The Rise of the Fallen Prodigy

Time kept slipping away. Before he knew it, Liam Smith had been carrying the inkstone on his back for over a quarter of an hour.

However, he had only covered a distance of less than half a li, and his speed of progress was probably only a little faster than that of a snail.

During this time, the stuffiness of his body and the weight of the inkstone had left Liam Smith exhausted and parched countless times. He had thought many times about ditching the inkstone and taking off the black robe to have a good rest.

But Alistair's strictness left him with no chance to rest at all.

Before he realized it, Liam Smith had drunk up all the water in a water bag. His whole body felt as if it were soaked in boiling water, yet his face was pale.

His hands, which had been supporting the inkstone on his back, had become stiff. Liam Smith even felt that these hands were no longer his own. His legs were also trembling involuntarily, and he began to stagger.

Finally, perhaps because Alistair really couldn't stand it anymore, he said, "All right, take a rest for now."

Liam Smith was certain that this was the best news he had heard since he broke through to the Refined Gas Realm.

Using all his strength, he pushed the inkstone on his back away with a heave, and it landed heavily on the ground. He himself was gasping for breath, wiped the sweat off his face several times, and crawled to the root of a big tree in front of him and leaned against it.

After catching his breath a little, Liam Smith reached out and took off the black robe, throwing it aside. He felt an unprecedented sense of comfort, as if he had fallen into paradise.

Enjoying the gentle breeze blowing towards him, Liam Smith let out a long, comfortable sigh and closed his eyes contentedly.

As the ancients said, "It's nice to enjoy the cool under a big tree." But now Liam Smith thought it was even better to take a nap under a big tree.

As soon as he closed his eyes, Alistair's voice sounded again, "Little guy, don't fall asleep. The rest time is only a hundred breaths."

"You can't be serious?" Liam Smith felt like dying. Lying straight under the tree, he waved his hand and said, "Master, you might as well just kill me. I really can't walk any further."

"You have to walk even if you can't. Even if you die, you can only die on the way."

"Master, you're not really serious, are you?"

"Your master never tells lies." Alistair said seriously.

Liam Smith no longer had the mood to lie on the ground. He quickly propped himself up and sat up, raising his stiff hands to pound his legs.

It would have been better if he hadn't pounded. As soon as he did, an indescribable soreness suddenly welled up. But Liam Smith could only grit his teeth and endure it.

Only by taking the time to stretch now could he feel a little more relaxed later.

But Alistair didn't give Liam Smith much time. Before Liam Smith had fully rested, Alistair's somewhat cold voice rang out, "That's enough. Time's up. Let's get moving again."

"So soon?" Liam Smith said feebly.

However, despite his words, Liam Smith still stood up, put on the black robe again, and carried the inkstone on his back to continue on his way.

The soreness in his legs and the tearing pain in his hands returned, combined with the extreme stuffiness of his body. Liam Smith felt that this was undoubtedly the most painful thing in the world. He reckoned that even hell would be much better than this.

After that, Liam Smith would carry the inkstone and walk for about a quarter of an hour each time, take a rest for a hundred breaths in the middle, and then continue walking after the rest.

Alistair was the one who decided all the time. Liam Smith was now feeling rather dazed and didn't care whether the time Alistair said was accurate or not. Anyway, he would start walking when Alistair said to and rest when Alistair told him to.

On the way, Liam Smith accidentally found two plants of The lark grass and one plant of Chiba grass. However, Liam Smith just casually stuffed them into his Storage bag and didn't feel happy about getting these things.

Perhaps it was because the physical pain had completely overshadowed all the excitement in his mind.

Of course, Liam Smith also came across some other medicinal herbs, but Alistair didn't allow him to pick them.

The reason was simple: "These are just some low-level things. Picking them would just be a waste of time and space in the Storage bag."

In such a purgatory-like situation, Liam Smith didn't know how long he had walked. Finally, the setting sun in the distance began to sink into the sea on the horizon.

Night fell quietly.

"All right, that's enough for today. Hurry up and restore your vital energy. We'll set off again as soon as it's dawn."

Hearing that he could finally rest, Liam Smith didn't even bother to listen to the rest of what Alistair said. He threw the inkstone aside, and regardless of whether the ground was clean or not, he just lay down.

His eyes were already closed, and he was lying there comfortably, ready to have a good sleep.

"Don't sleep. Hurry up and restore your vital energy." Alistair reminded him.

Today's cultivation had not only exhausted Liam Smith's physical strength but also left his vital energy in his body almost depleted. In the Cloud-Connecting Mountains, staying in peak condition at all times was the only way to survive.

Liam Smith reluctantly sat up from the ground, directly formed a strange handprint in front of his chest, and the Eternal Sky Codex in his body began to spin rapidly, starting to restore his vital energy.

He didn't even bother to take out the Soul crystal in his Storage bag. Although this way the restoration speed was slower, Liam Smith really didn't want to move at all now.

I don't know how many hours had passed, and it was already late at night.

Liam Smith's vital energy in his body was once again replenished. At this moment, he could no longer bear the physical exhaustion and fell asleep while sitting cross-legged.

