A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1-Chapter 200)

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.