Chapter 13: Sweet After Bitterness
Sun Che held his breath and tentatively put his feet into the hot water. The next second, he jumped out of the hot water with a bang, and the hot water splashed onto the ground, emitting scalding hot steam.
“Ah…hot hot hot hot!!”
Sun Che's face flushed red as he looked at the blisters on the soles of his feet, feeling annoyed. This was simply not a practice that an ordinary person could endure!
"Burning yourself with hot water, without breaking, without building, is the way to forge the skin."
"Those made of forged leather are invulnerable to swords and spears, their skin as white as snow."
This was the first stage of cultivation, but Sun Che had never imagined that cultivation would be so painful.
Is this... a cultivation method for humans? Burning the body with boiling water, is this meant to cook it?
Sun Che was speechless. He didn't expect that he would fail before he even took the first step.
As he read the subsequent content, Sun Che found it even more bizarre.
"For ten hours of burning incense, silently reciting the Heart Sutra, hanging one's head from a beam, piercing one's bones with needles, and holding bitter gall in one's mouth, one can then enter the realm of hard flesh."
Sun Che couldn't understand the words further on. The words seemed to be encrypted, which only indicated that if one wanted to understand them, he needed to successfully cultivate to the previous realm.
As for the magic...some encryption works fine.
But on this first day, Sun Che really couldn't accept this method of practicing with hot water.
He wasn't someone who couldn't endure this kind of hardship, but at the very least... he had to be mentally prepared.
"Forget it, let's practice tomorrow."
Sun Che quickly poured out the hot water. He was very open-minded. It didn't matter if he became an immortal one day. Giving up was the thing Sun Che could insist on the most.
Without saying a word, Sun Che immediately lay down on the bed and started browsing his phone.
Although he has not yet started practicing, Sun Che has already imagined himself becoming an immortal.
Sun Che was fantasizing in his mind, his legs were shaking, he gradually felt a little tired and yawned.
Heavy breathing slowly came out of his mouth, and Sun Che gradually fell into sleep with a dreamy smile.
“…”
"Um……"
A slight groaning sound was heard, and Sun Che's expression in his sleep became more and more ferocious. After a while, the bed began to shake, and then Sun Che suddenly woke up with a painful expression.
“Aa ...
A pig-slaughtering sound came out of Sun Che's mouth. Sun Che rolled off the bed and kept rolling on the ground, his body shaking violently. His face was terribly red, blue veins appeared on his face, saliva and snot flowed uncontrollably, his pupils were full of shock and fear, thick heat floated out of his body, he wailed dumbly, and rolled up and down like a shrimp.
"Hot, hot, so hot!"
Blisters popped and healed inside Sun Che's fat body. Every time they popped, new blisters would appear. In the process of bursting and regeneration, the skin was visibly ulcerated.
“Uh, uh…”
Sun Che's body twitched. Although there was nothing around him, his body looked as if it had been doused in hot water.
"It hurts, it hurts so much, let me go, let me go!"
"Save me, someone save me!!"
Sun Che wailed, but the surroundings were dead silent and no one responded to him. Sun Che hammered the floor, leaving bloody marks with his nails.
It hurts so much.
Let me go, let me go.
Sun Che rolled his eyes and curled up like a cooked shrimp. He felt like he was about to die. He didn't know whether he was unconscious or awake.
After trembling his fingers for a while, Sun Che barely opened one eye and looked blurryly at the mess around him.
“Hu…Hu…”
Am I... still alive?
After a while, the cold breath poured into Sun Che's body, and Sun Che shed a tear, feeling as if he was in another world.
"I'm alive?"
"I'm still alive?"
Not only alive—
Sun Che stretched out his hand tremblingly and looked at his arm. It was just as described, with skin as white as flesh and very tough.
His injuries have all recovered and he has made further progress.
But...Sun Che's heart was filled with fear.
He really felt that he was only one step away from death!!
These are all illusions. Isn't cultivation supposed to be exhilarating and enlightening? Who would still practice if it's so painful?
Anyway, Sun Che doesn't want to do it again. It's impossible for him to do it again. Sun Che will never do it again even once.
"Anyone who wants to practice can practice. Those who can practice are all crazy and perverted."
Sun Che took out his cell phone and deleted all the content related to "Taoist Immortal Scripture" in the album.
…
…
On the way to work.
Although Sun Che was very scared, his body was in good health and he walked briskly. He felt that he was much better and many people on the road were looking at him.
"Sun Che, why do you look so handsome today? Did you go fight Guangzi?"
When meeting an acquaintance, the first thing he paid attention to was his appearance, which made Sun Che feel a little uncomfortable. He wondered if he could be willing to pay such .
Sun Che thought so, but the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and his face was filled with joy.
He didn't know how long it had been since he had been praised. As a fat otaku, girls usually wouldn't even look at him.
Complexity occupied Sun Che's mind, pain and joy intertwined, he was a little tormented, but whether he practiced or not, he had to go to work now.
Walking towards the company, he met another acquaintance on the way. Sun Che lowered his head and tried to avoid him.
Because this acquaintance was Li Dajie.
The relationship between them was already quite estranged, and Sun Che even went to his house to steal things. No matter what the reason was , Sun Che didn't want to have any contact with Li Dajie anymore.
"Sun Che!"
Sun Che was forced to stop, raised his head, and greeted Li Dajie with a forced smile.
"Li Dajie, you just got off work~"
After just one glance, Li Dajie asked doubtfully :
"Yeah, Sun Che...why do you seem a little different today?"
"Me? No, no."
Sun Che flatly denied it and added, "Maybe it's because we haven't seen each other for too long. It's normal to have some changes recently."
"But...how do I feel about you..."
"If there's nothing else, I'll leave first. I'm going to be late..."
"Practicing the Taoist Scriptures?"
Li Dajie's words were bright, but Sun Che felt a chill.
Sun Che looked at Li Dajie with fear and vigilance in his eyes and took a step back. He didn't know how Li Dajie knew that he was also practicing, but he felt guilty.
But Li Dajie's eyes were so deep that he seemed to be able to see through Sun Che's heart.
He gave a meaningful smile, which made Sun Che feel a little strange.
Then there was a clap of hands, and the usual humorous Li Dajie returned. He immediately hugged Sun Che's neck and said excitedly:
"That's great. I was originally looking for an opportunity to tell you, but I didn't expect you to start practicing ahead of time."
"Daoxian, the immortal is above... That is the immortal scripture that wishes us to transcend the ordinary and become saints. If we believe in the immortal, we will gain eternal life."
"And the Taoist Immortal is so kind to us."
"But, that was so painful..."
Sun Che wanted to refute, but he only heard Li Dajie say piously:
“Climbing the ladder of sainthood is bound to involve suffering. We may become afraid, retreat, and give up.”
"But Daoxian helped us get through it. Even if we tried to avoid it, he made us face it. He was well-intentioned and gave us earnest advice...isn't that right?"
With earnest advice?
Sun Che thought about it and looked at Li Dajie's pious eyes. He still couldn't believe what he said, and thought about it carefully.
There is some truth to this...
