And suddenly, a piece of information appeared in his mind. From this information, he learned that the internal space of the ancient seal had been damaged and would require countless rare treasures to repair before it could be opened. As for what kind of treasures were needed, it was not mentioned—perhaps the time had not yet come.

Charles Bennett's efforts had not been in vain. Although he could not enter the cave-world, the Mountain and River Seal was not just a spatial storage treasure; it was also the medium for the Medicine Daoist's inheritance. At the end of the message, there was even a prescription for the "Yi Jing Bone Tempering" elixir.

And this prescription was his trump card for dealing with the tribe's crisis!

What made Charles Bennett even more excited was that, through observation and subtle probing, he discovered that although martial arts flourished in this world, other aspects were quite backward—much like the slave society of ancient China. People lived by hunting, and their knowledge of pharmacology was extremely shallow. Warriors would simply process herbs and consume them, wasting much of their medicinal power. At the same time, many herbs that were priceless on Earth were not exactly as common as weeds here, but were still not hard to find. Charles Bennett had even seen tribal warriors boiling ginseng in clay pots as if they were cooking radishes—an utter waste!

Of course, all these conclusions were drawn after Charles Bennett observed the Guyuan Tribe. After all, the Guyuan Tribe was far too weak; the strongest in the tribe was only at the Blood Refining Realm, and their territory was in a remote region of the continent.

Not only that, but for tens of thousands of miles around the Guyuan Tribe, the land was barren and part of the Eastern Wilderness, where the level of martial arts was relatively low. Accordingly, the various auxiliary professions that served martial arts were also not highly developed. However, the continent was vast—perhaps in other, more prosperous martial regions, there would be high-level grandmasters.

But all of this was still far too distant for Charles Bennett at present. Solving the tribe's crisis was the most pressing issue he faced.

In the main hall, when he told the tribal elder Samuel Grant that he was about to break through to the Bone Tempering Realm and reach the Blood Refining Realm, he was not boasting.

Half a year ago, after being attacked by someone of unknown identity, his predecessor fought desperately. At a critical moment, his martial arts had already made a breakthrough, but in the end, he was mortally wounded and died, allowing Charles Bennett to take over for nothing. In addition, over the past few months, he had been following the prescription and taking medicinal baths, and his strength had greatly improved—he was already close to breaking through.

Even so, according to the common sense of this world, under normal circumstances, with abundant resources, it would still take at least half a year to fully open a single Heavenly Meridian. But then, Charles Bennett was not a native of this world, was he?

Time would prove that anything was possible!

Chapter 3: Humiliation

As the golden crow set in the west and the bright moon hung high, the once-dangerous, vast land became even more fraught with peril, killing intent surging everywhere. Under the cover of night, the Guyuan Tribe stood out starkly on the empty plains.

In front of the tribe, women gathered in small groups, standing on either side of the open ground, anxiously shifting from foot to foot as they looked back and forth at the returning hunters, worry and longing in their eyes.

But when they saw their own men emerge from the darkness with prey slung over their shoulders, they would quietly let out a deep breath, then glance around as if they had done something shameful and were afraid of being seen. Once they confirmed no one was watching their little gestures, they would pat their chests lightly and quickly walk toward the crowd.

After a period of noisy commotion, the Guyuan Tribe, busy all day, grew quiet. On the pitch-black streets, patrolling warriors appeared from time to time—after all, the tribe was in danger and could be attacked by outsiders at any moment.

Ka-ka! Ka-ka!

A series of strong, heavy footsteps echoed on the silent road. In the dim moonlight, two sturdy figures appeared. One had a full beard and a centipede-like scar at the corner of his eye, looking every bit the mountain bandit king.

The other was not as exaggerated in appearance, but could not be called handsome either—his face was dark and weathered, clearly having weathered many storms.

The two of them, one in front and one behind, arrived at Charles Bennett's door. You look at me, I look at you—their four round eyes signaled to each other, neither willing to be the first to knock.

Inside the stone house, Charles Bennett was sorting through the martial arts techniques he practiced. As the old saying goes, to do a good job, one must first sharpen his tools.

The path of martial arts is to seize the fortune of heaven and earth for oneself—a process of tempering oneself and elevating one's life level. Not a single mistake can be made along the way. Have you not seen those who go astray in their training? At best, their meridians are destroyed and they become cripples; at worst, they die and their souls are scattered, leaving nothing behind.

Charles Bennett was originally the young chief of the Guyuan Tribe, an important figure in the clan, and thus enjoyed certain privileges—not having to practice the common techniques of ordinary tribesmen. What he cultivated was the tribe's mid-grade human-level technique, the Barbaric Bull Howling at the Heavens Art. Unfortunately, this technique was incomplete; it was said that if it were whole, its grade could reach the earth level.

Legend has it that the Wild Bull was a fierce beast of the ancient era, born with immense strength—after reaching adulthood, it possessed the power of a million jun and could fight both immortals and demons. The Barbaric Bull Howling at the Heavens Art was created by the human ancestors after observing the wild bull. In addition, this technique also included three spear techniques.