Chapter 1: The Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes
In the vast world of Tianyu, Qingyang Mountain is shrouded in rain and fog, the fairy mountain is like a dream, and the green shade is like a painting.
A weak figure was busy in the herb garden, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his hands from time to time. He was Bi Fan.
Looking at his frail body, one feels very pitiful. Unfortunately, no one in this world will sympathize with him.
Bi Fan has been an orphan since childhood and was adopted by an old man who was in charge of the medicine garden at Qingyang Gate in Qingyang Mountain. He has no idea what kind of people his parents are.
The old man's surname was Bi, so he also followed suit.
Today, Bi Fan is already fourteen years old, and due to malnutrition, he looks only eleven or twelve years old.
The old man who adopted Bi Fan passed away two years ago, and Bi Fan's life became even more difficult.
The status of the medicine boy in the medicine garden is very low, not much better than the aunt who sweeps the floor or the aunt who cooks.
In contrast, working as a medicine boy in the medicine garden requires certain professional knowledge, has heavy tasks and is under great pressure.
If you fail to complete the task, you will be punished and the treatment you deserve may be cancelled, which means all your work will be in vain.
When the old man was still around, he could occasionally complete tasks and get some rewards, including some kind of elixir such as body-strengthening pills.
Bi Fan had seen the body-strengthening pills, but he was not lucky enough to use them.
Every time the old man got a health-strengthening pill, he would give it to Zhu San, who was in charge of the medicine garden, just hoping that he would suffer less trouble in the coming year.
The old man was not very kind to Bi Fan. He just treated him as a servant and ordered him around.
But as soon as the old man left, Bi Fan's troubles came one after another. Not only did Zhu San make things difficult for him, but even the other medicine boys bullied him wantonly.
"Bi Fan, please help me take good care of this purple stem grass. If there are any problems, you will be in trouble." This is still relatively gentle.
"Silly boy, I'm leaving Baizhihua to you. If anything goes wrong, you know what I'm doing!"
Bi Fan was skinny and taciturn, so other medicine boys called him "Silly Egg", which was his first nickname.
In fact, Bi Fan is not stupid at all, nor is he unable to speak, it's just that pretending to be stupid can help him suffer less.
One day, Bi Fan was helping a medicine boy named Daniu take care of a red fruit plant and accidentally broke a leaf.
After learning about this, Da Niu rushed to Bi Fan's medicine garden.
"Silly boy, what did I tell you? If you damage the Vermillion Fruit in any way, I will cripple your arm."
As he spoke, Daniu pounced at Bi Fan at such a fast speed that Bi Fan had no time to dodge and one of his arms was grabbed by Daniu's strong and powerful hand.
"ah!..."
Da Niu pulled hard and Bi Fan's slender arm was dislocated. Bi Fan trembled all over in pain, but he did not dare to complain at all.
"Endure, endure..." Bi Fan kept repeating this word in his heart.
In this world, strength comes first.
Bi Fan is weak, even much weaker than ordinary people. It is most appropriate to describe him as frail.
Being bullied for many years taught him the art of endurance.
What could he do even if he couldn't bear it? He once tried to resist, but was beaten up by a group of medicine boys. He was seriously injured and had to lie in bed for a month before he fully recovered.
Since then, Bi Fan has become more dull, more lonely, and more "stupid".
Bi Fan often has to help other medicine boys take care of spiritual medicines, especially those with more stringent living conditions. Those medicine boys force Bi Fan to help take care of them.
In order to take good care of the elixirs of other medicine boys, he failed to complete his annual task.
After two years, it was not without some benefits. At least he learned a lot of things. He knew much more about the medicinal properties and growth conditions of many spiritual medicines than other medicine boys.
Qingyang Gate is a paradise in the eyes of ordinary people, but it is hell to Bi Fan.
He wanted to escape from Qingyang Mountain, but it was a mountainous and steep place, and he was too weak to go down the mountain.
