In the valley beneath the cliff, thuds and heavy impacts echoed relentlessly, shaking the leaves with loud rustling and sending the mountain birds flapping away, too frightened to linger.
Meanwhile, in the valley, the Demon Ape leapt high, clutching a massive boulder, and hurled it viciously down at Quinn Shepherd from midair.
Quinn dodged nimbly. The Demon Ape missed, hefted the boulder again to smash down, but Quinn sprang atop it, bounced up to its nose, and slammed a palm into the Demon Ape’s face.
Thunder Chant Eight‑Form, third move—Nine‑Dragon Thunder Rush!
This palm strike contained nine layers of force. The first erupted from his palm like a raging dragon, knocking the Demon Ape flat on its back. Quinn’s shoulders and hips moved in tandem, channeling power through every muscle, focusing it into his palm as the second surge exploded—the Demon Ape’s head slammed into the ground, splitting the rocks beneath.
Quinn’s whole body rippled like a coiling dragon, muscles writhing as the third surge of Nine‑Dragon Thunder Rush erupted, shattering the fractured stones.
His muscles convulsed violently—a fourth surge burst forth, driving half of the Demon Ape’s head into the ground.
The fifth surge of Nine‑Dragon Thunder Rush exploded, a dull shockwave rumbling through the earth as the Demon Ape’s entire head sank below the surface!
The sixth surge of Nine‑Dragon Thunder Rush burst out like six rampaging dragons. Just as Quinn unleashed this force, the Demon Ape reacted—the mountain-sized fist swung from the side, landing squarely on Quinn and sending him flying like a swatted fly!
Quinn tumbled and rolled across the ground as the Demon Ape struggled to yank its head free, shaking itself so hard that shards of stone flew from its thick fur, scattering in every direction.
On the other side, Quinn flipped to his feet and charged again. The Demon Ape, its head huge, thought for a moment, then sprang up onto the cliff and squatted on the ledge, waving its hand: "Little runt, no."
Quinn’s feet flew as he dashed ahead, tapping rapidly up the sheer cliff face, running from bottom to top to attack the Demon Ape.
The Demon Ape roared in fury. Man and ape stood atop the cliff, leaping and fighting, sending shards of stone flying everywhere.
After a long while, the medicinal power in Quinn’s body was finally spent. The Demon Ape, too, was so exhausted it couldn’t move. Both lay sprawled on the cliff, panting for breath.
After the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Quinn caught his breath, sat up, and regulated his breathing. To his delight, his yuanqi had made yet another leap in strength in just this short time—tougher and more resilient, now flowing freely to every corner of his body.
He was covered in even more grime—likely the result of the medicinal power strengthening his yuanqi during the fight, purging more impurities from his body.
Quinn flicked his finger, sending a gust whistling through the air with a sharp, arrow-like sound!
Startled, the Demon Ape quickly sat up and assumed a defensive posture.
Quinn stretched, feeling his muscles ache, and shook his head. "No more fighting."
The Demon Ape understood, let out a sigh of relief, yanked up a tree as thick as an arm, stripped off the leaves to chew slowly, then pushed the tree toward Quinn and rumbled, "Little runt, eat."
Quinn picked a bright red fruit from the tree, peeled it, and ate it—the sweet juice soothed his throat.
The Demon Ape shot him a look of disdain, unimpressed by how little he ate. It thumped its chest hard: "Eat! Strong!"
Bruised and battered from the fight, Quinn endured the aches, stood up, and performed Thunder Chant Eight‑Form in front of the Demon Ape, then pounded his chest: "Practice, strong!"
The Demon Ape rolled its eyes at him and kept munching leaves, sneering, "Believe, ghost."
After resting, Quinn leapt off the cliff, sprinted away along the rocky wall, and called back, "Tomorrow, fight!"
The Demon Ape blinked, and as soon as Quinn was gone, it jumped up and started imitating Quinn’s moves. Though its Thunder Chant Eight‑Form was rough, its sheer strength gave the technique a hint of true power. With a punch, it made the wind and thunder howl.
The Demon Ape paused, then broke into wild joy, punching with whooshing force again and again until the whole cliff rang with wind and thunder. It shouted, "Strong! Strong! Strong!"
Quinn returned to the village, where the Apothecary immediately rushed over, anxiously checking his injuries and smearing medicine on his bruised face. "Any strange symptoms?" he asked.
