Chapter 198: Too Much Medicine
Just as an insurance, Xiao Chen looked for a ten-meter strip of weed first and tied it around his waist. After he finished doing that, he executed his plan. His every step in the rapid undercurrent was incredibly difficult.
When Xiao Chen reached the silty slope at the side, he did not dare to be careless. He climbed up step by step as the undercurrent assaulted his body. There were a few times where he was almost washed away.
He sank his arms deep into the silt and the area beneath his nails were filled with black silt. Soon, he escaped from the danger.
After he spent a lot of effort, Xiao Chen finally managed to escape the undercurrent. He relaxed his body and removed the weed from his waist.
When Xiao Chen got to shore, he felt extremely tired. The dizziness he felt became even more intense. He did his best to focus and resisted the desire to lie down. Then he removed all of his wet clothes.
After that, he took out some dry clothes from the Universe Ring and put them on before he swallowed a Blood Replenishing Pill. Once he finished all of this, he dragged himself up to a cliffside and leaned against it to rest.
Unknowingly, Xiao Chen fell asleep; he was simply too tired.
When Xiao Chen woke up, his spirits had recovered. With the assistance of the Blood Replenishing Pill, his physical injuries were better as well.
He took out some dry rations and water from the Universe Ring. He devoured the food ravenously and downed the water in a big gulp. After eating them, he recovered some strength.
After that, Xiao Chen got up and examined his surroundings. He was in a dim cave. Xiao Chen tried to extend out his Spiritual Sense but to no avail; the Spiritual Sense he was so familiar with did not appear.
Xiao Chen could not help but smile bitterly. Seems like he had really turned into a cripple. He slowly walked to the riverside and looked at his reflection; the calm river surface reflected back a pale countenance.
After being soaked in the water for a long time, Xiao Chen’s skin had turned frighteningly pale; there were even some places where his skin had peeled off.
He had reverted back to his original looks. The appearance he had changed into using the Shapeshifting Spell had been lost. However, Xiao Chen could not be bothered about this.
After he cleaned the silt out from beneath his fingernails, he walked alongside the river and moved downstream. Regardless of the situation, he had to find an exit first.
“Ti Da! Ti Da!”
Occasionally, water would drip from the ceiling. The instant the droplet fell, Xiao Chen’s body would move back to avoid it. The droplet would skim by his nose and fall to the ground quickly.
“Seems like my physical strength is still here. My ability to fight has not disappeared. Even without Essence, I can easily feel the location of the falling water droplets.” Xiao Chen revealed a pleasantly surprised expression as he clenched his fist.
Under the influence of gravity, the speed at which the water droplets fell was very fast. Even so, Xiao Chen could rely on his physical abilities to detect the direction that the water droplet had fallen before he easily dodged it.
The reaction speed of his body was equivalent to an ordinary Martial Grand Master. This helped Xiao Chen to regain his self-confidence.
Even without a Martial Spirit, I can rely on my body to become a Sage. It has been done in the past before. I can do it as well. A resolute light appeared in Xiao Chen’s eyes.
After he walked for a long time, it slowly became brighter. Xiao Chen could not help but increase his pace. After a while, he arrived at a wide clearing.
A vast underground world appeared before Xiao Chen. It was several hundred meters high and unmeasurably broad.
There were trees, grasses, and flowers; there were even rivers. It was unknown where the light above his head came from, it was very strange.
Xiao Chen hesitated for a little before he stepped in. He felt as though he had stepped through a barrier and a negligible pause in time seemed to have occurred.
Xiao Chen walked in and out a few times; he was afraid that something was wrong. After he discovered that he could enter and exit freely, he no longer cared.
“Ga Zhi! Ga Zhi!”
Suddenly, a few bird flew over from the forest in front. Xiao Chen was mildly startled. There were living creatures here? I have to be careful. If I run into a ferocious beast, then I will be in trouble.
“Bang! Bang!”
Just as Xiao Chen had this thought, a huge Spirit Beast rushed out from the forest. This was a Scarlet Flame Bear; when it stood upright, it was as tall as two people. Its red eyes looked at Xiao Chen, filled with murderous intent.
The Scarlet Flame Bear was a Rank 2 Spirit Beast. It was about equivalent to a Martial Master. Xiao Chen had met some before in the Seven Horn Mountain. It looked ferocious but there was nothing special about it.
However, if Xiao Chen wanted to deal with it now, it would be a little difficult.
“Pu Pu!” Just as Xiao Chen was thinking, the Scarlet Flame Bear got on all fours and rushed over. Very soon, it arrived before Xiao Chen. Its paws which carried several hundred kilograms of force smashed over.
Xiao Chen did not panic, before the front paw of the Scarlet Flame Bear had arrived, he felt the change in the direction of the wind and stepped to the left calmly; he dodged the attack.
Xiao Chen shouted and focused all of his strength onto his right fist. All the muscles on his right arm bulged. Xiao Chen seemed to feel a boundless energy as his fist punched at the Scarlet Flame Bear’s chest at lightning-speed.
In the next instant, the Scarlet Flame Bear’s stout body was punched and flew back with a bang. Xiao Chen could hear the sounds of its internal organs being smashed. After it fell down, it no longer got up again.
