The Rise of the Fallen Prodigy

"Quickly wipe off your saliva. It's dripping onto the Fire Ganoderma Lucidum." Alistair teased.

Liam Smith gave a dry laugh at his words, quickly licked his lips, and said, "Master, what should we do now?"

"Do you even need to ask? Of course, we should take it away. Do you still plan to leave it for someone else?" Alistair said.

"I'm not that kind-hearted." Liam Smith said without hesitation, "I just wanted to ask how to pick it. Should I just pull it out directly or is there some other special method?"

When Alistair heard Liam Smith's question, he became interested at once and said, "Little guy, why did you think of asking these questions? This doesn't seem like your character."

Liam Smith gave him a sideways glance and said, "Then what's my character like?"

"I guessed that you would be unable to resist pulling it out directly."

"Is there something wrong with doing that?"

Alistair neither confirmed nor denied it and said, "Of course. Most of the medicinal power of the elixir is concentrated in the roots, and the roots are the most vulnerable part of the elixir. If you pull it out with force, you will definitely damage the roots. Then the medicinal power will be greatly reduced, and the price will naturally drop by a large margin."

After hearing this, Liam Smith patted his chest and said thankfully, "Fortunately, I asked. Otherwise, I would have suffered a great loss."

He thought that if the elixir, which was originally worth over a thousand Soul crystals, lost several hundred Soul crystals due to his random actions, he would probably regret it to the core.

"Master, but we directly pulled out those Chiba grasses and other things before. Will their medicinal power also be lost?"

"That's how it is with all elixirs."

Liam Smith felt a pang of distress and said, "Then why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Alistair said disdainfully, "Those are the lowest-level elixirs. They don't even count as first-level. Whether their medicinal power is lost or not doesn't matter. Besides, you were going to hand them over to the deaconry hall anyway. What does it matter to you whether the medicinal power is strong or weak?"

Liam Smith thought it made sense. After all, these were all for the family mission. He just needed to hand them in and exchange them for Soul crystals. There was no need to care about medicinal power.

"That's true." Liam Smith forced a smile and said, "Master, then how exactly should we obtain this elixir?"

Alistair said indifferently, "What about that small iron shovel I asked you to buy?"

"I have it." Liam Smith quickly found the iron shovel that was casually thrown in the corner of his storage bag and asked, "Master, should I use this small iron shovel to dig it out along with the roots?"

"Correct. But you still need to pay attention to your technique and be familiar with the growth pattern of the elixir's roots..." Alistair began to teach him.

According to Alistair's teachings, Liam Smith carefully inserted the iron shovel and started from the outer perimeter of Fire Ganoderma Lucidum's roots. He tried his best to ensure that not a single bit was damaged and then dug it out along with the soil it was growing in.

At this time, Alistair urged, "Quickly take out the wooden box I asked you to prepare."

"Yes." Liam Smith took out a simple small wooden box without any carvings.

"Put the Fire Ganoderma Lucidum in it." Alistair ordered.

Liam Smith didn't dare to be negligent. He carefully put the Fire Ganoderma Lucidum in, closed the box, and put it back into his storage bag.

Then he asked, "Master, why do we need to put it in a wooden box?"

"This is a common-sense question." Alistair said with a hint of mockery in his tone, "Heaven and earth spiritual herbs are born by absorbing the spiritual essence between heaven and earth. If they leave the place where they originally grew, the medicinal power they contain will gradually dissipate until it is completely gone. The function of the wooden box is to prevent the medicinal power of the elixir from dissipating."

"Oh, I understand." Liam Smith suddenly realized and secretly remembered this so-called common-sense question in his heart.

It seemed that in the future, when he obtained spiritual herbs, he should follow the method taught by Alistair, and presumably, the same principle applied to elixirs.

"Alright, there's nothing worth lingering about in this place. Let's go." Alistair said indifferently.

Liam Smith had long been tired of staying in this place. He nodded repeatedly and walked out of the lair along the way he came.

Standing outside the mountain rock wall, Liam Smith finally experienced the freshness of the fresh air. He took a few deep breaths, and a sense of satisfaction welled up in his heart.

Thinking about his experience this time, it could be said to be full of twists and turns, going from heaven to hell and back again. It was just like the old saying: Blessings and misfortunes depend on each other.

However, generally speaking, the harvest was quite large. Not only did he escape danger, but he also obtained a heaven and earth spiritual herb like the Fire Ganoderma Lucidum. It could be said that he had made a great profit.

"Could it be that I've been inside for a day and two nights?" Liam Smith looked at the setting sun in the sky and asked himself.

Alistair said indifferently, "Judging by time, it should be like that."

"Master, what should we do now?" Liam Smith looked very excited.

But Alistair's next words made him feel dejected like an eggplant beaten by frost.

"Didn't you still have a family mission that wasn't completed? Continue with your family mission."

"But I have dozens of external injuries, not to mention the serious internal injuries. If I don't go back to Silvermoon Valley for recuperation, I might develop a lingering illness in the future, and that would be terrible."

"Don't talk nonsense to me. A true warrior grows up in the battle of blood and sweat. Which powerful warrior doesn't have injuries? With just these few injuries on you, you still have the nerve to go back to Silvermoon Valley for recuperation. Even a woman wouldn't be like you."

