The paths to quickly become stronger were essentially two, Origin Point and Deep Red Points.
The former enhanced four-dimensional data, the latter deduced and elevated the realm of cultivation techniques; regretfully, neither path was easy to tread.
For Deep Red Points, one could obtain them by slaying evil spirits, but this was also a perilous venture. If one failed to conduct a proper risk assessment and rashly got involved, there was a fear of not earning Deep Red Points and instead paying with one's life.
And those ancient relics containing Deep Red Points were not so easy to come by.
So far, he had obtained three special items containing Deep Red Value: the jade thumb ring passed down for a millennium at Hidden Dragon Temple, the "Corpse Sutra" from Shi Shoufu, and a jade tablet from the old Heavenly Master.
These three items had one thing in common: they had all been used by cultivators for a long time and were crafted by the passage of time.
This one commonality was enough to snuff out Yi Chen's idea of scouring the world for ancient relics to harvest Deep Red Points, especially since he was as poor as a church mouse, with nothing to collect.
He surely couldn't just dig up the graves of Hidden Dragon Temple's past ancestors to see if anything worthwhile would come out, right?
Hiss!
Truly a decision that would go against the teachings of his ancestors.
After some consideration, Yi Chen still did not dare to be so unfilial; he feared that his master, Bai Yunzi, would crawl out of his urn to strangle him to death.
"Alas, what a pity that I promised my master not to commit any treachery or crime, and to follow the path of benevolence and righteousness. Otherwise, I have a hundred ways to become a tycoon, a hundred ways!" Yi Chen sighed with regret.
If he were very wealthy, he could collect antiques and try his luck to find a bargain; regrettably, he only had three hundred and ten taels of silver on him.
That ten taels tail-end was actually money he had set aside for his ancestor's temple offerings.
After all, if it weren't for him, Chief Zhang would not have donated twenty taels to the temple; therefore, Yi Chen felt it was only fair to split these twenty taels fifty-fifty with his ancestor.
"Three hundred and ten taels of silver may seem like a lot, but the things I can do with it are indeed limited. My junior brother Qing Yunzi is currently in the critical phase of transforming his Pure Yang Inner Qi into Pure Yang true power and needs nourishing. I myself am a big eater, there's nowhere money doesn't need to be spent..."
After some deliberation, only one path remained.
By training, to stimulate the physical body and gain Origin Points, transcending the ordinary with extraordinary abilities and attributes.
"Well then, I'll just have to suffer a bit, 'Without lunacy, there's no survival.'" Yi Chen clenched his teeth, deciding to start a strenuous activity for himself tomorrow.
...
...
The next day, the sun shone high in the sky.
Not far from Hidden Dragon Temple, there lay a place called Falling Dragon Pool, whose waters were dark and bottomless.
Spring water cascaded down from more than twenty meters high, splashing water sprays over a meter high.
At this moment, a tall man with his upper body bare was holding a Grand Grinding Disc, standing at the upstream of the cascading water, continually taking deep breaths.
Looking at the roaring waterfall plunging into the enigmatic surface of the pool, Yi Chen felt a chill in his heart as he watched from high above.
However, he had no choice; the red mark on his chest was like a Sword of Damocles hanging over his head, constantly reminding him to grow stronger quickly, or await death.
"Damn it, you can't stand firm without being ruthless, let's go all out!"
Yi Chen gritted his teeth and, with the stone mill in his arms, jumped into Falling Dragon Pool.
People are driven to extremes.
This saying, whether justified physiologically or philosophically, is the truth.
If it had been before, he would not have subjected himself to such harsh training; getting into prisoner fitness and triathlon had already been his limit. But now, that's not enough.
He needed strength, and he had an insatiable desire to become stronger.
Having gone through two rounds of strengthening with the Pure Yang technique, he too could sustain this kind of trial without killing himself.
Boom!
Yi Chen leaped down and plunged heavily into the dark depths of the pool, creating waves several meters high.
Immediately after, he, holding the stone mill, sank straight to the bottom of the pool.
The tremendous water pressure continuously challenged his physiological limits, and the parts of his body that had come in contact with the water during the jump suffered bursts of intense pain. His lungs also felt a burning soreness.
The pale purple Pure Yang Inner Qi on his body was rotating at high speed, swelling his entire body's muscles to resist the pressure surging around him.
He held the stone mill at the bottom of the pool and slowly did squats...
