Forgotten One

Mo Fen's eyes almost bulged out of the sockets. His eyes were bloodshot, he didn't know if Lei Shu was just plain stupid or a maniac.

"Ahhh"

Lei Shu was grunting constantly. When he first jumped into the bowl, he thought he could just leave once his body was done absorbing enough, he wanted to test the limit of his intake. Now he had realized that was completely idiotic. The medicine was viscous to the point where it clung to his body and kept him submerged within it. Lei Shu couldn't even make his way out of the pot. He had to sit there in pain and wait, wait until his body absorbed all of the medicine. Almost 3 quarters of the medicine had been absorbed when his body began slowly tearing itself apart under the immense pressure. His body couldn't contain the power entering it and it began to harm him from the inside.

These sudden events did not leave Lei Shu shocked. He was actually pleasantly surprised. Even though his body was writhing in pain beneath the medicine, he kept his voice down to low grunting noises. He wouldn't let himself succ.u.mb to such a measly medicine. A devilish grin began to spread across his face.

"Now this is what I'm talking about. When I took a bowl of medicine per day, I would harm myself until streams of blood would drip down my limbs in order to better absorb the medicine. To gain the greatest effects one must be injured. Now that my body can't contain the medicine's strength it has begun breaking down. But because I'm already used to this medicine from taking one bowl a week, the breaking down of my body cannot catch up to the absorption." He smiled devilishly, "As long as I can face this temporary pain, my body will manage to absorb the entirety of the medicine. My body will be transformed, I can't imagine how strong I will be."

Lei Shu sat quietly in the pot. Several hours had passed and the look on Mo Fen's face gradually calmed down. "This kid sure is crazy, crazily perfect for the path of cultivation." Mo Fen was filled with joy at the outcome he was witnessing, and he gradually descended the peak, making his way ever so slowly towards the cave. Countless beasts littered the ground as with a wave of a hand they ran off. The smaller ones actually began flying through the air until they finally slammed onto the floor, battered and bruised with broken bones. Mo Fen seemed a bit worried as he began to heal them. He never wanted to cause any real pain to anything that wasn't trying to harm him. The bigger beasts just ran as they felt the shockwaves from afar and chose not to pursue him as a target. After healing those small beasts that were injured, he continued to make his way to the cave.

If someone would barge into the cave right now, they would think it was either the home of a corrupt cultivator, a maniac or the lair of a spiritual beast. There's were bones of corpses in one corner, in the next was a poison chamber and beside it a man sitting in an empty pot. His upper body completely b.a.r.e and the pungent odour of blood filling the cave. He looked as though he was asleep, but the truth is, he never went to sleep. Lei Shu stayed up the whole night, making sure nothing went wrong during the absorption. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't even fall asleep. Under that constant pain, he was kept awake. Even now he wanted to get up, fill his belly and then sleep but he couldn't. Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't move at all. His body was extremely sore from withstanding the rest of the medicine.

"THUMP THUMP THUMP"

Mo Fen had currently entered the cave. Nothing startled him as he was watching everything that transpired from afar. He came in like, he came out, with a carefree expression. Coming in was a lot easier this time because it wouldn't be his kids inside, so he had nothing to worry about. Lei Shu was trying to get up and bow but Mo Fen did not make an issue of it. His heavy voice rang out.

"There is no need to go out of your way and bow to me. I've been watching from afar and know what you just went through. I'm not sure if I should commend you or scold you. Only someone who lost their mind would do what you did, and they would have lost their body as well. Hmm, the only reason you survived is because the spiritual beast meat gave you an increase in strength. If you didn't have this slight increase your body wouldn't have been able to keep up with the rate at which it was being broken down. But it really is weird, I don't think I've heard of humans eating spiritual beast meat to enhance their strength. Maybe it's because I haven't been out in so long, constantly stuck in this cave.

"Well, the thing you need most right now is some rest. Once your body reaches an equilibrium your power will increase heavily." As Mo Fen said that he left the cave and his voice rang out once more. "I will be back in a few hours, and when I return, we will immediately begin your trial."

Lei Shu was relieved, he thought that Mo Fen's return would mark the beginning of the trial, but he still had some time. Lei Shu fell into a deep sleep and woke with the sound of a voice.

"Lei Shu it is time for your trial. I will quickly explain what has to be done. The first thing you need to know is that you'll be on your own. I will not be watching over you at all, your safety is your own responsibility. Next, the trial will last for 2 weeks. You must survive on your own outside of the cave. That is only secondary though, your main task is to kill 10 ordinary beasts. The ordinary beasts include the common bull, serpent, and boar."

