'No, no, this plan is too stupid,' Harry dismissed it.
'But my dumb idea worked last time,' another voice in his head spoke up.
Charging forward, Harry repeatedly launched attacks, angling each strike so that the fox was slowly backed up against a tree. After some maneuvering, it had no other direction to go and leapt at Harry.
In response, Harry threw out his left arm, as if to use it to block the fox. The Orange Tailed Fox sank its sharp fangs into Harry's flesh, clamping down hard. Gritting his teeth and ignoring the pain, Harry thrust his blade out.
The fox, hanging off his arm and unable to evade in time, was helpless against the incoming sword. It pierced straight through its body and exited out its back. The shocked fox twitched twice, then hung still. But even in death, it maintained its vice grip on Harry's arm.
The move was a sacrificial one, made possible by Harry's willingness to endure pain. In order to launch a killing strike, Harry allowed himself to suffer a minor injury. The fox would never imagine the human would allow itself to be injured, and then continue to attack afterwards.
"Boy, not bad."
Now that the battle was over, the adrenaline faded and Harry could feel the pain in his arm. His arm felt like someone stabbed him a dozen times, which, in hindsight, was exactly what had happened.
"Exalted Cat, you can heal this, right?"
"I can," the cat said lazily. "But I won't."
"But -"
"Boy, if you are on the battlefield, will you rush to the Healer after killing each enemy? You think the next opponent will wait for you and let you lick your wounds? It's best you suffer through some pain, as a lesson to not use such a stupid tactic."
"Fine," Harry grumbled through the searing pain on his arm. He lifted his right arm, about to pry the fox's jaw open, but –
"Let it stay there. If you take it off now, you will lose too much blood. Its teeth will seal your flesh, and its saliva will numb the pain… eventually."
'What?' Harry wanted to yell back. 'You want me to walk around like this?'
The Exalted Cat paid no attention to Harry's discomfort. Instead, it beheaded the fox with a quick swipe of its claws, and instructed Harry where its Beast Core was located. Soon, Harry had another core.
"Heh, we struck rich this time, boy."
"What? It's just a Beast Core."
"Not that. Look in its stomach."
Harry did so, and immediately wished he hadn't. It was a mess, slimy and gooey, of grey sludge with pieces of digested food swimming inside.
"Look at this," the cat pointed to a relatively undigested blob. "This is a Purple Qi Fruit. They are a rich source of Qi, refining one of these is equivalent to refining a high-quality Body Nourishing Pill."
"Exalted Cat, that's disgusting."
"Boy, are you retarded? I'm not telling you to refine this fruit. It's already been digested."
"Then what are you saying?"
"This fruit couldn't have been eaten more than an hour ago. So, there must be a Purple Qi Fruit Tree nearby."
"Exalted Cat, you're a genius!" Harry exclaimed. He would never have discovered this on his own.
"But of course. This Exalted Cat is the most learned being in the Scarlet Phoenix Empire. There is nothing that escapes my notice."
Rolling his eyes, Harry gathered the corpse of the fox and followed the Exalted Cat deeper into the forest.
As it turned out, luck was not on their side. It took a few hours of trekking for them to find the Purple Qi Fruit Tree. It was a tall and purple tree, located deeper in the Wyvern Woods. The bark was purple, the branches were purple, even the leaves were a purple-green color. Hanging off the branches were around 30 Purple Qi Fruits. Unfortunately, it was also guarded by two large gorillas.
"Silver Fur Mountain Gorillas," the Exalted Cat identified. "Peak of the Body Tempering Realm, nearly at the Qi Absorption Realm. They have probably made their home here, so they can eat the fruits when they ripen. Each could kill you in a single hit."
"Damn," Harry muttered. He knew the cat wanted him to fight all his battles himself, but there was no way he could kill these. Not to mention their cultivation, just their bodies were massive. Magic Beasts grew larger as their cultivation increased, and Harry didn't even reach their waist. They could probably kill Harry just by stepping on him.
"How did that fox get one?"
"Because the fox was very fast, and these gorillas are very slow. If you think you are as nimble, you can go ahead and try."
"So… what should we do?"
"These fruits will ripen in just a couple of days. I advise you to forget about it."
Harry sighed. Such a good opportunity, but he was unable to grasp it. If only he was stronger…
"Fine. Maybe we can find other resources."
"That's a good attitude. Never risk your life over something as stupid as a fruit. You cannot win every battle, so know when to retreat and when to avoid fighting. Now, let's leave before they spot you."
