If Zhang Tie was unable to cultivate another branch of martial arts, his path would be forever sealed.
On one hand, Han Li was grumbling about the unfairness of their situation. On the other hand, he was reassuring himself that since he passed Doctor Mo’s test, he would not be kicked out of the Seven Mysteries Sect.
Han Li retracted his gaze from the other sect members, but he continued to think about Doctor Mo’s irritating commands. Distracted and in low spirits, he gazed at the two lines of trees alongside the road as pangs of dejection struck him.
All of a sudden, Han Li sucked in a mouthful of cool air, his facial expression turning ugly. Out of reflex, he squatted down and used both his hands to tightly clamp on the big toe of his right foot, doubling over in the grass. A sudden, painful flare-up had caught Han Li unaware. His face became a pale white as waves of fiery pain assailed his right foot.
Evidently, Han Li had accidentally kicked against an extremely hard object hidden in the piles of leaves.
Han Li arched his body and used both of his hands to wrap around his foot. After he lowered his head and removed his shoes, he began to blow heavily on his injured toe; while his brain flooded with pain, he was worried that his swollen toe might have been injured to an extent that would impact his day-to-day activities
After a long moment, Han Li craned his neck and peered downwards to that pile of leaves, trying to find the ungodly, dastardly stone that caused him to be injured.
Haphazardly lying about, the fallen leaves were all the same reddish-yellow color. They obscured him from finding the target he sought.
Han Li wrinkled his forehead and surveyed the ground before finding a slightly long and thick tree branch. Holding the branch, he stood up carefully.
Unwilling to give up, Han Li used the branch in his hands and continued to probe piles of leaves.
Ai! He spotted an object the size of a fist.
Han Li paused momentarily and considered the object in front of him. The culprit, the sinful object that caused injury to his great self, actually had the shape of an elongated bottle. The surface of it was stained with mud, and its original color was impossible to discern. Overall, it looked extremely commonplace.
Initially, Han Li thought that this was an ordinary little bottle, but after picking it up he found that the bottle was extraordinarily heavy, its weight vastly different from that of a normal porcelain bottle.
Could this bottle be made of gold? No wonder it caused so much pain when he kicked it. But... bottles made of gold were rarely seen…
Made of gold….? Han Li’s interest in this bottle peaked as he temporarily forgot about the waves of pain arising from his toe.
As Han Li wiped off the excess layer of mud, the original color of the bottle began to unveil itself. The bottle emanated a shiny green glow, and there were intricate dark-green leaf patterns engraved on its surface. At the head of the bottle, there was a bottle cap that tightly sealed the mouth of the bottle.
Hmm, could the interior be hiding something precious? Han Li placed the bottle close to his ear and gently shook the bottle, but he didn’t feel any movements from the inside of it.
Unwilling to give up, Han Li placed his hands on the cap of the bottle and tried to pry it open. However, no matter how hard he tried, it was to no avail.
Curiosity was burning in his heart, and just when he was about to use another method to open it, the pain from his foot suddenly flared up again.
Damn! He had forgotten that he had injured his right toe after kicking the bottle.
Looking at his injury, it seemed that he wouldn't be visiting Zhang Tie today. Han Li decided to return to his residence and apply some medicine on his toe before taking his time to figure out the secrets the mysterious bottle he was holding.
In order to keep the bottle from being spotted by others, Han Li stashed it inside his robes regardless of how dirty it was. Turning back, he limped step by step back to his home.
Chapter 11: Difficult to Open Bottle
Han Li didn’t meet many people on the way back except for a few senior disciples who were curious at why Han Li was limping his way back. But because he didn’t say anything, they didn’t pay much attention to him.
As he returned back to his room, the pain in his toe got increasingly unbearable. Han Li sat on his bed and took off his shoes to examine his injury.
The swelling was incredible! His right toe had an impressive bulge on it, while the cuticle on his toe turned blood red and resembled a big chili.