Liam Smith frowned and pleaded, "But external injuries might leave scars in the future."

"Don't worry. This medicine for sword wounds is of excellent quality and definitely won't leave scars."

What else could Liam Smith say? He could only say glumly, "Oh, I understand."

"Remember the black robe and the inkstone."

Liam Smith said with some difficulty, "Do I still have to carry the inkstone? It's all stained with blood."

Alistair obviously didn't care about Liam Smith's gloomy expression and said, "Nonsense. Find a place to wash it clean and then carry it."

"Yes." Liam Smith said listlessly.

The brief excitement was once again overshadowed by the fatigue brought about by his body.

However, today Liam Smith felt that the inkstone wasn't as heavy as last time, and he walked much more easily. He didn't know if it was just his imagination.

The training was still going on, and cultivation was still difficult.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed, and Liam Smith finally managed to find all the things needed for the family mission during his cultivation breaks.

These more than half a month could be said to be the most unforgettable days for Liam Smith. Saying that it was full of dangers couldn't even describe the situation.

Almost every day, different dangers would appear in front of him. Sometimes, even when he was halfway through using the toilet, a monster would launch a surprise attack, and he almost lost control of his bowels in fright.

Generally speaking, 70% of all the dangers were manipulated by Alistair. What was even more annoying was that Liam Smith himself was actually an accomplice. There were times when his shadow could be seen behind many of the dangers.

Whether Liam Smith listened to Alistair or not, and whether he accepted some of Alistair's "kindness" or not, the outcome was always the same—he fell into a trap again.

Moreover, as the training continued, the dangers he encountered each time gradually increased. Liam Smith almost didn't make it back from the brink of death several times.

Once, he even encountered a second-level monster. If Alistair hadn't stepped in at the last moment, he would probably have already become the monster's meal or turned into one of the fertilizers in the Cloud-Connecting Mountains by now.

During this period, Liam Smith's progress was also obvious. He was originally at the peak of the second level of the Refined Gas Realm. After going through Alistair's inhumane training, he successfully broke through to the third level of the Refined Gas Realm without any surprise. This was perhaps the greatest gain of Liam Smith's journey.

Although after the battle in the Blood Raven's lair, Liam Smith also obtained a lot of good things, none of them could compare in value to the Fire Ganoderma Lucidum. However, if he sold them all, he estimated that he could get two or three hundred Soul crystals.

If the other pupils of the Smith family knew about this, he wondered what their expressions would be. They worked hard for a whole month and only got dozens or a hundred Soul crystals in total, and that was only when they were fully committed for a month.

During this trip, apart from that Fire Ganoderma Lucidum, Liam Smith's harvest was several times that of theirs, and at the same time, he also persisted in a certain amount of training every day under Alistair's guidance.

Their expressions would probably be quite interesting.

Of course, all the credit for this belonged to Alistair. Without him, Liam Smith wouldn't have found so many valuable things. How many times had Liam Smith passed by spiritual herbs without noticing them? He might have even died countless times.

Liam Smith put the inkstone aside, took a sip of water, and said, "Master, it's almost been a month. According to time, should we go back?"

In more than half a month, Liam Smith was injured almost every day. The saying "new injuries added before the old ones healed" probably described his situation.

Although there was nothing seriously wrong for the time being, as the number of injuries continued to increase, Liam Smith began to notice some discomfort in his body. If he didn't rest and recuperate in time, there was a high possibility of developing a lingering illness in the future.

In the Liberty Divine Land, super warriors all had almost indestructible bodies. Illnesses and injuries simply didn't exist for them. With their powerful cultivation, almost all injuries could be cured.

However, for someone like Liam Smith, who hadn't yet achieved great success in martial arts and had accumulated a certain number of injuries, if he didn't rest and resolve them as soon as possible, the injuries would penetrate deep into his bones. Even after achieving great success in martial arts, he wouldn't be able to get rid of these illnesses and pains even if he could control the elements.

This was both a source of helplessness and despair for a warrior. It would limit the warrior's achievements in martial arts, and they might not make any progress for the rest of their lives. Moreover, they would be tortured by illnesses and pains.

As a former powerful warrior, Alistair naturally understood these most basic principles.

He slowly opened his mouth and said, "The injuries on your body are indeed quite urgent. If you don't deal with them within three days, they will probably penetrate deep into your bones."

"Then can we leave?"

"Yeah, go back and recuperate. After you break through to the third level of the Refined Gas Realm, you can continue your training."

"Yes, Master." Liam Smith said solemnly.

After this period of training, Liam Smith unconsciously found that he had actually fallen in love with this kind of life.

Sometimes it was indeed very dangerous, but every time he personally resolved a crisis, he would gain something. He couldn't exactly say what it was, but he clearly felt a sense of satisfaction.

Liam Smith couldn't help but wonder if he had a bit of a masochistic mentality.

After packing everything up, Liam Smith took off his clothes, put on a clean set of clothes, put away the black robe and the inkstone, and then walked along the ancient path down the mountain.

Who could tell what difficulties and dangers he had faced during these more than half a month?