Another two weeks passed in the Wyvern Woods. In this time, Harry had killed another 30 middle-level Body Tempering Realm Magic Beasts, and collected their beast cores.
He never realized just how many species of Magic Beasts there were. Amazingly, the Exalted Cat was able to identify each one. He had killed beasts ranging from Silver Grass Carp to Armored Armadillo, from lizards to rodents to large mammals. He encountered even more – for various reasons, there were Magic Beasts that he was unable to hunt down.
Some of them simply moved too fast, sprinting away the moment Harry noticed them. Others flew away, leaving Harry cursing into the sky. And once they wandered a bit too far, and encountered a Magic Beast that looked like a cross between a dog and a wolf. Harry was about to fight it, until the Exalted Cat stopped him in his tracks.
"Boy, that beast is in the Qi Absorption Realm."
Harry hastily sheathed his sword and backed up, even giving the beast a friendly smile as he did so. Luckily for him, the dog-wolf creature ignored him and walked further into the forest.
Though in reflection, its attitude made sense. Someone at the 1st level of the Qi Absorption Realm could easily defeat someone at the 9th level of the Body Tempering Realm. Harry was just at the 4th level – the wolf attacking him would be like Harry going out of his way to kick a baby. It couldn't be bothered to act against the weak human in front of him.
"Boy, do you think you're invincible? Have you let your successes get into your head? If you had actually charged at the wolf, and if I wasn't here to protect you, you wouldn't even know how you died!"
"Ok, ok," Harry said helplessly. "I'll be more careful from now on. But I didn't sense any Qi from it, so I thought it was weak."
That was obviously the wrong thing to say, as it only aggravated the Exalted Cat.
"Boy, you really are an idiot. Can you feel Qi fluctuations from me? Or Slughorn?"
"No."
"If you cannot sense the other party's strength, either they have no strength, or they are vastly stronger than you. Never, never, never assume it is the former. An enemy who hides his strength is far more dangerous than one who flaunts it."
Harry committed that piece of advice into his memory.
Yet, every beast that he could fight against, he fought against, taking risk after risk to improve his strength. Sometimes he got injured, sometimes he got away without a scratch, sometimes the beast was too strong and he had to retreat, but each time, he grew stronger.
He had just killed a Giant Land Snail, a disgusting creature the side of his head. It oozed slime everywhere, and had the hardest shell Harry had ever encountered. The moment it sensed Harry, it curled up into its shell. It took over 30 strikes before he managed to crack it open. The worst part was, the snail used its dying breath to shoot some of its sticky slime onto his face. It was harmless, but foul-smelling and nasty. The Exalted Cat had laughed itself silly.
However, the slime couldn't dampen his spirit. He had accomplished the task, and gotten 60 Beast Cores.
This was the most tired he had ever been, and there were dozens of wounds on his body. He couldn't wait to take a proper bath, or sleep in a proper bed. Yet, all his discomfort was dulled by his sense of accomplishment.
Next, they returned to the Mulberry Trees. The cat again laughed watching Harry try to cut one of the trees down. Even when Harry revolved all his Qi through his meridians, and swung his sword hard enough to shatter some small rocks, he couldn't even leave a dent in the bark.
The cat then shocked Harry by sinking its claws into the bark and simply snapping the trunk off, leaving only a jagged stump. Harry hastily changed his previous evaluation of the Exalted Cat's strength.
'Unfathomable,' he thought to himself as he lugged the tree back to Slughorn's place.
"Welcome back Harry, old cat. Why are you dragging a tree into my house?"
"It's a long story," the cat muttered. "I am going to get cleaned. Let the boy explain."
It walked off, leaving Harry standing there.
"Well?"
"Here are the Beast Cores," Harry said, handing over his bag. "And here are the plants that the Exalted Cat collected. There should be enough for 60 middle-quality pills."
"Excellent, excellent. Well done, I'll get started on the pills, you'll have them in two or three days. Your aura has changed, you know?"
"It has?"
"Yes, a significant change. The last time you were in here, you were weak and nervous, unsure of yourself. The last month you spent in the woods did wonders for your character. You look like a true cultivator now. Anyways, what's the deal with the Mulberry Tree? Why did the old cat rip it out?"
"It's like this," Harry explained as they walked down the stairs to Slughorn's hidden basement. He spoke about the Nameless Technique that he had managed to comprehend, and read it aloud to Slughorn. He also spoke about the 'seed' supposedly in his body, and how the Exalted Cat said the Mulberry Tree was a rich source of Wood Attribute.
Slughorn spent a long time mulling over Harry's words and the profoundness of the technique. It was a while before he spoke.