However, Liam Smith had only slept for less than half an hour when he was woken up by Alistair.

"What is it, Master?" Liam Smith mumbled with his eyes still closed.

"Time's up. We should get going." Alistair said coldly.

Liam Smith pleaded, "Master, just let me rest for a little while longer."

"Stop talking nonsense. Get up quickly." Alistair didn't give him a chance at all.

"My whole body aches, and I really don't have the strength to move anymore. You might as well just kill me." Liam Smith now would rather die than continue.

Alistair sneered and said, "Fine, you said it yourself."

A moment later, Liam Smith, who still had his eyes closed, suddenly felt a strong gust of wind rushing towards him. He barely opened his eyes to take a look.

It was a good thing he did. Liam Smith was so scared that all his drowsiness disappeared. He saw that the inkstone that he had thrown aside earlier was now falling towards him.

At that moment, without thinking, he didn't know where he got the strength from, and he rolled on the ground, barely dodging the "attack" of the inkstone.

The heavy inkstone fell heavily to the ground, and then a dull thud sounded.

Looking at the inkstone in front of him, Liam Smith couldn't imagine what would happen if he were hit by this heavy inkstone. He reckoned that he would either die or be disabled.

Needless to say, this must have been Alistair's doing.

He turned his head and, sure enough, saw that Alistair had somehow come out of the ancient jade and was now staring at him with a mischievous smile on his face.

Liam Smith stepped forward in disbelief and said, "You really wanted to crush me to death?"

"Didn't you say it yourself?" Alistair shrugged and said, "Besides, I knew you would be able to dodge it."

"But what if I hadn't dodged it and got crushed to death?"

"Then it would only be your own fault." Alistair said indifferently.

Liam Smith was completely defeated. He gave Alistair a thumbs-up and said resentfully, "You're really something."

Alistair gave Liam Smith a disdainful look and said, "I already knew that myself. You don't need to tell me."

Liam Smith almost spat out blood in anger. Meeting such an extreme master, he didn't know if he had been extremely unlucky. Now he couldn't argue with Alistair, and if he tried to fight, he reckoned that Alistair could kill him with just a flick of his finger.

He snorted coldly and said resentfully, "If I could beat you, I would have fallen out with you long ago."

Alistair gave a wicked smile and said, "You have a sharp tongue, little guy. I've decided that from now on, you'll walk for two quarters of an hour each time and rest for fifty breaths in the middle."

Liam Smith was immediately unhappy and said, "Old guy, you're really trying to drive me to death."

"So what if I am?" Alistair glanced at Liam Smith mockingly and said, "If you keep talking nonsense, the rest time will be reduced further."

Liam Smith had wanted to say something more, but when he heard this, he didn't dare to continue. He swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

He gave Alistair a fierce glare and could only obediently get dressed again and set off.

Just as he was walking, Alistair suddenly handed him a torch, pointed a hole in the inkstone, and inserted the torch into it. In this dark night, it could be considered lighting the way for Liam Smith.

"Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?" Liam Smith asked.

Alistair smiled and said, "Who else is my pupil? It's only right for a master to take care of his pupil."

"Nonsense. What were you doing earlier? Even if it's like the saying 'a slap followed by a sweet date', this sweet date is too small, and the slap hurts too much," Liam Smith thought to himself.

He let out a soft snort and looked a bit aggrieved, but he still felt a little touched in his heart: Master still takes care of me.

But this thought was completely overturned during Liam Smith's next rest—

While Liam Smith was still constantly patting his extremely sore legs, he suddenly felt a strong gust of wind blowing from not far away.

If it were an ordinary wind, it would have been fine, but this gust of wind carried a hint of heat, making his blood boil a little.

Liam Smith immediately became alert, stood up, and leaned against the tree, looking around.

Suddenly, a red shadow appeared in the grass not far away.

Just as Liam Smith was surprised, the red shadow began to move towards him, seemingly coming for him.

When the red shadow was several zhang away from him, Liam Smith finally saw what it looked like clearly.

It was a huge creature, somewhat resembling a cow, but its whole body was red, and it had a single horn on its head. Its big mouth had many yellowish big teeth.

The huge creature was now looking at Liam Smith, grinding its teeth up and down, making a nerve-wracking sound. Saliva dripped from the corner of its mouth, as if it saw Liam Smith as food.

Liam Smith was a bit panicked and immediately sent a mental message to Alistair, who had already entered the ancient jade, "Master, something's wrong."

"What's the matter?" Alistair's voice sounded calmly.

"A huge thing has appeared."

"Don't worry. It's just a Frenzied Fire Ox."

"Frenzied Fire Ox?" Liam Smith tried his best to search for information about it.

However, the Frenzied Fire Ox opposite seemed to have become a bit impatient. It directly let out a low growl and pounced towards Liam Smith.

Liam Smith was so scared that cold sweat broke out all over his body. He circulated the vital energy in his body and dodged several zhang away with a flash.

The Frenzied Fire Ox directly crashed into the big tree that Liam Smith had been leaning against before. The violent force made the towering tree shake a little, and fallen leaves were sent flying.

It perfectly demonstrated the meaning of the word "frenzied" with its actions.