Chapter 13: Uncle Liu’s Letter
The egg that was suspected to be a dragon egg was finally kept near the residence of Li Hao and the others.
“This divine beast egg will hatch by itself when it’s old enough. We just need to put it in a safe place and not let it break…” Fang Mu stroked the large egg. “Although, I doubt any creature can crack this egg.”
Fang Mu could feel that the shell of the egg that they found was extremely hard, able to withstand attacks from cultivators at the Foundation Realm.
“Just leave the egg there. It won’t hatch anytime soon, especially in an environment with qi this thin.” Xiao Fan held up a few sticks. “We have more important things to do.”
Fang Mu did not forget that, due to the dragon going against the sky, their dwellings collapsed and had to be rebuilt.
Li Hao was not interested in the inedible egg and was the first to start cleaning up the rubble of his house. He didn’t know how to build a house, but Xiao Fan promised to help him.
It was while cleaning up the rubble that Li Hao found something he thought was missing: the letter that Uncle Liu had left for him.
“Ah, I can finally read it…” Li Hao slowly opened the letter, the contents of which made his brow furrow, then called out to Fang Mu and Xiao Fan.
“This is a letter from the Uncle Liu who lived with you?” Fang Mu glanced at the paper in his hand.
Li Hao nodded slowly. Fang Mu and Xiao Fan read the letter together, its contents managing to surprise both of them.
The letter contained only a few lines of words, no special message for Li Hao.
“If you are reading this letter, then someone has taught you to read. I am sure they will not harm you, because Peach Blossom Mountain will render them powerless.
“If one day you want to get out of Peach Blossom Mountain, go to the biggest peach blossom tree. Under that tree, I stored the key to get out of this place.”
“The key to exiting Peach Blossom Mountain? Does that mean we can get out of here?” Xiao Fan was feeling excited.
“It must not be as easy as we think…” Fang Mu shook his head before glancing at Li Hao. “Hao’er, do you know the location of the biggest peach tree in question?”
Li Hao explained that he knew, but the location was quite remote and filled with dangerous beasts.
“We’d better fix the house first, then visit the place,” Xiao Fan suggested.
Fang Mu agreed and then helped Li Hao to rebuild his house.
***
“Teacher, that’s the oldest peach tree…” Li Hao pointed at a distinctly large tree that was far from them. “We can’t go any further than here.”
“Yes, we can see it… Keep your voice down.” Xiao Fan coughed softly.
Li Hao and his two masters hid in the bushes, because not far from them were several demonic beasts that were much stronger than Li Hao usually hunted.
“From the qi waves they emit… The strength of these demonic beasts is at least at Forging Qi level 7 or even 8…” Fang Mu muttered under his breath as he watched the few beasts.
Li Hao said that the closer to the tree, the more powerful the demonic beasts that roamed about.
The three chose to go home after not finding a solution to get closer to the tree. On the way home, Fang Mu and Xiao Fan started discussing while making plans.
“Uncle Liu who used to accompany Li Hao was clearly a cultivator. He deliberately placed the key to escape from this place amidst the demonic beasts because he wanted Li Hao to leave Peach Blossom Mountain after having enough strength to protect himself…” Xiao Fan argued. In other words, Li Hao could only leave Peach Blossom Mountain if he could face the demonic beasts.
Fang Mu agreed with Xiao Fan. “Hao’er, you should train harder from now on. The two of us will teach you everything we are good at.” He stroked Li Hao’s head.
“You have officially become a cultivator. Even though you are still at Forging Qi level one, we will teach you in turns.” Xiao Fan stroked his chin.
Fang Mu and Xiao Fan began to further discuss Li Hao’s training. Because Li Hao was still a level one Forging Qi cultivator, his qi was still too little, but his physical strength was much stronger than a cultivator of his level.
Fang Mu and Xiao Fan finally agreed, for the first time, that apart from teaching general knowledge about the world, Fang Mu would teach Li Hao swordsmanship while Xiao Fan taught hand-to-hand combat and body strengthening.
Li Hao’s practice of becoming a cultivator finally began.
***
“Teacher Fang, what are you doing?” Li Hao scratched his head when he saw Fang Mu stuffing various plants into a large furnace and heating them with fire.
Previously, Fang Mu asked Li Hao to fetch water from the lake to fill the furnace to the brim. Li Hao thought Fang Mu wanted to use it to bathe or at least boil meat.
“This mountain has a kind of magic formation that makes pills and spirit stones unable to give us qi, but I think using Magic Plants and Spirit Herbs can help you even a little. This water will be needed later after you finish training.”
Fang Mu said it would still take about ten more hours for the furnace to be ready and told Li Hao to attend his training with Xiao Fan. Li Hao nodded before heading towards where Xiao Fan was.
That day, Xiao Fan intended to teach Li Hao how to fight properly, using martial arts.
“Hao’er, so far you have been able to hunt with ease relying on your physical strength, but it all worked out because your prey is much weaker than your strength. But to face an equal or stronger opponent, you must be able to master fighting techniques…”
Xiao Fan took a stance and asked Li Hao to pay attention. “Your body strength is too weak to learn my strongest physical move, so we can start from the basics. I will demonstrate one of the most basic moves in martial arts.”
Xiao Fan started to make some agile movements and unleashed a few punches that made loud noises, his fist turning slightly reddish.
“The name of this move is Red Stone Fist. Did you memorize the moves I showed you?”
