Chapter 99: Brutal Body Tempering

  The clanging sound never ceases to echo, resonating across the vast crimson land. Three hundred thousand slaves struggle inside and outside the mines and furnaces. The rumbling mine waters churn, as if the boundless mine's blood vessels are surging. The intermittent wails and screams play out this purgatory world's most desolate melody.

  Life of a miner, a desolate and tragic drama played out with life itself.

  Scorching heat, pouring mineral water, and the threat of overseers' iron whips, iron-backed dogs' bites, and ghost-faced spiders!

  Death is being performed every moment, and it has played out all the tragic emotions of human life!

  Tang Yan was in the midst of it all, with a deep personal feeling.

  A fifty-meter square area, half a meter deep, doesn't sound difficult, but the ground was harder than steel, and Tang Yan and his team dug for a full sixteen hours!

  The deeper you go, the harder it gets, this is not mining, but excavating steel!

  Sixteen hours, Tang Yan didn't know how many times he had hacked, only remembering that he had been flogged at least eight hundred times! Eight hundred?! His bones were shattered countless times, and the unbearable pain directly knocked him out.

  There were many times when Hei Dou was about to explode in anger, but was quietly stopped by Tang Yan.

  He was too old, his physical strength could not support such intense consumption. Under the iron whip's lash, his body was already battered and bruised beyond recognition. His energy was exhausted, his blood dry and caked, and finally he collapsed to the ground like a lump of mud, unable to move again.

  Du Yang's condition was getting worse and worse, with no recovery from the "Undying Heavenly Technique", his spiritual energy was extremely depleted, and in the end, he directly fainted to the ground, his whole body couldn't find a single intact place.

  With the two of them as the focus, Hoffman seemed to have forgotten about the other three, only occasionally hitting a few times, and most of the time was spent on Tang Yan and Du Yang.

  "Now begin your rest, allow yourselves to absorb the energy here, remember, only three quarters of an hour!" Hoffman cracked his whip and finally let them off.

  "Eat something and absorb energy quickly, otherwise you will die in the next round." Xǔ Yàn brought over some dried meat and steamed buns, placing them in front of Táng Yān and Dù Yáng.

  The environment is harsh here, but the food is pretty good, it's to ensure they can work better.

  Tang Yan and Du Yang were on their last breath, and after a long time, they struggled to sit up. Xu Yan was still quite righteous, allowing the two of them to lean against his broad back, barely maintaining their sitting posture.

  "Hey little guy, come here and listen to what I have to say." The blood doll in the air sea revealed half of its head again, smiling with schadenfreude.

  Tang Yan's weak breath sank into his dantian, and even his voice was trembling: "Speak."

  "The heaven and earth energy here is more than ten times richer than the outside world!! Staying here for a long time will absolutely bring more benefits than harm! The premise is that you can withstand this hardship! For you, the most important thing is... the soul of life! This place is accompanied by death every moment, the soul of life fills the entire space, and this mine has some special properties, the existence of the soul of life lasts a little longer." Blood Doll didn't mock or ridicule this time, saying it all in one breath.

  Tang Yan's depressed spirit was suddenly lifted, and he leaned heavily on Xu Yan, opening his mouth to absorb the energy of heaven and earth.

  A mouthful of scorching breath poured into his chest and abdomen, and the surging energy rapidly impacted his spiritual veins. As expected, the energy here was nearly ten times denser than outside! Tang Yan held his breath and focused his mind, silently reciting the broken incantation, separating the soul from the energy, and in a short moment, he actually found two, with extremely vigorous auras.

  Calamity and blessing are interdependent!! This ancient saying is so true!!

  Tang Yan's dull eyes suddenly burst out with a sharp light: "Du Yang, the spiritual energy here is extremely rich, hurry up and refine it!"

  Reminding Du Yang, no longer hesitant, greedily absorbing energy. Silently refining, nourishing the withered meridians, capturing strands of the soul of life, nurturing one's own vitality!

  Three quarters of an hour later, Hofmann returned once more, cracking his whip in the air and announcing that a new task was about to begin.

  Tang Yan and Du Yang were covered in blood, looking disheveled, but they saw a glimmer of tenacity and encouragement in each other's eyes. They were ruthless to their enemies, but even more so to themselves! Tempering? Perseverance!

  "One hole per round, rest for three quarters of an hour after completion. After digging five holes, it's a cycle, and the rest time is fifteen hours after completion. You can go back to your rooms to rest or stay here to rest, do you understand? Just need to finish four more holes, and you can have a long vacation." Hoffman cracked his long whip loudly, shouting.

  Five pits for one cycle? Tang Yan had an urge to scold! One pit, they spent sixteen disappearing hours, five pits, even if it's fast, it'll take seventy hours! A full seventy working hours?!

  The Blood Doll floated in the air, leisurely saying: "Little guy, although the environment here is a bit harsh, it actually has many benefits. I suggest you take a few more lashes, just think of it as tempering for your body. An extraordinary treasure sword needs to be forged thousands of times, if you want to forge a diamond-like physique, you can also learn from experience."

  Temper your body with this iron whip? Tang Yan's eyes twitched and he almost cursed back!

  "You can ignore me, pretend I didn't say anything. But let me tell you something bluntly, your foundation is still too weak, your strength has increased too quickly, and your power and physical intensity are extremely poor, to the point of being unbearable!"

  Physical strength, muscle intensity, and perseverance are the foundation for future growth. Kid, as a man, being tough on yourself is always beneficial. I've said my piece, listen or not, enjoy yourself well."

  The blood doll let out two strange laughs and then sank into the bottom of the sea with a whoosh.

