Chapter 25: Chapter 22: The Hellish Life Begins
Wang Mo stood up and cupped his hands. "Alright. But Old Gu, you don’t need to worry too much. With those two girls, Bingling and Junnyao, around, they won’t dare to do anything major to our two families for now. At most, they’ll just try to trip us up behind our backs."
"Brother Wang, rest assured. When the ti cos, my Mu Family will stand with the Wang Family, through thick and thin," Mu Gu Tian said sincerely.
Wang Mo chuckled. "Of course I’m assured. Alright, I should be getting back to strategize and prepare for any unexpected situations."
"Mm..."
After saying this, Mu Gu Tian saw Wang Mo out and then headed to the Elder Pavilion.
To the north, after a full day of travel, Mu Chen could no longer see any sign of Luofeng City. When he left, he had followed the Profound Old Ghost’s instructions and specifically sought out a deserted, untrodden road. It wasn’t the most direct route to the Demon Beast Forest, but it was certainly the most rugged and complex one. This was also why so few people traveled it.
Staring at the rugged, wildly undulating mountain path before him, Mu Chen was speechless. "Master, this is the path you said was ’most suitable’ for ?"
The Profound Old Ghost chuckled slyly, then his expression suddenly turned serious. "Of course. And from today onward, your break is over. I’ve already set your schedule for every day from now on. All you need to do is obey. But... I’ll ask you one last ti. The path to becoming strong is paved with thorns. It’s incredibly arduous, even painful. I don’t know if you can endure my training, but I want you to tell
one last ti: are you determined? If you are, then prepare yourself for inhuman tornt. Success ans your na will be known throughout the world and you will reach the peak of the Martial Dao. If not, it’s simple. You can turn back from here. It will only take a day to return ho and continue being a young master. I will still offer you so help with your Cultivation, but becoming world-famous will be impossible. You’ll still be able to beco a respectable figure within the tiny Xuanling Empire, though. The choice is yours."
Hearing this, Mu Chen suddenly laughed, a genuine, happy laugh. "Heh, Master, you really underestimate . If I gave up that easily, I wouldn’t have survived this long. You can ask
a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand tis, and my answer will always be the sa: I will beco strong. I will bring the entire Extre Martial Continent to its knees."
The Profound Old Ghost was stunned for a mont, then burst into a hearty laugh. This was the second ti he had roared with such laughter. "You brat, you’re not arrogant enough. But... you’re enough."
With that, the Profound Old Ghost once again threw his head back and laughed at the sky. After a good while, he finally said with a grin, "Take out the Black Iron Lock Chain and the bell."
Mu Chen didn’t ask any questions. In the days to co, there was only one thing he had to do, which could be sumd up in a single word: obey. With a flash from his ring, an arm-thick Black Iron Lock Chain appeared before him. At the sa ti, a small Golden Bell also materialized.
"Lock the Black Iron Lock Chain onto your left arm. Start from the shoulder and wrap it all the way down." Mu Chen did as he was told. Once the Black Iron Lock Chain was fully secured, he felt as though a small mountain had suddenly been placed on his left arm. The Black Iron Lock Chain was ten feet long and weighed forty kilograms.
With such a heavy Locking Chain on for the first ti, Mu Chen’s left arm could barely move. The Profound Old Ghost curled his lip and asked, "Try it. Can you drag it?"
Mu Chen took a step forward. The Black Iron Lock Chain imdiately scraped across the ground with a loud RATTLE. Mu Chen nodded. "I can drag it, no problem, but it’s a huge strain. And my arm is completely immobilized."
The Profound Old Ghost grunted. "Good. That’s exactly the effect I wanted. From now on, you are not to take off this Black Iron Lock Chain for even a mont. Eating, sleeping, you’ll wear it for everything. And that bell—tie it to your waist. Try not to let it make a sound when you walk."
Mu Chen again did as instructed. After tying the Golden Bell to his waist, he tentatively moved. The mont he did, the Golden Bell began to jingle and jangle. Mu Chen frowned deeply. ’The path is awful, without a single flat stretch of ground, and on top of that, I’m dragging a heavy chain. How is the bell supposed to stay silent?’
Seeing Mu Chen’s helpless expression, the Profound Old Ghost couldn’t help but laugh. "Silly boy, no one’s asking you to do it on the first try. From now on, just pay attention to this bell every day. When you can move without it making a sound, then you can take it off. Otherwise, you’ll have to wear it forever. Hmm, even if the bell is still ringing three years from now, I won’t bla you. But you’d better be careful. In the Demon Beast Forest, if this ringing attracts any ’kittens or puppies,’ you’ll have to deal with them yourself. I’m going to take a long rest. I’m dead tired. Don’t call
until you reach the Demon Beast Forest."
With that, the Profound Old Ghost’s body vanished without a trace. Hearing his parting words, Mu Chen cursed, ’Shaless!’ ’Kittens and puppies? Are there kittens and puppies in the Demon Beast Forest?’ Veins bulged on his forehead as he dragged the heavy Black Iron Lock Chain, trudging step by step along the path. Before long, he felt unbearably hot, and the small golden bell at his waist swayed and swung with his movents, jingling and jangling incessantly.
The pulling force from his left arm forced Mu Chen to expend a great deal of energy just to maintain his balance. The road was treacherous; often, a landmark that appeared close would be cut off by a break in the path, forcing him to find another way. Worse still, so places had no path at all, requiring him to jump and climb. Mu Chen’s body was already maid, which severely limited his mobility. Now, the Black Iron Lock Chain had completely sealed his left hand. When he encountered a climb, he could only rely on his body’s friction to inch his way upward.
