Chapter 23 - Tests

A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

First, I want to thank everyone for their opinions and thoughts on how we should overhaul completed novels. We've reviewed nearly 2000 comments across multiple platforms and forum, and while we haven't responded to everything I can promise I HAVE read it all. First, I'm going to briefly go into some of the things which were discussed which may or may not work, because I don't want people to think I ignored anything. I'm putting those in 'spoiler' tags so people who don't care can skip it. Then, we'll talk...

Chapter 23: Tests

Maybe lady luck was smiling on him. Abruptly, a sudden thought flashed past his mind.

He quickly rushed towards the leather pouch which he had discarded and with a 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 the bottle and eventually calmed his heart. His previous frustrations and melancholy all disappeared without a trace, and his Qi and blood stopped surging, returning back to his 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 forward in front of his eyelids, pressing it against his face. Gently caressing it, Han Li focused all of his attention on the bottle.

After half a day, 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 earlier was not because of “Qigong Deviation” but rather because he suffered from a “Heart 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 Heart 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 on to the path of cultivation in the future.

Han Li circulated his Qi around his whole body and realized there was nothing abnormal. What made him gasp in astonishment was that instead of suffering injuries, his cultivation level had unknowingly increased by a great extent! Although he did not make a breakthrough from the third layer to the fourth, but because of his struggle against the Heart 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 4th!

Because of this unexpected stroke of luck, Han Li had a smile on his face. However, he had to forcefully suppress the agitation in his heart. He was afraid that his unstable emotions would lead to another attack by the Heart Demon. Han Li was uncertain whether he could survive it intact if another attack took place. He took the good luck charm that had saved his life and replaced it inside the leather pouch before hanging it on his neck.

“Yi!” Han Li realized 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 the past events.

The current Han Li was an archive of knowledge and wisdom that far surpassed the Han Li from four years ago. In these 4 years, he had read all the books in Doctor Mo’s residence and gained much knowledge. He also cultivated the nameless oracular chant, which effectively strengthened his mind. Looking back at the disturbance to his Qi, he could effectively deduce that this mysterious bottle was a treasured item with effects that were far from ordinary

What Han Li needed to do now was to delve into and unravel the secrets of the bottle and to see if it could be used to benefit himself. There was no way he would 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 4 years ago.

But no matter how much he inspected, there were no new discoveries.

Han Li wasted no time and opened the cap of the bottle. Floating inside of the mysterious bottle was the jade green droplet of liquid that had manifested 4 years ago! It was no different than from when it first appeared in the bottle.

However, Han Li was positive that the secret of the bottle lay in the jade green droplet of liquid. To test his theories, he would need to find some small animals to perform a few cruel, live experiments.

It was midnight, the sky pitch black outside. The darkness made it simply impractical for him to hunt for live animals. And after experiencing the attack of the heart demon earlier, Han Li was already somewhat exhausted. Even if he could catch a live animal, how would he be able to see if there were any changes to the test subject if it was pitch dark? Any actions Han Li could make would be a waste of effort.

After contemplating, Han Li decided to rest and recover his energy before experimenting the next day. He told himself that there would be a big surprise waiting for him tomorrow, and with that thought, he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, after washing himself, Han Li went to eat a hearty breakfast. After that, he immediately went to speak to the head of the kitchen of the Seven Mysteries Sect, procuring two lively gray hares for a few tales of silver before returning back to the valley.

After he returned to the valley, Han Li chose a more spacious location inside the herb garden and tied the rabbits to a stake, letting them stay outside in the blazing sun for quite a period of time.

After the rabbits were dizzy from the heat and were almost dying of thirst, Han Li took out the mysterious bottle and poured the mysterious jade green droplet of liquid into a bowl before diluting it with water.

The mysterious droplet of liquid was about the size of a bean and easily dissolved in the water, causing the whole bowl of water to turn into a jade green color.

Han Li placed the bowl near the rabbits and waited for them to drink the water. Being out in the blazing sun for such a long period of time, the rabbits scampered up and drank the water in the bowl in big gulps. Han Li was unwilling to allow the rabbits to drink the entire bowl of diluted water, and after half of the water was gone, he removed the bowl from the rabbits’ reach.

After that, he stood to the side and observed, patiently waiting for any reactions from the rabbits.

After a short moment passed, about the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, the rabbits started to frantically jump about, their actions becoming more and more agitated and ferocious. Their bodies began to undergo an astounding mutation. Their fur and skin started to protrude lumps the size of a chicken egg. The lumps multiplied until they covered the rabbits’ bodies. From afar, Han Li felt that the rabbit looked quite comical. The lumps had caused the rabbits to grow bigger by a single size, swelling up until both of the rabbits grew to the size of watermelons.

Looking at the mutation of the rabbits, along with their tortured shrieks, Han Li felt a bit of fear in his heart.

What just happened before his eyes was completely outside of his expectations. If the mysterious liquid was a potent poison or a miraculous medicine to increase cultivation, he would still not be so shocked. He did not expect that the rabbits would actually grow lumps all over their bodies and expand to such a size, becoming grotesque beyond belief.

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