Second Patriarch: Rise Of The Liu Clan

For a few days after receiving 72 D.e.s.i.r.es, Liu Zhu spent almost all of his time practicing the technique. Despite this, he still wasn't able to perform the most basic form, 2 D.e.s.i.r.es. It would take him some time to get used to the way he had to wield the guandao to use the technique and the initial movements, not to mention the arm strength required to properly perform two near-simultaneous strikes. Luckily the pressure on his arms would be greatly reduced once he fine-tuned his movements and could properly perform 2 D.e.s.i.r.es, but for the time being trying to forcefully execute it could be dangerous.

After a few days Liu Zhu decided to focus on something else for a day, figuring that he might have a new realization about the technique after a short break. Instead of just holing himself up and cultivating as usual, he decided to seek out Tian Ru. Usually this happened the other way around, but Liu Zhu had recently noticed that Tian Ru went to the forest every few days, and was curious if he'd found a good spot to train.

"You decided to come out of cultivation for once? What's the occasion?" Tian Ru stopped beating on a training dummy that had been vibrating furiously back and forth as he said this, turning to face Liu Zhu. The training dummy slowly stopped vibrating as he stopped his assault on it, Liu Zhu's appearance narrowly saving it from being sent flying out of the ground by Tian Ru's blows. "Not much. I was wondering if you go to the forest together- you train there, right?" Tian Ru chuckled as he gathered a few things off the ground. "Good timing, I was just about to leave. Follow my lead and I'll show you a good spot."

A few minutes later the two began travelling deep into the forest, making small talk as they weaved between the trees. "Congratulations on the breakthrough Brother Liu, does that mean we'll see your face around a bit more?" Liu Zhu chuckled at the remark as he responded. "Maybe, but there's something I need to practice for the time being. Anyways, I'll need to congratulate you on your own breakthrough soon, right?" "Oh? You could tell?" "I saw you training earlier, of course I could. That's more force than you could exert before right?" Tian Ru just grunted in response before stopping and carefully looking around. "It should be around here."

Tian Ru carefully led Liu Zhu forward as a rumbling sound grew in the background. Eventually they exited the forest, entering a clearing with a waterfall that had been obscured by the trees. At the base of the waterfall was a small lake deep enough that it was hard to see the bottom. Tian Ru approached the lake, dipping his hand into it. He shivered slightly as he did so. "The pressure under the waterfall is crushing and the water is freezing. On the bright side, it's good for testing your endurance and tempering your body evenly. You might miss out on a few spots during normal cultivation, but water pressure doesn't differentiate. Just, uh, don't drown- that would be troubling."

Liu Zhu quipped back at Tian Ru as he entered the lake. "I was planning to drown myself before you mentioned it, but I guess that would be a problem." As Liu Zhu entered the water he involuntarily shivered. The water was cold, and as he dived further it only became worse. It would be a test of endurance on multiple fronts to cultivate here.

The lake was around 30 feet deep, but the waterfall itself went two or three times that depth. Tian Ru settled on a spot 20 feet beneath the waterfall, while Liu Zhu went to twice that depth. The water was freezing and the pressure assaulted every inch of his body, but once he got used to it his cultivation became oddly pleasant. He could feel the pressure bearing down evenly on his body, helping to temper areas he normally wouldn't use much in training. He'd tried to cultivate so that everywhere reached a similar level of strength, but naturally he would miss out on some areas, so training like this was helpful.

Liu Zhu settled into a cycle of cultivating under the waterfall for five minutes, surfacing for a breath, and then returning for more. While cultivating, Liu Zhu heard Tian Ru surface. A moment after that he heard some splashing and a loud noise. Confused, Liu Zhu surfaced as well. Upon surfacing, he immediately saw what all the noise was about- a massive bear was currently standing at the shore of the lake, sniffing at their clothes.

Tian Ru stayed silent as he just stared at the bear, his face slightly pale. Liu Zhu managed to snap out of it after a few moments, rapidly trying to think of a solution. Even though the water should have washed off their scents and he didn't think bears could swim, it would be best to leave before it noticed them. Still... he wasn't willing to leave without his clothes, and to do that he had to deal with the bear. He wasn't willing to have any weird rumors crop about him streaking through the woods just because of some beast.

After a couple minutes, Liu Zhu thought of something. "Brother Tian, I have an idea." "Shoot." "I'll approach the bear, bait it a bit, and try to get it to the shore of the lake. Then we can try to drown it or push it into the lake from there, switching out positions as it attacks us. Whoever's free will grab our things so that we can run if we need to. What do you think?" Tian Ru's had an odd expression on his face as he responded. "What do I think... err... it's a bit risky to say the least. Even with your strength far beyond normal Flesh Tempering cultivators, I'm doubtful we'll have enough power to drag the bear into the lake. Still, I don't have a better idea. We'll go with yours."

The two went onto the opposite shores and then slowly made their way towards the bear, relying on the water to mask their scent as they did so. After a painful, several minute crawl, they closed in on the bear, flanking it. Liu Zhu acted first, grabbing one of its paws and yanking on it to pull it forward.

The bear was drawn forward slightly but reacted with an angry roar and a hurried attempt to smash Liu Zhu into paste with its other paw. He managed to dodge due to the lack of preparation and low speed of the bear, quickly making some distance. Tian Ru moved in next, drawing the bear's attention for a moment. Unfortunately his strength wasn't enough to do much to the bear, but this distraction allowed Liu Zhu to grab the bear by the leg, pulling it a bit closer towards the lake. The bear angrily pulled its leg upwards, wresting it out of Liu Zhu's grasp. Liu Zhu dodged as the bear kicked against the ground, creating a small, deep hole where Liu Zhu had been standing.

The two switched positions once more, Tian Ru grabbing the bear's attention while Liu Zhu tried to drag it into the lake. They had made some progress when the bear kicked out towards Liu Zhu at an odd angle and Liu Zhu, not expecting an attack from that angle, couldn't dodge in time. The bear's leg came in contact with his c.h.e.s.t, sending him flying backwards into a rock sitting next to the lake.

The rock cracked in two as Liu Zhu smacked against it. The impact only worsened Liu Zhu's wound, but it stopped him from being kicked any further away. Liu Zhu's focus faded for a moment as pain shot through his c.h.e.s.t, but after a couple of breaths he regained lucidity, examining the situation. The bear was still focused on him, and he was bleeding pretty heavily from his c.h.e.s.t. He had also broken a couple of bones while he was at it. He needed to run.

Liu Zhu prepared to run, but Tian Ru got to him first. "I managed to get everything while you were attacked, we're running now." Liu Zhu just nodded as he stumbled to his feet, beginning to run like his life depended on it. Luckily the two of them managed to get away without any trouble, and Liu Zhu took a look at the clothes he had tried so hard to get back. There were a few claw marks in the shirt, but besides that they seemed fine.

Once Liu Zhu was dressed, he took a closer look at his wound. The bleeding had already slowed down greatly, probably due his absurd healing ability. Tian Ru was confused upon seeing this, but happy nonetheless- he wasn't a medic, and if the bleeding was too heavy he was worried that something bad would happen before they could return to the Yu Clan. The two took a short rest before running back to the Yu Clan's estate, agreeing to never speak of this incident again.