Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

17: Chapter 17: Undercurrents and TemperingThe moment that pinch of dusty Remnant Soul Nurturing Wood Shavings merged into the chaos dao seed, it was like a piece of warm ancient jade being cast into a scorching furnace.

There was no world-shaking commotion, only a silent soaking and soothing.

An indescribable, extremely faint yet exceptionally pure and warm aura, like a trickling stream, quietly seeped into Lin Mo’s exhausted and dying Origin core. It wasn’t overbearing like Old Sun’s potent medicine, nor did it require difficult conversion like the Profound Yin Qi Su Muxue had transferred. It was more like a soothing and nourishment at the level of the Origin, directly acting upon the flickering flame of the Dao Seed and his Soul-tearing pain.

[Remnant Soul Nurturing Wood Shavings in effect...] [Gentle Soul-nourishing power detected... Mental and willpower trauma repair accelerating...] [Dao Seed (Seed) Origin exhaustion state maintained... Collapse process halted... Stability slightly increased...] [’Lesser Body Tempering Technique’ mental guidance burden reduced... Blood and Qi disorder initially organized...]

For the first time, the cold System notification carried a bit of positive information. The agonizing pain deep in Lin Mo’s consciousness that had almost torn him apart felt as though a gentle hand had lightly brushed over it; while it still existed, it was no longer so maddeningly sharp. The vast ’void’ of exhaustion remained, but the faint light of the Dao Seed finally stopped dimming. Instead, it stubbornly stabilized at the brink of death, like a tiny blade of grass pinned firmly in a cliff crevice amidst a violent storm.

A glimmer of hope lit up in the absolute darkness.

Lin Mo greedily guided this warm power, operating the ’Embracing Origin Stance’ Mind-Cultivation Technique with all his might. This time, the concentration of his will no longer felt like walking on a knife’s edge; though still difficult and painful, it now had a stable fulcrum. In his withered Meridians, his nearly stagnant blood and Qi began to flow extremely slowly and faintly, like a frozen stream awakened by a spring breeze. Each time his will guided the blood and Qi through a minor Heavenly Cycle, it brought a long-lost sense of groundedness from regaining control over his own body.

[Ding! ’Lesser Body Tempering Technique’ (Fragment) proficiency +1!] [Ding! Host’s mental and willpower resilience slightly increased! Willpower under Origin exhaustion state +0.5%!]

Slowly, yet firmly, Lin Mo began to climb up from the abyss of exhaustion.

---

Inside the Woodshed, Liu Qingxuan held the slumbering Lin Mo, having barely slept all night. Her rough fingers unconsciously caressed her son’s burning little face. Beneath that high temperature, an indescribable sense of calm was emerging from Lin Mo’s faint breathing. This wasn’t the deathly silence from before, but a kind of... restrained peace, like the deep roots of an ancient tree?

”Moer... my Moer...” Liu Qingxuan murmured softly. In her weary and desperate eyes, that spark of hope brightened slightly because of this subtle change. She didn’t know what had happened, but she stubbornly believed that the heavens had heard her prayers and that her son’s tenacious vitality was recovering!

Daylight pierced the darkness once more. Under the torture of the intermittent ointment’s overbearing medicinal power, Su Muxue was still in a state of high fever and deep sleep. Her little face was flushed, her breathing was rapid, and her body twitched in pain from time to time. However, Liu Qingxuan could feel that the swelling on her left shoulder and right arm seemed to have subsided a tiny bit. That bone-chilling coldness also seemed to be suppressed deeper.

Old Sun pushed the door open and entered. Seeing Liu Qingxuan’s bloodshot eyes and the slightly stabilized aura of Lin Mo in her arms, a hint of hard-to-detect surprise flashed in his cloudy eyes. He stepped forward to check Lin Mo’s pulse again, his brow still tightly furrowed. The pulse was still extremely weak and chaotic, but that heavy ’sense of exhaustion’ touching the life Origin... seemed to have really... stopped? It even showed a very, very faint sign of ’solidifying’? This completely defied common sense!

He took a deep look at the sleeping Lin Mo and said nothing. He simply handed the freshly brewed qi-boosting powder to Liu Qingxuan. ”Feed this to her. As for Moer... let him continue to sleep. Today, you come with me to the backyard.” His voice carried an unquestionable weariness.

