"Illusion... An illusion... It must be an illusion!"

Foolishly gazing at his arm for a moment, Lin Dong shut his eyes and firmly inhaled in a few breaths of air. Only when his mind gradually calmed down did he once again gently stroke his arm, though still slightly trembling.

Under his touch, the outer layer of skin felt reasonably hard. Although it had yet to reach the level of hardness of rocks or wood, Lin Dong's skin was clearly several times harder than before!

This was indeed a sign that he was just about to advance into the Tempered Body 4th Layer. He just needed to wait for this kind of skin to harden a little more and then it would truly be at the Tempered Body 4th Layer.

Yet......Lin Dong's mouth fell open, the disbelief on his face was like he had seen a ghost. He had only just advanced to the Tempered Body 3rd Layer today and it had not even been half a day since then. How could he suddenly be on the verge of advancing to the Tempered Body 4th Layer?

This miracle straightaway caused Lin Dong to be somewhat giddy. Flushed red with excitement, he continuously walked to and fro at the side of the rock pool. If he were able to continue at this kind of pace, would the top 3 in the Family Competition even be worth mentioning? Even if it were the Ten-Year Clan Gathering of the Lin Clan, he would not have the slightest worry.

"How......did this happen?"

Although he was still giddy from happiness and excitement, Lin Dong had matured at an earlier age than most, therefore he managed to regain his calm and wits after a while. His tiny face tightly wrinkled up as he started to recall all the details of this affair. Yet there was nothing strange about the cave, thus, after taking a slow look around the cave, his gaze eventually came to rest upon the rock pool.

"Could there really be something strange about this rock pool?"

A stunned look flitted across his face, but soon after he quickly shook his head. Since young, he had soaked in this rock pool countless times, yet it was the first time something like today had ever happened!

What had actually happened?

It could not possibly be because of the Red Ginseng as it was merely a grade 1 elixir. The fact that it allowed him to reach the Tempered Body 3rd Layer in 10 days was already a sky-shattering achievement.

"There was definitely something different today."

Lin Dong tightly pursed his lips together, a stubborn determination on his small face. He understood that it would be of utmost importance to him to discover the mystery within.

"I was more tired than usual today......yet this was not the first time......that I have slept in here? I've slept in here before......"

Lin Dong squatted beside the rock pool, his brows tightly knitted together in thought., His palm subconsciously moved to stroke his arm, and he froze. His gaze slowly moved to fix on his arm; where many traces of blood used to be......

"Blood?"

Lin Dong's eyes brightened. He suddenly pulled out a small dagger hidden in a slit within a pile of rocks near the rock pool that he had previously left behind.

Lin Dong gently sliced his finger tip with the dagger, causing a drop of blood to emerge He hesitated for a second before he carefully dripped it into the rock pool.

"Plop!"

The sound of blood dripping into the pool resonated clearly within the quietness of the cave. However, Lin Dong kept his eyes keenly peeled onto the location where the drop of blood had fallen.

Just as the drop of blood touched the rock pool, a wave of ripples emerged as the reddish hue of the blood gradually dissipated. Water bubbles swiftly emerged from the serene rock pool, startling Lin Dong. A reddish liquid was faintly discernable within each bubble.

Lin Dong's throat clenched as he hesitantly extended his hand into the rock pool. Instantly, the water bubbles exploded and a gooey light-red liquid stuck onto his palm. The liquid then slowly seeped in through his pores.

As the light-red liquid seeped into his body, Lin Dong's palm suddenly experienced a burning sensation. This sensation was exactly the same as how he felt when he was abruptly awoken. Moreover, this time he could clearly feel that as the liquid seeped into his palm, the skin on his palm was gradually becoming tougher.

"This is indeed the case!"

As he noted the changes to his palm, Lin Dong's tiny face instantly lit up. His had guessed correctly! The water in this rock pool required blood to activate their special properties.

Lin Dong gripped then extended his palm a few times, only to discover that the skin on this palm had indeed become much tougher than the rest of his body. Furthermore, this effect was achieved after only a short exposure. According to Lin Dong's calculations, he estimated that the effect of this water was truly legendary and even exceeded the effects of those costly level 3 elixirs sold in Qingyang Town.

"Hmm, how is it that this water can bring such a remarkable effect that even surpasses that of a level 3 elixir?"

Over the years, Lin Dong had found out that the water from the rock pool was merely normal spring water. Even though the water was refreshing, Lin Dong was fairly certain that this spring water did not possess any special effects. However, now that he had encountered this situation, he could not find an explanation .

Lin Dong sighed deeply as he rubbed his forehead. This mysterious rock pool had overly excited his emotions and he decided to lie down beside the rock pool to take a breather. Regardless, even though he was unable to uncover the reason why this rock pool held mysterious powers, this discovery was still bound to be highly beneficial to him.

Due to his injuries, Lin Xiao requires several elixirs in order to nurse his health. However, these elixirs are expensive and owing to Lin Xiao's stubborn nature, he refused to accept any financial support from the Lin Family. As such, he would often try his luck and go hunt for elixirs by himself. Inevitably, this resulted in Lin Dong being unable to enjoy the same privileged training conditions as his peers in the Lin Family.

Hence, at this juncture, the effects of the rock pool was especially important to Lin Dong.

"The effects of this rock pool must absolutely be kept a secret!"

Lin Dong gripped his tiny fist. He understood that he not only required the aid of this rock pool, but that if news of this rock pool spread out, it will surely lead to a huge commotion. At that time, perhaps several other factions in the Qingyang Town may get involved and this may spell a small calamity onto the whole Lin Family.

"Possessing treasure is no sin, but it will often lead to trouble!"

Even though Lin Dong was still young, he clearly understood this principle.

As Lin Dong tightly pursed his lips, he formulated a plan in his heart. Just as he was about to leave, something suddenly caught his eye and he softly gasped. He immediately turned his vision onto the ceiling of the cave as he caught a glimpse of light flickering over there.

Under normal circumstances, if Lin Dong encountered this situation, he would not give it even the slightest notice. However, now that he knew the effects of the rock pool, he became extremely attentive to the whole area surrounding the cave.

Lin Dong kept his eyes firmly locked onto the location where he spotted the flickering lights. Under his watchful gaze, the flickering light appeared again. However, it looked as though the light was flickering slightly more hastily. Soon after, a ray of light fell down into the rock pool.

Due to the ray of light, a gentle ripple emerged on the surface of the rock pool.

Lin Dong stared at the location where the ray of light had fell into the rock pool. As he swallowed, he remembered catching a glimpse of what seemed to be a dark-red liquid within the light. That liquid... it was exactly what Lin Dong saw after his blood fell into the rock pool.

"It seems that the secret is hidden above......"

Lin Dong softly murmured as his eyes brightened and he lifted his head to gaze above at the ceiling of the cave.