Chapter 173

In Su Chen's view, having dull aptitude and poor comprehension were not important.

As long as one possessed a resilient and self-improving heart, that was enough.

That very day, Master Qinghe cleared out a quiet courtyard in the back of the sect for Su Chen to reside in.

Su Chen brought the still-dazed Shi Yi to live there that same day.

He did not immediately begin teaching the technique, but instead said to Shi Yi: "From today on, stop thinking about everything else and just chop firewood in this courtyard every day. When you can chop every piece of wood in this courtyard into the exact same size, we will begin the next step."

After speaking, Su Chen tossed him an ordinary iron axe, then sat down cross-legged on his own, closed his eyes to rest, and paid him no more mind.

Shi Yi was stunned. Looking at the mountain of firewood in the courtyard and the iron axe in his hand, although he did not understand the Immortal senior's intention, he still picked up the axe without hesitation and began to chop wood.

This was the work he had done most since entering the sect; he was very skilled at it.

But today, he discovered that chopping every piece of wood into the same size was far more difficult than he had imagined.

First, he could not grasp the precision; second, he could not control the force.

After a full day, he was exhausted, drenched in sweat, and aching all over, yet the firewood he chopped was of uneven sizes and a complete mess.

The following days were all the same.

Su Chen remained indifferent, either chatting with Master Qinghe or cultivating in his room every day.

Shi Yi felt a bit suspicious in his heart: what exactly did the Immortal senior mean?

Could it be to test my patience?

But he did not ask; he simply gritted his teeth and repeated this dull action day after day.

A week later, the firewood Shi Yi chopped finally began to become uniform.

Su Chen came to his side and looked at the firewood he had chopped.

"Not bad, it finally looks like something." He gave a rare comment, then said to Shi Yi, "Follow me."

He brought Shi Yi into the room.

"Take off your clothes and get into this barrel." Su Chen pointed to a huge wooden barrel he had prepared long ago.

Shi Yi saw that the barrel was filled with a pitch-black liquid that emitted a pungent odor.

Although he did not know what this was, he took off his clothes without hesitation and jumped into the wooden barrel.

The medicinal liquid was ice-cold and bone-chilling, making him shiver uncontrollably.

Just then, Su Chen flicked his finger, and a wisp of golden flame landed beneath the barrel.

"Whoosh—"

The medicinal liquid in the barrel rapidly rose in temperature and soon became scalding hot.

"Ah!"

Shi Yi felt as if he had been thrown from ice water into a pot of boiling water. A wave of burning, intense pain came from his skin. He let out a miserable scream and instinctively wanted to jump out of the barrel.

"Sit back down!"

Su Chen's voice rang in his ears.

"If you can't even endure this bit of pain, how can you talk about becoming stronger? The bloodline within you has been dormant for too long; without such a violent method, how can it be reactivated?"

"Endure it, keep your mind steady, and use your heart to feel that power within your blood!"

Su Chen's voice seemed to carry a kind of magic.

At his shout, Shi Yi immediately suppressed his instinct to jump out of the barrel.

He gritted his teeth and sat back down into the scalding medicinal liquid.

The intense pain came in waves, one after another.

Shi Yi felt as if his skin were about to be melted by the scalding liquid.

But he remembered the mockery and cold shoulders he had received in the sect over the years, and remembered his secret vow to make something of himself.

"I cannot give up!"

"I must hold on!"

He clenched his fists tightly, his face flushed red, and sweat poured continuously from his head, dripping into the medicinal liquid in the barrel.

Just as Shi Yi was about to pass out from the intense pain, he suddenly felt his blood begin to turn scalding hot.

A strange power was awakening bit by bit from the deepest part of his bloodline.

That power awakening from the depths of his bloodline carried a strange force; Shi Yi felt the temperature of the liquid in the barrel seem to drop, yet he could clearly see that the liquid in the barrel was still boiling.

But as the power within his body grew stronger, Shi Yi felt as if countless small snakes were crazily darting around inside his body, tearing at his flesh and blood.

That kind of intense pain from the inside out was a hundred times more terrifying than mere physical suffering.

His body trembled violently and uncontrollably, his teeth chattered, and the veins on his forehead bulged like twisted earthworms.

"Ah!"

He could no longer hold it back and let out a beast-like roar.

At this moment, wisps of bright red liquid began to seep from his body; it was blood.

Sweat mixed with blood seeped continuously from his pores, and soon he had turned into a bloody person.

Su Chen stood to the side, watching all of this with a calm expression.

The barrel of medicinal liquid he had prepared for Shi Yi was specially concocted based on elixir formulas for physical cultivation, combined with the methods of the Wu Clan.

Not only did it contain various spiritual herbs to stimulate Qi and blood, but more importantly, he had also added a wisp of star baleful Qi that he had refined.

Although it was only a wisp, it was enough to produce sufficient stimulation for Shi Yi's thin Wu Clan bloodline.

This process was immensely dangerous.

But with Su Chen personally guarding him, he could step in to resolve any problems at any time.

However, if he had to intervene, it would prove that this attempt to activate the Wu Clan bloodline in Shi Yi had failed, which was not the result Su Chen wanted.

Fortunately, it now appeared that this child was even more resilient than he had imagined.

Time passed bit by bit.

The medicinal liquid in the barrel, which had been pitch-black as ink at the start, gradually became clear.

His roars gradually weakened, replaced by heavy and suppressed panting.

Finally, when the last bit of medicinal power was completely absorbed, the flame beneath the barrel also extinguished.

Shi Yi collapsed in the barrel, exhausted, unable to move even a single finger.

But his eyes were terrifyingly bright.

He could clearly feel that his body had undergone a earth-shattering change.

Although his body looked as thin and weak as before, it was filled with explosive power on the inside.

His internal organs, tendons, bones, and skin all felt as if they had been reforged, becoming immensely resilient.

"How do you feel?" Su Chen's voice came.

"I... I feel... great!" Shi Yi struggled to sit up, only to find his whole body lacked strength.

Su Chen smiled and flicked his finger; a pill emitting a refreshing fragrance flew into Shi Yi's mouth.

The pill melted upon contact, turning into a warm current that quickly flowed through his entire body.

Shi Yi felt his exhausted body rapidly recovering.

A moment later, he felt he had regained his strength.

He stood up from the barrel and looked down at himself.

His skin was still dark, but beneath his previously thin body, the muscle lines had become firm.

He clenched his fist and felt that he could now kill a cow with one punch.

"Many thanks, Senior!" Shi Yi stepped out of the barrel and was about to kneel to Su Chen.

"Enough, don't kneel at every turn." Su Chen waved his hand and asked Shi Yi: "This is only the first step. Your future cultivation will only be more painful; can you persist?"

"I can!" Shi Yi blurted out.