Chapter 631: Sculpting the Body in the Dragon Spring
Su Xiangfei was silent. He did not follow Tang Xiu and work for him but went outside to work by himself. Though securing a foothold for himself in the outside world was difficult, he was still able to find a job to support himself and save some money.
In regards to Tang Xiu, what he felt inside was quite complicated. He had contempt and was hostile towards him in the past. He was full of hatred towards Tang Xiu after the drastic changes that happened to his family. But ever since he came to realize his mistakes and through the sufferings, he quickly and fully regretted it, and the hostility and hatred he had for Tang Xiu vanished.
He was willing to treat Tang Xiu as a relative. But when it came to work and sell his life to him, it was something he couldn't do at present. He would naturally stand up and face the bystanders who wanted to bully Tang Xiu as his cousin, nevertheless.
Tang Xiu watched him. Though he had already guessed that Su Xiangfei would be like this before, he was still a bit disappointed, regardless. However, he still had another way around it, as he spoke in a deep tone, "Xiangfei, I know you can't do that now, and it doesn't matter to me. But if there's something I can give you, will you be able to make your decision?"
"What is it, exactly?" Su Xiangfei's brows slightly furrowed.
"You need money, and I can give you money. If it is power that you want, I can give you power. And if you want women, I can do everything with the power in my hands to help you find them as well," said Tang Xiu with all seriousness. "I can bestow you strength too if that is what you want, and I can even grant you eternal life!"
Eternal life?
With a strange expression, Su Xiangfei stared at Tang Xiu before he dumbly laughed and said, "Don't say this kind of joke, will you?"
Tang Xiu snorted. After which, his feet slowly floated under the watchful eyes of Su Xiangfei. When he levitated two-plus meters above the ground, he slowly stretched his arms as dozens of pounds, and even hundreds of pounds of sharp stones around floated up. In just several seconds, hundreds of stones were floating around Tang Xiu.
"I-I… am I seeing things?"
Su Quan stepped back. After firmly stabilizing himself, he rubbed his eyes hard and murmured with an aghast and dumbstruck expression.
Su Ben, on the other hand, had his eyes turned saucer with disbelief cast on his face. His heart thumped wildly and his blood flow sped up violently. His whole being was thoroughly frightened by this strange scene.
Su Xiangfei himself was dumbfounded. The look he had on his face when staring at Tang Xiu was as though seeing a ghost. He watched the stones floating around Tang Xiu. It was the scene he had imagined for countless times that, he could become a superhuman one day, being able to fly, moving and toppling a mountain and overturning the ocean. Even he fantasized that the protagonist would be himself upon seeing such a scene in front of him.
But… when fantasy turned into reality, the impact was too big for him to bear, and what was left was fear.
While looking at him from above, Tang Xiu spoke in a deep voice, "The ability I'm showing you now is nothing but a minuscule part of the whole. I'm only using a small trick since I fear that you will be unable to stand it. If you are willing to work for me to the death, to become one of the people I trust the most in the future, I can make you have the ability that is countless times more powerful than this. When that time comes, let alone levitating in the air and controlling some stones to float, it will be easy for you to stand above and control a planet in the boundless universe!"
Su Xiangfei's mouth was opened, yet he swallowed back his words.
"Tang Xiu, are you… are you some kind of celestial being?" Shouted Su Quan all of a sudden.
"Immortal?" Tang Xiu laughed loudly upon hearing it. "One day in the future, maybe all the Gods and Buddhas in the Heaven will not even be worthy of being my adversary. So what you just called me is not entirely wrong."
The expression on Su Quan's face rapidly changed, and a look of ecstasy burst out of his eyes as he loudly shouted, "This Su Quan's life is yours, Tang Xiu. As long as you can… make me become like you!"
Su Ben didn't speak at all, but he clenched his fists and a firm expression could be seen filling his eyes.
With his heart thumping hard, there was a longing look on Su Xiangfei's face, and he loudly spoke, "Tang Xiu, I want to have my parents celebrating the New Year with us. If you can do it, I'll give my life to you. I'll do anything whatever you ask me to."
