Thump!
The massive wild boar was sent flying two meters by the impact, slamming heavily onto the ground. Its head already bloodied and battered, the boar grew even more dizzy and disoriented. Howling, with bloodshot eyes, it tried to get back up and resume the fight. It swore it would not rest until it had slaughtered that detestable human who had injured it.
Nearby, Su You had also been knocked to the ground by the recoil. Instantly, the pain in his abdomen came rushing back like a tidal wave; this time, he truly had not an ounce of strength left. He struggled, wanting to get up, but simply could not manage it.
*I just wanted to learn some Immortal Art and gain eternal life, so how on earth did I end up picking a fight with a wild boar?*
Su You felt like crying, though no tears came.
*Fighting and killing is so uninteresting, I just want to cultivate immortality in peace and leisure!*
On the other side, the wild boar ultimately failed to rise again. It glared fiercely at Su You not far away, its gaze vicious, while Su You stared right back at the boar, terrified that it might get up first and pose a threat to him.
Man and boar locked eyes just like that.
The situation fell into a deadlock.
Su You blurted out, "What are you glaring at?"
Wild boar: ???
Su You added, "Wanna try glaring again?"
Wild boar: "Roar!"
Feeling that he was being mocked, the wild boar entered a berserk mode once more. With a series of huffs and puffs, it struggled to its feet, frightening Su You so badly that he sprang up with a carp kip, dashed over to a towering ancient tree nearby, and scrambled right up.
The boar got up, only to find that Su You had already climbed the tree and was giving it the middle finger—though it didn't quite understand what the gesture meant, it felt deeply humiliated all over again.
Sitting on a treetop, Su You switched from his middle finger to his index finger and shouted, "Come on then!"
"Roar!"
Furious, the wild boar roared and charged straight at the massive tree, which was a good five meters in diameter.
Boom!
The ancient tree trembled, and Su You, straddling a branch, nearly tumbled down, scaring him into hugging the bough for dear life.
"Roar!"
The wild boar rammed into the tree several times in succession. Unfortunately, the sturdy ancient tree was too solid for it to break. Instead, the boar's tusks kept jamming into the trunk, making them difficult to pull out. Enraged, it roared at Su You over and over again, yet remained utterly helpless against him.
Thump!
The wild boar's long tusks embedded themselves deep into the tree trunk once more, leaving it unable to move.
Taking advantage of this opening, Su You hurriedly snapped off a thick branch. With a sudden leap, he straddled the wild boar's back, raised the branch, and thrust it fiercely right into the boar's rear end.
"Awoooo—!"
The wild boar's bloodshot eyes instantly widened, and it collapsed onto the ground in agony. But this time Su You didn't let his guard down; he kept jabbing the branch ruthlessly, inflicting pain that made the boar wail endlessly. Only when he confirmed that the boar had breathed its last did he collapse to the side, panting and weak.
A slender, graceful, and enchanting figure appeared. Xixi had arrived.
Cool and lovely as ever, she wore her usual faint, detached expression. Yet if anyone were to look closely, they might just spot a few twitching veins on her pristine white forehead...
Although the ultimate victory belonged to Su You, this scene... was simply too much to bear!
"Fairy Sister!" Su You jumped down from the wild boar in pleasant surprise and asked, "I passed the test, right?"
"Uh..." Xixi's gaze was ice-cold.
"Fairy Sister, was I brilliant?"
"Ah..." Xixi's demeanor remained captivating.
"Fairy Sister, you can teach me the Immortal Art now!"
"Well..." Xixi fell into deep thought.
"Fairy Sister?" Su You blinked. The pain in his abdomen had subsided quite a bit. Looking at Xixi's expressionless face, he wondered silently if he had done something wrong.
Granted, he had indeed grown careless midway; otherwise, he could have easily dealt with the boar without getting injured. Still, relying on his own wits, he had managed to resolve the problem.
His methods might have been a bit unsightly, but at least this wild boar was dead now, wasn't it?
After pondering for a long time, Xixi finally spoke in a soft voice, "The path of cultivation is fraught with hardship and danger."
Was she finally going to impart the Dao? Su You hurriedly listened in quiet anticipation.
"There are three thousand Great Daos, but all roads lead to the same destination," Xixi continued.
"Yet for all things that seek to manifest their power, they must first..."
Su You chimed in with a question, "Must first labor their muscles and bones, and starve their bodies?"
Xixi felt a sudden urge to hit someone.
"Must first endure trials and tribulations, sublimating between life and death." Xixi looked at Su You and said, "I believe you have already drawn a lesson from this battle."
Su You's face instantly soured, and he said, "This was my first time, after all. I just wasn't paying attention for a moment..."
"Summarize your combat insights, rest for a moment, and then we fight again," Xixi said coldly.
"Huh? We're still doing this?" Su You felt a headache coming on. He thought for a moment, weighed his words, and said, "Fairy Sister, is this kind of training really necessary? Isn't there a slightly more peaceful method?"
Xixi replied, "Without experiencing life and death, how can one reach the peak?"
"Er..." Su You pleaded, "Isn't there a method where you just focus on cultivation and become an immortal like that?"
Xixi shook her head slightly and said softly, "If you wish to become an immortal, you must walk a path of slaughter."
Ah, this...
