C12 Hardship

Ding Yue rose at dawn, his morning beginning with the practice of the Yin Yang Qi Hugging Technique to center his energy. This was followed by a session of the Airstrike Fist.

After his exercises, he proceeded to Liu Wuya's library to delve into bamboo scrolls for two hours, with the old ghost providing guidance. His studies included the Five Continents Observation Records, descriptions of renowned mountains and rivers, the geography and history of the Central Region, and its various sects. This knowledge greatly expanded his understanding of the Central Region.

For breakfast, he had two cups of tiger milk, two bird eggs, and a hefty one-kilogram slice of Fellbeast meat.

Liu Wuya personally instructed Ding Yue in the nuances of the Airstrike Fist, specifically the second technique of the Sky Seal Three Stances. The term "Attack" implied a stealthy or surprise assault, while "Empty" referred to exploiting an opponent's vulnerabilities. The technique was designed to strike at the undefended gaps that an enemy could not protect.

Building on the thirteen forms of the Airstrike Fist, seven variations were added. The old ghost crafted three wooden figures from Ironwood Shrubbery, marking their surfaces with meridians and acupoints. After slaying several Fellbeasts, Ding Yue used a mystique to bind their Soulsparks into the figures for practice.

The old ghost dedicated three months, with his considerable skills, to perfecting the wooden figures. By the end of this period, Ding Yue had become proficient with the Airstrike Fist.

In a clearing stood the three wooden figures: one upright, one prone, and the third darting around Ding Yue.

Nearby, Liu Wuya queried the old ghost, "Is the soul of the Earth Bear within the stationary wooden figure?"

Cupping his chin thoughtfully, the old ghost confirmed, "Indeed, the Earth Bear is known for its formidable strength, while the Green Wind Wolf is sly and vicious. The Long-tailed Monkey is both agile and sharp. Young master, once you can shatter these wooden figures, you'll be ready to learn the 'Air Shattering Fist.'"

Liu Wuya added, "After mastering the 'Air Shattering Fist,' you'll head to the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range to confront a real fourth-level Fellbeast."

As they conversed, the wooden figures launched their attack. Within a few exchanges, Ding Yue was struck in the chest by one of the figures and found himself lying on the ground.

At that moment, Liu Wuya chose not to interrupt the wooden figures' onslaught, instead turning to the vine creature, "Ding Yue's perceptiveness and agility still need some refining. I'll leave that to you."

The vine creature chuckled, "Then you'd better stock up on some medicines that can heal bruises and stimulate the nerves in the skin. Topical applications would be best."

"Don't worry, I've brought out all my savings for this," Liu Wuya assured him.

"Now is the perfect time to use 'Elephant Skin Paste'; 'Golden Crow' should be reserved for when he's ready to transcend," the vine creature said with a smile.

Liu Wuya's eyes betrayed a hint of reluctance and pain at the mention of 'Golden Crow,' prompting a somewhat gleeful reaction from the vine creature.

Xuan Er spoke earnestly, "We nearly lost our lives for that fruit, but it's all worth it for the young master's sake."

Liu Wuya rubbed his hands together and mused, "Staying true to oneself, not swayed by material things—that must be why the Master invested so much in helping you."

"To remain unmoved by such rare treasures would be dishonest," the old ghost interjected.

Noticing Liu Wuya's sheepish look, the vine creature quickly added, "All we wish for is your smooth ascension to the eighth level."

Moved by the vine creature's concern, Liu Wuya stepped closer, grasping his shoulder with a firm, reassuring squeeze. "You're worried that inner demons might disrupt my progression and lead to my downfall," he said with a smile.

The old ghost, growing impatient with the sentimentality, brushed Liu Wuya's arm aside and declared, "With the Master's medicinal recipe, once refined, ascending to the eighth level will be child's play."

Scratching his head, the vine creature glanced over to see Ding Yue getting struck in the face by a punch. After wiping the blood from his mouth, Ding Yue dove back into the fray.

"It's funny to think about it now," the vine creature remarked, "one of the ingredients in the Heart Protecting and Soul Strengthening Pills, 'cow gall,' was actually purchased from the young master himself."

Liu Wuya's lips curled into a smile as he added, "Not every fifth-level Fellbeast of the bovine kind would possess such a gallbladder, and to find a drop of dragon's blood within it! The potency of the medicine has been greatly enhanced."

The old ghost cast a sidelong glance at Liu Wuya and quipped, "I'm not sure if it's your good luck, old timer, or the young master's fortune, but there's been a strange phenomenon in the blue sea desert of the vast sands. It seems to be a sign of that space coming into existence."

Liu Wuya was taken aback and furrowed his brow, murmuring, "A phenomenon of the heavens and earth, a harbinger of space's emergence. Do you mean—?"