"No problem." Tang Xiu nodded. "I have given you my word a year ago that your parents would return to the Su Family Village."
He then waved his hand as hundreds of sharp stones smashed down the lake 100 meters away. As the sound of crashing rocks falling into the water filled air, Tang Xiu's feet stepped on the ground again, and then said, "Tonight I'll teach you all a cultivation technique and help you step into the threshold of the cultivation path."
Following that, Tang Xiu and the trio came to the periphery of the forest stone, as he then said in a deep voice, "Bear in mind that this forest stone is unusual. If an ordinary person advertently comes inside, they will definitely be lost inside. As a matter of fact, this is a stone array formed by nature and has an illusionary attribute in nature. You must observe clearly the spot I've stepped and cautiously follow me."
"What's a stone array?" Asked Su Quan curiously. "Is it like the Heavenly Gate Array developed by the Yang Family in The Yang's Saga miniseries on TV?"
Tang Xiu thought for a moment and then answered, "You can think of it like that. Shortly put, for an ordinary person to rashly rush inside this stone array, they will only be lost inside. It's like going through a maze, but I'm afraid that it's impossible for him to get out of it again for his whole life."
Shocked with the revelation, Sun Quan asked, "Do you have knowledge about arrays, Tang Xiu?"
"I know a bit," said Tang Xiu with a smile.
Immediately, not only Su Quan looked at Tang Xiu with admiration, but also Su Ben and Su Xiangfei. They were unaware of when and how Tang Xiu could have become so powerful, but the methods he displayed before had already made them convinced.
Soon after, the quartet had arrived at the vicinity of Spirit Spring inside the stone forest.
Tang Xiu squatted at the edge of the Spirit Spring and used his fingers to gently stroke the spring water that produced white mist. He felt the spiritual force flooding into his body and let out a faint smile. Following that, he got up and turned to look at the trio, "I think you all already know the meaning of washing the marrows and cleansing blood vessels—shortly put, remodeling your body thoroughly! This is a Spirit Spring, also known as Dragon Spring of the Earth. If cultivators are to cultivate here, they will have twice the results with half the effort. But if an ordinary person comes here, it has a great effect on his body and he at least won't catch a cold for several years. However, they will undoubtedly die if they are to bathe themselves in this Spirit Spring. And you all will soak yourselves inside tonight. To wash your marrow, purify its essence and cleanse your meridians, hence achieving the foundation toward cultivation."
"But Tang Xiu, we don't have any cultivation at all," said Su Quan, panicked. "Didn't you just say that ordinary people will definitely die if they go inside? Yet you …"
Tang Xiu lightly smiled, "Those who will die are only those who don't have a cultivation technique. I'll be imparting you all a cultivation technique before you soak yourselves in it."
Following that, Tang Xiu spent more than two hours explaining the anatomy of meridians and acupuncture points in the human body to the trio. He forced them to memorize them completely. Then, Tang Xiu taught an ordinary cultivation technique from the Immortal World.
"The process of washing the marrow and cleansing your meridians is very painful at first. People who don't have great perseverance will find it difficult to bear it. But if all of you want to become beings above humans, possessing the ability to float above the earth and fly, and becoming a cultivator, you must endure it no matter how painful it is," said Tang Xiu, solemnly serious.
The trio nodded repeatedly.
Tang Xiu took a deep breath and spoke in a deep voice, "Take off your clothes now and then soak yourselves in the Spirit Spring. Do remember to sense and follow the route of practice in the cultivation technique I just taught you. Try to control it, and immediately call me whenever you can't endure it anymore."
Su Ben was the first who took his clothes off and jumped into the Spirit Spring. Su Quan and Su Xiangfei also jumped into the spring. The Spirit Spring was not big, and two-thirds of its surface was occupied by the trio after they jumped inside.
"It's truly miraculous. It unexpectedly makes us float," commented Su Quan in shock.
Tang Xiu only smiled lightly. The spiritual force in the Earth's spiritual veins was in the liquid state, hence it possessed a very powerful upward force exerted by its liquid state. Let alone a human, it could even make thousands of pounds of huge stones stay afloat.
"Restrain your mind and begin to meditate according to the cultivation route."