Time slowly passed.
Yi Chen felt as if each second at the bottom of the pool lasted an eternity.
One second.
Ten seconds.
One minute.
Three minutes.
Five minutes.
Even with his extraordinary physique, after the inhuman torture of five minutes, Yi Chen could not hold on any longer. He kicked off with his feet, carrying the stone mill, and burst out of the water's surface.
Huff, huff.
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Huff, huff.
As soon as Yi Chen surfaced, he collapsed by the pool like a dead snake, panting heavily.
His lungs were expanding and contracting rapidly, as if bellows were at work.
He felt sore and ached all over, but fortunately, his physique was astonishing, and his recovery was very strong, so he managed to endure.
After resting for ten minutes, Yi Chen, hugging the grinding stone, returned to his original spot.
"Yin Manor, fuck you!"
"Ah...!" Cultivated Yi Taoist, his eyes tightly shut, jumped down again.
The underwater bombs continued.
You don't know your limits until you push yourself.
As long as it doesn't kill you, play it to the edge.
Yi Chen was frantically teasing his own limits while registering every bit of suffering in the name of Yin Manor, cursing as he dived like crazy.
Every time Yi Chen felt he couldn't endure any longer, the thought of the half body and buttocks of the splashed tiger surged within him, giving him infinite motivation.
.....
Hidden Dragon Temple, the kitchen.
Qing Yunzi made a roast chicken, twenty pounds of braised pork, and two small dishes of greens, then called over Qing Feng and Ming Yue, instructing them to fetch the senior brother for dinner.
Soon, the two little ones came back crying.
"Second brother, something terrible has happened, senior brother has gone mad."
On hearing the little ones' words, Qing Yunzi became alarmed.
"Nonsense, the senior brother was fine when he went out, how could he have gone mad?"
"Didn't the senior brother say he was going to cultivate by Falling Dragon Pool?"
Qing Feng, wiping away tears, stammered, "Second brother, the... the senior brother really is acting mad; he's jumping from over twenty meters high with a grinding stone, and after a while, bubbles rise from the water, and I waited a long time without seeing the senior brother emerge."
Ming Yue nodded vigorously, adding, "It's true, I can vouch for Qing Feng; I saw it all clearly from a distance."
Qing Yunzi was stupefied....
Qing Feng and Ming Yue leading, the trio hastily headed towards Falling Dragon Pool.
Yi Chen lay limp on the rocks around Falling Dragon Pool, struggling to open his eyes, only to see three figures rushing towards him rapidly.
He struggled to sit up and said to them, "Junior brothers, what has happened?"
"Why are you all running as if your tails are on fire?"
With a strange expression, Qing Yunzi looked at Yi Chen, "Senior brother, you are alright?"
"Qing Feng and Ming Yue came to call you for dinner and ran back crying, saying you'd gone mad; you've scared us to death."
???
Yi Chen felt a bit bewildered inside. How have I gone mad?
"Nonsense, I was cultivating." Using the last of his strength, he sprang to his feet with a fish-leap thrust.
"Watch closely; I'm not mad. I'll show you again."
Qing Yunzi, Qing Feng, and Ming Yue, one tall and two small, gaped in shock as Yi Chen, clutching the grinding stone, leapt from the height once more, causing a sky-high splash, and after a while, a head surfaced.
"Do you see? I'm cultivating, cultivating!"
The-three wiped the sweat from their foreheads, dumbfounded.
......
Night, a sky full of stars.
In the room where Qing Feng and Ming Yue lived, Qing Feng opened a blank journal, fervently writing a diary entry.
Qingli, eighth year, October fifth.
The senior brother must be mad; today he jumped into Falling Dragon Pool with a grinding stone the whole day, still stubbornly claiming he was cultivating, an entirely new version we've never seen before.
He was so shaky at dinner his chopsticks couldn't stay steady, even breaking a bowl, looking quite scary.
I think the senior brother is lying; I've never seen anyone cultivate like this.
The senior brother always deceives us, last time he even tricked me with candied hawthorns.
Tonight, I noticed that many fattened fish in Falling Dragon Pool had turned belly-up, and we had a feast of fish. I'm starting to understand.
Could it be that the senior brother was actually playing at exploding fish?
What a lavish way to catch a fish; truly, it's an entirely new version we've never seen. Senior brother, you truly are something else.
Also, tonight's feast of fish was delicious.
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