Chapter 18: First Training Session
"That was an accident!" Han Yu blurted out, his face burning with embarrassment.
The ghostly man didn't even bother dignifying him with a response. Instead, he simply waved his hand dismissively.
"Repeat."
"Yes!" Han Yu said quickly, relieved that the man wasn't mocking him. He gathered himself and prepared to try again.
It took him several attempts to harness the two points of energy before he punched out with all his might.
"HAAH!"
WHOOSH.
This time, the punch worked—technically. A faint breeze drifted lazily from his fist, tickling a nearby leaf but achieving little else.
"Huh... it didn't work?" Han Yu frowned. "But I did everything correctly!"
SMACK!
Han Yu yelped as a ghostly hand whacked the back of his head.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"You think you can master it in one day?" The ghostly man scoffed. "It'll take a lot more time than that, you fool."
"Ah, I see." Han Yu rubbed his head, understanding now that he hadn't failed entirely—he was simply at the bottom rung of a very tall ladder.
"Continue."
"Okay." He took a deep breath and started the process all over again.
For the next two hours, Han Yu trained under the ghostly man's relentless gaze. Each time he slowed down, the old specter barked orders, pushing him past his limits.
By the end of it, Han Yu was lying flat on the ground, drenched in sweat, gasping for air like a fish on land.
"Haah... haah... haah..." His robes clung to him as if he'd taken a dip in the river.
'I thought I was going to die,' he groaned internally. The ghostly man had given him no room for escape, using the cruelest of weapons—the threat of not teaching him again.
The ghostly man observed him with an unreadable expression.
'To think he lasted this long...' he mused. 'It isn't easy to use the Bolt God Fist so many times. Even if he's just channeling his Vital Energy, the consumption should've knocked him out cold.'
Feeling somewhat impressed, he finally relented.
"Eat and leave."
Han Yu groaned but managed to lift his head.
"When do I... come again?" he asked weakly.
"Same time," the ghostly man said. Then, with a smirk, he added, "Bring wine."
"S-Sure." Han Yu mustered what little energy he had left, staggered to his feet, and made his way to the roasted wolf. Tearing off a rib, he devoured it like a starving beast.
MUNCH. MUNCH. MUNCH.
Within minutes, he'd polished off four entire ribs. This was an unprecedented achievement in his personal eating history.
"Wait..." He blinked. "The energy... it's absorbing on its own?"
He could feel the Vital Energy spreading from his stomach through his muscles, warming him like a comforting embrace.
"The best time to consume beast meat is right after training," the ghostly man explained. "It's far more efficient than your previous method of stuffing your face whenever you felt like it."
"I see..." Han Yu nodded in understanding. "Looks like I really might reach the Eighth Stage before the sect recruitment begins!" His exhaustion was suddenly overshadowed by excitement.
The ghostly man, now craving solitude, waved him off.
"Leave now."
"Alright, alright. Goodbye." Han Yu packed up the remaining meat and left the clearing, trudging toward the river.
Upon reaching the cool, flowing water, he practically threw himself at it.
GULP. GULP. GULP.
Dunking his head directly into the river, he drank greedily until his stomach ballooned.
"Man... I was... so... thirsty," he gasped, water dripping from his face.
Then, a thought struck him.
"Hmm... should I take a bath?" He poked the water with a finger. "It doesn't feel as cold as usual."
Without further hesitation, he stripped and jumped into the shallows.
"Aaaahh, this is nice," he sighed in pure bliss. The cool water numbed the soreness in his muscles.
"I should do this more often."
After a quick scrub, he washed his clothes, wrung them out, and slung them over his shoulder.
"They should dry by the time I reach town," he reasoned, setting off once more.
Back in the forest, however, the ghostly man was suffering in silence.
He sat cross-legged, attempting to meditate, but frustration marred his face. Small beads of sweat dotted his forehead.
"DAMMIT!" he suddenly bellowed. "I can't draw even a single wisp of Spirit Qi?!"
