9

"Umm!?" The moment the bamboo vanished, Lin Kai felt a wave of warmth engulf his body. It was as though he had slipped into a soothing hot spring, a sensation that eased every muscle. But this feeling of comfort didn't last long.

*Crack.....

Before he could savor the moment, Lin Kai suddenly collapsed to the ground.

"Fuck!" Agony surged through him, an unbearable pain coursing from within. It felt like thousands of ants were gnawing at his bones simultaneously. And this was just the beginning... Moments later, the sound of bones cracking echoed through his body, as if his skeleton had turned into fragile glass.

"Damn it," he couldn't help but curse. He tried to grit his teeth and endure, but the pain was too intense, overwhelming every fiber of his being.

"AAAGGHHH!"

An inhuman, animalistic howl tore from his throat. He wasn't someone with an iron will. Just a few months ago, he had been a regular person. For someone like him, who had never experienced true suffering, this was an indescribable torment. A part of him even wished for death, if only to escape the agony. Compared to this, the pain he felt when he first absorbed the Iron Bamboo was a mere tickle.

Lin Kai wanted to endure it further, but even his strong will could only last for so long. In the end, unable to endure the pain, he lost consciousness.

*Crack...Crack...

Even in his unconscious state, the transformation continued. During the entire process, his body kept on twitching like a fish out of water. Though he had lost consciousness, his face kept on twisting in pain.

His bones shattered and reformed, each break ringing out like a string of firecrackers in the deathly silence of the night. 

Luckily, the secluded location meant there were no prying eyes to witness his suffering. The chances of someone hearing the commotion were slim to none. However, that didn't mean no one—or something—noticed.

Minutes after Lin Kai lost consciousness, a soft rustling echoed above him. In the dim light of the stars, an owl perched silently on a branch, its eyes fixed on Lin Kai's vulnerable body. The sound of shattering bones didn't seem to disturb it. It merely observed, patient and unblinking, as if Lin Kai's suffering was the most interesting thing in the world.

The night dragged on, and soon, the faintest light of dawn began to creep over the horizon.

"Ugh..." With a low groan, Lin Kai finally opened his eyes and tried to stand up... his entire body aching. Slowly, he regained consciousness, his mind hazy with confusion. As his eyes focused on the familiar sight of the bamboo forest, reality snapped back into place.

"Shit." He suddenly stood upright, frantically brushing off his clothes and scanning the area. The sky had already begun to lighten, signaling that morning was fast approaching. Panic set in, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

"What shitty luck," Lin Kai cursed under his breath. He quickly surveyed the ground around him, ensuring nothing had been lost. Once satisfied, he rushed out of the forest, making his way to the spot where he had hidden his clothes and the wooden token.

Fortune still seemed to favor him—just barely. It wasn't yet dawn, and the rest of the household was still asleep. Lin Kai changed back into his servant's clothes and removed the cloth from his face before hastily making his way toward his room. He moved with extreme caution, constantly glancing over his shoulder, half-expecting someone to be watching.

Thankfully, he finally made it to his room without any incident.

"Huff..." The moment he reached inside his room, Lin Kai shut the door before slumping on the bed. His heart still pounded furiously in his chest, the adrenaline from the night's events refused to diminish. This had been, without a doubt, the riskiest thing he'd done since arriving in this world. He had not only attempted a breakthrough but had also blacked out in an open space, vulnerable to anyone—or anything.

"Never again," Lin Kai muttered to himself, his voice shaky with lingering fear. After this event, he had made up his mind that the next time he absorbed something, he would make sure he was in a secure location—somewhere he could control the situation.

With that decision made, he exhaled sharply and finally turned his attention to the panel hovering in front of him. Excited, he wanted to see what changes had occurred.

[Name: Lin Kai]

[Realm: 8th Step (False)]

[Skills: None]

"Uh!?" His eyes widened in disbelief.

"HUUUH!?" He rubbed his eyes, convinced he must still be groggy from sleep. Aside from the number of Iron Bamboo absorbed now being reset, there were no changes to speak of. For a moment, he wondered if he was still in a dream.

"No..." He shook his head quickly, dismissing the thought. Rising from the bed, Lin Kai clenched his fists, trying to gauge his newfound strength. He felt stronger, that much was clear, but as for how much stronger... he had no idea.

He took up the stance of the Iron Fist technique and began practicing, not to advance his skills but to familiarize himself with his new capabilities. His fists moved through the air with more force, but the feeling was still foreign.

By the time the morning bell tolled, signaling the start of the day, Lin Kai had emerged from his trance. He cleaned himself up quickly before stepping out of his room, nerves prickling at the back of his neck. He didn't know what had happened while he was unconscious, and the fear that someone had seen him grew heavy on his mind. If anyone had, there would be telltale signs in their behavior—subtle changes, even in the smallest interactions.

