"Where is it?"
Once he gathered the ingredients and made the medication to treat his wound, he would be able to continue illuminating the stars and improving his strength.
"There's a forest to the north of Mount Thorn where the sun cannot be seen during the day. It's known as Dreary Wood. The supplier I mentioned saw a Blue Fox there!" said Zhao Chen.
Shen Zhe asked with a frown, "Is it far away?"
The contest would be held in two days. They wouldn't be able to return in time if the place was too far away.
"It is. However, fast horses can make a round trip in a day and two nights. It means that they can be back before the contest!" said Zhao Chen after some calculations.
"One day and two nights?"
Shen Zhe frowned.
"It's still too far away…"
An idea suddenly popped up in his head. "Right… Didn't Ms. Bai Yu say that there was a channel inside Mount Thorn?"
His notebook had redefined the time it took for Ms. Bai to carry an iron-toothed wolf back to the school.
The iron-toothed wolves' habitat was even more distant than Dreary Wood. A one-way trip took her a day and a night!
However, Ms. Bai returned in four hours through the crack while she was being pursued by a wolf king and burdened with an unconscious iron-toothed wolf.
If he were to take that road, would he be able to reach his destination in a couple of hours?
"Tell me the specific location of Dreary Wood, the look of the Blue Fox, and the ways to capture it!" said Shen Zhe in a hurry.
"The ways to capture it? You're not going to do it yourself, are you?"
Zhao Chen was stunned. "My father said that he would send someone to hunt it. However, it remains to be seen if they can catch the beast…"
"I would rather do it myself!"
Shen Zhe stood up.
Few people knew about the crack. Besides, with the two ultra stars in his body, his eighth stage in body polishing and the Falling Leaves Palm that he had just learned, he was as good as the weaker level-one Martial Artists!
It would be faster if he were to take action himself!
It was possible that he could return the next morning without needing to skip any of his classes!
It was inappropriate to skip classes all the time, particularly when skipping classes meant physical punishment.
"You would?"
Zhao Chen realized that his friend was stronger than him and could be counted as an expert. Reassured, he said, "I'll have a fast horse prepared for you. You can read the files on the way. One more thing, my father said that you'd better catch the Blue Fox alive, so that its blood remains effective until you find the Gold and Silver Tobacco…"
"Okay!"
Shen Zhe nodded.
Soon, everything was prepared. Shen Zhe sat on the horse's back and said, "Help me ask for leave if I don't make it back tomorrow morning…"
"I'll go with you. We can watch each other's backs. It'll be too dangerous if you go there alone…" Zhao Chen smiled.
"Okay!"
Shen Zhe nodded.
He was still new to that world. With Zhao Chen leading the way, he would be spared of many problems.
They requested Wang Xiaofeng to ask for leave in their stead if they couldn't make it back. Then, they rode to Mount Thorn.
"It seems that I don't know how to ride a horse…"
He didn't feel anything when the horse trotted in the city, but Shen Zhe immediately sensed that something was wrong when the horse began to gallop.
It wasn't nearly as comfortable as in a car. If his control over his body were any less good, he would've fallen off a long time ago.
Even so, he felt that his muscles were tightening and he could barely breathe.
"What's wrong?" asked Zhao Chen.
"I…" Shen Zhe felt like vomiting. "I have horse sickness…"
There were people who were sick of cars, ships and planes… But he was sick of horses!
"Horse sickness?"
Zhao Chen's eyes bulged.
"Is that even a thing?"
More importantly…
Shen Zhe played polo with them all the time. He never mentioned such an ailment!
"Yes, sir!"
Shen Zhe nodded.
"What does it mean?" asked Zhao Chen, who had never seen such a condition. However, Shen Zhe had already thrown up. He shivered so hard that it seemed as if he would fall from the horse at any time.
Zhao Chen pulled the reins of both horses out of concern.
Shen Zhe fell and vomited for a long time before he finally felt less sick.
It never occurred to him that horse sickness was even more uncomfortable than car sickness.
"How do you feel?"
Zhao Chen approached him worriedly.
"I'm fine… But I don't think I can ride a horse…" Shen Zhe shook his head.
Riding a horse was faster, but he didn't know that his body was unsuited for horse riding.
"It will take at least three hours to reach the mountain without the horses…" said Zhao Chen, "I'm afraid that it'll be dark by then."
Although their bodies were sturdy, they weren't Martial Artists after all, and nor were they good at long-distance running.
Ms. Bai could run back in an hour, but they couldn't.
Shen Zhe nodded.
He had solved a question in the mall and cooked a battle technique that day; the sun had already set. It would be dark after they reached the mountain if they abandoned the horses, and the beasts in the area could be dangerous at night.
"You'll ride your horse. I'll run after you…" Shen Zhe said, gritting his teeth.
He didn't dare to ride the horse anymore. It would be too humiliating if he died of horse sickness.
Zhao Chen did not say anything and galloped forward, knowing that his friend was stronger than him.
Taking a deep breath, Shen Zhe stomped and raced forward as quickly as lightning.
Before the herb liquid was digested, Zhao Chen had already been able to run at ten meters per second for a whole night.
Shen Zhe was currently in the eighth stage of body polishing; he was almost as fast as the horse that was running at full speed.
It felt strange at first, but Shen Zhe immediately felt that his body and the environment were perfectly melded after his breath was adapted to running.
Muscles, bones, internal organs, blood… Everything worked together perfectly without wasting any strength.
"This is the real Stage of Unity…"
Shen Zhe was fascinated.
He had reached that level with the power of the stars, the herb liquid and the notebook, but he had never integrated his strength perfectly. He understood unity better than before while he was running at full speed.
"Let's see if I can integrate the power of the stars into it…"
Seeing that he still couldn't catch up with the horse, Shen Zhe took a deep breath and his two stars glittered, providing immense power.
Frankly speaking, the Seven Star Stage was just a foundation.
Only after the Seven Stars were illuminated would the body have enough strength for one to break obstacles and become a real cultivator.
Then, those with massive mental power would become Mages, those who controlled the power of the stars well would become Martial Artists, and those talented at herbs would turn into Druggists…
Shen Zhe had only illuminated two stars. However, they were much brighter than the ones lit by those at the top class. Their light surged in his body like a galaxy.
"My fatigue is gone?"
Shen Zhe immediately felt that his exhausted body had been revitalized.
It seemed that the running didn't cost him any effort.
No wonder everybody wanted to cultivate. It was indeed extraordinary.
An idea popped up in his head, "There are movement methods in the Falling Leaves Palm, too. Let's see if they can make me go faster."
Falling Leaves Palm was a melee battle technique, but it highlighted agility and was very unpredictable.
If he adopted the movement methods in his running, the result might be surprising.
Thinking about that, Shen Zhe controlled the muscles and joints all over his body and activated the battle technique.
Hu!
He surpassed the galloping horse after one step.
Shen Zhe was greatly shocked.
Using the Falling Leaves Palm for running was just a spur-of-the-moment attempt. He didn't expect that it would work out so effectively.
It was a pity that he didn't cook it long enough in his experiment. If he had cooked it longer, would he have been more skilled at it?
"I'll try it next time…"
Shen Zhe was quite excited.
Zhao Chen didn't expect that his friend could run even faster than him riding a horse. He almost fell from the horse's back in shock. He had a lot of mixed feelings.
"He's too fast… Should I try running, too?"