Looking back, Han Li couldn’t help but give a knowing smile.
In the half year that Han Li spent with Zhang Tie, because their personalities matched well with each other, the two had naturally became very close friends.
Han Li slowly stood from his crossed-legged position and rubbed his calves. After sitting in the cross-legged position and meditating for a long time, his legs had become numb, and even some of his bloodstreams felt clogged.
After kneading them for some times, his legs returned back to their normal state. Standing up, Han Li dusted himself in his usual custom before exiting the stone chamber.
Turning his head back to look at the stone chamber used for cultivation, Han Li couldn’t help but sneer at himself.
This entire chamber was made of solid granite while the doors were made of a giant piece of crocidolite. If a normal human wanted to break into this room, he or she would need to spend at least three hours hacking at the doors with an enormous axe.
(TL: crocidolite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riebeckite)
In the Seven Mysteries Sect, only the Sect Leader, Elders, and Division Heads were allowed to use this type of silent cultivation chamber. Not even Inner Disciples were allowed to use them as they pleased! This cultivation chamber was created for those practicing profound cultivation techniques to guard their practice against any external disruption and in order to prevent qigong deviation. Han Li didn’t know what methods Doctor Mo had used, but the Sect somehow granted him the usage of his own personal cultivation stone chamber, built into the side of the cliff of the God Hand Valley.
(TL: Qigong deviation is when cultivation goes awry.)
After the cultivation chamber was built, Doctor Mo had assigned it for Han Li’s sole use. Seeing such a gift, Han Li couldn’t help but feel humbled by Doctor Mo’s benevolence.
Doctor Mo’s treatment of Han Li was perhaps too good to be true. Ever since Han Li had became his official apprentice, Doctor Mo had personally dipped into his own supply of herbs for Han Li to consume. Not only that, Doctor Mo also created an unknown medicinal bath for him to soak his body in. Han Li didn’t know what types of herbs were being used, but as he watched Doctor carefully refine those herbs, his normally impassive face revealed a hint of reluctance. Even Han Li could figure out that these herbs were extremely valuable.
Clearly these benefits were extremely useful to him, causing Han Li’s cultivation speed to increase severalfold.Han Li had recently succeeded in mastering the first level of the mysterious formula chant imparted to him by Doctor Mo.
During his process of breaking through, his meridians had nearly ruptured several times and he had suffered from some moderate internal injuries. But thanks to Doctor Mo’s expertise in the healing arts, the injuries to his meridians were easily repaired, and with the aid of the medicinal herbs, Han Li did not suffer from any serious, permanent damage.
Every time Han Li was even slightly injured, Doctor Mo would become even more worried than Han Li himself. This worry manifested itself the entire time he treated Han Li, making Doctor Mo very tense. It was only when Han Li’s injuries began recovering that he let out a sigh of relief.
Doctor Mo’s concern went far beyond that of a normal relationship between master and disciple and caused Han Li to feel a little uneasy about the situation. If it were not for his Third Uncle or the fact that no one ever walked out from these valleys, Han Li would have thought that Doctor Mo was actually his long lost relative based on the attention that he had been showing to Han Li.
(TL: the author did not make it clear how Han Li’s Third Uncle prevented him from thinking this)
Walking out of the cultivation chamber, Han Li lazily stretched his body and walked away from the cliff. After he had become an official disciple, Han Li and Zhang Tie moved from their original quarters into their own personal house.
As he passed by Zhang Tie’s room, Han Li shot a glance inside.
As it turns out, Zhang Tie wasn’t inside. Han Li thought that he was probably by the Crimson Water Peak’s waterfall, cultivating his new martial arts technique.
After the examination, Doctor Mo instructed Han Li to continue practicing the oracular formula chant and refused to teach him any martial arts. However, in an attempt to pacify Han Li, Doctor Mo personally instructed Han Li in the art of healing without holding anything back. Whenever Han Li had a question about medicine, Doctor Mo would answered right away, even going as far as allowing Han Li to look through the various books in Doctor Mo’s library to find an answer to his question.