Quinn nodded, and the Apothecary grew even more nervous.
"Grandpa Apothecary’s spirit pills really work—my yuanqi is even stronger now," Quinn said.
The Apothecary finally relaxed, smiling. "These spirit pills really do work on Overlord‑Body yuanqi. As long as you’re not dead from eating them, that means my method is right. Take this whole vat of pills for now—I'll go work on other formulas!" With that, he bustled off in high spirits.
Grandpa Blind came over, leaning on his bamboo cane, and smiled. "Tired, Quinn? If you’re worn out, I’ll teach you a top-tier eye technique."
Quinn coughed. "Grandpa Blind, I’m over here. That’s the outhouse."
Grandpa Blind turned around and grinned at the Butcher, who was sunbathing on the millstone. "I’ve thought this over for a long time—your Overlord‑Body yuanqi has no attribute, so you can’t train in my usual techniques. But this eye art doesn’t require any attribute—your Overlord‑Body yuanqi should work just fine. Come with me, I’ll teach you the Ninefold Heaven Eye Art…"
Quinn felt a headache coming on. He always thought Grandpa Blind was a bit unreliable, but he followed anyway.
He was puzzled—Grandpa Blind said he’d teach him the Ninefold Heaven Eye Art, but instead of showing him how to train his eyes, he brought him to observe the four stone statues in the village.
The two of them sat before the eastern statue. Grandpa Blind’s eye sockets were empty, yet he stared intently at the statue, as if he could see something hidden within.
Quinn knew everyone in the village was peculiar, and even the four statues at its corners were strange—in Oldridge Village, nothing was normal.
Though the four statues weren’t tall, they were unimaginably heavy—so heavy that even Quinn couldn’t budge them.
He was much stronger now, especially after taking the Four Spirit Bloods—his strength kept growing, and lately his yuanqi had started tempering his body, refining muscle and bone, making him tougher and tougher. But still, he couldn't move the statues at all.
(This section is not part of the story and can be skipped.)
When he was little, Quinn often climbed on the statues to play, but Granny Sue and the others always chased him down, warning him not to disrespect them. During festivals, Granny Sue would lead offerings of incense and food to the statues, praying for peace and safety in the village. These four statues weren’t carved as people, but had human-like forms. The southern statue had a bird’s head, crouched on a stone block, hands on its knees, wings carved on its back as if ready to take flight.
The northern statue was a turtle-backed old man holding a whisk, but the whisk was carved as a snow-white serpent, its body curling from the handle and winding around the old man, its head raised to gaze into the distance.
The western statue was a woman, crowned with feathers, standing atop a tiger.
This woman’s statue was strange, too—a third eye was carved in her brow, and within that eye, a bird’s nest with three chicks.
The statue before him, at the eastern corner, was a dragon-headed figure with a herb basket on its back, filled with carved plants.
Grandpa Blind wanted him to study this statue carefully, but Quinn had seen it countless times before—even climbed on it to mess around—and couldn’t see what was so special.
"Quinn, can you lift this statue?" Grandpa Blind asked when he saw Quinn’s casual attitude.
"No."
Quinn shook his head. The statue was far too heavy—not like ordinary stone. A stone this size should weigh a thousand jin at most, and with his current strength, Quinn could easily lift that. But these four statues wouldn’t budge at all.
Grandpa Blind coaxed gently, "Do you know why the statues are so heavy?"
Quinn shook his head again. "No idea."
"The statues aren’t heavy at all—not in the slightest."
Grandpa Blind’s expression was calm. "What’s heavy isn’t the stone, but what’s carved into it."
Quinn was puzzled. Wasn’t what’s carved from stone still just stone?
Grandpa Blind said, "For example, when you learn painting and calligraphy from Grandpa Deaf, your work is worthless, but Grandpa Deaf’s paintings and writings are priceless! Both use paper and ink—so why is his art worth so much more?"
Quinn half-understood—Grandpa Deaf’s art really did have a special spirit to it, far beyond Quinn’s own.
Grandpa Blind raised his bamboo cane and pointed at the statue. "If these statues were carved by ordinary hands, they’d be light as air. But the sculptors were extraordinary, and what they carved is even more frightening. Their weight can’t be measured by common sense. Carrying one of these statues would be like…"
He looked strange for a moment, then said, "…like carrying a god on your back!"