Chapter 44: The Mysterious Power of Meditation

  This is a short and stout old man with white hair and beard, slightly plump in build but with a ruddy complexion. A wine gourd hangs from his waist at all times. He doesn't differ much from Zhuo Yifan's imagined image.

  "Ah! Shuang'er, I've told you countless times, don't bring people here again..." The old man's voice was surprisingly youthful, like that of a robust man in his thirties. Coarse yet refreshing. Those ancient, deep-set eyes sparkled with an intense light, and suddenly, he felt a surge of inexplicable pain coursing through his body.

  This is still spiritual pressure! This old man can indeed use soul techniques!

  "It's all about being soft and hard, sticking around here, and making this old man teach me the soul technique! This is an explosive power that can blow up the sky!" A thought suddenly rose in Zhuo Yifan's heart.

  "Please, senior, save my junior sister. She's been poisoned by the Purple Emperor." The two sisters, Guan Yue and Guan Yu, knew that this old man was not easy to talk to, so they knelt down on the ground with hopeful eyes.

  "No way!" The old man refused outright, resolutely shaking his head. He raised the wine gourd at his waist and took a sip of strong liquor, then lost interest in looking at Zhuo Yifan again. At this time, Lan Shuang'er walked up to the old man's side and whispered softly...

  "Is it him?" That sharp gaze suddenly fell on Zhuo Yifan, carefully sizing him up for a moment before slowly saying: "Hmph... consider yourselves lucky, follow me inside."

  The old man stepped into the house without saying another word, leaving behind a sentence: "Bring her in! Hurry up! Widow Wang from the village entrance will come to chat with me soon, don't delay my time."

  "Thank you, senior! Thank you, senior..." Guan Yue nodded repeatedly and hurriedly accompanied her sister to send Jiang Siyu in. Neither of them had time to ask, what did Lan Shuang'er just whisper to the old man? How come his attitude suddenly changed?

  "Haha! Shuang'er, what have you done? How did this old fatty agree to it?" Leishi asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

  "Heh heh, it's a secret!" Blue Twin's hair fluttered with excitement as she was about to pick up her wooden bow and leave when Zhuo Yifan's large palm landed on her fragrant shoulder.

  "Ah!" Lan Shuang'er was startled, but when she saw Zhuo Yifan, her expression clearly relaxed, like a shy little daughter-in-law. She looked at Zhuo Yifan with a red face, like a cooked crab, and smiled: "Brother Yifan, is there something?"

  "Huh……" Zuo Yifan was quite perplexed by the reactions of Lan Shuang'er and the old man. Why did he feel that they had a different kind of enthusiasm towards him? Had he met them before? He shook his head immediately. They were original residents of the Blood Prison, it was impossible for them to have met before!

  "Have we... ever met before?" Zhuo Yifan wondered if it was his own misconception or a probing question.

  "Oh, it seems like it does, yet it doesn't." Lan Shuang'er replied with a smile that was not quite a smile, her tone ambiguous but sincere. This vague response only served to deepen Zhuo Yifan's confusion.

  "Leishi brother and Yifan brother, come in quickly, you're both injured. Rub some medicinal wine on your wounds. Hehe, the air in the Blood Prison has a tiny spiritual beast that loves to invade wounds. If not treated promptly, it will cause large-scale rotting. To save their lives, they can only cut off the flesh."

  "What? So terrifying?" Leishi was shocked and tongue-tied. Although this guy was a daredevil when fighting, he was also someone who cherished his life in ordinary times. At the thought of being corroded by such a small spirit beast, he hastily ran into the house.

  "Haha, what a terrible joke." Zhuo Yifan shrugged his shoulders, seeming less concerned. Firstly, he had never heard of such a tiny spiritual beast, and secondly, he saw the faint, almost imperceptible smile on Lan Shuang'er's face, and immediately knew that this little girl was doing it on purpose.

  Lan Shuang'er originally wanted to scare the two of them, but seeing that Zhuo Yifan didn't take the bait, she made a ghostly face at him and ran into the house.

  This iron-made house is very spacious and well-organized.

  Apart from the necessities of life, the walls were hung with all sorts of spiritual beast hides and specimens, and eighteen types of weapons were lined up, all made by this old man named Blue Dye himself.

  "Whoosh!"

  In less than half a watch, the old man lifted the curtain, still holding the wine gourd in his mouth, drinking big gulps of wine, with an expression that seemed to say it was no more significant than saving an ant.

  "Old Master Lan, are you feeling better?" Zhuo Yifan quickly put down the medicinal wine in his hand and bowed respectfully. Although he was used to being casual with his grandfather at home, he had decided to humble himself in order to learn the "Soul Technique". After all, when under someone's roof, one has no choice but to lower their head!

  "Just call me Blue Grandpa, what's with the old master?"