In an instant, he leaped to his feet, eyes bulging, and exclaimed in astonishment, "Space Diversion? Are you suggesting that the mysterious space is about to manifest once more?"

The old ghost, clearly annoyed, plugged his ear with his pinky finger, scratched it, and sidestepped a few paces. Catching sight of Liu Wuya's elated expression, he huffed, "Hold your horses, old wood. You were fortunate enough to have entered with the Master once before; you ought to remember the value of what's inside."

Unperturbed by the old ghost's tone, Liu Wuya pressed on, "How did you come by this news?"

The old ghost glanced at Ding Yue, who had been floored by the wooden man, and answered, "In the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range, while I was slaying the Earth Bear, I overheard a conversation among several core disciples from Yellow Sand Valley."

Liu Wuya paced thoughtfully, clapping his hands together, "The Heart Protection Pill requires the crucial ingredient 'Ice Heart Fruit.' Hopefully, we'll find some there."

Then the old ghost added, "According to their words, Huang Changfeng is certain that this time only those who have achieved the Transcending state can enter."

"Ah," Liu Wuya exchanged a knowing look with the wooden man, both turning their gaze to Ding Yue, who was still engaged in combat, their eyes gleaming with anticipation.

A peach tree, about three meters thick, had been snapped off at the root and hollowed out to resemble a bathtub.

A pale yellow, glue-like liquid secreted from the heart of the root, which, when mixed with hot water and some powdered medicine, created a potent concoction.

Ding Yue lay submerged in this mixture, consuming a meaty lunch.

After an hour, he emerged, his bare torso smeared with a blood-red salve that reeked and caused a sensation akin to thousands of ants crawling and nipping at his skin.

The itchiness was intolerable, accompanied by a faint stinging sensation, yet he dared not scratch.

Gritting his teeth and contorting his body, Ding Yue couldn't help but think that a few cuts would be more bearable than this agony. He persevered until a chilling sensation permeated his entire being. Leaping back into the bathtub carved from a tree stump, he couldn't help but exclaim, "What a relief!"

A wooden vine tossed down a tome titled "Yellow and Black Herbs." Ding Yue was instructed to study it while submerged in the tub. The book detailed over ten thousand medicinal herbs, and he was tasked with committing to memory their properties, uses, cures, and alternate names within a year.

Two hours later, the old ghost introduced Ding Yue to the rudiments of Shadowmancy. "The Ghost Possession Step" was a technique that combined the Dao and martial arts into a series of movements.

As dusk settled and shadows deepened in the forest, Ding Yue, barefoot and shirtless, navigated through the underbrush. He narrowly avoided a sudden, dark shadow that lunged at him from the side. "Whoosh! Whoosh!" Multiple vines struck simultaneously, forcing him to dodge in all directions. A vine lashed against his shoulder, emerging silently from the darkness to attack.

This was the wooden vine's training method for Ding Yue. The vines, bristling with tiny barbs, were designed to only scratch the surface of his skin, drawing out thin lines of blood. By the end of the training, Ding Yue's body was coated with a faint sheen of blood, and he would continue to soak in the hollowed-out tree stump, consuming a dinner of various herbal broths. After finishing, his stomach would convulse with spasms.

Bright Moon Pool was considered an extraordinary location within Fragrant Medicine Valley. By day, the waters were murky, but come nightfall, under the glow of a brilliant moon, the pond transformed into a crystal-clear vista with silver fish darting through the water—a truly stunning scene.

Submerged in the pond, Ding Yue practiced shooting fish with flying needles. Every few minutes, he had to surface for air. Despite the pond's clarity, visibility was limited to just a few meters. The challenge of underwater currents, the resistance of the water, and the refraction of light made this the most difficult part of Ding Yue's daily training.

Liu Wuya had prepared several bottles of eye drops for Ding Yue, designed to protect his vision and make his eyes sparkle.

After mastering the art of the flying needle technique, Ding Yue still had to memorize several pill formulas and familiarize himself with various medicinal herbs in the pharmacy under Liu Wuya's guidance.

Each night, despite the day's exhaustion, Ding Yue would take the Golden Roc Claw from the Sky Sack and practice the Rolling Dragon Claw technique before finally climbing into bed to sleep.

A single leaf falls, heralding the arrival of autumn.

By late autumn, Ding Yue had committed to memory thousands of medicinal herbs and their properties, mastered nearly a hundred pill formulas, and could hold his own in battle against three wooden dummies. His slowest progress was with the flying needle technique. However, Ding Yue could now dive to the bottom of the pond and swim freely for hours, occasionally spearing a few plump fish to enjoy as a savory midnight snack.

One day, Liu Wuya and Old Ghost departed from Fragrant Medicine Valley.

Meanwhile, Ding Yue was granted seven days of rest, striking a beneficial balance between exertion and relaxation for his training.

