The stone roller kept throwing himself forward with all his strength, yet was bounced back again and again by the protective light!
Each counterforce contributed another wisp of Life Essence to Jing Qian.
[Life Essence: 0.12]
This growth was of tremendous benefit to him, giving him even more motivation to exploit the safety zone, drawing the stone roller into repeated collisions.
In this space, enemies might appear whole in body, but they lacked awareness, were mindless, and stiff in their actions.
Though the stone roller's power far outstripped Jing Qian's, he was constantly being toyed with, lured into slamming into the walls again and again.
Every time he struck the wall with full force, there was a sixty to seventy percent chance he would drop a wisp of Life Essence.
It wasn't long before Jing Qian had doubled his Life Essence to 0.2, making remarkable progress!
The process of doubling his Life Essence felt indescribably good. He could feel his foundation deepening!
And more importantly, after wearing down the stone roller for so long, the enemy finally yielded a fragment of memory!
Jing Qian quietly digested it, unconcerned with time.
Having come into this world without explanation, he was desperate for information.
As he absorbed this fragment, he unexpectedly obtained part of a cultivation scripture:
"Green Pine Earth-Ring Core Sutra."
The text was badly damaged, with over ninety percent lost. Yet it preserved in full the refining method for a single Life Pattern:
[Life Pattern: Earth Ring]
[Rank: White Fang]
[Harness the power of the earth to nourish the body; encircle mountains to form the Dao!]
[Method: Choose a place where earth-qi is abundant and mountains encircle. Collect first-rank White Fang material of the Earth attribute. With magic power, inscribe talismanic script upon it, then merge the earth's force into the shinbone.]
The scripture described in detail how a cultivator could use materials, merge with earth's power, and refine a Life Pattern into their own body.
The process was precise, logically rigorous, clearly the result of countless trials and refinements, a piece of hidden knowledge distilled into truth.
Though Jing Qian had not yet grasped the full system of Life Patterns in this world, the Earth Ring method alone let him sense that this was a kind of science, extraordinarily precious knowledge.
Through this glimpse of the leopard, he imagined the vast whole.
A world where extraordinary power could be merged into one's very being, an endless space for evolution!
And he, armed with a mysterious golden-finger space and reborn into a second life, might truly achieve greatness here!
For a moment, his heart surged with boundless excitement.
Jing Qian withdrew from the space, returning to the outside world.
But the outer situation was tense, threatening his very life, and weighed heavily on his mind.
When he awoke again, he found that under the bamboo pole's blood-soaked advance, their group had already passed through the forest and reached a stretch of coastline.
There, his grandmother set him back into the cradle. Her dry but fair hands pinched his cheeks gently as she spoke:
"My grandson, our Jiangzhu Island, has suffered calamity. We have lost the foundation for your stable growth. This is the failing of us elders."
"The enemy has already pursued us here. Your uncles and aunts may already have perished."
"I will have Qingzhuzi escort you away from the island first, to find a safe place for you to grow."
"I only pray my grandson receives the ancestors' protection, that fortune descends upon you so that one day you may succeed in cultivation, become a Spirit Officer, and reclaim Jiangzhu Island from our enemies."
After speaking, the old woman drew from her robes a brocade pouch stitched with spider silk and tucked it into baby Jing Qian's swaddling clothes.
Then she guided the azure spider to lower herself gently to the ground.
Standing guard nearby, she allowed Qingzhuzi the spider to act freely.
The beast dragged the tall bamboo pole and the squat stone roller close, then began devouring them ferociously.
Chewing and swallowing echoed in the air, mingled with sprays of blood and flesh!
The stone roller was long dead, feeling nothing. But the bamboo pole still lived, screaming in terror as it was eaten alive.
Qingzhuzi quickly consumed both cultivators, storing up a vast reserve of energy for the journey ahead.
Then, from its body, several pale-blue strands of silk extended.
Two of them snatched up the copper hammer and iron spike of the fallen men, binding them to its forelegs.
Other strands stretched dozens of meters into the forest, felling a row of coconut trees and dragging them back.
The silk was as sharp as a wire saw; one swipe, and the trunks were cut smooth and even.
Using its silk, Qingzhuzi lashed the logs together into a raft and pushed it into the sea.
It carried Jing Qian onto the raft, then turned back to look at the grandmother on the shore, as if urging her to join them.
But the old woman only waved her hand, making no move.
Unable to defy its master's will, Qingzhuzi continued alone.
It released a mass of silk into the sea, the threads spreading and darting swiftly until they covered a wide stretch of water.
Fish brushed against the strands and were instantly ensnared. Each one dragged the silk deeper, swimming frantically.
As more fish were caught, the growing shoal pulled in unison, the threads stretching northward.
The power transferred to the raft, tugging it faster and faster.
In all, Qingzhuzi set down five hundred threads, snaring five hundred fish to form a living engine.
Driven by this great school, the raft surged ahead, carrying Jing Qian and the spider northward.
From his cradle, Jing Qian watched as Jiangzhu Island slowly faded into the distance.
Though his time with his kin had been short, their boundless affection was unmistakable.
Now, utterly helpless, he was borne away by the great spider on a voyage into the unknown.
The outcome was impossible to foresee.
Jing Qian was too weak. The only thing he could do was find every possible way to strengthen himself quickly.
Closing his eyes upon Qingzhuzi's back, his consciousness once more slipped into that mysterious inner space.
Beyond the stele's protective zone, the tall bamboo pole and the squat stone roller now stood silently.
When the bamboo pole had been eaten, his soul too had been dragged into this space.
For Jing Qian, it meant another trove to mine of Life Essence and memories.
Without hesitation, he stepped out from the safety zone, luring the two enemies to hurl themselves against the walls once more.
Thus began his strange path of cultivation anew.
Out on the ocean, filled with unknown perils, he had to gain the power to protect himself fast!