Han Li quickly took out a bottle of herbs from beneath his pillow. Concocted meticulously by Doctor Mo, this medicine could treat bruising, swelling, and bleeding at an astonishing degree. Doctor Mo didn’t easily give away medicine of this caliber. It was originally meant for Zhang Tie, who would inevitably suffer an injury while practicing the Way of the Armored Elephant, and Han Li didn’t think that he would be the first to use the medicine.
Opening the medicinal bottle, a strong herbal fragrance filled the room. He applied a small amount on his injury and immediately felt a relaxing sensation. Just as Doctor Mo had said, it had an immediate effect; Doctor Mo’s medicine truly was amazing!
Han Li took a clean cloth and wrapped up his foot before putting his shoes back on.
Excellent! The pain was slowly subsiding.
He began to take small steps, as if testing his pain threshold, nodding in satisfaction as he felt that moving was easier than before.
Now, it was time to solve the enigma posed by the mysterious bottle that had caused such an injury to him.
Han Li took out the bottle from his robes and wiped it clean to restore its natural luster.
This bottle wasn’t all that big, and a single hand could wrap around the entire length of its neck. It was actually smaller than the bottle that contained Doctor Mo’s medicine. The bottle had a shiny green luster and was engraved with dark green leaf patterns that seemed almost alive. When Han Li felt the contours of the designs on the surface of the bottle, it was almost as if there were actual leaves embedded onto the bottle itself.
Weighing the bottle in his hand, Han Li had no idea what type of metal was used to make it, or if it was even porcelain. The bottle didn’t have a cold, metallic feeling to it, nor did it have the gloss of porcelain.
Han Li had observed the bottle for a good while, and the only thing he could be certain of was that he didn’t know what material was used to make it. The shade of green seemed intrinsically part of the material itself, not a color that was added after it was made.
Seeing how tightly the bottle was sealed, Han Li naturally became curious. Eyeing the bottle, he strongly desired to see whether or not there was something inside.
Once more using his strength, he tried to pry open the cap of the bottle.
One try, two tries, three tries… It was as if the cap of the bottle was fused into the neck. It was almost as if it was refusing to budge.
Han Li was astounded; back when he first picked up the bottle, due to waves of pain assailing him, he couldn’t use his full strength to open it and didn’t realize how stubborn the bottle was. But now that Han Li had finished tending to his foot and was using his full strength, he was surprised that he still couldn't pry the bottle open.
Han Li tried to twist the lid once more until his arms began to ache, but there was still no success, so he had no choice but to stop.
He stretched and loosened his arms, moving his wrist about. Just now, he had expended a large amount of energy to open the bottle, and his efforts had strained his wrist.
Holding the bottle under his eye, he began to inspect it even closer. Unfortunately, there was no secret mechanism under the lid that would allow him to easily open it.
This made Han Li frustrated. He wasn’t able to open the bottle, so how would he know if there was something inside or not? If it was sealed up this tightly, then there was definitely something precious inside.
Han Li held the bottle tightly in his hand, looking
at it with a vacant look. In the end, he had decided that he would let Zhang Tie, who was many times stronger than him, give it a try and see if he could open it. He knew that the current Zhang Tie could easily lift over 10 buckets of water up and down the mountains as if it was nothing. These days, it was Zhang Tie who refilled the water in the huge water tank every day.
After making this decision, Han Li headed towards Zhang Tie’s place, hoping that he would return soon.
Waiting for someone was truly unpleasant; Han Li felt that time was passing by extremely slowly. Finally, after waiting for a long time, a creaking sound was heard as Zhang Tie pushed open the door.
Looking up, Han Li saw that Zhang Tie was wearing only a thin piece of clothing. His entire body was steaming as he perspired freely. Han Li knew that this was the result of his cultivation, so he didn’t find it strange.
Seeing as Han Li was already in his house waiting for him, Zhang Tie was stunned. But before Zhang Tie could say anything, Han Li impatiently thrust the bottle towards him.
“Brother Zhang, please lend me your assistance and help me open this bottle.”
“Where did you find this? It looks rather nice!” Zhang Tie remarked as he took the bottle.