Liu Qingxuan’s heart tightened, knowing that more dangerous work was coming. She carefully placed Lin Mo back onto the hay pile, letting him lie close to Su Muxue, and then followed Old Sun out of the Woodshed.

The backyard was far more spacious than the front shop, but the air was filled with a stench of gore and decay so thick it was nauseating! In the corner, root-like objects covered in thick, black mud were piled like a small mountain. Those roots were twisted and knotted, their color a pale grey, and their surfaces were covered in rotten spots and holes, emitting a stench like decaying corpses in a grave. These were the roots of the bone rotting grass!

”Put these on.” Old Sun tossed a pair of coarse leather gloves and a worn-out burlap mask to Liu Qingxuan, then pointed to several large wooden basins and a long-handled stiff-bristled brush nearby. ”Use the brush to thoroughly scrub the rot and attachments off these roots. Pay attention to the things in the crevices! After scrubbing, soak them in the ’Miasma Clearing Water’ (a pungent medicinal liquid) in that bucket for half an hour, then take them out to dry. Remember, your skin must not touch them at any point! And do not let the juices splash into your eyes, nose, or mouth! If the gloves are damaged, replace them immediately!”

Looking at the pile of bone rotting grass roots emitting the aura of death, Liu Qingxuan’s stomach churned. She suppressed the urge to vomit, put on the gloves and mask, picked up the heavy long-handled brush, and walked toward the filth.

The stench nearly penetrated the mask. Holding her breath, she used all her strength to drag a heavy bone rotting grass root to the edge of the basin and began scrubbing. The black, asphalt-like mud was extremely sticky, mixed with small pebbles, insect eggs, and even tiny skeletons of unknown Origin. Every stroke splashed foul black water. The bone rotting grass root itself was also very fragile; a bit too much force could cause it to crack, leaking a greyish-green juice with a strongly corrosive smell.

Liu Qingxuan’s movements were clumsy and difficult. The heavy brush soon blistered her palms. Sweat mixed with the black water splashed on her face, making her skin sting. The gloves didn’t fit perfectly and were soon worn through by sharp stones and the edges of the bone rotting grass. A bone-chilling numbness quickly spread from the hole at her fingertip!

”Hiss!” Liu Qingxuan cried out in pain and jerked her hand back! The skin on the contaminated fingertip instantly turned greyish-white and lost all sensation, as if frozen stiff!

”Fool! I told you not to touch it!” Old Sun’s stern voice came. He walked over quickly, grabbed Liu Qingxuan’s hand, poured some pungent yellow medicinal powder from a vial, and pressed it hard onto the greyish-white wound!

”Ah—!” A piercing, searing pain instantly replaced the numbness! Liu Qingxuan trembled all over from the pain, and tears immediately welled up.

”Endure it! The poison of the bone rotting grass has entered your blood. This bit of powder can only temporarily suppress it! If the work isn’t finished and the poison enters your bone marrow, even the gods won’t be able to save you!” Old Sun’s voice was cold as he shoved a vial of medicinal powder to her. ”Deal with it yourself!” Having said that, he ignored her and turned to handle other medicinal materials, but his peripheral vision remained on Liu Qingxuan.

The immense grievance and physical pain nearly caused Liu Qingxuan to break down. But looking at the vial of pungent powder and thinking of the two children in the Woodshed whose fates were uncertain, she bit her lower lip hard until blood seeped out. She haphazardly sprinkled the powder onto the hole in her glove, wrapped it tight with a rag, and then picked up the heavy brush again. Like a Puppet without a sense of pain, she began scrubbing even more frantically. Every swing of the brush was accompanied by a piercing sear and the spreading numbness in her fingers. Sweat, tears, blood, and black water mixed into a mess on her face and hands.

For the children, she had to hold on!

---

Inside the Woodshed.

Under the nourishment of the Remnant Soul Nurturing Wood Shavings, Lin Mo’s consciousness was like parched earth welcoming its first light rain, undergoing a difficult repair. Although the exhausted Origin core remained dim, it was no longer in danger of collapsing at any moment. While the intense pain persisted, it was now within the range he could endure and guide.

He ’perceived’ his mother’s almost self-torturing labor in the backyard, sensing the immense pain her body was enduring and the erosion of the poison. A cold anger and a sense of urgency burned in his heart.

