After he strolled back to the valley in a relaxed manner, Han Li began preparations to concoct the pain-relieving medicine for Senior Disciple Li. It was relatively simple for Han Li to concoct this medicine, as he could find all the ingredients he needed in the nearby medicinal herb garden. The only thing that was slightly complex was the concocting process. One must give it their full attention; if not, the chance of failure would be high.
After a busy afternoon, Han Li concocted a year’s supply of the pain-relieving medicine Senior Disciple Li needed. He did not produce more intentionally as he wanted Senior Disciple Li to seek him out after all of the medicine was consumed so that he could increase his importance in Senior Disciple Li’s eyes. This way, Senior Disciple Li wouldn't be able to easily forget his favor.
Later at night, Han Li was suddenly struck by a sense of loneliness as he raised his head to gaze at the stars in the pitch black sky and begin reminiscing.
He was thinking of his family back in his village!
He had left the village 4 years ago, and ever since he arrived at the mountain, he had been assiduously cultivating the nameless oracular formula every day and had no time to visit his family. The only thing he did to lessen his heartache was to send taels of silver back every month, hoping that his family was living a better life. He deeply treasured the letters that his parents wrote, even though there wasn’t much written in the letters other than telling him that everything was good in his family, his Second Brother had married, and things were getting better because of the silver he sent back. Reading these letters made Han Li feel much better. However, over the years, Han Li felt that the tone of the letters was gradually becoming more and more polite as if they were writing to a stranger! Initially, this caused fear to blossom in his heart, as he didn't know what to do in this situation. However, as time passed, this feeling of fear gradually numbed as the image of his family in his mind gradually became blurred.
He reminisced about matters of the past, thinking back to that warm feeling of the time when he was still back in the village, when melancholy suddenly hit him. That warm feeling was very valuable to him as he knew that he would never be able to savor it again.
Han Li placed his hand on his chest, using his fingers to grip the good luck charm that was in the leather pouch hanging around his neck.
Whenever he was frustrated, he would only need to hold the good luck charm to calm himself down… But tonight, after holding it, his heart only got more and more flustered, and he was unable to truly relax.
He was unable to control his emotions because of the depression in his heart, which in turn caused bizarre bodily reactions from Han Li. His blood started to surge as the Qi in his body ran rampant.
“Qigong Deviation!” These two words immediately appeared in his mind. Han Li stood up, and drew in a huge breath, forcibly suppressing his chaotic state as he told himself to calm down. Now that Doctor Mo was away, he could only depend on himself to solve this crisis.
He didn't know why he was suffering from Qigong Deviation so suddenly, and his mind continued to race. Even though now was not the best time to question the reason, he still tried finding the cause to cut the problem at its root as it was the best way to recover from Qigong Deviation.
Han Li turned his head left and right as he surveyed his surroundings, but nothing seemed suspicious.
He touched his chin with his right hand and at the same time, his hand also knocked against something on his chest.
“Leather pouch, Good Luck Charm”, the names of these 2 items appeared in his mind.
“Could it be the good luck charm that caused the reaction?” Han Li was not sure, but he had no time to hesitate now as the condition of his body was getting worse and there were signs that he would soon be unable to control the surging Qi.
Han Li tore the leather pouch off his neck decisively and flung it away from him.
“No, something is wrong, I feel even worse. The surge in my Qi and blood is getting more violent!”
Han Li forcefully suppressed the surging Qi as he stared at the leather pouch with his bloodshot eyes, desperately hoping to find out why he was suffering more after he flung the pouch away.
Chapter 23: Tests
Maybe lady luck was smiling on him, but a sudden thought flashed past his mind.
He quickly rushed towards the leather pouch which he had discarded and with deft movement, took out the good luck charm that was hidden inside neatly and quickly.
The moment his palm brushed against the good luck charm, a refreshing feeling was emitted from it, calming his mind. His previous frustrations and melancholy all disappeared without a trace, and his Qi and blood stopped surging, returning back to their normal state.
Currently, Han Li had no interest in discovering the root of the problem that occurred earlier. Holding the good luck charm in his palm, he brought it and pressed it against his face. Gently caressing it, Han Li focused all of his attention on it.
After a long while, Han Li heaved a sigh of relief, diverting his attention away from the good luck charm.
Han Li didn’t know that the phenomenon that happened to him just now was not because of “Qigong Deviation” but rather because he suffered from an "Inner Demon” that all cultivators would eventually face. Luckily, he discovered it in its early stages and fought it off by focusing on an object that was familiar to him. If he hadn’t, the Inner Demon would have entered his soul and controlled his body from within, causing him to bleed to death from his meridians. Of course, Han Li wouldn’t learn about this until after he truly stepped onto the path of cultivation in the future.
Han Li circulated his Qi throughout his whole body and found there was nothing abnormal about his condition. What made him gasp in astonishment was that instead of suffering injuries, his cultivation level had unknowingly increased by a great extent! He didn't make a breakthrough to the fourth layer yet, but because of his struggle against the Inner Demon, he had reached the peak of the third layer earlier than expected and was only a hair length away from breaking through to the fourth!
Because of this unexpected stroke of luck, Han Li had a smile on his face. However, he forcefully suppressed the excitement in his heart. He was afraid that his unstable emotions would lead to another attack, and he was uncertain whether he would be able to survive if it happened again. With that in mind, he took the leather pouch, preparing to place good luck charm that had saved his life back inside it.
“Yi!” Han Li realized then that there was an object long forgotten by him inside the leather pouch. An object that had been left lying about in there for a few years – the mysterious bottle!
Han Li had completely forgotten about the mysterious bottle. The moment he saw it, he remembered what happened back then.
The current Han Li was an archive of knowledge and wisdom that far surpassed the Han Li from four years ago. In these four years, he had read all the books in Doctor Mo’s residence and gained a great amount of knowledge. He also cultivated the nameless oracular chant, which effectively sharpened his mind. From the phenomena that the bottle had displayed in the past, he could easily deduce that it was an extraordinary item with incredible abilities.
What Han Li needed to do now was to delve into and unravel the bottle's secrets, and see if it could be of use to him. There was no way he would continue to just leave it lying around in the leather pouch and waste such a mysterious object.
Han Li took out the bottle and inspected its entire surface as if he were trying to look for something that he had missed out on during his inspection four years ago.
But no matter how much he inspected it, there were no new discoveries.
Han Li stopped wasting time and opened the cap of the bottle. Floating inside of the mysterious bottle was the jade green droplet of liquid that had manifested four years ago, appearing no different than from when it first appeared.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1-Chapter 200)
Wang Yu's books
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 201-Chapter 400)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 401-Chapter 600)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 601-Chapter 800)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 801-Chapter 1000)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1001-Chapter 1200)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1201-Chapter 1400)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1401-Chapter 1600)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1601-Chapter 1800)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1801-Chapter 2000)
- A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 2001-Chapter 2248)