Zi! Zi! Zi! [1]
“Ai! This bottle is so tightly sealed. It’s so hard to pry it open! What was used to make this?” Zhang Tie cut straight to the chase: he wasn’t able to open the bottle either.
“Gah! I can’t do it; this bottle won’t open! Why don’t you find a senior disciple to help you?” Zhang Tie shook his head apologetically and handed the bottle back to Han Li along with the suggestion.
“Even you can’t open this?” Han Li was getting more anxious and couldn’t help but pace around the room.
“Ai! What happened to your leg?” Zhang Tie inquired as he noticed Han Li’s foot.
“It’s nothing; I kicked a rock on the road.” Han Li didn’t know why but he didn’t want to tell Zhang Tie about his surprise encounter with the bottle just yet. Right now, he wanted to keep the bottle his own personal secret.
Han Li was feeling very disappointed in his heart. He didn’t want to sit around and chat with Zhang Tie at the moment, and after briefly asking about how his cultivation was progressing, Han Li immediately left the room and returned back to his own place to think of a way to resolve his personal problem.
Returning back to his room, Han Li put the bottle on the table and stared intensely at it. At the same time, his mind was trying to think of solutions to open the mysterious bottle.
Chapter 12: Breaking the Bottle
Peng!
Han Li 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 Han Li after thinking of numerous ways to open the vexing bottle.
Han Li 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, Han Li 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, Han Li 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 Han Li 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 Han Li was completely captivated 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, Han Li 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. [1]
Back in his house, Han Li pried half a brick from a corner in his room and placed the bottle on top of the brick.
Han Li raised the hammer with his right hand, and swiftly smashed down onto the bottle’s body!
Peng!
Afraid of using too much strength and accidentally smashing whatever was inside, Han Li 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 Han Li 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.
Han Li 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.
Han Li 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 Han Li’s furious attempts.
This was completely beyond Han Li’s expectations!
Han Li 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 Han Li 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, Han Li followed the philosophy of “finders, keepers, losers, weepers.” As long as one did not obtain the item by stealing or robbing, to Han Li, the item obtained was his by right. If it was some ordinary item, Han Li 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, Han Li did not have any good impression of people from both of these categories.
Since childhood, Han Li 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 Mysteries 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 Han Li 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. Han Li 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, Han Li also did not have good impressions of them. A good example was Protector Wang. Despite accepting his Third Uncle’s bribes, Protector Wang did nothing to aid Han Li when he was taking the test. Instead, Protector Wang had been biased towards Wu Yan. Despite the fact that Han Li 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 Wang.
Whenever these two types of people lost their belongings, Han Li had no intentions of returning the items. H
e would even want to prank them by hiding the items in obscure locations.
After thinking of this, Han Li 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.
Han Li 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, Han Li felt more secure and threw away all of his concerns that the owner would discover the object and take it from him.
Han Li stealthily returned the hammer to the tool shed and casually walked back to God Hand Valley. As he limped back to his residence, night had fallen.
Chapter 13: Strange Phenomenons
Because Han Li’s foot was injured, Zhang Tie personally delivered the food to Han Li’s house and accompanied him for dinner.
Han Li watched Zhang Tie stumble around in his house in a clumsy manner, moving around the chairs and setting the table. Only after a long while did he finally finish, and it was time to eat. Han Li was rather amused by this, but also quite touched by this gesture.
After the table was set, both of them joked around as they ate, shoving food in their mouths while asking about their individual cultivation progress.
The moment Han Li brought up the Way of the Armored Elephant, Zhang Tie sighed dejectedly.
Currently, Zhang Tie had only managed to cultivate the martial skill to its first layer but was already half tortured to death by the immense pain. He had to soak himself in foul-smelling herbal baths every night as well as suffer beatings from Doctor Mo designed to toughen his body and strengthen his bones.
This method of boorish cultivation had caused Zhang Tie many sleepless nights. Because his entire body was swollen from the beatings, the moment his skin touched his bed, he would grit his teeth in pain.
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