Strutting into the registration office was a boy about 14 years of age. He had a head of short brown hair and brown eyes. On every side he was surrounded by lackeys, and his eyes contained an arrogant glint.
This was Chen Fang a disciple from the previous batch of disciples. At the age of 14 he had already reached the 7th Stage of Body Tempering, which was quite impressive considering the other disciples his age were still in the 6th Stage.
After Chen Fang entered he and his lackeys immediately cut into the line and surrounded the unsuspecting Chen Zemin. Seeing this Mo Xiaowen had no intention of getting involved, and immediately tried to leave.
While the seniors wouldn't typically bully the juniors, getting involved with them was still unwise. After all how was he going to fight back against a group of people all 3 or even 4 stages above him? Pray to the heavens?
But once again, before he could leave the office something tugged it his heart. It wasn't anything rational but simply curiosity. After all how often could one witness family drama, especially within such a Clan.
"What do you want Chen Fang?" Chen Zemin asked coldly, his blue eyes seemingly dead inside. He was reaching his breaking point.
"Oh? Can't an older brother check up on his younger brother? Do I need to discipline you a bit more?" Chen Fang replied, an evil glint in his eyes.
Their argument was holding up the line, but the registration officer didn't dare get involved. The Chen Clan was a force to be reckoned with and it wasn't a very smart idea to offend them, especially Chen Fang.
".....Why do you come after me at every turn? Are you that scared that I'll replace you as father's favorite? You've already won so just fuck off!" Chen Zemin roared, he had truly had enough.
"Heh, I guess this is what's expected of a bastard. When was I ever scared of you, as I said I am simply disciplining you. Don't you agree?" Chen Fang replied while turning his head towards the crowd, his eyes specifically locking onto Mo Xiaowen.
'How am I getting involved again! Next time I am not getting involved and not even watching.' He roared inwardly as he held eye contact with Chen Fang.
His options were clear, firstly he could stand up for Chen Zemin and potentially make a friend, but simultaneously he'd provoke Chen Fang and get bullied as well, secondly he could ignore Chen Fang and probably get bullied anyway or thirdly go along with Chen Fang and possibly create an enemy out of Chen Zemin.
Any way he sliced it, it was obvious what had to be done. "Of course I agree, disciplining your younger brother is the right thing to do after all!" Mo Xiaowen agreed with a thumbs up.
Hearing this Chen Fang smiled, while the others watching this spectacle concurred. On the other hand Chen Zemin's eyes landed on Mo Xiaowen, an intense fury brewing in his heart.
Where did Mo Xiaowen get off on making fun of him? Firstly he arrived out of no where and gave Chen Zemin hope, before leaving and letting him get beaten, now he was even supporting his brother? Why did this Mo Xiaowen go out of his way at every turn? The only thing he hadn't done yet was physically bully him.
Sensing Chen Zemin's gaze Mo Xiaowen could only sigh. 'Ya definitely the last time, its never good to provoke people randomly. And who knows, Chen Fang might bully Chen Zemin now but what if he calms down in the future. Wouldn't Chen Zemin go after me via the Chen Clan?' Mo Xiaowen simply shook his head before leaving the registration office.
He then went back to his residence and took out his new items.
"Hmm the Body Tempering Pills." Mo Xiaowen smiled before taking out an empty box and placing them inside. A Body Tempering Pill could increase one's tempering speed by about 10% for 3 days, it was quite the potent medicine. It even had no side effects and was even pleasant to consume.
Then Mo Xiaowen reached for the blue grass. "Body Tearing Grass....this thing still haunts me." He muttered before opening another box. Unlike the other box this box was filled with 35 Body Tearing Grasses.
In reality if the Body Tempering Pill was considered potent then the Body Tearing Grass could only be considered miraculous. If one took it before training then they would gain 50% more results in their training. This effect only lasted for one day but what made Body Tearing Grass so good was that it was very very common.
Now one might ask, why would Mo Xiaowen keep all these grasses away? It was very simple really, the Body Tearing Grass' name wasn't for show. When one ate the grass it would feel as if their entire body is being ripped apart, it was a terrible pain even worse than getting stabbed.
Because of this after one ate their first Body Tearing Grass they would rarely eat a second. In fact, Mo Xiaowen remembered reading that only about 0.1% of cultivators made regular use of Body Tearing Grass, which showed how traumatising the pain was.
For a while now Mo Xiaowen had debated using the grass. After all if he used it rather than take over 2 years to reach the peak of Body Tempering he could do it in a year and a half.
Unfortunately one couldn't simply change completely over night. Sure had his mentality shifted? Yes. But making an extra effort in training and consuming such a painful almost traumatising substance were two completely different things.
'If only there was a way to make Body Tearing Grass less painful. Sure it would probably be less effective but then I could build up to using the real thing.' Mo Xiaowen sighed, before placing the grasses away.
He then took out the first book, which he had named "Lizard's Body" due to that one sentence, and began reading it. Even after 3 days he couldn't figure it out. Those numbers at the bottom especially confused him.
'What does 3,2 mean? It can't be the number of the page, because the next one is 2,4, while the one after that is 1,3.' Mo Xiaowen pondered before continuing to read the book.
Enlightenment wasn't something easy to attain, so he could only slowly make sense of the book and its contents.