Chapter Fourteen: Torrential Rain

Although the barrage of comments had praised her to the skies, Catherine remained clear-headed about herself at this moment. She continued to leisurely stuff slices of unicorn forest lamb into her mouth, speaking lazily, “While I appreciate everyone’s high regard, the outstanding outcome of this battle depended less on my abilities and more on this dagger in my hand.”

As she spoke, she held the dagger up close for the Magic-Eyed Sprite to see. “This dagger is incredibly light—probably a fang from some ferocious beast. Its sharpness is several times greater than any blade I’ve ever seen! The branches of that tree were extremely tough; even if I used all my strength, I couldn’t snap them. When I was still a high-level mage, it would take at least a fifteen-second spell to cut through one. The giant gorilla clearly knew how hard that tree was, which is why it fell for the trick so easily.”

“That’s a good mindset,” Ling Mo’s voice suddenly sounded behind Catherine, making her jump so much she almost dropped her lamb shank. “So, after such an intense fight, have you felt the power of martial arts?”

Catherine nodded. “It’s indeed a tremendous force—truly formidable! According to you, Master, I’m just a beginner martial artist, yet I can already face a third-tier magical beast head-on. Meanwhile, a beginning mage would struggle even against a second-tier beast.”

“And,” Catherine paused, gazing rapturously at her hands, “the sensation of every punch landing is just exhilarating! In battle, the wind howls past my ears, and I can feel every muscle in my body moving in harmony! I can hear those beasts breathing right next to me, even smell the foul stench from their open jaws! Hahaha, I love this heart-pounding thrill!”

Ling Mo was momentarily speechless. He hadn’t expected Catherine—a young woman—to be so passionate about close combat. Then again, it made sense; if Catherine were a gentle and demure girl, she wouldn’t have spent years courting danger in wildernesses across the continent. All the words of caution he’d prepared were now useless, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit pleased. After all, learning is always more effective when it’s driven by genuine interest, isn’t it?

Speaking of effectiveness… Ling Mo looked Catherine up and down, feeling a touch of awe. He was beginning to understand why the system had been so adamant about assigning him the task of leading her into the martial path. A martial arts genius with a bone structure rating of 99 was truly extraordinary—her combat instincts were out of this world. Forget the clever trick with the tree branches to lure the gorilla; her arm-whip strike, imitating the velociraptor’s explosive power, was truly terrifying!

Though Ling Mo had long lived in the Magical Beast Rainforest, he was certain that the basic physical qualities of people in this world were not at all exaggerated. Even the world champions were only a little stronger than he’d been before learning martial arts—still within the range of ordinary humans. Thus, no one ever studied the mechanics of close combat. Yet Catherine, after watching the velociraptor’s movements just once—only observing the way its joints shifted under its skin—could mimic its lethal move nearly perfectly! He himself, with a bone structure rating of 90, could never have managed such a feat back then!

He steadied his emotions and reached out to tap Catherine’s spine. “Well? Does it hurt?”

“It does! It hurts so much I can barely stand it!” Catherine grimaced, her right arm trembling slightly. “If my body hadn’t improved so much, I’d probably be rolling on the ground in agony right now! Why does it hurt so much? I thought resting would make it better, but it just keeps getting worse!”

Ling Mo chuckled. “Of course. When you unleashed that whip-like strike, your fifth and sixth vertebrae became misaligned. The ligaments attached there were also seriously strained. If that didn’t hurt, something would be wrong.”

Catherine sucked in a sharp breath, and the comment section erupted:

“Are you serious?! Her spine was out of place at that moment?”

“No way! You can’t fight for so long with a broken spine, can you?”

“Don’t be ignorant! It was just misaligned, not broken!”

“Just misaligned? You make it sound trivial, but a spinal misalignment is a serious injury—it can easily lead to paralysis!”

“The streamer can still stand straight with a spinal injury?!”

Ling Mo then brought his palm down heavily on Catherine’s back. Whatever secret lay in that palm, Catherine once again felt the “vibration” in her skin she’d experienced upon first meeting Ling Mo. She then heard a satisfying crack from within her body; the awkward sensation in her back vanished instantly, and the agonizing pain disappeared without a trace.

“Wow! That’s amazing!” She hopped in place, reached back with her left hand to feel her spine, and—confirming it wasn’t an illusion—asked excitedly, “Master, what kind of technique is that? Can you teach me? If I learn this, I’ll be unstoppable—both in combat and healing!”

