"I want to try this second-tier Holy Spirit Stone!" Jiang Yuan took out the Holy Spirit Stone he obtained from the Blood-bellied Eagle's skull.

He wasn't acting on a whim. Rather than waiting for two more Holy Spirit Stones to unlock the Radiant Gold Core in his hand, he might as well refine it now and turn it into his own asset.

"Do you want to use this to awaken your spirit?" Ning Yanlan asked.

"No, I want to strengthen my physical body!" Jiang Yuan had no reason to hide it. Awakening the Spirit was still too far away for him. He would still be very strong if he strengthened his physical body now.

"How can you strengthen your physical body without awakening your spiritual power?" Ning Yanlan asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Is it necessary to awaken the spirit to strengthen the physical body?" Jiang Yuan frowned.

"That's right, only through the Spirit Awakening process can you determine which element you belong to!"

Ning Yanlan spoke of what she knew, "After spiritual awakening, the body will respond to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and then it will be able to distinguish whether you belong to the power type, the spiritual energy type, or the soul energy type! Only when spiritual awakening is successful can you cultivate normally!"

"Moreover, Spirit Awakening can activate your innate talents, like my Spirit Shield, which is an innate talent!"

“But my current strength is already at level four!” Jiang Yuan asked, puzzled.

"What's going on? Did you skip the Awakening stage and become a Strength-type directly?" Ning Yanlan couldn't say for sure and could only speculate.

"Never mind, let's refine this second-tier Holy Spirit Stone first!" Jiang Yuan couldn't get an answer from Ning Yanlan, so he had no choice but to take the risk and try it himself.

"Won't something bad happen?" Ning Yanlan asked worriedly.

"Probably not!" Jiang Yuan said as he put the Holy Spirit Stone in his mouth. The Holy Spirit Stones were very small, about the size of a pigeon egg, like a large candy.

Just as Ning Yanlan had said, the Holy Spirit Stone melted instantly upon entering his mouth, and a warm current began to spread from his throat to various parts of his body. Meanwhile, his progress in obtaining the first level of the Great Wilderness Body Tempering Technique was also gradually increasing, reaching 57% in a short while.

"Let's go, let's sneak over there!"

Jiang Yuan patted Ning Yanlan on the shoulder, signaling the two of them to follow the ridges of the fields to the village.

Because of the great changes in the world, the grass in the fields grew wildly, and even the newly sprouted shoots were a finger long, not to mention the old grass, which could easily block the figures of two people.

"I never imagined that the first time I, Ning Yanlan, would roll around in the grass with someone would be with you!" Ning Yanlan teased lightly as she walked.

"Do you think I look like I'm doing this for the second time?" Jiang Yuan chatted casually without any reservations. It was getting dark, and walking hunched over on this deserted field ridge was indeed a bit boring. It would be better for the two of them to banter.

"Jiang Yuan, where is your hometown?" Ning Yanlan asked.

"Me? A slight smile appeared on Jiang Yuan's face. He said casually, "I'm from Ancheng, but I haven't been back for several years!"

Ancheng was the hometown of his adoptive parents, but he never went back after being driven out of there.

"Really? I'm from Ancheng too!" Ning Yanlan exclaimed excitedly.

"What a coincidence!" Jiang Yuan was currently focused on the progress of the Great Wilderness Body Tempering Technique within his body.

"It's quite a coincidence, isn't it? The largest family in Ancheng is the Jiang family. You wouldn't happen to be from that family, would you?" Ning Yanlan shook her head after saying this, and muttered to herself, "Probably not. I heard that the Jiang family went through a major upheaval more than ten years ago, and their only male descendant went abroad!"

"Really?" Jiang Yuan didn't feel anything, even though these things were very close to him.

“Speaking of the Jiang family, I have a memory! The marriage my family originally arranged for me wasn’t with this scumbag now, but with the original heir of the Jiang family. However, after the Jiang family head and his wife had an accident, the Jiang family heir also contracted a terminal illness and died at the age of seven or eight, so the marriage was nullified!” Ning Yanlan recalled that she was only a few years old at the time, and she wouldn’t have known if her elders hadn’t mentioned it casually.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan's expression turned strange, but just as he was about to speak, he felt a sudden heat in his body.

"Hiss!" Jiang Yuan gasped in pain, but he had to endure it to avoid being exposed.

"What's wrong?" Ning Yanlan noticed Jiang Yuan's expression.

Jiang Yuan clutched his stomach, his back already soaked with cold sweat. He said with difficulty, "It feels like my body is on fire!"

"On fire?" Ning Yanlan grabbed his hand, but felt no warmth; instead, the icy coldness frightened her. "Your body is so cold, what's wrong?"

"I don't know!" Jiang Yuan had no idea what this sudden pain was all about.

Human perception can be flawed; even in freezing weather, people can experience heatstroke, feeling as if they are in a furnace despite the extreme cold, until they are stripped naked and freeze to death.

Clearly, this is Jiang Yuan's current state.

Moreover, it wasn't just a perceptual error, because Jiang Yuan was already unable to walk due to the pain.

As if things weren't going to go wrong, a sudden downpour and a headwind struck. Just then, a group of monsters appeared, descending from the roadside and heading along the field ridges.

Although the two had walked for several miles, they would inevitably be discovered if they stayed there too long.

"Jiang Yuan, can you still walk?" Ning Yanlan asked anxiously, looking at Jiang Yuan who was curled up in a ball.

Jiang Yuan could no longer hear Ning Yanlan's voice at this moment; his attention was entirely focused on the 99% progress of the Great Wilderness Body Tempering Technique.

"Awakened state, overloaded, second-tier energy cannot match!"

"Awakened state, overloaded, second-tier energy cannot match!"

Jiang Yuan felt like crying. Why did he have to be so stupid as to swallow that second-tier Holy Spirit Stone? Entering the first tier is the stage that requires gradual progress, but he directly swallowed the second-tier Holy Spirit Stone. Now the energy is not compatible, which is why his body functions are out of balance.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!