White-Robed Chief

The East room of the courtyard was filled with steam; the air smelled heavily of herbs.

It was the usual place where Chu Li and Xue Ling would take their showers.

A wooden bucket as tall as a man was placed in the middle of the room, and below it was a furnace that was made from cobblestone. Although Xue Ling was dressed in a white robe, she squatted beside the furnace and added firewood from time to time. The way she squatted made her spine curved beautifully.

The pile of firewood burned with ferocity such that at times, you could hear popping sounds from the burning flames, and a thick cloud of white steam swirled above the wooden bucket. Soon, the thick herbal smell had spread throughout the whole house.

The bucket was delicately crafted, with a piece of metal welded onto its base. The gap between the metal and the bucket base was filled with an inch deep of water. The working principle was to utilize the hot water to heat up the rest of the bucket so it maintains the temperature of its contents, which in this case, was the herbal bath. It also ensured that the temperature of the bath would not be too hot nor too cold.

“Creak…” Chu Li pushed open the door and walked in.

He sniffed the air and made a satisfying nod. “It seems like it’s not a bad brew; let’s begin!”

Xue Ling stood up and made her way towards the door.

Chu Li smiled at her. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll leave for the time being.” Xue Ling said with a blushed face. “You’ll be taking off your clothes.”

Chu Li watched her sheepish face and thought it was comical as she was unable to keep that usual cool vibe of hers. It seemed like a girl as emotionless as she still had her weaknesses.

Xue Ling hurriedly turned her head away and walked out. She did not dare to turn back at Chu Li.

Chu Li shook his head. He had come from a modern world, so he was insensitive about stripping naked. In contrast, this world that he currently lived in had a much more traditional mindset, even revealing one’s shoulders would be too much for them.

Chu Li took off his clothes and leaped into the wooden bucket. His mouth twitched a little as the boiling water numbed his senses. Over time, the scorching hot brew of herbs transformed into tiny needles that each repeatedly pierced his skin and it increased in intensity as well.

This was more tormenting than the batons. It felt like there was not a single inch of his body that was spared from the pain, as the herbal bath enveloped him completely.

He used his Sentient Menace heart technique and activated his Omniscient Mirror. He could then clearly see the transformations of his skin and flesh. However, the herbal mixture and his heart technique combined to form a greater effect which made his flesh feel increasingly compact and flexible.

As time went on, the herbal bath in the bucket continued to burn him. Although the firewood under the furnace had burnt out, the temperature of the bath still maintained at a steady level. The temperature drop was extremely slow.

Drops of sweat formed on Chu Li’s forehead as the impurities and wastes from within his body seeped out of his pores.

After what seemed like an eternity, Chu Li finally opened his eyes and called out, “Xue Ling, come in.”

Xue Ling, who was outside the room, answered, “You’re done?”

“Yes, come in.”

Xue Ling pushed open the door and walked in with her head down. She then grabbed a smaller wooden bucket and stopped in front of the furnace pot. The water inside the pot was done boiling, so she scooped them into the bucket before she added some cold water to lower the temperature. After that, she walked out of the room once again with a red face.

Chu Li turned around and leaped into the bucket she had just prepared. He then proceeded to wash his body clean and dried himself before he put on his green robes. After that, he exited the room, making his way towards the gazebo outside.

Xue Ling served him some tea she prepared.

Before Chu Li took a sip, he fidgeted with the jade-white teacup. He looked like he was pondering about something.

The effects of the herbal bath were not too bad, but he realized that it had not met his expectations as it had quite a limited progress on the Sentient Menace technique.

The Sentient Menace technique had a total of nine stages — skin, flesh, tendon, vein, bone, marrow, energy, chi, and spirit. The last three stages were shrouded with mystery because it seemed like nobody had successfully cultivated until those stages. It was said that when you reach those final stages, you would transcend into a Buddha, becoming immortal and invincible.

Chu Li had a deep mastery of the Buddhist techniques, so his powers were able to escalate quickly. When he mastered the first level, his skin became unusually tough; it was able to withstand normal knives and swords. However, when it came to the second stage, he could not seem to find a way to master it. He tried everything but still could not break the deadlock in the progress of his muscles.

Hitting himself with the baton had worked at first, but its effects eventually faded. On top of that, it would vanish completely when it reached a certain level. The herbal bath had shown some effects too, but with it alone, it was not enough to master the second stage.

Chu Li shook his head and sighed. He conceded that the Tempest Temple’s way may be the last resort, in which it highlights the usage of the torso tuning technique. However, it was a shame that the Martial Arts Hall did not have any top-notch torso tuning techniques. Even if they worked, the resulting effects would not be too great either. Most importantly, the consequences of using the torso tuning technique were too great a price to pay. Therefore, he tried to avoid it as much as he could.