Ling Mo gave her a not-so-gentle pat on the head. “Don’t get ahead of yourself! This move may look simple, but it requires a profound understanding of the human body. At the very least, you’ll need to reach the level of an advanced martial artist before learning it. Besides, do you really have time to worry about that right now? Aren’t you hungry?”

Reminded by Ling Mo, Catherine immediately noticed that as soon as her vertebrae were set, her heartbeat thundered several times louder! Her blood surged like boiling water, energy stored in her belly rushing toward her spine and injured right arm. In just a few breaths, the feeling of being almost full was completely gone, replaced by intense hunger. She no longer bothered slicing the lamb into neat pieces, instead tearing into it ravenously, devouring every scrap of meat from the leg.

When Catherine split the lamb shank in two and sucked every bit of marrow from the bones, her two injuries were finally healed, and her blood flow returned to normal. She’d eaten at least five pounds of lamb, yet not only did she feel no satisfaction, she was hungrier than ever.

Frustrated, Catherine tossed the bone down to the savage bear below the tree and asked, “Master, why does healing the body consume so much energy?”

“Of course it does. In essence, repairing the body means old or damaged cells fall away, and new ones are built using protein, energy, and trace elements provided by the body. That’s true for ordinary people and martial artists alike, except the martial artist’s body is much stronger and speeds up the process by dozens of times. The faster the repair, the more energy you need. You should be grateful the lamb shank was barely enough; otherwise, even if you didn’t want to, you’d have to fight that savage bear for food right now!”

Catherine frowned. “But that doesn’t make sense, Master. I was injured for quite a while, wasn’t I? So why didn’t my body start repairing itself before you treated me?”

“You’re misunderstanding,” Ling Mo said, pointing to her spine. “I didn’t treat you—I just realigned your displaced vertebrae. Whether or not your body needs to mobilize a lot of energy for repairs, it has its own self-diagnostic mechanism. Otherwise, if a bone broke and your body started frantically trying to heal, wouldn’t you end up with a crooked spine?”

Hearing this, Catherine nodded thoughtfully. She then patted her now-flat stomach, her eyes darting mischievously, and threw her arms around Ling Mo’s arm, whining, “Master, that bear bullied me and stole my food! Can’t we kill it and eat it?”

“Not a chance,” Ling Mo replied with a half-smile, refusing her outright. “This is your training period. Unless you’re facing certain death, I won’t intervene.”

Seeing Catherine about to protest, Ling Mo cut her off. “Don’t even think about scheming your way out of this. You’d better focus on how you’ll get through the latter half of the night! You know as well as I do what happens in the Magical Beast Rainforest after midnight.”

——I’m the adorable dividing line——

In the end, their bounty was so great that the savage bear couldn’t finish all three carcasses. Burping, it left the scene, glancing back with every step. Catherine nimbly climbed down from the tree, unbothered by the mess, and grabbed the unicorn lamb’s neck the bear had left behind, eating heartily until she was half-full. After replenishing with some water, she followed Ling Mo deeper into the rainforest.

By now it was quite late, the time known as the latter half of the night. The animal roars that had filled the forest earlier faded away, leaving only the chirping of insects and the rustling of leaves in the wind. Though it was night, vast clouds of bluish mist rose into the air—an awe-inspiring sight, as if the entire Magical Beast Rainforest was shrouded in cold fog.

As the wind grew stronger, the rustling of leaves intensified. Though it was midsummer, the temperature dropped precipitously, a chill seeping into everything. Exposed skin broke out in goosebumps, forcing people to hug themselves tightly and rub their arms for warmth, just to keep the cold from penetrating to the bone.

Catherine’s teeth began to chatter, but she dutifully explained to her viewers, “After night falls, plants undergo intense respiration. The denser the trees, the more oxygen is drawn from the air, and the more heat is absorbed. The white mist you see is the chilling gas exhaled by these plants. Brrr! It’s freezing! The cold cuts right to the bone! I saw something similar in the Armaste Rainforest, but those plants weren’t nearly as powerful. Now, Master and I have ventured very deep, and the plants in the Magical Beast Rainforest breathe so forcefully that they can alter local weather! I bet the temperature has dropped at least forty degrees since daytime! Damn—it’s starting to rain!”

As if in response to Catherine’s words, a sudden clap of thunder split the sky. Lightning flashed, illuminating the entire rainforest as if it were day. Soon after, fine raindrops began to fall, and within minutes, the rain intensified into a torrential downpour!