Chapter 43: Fully Prepared
At this time, the Seven Mysteries Sect was undergoing a major event.
It turned out that the idol of the current generation of disciples, “Senior Disciple Li”, possessed a perception far beyond that of his peers. He quickly saw through two of the Feral Wolf Gang’s spies and their plot to steal the names of the disciples that were undergoing adventures away from the mountain. With ten fellow disciples, they captured them in one move. This was quite a meritorious deed.
Several days later, Sect Leader Wang awarded Li Feiyu the position of Protector in the presence of many disciples. This caused him to stride forward to the Seven Mysteries Sect’s mid rankings, leading to a rise of great sensation. Li Feiyu’s reputation had grown even greater.
Han Li didn’t know of this at all. He was currently sealed off in a wooden house in the mountain, undergoing special training. Aside from occasionally going to the kitchen to get some food, he did not have any contact with others. He naturally did not know that his close friend was currently held in such high regard.
Summer passed, followed by autumn. Time passed quickly until the arranged date had finally arrived.
In the ravine of the overgrown forest, there was a strange, incomparable silhouette midst the overgrowth of the dangerously sharp and thorny branches. None of the sharp branches were able to obstruct the floating, smoke-like figure. In the thorny undergrowth, he weaved between the thick net like a fleeing demon. In a moment, he had appeared nearby; in the next, he was already a distance away. These motions were absolutely quiet, as if there were not a fleshly body but rather an incorporeal form.
Finally, this silhouette stopped on top of a tree trunk. Vertically standing at its peak, he surveyed the surrounding distance. This was Han Li, with some success from his cultivation regime.
Currently, the clothes on his body had turned to little more than worn, tattered rags, revealing the his bare flesh. His hair was like a ruffled crow, while his face was a mixture of black and white. His original appearance couldn’t be made out. What was most astonishing were the small exquisite iron bells, each hanging from his neck, waist, arms, thighs and ankles.
Seeing these iron bells and then thinking about Han Li’s ghost-like movements in the forest, it would be hard to differentiate Han Li’s body technique from the movements of an actual demon.
Motionless, he turned his head toward the direction of God Hand Valley. He muttered to himself, “Just in time. I had just become proficient in the Shifting Smoke Steps on this final day. With this technique, I have a slightly greater assurance of self-preservation.”
Although the expression of his face couldn’t be seen clearly, the joy in his eyes wasn’t concealed at all.
After several months of diligent research and training, Han Li wielded a number of formidable secret techniques. He held quite a bit of confidence in them. Although he wasn’t convinced that they could withstand Doctor Mo’s unfathomable skills, he held some confidence that he could defend himself.
A light breeze came. Han Li felt a slight chill on his body. He lowered his head to look at his “clothing”. Thinking about his current appearance, he couldn’t help but bitterly smile.
Recalling his training with Shifting Smoke Steps, he still had some lingering fear. In the forest undergrowth where he cultivated the technique, he had lived through a truly frightening experience. When he started training with this strange technique, he was covered all over with cuts and bruises from scraping against the unavoidable, stiff thorns.
Fortunately, he possessed Vitality Raising Pellets. In addition to treating internal injuries, they unexpectedly had an amazing effect on external injuries. After eating one, not only did it staunch the wound, there wouldn’t even be a scar by the next day.
Han Li clicked his tongue in marvel. This medicine was incredibly more potent than common concoctions. The only thing that confused him was why the medicine was named “Vitality Raising Pellet”. It seemed to him that the names “Scars Away” and “Staunch Bleeding” would be more appropriate.
If the experts that created the Vitality Raising Pellet knew what Han Li was thinking, they would have likely spit out blood from anger. This elaborate and elusive healing panacea had actually been compared to the “Golden Wound Medicine”, a common Jiang Hu elixir, by Han Li, who thought that it was only relatively stronger. How could these experts not die from anger?!
However, because he had practiced in such a dangerous environment, Han Li was able to make the fullest of his potential. Within this short time, his Shifting Smoke Steps had reached the level of proficiency where he could immediately put it to good use.
In addition, Han Li’s Eternal Spring Arts had just recently and unexpectedly broken through to the sixth layer. This was the highest layer of the chant that Doctor Mo had given him. Were it not for the assistance of those tens of elixirs, even if he were to exert all of his strength, it would have been unlikely for him to achieve this level of success in this lifetime.
After a few years of cultivation, Han Li had quite a bit of understanding and experience with the Eternal Spring Arts. He felt that this level of success was very unusual. Regardless of the means by which he cultivated, the effectiveness and results were completely different from common martial arts.
Initially, Han Li thought that the success rate of cultivating this particular martial art, as well as the speed of comprehension, depended on one’s individual talent.
One bestowed with good aptitude would naturally perform as expected, without any obstructions. Even if one had no external assistance, by means of hard work, he or she would be able to reach a high layer.
But if one’s aptitude was no good, once a certain layer was reached, he or she would be unable to advance a single step further without the assistance from elixirs. Han Li estimated that in a normal cultivator’s lifetime, he or she would stop at that very point without the slightest advance. This idea was very much reflected upon himself. In the past, he managed to cultivate to the third layer very smoothly, but at the fourth layer, he was met with incomparable difficulty and did not advance in the least.
However, if one had elixirs, the impossible would become possible, and it would be possible for one to break through the limitations of their natural aptitudes and advance to another layer. With this in mind, it is obvious how greatly cultivation depended on the power of medicine!
However, those like Han Li, who ate elixirs everyday like snacks, were reckoned to be nonexistent in the entire world. Therefore, it would be reasonable to say that the even more difficult fifth and sixth layer had been effortlessly cultivated by Han Li, who had not encountered the difficulty that he had faced from cultivating to the fourth layer.
The cultivation of the sixth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts, aside from making Han Li feel more vigorous than before, made his mind even sharper. For the time being, he hadn’t discovered any other wonderful effects. What was strange was that ever since he cultivated this Eternal Spring Arts, his spirit, mind, and five senses were somewhat strengthened with each increasing layer, but it had little effect on his body’s health. He had no choice but to make his body sturdy and his footsteps light. In addition, his cultivation of the Eternal Spring Arts had formed a new energy flow, which Han Li called pseudo-True Qi. Although it moved through the channels of True Qi, it did little more than make his sense of touch more sensitive. It did not have the same formidable might as True Qi.
Having trained this much, he was certain that the sixth layer wasn’t the end of the chant. Perhaps it had the further wonderful effects that would be revealed in the later layers.
Thinking of this, he helplessly shook his head and sighed. With regards to his current relationship to Doctor Mo, the final layers of cultivation was a matter he could only dream of.
Halting his imagination, Han Li jumped, softly leaving the floor. Not a sound was produced. Then, with long strides, he walked to his residence.
Tomorrow, he would meet with Doctor Mo, but before then, he had to make full use of his innate skills. His mind planned each step of his encounter with Doctor Mo in advance. He carefully pondered every finite possibility of the dangers that had yet to occur and formulated an optimal plan for responding to the threats that he simulated in his mind.