TIAN LUO FOREST

It was already nightfall and Anthony was still madly slashing at the trees around him. The knives formed a terrifying whirlpool around him as he slashed around relentlessly. Blood was pouring out of his hands, sores and blisters had formed all over his palms. He was shirtless, exposing his flawless body as he slashed away at the trees. His trousers had become soggy with sweat, some parts of his white trousers had fragments of wood stuck to it. Blood soaked the trousers from the numerous cuts from wood splinters when he was splitting the wood.

Slowly, but surely, they were being broken. However, he was exerting a hundred times the effort to get half the effects. An idea occurred to him and he sneakily used a fist technique to splinter the woods into smaller pieces. However, this method meant that the splinters also went directly into his skin.

By the time he splintered the last piece, it was already five in the morning and he collapsed on the floor, not noticing a piece of sharp wood pierce his arm. He had spent more than twelve hours doing a thankless cruel task.

The sun fell against his face an hour later, waking him up. He forced his weary body up and began to pack the woods into piles. The woods had blood splattered all over them—his blood.

He turned, limping away. He collapsed against the wall the moment he entered the old wood shed which he had renovated into a habitable room with bed and other amenities. He staggered and collapsed beside his bathing tub which was always filled with clean bathing water from the lotus-lily pond's waterfall. He poured herbs into the water and slightly heated it with soul power to make the water warm and extract all the essence of the herbs. He stripped out of his ripped bloody trousers and began to remove the wooden splinters stuck to his body. Some of the splinters went really deep, but luckily, his face and neck were spared. The moment he entered the rub, he fell asleep, giving in to exhaustion.

****

He woke up two hours later, and the wounds on his body had begun to heal. Some were already totally healed, some others were quickly closing up. But they have all stopped bleeding. He got out and brought out some food from his storage ring. He still had fruits from Lan Xuanyu, and they were all still good, in addition to the ones he hid away while cooking for the bald axe old man. The moment he finished eating, he sat cross legged and began to cultivate.

He stood up and frowned.

"Body forging stage 2? How did this happen?" He whispered in shock and rushed out. He punched out and space before him tore with visible ripples and the fence a hundred meters away collapsed.

Anthony gasped as he looked at the devastation a casual punch that was not even delivered at full force caused. He looked at his hands and a huge smile spread on his face. His physique advanced to the next level. He looked in the direction of Huo Fu's pavilion and a huge smile spread on his face.

"Thank you, old man."

Just like metal needed to be melted and shattered into pieces before it could be forged, it was the same for the body. For those practicing physique law, the body forging method was effective. However, few could achieve it. Numerous people didn't even know how body forging is achieved, or even that it existed. Others knew but because the way of body forging was agonizing and infinitely difficult, they didn't dare to tread on that treacherous path. There was once a genius cultivating using body forging, but ended up dead before he reached perfection.

When Anthony resorted to physique laws after his cultivation was sealed, he didn't even know about body forging. However, he realized that each time Huo Fu beat him to a pulp, his meridians widened, his body got tougher, and he could channel more energy than normal. The make and break process was torturous, and after each time his skin, muscles and bones were torn apart, he healed and absorbed herbs, repairing his body for the next session.

And after a night of suffering, he entered stage two. He had never felt more pain and despair than the one the night before. But with the results before him, the old man's merciless torture was worth it.

******

The next few days followed the same routine as the past. Anthony would hide in a secret location and unlock his soul power and core to cultivate. Once he was done, he would seal it again and use a camouflage technique to hide his current realm.

Next was the gathering of herbs and stashing them away. The empty boxes he came with had since been exhausted and he fashioned more from a special wood. Soon he had reached the edge and found a short route back. But the barrier won't let him leave the forest; he had no plans to escape anyway.

Once he was done, the rest of the house chores and cooking follows, then receiving his daily dose of torture from Huo Fu before collapsing in a tub of medicinal bath. To speed up his entry into body-forging realm three, he began to wake up early to go punch a sturdy mountain he discovered, hitting his body against it mercilessly. It could be said that Anthony had a death wish. The process continued till the next month, the day Anthony decided he was ready to leave Tian Luo forest.

*****

"Little boy, you're quite courageous. How bold of you to claim that you want to leave today, and that I should battle you in the morning instead of our normal time. With your cultivation sealed away, how do you intend to achieve that? Even if you still had your cultivation base, I could still kill you with a sneeze." Huo Fu sneered, looking down at Anthony.

"If I said I can fight you, and defeat you, it means I can. How will we know if we don't try. It has been three months in this place, it's time to move on to my next destination. Bring it on, I'm leaving here today, no matter the cost."

Huo Fu laughed loudly at Anthony's arrogance. He seemed pretty sure of himself when facing a quasi god realm master.

"Good good, I love your attitude. That's how youths should be, hot blooded and full of desire to embark on adventures. Don't worry, I might be heartless, but I won't kill you. I will just beat you to a meat paste."

Anthony smirked as he watched Huo Fu who was not taking him seriously. When had he, Anthony, ever taken a battle he was not confident of emerging victorious?

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