After he executed the boulder collapsing fist, the energy that was coursing through Lin Mu's body faded away and was replaced by numbing fatigue. Lin Mu slumped down on the ground in exhaustion. He did not expect that a severe exhaustion of energy would be accompanying the successful use of the boulder collapsing fist.

'Why is the exhaustion of vital energy harsher than before?' Lin Mu wondered as he laid down on the ground.

Lin Mu thought that the exhaustion of energy was due to the boulder collapsing fist not being mastered and losing energy in the process. He did not know that once he mastered it, the exhaustion would only increase.

Before he mastered the martial technique, he was able to execute it twice. But now that he had completely mastered the martial technique, he was only able to use it once before being nearly incapacitated.

'I will have to use the boulder collapsing fist only in the situations when I'm sure of my victory or when I have no other choice left.' Lin Mu thought.

Lin Mu laid on the ground for half an hour before he was able to recover some part of his stamina. He then stood up and decided to hunt. He returned later in the evening just before the sunset. He had been able to hunt a Hook-winged swan and a Six-pronged stag.

Lin Mu would never have been able to catch up with an adult Six-pronged stag had it not been for the increase in his speed after reaching the 8th stage of the body tempering realm. He was able to outrun the Six-pronged stag with ease and swiftly ended its life with one swing of his short sword.

After coming back, he cleaned and prepared both of the beasts before eating some dinner. Lin Mu then continued his practice with the different weapons he had bought yesterday till midnight when the spatial rift finally opened. He found a torn piece of a silk ribbon in the spatial rift this time.

Lin Mu examined the torn piece of silk but found it to be ordinary, so he kept it in the ring. He then went to sleep and entered the Sleepscape. In the Sleepscape he practiced the boulder collapsing fist. Now that he had mastered the boulder collapsing fist, he didn't find practicing it to be of much use, as he did not know where he could improve more.

'The booklet mentioned that the advanced stages of the boulder collapsing fist involved increasing the number of energy spirals when using the technique.' Lin Mu remembered.

Lin Mu could not practice the martial technique fully in the Sleepscape, as he could not use the vital energy in his body. He could only practice the form and coordination.

'I wish I could practice using the weapons at least.' Lin Mu complained to himself.

Lin Mu had no more things he could do in the Sleepscape anymore, unless he could find a new technique to learn. After understanding that he couldn't do much about it, Lin Mu just sat down and thought about things that he can improve on. By the time he had woken up from sleep, Lin Mu had made an entire mental list of goals he wanted to complete.

First of all, he wanted to become a qi cultivator. Second, he wanted to obtain enough money to buy back his property that was seized from him. Lastly, he wanted to explore and experience the world.

Lin Mu's desire for exploring the world came from his mother, who used to tell him stories from the travelogues and books she had read. She told him of breath-taking places, ferocious beasts, dazzling kingdoms, and beautiful princesses. Though the stories that caught Lin Mu's attention the most were the ones about immortal cultivators and their legends.

All of his goals were linked and completing one goal would beget others. Becoming a cultivator would allow him to obtain a lot of money, which would allow him to buy his property back. He would be fulfilling his filial duty of taking care of his ancestral property and also the familial graves that were located there.

Once Lin Mu completed these two goals, he would be free to wander and explore the world. He was looking forward to seeing the places he had heard in the stories.

After waking up, Lin Mu started preparing his breakfast and practiced the Boulder collapsing fist. He tried forming two spirals while using the technique, but could not as the vital energy would dissipate as soon as he tried pulling another strand to form the second spiral.

Lin Mu stopped practicing the martial technique after multiple failures and ate his breakfast. He chanted the calming heart sutra and assimilated the vital energy as always. He could tell that the rate of absorption had gone up by at least twenty percent, and he could absorb even more vital energy.

After he was done with the assimilation of vital energy, he practiced using the different weapons. While practicing Lin Mu came to the conclusion that he was more comfortable with swords, daggers, and the spear. He practiced with the axes but found them to be awkward to use and the shields did not matter much, as all he could do with them was defend.

While with the gauntlets, he found that he could use them in tandem with the boulder collapsing fist. The gauntlets were made of tough and hardened leather that was studded and reinforced with metal plates. They were okay to wear during a fight, but Lin Mu couldn't bring himself to wear them all the time, like he was doing with the leather armour he had looted from the thief.

While Lin Mu was training he was reminded of something now that he was in the 8th stage of the body tempering realm. He stopped and withdrew the grape-sized purple spirit fruit he had obtained by risking his life. As soon as he withdrew it, he could feel the dense spirit qi stored in it. The spirit qi was much denser than the spirit apples and was comparable with the spirit stones.

'It should be fine for me to eat it now.' Lin Mu thought.

Lin Mu had been waiting to enter the 8th stage of the body tempering realm so that he could become a cultivator. Even though he would need a cultivation manual to become an official cultivator, he could still eat a spirit fruit now.

Lin Mu made up his mind and proceeded ahead. He took a deep breath and popped the small fruit into his mouth. He bit the fruit in his mouth and felt a pleasant sweetness spreading in his mouth. After savouring the fruit for a moment, he swallowed it. Since the fruit was only the size of a grape, it was gone in one bite and gulp.

For the first minute after eating the fruit, Lin Mu did not feel anything, making him think whether he was mistaken, and it was a fake spirit fruit that he just ate. But after a minute passed, it was time for him to be in agony.

A scorching pain rose from his stomach and spread through his body. It coursed through his blood vessels, muscles, and skin until it reached the bones and touched his marrow. That was when he screamed out in pain.

"AAGHHHH!"

Lin Mu's agony filled scream echoed through the forest, scaring the birds into flying away. The spirit qi spread into what Lin Mu thought were his blood vessels until he determined they were something else completely. These vessels were similar to blood vessels and were located along with them side by side, with some spreading away from them as well.

Lin Mu finally understood what these vessels were. They were none other than the spirit meridians he had heard about from the stories and other people. The pain coursed through his meridians and reached his abdomen where it settled for a moment before rising up again, forming a cycle.

Lin Mu was too exhausted to even scream now. He was covered in sweat from head to toe and his grey clothes were drenched wet. After a few minutes of agony, he could sense the vital energy that was stored in his body multiplying. The spirit qi from the fruit was being absorbed by his body and used as a fuel to generate vital energy.

At this point, Lin Mu was finally able to gather some of his will and chanted the calming heart sutra. Inside the mysterious ring, there existed the ethereal altar that was made of mystical runes. The altar had been glowing ever since Lin Mu had eaten the spirit fruit and was becoming brighter and brighter by the minute.

When Lin Mu chanted the calming heart sutra, the ethereal altar started resonating and gave out its own pulses of energy. Suddenly Lin Mu could heart thundering chants of a thousand monks in his head. The esoteric chants were incomprehensible to Lin Mu, yet he could somehow understand their underlying meaning.

Under the influence of the thunderous chanting, the rampaging spirit qi was finally tamed and stabilised. The spirit qi stopped being unruly and settled down in Lin Mu's abdomen. He felt that the place it settled down was two inches above his navel and felt like it was intangible. Lin Mu was able to determine that the place was his dantian.