Su You felt a splitting headache. This seemed rather different from the immortal cultivation life he had imagined! Shouldn't it be about going into seclusion for three thousand years and emerging as an immortal?
"In the primordial era, heavenly-grade fierce beasts would give birth to offspring and cast them into the battlefield of all spirits, forcing them to endure slaughter and break through their ultimate limits as a way to temper themselves," Xixi said slowly. "I shall use this as a benchmark to guide your cultivation..."
Wait a minute!
Su You's eyes widened. The primordial era? Heavenly-grade fierce beasts? Xixi, aren't your expectations of me a bit too high? Just who on earth are you?!
"Fairy Sister, um, I suddenly don't want to become an immortal anymore..." Su You wailed tearfully.
"No," Xixi refused without a single moment of hesitation. "Since I promised to impart the Dao to you, I must keep my word."
Su You suddenly felt as though he had lifted a rock only to drop it on his own feet.
I regret this so much!
"All things have their end; only the immortal can endure forever."
Picking Su You up, Xixi soared into the sky and said, "Starting today, you will slay one hundred fierce beasts every day. You are not allowed to rest until you finish."
Su You: "No—!"
...
Snowflakes drifting, north wind howling...
One month later.
"Roar!"
A mottled fierce tiger leapt out from the mountain forest. Two meters tall, its tiger body was strong and powerful, and a pair of wings grew from its back, enabling it to soar through the air. At this very moment, it was giving chase to a tiny human who had dared to disturb its rest.
Su You sprinted swiftly through the forest. Moving at high speed and utilizing all sorts of complex terrain to dodge and weave, he led the tiger in circles until it was completely disoriented and unable to catch him. The tiger grew so furious that it roared at the mountains from time to time, wishing it could slap him to death in a single blow.
Su You looked relaxed, not taking the beast pursuing him seriously in the least, entirely devoid of his previous nervous anxiety. Over the past month, Xixi had dragged him out every day to seek out various fierce beasts suitable for his training. He was now accustomed to the daily routine of being chased—that's right, being chased, not engaging in life-or-death battles, for Su You had never liked fighting and killing...
Moreover, the level of the beasts pursuing Su You kept rising under Xixi's control. The winged tiger before him right now was an exceptionally powerful entity within the forest, one that very few living creatures dared to provoke.
At that moment, Su You slowed his pace by just a fraction. Instantly, the tiger spread its twin wings, lunged forward once more, and snapped its bloodthirsty jaws at Su You. Having been run in circles until it was frantic and upset, it seized the moment to pounce, completely losing the poise and calm expected of a forest king.
*Now is the time!*
Su You's eyes lit up. The reason he had kept dodging without fighting was precisely to wait for this exact moment when the tiger exposed a flaw.
Suddenly, Su You executed a sharp reverse turn, abruptly diving into an underground cave. Unable to check its momentum, the tiger slammed headfirst into the rock face ahead.
Boom!
The towering rock wall was blasted into a massive crater by the tiger. The iron-hard stone proved as fragile as paper in that moment, and the tiger roared repeatedly, clawing away stone and earth as it prepared to turn and emerge. But Su You promptly burst out of the cave, flashed behind the tiger's back, hoisted a stone spear he had prepared in advance, and thrust it straight into the tiger's rear end!
The tiger instantly went rigid all over, its face turning ashen before it let out a long, agonizing howl: "Awoooo—!"
Another bizarre and inexplicable thing had been added to the list!
In the distance, Xixi looked as pure and refined as an orchid in a secluded valley, breathtakingly beautiful. Yet right now, a few twitching veins could not help but surface once more on her pristine white forehead...
Truly... beyond words!
Xixi gently massaged her forehead, feeling as though she had been completely and utterly defeated by Su You. Over the past month, she had continually instructed him, having him battle various fierce beasts to elevate his combat competence.
Yet Su You kept marching further and further down this crooked, unorthodox path!
"Fairy Sister!"
Waving his hand, with the little tiger already dead as a doornail at his feet, Su You shouted, "Let's go, time for the next one!"
Expressionless, Xixi flashed over to Su You's side, scooped him up, and flew toward that large lake.
Su You couldn't help feeling a bit strange. This was only the forty-eighth beast for today, so why were they heading back already?
Could it be that Xixi had shown mercy today and decided to let him off?
Before long, Xixi carried Su You back to the lakeside. On the grass nearby stood a massive fish skeleton, with hardly any meat left on it.
"Sit down properly," Xixi said, pointing at him.
Su You hurriedly settled into a stable sitting posture, preparing to listen to today's combat summary.
Looking at the handsome young man before her, Xixi suddenly felt a headache coming on, unsure of what even to say anymore.
She could no longer let things drift and take their own course like this; she had to pull Su You back from his crooked path. Fortunately, her primary objective had merely been to get Su You accustomed to combat, and that goal had already been achieved.
"Tell me about your insights from this past month," Xixi said.
"Well..." Su You pondered for a moment before saying, "I still feel that cultivating immortality this way is quite difficult. How about..."
With a cold, piercing gaze and an expressionless face, Xixi asked, "Oh?"
"How about we ramp up the intensity a little more instead?" Su You snapped upright with a jolt, his eyes burning with bright determination as he shouted at the top of his lungs:
"I wish to become an immortal, with boundless magical power!"