Inside the cave, the old man was still asleep, but even in his dreams, he broke into fits of coughing from time to time, making his figure look even more stooped.
Young Liu Xing sighed. Unable to bear waking the old man, he straightened the dry grass on the stone bed and spread it over him, then turned and left the cave.
The moment he emerged, Liu Xing was like a wild horse freed of its reins. He raced down the hill, wrapped himself in the vines he had untied yesterday, then dragged the great stone toward the Frozen Earth Plains.
This time, Liu Xing did not advance step by step, but bounded forward at a run. Yet with the vines wrapped around his body, he had barely leaped three or four meters before they snapped taut, forcibly yanking him out of the air.
The stone, a meter across, weighed at least several hundred jin. Though Liu Xing possessed tremendous strength, he was still only an eight-year-old child, unable to leap along as if flying while dragging such a massive rock.
Normally, Liu Xing's daily training should have involved dragging the stone forward step by step, progressing steadily to temper his muscles and bones and build his strength. Ignoring his physical limits and dreaming of sprinting with the stone in tow was rather like pulling up seedlings to help them grow. Not only would it fail to strengthen his body, it would strain it instead.
It was not that Liu Xing did not understand this, but his heart was so heavy that he could not release the pent-up frustration without taking this chance to vent.
The old man grew weaker by the day. It seemed the day when he would fall asleep forever could not be far off.
Liu Xing was eight now, but his harsh life had made him mature early. He understood far more than most children.
Falling asleep forever meant death, of course, but Liu Xing did not want to mention that word. Though he was always calling him "old man," deep down he knew the old man was the person closest to him.
The old man had raised Liu Xing, and they were the only two humans on Connors Star. What else could they do but cling to each other for survival?
Once the old man's allotted time ran out, Liu Xing would be the only person left on this enormous planet!
Could Liu Xing, a child of only eight, endure the grief of losing the old man and the loneliness of living alone?
Liu Xing did not want the old man to fall asleep forever, but he could only watch helplessly as he grew older and frailer.
Running with the great stone in tow gave Liu Xing a physical outlet that eased some of the anguish in his heart.
Across the Frozen Earth Plains, that tiny figure moved now fast, now slow, bounding as if in flight and plowing countless crisscrossing furrows into the ground, until he gradually exhausted himself...
By the time the sky was about to darken again, Liu Xing had returned to normal and was dragging the stone back to the cave step by step. This time, the prey slung over his shoulder was a creature shaped like a wild boar, almost as large as his entire body.
Only a freakishly strong child like Liu Xing could carry such prey home so easily.
The old man was still sitting cross-legged inside the cave, but his complexion looked worse, and his coughing had never stopped.
As soon as Liu Xing entered the cave, he said with a grin, "Old man, I had good luck today. I hunted a Long-Tailed Pig, enough to feed us for three days. Don't fight me for the hind legs later."
The old man smiled. "Silly child, I can't eat much of something so fatty. If you want it, eat as much as you like. By the way, how much have you practiced from the Jade Slip I gave you yesterday?"
While preparing the Long-Tailed Pig, Liu Xing replied, "I practiced five movements last night. I should be able to finish the remaining four today, but I still don't know how long it'll take before I can perform the fifth form smoothly in one go."
The old man nodded. "Good boy. Reaching this level at your age is already exceptionally rare. Once you've fully mastered the fifth form, I imagine no fierce beast on Connors Star will be able to threaten you."
Liu Xing's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, "Then I'll raid the Spotted Mice's nest! That way, we can eat the finest delicacy on the Frozen Earth Plains every day."
The old man coughed, then chuckled. "A lone Spotted Mouse has long since ceased to be a match for you. But there are far too many in a swarm. Even if you practice for another seven or eight years, you won't be able to handle them. Still, the Spotted Mice can't catch you either, so there's no need to fear them."
Liu Xing clenched his fists. "One day, I'm going to catch the Spotted Mouse King and roast him!"
With that, Liu Xing began savagely working on the Long-Tailed Pig in his hands, as though it were the Spotted Mouse King.
The old man sighed inwardly and once again spoke in a voice so faint it was barely audible. "What a pity you have no spiritual root. Otherwise, with such a steadfast will, how could your horizons be so narrow?"...
That night, after the old man fell asleep, Liu Xing went outside the cave again and continued practicing the Nine Great Wilderness Forms.
From the time Liu Xing could remember-when he was no more than a year old-the old man had begun forcing him to practice the Nine Great Wilderness Forms.
At first, he had been a clueless little brat, and the difficulty of practicing the first form was easy to imagine. But the old man back then had been nothing short of a demonic drillmaster, forcing him to practice without a shred of mercy.
Perhaps Liu Xing had been born with an unbending spirit, for even at such a tender age, his will was extraordinarily firm. Other children might have understood nothing and simply cried in terror, but he had managed to persevere through that grueling training.
When Liu Xing turned three, he finally mastered the first of the Nine Great Wilderness Forms. By then, he had also begun to understand things.
The benefits of practicing the Nine Great Wilderness Forms were self-evident. Even at that young age, Liu Xing was already unlike ordinary people. Whether in maturity, mental fortitude, or strength, he was far beyond any normal three-year-old.
Though Liu Xing did not understand just how different he was, he knew that by forcing him to practice the Nine Great Wilderness Forms, the old man had actually given him an enormous gift.
At the same time, Liu Xing discovered that while he grew bigger day by day, the old man grew older day by day. Eventually, never mind acting as a demonic drillmaster-the old man was no longer even as strong as Liu Xing.
It was from that moment onward that Liu Xing came to understand birth, aging, sickness, and death.
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