  Temper the flesh!! Temper the flesh with an iron whip?! Tang Yan's face looked a bit unsightly, this was simply not treating oneself as human, completely forging steel!

  "You damned old thing, what are you staring at!!" Hoffman swung his iron whip and lashed out with a series of loud cracks. Each lash landed with a splat, tearing flesh and revealing bone.

  Tang Yan's body shook violently, and his old face was devoid of any blood color.

  A flash of fierce light flashed across his eyes, damn it, let's go all out!!

  Anyway, this iron whip will continue to strike again and again. If it doesn't temper itself, won't that be a waste?!

  Tang Yan gritted his teeth and endured the iron whip's lashes, exerting all his strength to circulate the Undying Heaven Technique, mobilizing his spiritual energy to heal his wounds!

  Crack! The crisp sound echoed in my ears, and the skin on my back burst open, as the spiritual energy inside me surged wildly, mixed with a hint of life essence. Quickly healing the wound, and tempering the tattered flesh.

  One lash followed another, the same spot had just healed, only to be torn open again, healed, torn open, healed and then torn open once more. It was like a cycle of life and death, enduring time and time again, being tempered time and time again.

  Inhuman torture!!

  Even with Tang Yan's perseverance, he almost knelt down and begged pitifully, but in the end, he gritted his teeth and persisted.

  Hoffman was hooked, yelping and screaming as he repeatedly whipped himself.

  Tang Yan endured the intense pain while wielding the iron hammer. The healing of his wounds was facilitated by his spiritual energy, but restoring the iron hammer no longer relied on spiritual energy, instead relying solely on his own strength. Clanging and ringing out, sparks flew everywhere, his hands shook with skin splitting open, yet the ground remained still, but Tang Yan persisted in using his arm strength to swing and chop.

  Like this, time and time again!

  Sixty-seven hours of persistence!

  The first round ended with Tang Yan fainting fifty-nine times, being splashed awake by cold water and continuing to get up and work; his body endured six thousand whips, all over his body, battered and bruised, bones shattered, sometimes even seeing internal organs; Hofmann didn't make things difficult for them, leaving a sentence 'Self-rest', turned around and left.

  Tang Yan, Du Yang and Xu Yan all chose to stay here to absorb the energy of heaven and earth, while the other two chose to return and rest.

  They were exhausted and just wanted to sleep soundly.

  But Tang Yan and Du Yang couldn't, they both had reasons why they couldn't sleep.

  Xu Yan sat cross-legged, his disheveled hair stuck to his face, making it impossible to discern his features. He greedily devoured the energy here, mouthful by mouthful. Tang Yan and Du Yang leaned against him on either side, their bodies extremely weak, their consciousness hazy, but they persisted with sheer willpower.

  The crimson earth is always accompanied by death, and the heavens are filled with the souls of thousands of unjust deaths. They all fell in humiliation after enduring countless hardships, some were melted by mine water, some were swallowed by monsters, and some died miserably under the iron whip.

  Tang Yan had no time to sympathize with these pitiful people, he had to absorb enough soul of life to nourish his own vitality and slow down the aging of this body.

  The fifteen hours passed quickly and with another crack of Hofmann's whip they had to get up again.

  But whether it was Tang Yan or Du Yang, or even Xu Yan, they all seemed to have undergone some subtle changes, which were hidden under their disheveled clothes and the sticky blood. These changes... others couldn't see them.

  In the second round, Tang Yan fainted fifty times and swung his iron hammer more than eight thousand times; his body withstood six thousand five hundred whips, which was also six thousand five hundred refinements!

  In the third cycle, Tang Yan fainted 45 times, swung his iron hammer 9,000 times, and withstood 7,000 lashes; in the fourth cycle, he fainted 37 times, swung his iron hammer a full 10,000 times, and withstood 7,500 lashes; in the fifth cycle, Tang Yan fainted only 30 times, but each round he would only faint six times, swinging his iron hammer maintained at 10,000 times, while the number of lashes his body could withstand reached 8,000!

  In the sixth cycle, Tang Yan only fainted twenty times, but the number of times he swung his iron rod remained at ten thousand, and his body withstood nine thousand lashes!

  The Seventh Reincarnation...

  "Ahhh!!" A loud roar rolled in his throat, and Tang Yan's face twisted as he swung the thick iron hammer wildly, smashing it down. The ground shook, sparks flew everywhere, and pieces of rock debris flew through the air.

  Hoffman grasped the iron whip, staring straight at Tang Yan. For six rounds, his eyes finally changed, becoming extremely strange. What kind of monster was this old man? Why did he get more spirited and excited with each hit? His body was clearly battered beyond recognition, but it seemed to be healing quickly? Was it an illusion?

  After each round, his body would show no signs of injury, and his mental state would improve significantly; after each cycle, he would be as agile as a dragon and as powerful as a tiger, with his strength increasing explosively, making him almost unrecognizable.

  Hoffman initially just swung a whip, and Tang Yan's flesh burst open. Now he must use all his strength to achieve a similar effect. What does this portend? It portends that Tang Yan's physical strength is increasing bit by bit!!

  Xu Yan and others looked at Tang Yan's eyes also changed, as a mine slave, others were tired and disheveled, but he was more energetic, the more he worked, the more powerful he became, and even deliberately found fault with Hoffman to get beaten.

  What is he doing? What is he up to? Tempering his body with an iron whip? What a crazy and cruel method! And what a terrifying willpower and endurance!

  Xu Yan looked at Tang Yan, who was dancing wildly with the iron awl, and a strange expression flashed in his eyes. The other two mine slaves secretly curled their lips, feeling a bit scared, thinking: Is this guy crazy? Completely and utterly crazy!!!