All Preparations Complete

During this period, a momentous event had also taken place in the Seven Mysteries Sect.

"Senior Brother Li," the idol of the new generation of disciples, had shown exceptional alertness, seeing through the plot of two Wild Wolf Gang spies who had infiltrated the sect and were attempting to steal the list of disciples going down the mountain for training. Together with more than a dozen fellow disciples, he had captured them both alive in one stroke, earning considerable merit.

A few days later, Sect Leader Wang granted Li Feiyu the position of protector in front of numerous disciples, formally ushering him into the Seven Mysteries Sect's middle ranks. It caused quite a stir, and Li Feiyu's name became even more renowned.

Han Li knew nothing of this. He was undergoing special training inside his closed-off wooden cabin. Aside from occasionally going to the kitchen for food, he had not been in contact with anyone for many days, so he naturally knew nothing of his friend's moment in the spotlight.

Summer gave way to autumn, and time flew like a shuttle. At last, the final day before the appointed time arrived.

In the thorn forest at the bottom of the ravine, an extraordinarily eerie figure flickered in and out of sight among branches covered in sharp spikes. Those exceedingly dangerous thorns did not hinder him in the slightest. Like a wisp of green smoke, he flitted ghostlike through the dense nets woven from thorny branches, appearing nearby one moment and emerging in the distance the next. The entire process was silent, as though he truly were not a body of flesh and blood, but a formless being.

At last, the figure stopped on a tree trunk and stood straight on a branch, gazing into the distance. It was Han Li, who had made some progress in his training.

By now, his clothes had long since been torn to shreds, leaving even the skin beneath exposed. His black hair was loose and disheveled, and his face was streaked with black and white, making his features unrecognizable. Most surprising of all, a small iron bell hung from each of several places on his body, including his neck, waist, arms, thighs, and ankles.

Seeing those iron bells and recalling Han Li's ghostlike movements through the forest, it was not hard to tell just how uncanny his Movement Method had been.

He stood motionless, looking in the direction of Divine Hand Valley, and murmured to himself:

"Just in time. I finally mastered the Gossamer Smoke Steps on the last day. With it, I have a little more confidence in protecting myself."

Though his expression could not be made out, the joy in his eyes showed itself without restraint.

After months of study and arduous practice, Han Li had mastered several secret techniques of considerable power. He was quite confident in them, believing that even if they could not match Doctor Mo's unfathomable skills, he still had some confidence in using them to protect himself.

A breeze blew past, and Han Li felt a chill. He looked down at the "outfit of holes" he was wearing and pictured how he must look now, unable to suppress a wry smile.

Looking back on his practice of the Gossamer Smoke Steps, he still felt a lingering fear. Training a Movement Method in a thorn forest really was a life-threatening business. Because he had been unfamiliar with the movements at first, he had inevitably been scratched all over by the hard thorns on the branches, leaving him covered in wounds and dripping blood.

Fortunately, he still had Essence Nourishing Pills with him. Not only could they treat internal injuries, they were also astonishingly effective against external wounds. After he took one, the bleeding stopped and scabs formed at once; by the next day, even the scars disappeared without a trace.

Han Li had clicked his tongue in wonder over this for quite some time. The medicine was far better than ordinary medicine for blade wounds, though he did not know why it had been given the name "Essence Nourishing Pill." In his view, something like "scar remover" or "bleeding stopper" would have been more fitting.

If the expert who had created the Essence Nourishing Pill had learned of Han Li's thoughts, he would probably have been so angry that he spat blood. The sacred healing medicine he had painstakingly prepared in secret was actually being placed alongside the ordinary "wound medicine" of a wandering quack and compared against it. How could that not have enraged the expert to death!

Still, it was precisely because Han Li had practiced in such a dangerous environment that he had been able to bring out all his potential, gaining a degree of proficiency in the Gossamer Smoke Steps in a short time and making it ready for immediate use.

Moreover, just a few days earlier, Han Li had reached the sixth layer of the Eternal Spring Art, as expected. This was the highest layer for which Doctor Mo had given him the Mnemonic. Without the help of those dozen-odd bottles of spirit medicine, he might not have succeeded in reaching it in his lifetime, even if he had strained with all the strength he had suckled from his mother.

After several years of cultivation, Han Li had gained quite a few insights into the Eternal Spring Art. He felt that it was an extremely peculiar Cultivation Method, very different from ordinary martial arts in both its method of cultivation and its effects.

First, Han Li believed that whether one succeeded in cultivating it, and how quickly one progressed, depended mainly on the individual: on the cultivator's aptitude and whether it was suited to the art.

Those with excellent aptitude would naturally have smooth sailing, with nothing blocking their path. Presumably, even without outside help, they could reach a high level through hard work.

Those with poor aptitude, however, would find every step difficult after reaching a certain level if they had no help from spirit medicine. Han Li surmised that they would be able to go no further for the rest of their lives, with no room to advance. He himself was an example: he had progressed very smoothly through the first three layers, but upon reaching the fourth, he had suddenly found it exceedingly difficult and had not advanced an inch.

But with miraculous pills and medicines, the impossible could become possible, allowing one to break through the limitations of aptitude and advance another layer. From this, one could see just how heavily this Cultivation Method depended on medicinal power!

Still, there were probably few people in the whole world who ate one or two pieces of spirit medicine a day as though they were snacks, as he did. Thus, he had effortlessly mastered the fifth and sixth layers, which should logically have been even harder to cultivate, without experiencing any of the difficulties he had faced at the fourth.

As for the Eternal Spring Art at the completion of the sixth layer, aside from making Han Li feel more vigorous and quick-witted, he had yet to discover any other marvelous uses for it. Strangely, ever since he had begun cultivating the art, each layer had strengthened only his spirit, mind, and five senses. Its effect on his body was negligible, merely making him healthy and light on his feet. The flow of energy it produced-which Han Li called Pseudo True Qi-could circulate freely through his meridians like ordinary True Qi, but aside from making his sense of touch more acute, it had no practical effect and could not display the astonishing power of True Qi.

Besides, having cultivated this far, he felt certain that there were more parts of the Mnemonic beyond the sixth layer. Perhaps its marvelous uses all lay in the final few layers.

At this thought, he shook his head somewhat helplessly and sighed. Given his current relationship with Doctor Mo, he could forget about getting the cultivation instructions for the later layers.

Putting a stop to his wandering thoughts, Han Li leaped down and landed softly on the ground without making a sound, then strode toward the little wooden cabin.

He was to meet Doctor Mo tomorrow. Before then, he intended to make full use of his talent: he would plan the steps of the meeting in his mind beforehand, carefully consider every small detail that might arise, and devise the best responses to the various dangers that had yet to occur.