  Lan Ran was very unaccustomed to this title, he swept a glance at the two of them and slowly began to speak about Jiang Siyu's condition.

  "Give this girl some special medicine, and she'll be fine after a few days of rest. Looking at you two, your external injuries should have healed by now. If there's nothing wrong, hurry back home and drink some milk. The Blood Prison is full of dangers at every step, with no guaranteed way to survive - even the strong will suffer greatly. This isn't a place where just any two kids can come."

  Lan Ye spoke harshly, but Zhuo Yifan didn't get angry because of it. Even Leishi, who was usually impulsive, endured the old man's bad temper and smiled brightly.

  He knew that only this fat old man could solve the puzzles in their minds one by one.

  Moreover, he is the village chief of Shura Village, with a high status.

  "Are you Zhuo Yifan?" Suddenly, Lan's gaze shifted over.

  "His name is Leishi, he's my brother."

  "Why have you come to Blood Prison?" Blue Hair's tone was menacing and oppressive.

  "The bloody prison is perilous, but only in a place like this can I find my Dao heart. I came here to become stronger. The tempering of life and death can continuously solidify my temperament and cultivation. Death is not scary; fear is the devil!"

  "Well said! You're indeed my divine teammate!" Leishi praised, the term "divine teammate" had already become Zhuo Yifan's nickname without him realizing it.

  "Who can't brag? If it wasn't for my granddaughter saving you, the two of you would have been dead already." Lan's gaze changed and he smiled coldly. He sat in his chair, seemingly deep in thought, saying: "Coming here can indeed make one stronger. But do you know where this is? This is Blood Prison! You don't understand anything, coming here is just the prelude to death. Out of ten people who come, it's already good if one person survives."

  "What Old Blue said." Zhuo Yifan humbled himself a lot. Le Shi remained silent on the side, afraid that his temper would offend Old Blue. As for Guan Yue and Guan Yu, the two sisters had already been taken away by the eccentric and mysterious Blue Shuang'er to who-knows-where.

  "The suffering in the Blood Prison is indeed not something that ordinary people can bear, but to become stronger, I have to grit my teeth and press on. My ancestors died here, my father's whereabouts are unknown, I must find him! Becoming stronger is the only choice, there is no other way out!" Zhuo Yifan said very seriously, every word sincere, without a hint of falsehood.

  "Getting stronger? …… Hahahaha!"

  Lan Die seemed to have heard the most ridiculous joke, took a big gulp of wine, calmed down for a while, and laughed incredulously, "You outsiders are really laughable, thinking that just by handing over a few stinky street goods as tribute, you can become stronger? According to your logic, we who were born and raised here would be able to beat you guys to a pulp just by walking out?"

  "Isn't that right? Duan Er shot and ran away the Zi Miao Emperor with a single arrow, isn't he a strong expert at the Three Mysteries Realm?" asked Zhuo Yifan intentionally.

  Lan dye gave Zhuo Yifan a white eye, he's not an idiot, of course, he knew Zhuo Yifan was talking nonsense. Fortunately, he didn't bother to calculate with these two ignorant young people, and patiently said.

  "The spiritual beasts here have been strengthened by the power of darkness, although they possess a certain level of spiritual intelligence. However, what they do is the same as ordinary spiritual beasts, still cultivating, eating, and guarding their territory. When encountering a spiritual beast, if one's mind becomes disordered, it will inevitably lead to death. When encountering ferocious spiritual beasts, the best method is to quietly observe them and satisfy their demands."

  Lan Ran sneered, "We've been living in this bloody hell for generations. If we didn't even know the weaknesses of the spiritual beasts, we would have gone extinct long ago. Here, as long as you follow the rules and use your wits, it's easy to survive... Do you know how I managed to evade the spiritual beast's pursuit back then?"

  Upon hearing this, Zhuo Yifan and Leishi exchanged a glance and both shook their heads.

  "To survive, I had no choice but to cut off one of my arms and lure away that spiritual beast."

  "What? Cut off his arm?" The two people were shocked, their eyes involuntarily looking at Lanyu's arm. Wasn't he a normal person?

  "Can an arm grow back on its own?" Zhuo Yifan couldn't help but ask.

  "Why not?" Lan Ran burst out laughing, "Using the power of meditation to restore one's physical body is no difficult task. And the arrow that Shuang Er just shot was combined with the power of meditation, and its effect was extraordinary. Although it was only a cultivation realm, it could explode several times more powerful in an instant."

  "What is the power of meditation?" Zhuo Yifan plucked up his courage to ask, and immediately grasped the key word. Just now, he heard Lan Shuang'er say similar words when she was scolding Zhou Qing.

  He was very curious about what exactly this "meditation power" was. Could it defeat monsters and also regenerate severed limbs? That's just too amazing, right?