Become stronger! He must become stronger faster!

The mental guidance of the ’Embracing Origin Stance’ had initially organized his disordered blood and Qi, laying an extremely weak foundation for his body. It was time to charge at the ’Bone Tempering Stance’ again! Only a stronger physique could carry stronger power, allow for faster recovery, and protect them!

Target—the right ulna!

Lin Mo sank his consciousness into the Profound Truth of the ’Lesser Body Tempering Technique.’ The pain of the ’Bone Tempering Stance’ was still fresh in his memory, but at this moment, his mental willpower had been tempered far beyond what it was before through the nourishment of the Remnant Soul Nurturing Wood Shavings and his struggle on the brink of exhaustion!

Will as the hammer! Blood and Qi as the fire! Boom—! The familiar, agonizing pain, like a red-hot iron rod piercing through bone marrow, erupted once again at his right ulna! This time, because his Perception had recovered, the pain felt even clearer and deeper into the bone!

Lin Mo’s tiny body jerked on the straw mat! Cold sweat instantly soaked his swaddling clothes! But he clenched his mental teeth tightly. The chaos dao seed throbbed with difficulty in its exhaustion, providing a faint but resilient power of repair. The warm aura of the Remnant Soul Nurturing Wood Shavings acted like a tough barrier, guarding the core of his consciousness from being crushed by the intense pain.

Guide! Temper! His will locked onto that section of the ulna, guiding the faint blood and Qi like the most resilient craftsman, hammering and tempering it over and over! Every strike of his will was accompanied by the faint, tooth-aching sound of bone cracking and restructuring deep within! The intense pain came in waves, each stronger than the last, crashing against his limits!

[Ding! ’Lesser Body Tempering Technique’ (Fragment) proficiency +5!] [Ding! Host’s right ulna tempering progress 1%... 2%... 3%...] [Warning! Host’s blood and Qi are being consumed rapidly! Origin exhaustion state load intensifying!] [Warning! Bone tempering pain is impacting the mental willpower barrier! Remnant Soul Nurturing Wood Shavings effect is being continuously consumed...]

The cold notification sounds were like background drumbeats. Lin Mo ignored the warnings. His entire mind was immersed in the pain and control of bone tempering. He could clearly ’perceive’ that, under the hammering of blood and Qi, the Impurities within that section of the ulna were being removed bit by bit, and the structure was becoming tighter and tougher! A faint but real sense of power was emerging from deep within the bone!

”Ugh, ah—!” The immense pain finally broke through his willpower barrier, turning into a suppressed cry from the depths of his throat, like the death rattle of a young beast! His tiny body twitched violently!

The sleeping Su Muxue beside him seemed to be triggered by this violent wave of pain. Her tightly knit brows suddenly twitched, and her pale green eyelashes trembled violently! The Profound Yin Seal within her, which had been suppressed by the multiple layers of the fire cloud fruit, intermittent ointment, and qi-boosting powder, seemed to be stimulated by some kind of kindred and intense pain, throbbing again in response!

Buzz—! A bone-chilling aura escaped uncontrollably from the wound on her left shoulder! The temperature in the Woodshed plummeted instantly! On the hay near her, a thin layer of white frost condensed at a speed visible to the naked eye!

”Hmm?!” Old Sun, who was processing medicinal materials in the backyard but was actually keeping a Divided Soul to monitor the movements in the Woodshed, suddenly looked up! A sharp light burst from his cloudy eyes! He clearly felt that sudden eruption of pure yet chaotic Profound Yin Cold Qi!

”Not good!” Old Sun’s expression changed drastically. Ignoring the medicinal powder all over his hands, his figure moved like lightning as he instantly rushed toward the Woodshed!

Inside the Woodshed, Lin Mo was at the most critical Peak of pain in his bone tempering! The Profound Yin Cold Qi erupting from Su Muxue’s body was like an ice pick, instantly piercing into his highly concentrated mental Perception!

Attacked from both inside and out! The intense pain and the icy cold were like two heavy hammers, slamming hard against Lin Mo’s consciousness!

Pfft! At the level of consciousness, Lin Mo seemed to hear the sound of his own Soul cracking! The light of the Dao Seed, which had just stabilized a bit, flickered violently once more! The warm barrier of the Remnant Soul Nurturing Wood Shavings dimmed instantly!

A matter of life and death!