Lei Shu thought it over and it wasn't as bad as he had thought, only the length was a bit long. But it was fine, more time meant more time to improve. Another issue was that these common beasts weren't so common. Although they had them on Earth, the ones in this canyon have been tempered by the darkness. They have grown stronger and a bit bigger than their counterparts on Earth.

"Lei Shu you must brace yourself if you run into a spiritual beast make sure to hide until it is safe to leave. With your current strength, it would be impossible to defeat any of them. The 3 rank 1 spiritual beasts in the outer portion of the canyon are the brown hair spider, demon wolf and dark horse. You should know them as they've been the 3 beasts you have been eating in the cave."

"Lei Shu understands but how many layers does the canyon have?"

Mo Fen spoke, "The entire canyon is separated by 3 different areas, the outer, inner and core area. The outer area is composed of withered ghost plants and common beasts. The outer area is where you can find rank 1 spiritual beasts and even rank 2 spiritual beasts. The last place is absolutely off-limits, the core area is where the rank 4 and even overlord rank 5 beasts rest. They usually never leave their nest unless they are provoked so don't make too big of a disturbance. That's it, I can't tell you too much as this can be a valuable learning experience."

Lei Shu performed a courteous bow and by the time he raised his head, Mo Fen was nowhere to be seen. Like the dust, he disappeared and now Lei Shu was sitting alone in the cave. He slowly got up, he took the dagger from his robes and he looked clumsily at the poison chamber. He didn't know where to put it but then he remembered that Mo Fen left a bag on the floor by the entrance.

Lei Shu walked up to the leather bag and slowly opened it. There was a tied-up scroll and beside it a ring. The letter said, "Hello my soon to be disciple, I have been watching you and admire your intelligence in finding a purpose for the poison chamber. Instead of carrying it around as a burden, I have left a makeshift spatial ring. It is a dull gray and is crude because you don't have spiritual strength yet. This ring has 5 uses before it completely disintegrates. Just place the item on top of the ring and it will immediately absorb it. If the item was the first you absorbed, tap the ring once. If you need the second thing you absorbed, tap the ring twice and if you need the third thing, tap it 3 times. It will keep going on all the way up to your 5 uses. Hopefully, this comes as a great assistance to you. Good luck young child, when you finish your task meet me back at the cave and we will perform the official ceremony."

Lei Shu was truly grateful, this would save him from dragging around the dead bodies of beasts, now he could store food inside. He also gained a method to carry and conceal the horsehair, poison chamber and even the dagger.

"First, I must get at least 1 beast, so I won't starve to death. I can drink its blood and eat its meat, then I'll need shelter or a method to help me survive."

Lei Shu made his way out of the cave and took his first step into the darkness. When he first arrived, he couldn't see a thing, it was completely pitch black. Now he is able to make out some of the beasts' movements, he could see it when even the smallest bit of light was reflected in their eyes. Using this he could avoid and even target some beasts. The first thing he approached when he left the cave was a serpent. It was jade green with diamond patterns covering its body, and dark yellow eyes. Its tongue could be heard from afar "Ssssssssssssss."

Lei Shu was standing amongst the direction of the wind, masking his scent as the serpent used its tongue to find its surroundings. He slowly crept up close to the serpent and stepped on its neck. The serpent began to spasm but it quickly counter-attacked. Lei Shu was prepared and threw a stalk of withered ghost plants at its mouth. The serpent had to change its direction to dodge the poison plant and in doing so it backed off of Lei Shu. Lei Shu didn't let this opportunity go.

The serpent was greatly disordered because it had never fought against any person before, let alone anyone using poison plants as a weapon. Lei Shu would never let such a good chance go away, he immediately summoned his dagger and slashed across the serpents' body. The serpent was greatly injured, it tried to squirm away, but Lei Shu caught it by the neck. He lifted the serpent up into the air and simultaneously raised his dagger.

He viciously slashed across the serpents' neck and with the breeze, its head was carried off into the distance. Lei Shu was utterly shocked, believing this trial to be far too easy. He then remembered his time soaking in the pot, maybe it was because of that?

1 out of 10 common beasts have already been killed. Lei Shu could complete his trial in 1 week at this speed. Although he killed a beast, the serpent barely had any meat on it and barely any nutritional value. Relying solely on snakes, Lei Shu would die. His eyes pierced into the distance and he could hear the hooves of another beast.

"DUM DUM DUM DUM"

He heard the hooves banging into the ground and immediately realized it was the sound of a horse.