Dong immediately felt the blood droplet in his body emit a faint red light, covering the interior of his body. Under the red light's envelopment, his injuries were rapidly healing.

Seeing this scene, Ye Dong finally witnessed the healing power of the blood droplet!

With the blood droplet's assistance, Ye Dong didn't need to heal himself manually. He just needed to focus on absorbing spiritual energy. He couldn't help but think of the middle-aged man and Lao Ye Ye who had flown away earlier.

People could fly freely like birds!

Ye Dong had never heard of such an ability, but it seemed that only cultivators at the Dust Body Realm could possess it!

It wasn't that Ye Dong was ignorant, but the various cultivating families and sects refrained from teaching too much about the cultivation world to their descendants until their strength reached a certain level to prevent them from becoming too ambitious. So Ye Dong genuinely didn't know.

However, half an hour later, when Ye Dong's injuries had healed by half, he heard the sound of the wind again and hurriedly opened his eyes.

Appearing in front of him was Lao Ye Ye, but he was alone. This made Ye Dong's heart sink. He blurted out, "Where's Xiang'er?"