Xiao Chen looked at all this in shock. After a moment, he saw that the Scarlet Flame Bear was really dead. He muttered, “How can it be? At my peak, the strength of my fist is only 1,500 kilograms of force. Currently, my Martial Spirit is shattered and my injuries are not completely healed yet. Logically speaking, being able to output half my previous strength is already a far stretch.”
The weight of the Scarlet Flame Bear was at least 500 kilograms. To send it flying with one punch while shattering its internal organs would require at least 2,000 kilograms of force.
Xiao Chen felt suspicious as he looked at his fist; he was in disbelief. “In that earlier punch, I felt as though I had not used all my strength. Yet, why is it my strength even more powerful than before?”
Xiao Chen thought for a long time but he could not figure out the answer. Next, Xiao Chen entered the forest. He found another Scarlet Flame Bear on the outskirts. When it drew near, he punched this one too.
Just like earlier, the 500 kilograms Scarlet Flame Bear was sent flying. Its internal organs had shattered and it died!
Only after this did Xiao Chen believe that all of this was real; his strength was even stronger than before. “Could it be that my cultivation has not disappeared?”
“This strength of my fist should be about 1,750 kilograms of force, close to 2,000 kilograms. Otherwise, it would be impossible for me to kill the Scarlet Flame Bear in one punch,” Xiao Chen said in a confident tone.
What is going on? Why did the strength of my physical body increase? Xiao Chen pondered for a long time but he was still unable to come out with an answer.
After a while, Xiao Chen smiled faintly. “Never mind, my strength increasing is a good thing. Since I can’t figure it out, then there is no need to overthink this for now.”
Thinking this, Xiao Chen left the forest. The depths of the forest gave Xiao Chen a dangerous feeling. There should be Spirit Beasts which were even more powerful in there.
Xiao Chen used the remaining time to search this unknown underground world. In the southeast direction, Xiao Chen coincidentally found a natural herb field.
All sorts of Spirit Herbs grew verdant and thick in the entire place. There were also several Spirit Herbs that had aged for several hundred years. However, before Xiao Chen got close to the edges of the herb fields, he felt several strong auras. Occasionally, he could hear some horrifying beast roars.
They were all strong Spirit Beasts. Given Xiao Chen’s current state, he could forget about going any further. To see a mountain of treasure but be unable to obtain it, such a feeling was very depressing.
Xiao Chen avoided this region and continued to walk forward. Although his Martial Spirit was destroyed, he still had his physical strength. His pace was not slow. Within a day's time, he had investigated an area with a radius of at least a thousand meters.
Xiao Chen discovered that he had completely underestimated the size of this underground world. After he walked for an entire day, he had not even covered half of it.
It was unknown why but there was day and night in this underground world. The brightness changed with the flow of time and would slowly turn dark.
There would definitely be some unknown dangers in the dark night. Xiao Chen did not dare to stay here. He retreated until he arrived at the barrier around this world before he stopped.
He decided to sit down cross-legged and attempt to cultivate. Xiao Chen had not lost all hope after his Martial Spirit was destroyed. The Azure Dragon was an Ancient Holy Beast, there must be something special about it.
Currently, Xiao Chen’s body was completely void of Spiritual Energy; he was currently an ordinary person. Compared to when he just arrived in this world, he was weaker.
At the very least, that Xiao Chen had ten-odd years worth of Spiritual Energy that he had cultivated. Although he was unable to turn the energy into Essence, there was more than enough for him to use the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation.
However, there was no Spiritual Energy in Xiao Chen now. In order to train to the point he was back then, it might require sixteen years to do so. If it was so, no matter how strong his perseverance was, he would probably give up.
Xiao Chen felt the surrounding Spiritual Energy. He paid attention to his Dantian as he breathed in and out. He maintained a calm mental state as he kept on repeating these actions.
This was the most basic breathing method in the Tianwu Continent. Aside from those people born with an innate Martial Spirit, most people did not have Spiritual Energy in their bodies when they were born.
Without Spiritual Energy, there was no way to circulate any Cultivation Technique. At this point, one needed to practice a breathing method to absorb some Spiritual Energy into their body.
When the amount of Spiritual Energy reached a certain level, one would be able to formally start cultivating. There was no difference in grades or ranks for breathing methods, it was common throughout the Tianwu Continent.
Slowly, the gases that Xiao Chen breathed out through his mouth became denser. From a distance, it looked like a blurry sword; it did not disappear.
“Hu!”
With the next breath Xiao Chen took, some Spiritual Energy turned into mist and entered his mouth. It slowly flowed into his meridians and circulated for a cycle before it settled down at the Dantian; it was about the size of a small toe.
Xiao Chen felt joyful, he had not expected that the first strand of Spiritual Energy he absorbed would be so large. He would be able to gather enough Spiritual Energy soon and circulate the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation.
Xiao Chen was worried earlier that it would require sixteen years. Seems like his worries were unfounded. After he experienced the process once, the second time became smoother.
After four hours, the Spiritual Energy which had settled in Xiao Chen’s Dantian was sufficient to circulate the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation. Xiao Chen stopped the breathing method and started to prepare to try circulating the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation.
“Hua!”
The Purple Thunder Divine Incantation circulated successfully without any problems. The surrounding Spiritual Energy poured wildly into Xiao Chen’s body. It poured in endlessly and completely exceeded Xiao Chen’s expectations.