Han Li recalled all this, a faint knowing smile appearing on his face.
Over the past half year or so, he and Zhang Tie had become close friends who shared everything with each other—their similar temperaments and backgrounds making the bond come naturally.
Han Li slowly uncrossed his legs and massaged his calves with his hands. The long period of sitting cross-legged in meditation had left his legs somewhat numb, and his blood circulation was less than ideal.
After a few more rubs, once he felt full sensation had returned to his legs, Han Li finally stood up from the cushion. He habitually brushed the dust off his clothes, then pushed open the stone chamber door and walked out.
Looking back at the stone room where he practiced, Han Li gave himself a slight, self-deprecating laugh.
The room had been carved entirely out of solid granite mountain walls, and its door was hewn from a single massive block of blue stone. An ordinary person trying to break in from outside would need to hack away with giant quarrying axes for hours on end before they could even hope to accomplish anything.
Such a quiet cultivation chamber was not something one could easily obtain. Within the Seven Mysteries Sect, only those of significant status—the Sect Master, Elders, and Hall Masters—could claim one. Even the Core Disciples of Seven Absolutes Hall didn't have the privilege of casually owning one. These stone rooms were built specifically for those practicing advanced internal arts, to prevent external disturbances during cultivation and avoid qi deviation. No one knew what method Doctor Mo had used to convince several Elders to allow the construction of such a chamber—one that ordinary disciples could never enjoy—carved into the mountain walls of Divine Hand Valley.
Once the stone room was completed, Doctor Mo designated it for Han Li's exclusive use. This decision left Han Li feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the unexpected favor.
Doctor Mo was being far too generous with his disciple. From the very day Han Li had officially become his student, Doctor Mo had him take several different medicines every single day, and would brew various unidentified herbs into medicinal soaks for his body. Though Han Li didn't recognize the names or purposes of these medicines, every time Doctor Mo used them, the doctor's normally expressionless face would betray a look of pained reluctance to part—enough for Han Li to grasp how precious these medicines truly were.
Clearly, these external aids had been quite effective. Han Li's cultivation speed had improved significantly, and not long ago he had finally succeeded in breaking through to the first layer of the Nameless Secret Formula.
However, during the breakthrough, several of his meridians had nearly ruptured, leaving him with a moderate internal injury. Thanks to Doctor Mo's excellent medical skills, the fact that the damaged meridians weren't too severely injured, and the doctor's willingness to use quality medicine, he hadn't suffered any lasting aftereffects.
After Han Li was injured, Doctor Mo had been even more anxious than Han Li himself, unable to sit still throughout the entire treatment. Only after seeing that the injury had finally begun to improve did the doctor let out a great sigh of relief.
This behavior far exceeded what one would expect between an ordinary master and disciple, leaving Han Li with an inexplicable sense of unease. If not for the fact that no one from the Han family besides Third Uncle had ever left their poor mountain village, Han Li might have wondered if Doctor Mo was some distant relative he'd never heard of.
After leaving the stone chamber, Han Li stretched lazily before slowly making his way back to his quarters. Since becoming official disciples, both he and Zhang Tie had moved out of their old quarters, each now having their own private cottage.
As he passed Zhang Tie's cottage, Han Li cast a casual glance toward it.
Sure enough, Zhang Tie wasn't inside. He had probably gone to practice beneath the waterfall at the base of Red Water Peak again.
After Han Li became Doctor Mo's official disciple, the doctor still had him practice only the Nameless Secret Formula, with no intention whatsoever of teaching him any other techniques. Perhaps to make up for it, Doctor Mo was completely forthcoming when it came to medical knowledge, teaching him hand by hand. Whenever Han Li had questions about medicine, Doctor Mo would answer every one without fail, ensuring his satisfaction, and even allowed him to freely browse any medical texts in his quarters.
As for Zhang Tie, true to his earlier word, Doctor Mo taught him a different set of highly practical techniques.
The techniques Zhang Tie was practicing were quite unusual. According to Doctor Mo, they belonged to a rare martial art known as the Elephant Armor Technique. Very few people in the martial world had ever encountered it—many hadn't even heard of it, let alone practiced it.
Unlike the common martial arts circulating in the world today, where cultivation progressed from easy to difficult—with each higher level harder to achieve and effort doubling at every stage—the Elephant Armor Technique was divided into nine layers. The first three were easy to practice, no different in difficulty from ordinary martial arts. But starting from the fourth layer, things suddenly became far more grueling, requiring one to endure unimaginable pain and suffering. Many who practiced this technique couldn't withstand the inhuman torment and stopped there, their progress halted indefinitely. And that was to say nothing of the fifth and sixth layers, where the pain multiplied several times over.
However, once one broke through the sixth layer to reach the seventh, the path ahead became smooth and unobstructed—though for a few days each month, one still had to endure that agonizing, dying-and-living pain on schedule.
All of this deterred most who might have wanted to practice the technique, and was the primary reason this martial art had nearly been lost to the ages.
Yet for all its peculiarity, the technique was truly formidable at higher levels. It was said that one who reached the ninth layer would be like wearing an impenetrable treasure armor—impervious to blades and spears, immune to fire and water. Not to mention palm strikes or fist force—even legendary swords and blades would struggle to seriously wound such a person.
What made it even more coveted was that practitioners would gradually develop the strength of a giant elephant. At higher levels, their power became practically limitless—they could capture wild wolves alive and tear tigers and leopards apart with their bare hands, truly terrifying in their might.
This technique inspired equal parts fear and admiration in all who knew of it. Aside from the master who had created it, no one else had ever managed to cultivate it to the ninth layer. Legend had it that this master had been born without the ability to feel pain, which was how he could have devised such a monstrous martial art and pushed it to its absolute limit.
Though Doctor Mo had explained both the benefits and dangers of the technique to Zhang Tie in full, Zhang Tie had no firsthand experience of its downsides and didn't take them seriously. He was simply enamored with the Elephant Armor Technique's power and agreed to practice it without a moment's hesitation. The technique seemed to suit him remarkably well—in just two short months, Zhang Tie had already reached the peak of the first layer.
Recently, in order to break through to the second layer of the Elephant Armor Technique, Zhang Tie had been following Doctor Mo's advice: every afternoon, he would practice beneath a waterfall dozens of meters high on Red Water Peak, enduring the tremendous force of the water crashing down from above.
According to Zhang Tie himself, this method had proven remarkably effective. He was only separated from the second layer by a thin sheet of paper—one more push and he would break through the bottleneck.
(End of Chapter)