Peng!
Xu Su tightly grasped the bottle with his hands, and with anger in his eyes, used his entire strength to smash the bottle against the table.
"If I can't use my own body's strength, then I shall use other means to break it open," decided Xu Su after thinking of numerous ways to open the vexing bottle.
Xu Su had long since figured out that using brute strength and violence was not a solution.
This type of method, although simplistic and crude, was usually the most effective.
But the moment he thought of that beautiful bottle with its mysterious and intricate designs being smashed into smithereens, Xu Su could feel a dull ache in his heart pulling him back, causing him to be extremely unwilling to let go of such a beautiful treasure. If there were any other methods to open the mysterious bottle, Xu Su would choose those instead of using brute force.
If he asked the other senior disciples for help, they might be able to open it, but Xu Su had unknowingly started to treat the mysterious bottle as a treasured item and was extremely reluctant to let others know of its existence.
The current Xu Su was completely captivated by the mysterious bottle. Although he knew that it might just be an empty bottle, he was still willing to bet that the bottle was protecting something precious!
The more he was unable to open the bottle, the more his curiosity grew.
If he couldn't solve the mystery inside the bottle, then he would never be able to sleep well at night.
After he decided on his next course of action, Xu Su stealthily sneaked in a tool shed, selected a small iron hammer from the multitude of tools lying about there, and brought the hammer back to his residence.
Back in his house, Xu Su pried half a brick from a corner in his room and placed the bottle on top of the brick.
Xu Su raised the hammer with his right hand, and swiftly smashed it down onto the bottle's body!
Peng!
Afraid of using too much strength and accidentally smashing whatever was inside, Xu Su used only a fraction of his strength in order to test the bottle's hardness.
Only after inspecting the bottle and finding that it was undamaged did Xu Su relax. He started increasing the amount of strength he used in each strike.
Peng! 50% strength.
Peng! 70% strength.
Peng! 100% strength.
Peng! 120% strength.
Xu Su exerted more and more of his strength into each hammer blow. As the motions of his arms got more and more frantic, the speed of the blows grew faster and faster. Even after he had cracked the brick underneath, the bottle laid there innocently without a single scratch on its surface.
Xu Su was dumbstruck, unable to comprehend the hardness of the bottle. Using his hands to feel its surface, there were no traces of damage. That glossy green surface remained unblemished without any signs of Xu Su's furious attempts.
This was completely beyond Xu Su's expectations!
Xu Su was absolutely certain now that this bottle was made from an extraordinary material. There was a great possibility that this item was lost by someone of a high status. The owner may have already sent people to comb the mountainside in search for this mysterious object. If Xu Su wanted to keep it, he had to be sure to hide it in an extremely secretive location and not let others know of its existence.
In his heart, Xu Su followed the philosophy of "finders, keepers, losers, weepers." As long as one did not obtain the item by stealing or robbing, to Xu Su, the item obtained was his by right. If it was some ordinary item, Xu Su might have been willing to return it back to the owner, but this mysterious bottle? Not a chance! Looking at the bottle, he surmised that this item had most likely been misplaced by either some rich kid from a big family or someone with a high status. Sadly, Xu Su did not have any good impression of people from both of these categories.
Since childhood, Xu Su was from an extremely poor family. Despite working very hard and living like dogs, they were often unable to afford to have a full meal. In the Seven Clouds Sect, there were two types of people. The first type were those who threw their money about, wasting it on decadent luxury. They treated money as if it were water, spending it freely and without concern. Every time Xu Su saw this, an uncomfortable feeling of rage would rise in his heart. The second type of people were those who looked down on the disciples who were born in rural villages. They would often abuse the less fortunate with scathing words and malicious actions. If there so happened to be any conflict between them and the villagers, however small the conflict was, the second type of person would usually form into groups and beat up the poorer kids. Xu Su himself had his fair share of abuse. He had been beaten up by the rich kids until his face was swollen and he was unable to get up from bed, and had to rest for a few weeks in order to fully recover.
As for those within the sect that possessed both money and status, Xu Su also did not have a good impression of them. A good example was Protector Zhao. Despite accepting his Third Uncle's bribes, Protector Zhao did nothing to aid Xu Su when he was taking the test. Instead, Protector Zhao had been biased towards Mu Yan. Despite the fact that Xu Su did not have the chance to see many of the grand figures residing in the sect, their image had long been tarnished by the actions of Protector Zhao.
Whenever these two types of people lost their belongings, Xu Su had no intentions of returning the items. He would even want to prank them by hiding the items in obscure locations.
After thinking of this, Xu Su decided to remove the pouch which always hung upon his neck. His mother had personally sewn the pouch out of water-resistant leather, and inside the pouch was a good luck charm made from the tooth of a wild boar. His mother hoped this would protect him from danger and illnesses.
Xu Su opened his pouch and hid the mysterious bottle alongside his good luck charm. He then swiftly sealed the pouch and placed it around his neck.
After doing so, he surveyed his surroundings; luckily, there was no one who had seen him or the mysterious bottle.
After taking so many precautions, Xu Su felt more secure and threw away all of his concerns that the owner would discover the object and take it from him.
Xu Su stealthily returned the hammer to the tool shed and casually walked back to Green Eye Valley. As he limped back to his residence, night had fallen.