### Chapter 88: The Five Spirits Pagoda (Part 3)
"Finally healed," Lin Yi muttered, rising to his feet—only to stagger as the crushing gravity slammed down again. He苦笑. "Got so excited I forgot about this."
*"Haa!"* He roared, expelling a breath to ease the pressure.
*Crack!* More bones shifted. His anger flared, and he forced himself forward, taking three unsteady steps.
*Pfft!* Blood sprayed from his lips. Even with the mutated energy mending him, the damage outpaced the healing. He collapsed to one knee, his vision swimming, but his gaze never left the puppet. It had struck three new stances—eleven total.
"Almost… done," he panted, replaying the stances in his mind. They cohered into a rough sequence, hinting at a complete technique.
He sank into meditation, guiding the mutated energy to repair his body. His flesh was撕裂, blood pouring from gaps in his skin—he looked like a 血人 (bloody mess). But he pressed on, driven by the promise of mastering the technique.
When he rose again, his movements were labored, each step a battle. He took one more step—half a step, really—before his strength gave out.
Then, suddenly, the gravity vanished.
Lin Yi froze, disoriented. The puppet returned to its original position, hands at its sides, eyes blank.
"Body Technique… Earth?" he murmured. The eleven stances, when woven together, screamed of earth-element power—stability, resilience, raw strength.
He mimicked the first stance. Instantly, the mutated energy surged, tripling in size as it coursed through his hands. *"Whoa!"* He could've sworn he could split a mountain with that force.
He flowed through the stances, one by one. By the thirteenth, his wounds had mostly healed, and the mutated energy—now three times stronger—thrummed in his veins.
"Let's call this *body force*," he decided. It responded perfectly to the technique, growing with each repetition.
For hours, he practiced, the *Body Technique: Earth* becoming second nature. The *body force* swelled, though its growth slowed after twenty repetitions. By then, his body was fully mended, save for the dried blood caking his robes.
"It's time to go," he said, glancing at the pagoda's upper floors. He still didn't know how to reach the second floor, but worry for Zhang Ziyan and Peng gnawed at him.
With a thought, he exited the pagoda, returning to the stone chamber.
*"If only the bracelet could teleport me out,"* he mused, eyeing the sealed door. Greed, he chided himself—but a man could dream.
He searched the chamber again, checking every bookshelf, every book. No hidden levers, no secret switches.
"Stuck," he groaned, pacing. Then his gaze fell on the empty wall where he'd taken the painting.
*"Could it be…?"* He retrieved the painting, rehanging it. Then he pressed the door's mechanism.
*Creak…*
The door rumbled open, revealing a dim passage.
Lin Yi grinned. *"Of course. The painting was the key."*
He stepped through, the door slamming shut behind him. The passage stretched ahead, its walls lined with glowing runes—another array, he realized.
But he didn't care. He was free, stronger than before, with the *Body Technique: Earth* and *body force* at his command.
"Ziyan, Peng… wait for me," he murmured, racing down the passage.
The cave's dangers still lurked, but Lin Yi strode forward, ready to face them. The Five Spirits Pagoda had forged him into something new—and he was eager to test his strength.