Chapter Ten: The Mysterious Bottle

  Han Li slowly walked out of the Divine Hand Valley, along the mountain path, habitually, towards the vaguely visible Red Water Peak.

  He doesn't have anything important to do these days, so he goes to Zhang Tie's place every day on time just to see the weird look on his face when he practices under the waterfall.

  "This 'Elephant Armor Technique' is not something that ordinary people can endure. Just the first layer alone requires such great suffering, let alone the later layers which will at least strip off several layers of skin."

  "I'm guessing Zhang Tie is probably regretting it now? The overbearing nature of 'Xiang Jia Gong' far exceeds the imagination of these little brats." Han Li walked along, lost in thought, and carelessly kicked at the fallen leaves and branches on the ground.

  "After a few more days, the two of them will go together to beg Master Mo to persuade Zhang Tie to practice another skill, so as to avoid suffering this living death." Han Li thought to himself, and he felt somewhat exhilarated that he could find an escape route for his friend from their current hardships.

  Han Li raised his head and looked at the trees on both sides of the road. At this time, it was already late autumn, and all the branches of the trees were bare. The small road was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves and withered twigs, which felt soft and uncomfortable to walk on.

  At this time, from a mountain peak not far away, the sound of several collisions of weapons came faintly, and occasionally mixed with several loud cheers.

  Hearing these voices, Han Li looked at the mountain peak again, and his slightly improved mood turned bad again.

  This is the teaching assistant of Bai Duan Tang, who is training new apprentices in armed combat.

  Every time Han Li saw his fellow disciples gathering together to engage in real-life combat training, he felt a pang of discontent in his heart. He too yearned to pick up a real sword and gun to practice intensely. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, after formally becoming Mo Da's disciple, Mo Da strictly forbade him from coming into contact with these things and did not allow him to go learn other martial arts from other teachers, saying it would hinder his progress in cultivating the incantation.

  So Han Li could only dry his eyes, occasionally privately, he could borrow a few pieces of martial arts equipment from a few good fellow disciples, dance a few rounds, and satisfy his craving.

  What's the use of this oral formula I've been practicing? Until now, I still can't see what's good about it. The other fellow apprentices who started at the same time as me are getting more and more skilled by the day, their martial arts advancing by leaps and bounds, while I'm stuck in place, unable to see any changes at all.

  Even Zhang Tie, who had only practiced "Xiang Jia Gong" for two months, became thicker-skinned and more resistant to beatings, and his strength increased greatly compared to before.

  But if I hadn't been taken in by Mo Daifu, I might not have even passed the named disciple test two months ago, let alone stayed on the mountain and sent so much money back home.

  If you can't learn anything else, then don't learn at all!

  Han Li was complaining in his stomach while comforting himself.

  Han Li withdrew his gaze from afar, and though he was still muttering to himself in his heart, his spirit became even more scattered. His lifeless eyes stared blankly at the two sides of the small road, without him even knowing what he was looking at.

  Suddenly, Han Li sucked in a breath of cold air, his expression becoming strange, and then almost bit his lip to the back of his ear. He reflexively squatted down, using both hands to press down on his right thumb, and then lay down in agony in the grass, this sudden severe pain knocking Han Li to the ground, his face pale, a piercing pain coming from his thumb at regular intervals.

  It seems that I have kicked a very hard stone in the pile of leaves by accident.

  Han Li stood up, using both hands to hold his ankle, and subconsciously, through the cloth shoes on his feet, he blew air into his injured toe with his mouth; at the same time, he secretly worried in his heart whether he would be seriously injured, whether his big toe would swell up with blood, and thus affect his daily walking.

  It took Han Li a long time to recover from the pain. He lifted his neck and looked around at the pile of leaves near his feet, trying to find out who was responsible for his suffering.

  The leaves scattered all over the ground were all in a monotonous color - withered yellow, and I couldn't find what I was looking for from those messy piles of leaves.

  Han Li furrowed his brow, randomly scratched the ground with his hand a few times, picked up a relatively thick and long branch, propped himself up, tiptoed on his heels, and carefully stood up.

  Then, with a reluctant look, he used the branch in his hand to make several vigorous scratches on the thick pile of leaves around him.

  A fist-sized thing was picked out by a branch.

  Han Li carefully examined the object that had caused his glorious injury, a cylindrical object with a long neck, its surface covered in mud and completely turned into an earthy gray color, unable to see any of its original colors.

  Han Li originally thought it was a small porcelain bottle, but when he picked it up, he found that the weight was not right, and it was very heavy.

  Is it made of metal? No wonder this thing is not big, but its own feet are so painful, and the metal bottle is rarely seen.

  Han Li is now interested in this small bottle and temporarily forgot the pain on his foot.

  After rubbing the muddy part of the bottle neck, the original color of the bottle was revealed, which was very beautiful with a green luster. There were also some exquisite, dark green leaf-shaped patterns on the surface of the bottle, and a small lid tightly sealed the mouth of the bottle.

  I won't put anything inside, I'll just hold the bottle to my ear and gently shake it, but I don't feel like there's anything moving around inside.

  Put your hand on the bottle cap and twisted it hard, but couldn't twist it off.

  Han Li's curiosity grew even greater, and he was just about to take his next move when suddenly, a severe pain shot up from his feet.

  Oh no! How could I have forgotten? My feet still bear the unpleasant consequences of intimate contact with this thing.

  I've suffered an injury myself, it seems I won't be able to go to Zhang Tie's place. I'd better head back to my lodgings first, apply some medicine to my wound, and then carefully consider this small bottle that has unexpectedly come into my possession.

  Thinking of this, Han Li put the bottle into his bosom to prevent others from seeing it, and didn't think it was too dirty. He turned around and limped back and forth.