Chapter 6: Nameless Oracular Formula
“Get up, get up.”
A barely audible sound came from above Han Li, rousing him from his deep slumber. As soon as he opened his eyes, a huge face appeared in front of him. In shock, Han Li pushed himself backwards. Only then was he able to see that the owner of the face that had frightened him to death was the boy named Zhang Tie.
“Hurry up and come eat something. After you’ve finished, we need to see Old Mo.” Zhang Tie passed some steaming white buns over to Han Li.
“Where did you find this food?” Han Li stared blankly for a moment before accepting the buns.
“At a kitchen near the valley, I saw a ton of people eating food, so I also grabbed a portion. After I had finished, I realised that you hadn’t eaten yet, so I grabbed two buns for you.” Zhang Tie smiled sincerely at Han Li.
“Thank you very much, Brother Zhang.” Han Li was somewhat touched. Seeing that Zhang Tie looked quite a bit older than himself, he couldn’t help but blurt out the words “Brother Zhang.”
“No…no problem. I’m too used to labor. If I’m idle even for just a moment, I always feel a bit….uncomfortable. If you ever need any help in the future, don’t hesitate to tell me. I have nothing else but strength.” Zhang Tie seemed to be somewhat embarrassed, as he began to stammer.
Han Li hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch and was somewhat starved. In just a few bites, he devoured one bun. With just a bit more effort, both of the large buns completely disappeared into his stomach.
“It’s getting late, we should go see Old Mo.” Han Li burped a few times and looked out the window towards the setting sun. After mentally calculating the time, he decided that it was probably about time to go see Doctor Mo.
Zhang Tie didn’t object, following Han Li to Doctor Mo’s house.
There were rows of bookshelves along all four walls of Doctor Mo’s residence. These shelves were densely packed with various books.
“Old Mo!”
“Old Mo!”
……
Doctor Mo’s back was tightly pressed against his chair as he was currently engrossed in reading the book in his hands. He didn’t seem to have noticed the two people’s arrival, nor had he heard their greetings. The two of them were still children after all, so when they saw Doctor Mo ignore them, they were at a loss on what to do, unsure of what would be the best course of action. Thus, they could only stand to one side and wait.
Finally, by the time Han Li’s feet had begun to turn numb, Doctor Mo slowly placed his book down onto the table next to him. He coldly looked over at the two children and picked up his teacup to drink a few sips before slowly saying:
“From this day on, you two will be accepted as my Unofficial Disciples. I will teach you some general knowledge on picking medicinal plants and refining medicines. I may also teach you two some life-saving healing techniques. But I will absolutely not teach you any martial arts.” Doctor Mo expressionlessly put down his teacup.
“I will teach you two a set of body and spiritual cultivation chants. Although it won’t allow you to successfully subdue your enemy, it will strengthen your bodies. If you guys really want to learn some martial arts, you can go learn them from some other instructors. If you do so, I won’t object, but I’ll check your progression on this set of cultivation chants in half a year. If you don’t meet the standard, I’ll force you out to become an outer disciple. Do you two understand?” Doctor Mo’s tone suddenly became much more serious. It looked like he attached great importance to this set of chants.
“We understand.” Han Li and Zhang Tie replied in unison.
“You two should leave now. Come back tomorrow morning.” Doctor Mo waved his hands at the two of them, gesturing for them to go out. He then picked up his book and began reading it again.
Before Han Li left, he couldn’t help but glance back at the book in Doctor Mo’s hands. It was a pity that he didn’t know how to read; he could only tell that the title was made up of three large, black characters. Unfortunately, Han Li didn’t recognize them.
As soon as Han Li walked out of Doctor Mo’s residence, Han Li couldn’t help but let out the breath he had been holding. He didn’t know why, but just now, he hadn’t even dared to breathe in Doctor Mo’s presence. His mind had also been incredibly tensed. Now that he had left, he immediately loosened up, returning to his normal state.
During the following few days, Han Li’s excitement never faded. He’d finally become a disciple of the Seven Mysteries Sect. Although he was still just a Unofficial Disciple, it was still better than the children that had been sent home. Even if he didn’t pass the test in half a year, he could still become an Outer Disciple like Third Uncle. In Han Li’s opinion, Third Uncle was a person of great status and position, so he didn’t concern himself over the examination in half a year. He even secretly hoped from the bottom of his heart that he wouldn’t pass. That way, he could leave the mountain earlier to see his parents and his most beloved younger sister.
During the following few days, Doctor Mo would teach them some medicinal knowledge in the mornings. In the afternoons, he would make them study the body’s twelve main meridians, energy channels, and acupoint locations.As for the little he taught them of martial arts, he made them maintain the horse stance and hit straw dummies.
A month later, the two of them were completely isolated from the other children. They no longer spent time learning anything else besides the chant. Ever since Doctor Mo had begun teaching them, they spent most of their time practicing the nameless chant. Doctor Mo strictly ordered them to not tell the chants to anyone else. If even a small segment was leaked, Doctor Mo would harshly punish them and kick them out of his apprenticeship.
During this period of time, Han Li began to have a better understand of the Seven Mysteries Sect and Doctor Mo. The Seven Mysteries Sect had a disciple named Wang Lu, who possessed the teachings handed down by the Sovereign Seven Supreme. Wang Lu became the Sect Leader of the Seven Mysteries Sect, and he split the sect with the help of the three other Sect Leaders.They divided the sect into two segments – the Inner and Outer Branch. The Outer Branch had a total of four divisions, namely the Flying Bird Division, Treasure Gathering Division, Four Seas Division, and External Blade Division. The Inner Branch also had four divisions, namely the Hundred Forge Division, Seven Supreme Division, Consecrated Division, and Blood Blade Division. In addition to the Inner and Outer Branch, there was a Council of Elders that reported to the Vice Sect Leaders and the Sect Leader.
Doctor Mo was originally not a disciple of the Seven Mysteries Sect. A few years ago, Sect Leader Wang carelessly fell into an enemy’s trap while outside of the Celestial Rainbows Mountain and was heavily injured by the multiple attacks from the opposing party. As he wavered on the brink of death, his allies were unable to do anything about it. Just then, they happened to encounter Doctor Mo whose brilliant healing and effective medicines saved Sect Leader Wang’s life. Sect Leader Wang naturally couldn’t help but feel extremely grateful for Doctor Mo. He later found out that in addition to his profound medical expertise, Doctor Mo was a strong martial arts practitioner, which convinced Sect Leader Wang to invite Doctor Mo to join his sect. The elders carefully picked a small valley in the mountains to erect a residence specifically for Doctor Mo’s use in order to make the shift as comfortable as possible. The valley soon became a venerated place within the Seven Mysteries Sect thanks to Doctor Mo. Although none of the disciples had ever witnessed his skills, nor did they know how strong his martial arts was, Doctor Mo had used his brilliant medical expertise to save quite a few disciples’ lives. Thus, although he was normally expressionless and was a man of few words, he received a great amount of respect from the Inner Disciples.