The trio began to silently sense the qi flowing inside their meridians according to Tang Xiu's instructions. In just several seconds, they felt extremely comfortable and were even able to feel all the fine hairs in their pores stretching out, as countless streams of qi flowed into their bodies. Following that, they could feel an intense itchiness beginning to appear in their bodies, followed by a slight sense of oppression and then a faint pain after, before severe pain replaced it.
The pain was so intense that it was hard for them to breathe.
Gradually, they felt that their bodies seemed to be torn by countless force and that rending painful pain caused them to scream.
"ENDURE IT! Meditate according to the cultivation route. Mark my words and bear it in mind. This is the test of your willpower, and it will bring you endless benefits later. Give your full concentration and keep focusing!" Tang Xiu, who stood at the side, shouted in a heavy tone.
Time passed by, and screams kept undulating as the bodies of the trio continued to twitch inside the Spirit Spring. All the veins and blood vessels protruded on their bodies, with their skin turning red and bleeding. They looked like newborn mouses as all the blood vessels in their bodies could be seen clearly. And yet, their physical fitness was also rapidly strengthening under the painful suffering.
"I can feel it!" Su Quan suddenly opened his eyes and called out in ecstasy.
"SHUT UP! CONTINUE TO SENSE AND TRY TO CONTROL IT!" Yelled Tang Xiu sternly.
Su Quan was immediately startled and then constricted his mind again.
The curtain of the night receded and the day came. The trio was still soaking themselves inside the Spirit Spring. They were now able to adapt to the rending pain. Even if they really wished to jump out from inside, they continued persisting in order to be as powerful as Tang Xiu said.
Sou!
A stream of Primal Chaos Force was released by Tang Xiu and wrapped the bodies of the trio as it pulled them out of the Spirit Spring. He then ordered them to sleep in the cave. After enduring the pain and exerting all their mental strength all night long, the three of them had reached their limits, and Tang Xiu needed to make them rest so as to restore their mental strength.
As noon came, Tang Xiu woke the trio up and threw them into the Spirit Spring again. He pulled them out when night fell, ordered them to rest again and then threw them into the Spirit Spring yet again.
As time passed by, the quartet was unaware that the Su Family Village had turned upside down because of their disappearance. Some people even rushed to the public security bureau and organized a group of people to venture deep into the mountain.
At this time, it was already the end of the year. The night of the 30th day of the last month.
Chapter 632: Drastic Increase in Strength
In the center of the stone forest, Tang Xiu sat at the edge of the Spirit Spring watching Su Xiangfei, who was still inside it.
Su Ben and Su Quan had finished their cultivation and already put their clothes on and stood at the side. The wrecking cultivation for two days resulted in them being able to feel the Qi inside their bodies and even control it.
Splash…
Along with the sound of splashing water, the naked Su Xiangfei jumped out of the spring water. Excitement flashed in his eyes as he called out, "I can control the flow of Qi in my body now, Tang Xiu. I can also control it following the route of cultivation technique. It's been running three times in my meridians."
"How thick is the flow of Qi in your body?" Asked Tang Xiu.
"About the size of a needle," answered Su Xiangfei after pondering slightly.
Tang Xiu turned his gaze toward Su Ben and Su Quan and asked, "What about you two?"
Looking pleased with himself, Su Quan answered, "The stream of qi I can control is stronger than Xiangfei's, about the size of a match."
Su Ben scratched the back of his head before raising his hand and extended his little finger, saying, "Mine is probably half of my little finger, kinda as big as a chopstick—should be a bit thicker than a disposable chopstick, I think. But the length is quite short, only a few centimeters."
"What?!"
Su Quan and Su Xiangfei were taken aback, especially the latter as his mouth twitched a few times and looked embarrassed. He had heard from Tang Xiu before that a human's constitution was divided into various grades and ranks. People with a great constitution would have faster cultivation speed compared to ones with poor fitness. And now it looked like that he had a huge gap with Su Ben and Su Quan.