"That rock is truly extraordinary," he finally said. "I didn't suspect it was holding such a secret. You said that this is just the first part of the Nameless Technique?"
"Yes," Harry nodded.
"Absolutely extraordinary," Slughorn repeated. "Without a doubt, this is the most advanced Body Tempering Technique I've ever heard of. I don't know what this 'seed' is either, but the theory behind the Five Elements and the Five Minor Accomplishments are sound."
"Can you explain it to me?"
"Each of the Five Minor Accomplishments corresponds to one of the Five Elements. As you refine each of the Five Elements, you will make progress towards each of the accomplishments. For example, take Wood. The Wood Attribute symbolizes strength, growth, and endurance, and all of this corresponds to the First Minor Accomplishment – Strengthening Flesh. It seems this 'seed' can refine Wood Qi and use it to strengthen your flesh."
"Once you complete this accomplishment, you start refining the second element, Fire. As you refine Fire Qi, you will make progress towards the Second Minor Accomplishment – Burning Blood. And so on. Earth Attribute corresponds to Rebirthing Muscle. Metal Attribute corresponds to Forging Bone. Water Attribute corresponds to Washing Marrow. I imagine that if you were to successfully cultivate this, your body itself would be a formidable weapon."
Harry grew interested. The thing he wanted the most right now was strength.
"But, I am not sure if you should take this path," Slughorn said, interrupting Harry's train of thought.
"Why not?"
"Because of the Fetal Crippling Poison, you have less than two years to open the 9th meridian. You're at the 4th level now, soon to be 5th, but considering the amount of Qi you need, this is not an easy deadline to meet. If, in addition, you wish to practice this technique, I worry you may run out of time."
"Well, then how about I wait until I am in the Qi Absorption Realm?"
"No, that isn't an option. This technique can only be practiced at the Body Tempering Realm. Remember the last line of the technique? Break through the realm, and submerge the seed within the sea. The sea is most likely referring to Qi Sea, which you will form upon reaching the Qi Absorption Realm. At that point, you can no longer cultivate this technique."
"Therefore, you have a difficult decision here. Either you give up on these Five Minor Accomplishments, and also everything that comes after, which will give you a higher chance of surviving the poison. However, you would be missing out on a marvelous cultivation technique. Or you practice this technique, but at the risk of not being able to complete it within two years. At which point, well, you would have to give up."
"I want to practice this technique," Harry said firmly. "Whether I survive the poison or not is already uncertain, so I may as well attempt this. Besides, two years is a long time. I am confident that I will be able to finish it by then. But if I were to forgo the technique now, I would regret it for the rest of my life."
"Ha, well said, my boy," Slughorn exclaimed. "Of course, the old cat and I will help you with this. I too am very interested to see the results of this technique. Let's start by figuring out what this 'seed' is."
Putting aside the bag of Beast Cores and plants, Slughorn started to examine Harry's body again.
"Odd," Slughorn mused. "The description of the technique made it sound like the seed was a part of your body. Yet to my knowledge, there is no organ with its function, and no changes – wait, what the hell?"
"What?" Harry asked, startled at the sudden exclamation.
"This rock… it altered your body?"
"It did?"
"Ah, no wonder. It is nestled near your 5th meridian. Likely the poison is preventing you from feeling it."
"Wait a moment. Did you say my body was altered?"
"Yes, I did. There is an organ in your body which I did not notice in my previous examinations. And it is definitely not natural! It must have been planted in your body when you touched that rock."
"You're saying that this rock changed my body?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Amazing, isn't it?"
"But, how?"
"Harry, you must remember this – cultivation is an endless road, and beyond every expert is another expert. We cannot even begin to imagine the methods and techniques of the cultivators stronger than us. What may seem impossible to you or I, may require merely a slight effort for others."
'Beyond every expert is another expert,' Harry thought solemnly. It was a painful truth of the world. No one liked to admit that they were weak, but at the same time, few would dare to say they were the strongest.
"Likely, your mother obtained this from a powerful group outside of our empire. Perhaps this rock is a tool, used to transfer the Nameless Technique onto promising disciples. Imagine that, an entire clan that practices this profound technique!"
"I suppose it would also explain why your mother had enemies. If this treasure was stolen from me, I would go to great lengths to get it back. Oh Lily, what happened?" Slughorn sighed, shaking his head.
Harry just sat there silently. If his parents' deaths were really connected to this rock, he could only resolve the surrounding mysteries one step at a time.
"Well, there is nothing you can do about this until you open your 5th meridian. Go take a rest for a few days, you've deserved it. I'll call you when the pills are ready."