His eye twitched in sheer exasperation. He had known his condition was bad—but this? This was worse than he'd imagined.
Groaning, he held his head in his hands before finally giving in to his mounting rage.
"I need to vent."
With that, he disappeared into the depths of the forest. His aura flared, sending every beast within a mile scrambling for cover. Birds fled the trees, deer bolted, and even a bold tiger took one sniff of the air before deciding that today was not the day to test its luck.
Meanwhile, Han Yu finally arrived at the town gate, where he was met by Guard Shen.
"Ah! Guard Shen!" Han Yu greeted him with a wide grin.
The guard raised an eyebrow.
"You went out again?" he asked, clearly bewildered.
'And here I thought he'd be too scared to ever leave town again,' the guard mused, watching the boy curiously.
Han Yu, unaware of the guard's inner thoughts, simply nodded, feeling rather proud of himself.
"So why did you go out again? Fishing?" The Guard asked.
Hearing the guards words, Han Yu suddenly realized that he didn't have an excuse ready for him this time.
"Uh, yeah I did." Han Yu replied.
"And why are you wet again?" The guard asked looking at Han Yu's damp clothes. "Did you fall into the water again?"
"Yeah!" Han Yu agreed, thinking of a new excuse. "I was fishing again." He added.
"Again? And you lost your fishing gear again, I assume?" The guard asked raising his brow. "Still got no fishing rod or basket."
"I didn't lose it this time. I broke it." Han Yu replied.
"You broke both your pole and your basket?" The guard didn't know just how Han Yu's luck was.
"Not a rod and basket." Han Yu shook his head. "I can't afford a new one. Instead I just made a spear." He replied.
"A spear?" The guard was surprised.
"Yeah, for spear fishing you know?" Han Yu replied. "I got pissed at the fishes messing with me so I decided to teach them a lesson with my own hands!" he said with a look of anger on his face.
The guard watched Han Yu with amusement as he saw the boy execute some really strange spear skills that looked more like someone poking a dead pig with a stick.
"Haah! Haah! Haah! I poked and poked, but they were some slimy bastards, slipping like loaches!" Han Yu demonstrated.
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"Loaches are fishes too." The guard reminded.
"Ah yeah... the same then." Han Yu replied. "Anyways, I did manage to spear one. Feeling satisfied, I grilled and ate it right then." He added.
"You caught a lot more it seems?" The guard saw the cloth bag hanging from Han Yu's back.
It was a lot bigger than what would be needed for one or two fishes.
"After feeling full, I hunted a few more and cooked them. But I went overboard and cooked too much. I'll just eat them later." Han Yu replied, hoping that the guard wouldn't ask to see.
'How would I tell him why the fishes have so many big ribs?' Han Yu wondered.
Thankfully for him, the guard didn't seem to pry any further.
"At least you had better luck this time." The guard said before gesturing for him to enter. "Go on."
"Thank you, Guard Shen!" Han Yu said as he took off, worried that the guard might ask him why he didn't have his spear with him now. 'Well, I could just tell him I broke it again.' He thought.
Without pausing, Han Yu went right back to his hideout and first stored away the meat.
"Hmm... there's still a few hours till nighttime." Han Yu looked at the sky. "I should take care of a few things before that," he muttered before leaving his hideout.
He went to the central area of the town first and scanned the people. He listened to the conversation of the peasants, merchant, workers and also the guards, trying to get a sense of everything.
This was an important part of his daily life.
'Gathering information is the key to a successful scam operation.' Han Yu reminded himself.
He needed to make sure that there weren't people aware of him or if the guards were looking into gambling operations again. A while ago he had almost been caught if not for the fact that he had heard guards talking about investigating the area where he operated before.
As such he did this almost everyday, hoping to avoid getting caught.
Once that was done, he went to his chosen area and scouted it out.
"Hmm... this should be fine for tomorrow." Han Yu didn't see any former 'customers' of his there and reckoned it would be perfect.