"Not bad." Tang Xiu nodded and smilingly said. "For being able to sense the flow of Qi in your meridians as well as controlling it according to the cultivation route means that you all have officially embarked on the cultivation path. Furthermore, your physical strength has progressed drastically after two days of cultivation. You should be several times stronger than before. Now, try to lift some stones to test your strength."
"I'll try first," reply Su Ben.
Immediately, his gaze landed on a stone nearby of about 100 pounds. He was able to lift a stone weighing 100 pounds of stone in the past, albeit having quite a bit of difficulty. As his hands circled around the stone, he exerted his strength suddenly and the stone was easily lifted by him, and he even nearly threw it into the air due to lifting it too fast.
"How could it be so light?" Su Ben muttered in disbelief.
"If you can move 100 pounds of stone before, you should now find a 300-400 pounds' stone and try to lift it," commented Tang Xiu with a smile.
"300 to 400 pounds? Can I really lift it up?" Asked Su Ben, astounded.
"How will you know it if you don't give it a try?" Said Tang Xiu with a smile.
Su Ben nodded firmly and his eyes now set on a stone weighting nearly 400 pounds about seven-plus meters away. He walked over there and hugged it.
"Up…"
The stone was lifted, he and even faintly felt that he could lift a much heavier stone.
500 pounds! He estimated that he could lift a 500 pounds' stone. If he exerted out his full strength, he could even throw it more than 10 meters at the very least.
Following his action, Su Quan and Su Xiangfei also gave themselves a try. To their pleasant surprise, they found that they were able to easily lift a 200-300 pounds' stone. Though their strength was not as strong as Su Ben's, they were at least several times stronger than before.
Tang Xiu nodded with a satisfied expression. These three fellas had extremely good luck—so good they would make countless cultivators feel jealous. The first time they started cultivating was aided by the Earth vein's Spirit Spring, making their cultivation speed soar to the sky like they were riding a rocket. Recalling how Kang Xia and Andy began cultivating, Andy spent quite a lot of time to be able to feel the flow of Qi and then slowly trying to control it, while Kang Xia spent a few months.
"Xiangfei, hurry and pick up your clothes and put them on, will you?" Tang Xiu laughed. "There may be no women here, but looking at you running about naked is gross."
Su Xiangfei was stunned and suddenly bolted towards his clothes with a reddened face. He quickly grabbed them from the ground and put them on. Tang Xiu's teasing, however, dissipated the remaining the unpleasantness he had, giving him a clean and fresh feeling.
While looking at the sky, Tang Xiu then spoke, "We've been here for two days if I remember correctly, and tonight should be New Year's Eve. I'm afraid we've created a big rumpus outside due to our disappearance. So, guys, let's go now. We must find that leopard tonight and exterminate it."
"No problem!"
"We can definitely kill it!"
"Alright!"
The trio rubbed their fists and looked eager to get into action. There was no more fear on their faces, as the drastic increase in their strength boosted their courage as well. Though Tang Xiu wanted to warn the trio that they must not take it lightly, he did not want to strike their enthusiasm at the moment. Besides, he was confident that that leopard savage beast would not be able to kill them with his presence.
"Just let them taste a bit of hardship!"
Tang Xiu faintly smiled. After leaving the stone forest with the trio, he quickly entered the forested mountain. Since the trio had their physical strength increased, their strength and speed far exceeded their previous state, and therefore were able to move very fast while keeping a constant observation of the surroundings. Tang Xiu even released his perception to the fullest and observed the range of 400-500 meters around.
More than an hour later, Tang Xiu stopped halfway up the mountain all of a sudden. A smile appeared on his face as he pointed to the southeast direction and said, "Our luck is quite good. I can hear the cry of a leopard over there, and it's very close to our position—about a few hundred meters away. Follow and keep up with me. We're going to kill it and then go home to celebrate the New Year."
****
In the Su Family Village.
Anxiousness painted Su Lingyun's face as she stood restless in the courtyard. Her hands hugging Gu Yin's shoulders were shaking. Though Tang Yunde and Mu Qingping were also anxious and worried, they did not show it on their faces.
"Have the villagers come back?"
Zhang Shi came out from the house with a worried face. Beside her was Su Yaning, who was silent.
