C1 Ding Lai!

At the summit of Crest Mountain, a young man scrambled up the rocky face, gripping protruding stones with his bare hands. Once at the top, he unslung his backpack, yanked out a rope, and fastened it to a gnarly tree root. He then tossed the other end of the rope down the cliff. One by one, the rest of the group scaled the cliff. When all was said and done, five guys and a girl stood atop the mountain.

Catching their breath, one guy piped up, "Hey, Brother Xiao Yong, how about we head over to Ghost Cliff Stream? I bet the view is spectacular up there."

"Sounds good," Xiao Yong nodded, "but let's be quick. We've got to hustle on gathering herbs. The Alchemy Competition is just around the corner, and let's not forget, we are asked to collect the herbs by ourselves."

Xiao Yong hopped to his feet and led the squad toward Ghost Cliff Stream, seven miles away. They weaved through thickets of thorny shrubs as they trekked.

Despite their earlier climb and a mission still at hand, the crew chatted and cracked jokes, seemingly unfazed by fatigue.

Out of nowhere, Xiao Yong heard a soft rustle from behind. He turned his head around. Seeing what was behind him, he bellowed, "Run!"

The rest of the gang took one look behind them, and their faces went as white as sheets. Fueled by pure adrenaline, they bolted.

'What the heck!' thought Xiao Yong, his mind racing. 'No wild animals are supposed to be here, especially not a tiger. Aren't they all in Tiger Valley, like eighty miles away?'

Risking a glance at the pursuing tiger, Xiao Yong swallowed hard, moistening his dry throat. "Liu Bofan, take Zhao Xinya and Zhao Hanyan and duck into that hollow! Zhang Junfa and Lu Qiumin, sprint to those steps ahead and hunker down!"

Liu Bofan hollered back, "Forget it, Brother Xiao. I can outrun you any day. I'll be the one to lure the tiger away!"

"Listen to me! Hit the ground, now!" Xiao Yong commanded as he bolted ahead, locking eyes with the tiger on his tail.

Taking their cue from Xiao Yong, the other five people ceased arguing. They split into two groups and hid in the spots he'd picked out. Cramped, these hideouts could barely fit five people. They knew someone had to distract the tiger to keep them all hidden.

The tiger was closing in, and Xiao Yong's heart was pounding like a drum. 'Almost there,' he thought as he summoned a burst of speed.

With only a gap of five or six feet between them, the tiger leaped at Xiao Yong.

'This is it,' he thought, hurling himself to the ground. Desperately trying to slow his slide, he stretched his limbs, clawing at the earth beneath him.

Despair washed over Xiao Yong as he was airborne again, thrown forward by the leaping tiger. He saw nothing but an abyss below him. 'Heaven has forsaken me. Ying, I can't look out for you anymore,' he thought, tears chilling his face.

The tiger's roar filled his ears as the wind whooshed past. 'Mom, Dad, if you're out there, please take Ying away. She's all alone,' he silently pleaded.

A thud echoed as the tiger collided with tree branches and plummeted down. Xiao Yong, battered by the branches, tried but failed to grab hold due to his speed.

Suddenly, his plunge slowed dramatically, the rope on his basket choking him. Then he was thrust upward, slamming into something hard. His vision blurred, and he blacked out.

The basket was both his downfall and his saving grace. Carried aloft by the tiger because of it, it was also what caught on the branches, breaking his fall and catapulting him back up before he passed out.

After hearing the tiger's distant roar fade away, the younger disciples nervously climbed the eight-foot-wide cliff. Reaching the narrowest point, they found no sign of Xiao Yong. Looking over the edge, they only saw a nondescript tree swaying below. Their faces turned white as sheets, their eyes filled with tears.

Meanwhile, five miles away, two figures climbed down from trees in a forest. They quickly stowed away a net and vanished deeper into the woods.

Eyes brimming with tears, Zhang Junfa said, "Let's tie the ropes together and go down there to check it out."

Trying to hold back her sobs, Zhao Xinya said, "The Ghost Cliff Stream is insanely deep—like, ten thousand feet or something. Our ropes won't even reach a fraction of that."

With bloodshot eyes, Lu Qiumin said, "Yeah, we can only see about twenty-five feet down. That tree down there is way farther than that—probably sixty feet. We should return and let our master decide what to do next."

Six hours later, a middle-aged man stood at the cliff's edge, scanning the area. Finding nothing, he sighed deeply and turned back, his frame diminishing as he walked back into the forest.

As he passed a bush, he circled it twice, brow furrowed. "Gooseberry? A herb used to mimic a tigress's scent and attract male tigers? Was this whole thing set up?" His face darkened as he continued his walk.

In the dim light, Xiao Yong woke up. He was lying on the ground, his basket still on his back.

Confused, he stood up and looked around. "Where the heck am I?"

Dummy, you're in a cave, obviously," came a deep, disdainful voice.

"A cave?" Xiao Yong blurted out. "Who's that? Who's talking?"

"Who do you think it is? It's me, the almighty Suppression Cauldron!" said the voice.

"Where are you?" Xiao Yong scanned the bare stone chamber. It was about ten feet on each side and just as empty up to its towering ceiling. He was both startled and scared.

"I'm in your head," the voice explained. "Somehow, I've ended up in a host who hasn't even unlocked his meridians. Meeting me is your lucky day. I'll give you a set of techniques to cultivate. Get to the Martial Master Stage in three years, and maybe I can make my big comeback."

