The Hardest Hardships

"Gao Jing, get up!"

The sudden voice jolted Gao Jing awake from his sleep.

He instinctively reached out for his phone.

His hand grasped empty air.

That wasn't right!

Gao Jing was a little dazed—he had clearly paid this month's rent already!

The next moment, the earth shook and the mountains swayed. "Get up, now!"

Aaaah!

This time, Gao Jing was thoroughly awake.

It wasn't his landlord demanding rent, but Shan Guo'er calling him out of bed.

Ever since he received his first business commission after starting work, Gao Jing had never once delayed paying his rent.

Yet the landlady's roar still often appeared in his dreams.

Just like a poor student who had graduated years ago dreaming of taking exams.

It truly was a Dream Wraith that could not be shaken off.

Gao Jing let out a long breath and hurriedly got up, crawling out of the bird's nest.

He smiled in greeting. "Morning, Shan Guo'er."

"It's not morning anymore!"

The little girl was leaning over the wooden table, her two round black eyes glaring at him. "My grandpa told me that starting today, I'm supposed to supervise your practice of the Great Wilderness Battle Record, so you're not allowed to slack off!"

Gao Jing broke out in a sweat.

The little girl before him felt like some tiny imperial inspector who had just received the emperor's sword of authority.

Dare to slack off? Execution without mercy!

"I'll brush my teeth first."

Gao Jing quickly said, "Give me one ke."

"Ke" was a unit of time in the Great World.

Wizards had established it according to the sunlight's shadow cast upon the Totem Sundial.

One ke was equivalent to ten minutes.

Besides "ke," there was also "xi." One xi was one second.

Gao Jing had measured it with his hiking watch. There was a tiny margin of error, but it was basically accurate.

One ke later.

Sitting in the basket on her back and watching the little girl run deeper into the valley, he asked in puzzlement, "Where are we going?"

The large square inside the stronghold walls was usually also the training ground for the tribe's warriors.

Gao Jing had thought they would practice there.

Yet Shan Guo'er was heading in the opposite direction.

The little girl answered, "You'll find out soon enough!"

She had learned how to keep him in suspense now!

Gao Jing did not pay it much mind. Shan Guo'er certainly would not take him somewhere to sell him off.

He watched the little girl spread her legs and swiftly race over the path paved with large bluestones.

She ran into the woods ahead.

This patch of forest was not large, and it marked the end of the stronghold's mountain path.

Shan Guo'er moved through the trees with practiced ease, passing through the forest in only a few minutes.

The scene ahead suddenly opened up!

"Wow!"

Gao Jing's eyes lit up.

There was a hidden world deep within the valley.

Three towering mountain peaks that pierced the clouds enclosed a little world like an earthly paradise. Brilliant sunlight shone over vast stretches of emerald grass, where wildflowers in every shade of purple and red grew freely.

Under the sunlight, dragonflies and butterflies danced through the air. The beautiful sight seemed scarcely of this world.

A gigantic waterfall descended between two peaks, with a drop of at least two or three thousand meters. It was like a white dragon clinging to the dark green mountainside.

With every breath, it poured tens of thousands of tons of water into the deep pool below!

The torrent struck the mountain rocks, producing a thunderous rumble.

When Gao Jing had first arrived at Mountain Stronghold, he had seen this waterfall from afar.

But viewing it from a distance and seeing it up close were completely different experiences.

Its flying waters plunged three thousand feet; one might think the Milky Way had fallen from the ninth heaven!

Only now did he truly understand the magnificent grandeur Li Bai had described in those two famous lines.

He felt extraordinarily small.

"This is the place."

Shan Guo'er skipped about, then leaped onto a massive boulder in the blink of an eye.

The enormous rock lay crouched beside a stream flowing from the deep pool, with babbling water passing by its side.

Its lower half was covered in moss.

The top of the boulder stood roughly fourteen or fifteen meters above the ground. The little girl had used the surrounding rocks to jump up.

Its upper surface was remarkably flat, as though it had been carved smooth with tools.

Gao Jing made a rough estimate. The area here was at least two thousand square meters!

Terrifying.

Shan Guo'er set down the basket.

She reached in and picked up the little yellow dog.

"Ah Huang."

She rubbed the puppy's head and said, "Be good and stay here. Don't run around, understand?"

Woof!

The little yellow dog licked the little girl's hand, wagged its tail, and lay down.

It opened its mouth and lazily yawned.

Basking in the sun, it wanted to sleep.

"Such a good boy."

Shan Guo'er giggled, then said to Gao Jing, who had just jumped down from the basket, "Let's begin!"

Though the little girl was very young and would still be in the middle class of kindergarten in the Main World.

