Chapter 36: Chapter 32: Taking Root The night was deep, with stars and moon hidden away. Time quietly slid toward nine o’clock. The second night’s Shadow Beast assault was about to commence. Su Lin’s house was brightly lit. Five or six oil lamps lit both inside and outside, illuminating the entrance as bright as day. He sat casually on a high stool behind the open door. The clock on the wall coldly pointed to nine. Clang—! The clock chime echoed through the night sky. The whistling night wind fiercely rushed into the house. Outside the door, countless ghostly green eyes approached from afar. The first wave of the Level 2 Safe House, nearly a hundred Shadow Beasts! Forty of them, as the vanguard of the first wave, let out deep roars, tearing through the night, charging madly towards the door! Just as they entered the attack range. With a thundering, unified boom, like a salvo from a battleship! Over a hundred deadly arrows tore through the air, becoming a death shroud, moving so fast they were hard to see by eye! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! The spine-tingling sound of piercing rang densely. The frontmost Shadow Beasts fell in rapid succession like wheat under the wind! Instant annihilation! The double arrow walls’ salvo even affected the outer Shadow Beasts, not yet charging, causing them to stagger, disrupting their formation! A few only grazed or hit in non-lethal areas struggled to crawl, but soon spasmed and died. The Shadow Beasts were mindless, incapable of fear. Those following stepped on corpses of their kind, launching another fearless charge. At this moment, the arrow wall emitted a low hum, slowly loading the next round of crossbow arrows. Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Suddenly the ground erupted with countless sword-like spikes, precisely impaling and suspending the charging Shadow Beasts! The hanging corpses instantly formed a flesh barrier, buying precious loading time for the arrow wall. Hum—Boom! The second volley of arrows arrived as expected, covering precisely! The first wave’s surviving Shadow Beasts were completely cleared, leaving the doorway empty. The subsequent two attacks followed at half-hour intervals as scheduled. The earth spikes and arrow walls alternated seamlessly, like dual meat grinders, firmly blocking all threats outside the door. None even reached to breach the walls. The entire defense was rock solid, seamless. Su Lin seized the chance to test the power of the hand crossbow. He steadily lifted the crossbow, pulled the trigger. The crossbow arrow shot out like a streaking light! The arrow’s penetrating power was astounding, piercing the chest of one Shadow Beast and driving through the two behind! The three beasts crashed to the ground in a heap! "Good!" Su Lin’s eyes flashed with a sharp light. He now felt reassured. It seemed feasible for him to go out hunting. Just needed to unlock the Skin Lock, practice shooting well before going out. ... At eleven-thirty, the last wave of Shadow Beasts arrived as expected, their numbers swelling to four hundred! However, with arrow walls thundering like cannons, earth spikes looming like a forest, unbreachable sturdy walls, and Su Lin’s precise hand crossbow shots. In less than ten minutes, all Shadow Beasts were easily dealt with. "Phew..." Su Lin exhaled a long breath. "It seems my progress has completely surpassed the crisis of upgrading the safe house, but I wonder what the Level 3 Safe House will be like?" Nearby gunfire rang intermittently, and shouts of battle echoed constantly. Su Lin swiftly activated the everyday disguise of the safe house, hung the waist lamp, took a broom and dustpan, and began sweeping outside the door, eyes wide open, searching for any missed Shadow Cores among the chaos. Compared to the easy battle just now, this cleanup and loot collecting was even more tiring. Counting carefully twice, Su Lin clicked his tongue in distress: "Damn, I’m missing more than a dozen! If only there was something that could automatically pick up the Shadow Cores..." Midnight strikes. The Shadow Beasts attacking the village vanished like snow under the sun, dissipating into a black mist, disappearing without a trace. Although Su Can said he trusted his grandson, he had been worried in his heart all night. As soon as the clock struck, he threw the blood-stained Great Sword aside, too busy to clean off the grime from battle, and sprinted toward Su Lin’s house. Fearing others might mistakenly think he was guarding his grandson’s home, he only peered from a distance. The little building was still illuminated, a familiar figure bent at the entrance, searching for something on the ground with the swift movements unique to young people. "Phew..." The old man’s tense nerves finally relaxed, and he let out a long, silent breath, his face wrinkles easing into a warm