"No, they haven't. I just went out and asked around." Tang Yunde shook his head. "Mother, how about you prepare dinner at home first? I'm going to the back of the mountain to look for them, too. Now is New Year's Eve, so we can still have a good hot meal after I find Xiu'er and we come back."
"You just arrived, Yunde!" Zhang Shi waved his hand. "Take a rest first before doing something. Besides, many people from our village have gone there, along with the police from the town and the county's police station. I'm sure they will find Xiu'er."
At this time, Chen Huiying who lived next door walked inside. After seeing Tang Yunde and Su Lingyun, she looked slightly dazed and immediately asked, "How is it? Did someone find them?"
"No, they haven't. Let's just wait some more!" Sighed Zhang Shi.
With a distressed expression, Chen Huiying said, "These little devils are really insane! Even if they want to kill that beast, it doesn't mean you must venture into the mountain to take that risk! If anything happens to Ben'er, I… I don't want to live anymore."
"Don't worry, sis-in-law." Tang Yunde quickly comforted her. "Xiu'er has great abilities. Let alone an ordinary beast, he wouldn't fear even if that thing was a monster. Maybe they just went to look for it in the mountain, and I believe they will be back tonight if they can't find it."
****
In the outermost mountaintop near the Su Family Village.
Hundreds of villagers and police officers equipped themselves with flashlights and weapons were currently searching everywhere and shouts were constantly heard. Zhao Donghe, the chief of the County Public Security Bureau, held a loudspeaker and shouted Tang Xiu's group names.
He originally had already returned to his home and was preparing to paste the couplets with his wife and children, as well as buying some items for the New Year. Then he received a phone call and was informed that four young men from the Su Family Village had gone up the mountain today to look for the beast that killed the villagers. Therefore, he summoned dozens of policemen to rush over there along with the men from the fire brigade department.
On the way to the Su Family Village, he had planned to find someone to look for them, and would only spend one day at most in the case that they couldn't find them. Who would have thought that after he arrived at the Su Family Village, he learned that one of those four young men was Tang Xiu? He immediately changed his mind and personally ordered that they must find the group of four no matter how long it would take and how much it would cost.
Zhao Donghe was perfectly aware of the reason why he was able to sit on the seat of the County Public Security Bureau's Chief, as it was entirely because of Tang Xiu. At that time, the person who competed with him for the position of the Public Security Bureau's Chief was Magistrate Hong, the county's Head Magistrate commissioner. It was entirely because of Tang Xiu that he got the position with direct instructions from the leaders above. Even the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission sent a team to conduct an investigation on County Magistrate Hog, and as a result, the man was now still in prison.
He did not know who those people behind Tang Xiu were. What he could affirm was that they were definitely not from the city, because the inspection team from the city that came to investigate Magistrate Hong back then was actually led by someone from the capital.
"Chief Zhao, we can't venture any further, it's too dangerous." The leader of the fire brigade following beside Zhao Donghe spoke with a face painted with a wry smile. He had learned from the villagers of the Su Family Village that the back of this mountain was filled with many beasts and the terrain was arduously steep—and slight carelessness would send them to danger.
Zhao Donghe clenched his fists. Despite having spent a day to trek from side to side in the mountain, he still ground his teeth and said, "No. We must find these four youngsters no matter how dangerous it is. Anyways, the villagers should be tired. Tell whoever is unable to keep up that they can go back immediately, while I'm going to personally lead the team to venture deeper and look for them."
The leader of the fire brigade wore a confused expression. He couldn't understand why Zhao Donghe was so adamant and persistent in this search. Weren't they only four youngsters? Not to mention that getting lost in the deeply forested mountain was a normal occasion, and yet not necessarily dangerous either! What's more, many people had already gone deeper into the forested mountain to look for them. Moreover, the night would be pitch black and once they ventured deeper, it would be inevitable that some people would be injured. With all these reasons, was the endeavor still worth it?
"Chief Zhao, the firefighters—my men shall and must venture deeper to look for them, but the civilians are already tired. I think it would best if you take them and go back. Just assign some police officers to accompany and follow us," said the leader of the fire brigade with a serious expression.
"No need to persuade me. I must stay here."