The night passed and the two friends were reunited, they both were very happy to be together again.
Little white was deeply impressed at the rabbits improvement!
Although he may have been close to the second rank, he had managed to break through in a short time and opened two blocked meridians.
Not only had his strength increased but by doing so the rate of his energy absorption increased when using his cultivation manual and his body got rid of its impurities.
Little white stretched her body as she inspected the rabbit giving him a look of approval, she thought to herself. 'Not bad, he seems determined and talented enough to keep up with the training plans for the next few weeks.'
Little white began collecting lots of rocks varying in sizes and weights placing them in front of the rabbit and began to talk. "For the first task, we will begin with picking up these rocks and carrying the maximum weight possible without using any spirit energy. Then we proceed to carry that rock down and back up the mountain. There is no limit in how many times we will do so, the point of this training is improving our physical bodies stamina and strength."
"Yes!" The rabbit was shocked at first but upon realising the benefits he quickly became determined to give it a try.
"Good, although this training is as mentioned there is another part of this training and other parts which I will mention… When facing life and death the potential of the body is often brought out in such moments, leading to passing the limitations of your mortal body. For example your determination will play a big role in this training, when you feel as if you cannot take another step and feel as if there is a big barrier in your way find the reserves of your strength you never had and push forward." Little white smiled as she began to test out each rock with her antlers pushing them aside one by one until she found a suitable one and the rabbit joined her in doing so.
She finished up with her speech and began to push the rock in the direction leading to a steep pathway leading down the mountain radiating a dignified aura. "This exercise will also teach you control and mastery over your bodies movements as well as your environment so make sure to find a way to not lose your rock on the way down the mountain. Martial cultivators must go through tempering of the body, spirit and the heart to achieve greater heights whether it be through fighting other cultivators, facing poor environmental conditions and always being in a state of mind of reaching greater heights!"
After some time passed little white had made some progress and managed to make her way back up the mountain once despite almost collapsing multiple times due to her previously poor physique.
Her body was full of sweat as she finally collapsed completely exhausted, she clearly had shown signs of collapsing long ago but kept pushing herself further and further, if she didn't then she would lose control of the large rock she was was pushing which would fall back to the bottom of the mountain.
Then she would have to go back down and restart from the bottom again, the rabbit however had a smaller body so it took him more effort to push his rock because he could only take small steps at a time.
Although his speed is greater than little white right now, his overall bodies power and stamina wasn't, controlling the rock while using his speed would affect not just his awareness but also put the rock out of his control.
After a few stumbles he lost control over the rock which rolled down the mountain where he had to search for it again.
The more he failed, the more determined he grew as the words of little white remained in his heart as he mumbled to himself. "Greater heights, greater heights…pant pant pant."
Although he never made it up the mountain he had already pushed passed what he was previously capable of and kept at his attempts until he lost consciousness.
At the top of the mountain little white began cultivating while waiting for her friend, her previous exhausted body began to feel more vigorous.
Every muscle which had been put to use and put under heavy stress was now being nourished with energy, as she kept at it for a while she finally recovered completely.
Testing out her strength a moment on the rock she used, she found it was a little lighter for her than she felt it was before.
This was a clear sign that her physical body had improved, although the change wasn't large it showed that this was the right direction to take.
She made her way down the mountain to check on her friend and found him unconscious.
Although he was sleeping, his breathing was heavy showing clear signs of completely exhausting all his stamina and still kept on going until he finally collapsed.
Little white could only gently smile at her friend as she carried him back to the top of the mountain.
Returning home shortly after she pushed the boulder aside and stole a few medicinal herbs from her fathers stash while the family were still deep in training.
Her father awoke from his cultivating after finally making progress in refining his large amount of spirit energy.
Looking around the room he noticed that his two children and wife had already began attempting to open up their first meridian when he noticed his stash had been raided.
"Who moved the Boulder? Who took my herbs?! Thief! There is a thief on the mountain!" He completely exploded and began yelling inside the cave waking up his family from cultivation and alarming those living nearby.
Little white brought her little friend to a pond of suitable size for several large animals to bathe in as she placed her friend in a shallow part, meanwhile back at her home her father began an strict search through the nearby caves in an attempt to capture the herb thief.