smile. Immediately, he turned around quietly and disappeared into the night. ... The next day. The morning light streamed through the window, spilling onto Su Lin’s sleeping face, making his eyelids tremble. "Hmm..." Su Lin slowly awakened, covering his mouth to stifle a long yawn. Looking down, the little person in his arms was curled up like a clingy cat, her pretty face still streaked with dried tear marks that evoked tenderness. "Mmmm~" Su Tongxi seemed disturbed by his movement and slowly woke up. Newly transformed from a girl into a novice young woman, her pure and beautiful round face subtly acquired a touch of charm, her brows and eyes began to carry the mature appeal and graceful allure of a woman. Her almond-shaped eyes looked at the man beside her with a bewildered glint, her cheeks suddenly flushed red, yet filled with sweetness, softly calling: "Brother Kirin~" The gentle voice wrapped around like honey, drenched in syrup, sweet to the deepest part of the man’s heart, itching his soul. "Ugh!" Su Lin took a sharp breath and after a while, suddenly threw off the blanket and jumped out of bed, awkwardly shouting, "Get up!" As a new groom, looking at the tender and powerless Su Tongxi on the bed, Su Lin’s heart was filled with pride and a heavy sense of responsibility. This was the moment of truly owning the one he loved, the moment of welcoming his bloodline’s continuation. Su Lin didn’t know exactly how deep his feelings for Su Tongxi were. But at this moment, he suddenly felt grounded in this completely unfamiliar and dangerous world, forming a bond. "Keep training hard." He took a deep breath, transforming the heavy sense of responsibility into motivation. Time quietly passed in training. For both breakfast and lunch, Su Lin ate two more servings of Treasure Meat. With the operation of the "Dawn Breathing Technique" refining it, the rampant Qi and Blood inside him had already overflowed, reaching the threshold to impact the Skin Genetic Lock. Ordinary martial artists, upon reaching this point, would find it hard to break through without the abundant active factors provided by Treasure Meat. This is precisely the irreplaceable value of Treasure Meat. Furthermore, as deeper layers of genetic locks in the human body are unlocked, the quantity and quality of Treasure Meat needed will increase exponentially. Su Lin’s early method of rapidly accumulating Qi and Blood using Treasure Meat appeared wasteful to ordinary people. Additionally, given his rather average aptitude, after eating two servings of Treasure Meat, he barely touched the threshold of the Skin Lock, and now he still needed one final serving to truly unlock this Evolutionary Lock. The twenty-plus pounds of Treasure Meat, Su Lin got two-thirds of it, approximately eighteen pounds, consuming two pounds each meal, enough for three days. "What should I especially keep in mind when truly attacking the Skin Lock? The breathing technique booklet isn’t clear about it... I need to seek advice from Grandpa and Uncle." Luckily, after collecting the Shadow Core from his safe house last night, it also achieved the upgrade condition again. Level 3 Safe House! However, upgrading to a Level 3 Safe House is different from before, this time it not only requires a Shadow Core but also various materials. Su Lin calculated the approximate price of these materials, nearly equivalent to 40 Silver Coins. He was out of money, either he slowly saved up or asked Grandpa and Uncle for a loan again. Plus, he didn’t know how dangerous night-time would be compared to Level 2; cautiously, he still needed to ask the elders’ opinion first. Su Lin slowly finished his practice in the first-floor hall. He had successfully mastered the first sixteen styles of the Breathing Technique Pile Method, though not proficiently, this skill could only be refined by time. He glanced at Su Tongxi, her little face flushed from training. This Humpty Dumpty ignored his advice and the soreness of her body after the initial experience and insisted on training along in the afternoon. Fortunately, with the three pounds of ordinary meat sent by Zhao Zhu, her nutrition was temporarily adequate. "But... should a newly ’deflowered’ woman eat some brown sugar and red dates to replenish her Qi and Blood?" Su Lin pondered, "When I visit Grandpa later, let’s see if I can ’pick up some windfall’." Just as this thought crossed his mind, Su Tongxi also finished her practice, her cherry lips opened slightly, exhaling a long, concentrated white Qi Sword. She opened her eyes, her big eyes fluttering, seemingly showing a trace of confusion. "Brother Kirin..." "Hmm? What’s up?" Su Lin walked towards her, about to habitually embrace her when Su Tongxi’s next words made him suddenly stand straight, his face shocked. "I... seem to have already..." Su Lin’s expression instantly froze, turning into this: