Chapter 66: Bone tempering Gengjin Spirit Marrow

"Where did it all go?" Nox asked, staring at Moon’s lower body in utter confusion.

Moon kicked him right out of the bed and sat up. "Don’t look at things you shouldn’t be looking at!" He rubbed his aching wrists and waist, looking around for his clothes.

"What do you mean ’shouldn’t look’? I’ve already seen everything," Nox grumbled, leaning down to retrieve his own clothes. "But seriously, there was so much semen. Where did it vanish to?"

"Stupid. It was clearly absorbed by his body," Axe snarled, rolling his eyes at Nox’s foolishness.

"How could it—" Nox started to question, but Moon instantly cut him off.

"Shut up, both of you. Go fetch water so I can take a bath."

"Can’t we just go to the lake?"

"No, I want a bath," Moon argued.

To be honest, he didn’t even strictly need one since he possessed a cleaning spell. He was just exhausted and wanted a medicinal soak. He had gathered several rare herbs in the lost realm—perfect for tempering the body and absorbing his newly gained power.

Nox didn’t argue further and headed out to prepare it.

Axe looked at Moon, lingering for a moment to see if he had anything else to say. Indeed, after getting dressed, Moon straightened up and focused his attention entirely on Axe.

"You aren’t feeling any more discomfort from the Black Sea poison, don’t you?" he asked.

Axe shook his head. "No, the pill worked just fine. I wasn’t severely infected."

"Hmm, good. So why did you get separated from Leo and Rio?"

Axe combed his fingers through his hair embarrassedly, stepping closer. "Baby, can we skip this?" he asked, sitting down next to Moon.

"No, I need to know," Moon replied.

His eyes lingered on the door for a short moment before he pressed on. "I need to know what they were like right after they woke up so I can treat them accordingly."

"Not much. They were confused, incredibly rabid, and vicious," Axe admitted, thinking back. "They woke up at almost the same time, their eyes completely bloodshot. They caught me off guard and bolted before I could even process that they were awake."

Axe paused for a second, then added, "It seemed like they were tearing into each other before they fled. I’m certain they had lost their minds."

Moon nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm."

He didn’t ask anything more. Standing up, he went outside to check on the two little pups, finding Ugo strolling nearby with Leo and Rio.

The two little beasts were currently running around, playing.

The moment Moon scooped both pups into his arms, Leo immediately sank his tiny, sharp teeth into Moon’s finger.

"Ow—damn you, little—"

Meanwhile, Rio merely pressed his cold nose against Moon’s throat, staying perfectly still.

Ugo stood beside them, gently scratching behind Rio’s ear with careful fingers.

"They were locked in that cage all day, and then we left them alone again for the whole night," Ugo noted softly. "They are angry."

"They’re grown men in pup bodies. They can survive a few hours," Axe snorted from behind them.

Leo’s tiny red head snapped toward him. The pup growled sharply, causing Axe to raise both hands in surrender.

"...Okay, okay. My bad too."

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Moon fed them first.

Pulling some raw meat from his satchel, he tore it into small pieces and let the two pups eat directly from his palm.

Leo ate like he hadn’t seen food in days. Rio ate much slower, still shooting Moon angry, resentful glares between every single bite.

Only after both pups’ bellies were round and full did Moon finally stand up. He looked around to see if Nox had finished filling the tub.

Heading down to the temporary bathing area they had set up, Moon found Nox finishing up heating the water.

The tub wasn’t a proper one at all; it was a massive stone bowl carved out of a chunk of rock. Nox had built a fire around the base to heat the stone, planning to extinguish the flames right before the bath.

Moon threw the herbs he had collected so far into the water one after another.

As the rich, medicinal aroma wafted into the air, he stepped into the stone bowl. He soaked his body, leaning against the rocky edge.

The heat was intense, but he paid it no mind.

As if remembering something, Moon immersed his consciousness into his Lupine Palace and retrieved two drops of Gengjin Spirit Marrow.

The marrow dissolved into the water instantly.

Almost immediately, the temperature spiked, and a fierce sensation began to gnaw violently at his bones.

Yet, he welcomed the feeling. It would accelerate the absorption of the core essences he had obtained.

’Come soak in the bath,’ Moon sent a telepathic message through his consciousness. Thanks to their bond, he still possessed the temporary ability to connect with them within a certain range.

And so, for the rest of the night, all the brothers suffered a hellish, crawling stimulation that felt like thousands of ants biting deep into their marrow.

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By morning, the brothers were half-dead, their skin flushed bright red as they slumped over the edge of the tub as if the world had ended.

When the morning sun rose high above the mountaintop, Moon finally opened his groggy eyes.

His body ached all over, but the chaotic power inside him had finally subsided.

He checked his internal cultivation level.

He hadn’t quite broken through to the next phase yet, but his three core essences had successfully merged into one giant core, constantly fusing together. That explained why the aching hadn’t vanished after a single night.

Did he need to go into seclusion? Moon contemplated.

But now wasn’t the right time.

His gaze shifted to the three figures slumped in the water. Compared to him, the effect on them was doubled.

Because they possessed the same constitution as a Warmage, the Gengjin Spirit Marrow worked far more potently on their bodies.

Though the pain was unbearable, this process would eventually make their physiques unbreakable in battle.

Moon chuckled softly.

He stepped out of the tub, leaving them behind to recuperate. Before walking away, he mischievously dropped two more drops of the marrow essence into the water.

By the time he reached the mouth of the cave, the morning sun was already high in the sky, carrying the distant sound of the three brothers suddenly cursing and howling in renewed agony.