Book 15: Chapter 77

Book 15: Chapter 77

Compared to his “shifu”, Zizi had been experiencing atypical days – if consuming unknown pills counted. The first time he smelt one, he was terrified. His shifu assured him that it had been tested on humans and guaranteed it was safe, but none of that assurance meant anything when his shifu wore a thick mask and used iron gloves when he delivered the pill. Moreover, the entire set of items was extracted from underground.

It was said that unknown pill was the reason his shifu was feared. Despite questioning the safety of the pills, though, Zizi’s desire to become as strong as his shifu was stronger than his fear. For the sake of obtaining the strength to protect his mother, he consumed the pill without hesitation. Only moments after consuming the pill, he saw the late Empress Dowager’s cordial smile and friendly gesture. Luckily, his shifu saved him. He was touched when he saw his shifu’s large silhouette and heard, “I knew this untested dosage was too strong. Thank heavens he didn’t croak on me.” Besides feeling touched, he also learnt how scary hostility felt.

From then on, besides training, taking on life-and-death matches his shifu occasionally took him to, his scariest challenge was figuring out how to consume unknown pills. At first, he pinched his nose so that he wouldn’t pass out once he held one. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to stop the taste that permeated inside his entire body once it came into contact with saliva. He had met Monkey King, Guan Yu, Buddha, and more legendary individuals after consuming the pills. The common denominator in all the encounters was that he wouldn’t have met them if he was alive. Even if he split the pills into smaller parts to consume, the effect didn’t weaken. Hence, he decided he needed to just bite the pill and consume the pills in one shot. As a result, Zizi consumed an astounding number of unknown pills within a month. Compared to the version first concocted in the underground palace, the ones Zizi confirmed were a new and improved version.

The life and death pill that was given to Tang Ye costed far more ingredients than before, so there weren’t enough ingredients for a second one yet – not that there was likely to be another Tang Ye willing to consume it. Ming Feizhen, therefore, turned his attention to upgrading the ordinary unknown pills. They were effective, but the stench was even worse than the ones handed out in the underground palace, yet Zizi managed to consume them for a month straight, leading to Ming Feizhen mistakenly wondering if Zizi liked them.

Zizi discovered that he recovered from fatigue and pain exponentially faster subsequent to consuming unknown pills; even his internal energy upgraded noticeably faster. The mental demons he had to battle with while practicing Pure Yang One Qi also reduced considerably.

Unknown pill didn’t have the ability to get rid of mental demons; however, its smell and taste was so effective at making one alert that it was hard to not be aware of illusions. Plus, it was easier to progress when focus was sustained for longer. Zizi thought that the smell scared his demons off.

After a month, Zizi was able to consume the pill without throwing up and only needed fifteen minutes to overcome the nausea. If Huang Yuzao knew about it, he’d have let His Majesty know how much perseverance he had and how adaptable he was, and nobody would’ve argued otherwise.

Being the great mentor he was, Ming Feizhen took out two unknown pills from the same porcelain bottle to reward the young Prince. “Consume this one in the morning and this one at night. Of course, you can consume them in the reverse order if you prefer. They’re the same thing.”

“...”

Zizi left Liu Shan Men in high spirits again today to seek out an opponent. He had lost to the same opponent every day in devastating fashion, but he’d return the next day after spending the previous night analysing and seeking ways to counter. Yesterday, he was given a bunch of bruises on his face, but he was back for another round.

“Hey! I’m here! ... If you don’t come out, I’m going in!”

A boy with skin as white as a sheet stepped out faster than his appearance suggested was possible, but his breathing rhythm was noticeably abnormal. If it wasn’t for the devilish vibe from him, the boy only three years older than Zizi would’ve been the walking definition of a pretty boy. In a raspy voice, he disparaged, “You want another beating, dummy?”

“You think I’m scared of you? If you’re afraid, you can surrender now before I get started.”

Zizi smiled. “That’s an arrogant name for something that’s useless. It took me only one night to come up with counters. You should rename it to something more befitting.”

“Befitting what?”

“How useless it is, hahaha.”

“All right, you asked for it!”

The next time the youth attacked using his fingers as a replacement for a sword, there were signs of a gale starting up each time he swung his arm alongside heat energy. Zizi didn’t comprehend how difficult it was to pull it off. Nonetheless, it wasn’t half as scary as unknown pills, so he wasn’t intimidated.

Like yesterday, Zizi lost again today and was covered in new wounds.

With some beads of sweat on his forehead, the smiling boy asked, “Accept defeat yet? I won again.”

Zizi aerated his cheeks. “No. Far from it. You used new techniques again.”

“Not my fault I can. How come you refuse to accept defeat? Hahaha. How’s your progress with the knife throwing techniques I taught you?”

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