Chapter 4: Innate Ability

Chapter 4: Innate Ability

"Ha!"

Comfortably drinking the last sip of soup, Ye Han stood up.

He twisted his neck and rotated his wrists forcefully, producing a creaking sound from his bones.

"Good, good, good. After drinking the nourishing soup, my whole body feels warm. In the past, how could I have been so luxurious as to use so many top-quality medicinal herbs to nourish my body? It's about time to move around a bit."

He bent down and removed a dark iron band from his left ankle, throwing it to the ground with a loud clang. He then removed another from his right ankle and threw it down similarly.

Next, he untied his belt, which was also bound with black iron, and more on his left and right arm bends... When all were untied and thrown to the ground, although they didn’t look very big, their combined weight seemed to be over a hundred jin.

If anyone were to see this, they would probably cry out in surprise. Ye Han was actually carrying such heavy restraints all the time. Could it be that he fought Commander Hunter with these on as well?

If that were true, it would be terrifying. Until now, it’s likely that everyone has underestimated Ye Han’s true strength. Even his biological father, Reilly, who could vaguely sense it, would never have guessed that Ye Han had been honing his strength and willpower in this manner every moment of every day.

After entering the hidden strength stage of internal martial arts and consuming large amounts of highly nourishing Chinese medicine, Ye Han’s tendons, bones, and muscles grew significantly in strength. He urgently needed to suppress his strength. So, at the age of ten, he deliberately searched for these pieces of black iron in the tribal warehouse and had someone forge this set of equipment. He wore them all the time, except when bathing, even when sleeping and practicing his martial arts.

To this day, he had persisted for five or six years! This also caused his body to be unusually heavy compared to ordinary people. Because he was a hybrid of human and Keter minotaurs, Ye Han’s body was far less tall than the average tribesman. But if you were to weigh him, you would find that even the strongest minotaur several heads taller would weigh less than him.

This was because his body density was much greater. His bones and muscles were like soil that had been tamped down a thousand times, reaching an incredible level, like the comparison between steel and cement, which explained this abnormal situation.

However, now that he had reached the Dan realm, his body had grown significantly again. The weight of this set of black iron was no longer enough to suppress his body.

After removing the restraints, Ye Han stood firm and began to practice his martial arts.

His movements were slow, but each punch and step revealed mastery, especially the sound of breaking air when he threw a punch. Mixed Hammer, Eight Vajra Forms, Four-Grab Fist, Twelve Hong Hammers, Cave Entry and Exit, Five Elements Linkage, Dragon-Tiger Battle, Eight-Character Skill, Eight Hands of Upper, Middle, and Lower... One move after another flowed out like water, and in just a moment, the entire stone house was filled with the shadows of his fists.

"Whoosh!"

Finally, Ye Han stood firm and let out a long breath. His body emitted a dull thud from the inside out, continuously, until it gradually disappeared after ten breaths.

His tendons and bones vibrated, under complete control.

This was already an advanced level of Xingyiquan internal martial arts.

After a slight adjustment, Ye Han walked to the stone bed and picked up an ink-colored stone box containing a blackish ointment. Ye Han carelessly applied it to his body, shoulders, back, elbows, and arms...

People who practice martial arts have strong qi and blood, but they consume the body's potential, the so-called life force. No matter how careful they are, even if it’s not iron sand palm or hard qigong that damages the body, internal martial arts can easily harm the body. It might not show at first, but over time, the damage accumulates and eventually becomes a difficult-to-cure internal injury. By then, it would be too late to remedy it. Therefore, many martial arts masters throughout history suffered from illnesses in their later years, died young, and rarely lived to a ripe old age, for this very reason.

Ye Han naturally understood this principle. This ointment was specially formulated by him after studying the medicinal properties of the herbs in this world, replacing several that didn’t exist in his previous world. It not only strengthened the body but was also more easily absorbed after practicing internal martial arts when the body was in a depleted state.

After all this, Ye Han sighed and sat down on the ground, slowly closing his eyes, entering deep meditation.

...

As dawn broke, Ye Han opened his eyes.

After meditation, his strength was restored, and his energy was at its best state of the day.

Since entering the realm of transformation, Ye Han rarely slept. Deep meditation was a unique form of cultivation. It was the Taoist state of harmony between heaven and man or the so-called 'meditation.' This state, with its empty mind, had the same effect as sleep but was more efficient and better.

In the previous world, during the Republican era, many martial arts masters could achieve this.

"Today is the spirit calling ceremony? Yesterday, my father had Uncle Gorres notify me and other tribesmen to enter the 'Spirit Calling Pool'! However, wasn’t I previously forbidden by the minotaur clan’s elders from participating in the spirit calling ceremony due to my lineage? Did they suddenly change their minds? Or..."

Ye Han sat and muttered to himself.

He knew that things were probably not that simple, but he wasn't worried. After all, Raleigh was the leader of the Ironhoof Tribe and one of the most powerful figures among the Keter minotaurs. Even if something did happen, if he decided to take responsibility, no one would be able to do anything to him.

Besides, given his nature, if something didn't make sense to him, he wouldn't waste time thinking about it. Why invite unnecessary trouble?

As he was thinking about this, there was a "knock knock knock" sound from outside the door.

Before Ye Han could say anything, the door was slammed open with a bang. A large, muscular minotaur youth, over two meters tall, barged in.

"Brother, the Spirit Summoning Pool is about to open, and I'm so anxious, why aren't you in a hurry at all?"

As soon as he entered, the sturdy minotaur youth unceremoniously plunked himself onto the stone chair, looking at Ye Han.

His massive body was like an iron tower, towering greater height than Ye Han. When he sat down, the entire stone house seemed to shake.

"Is it Dru? Haven't I told you before? You don't need to be so reckless..."

Ye Han lifted his eyelids and sighed, looking at the tall minotaur youth.

"What is meant to be yours will be yours. No one can take it away. Besides, the Spirit Summoning Ritual is on Runis Mountain. It's not time yet, so what are you anxious about?"

"Hehe, brother is right. I was too excited and forgot for a moment."

The minotaur youth scratched his head, hearing Ye Han's voice, and smiled genuinely.

Upon closer inspection, one would notice that apart from having a black minotaur head and a greater height, the youth bore a striking resemblance to the seated Ye Han. It was just that Ye Han looked more slim and refined.

This tall minotaur youth was Ye Han's only paternal half-brother in the Ironhoof Tribe. While Ye Han was a human hybrid, Dru was a full-blooded Keter minotaur. His mother was the beloved daughter of the third elder of the minotaur council and the sister of the leader of the Blood Seal Tribe, one of the ten major Minotaur Tribes. Among the Keter minotaurs, his bloodline was considered pure.

However, since childhood, he had enjoyed following behind Ye Han, being the most loyal admirer of this hybrid brother.

Ye Han also cared deeply for this brother. In comparison, his relationship with his father, Raleigh, the leader of the Ironhoof Tribe, was not as close.

At this moment, hearing Dru's straightforward words, Ye Han could only shake his head with a smile.

He slowly stood up and said, "It seems you can't wait anymore. Let's go, we'll head to Runis Mountain."

Dru followed behind him, excitedly saying, "Hey, brother, aren't you excited? I'm so pumped. As soon as I think about entering the Spirit Summoning Pool to unlock our innate abilities, I feel my blood boiling. Brother, what kind of ability do you think I'll get? Could it be the famous 'War Stomp' from our Ironhoof Tribe..."

The Keter minotaurs believed in the 'Lord of Minotaurs,' thinking that there was a mysterious power within their bodies. The Spirit Summoning Ritual was the only way to unlock this power. The pool's mysterious formula, controlled by the clan elders, was distributed to the tribes every year to unlock the young minotaurs' abilities, which they called innate abilities.

However, the elder council had always denied Ye Han's eligibility to enter the Spirit Summoning Pool, citing that he was not a 'full-blooded Keter minotaur.'