This ti, however, Mu Chen seed destined to be stuck. Before him was an incredibly steep slope. It had very few ledges, with almost no places for footholds or handholds. To make matters worse, the rock face was covered in moss, making it impossibly slippery to climb.
Mu Chen found a spot to get a foothold and tentatively climbed a short distance. But with his left hand unusable, he accidentally missed a step. As his foot slipped, he instinctively tried to raise a hand to grab the rock face, only to find that his left arm, weighed down by the chain, was completely useless. Not only that, but the added weight of the chain made him fall even faster.
"AHH!"
"JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE"
"THUD."
"Cough, cough." After the muffled thud, Mu Chen coughed twice and scrambled up from the ground, covered in dust. He glanced at himself and was lucky to find that aside from so dirty clothes and a few scrapes, he wasn’t seriously injured. Frowning, he looked up. The cliff face was at least ten ters high. Without using his arms, the lower section was impossible to climb, though there were so plants growing on the middle and upper sections.
Shaking his head, Mu Chen muttered to himself, "It seems the first problem to solve is my left arm."
He looked down at the Black Iron Lock Chain that completely bound his left arm. The end of the chain dragged on the ground for more than two ters, looking like a giant snake’s tail.
As if having made a decision, a determined look flashed across Mu Chen’s face. He then lay down on the spot and began to circulate the Extre Spirit Chaos Technique, absorbing the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi to temper his body and recover the stamina he had lost from the day’s journey. This place was desolate and uninhabited, and similarly, there were no traces of beasts. Mu Chen didn’t have to worry about being disturbed. He silently recited the Mantra, and the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, guided by the technique, quickly gathered from all around and drilled into his body. He strictly followed the Profound Old Ghost’s words: before becoming a Martial Artist, all the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi he absorbed was to be used to temper his body.
About four hours later, Mu Chen’s stamina had returned to its peak state. He got up and looked around. This area was essentially a natural enclosure, surrounded by many large rocks, each separated by so distance. After searching for a mont, he chose a circle enclosed by boulders and walked inside.
’This place isn’t half bad. Looks like I’ll be spending the next few days here.’
That’s right. Mu Chen understood that to move on from here, he had to climb that steep cliff face. But until he adapted to the weight of the Black Iron Lock Chain, it was absolutely impossible for him to get over it.
And so, Mu Chen’s hellish life began. For the next period of ti, aside from circulating the Extre Spirit Chaos Technique to absorb Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi and temper his body, he focused all his strength and energy on his left arm and on studying the bell. As soon as his strength waned, Mu Chen would imdiately lie down and circulate the Extre Spirit Chaos Technique to recover his stamina, then get up and once again slowly and repeatedly perform various simple movents with his left hand. Deplete stamina, recover stamina—the cycle repeated.
He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but as he repeated this process, Mu Chen felt that the speed at which he absorbed Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was gradually increasing. As a result, his stamina recovered a little faster, which naturally gave him more ti to train the strength of his left arm.
「In the blink of an eye, three days slipped by.」
At this mont, Mu Chen was lying on the ground. Visible wisps of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi were gathering toward him. He was very calm, but at that exact instant, those wisps of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi suddenly exploded. Mu Chen’s muscles rippled violently twice, and then everything returned to normal.
Mu Chen, who had been lying down, hastily sat up, his face filled with joy. ’Is this the feeling of a breakthrough? First-Ring Martial Disciple.’
Brimming with excitent, Mu Chen stood up. He gently lifted his left arm and clenched his fist. The difference was obvious; his strength was significantly greater than it had been yesterday. He could now lift his left arm, albeit with great effort.
With a slight smile, Mu Chen turned to look at the insurmountable cliff face again, and a thought surfaced. ’Maybe it’s ti to raise the difficulty a little.’
No sooner said than done. He dragged the Black Iron Lock Chain back to the cliff face. He forcefully lifted his left hand, grabbed one of the few protrusions on the rock wall, and began to climb with his legs, one step at a ti. However, Mu Chen only made it three ters up before he fell from the cliff once again.
Scrambling to his feet with difficulty, Mu Chen gave a bitter smile. He’d been unlucky this ti. Not only was his knee cut open, but his chest and palms were also scraped raw and bloody. ’Looks like I was too naive. When I’m hanging in mid-air, the Black Iron Lock Chain isn’t like it is on the ground, where the earth supports its weight. Every ti I climb, the higher I go, the heavier the chain feels, until I was caught off guard and fell.’
Rubbing his chest, his Space Ring flashed, and a white dicine Bottle appeared in Mu Chen’s hand. "Good thing I snuck into the dicine Pavilion and grabbed a whole pile of dicine for external injuries when everyone in the family went to the square before I left. They aren’t valuable, so I’m sure they won’t bla ."
After speaking, Mu Chen began the difficult task of bandaging his body using his left hand and his mouth. It took him half a day to treat all his wounds. Man, it really hurt.
In the following days, Mu Chen added a new exercise to his arm training: holding his arm out horizontally and gripping the Black Iron Lock Chain to build his arm strength. In his spare ti, Mu Chen would constantly move his body, always sensing the workings of the Copper Bell at his waist—how, with his every movent, the Bell Heart inside struck the Bell Wall.
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