When the voice stopped, a small, yellow booklet popped into existence. He snatched it and pocketed it without a second glance. "Why should I? The top tier here is Martial Master. I couldn't care less about cultivation; I want to be an ace alchemist." Any fear he'd felt was gone; whatever was in his head was there to stay.

"What's the point of being an alchemist if you still need cultivators to have your back? If you were a Martial Warrior, do you think a little tiger would've had you running for your life?" the voice shot back.

Caught off guard, Xiao Yong changed the subject. "How long have I been out?"

"A week, kid. Are you planning on checking out those techniques, or what? Get on it!"

Xiao Yong was stunned. "A week?! What about Ying? I've got to get home now!" He sprinted for the cave entrance without another thought.

"Hey, focus and start cultivating!" The voice thundered in Xiao Yong's head, leaving it buzzing.

"I want to go back to my sister. Cultivation can wait; I've got all the time in the world," said Xiao Yong.

The cauldron spirit sighed, "Man, I didn't think I'd get stuck with someone clueless about cultivation. And you're all hung up on family? Let me tell you, cultivators live forever. The family you're worried about now will be a blip in the grand scheme of things."

At the cave entrance, Xiao Yong looked around and said, "That's a load of crap. I want to be there for my sister now and in the future. What's the point of the future if I mess up the present? Are you saying I should ditch my family to cultivate? Forget that. I want to be an alchemist."

"Alright. Will you at least look over the cultivation methods I gave you when you have time?" The cauldron spirit was running out of options and patience. 'I've been alone for millions of years. If I don't find another host soon, I'm toast.'

"Hold on, are those fruits?" Xiao Yong noticed two small fruits hanging from a random tree: golden-yellow, and red.

He put down his basket, pulled a rope, and tied it securely to the cave entrance. Years of foraging on dangerous cliffs taught him never to skimp on safety.

Suddenly feeling hungry, Xiao Yong grabbed his basket and rummaged through it. "Phew, at least I've still got my supplies. Would've starved otherwise."

"You're a piece of work, you know that? You don't even have a Storage Ring; you're lugging your stuff around in a basket," the cauldron spirit snarled.

"A Storage Ring? What's that? My master's got a Storage Bag, and only three of those in the whole sect," Xiao Yong said, a blend of pride and surprise coloring his voice. He then shoved a dry cake into his mouth.

"A Storage Bag? That's kiddie stuff. Unreliable and barely holds anything. Get serious about those cultivation methods, and maybe, just maybe, you'll get yourself a Storage Ring," the cauldron spirit dangled the carrot.

"Then bring it over now. I'll pop those two fruits in later," Xiao Yong mumbled.

"Time for a blood oath!"

Staring in awe at the floating ring before him, Xiao Yong quickly forgot about the dry biscuit he was munching on. He slipped the ring onto his right ring finger and made a quick cut on a vine of his basket with his left index finger. As he smeared the ring with the freshly drawn blood, he felt something new click into his consciousness.

"Oh wait! I forgot something. You see, you lack mental focus, so even if you have a Storage Ring, you can't store anything in it just yet."

After gulping down his biscuit, Xiao Yong asked, "So how do I get stuff in and out of it?"

"Focus on what you want to store or retrieve; it's that simple," the voice advised.

Xiao Yong closed his eyes and concentrated. Poof! The dry biscuit in his hand vanished and reappeared a moment later. "Haha, so it's all about focus, huh?" he exclaimed, grabbing the small booklet and successfully storing it in the ring.

The Suppression Cauldron was equally surprised. It couldn't pinpoint what was special about Xiao Yong, yet here he was, able to use the Storage Ring. Generally, you'd expect only seasoned cultivators or Martial Warriors to pull off something like this.

After wolfing down the last bit of his biscuit, Xiao Yong climbed down to the tree roots and then back up again. "Weird, these two fruits look different. One's got a snake-like imprint, and the other looks like a bird. Never seen these before." Based on his knowledge of herbs, he knew the fruits were safe and full of spiritual energy.

Scratching his head and staring at the fruits, he finally tried focusing his will on the golden one, sending it into the Storage Ring. Once the fruit disappeared and he was sure it was safely stored, a wave of dizziness suddenly hit him.

"Why aren't you picking the other one quickly?"

"Using my will to pick the fruit has left me feeling dizzy. I need to take a break," Xiao Yong replied.

"So you get a Storage Ring, and suddenly you're a show-off? Why make life complicated by using your will instead of just picking them by hand?" the voice retorted.

"You don't get it. Many medicinal herbs can't be touched by hand. Some shouldn't even hit the ground. Without proper tools, willpower is the safest method," explained Xiao Yong.

After a two-hour rest, Xiao Yong put the bird-like fruit into his Storage Ring and climbed down the tree to head back to his cave dwelling.

"Kid, you've struck gold! Eat that fruit, and be quick about it!" the voice urged.

"What kind of fruit is this?" Xiao Yong asked.

"I'm not sure; I never specialized in medicinal herbs or pills. But this fruit is no ordinary find," the voice admitted.

"Tell me about it! I've made plenty of pills, and I've never seen fruits like these. I'll eat one and save the other for my sister. The snake-like one looks a bit creepy, so that's for me. The bird-like one will be for my sister; she has an eye for beautiful things," decided Xiao Yong.

The Suppression Cauldron sneered inwardly. The fruits were shaped like a dragon and a phoenix, not a snake and a bird. They had the power to improve a cultivator's abilities dramatically. 'Ignorance is a scary thing,' the Cauldron thought, relishing this petty revenge for Xiao Yong's earlier dismissal of its knowledge of medicinal herbs.