After scanning around for a while, he didn't see anything out of the blue, so he headed to the clearing for his daily task. It took him longer than usual, but the moment he arrived at the bamboo forest, he carefully scanned the area... but everything seemed normal. A few people were already hard at work chopping bamboo, and the middle-aged man, as always, sat nearby with his eyes closed.

Lin Kai didn't greet anyone. He just picked up his axe and headed to his usual position. After reaching there, he felled an Iron Bamboo with practiced precision. 

"Hmm?" With a frown, he stood in silence looking at his hands and then at the axe. Earlier he thought that his strength might have improved by a large margin. But after testing it against the Iron Bamboo, he realized this was not the case. Though his strength has increased; the changes were so minute that they were basically negligible. 

After standing there in a trance for a while, he gritted his teeth and decided to absorb the Iron Bamboo again. He knew the risks, but giving up the chance to grow stronger wasn't an option, not after everything he had been through.

"How many will it take this time? Twenty? Fifty?" Lin Kai couldn't help but ask himself this question. Reaching down to grab the fallen bamboo, he lifted it, intending to take it inside the dense patch of bamboo trees. But the moment his hand touched the smooth surface, his breathing stopped, and his body froze.

"...."

"...."

"Where's the prompt?" His hands clenched the bamboo tightly, but no message appeared in front of him. Nothing. It was as if the thing he was holding now was an ordinary piece of wood.

"This... This..." Lin Kai's mind raced. He had always known there would be a limit to how much he could absorb, but he hadn't expected to hit that wall so soon.

Stunned, he stood motionless, barely aware of his surroundings.

"Maybe it is just this one." Consoling himself, he chopped down another bamboo tree, but the results were still the same... No prompt to absorb.

In a daze, Lin Kai didn't even know how he spent the entire day. By the time he snapped out of his daze, the sun had set, and night had already fallen.

"Heh..." A bitter chuckle escaped his lips as he gazed up at the stars. Though the inability to absorb any more Iron Bamboo was disappointing, what pained him more was the knowledge that he was wasting a valuable daily quota—that could have been spent growing stronger. But without another item to absorb, he was stuck, helpless, and frustrated.

----------

The next two days passed in a blur for Lin Kai. Each day was the same: he went to work, scoured the grounds in search of something to absorb, and always returned empty-handed. His frustration grew by the hour. At one point, in sheer desperation, he even considered trying to absorb the axe the man in blue threw at him that day. But no matter how thoroughly he searched the clearing for it, he just couldn't find the axe.

Finally, after two days of futile attempts, Lin Kai sighed in defeat. There was nothing left to do but wait for another opportunity.

Before long, his day off arrived.

---------

"Fifteen days, huh?" Lin Kai lay on his bed, staring up at the wooden ceiling. He muttered to himself, feeling the weight of time. Half a month had passed since he was expelled from the Martial Hall and joined the Ji family as a servant. Reflecting on those days, he realized that while the first twelve days had been full of drastic changes, the remaining two had been nothing but monotonous and dull. Without a new source to absorb, his thoughts increasingly turned towards how to earn money.

A saying he had once heard came to mind: 'It is easy to go from frugality to wealth, but difficult to return to frugality from riches.'

Lin Kai now fully understood the truth of that statement. Without a way to increase his strength, he found himself seriously contemplating darker methods—like robbing some stores—just to get his hands on items or money. It wasn't that he didn't want to earn money honestly. He just couldn't find a proper way to do so.

*Knock... knock...

It was at this moment that a sudden knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Coming..." Lin Kai sighed, pulled himself from his bed, and opened the door, only to find Bo Qin standing there with a wide smile. For a brief moment, Lin Kai was irritated. This was the last person he wanted to deal with right now. Bo Qin's constant chattering was the last thing he had the patience for. He almost told him off and sent him away. But the next words that came out of Bo Qin's mouth caught Lin Kai completely off guard.

"Brother Lin, I've heard there's a library just for the servants. How about we go check it out?"

The moment Bo Qin finished speaking, Lin Kai's mind recalled a vague memory of a conversation with the middle-aged man about such a place.

"Sure, let's go." Lin Kai responded without hesitation. He had always wanted to learn more about the world, but the chance had never come. Now, with the Ji family offering this generous opportunity to its servants, it would be a waste not to seize it. This might be his best shot to uncover something of importance there.

"Good," Bo Qin replied with a relieved smile, though a hint of nervousness lingered in his eyes. After all, he couldn't just admit that the real reason he asked Lin Kai along was because he didn't know how to read, could he?

As they set off toward the library, both carried their own thoughts—each driven by a different motive.