Xue Ling stood beside him and asked gently, “Did the herbal brew work?”

Chu Li nodded. “Next time, don’t brew me a herbal bath. Make them into a herbal paste instead, and I will apply it onto my body to give it a try.”

He reckoned that if it was made into a paste, the medical effects of the herbs would become much more condensed and the effects might be increased; it would not harm to give it a go.

So, Xue Ling promised him.

The two were chatting casually until Su Ru pushed open the door and walked in, her yellow dress swayed with the wind. As she sat right opposite Chu Li, he could smell her faint fragrance.

“You’re looking for the torso tuning technique, right?” She took out a small notebook from her sleeve and handed it to Chu Li. The book looked frayed and yellowish. “This was taken from the Lady’s hidden storage room, do have a look.”

Chu Li smiled and accepted it. He noticed the four big words on the book’s cover which read, “Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portrait” — a title written in gold ink, giving the book a magnificent look.

“Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portrait…” Chu Li slowly flipped the pages, and his facial expressions changed.

There was a total of six diagrams, and on every diagram was a white tiger. Every tiger had a unique posture that was different from each other which include crouching, leaping, prowling, charging, rolling, and chasing.

Each diagram looked very vivid, as if a white tiger was really in front of him. They all had a fearsome aura. If not for Chu Li’s composure, he would have thrown the book away at first glance.

Xue Ling, who stood behind him, glanced across the book with a sense of curiosity. At that instance, her face turned pale and she was frightened to the core. Her body shuddered as if it was an instinctive reaction of fear in her blood.

Once he was done looking at the six diagrams, he raised his head to look at Su Ru.

Su Ru held her hands together and laughed. “You truly are impressive. You don’t look frightened at all!”

Chu Li flipped through the pages again, but this time, he closed his eyes as he pictured the images in his mind. From the six diagrams, he could feel a faint energy emitting out of them.

“Growl…” A sound of a tiger’s growl rang out in his mind as a snow-white tiger leaped before him, imitating the six postures according to order. The tiger gave him a fearsome vibe.

Su Ru observed Chu Li’s face.

Once she noticed that his expressions had changed, she knew that he had understood something. Having the ability to understand the meaning behind the Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portrait in such a short time was very impressive, and he was truly a genius of martial arts!

Chu Li slowly opened his eyes and realized how tight his body had become. He felt so rejuvenated that concluded that it was the resulting effects of the Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portrait.

Su Ru smiled. “How was it?”

“A very mystical technique!” Chu Li nodded slowly. “Is it meant to be cultivated via visualization?”

Su Ru smiled. “You’re smart! This is one of the top-secret techniques that has ever passed down. Legend says that it originated from the White Tigers Cave centuries ago, and it was a forbidden technique.”

“The Cave of White Tigers…” Chu Li recited the name and searched within his mind palace. However, he did not find any records of it. He then smiled. “Did it originate from the Nan Zheng District?”

He made the guess based on the name, making the inference that it might have originated from one of the sects in Nan Zheng district.

Most of the people in Nan Zheng district were barbarians. They lived in remote areas that were deep within the mountains and forests. Each tribe named themselves after a cave, and hence the name “Cave of White Tigers” sounded like one of the tribes from Nan Zheng.

“Yes, it’s from Nan Zheng.” Su Ru gently nodded. “They have thousands of years of history, but unfortunately they still couldn’t avoid extinction. Even the strongest of tribes couldn’t evade the wrath of natural disasters. History mentioned that a giant meteorite crashed down and wiped out the entire White Tigers Cave tribe.

Chu Li nodded slowly.

The barbarian techniques there were one of its kind. Their primary concept was to focus on cultivating their bodies. Even though most of them were brutes, they were highly agile. It was a shame that their martial arts and techniques were mostly crude and clunky, lacking a certain delicateness. That was also the reason as to why they were not able to assert total dominance over the area.

Some wanted to harness the best out of their techniques and patch their weaknesses so that they could become the world’s best. Though unfortunately, it was easier said than done. Until today, no one had ever succeeded. It was like trying to combine the light of the day and the darkness of the night — the laws of nature could not be overridden so easily.

The Tempest Temple’s Sentient Menace technique bore an eerie similarity to the Southern barbarian techniques. It must have been researched on and modified by the high priests of the Tempest Tempest, who were initially innate masters. They had transformed them to become the ultimate technique that we see today, which enables one to transcend from their physical form to immortality.