During those seven days, Ding Yue spent his time reading. Guided by the monkey, he explored the entirety of Fragrant Medicine Valley, picking wild fruits, drinking dew, and even gathering wild vegetables to steam buns and ferment fruit wine, which he then buried underground.

Climbing up the Hundred-Foot Cliff, Ding Yue followed the monkey's lead, the wind growing fiercer with altitude. The steeper the incline, the more his sweat-soaked clothes clung to his skin, chilling him in the mountain breeze.

It was his first time scaling such a height, and he couldn't help feeling tense.

Looking down, the clouds obscured his view, while looking up, he saw he was about thirty feet from the cliff's summit. Ding Yue moved with painstaking effort, biting back any carelessness, knowing a fall would reduce him to nothing but a heap of flesh.

The monkey had already reached the summit, gesturing urgently at Ding Yue with its paws and chattering anxiously.

Sharp rocks on the cliff face lacerated his palms, drawing fresh blood, while his elbows and the insides of his knees were bruised purple from jutting stones.

Enduring the pain, Ding Yue felt beads of sweat form only to be whisked away by the biting mountain wind. He ascended with great difficulty: ten meters, five meters, two meters. At last, his hand grasped the cliff's edge.

With a powerful heave, he propelled his body upward, leveraging his waist and planting one leg on the cliffside. Pushing off the rock face with his other foot, he rolled onto the summit, tumbling once more to distance himself from the precipice.

Exhausted, Ding Yue lay in the grass, his muscles quivering and numb, his body spent.

After a considerable time, he rose to his feet and surveyed the surroundings—lush and verdant.

It struck him as odd that in this late autumn season, even with the protective formations of the Fragrant Medicine Valley, ordinary vegetation had turned yellow. Yet here, at the valley's edge, beyond the reach of the formations, the cliff top flourished.

He examined the plants more closely: simple wild grass and some unrecognizable yellow flowers, devoid of any other colors, all reaching knee height.

Ding Yue strode forward, reaching the opposite edge of the cliff. He estimated its diameter at no more than two hundred meters.

The mountain was a sheer drop on three sides, its shape reminiscent of an upright cone.

Returning to the center of the cliff, Ding Yue's gaze landed on a solitary boulder, roughly ten feet tall, standing at the mountain's peak.

Monkey Little Mountain had already clambered atop it, removing the weeds and even dislodging the thick soil beneath.

Dust billowed into the air for a moment.

Ding Yue approached, intending to climb the boulder.

Suddenly, he paused, noting inwardly, "The wind here at the summit is much milder than it was on the ascent. It's quite gentle."

Noticing Ding Yue's perplexed look, Monkey Little Mountain chattered loudly from atop the rock, clutching a bunch of grass stems in its paws and gesturing emphatically.

Confused, Ding Yue didn't understand why Monkey Little Mountain was clearing away the dirt and grass. But seeing its urgent demeanor, he leapt up to join in the task of pulling weeds and clearing dust.

Not far from the hundred-meter cliff, on a low peak, Liu Wuya stood with a vine hanging in the air. As Ding Yue reached the cliff top, Liu Wuya's tightly clenched hand slowly relaxed, his eyes, tinged with a hint of green, showed a touch of admiration, and a slight smile graced his lips.

The sound of the wind breaking behind him was a clear sign. Sensing the presence, Mu Teng immediately recognized it as Liu Wuya and the old ghost approaching.

Liu Wuya's Divine Sense projected outward as he furrowed his brow, "There's a natural gale sweeping across the area about a dozen meters from the cliff top. It's perilous even for someone in the Transcending phase with Yuan Qi for protection. You're responsible for the wooden vine setup, aren't you?" His tone carried a mix of reproach and concern.

With a hint of resignation, Mu Teng replied, "Rest assured, I'm keeping a constant eye on the young master! It was the monkey who took him up to the hundred-zhang cliff."

The old ghost, puzzled, inquired, "What's the reasoning behind the monkey and the young master pulling up grass?"

Mu Teng shrugged, "It's beyond me. We'll just have to wait and see."

After a moment of silence, Liu Wuya spoke as if to himself, "There's something peculiar about that cliff." Noticing their attention on him, he continued, "When we first established the valley, my unique Soulsight as an alchemist revealed some oddities about the cliff. Despite several investigations, all I could ascertain was that the Heaven Earth Yuan Qi was denser there within a thousand-mile radius. Beyond that—nothing."

Liu Wuya shook his head, and the old ghost, stroking his chin, pondered before confidently stating, "The monkey has exceptional gifts. He wouldn't endanger the young master."

Exhaling deeply, Mu Teng added, "With the three of us here, we can ensure the young master's safety, no matter the risk."

The trio lapsed into silence, patiently awaiting the outcome.