Failure, Clinging Like a Shadow

Master Mo's residence was far more spacious than Chen Cang's courtyard, and much quieter.

When Chen Cang arrived, Master Mo had just emerged from the Alchemy Room, a faint trace of fatigue on his face.

Refining medicine consumed enormous amounts of Soul Perception, all the more so for higher-grade pills.

Rumor had it that refining a single high-grade pill could take ten days, half a month, or even longer. One could well imagine what a monumental undertaking it was.

Master Mo was not surprised to see Chen Cang. The boy came running over every few days, and he had long since grown used to it.

Leading Chen Cang into the sitting room, Master Mo sat down and finally let out a long, utterly relaxed breath. Watching the youth pour him tea, he turned his palm over, and a jade bottle landed on the chair beside him.

"You actually broke through ahead of schedule. It seems your training in the Black Eagle Mountains was quite effective. These are Qi Recovery Pills I just refined. Have a few as a gift."

Qi Recovery Pills were third-grade pills that could rapidly replenish the Dou Qi consumed within the body.

Their function was the same as Qi Nourishing Powder, but their effects were far more pronounced.

With a few of these pills on hand, one could practically stop worrying about running out of Dou Qi. They were truly indispensable for anyone venturing away from home.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony. I owe you more and more anyway, and one more debt won't weigh me down. Perfect timing, too. I'm planning to venture a little deeper into the Black Eagle Mountains tomorrow. With these three Qi Recovery Pills, I'll be much more confident."

Putting away the jade bottle, Chen Cang replied with a joking air.

Master Mo nodded lightly. Then, seemingly recalling something, his smile faded, and his expression grew considerably more serious.

"The Black Eagle Mountains are an excellent place to train, but remember not to advance recklessly. The dangers within are unknown. Several decades ago, Tianying City's previous city lord went into the Black Eagle Mountains and vanished like a stone sinking into the sea. That was why our current city lord was transferred here."

"Oh? Something like that happened?"

"Yes. It was connected to a beast tide several decades ago. Although Tianying City backs onto the Black Eagle Mountains, humans and magical beasts naturally keep to their own sides of the boundary. Before that beast tide, magical beasts had never attacked the city. That disaster was most likely caused by some upheaval in the mountains."

"The previous city lord was no weaker than the current one. Both were only a step away from becoming a Dou Huang expert. After the beast tide, that city lord grew curious about what was happening in the mountains and went alone to investigate. He never returned. The Tianxing Empire sent people to search for him, too, but each attempt ended without a resolution. After all, the Black Eagle Mountains are magical beast territory, and there is no shortage of high-tier beasts within."

Master Mo had said all this for one reason: to warn Chen Cang that the Black Eagle Mountains were no playground.

He could train there, but he must never take them lightly.

The overturned cart ahead was a lesson for the cart behind.

Chen Cang nodded solemnly. Even a Dou Wang expert had died without anyone knowing how. What chance would a mere Dou Shi like him have?

Until he was confident enough, he would never venture deeper recklessly.

Crossing the Black Eagle Mountains was a heavy burden on a long road.

An elder in the home was a treasure in the house. That evening, Chen Cang spoke with Master Mo for over two hours and benefited greatly.

Sunlight pierced the night, and dawn swept across the horizon.

Chen Cang entered the Black Eagle Mountains once again.

With a clear training target in mind, he advanced into the mountains quickly this time.

About an hour later, Chen Cang stood before a small lake.

Calling it a lake was actually giving it too much credit. Only twenty or thirty meters across, it was more like a large pond.

Yet who could have imagined that a third-tier magical beast was lurking in this tiny pond?

His nerves taut, Chen Cang strode forward and approached the shore to collect water, acting as though he knew nothing at all.

Just as he finished collecting water, stood up, and made to leave, ripples suddenly spread across the still little lake.

The next instant...

"Whoosh!"

A jet of water suddenly shot out of the lake, aimed straight at the center of Chen Cang's back.

"You old turtle! Have you no honor?"

Already aware of the danger lurking in the lake, Chen Cang was hardly threatened by this little sneak attack. A Dou Qi Veil covered his entire body, and with a forceful stamp of his foot, he immediately darted aside.

Boom!

The water jet missed him and struck a bucket-thick tree nearby, blasting it clean in two at the trunk.

Tsk, tsk. If that hit someone, even with a Dou Qi Veil, they'd probably lose half their life.

Splash, splash, splash...

The lake began to churn.

Chen Cang had assumed that, after its failed sneak attack, the Jade Wave Turtle would emerge in a furious rage and fight him for three hundred rounds.

But he had miscalculated.

The lake churned ever more violently, yet the Jade Wave Turtle never showed its head. As Chen Cang stared until his eyes nearly wore through, an even fiercer jet of water erupted from the lake toward him.

Its force was intimidating enough, but with the enhancement from his Dou Qi Veil, Chen Cang dodged aside again.

He had suffered two attacks in succession without so much as seeing the Jade Wave Turtle's head, making him frown slightly.

He had a feeling this old turtle might not play by the usual rules.

The facts proved him right. As though its two consecutive misses had turned its embarrassment into rage, the Jade Wave Turtle unleashed another surging jet before Chen Cang could do anything else.

Once, then again...

Under such frequent attacks, although Chen Cang narrowly dodged every time, he still ended up soaked from head to toe as though caught in a downpour, looking utterly bedraggled.

"Drain it! I have to drain it!"

Someone had lost his composure.

This Jade Wave Turtle was simply too damn cautious. It never showed its head, attacking from underwater the entire time. Chen Cang had a whole arsenal of dragon-slaying skills, yet nowhere to use them.

This was the first time Chen Cang had ever encountered such a frustrating battle.

Who said magical beasts had no brains? This Jade Wave Turtle had clearly inherited the true teachings of the art of lying low.

As he dodged again and again, Chen Cang did try to fight back. He hurled everything within sight that he could throw into the lake, but the Jade Wave Turtle remained unmoved.

It said it would not come out, and it would not come out!

Its shameless attitude practically screamed, "Come into the water and fight me if you've got the guts."

Entering the water was out of the question. That would mean pitting his weakness against the enemy's strength-commonly known as courting death.

But passively taking a beating like this was truly infuriating.

"Are you coming out or not? If you don't, I'll piss in your face!"

A jet of water answered him.

Chen Cang hurriedly pulled up his pants and dodged, his teeth itching with hatred.

Pissing in its face was only talk. Even setting aside whether he could reach the Jade Wave Turtle, Chen Cang's already firmly established values would not allow him to do such a thing.

"Fine, you've got guts. I'll be back!"

He could sense quite a few magical beasts in the surrounding area approaching, drawn by the commotion.

A wise man did not stand beneath a crumbling wall. Left with no choice, Chen Cang merely tossed out a threat, then took to his heels.

He was not afraid of one or two magical beasts, even second-tier ones.

But if there were a great many...

Even ants could bite an elephant to death if there were enough of them. Better to make himself scarce first.

Thus, Chen Cang's first clash with the Jade Wave Turtle ended in utter defeat.

The next day, Chen Cang returned, intending to dig an outlet and drain the water.

However, the plan died halfway through.

The terrain was already low-lying, and the Jade Wave Turtle kept harassing him with attacks.

The drainage plan was declared a failure.

Back in Tianying City, Chen Cang reflected painfully on his defeat and pondered all night. At last, inspiration struck.

The following day, Chen Cang made his first purchase in this life.

He bought over a hundred jin of red spice powder in the city!

In other words, the Dou Qi Continent's version of ground ghost peppers.