Xu Su slowly followed the path from Green Eye Valley out of force of habit. His steps automatically carried him towards the Silver Water Peak.
He didn't have anything important to do at the moment, and as such, he followed his normal schedule and went to visit Zhan Yue, who was training at the Silver Water Peak. There, he knew Zhan Yue would be grimacing in pain while allowing the impact of the waterfall to temper his body, as he cultivated the Way of the Armored Rhino.
Not everyone could withstand the torturous pain from cultivating this particular martial art. Even the first layer already required one to suffer excruciating pain. To reach the ninth layer, wouldn't it require one to cultivate to the point of insanity, losing their skin in the process?
"Hmm, I wonder if Zhan Yue already regrets his decision. The excruciating torture one has to endure to practice the Way of the Armored Rhino is impossible to imagine," Xu Su thought as he walked, carelessly kicking the fallen leaves and branches that were blocking his way.
"Maybe after a few more days, the two of us will go and beg Physician Wu for another martial arts skill for Zhan Yue so that he won't need to suffer from such excruciating pain each time he practices." Having absorbed himself in thought trying to think of methods to allow Zhan Yue to escape from this torturous path of practice, Xu Su slowly roused himself to look at his surroundings.
Xu Su tilted his head as he gazed at the line of trees by his side. Currently, the year was approaching the late stages of autumn. The trees' branches were all naked and devoid of leaves. Piles of sticks and dead leaves layered the small paths. Walking on them felt like walking on cotton, which Xu Su found to be extremely comfortable.
In that moment, the sounds of weapons clashing drifted over from a nearby mountain peak, as well as the many loud cheers.
After hearing the noises, Xu Su glanced in the direction of the mountain peak, annoyed that his good mood had been disturbed.
The noise came from disciples of the Hundred Forge Division. They were training the disciples selected to join their division in the various arts of weaponry.
Every time Xu Su saw other sect members gathering and undergoing their training sessions, slight hints of jealousy surfaced in his heart. He wanted to wield a real weapon and demonstrate his skills as well. What a waste! After he officially became a disciple under Physician Wu, he had been strongly forbidden from practicing such things. Physician Wu strongly emphasized that Xu Su was to devote all of his time to the nameless oracular chant.
Therefore, Xu Su could only stare with wide and envious eyes. Occasionally, to scratch his itch, he would borrow a few weapons from some of the other sect members he was on good terms with and practice with them.
How truly useful was it to cultivate the mysterious chant? Up until now, Xu Su had not seen any positive effects of his constant cultivation. Other disciples had already strengthened their bodies and mastered impressive martial art techniques. If the path of martial arts was compared to a marathon, Xu Su was certain that he had remained at the starting point and hadn't advanced in the least.
Even Zhan Yue, who had cultivated for two months, had some beneficial changes to show for his efforts. His skin and muscles had become tougher, and his level of strength was also noticeably higher than before.
However, if Physician Wu had not accepted Zhan Yue as an Unofficial Disciple, he would not have passed the Unofficial Disciple Test two months ago. If he had not passed the test, then staying on the mountain would be impossible, let alone sending money back home!
If Zhan Yue was unable to cultivate another branch of martial arts, his path would be forever sealed.
On one hand, Xu Su was grumbling about the unfairness of their situation. On the other hand, he was reassuring himself that since he passed Physician Wu's test, he would not be kicked out of the Seven Clouds Sect.
Xu Su retracted his gaze from the other sect members, but he continued to think about Physician Wu's irritating commands. Distracted and in low spirits, he gazed at the two lines of trees alongside the road as pangs of dejection struck him.
All of a sudden, Xu Su sucked in a mouthful of cool air, his facial expression turning ugly. Out of reflex, he squatted down and used both his hands to tightly clamp on the big toe of his right foot, doubling over in the grass. A sudden, painful flare-up had caught Xu Su unaware. His face became a pale white as waves of fiery pain assailed his right foot.
Evidently, Xu Su had accidentally kicked against an extremely hard object hidden in the piles of leaves.
Xu Su arched his body and used both of his hands to wrap around his foot. After he lowered his head and removed his shoes, he began to blow heavily on his injured toe; while his brain flooded with pain, he was worried that his swollen toe might have been injured to an extent that would impact his day-to-day activities
After a long moment, Xu Su craned his neck and peered downwards to that pile of leaves, trying to find the ungodly, dastardly stone that caused him to be injured.
Haphazardly lying about, the fallen leaves were all the same reddish-yellow color. They obscured him from finding the target he sought.
Xu Su wrinkled his forehead and surveyed the ground before finding a slightly long and thick tree branch. Holding the branch, he stood up carefully.
Unwilling to give up, Xu Su used the branch in his hands and continued to probe piles of leaves.
Ai! He spotted an object the size of a fist.
Xu Su paused momentarily and considered the object in front of him. The culprit, the sinful object that caused injury to his great self, actually had the shape of an elongated bottle. The surface of it was stained with mud, and its original color was impossible to discern. Overall, it looked extremely commonplace.
Initially, Xu Su thought that this was an ordinary little bottle, but after picking it up he found that the bottle was extraordinarily heavy, its weight vastly different from that of a normal porcelain bottle.
Could this bottle be made of gold? No wonder it caused so much pain when he kicked it. But... bottles made of gold were rarely seen…
Made of gold….? Xu Su's interest in this bottle peaked as he temporarily forgot about the waves of pain arising from his toe.
As Xu Su wiped off the excess layer of mud, the original color of the bottle began to unveil itself. The bottle emanated a shiny green glow, and there were intricate dark-green leaf patterns engraved on its surface. At the head of the bottle, there was a bottle cap that tightly sealed the mouth of the bottle.
Hmm, could the interior be hiding something precious? Xu Su placed the bottle close to his ear and gently shook the bottle, but he didn't feel any movements from the inside of it.
Unwilling to give up, Xu Su placed his hands on the cap of the bottle and tried to pry it open. However, no matter how hard he tried, it was to no avail.
Curiosity was burning in his heart, and just when he was about to use another method to open it, the pain from his foot suddenly flared up again.
Damn! He had forgotten that he had injured his right toe after kicking the bottle.
Looking at his injury, it seemed that he wouldn't be visiting Zhan Yue today. Xu Su decided to return to his residence and apply some medicine on his toe before taking his time to figure out the secrets of the mysterious bottle he was holding.
In order to keep the bottle from being spotted by others, Xu Su stashed it inside his robes regardless of how dirty it was. Turning back, he limped step by step back to his home.