When she taught Gao Jing the Great Wilderness Battle Record, she was meticulous and extremely serious.

She looked every bit the qualified little teacher.

Because they constantly faced the enormous threat of Demon Beasts, the Great Wilderness Humans had been a people under arms for ten thousand years.

Whether men or women, nobles or commoners, everyone began practicing martial arts to strengthen their bodies from childhood.

The Great Wilderness Battle Record that the old Wizard had given Gao Jing was equivalent to a basic textbook for Giant warriors.

Anyone could practice it!

Although it was the most elementary method, this set of battle techniques had been practiced and comprehended by countless Great Wilderness Human powerhouses. It had been continuously refined, discarding dross and preserving essence, until it had long reached a state of perfection.

It had become the cornerstone of Great Wilderness Human combat strength!

The complete Great Wilderness Battle Record contained two major sections: body strengthening and breath cultivation.

The first twelve and the latter twenty-four made thirty-six battle forms in total!

All the battle forms imitated Wild Beasts: Tiger Pounce, Elephant Stomp, Wolf Run, Leopard Burst, Snake Coil...

They progressed from easy to difficult, divided into the three levels of Body Tempering, Bone Tempering, and Blood Ignition.

Only after undergoing the cultivation process of tempering skin and flesh, forging sinews and bones, and igniting one's bloodline could a Great Wilderness Giant qualify to awaken Totem Power and become a powerful Totem Warrior!

Under normal circumstances, this process required ten years.

Geniuses excluded.

The old Wizard had told Gao Jing that Shan Guo'er had already practiced the Great Wilderness Battle Record for two years.

She was currently at the Bone Tempering level.

If nothing unexpected happened, Shan Guo'er would complete Bone Tempering in another three years and attempt Bloodline Ignition.

At ten years old, she would have a chance to receive the Battle Totem's blessing!

Even this was the result of deliberately holding her back to accommodate her physical development, since she was still so young.

Her talent was unmatched in the Mountain Tribe. Even Shan Tai had to willingly concede defeat before her!

She was more than qualified to teach a complete beginner like Gao Jing.

From this, Gao Jing also learned the fundamental reason Shan Guo'er could act like a little tyrant in the stronghold.

And why she could carry a vine basket weighing nearly a hundred tons and stride along mountain paths as though flying!

This also filled Gao Jing with anticipation for learning the Great Wilderness Battle Record.

He yearned to become stronger!

For the entire morning, Gao Jing diligently practiced the first battle form of the Great Wilderness Battle Record.

Eagle Spread.

This battle form looked simple, but meeting its standards was actually extremely difficult.

Several of its movements were incredibly demanding. Even merely spraining a muscle during practice would count as getting off lightly.

It made him suffer quite a bit.

Moreover, the little girl responsible for teaching him showed no consideration whatsoever for their "deep" friendship. The instant she spotted a mistake, she scolded him.

"You did it wrong!"

"Raise your hand a little higher!"

"This won't do. Again!"

Poor Gao Jing could only grit his teeth and persist bitterly beneath her "tyrannical might."

Again and again, he corrected his movements and practiced them over and over!

If he could not perform a move that even a five-year-old girl could complete with ease, he might as well buy a block of tofu and bash himself to death with it.

How could he even dream of becoming the strongest Wizard then!

And throughout this process, Gao Jing's powerful physique after his transformation played an enormously important role.

His sprained muscles quickly recovered, his aching and swollen joints stopped hurting in an instant, and the repeated pushing of his limits instead drew out his potential.

By noon, Gao Jing was already able to coordinate with the breathing method and successfully complete the "Eagle Spread" battle form!

After finishing, drenched in sweat, he dropped his butt onto the steaming-hot rock.

Every part of his body felt sore, painful, numb, and itchy, as though something were seeping out through his pores. He desperately wanted to scrub himself from head to toe with a steel brush!

After panting like a dead dog for several minutes, Gao Jing gradually recovered.

Only then did he notice the little girl squatting nearby, staring blankly at him.

Her face wore a dumbfoundedly adorable expression.

"What's wrong?"

Gao Jing instinctively felt guilty. "Did I do something wrong?"

Poor him, a grown man, had been looked down upon by a little girl who knew how many times just now.

He was already developing a psychological shadow!

Shan Guo'er's expression was somewhat strange.

She bit her lip and shook her head.

She seemed to want to say something, yet swallowed the words back down.

As long as he had not done anything wrong!

With no time to think further, Gao Jing immediately let out a huge breath, then sprang up like a leaping fish.

He stood straight once more.

Only by enduring the bitterest hardships could one rise above others.

Continue! Roar!

The first update is here. As usual, please send some votes. Thank you, everyone!