Every year, Bi Fan feared the day of handing in the elixirs the most, because not only did he have to hand over the elixirs to other medicine boys intact, he also had to hand in his own share of elixirs to Zhu San.
Bi Fan has not completed his tasks for two consecutive years. If he fails to hand in his tasks this year, the consequences will be serious.
Zhu San had already spoken. If Bi Fan failed to hand over the elixir on time and in the correct amount, he would be chopped into pieces.
Bi Fan tried his best but failed to complete the task. His task was much heavier than that of other medicine boys. On top of that, he also had to help other medicine boys look after the elixirs. It was simply a fantasy for him to complete the task.
Thinking of Zhu San's ferocious appearance, Bi Fan felt a little frightened.
Zhu San was as fat as a winter melon, and he wobbled as he walked. He had a ferocious face and would often beat and scold his subordinates as medicine boys. All the medicine boys in Qingyang Mountain were afraid of him.
Zhu San has already started collecting the spiritual medicines, and will come to the medicine garden that Bi Fan is looking after in the next one or two days.
It takes time for the elixir to grow. Bi Fan had no choice but to wait and be punished. He could only pray that Zhu San would not break his promise.
Bi Fan did not sleep all night, and early the next morning, he heard a commotion outside.
"not good!"
Zhu San was about to arrive, and many medicine boys followed him to watch the fun.
Every time the elixirs were handed in, Bi Fan's hut was the busiest place, because he would be punished every time he failed to complete the task.
"Silly boy, it's time to hand in the elixir, why don't you come out and greet Master Zhu."
"Silly boy, you haven't completed your mission this time. You are a waste after all. Your life is a sheer waste of food."
There are quite a lot of people who want to squeeze Bi Fan, and there are even more people who want to see Bi Fan punished.
Bi Fan hurried out with his head lowered, a flash of resentment in his eyes that was fleeting.
Zhu San ignored Bi Fan and carefully checked Bi Fan's herb garden. He said, "Bi Fan, you are getting bolder and bolder. You have only completed one-third of today's task. It seems that what I said is useless. You are courting death."
His tone was extremely cold, and he slapped Bi Fan's thin body with his big palm.
Bi Fan did not hide, and he could not hide.
Zhu San is a strong man in the realm of martial arts, and Bi Fan is even worse than an ordinary person.
Even though Zhu San is so fat that he has trouble walking, once he starts moving, he is still very fast.
Before Bi Fan could react, he was hit by Zhu San's palm.
"Bang!" There was a loud noise.
Bi Fan flew more than ten meters, fell to the ground, spit out a mouthful of scarlet blood, and was unable to move, as if he was about to faint.
Zhu San's cultivation level was at the Martial Power Realm, and his strength was as high as one cloud stone. If he exerted his full strength, he could kill a tiger. He only used one-third of his strength, and Bi Fan was already dying. (Cloud stone is an important refining material in the Tianyu World. It has a very high density, and a fist-sized piece weighs a thousand pounds. In the Tianyu World, cloud stone is specifically used to test the strength of practitioners.)
In the Tianyu world, the levels of practitioners are divided into the mortal realm, the rebirth realm, the supernatural realm, and above that is the immortal realm. When practicing to the immortal realm, one must ascend to the six realms.
The six upper realms include the Buddhist realm, the demon realm, the immortal realm, the spirit realm, the god realm, and the chaotic realm. Any of the upper realms encompasses countless stars and is vast and boundless.
The mortal realm is divided into nine levels: the first level is strength, the second level is power accumulation, the third level is martial power, the fourth level is internal breath, the fifth level is internal organs, the sixth level is bravery, the seventh level is spiritual wisdom, the eighth level is enormous strength, and the ninth level is transformation.
The first level is to strengthen the body, to toughen the flesh, and to strengthen the body. When you practice to this level, you will have a strength of 200 kilograms, which is far more than an ordinary person.
The second level is to accumulate strength, temper the body, strengthen the tendons and bones, take elixirs, accumulate strength, and practice to the power accumulation stage, with a strength of more than 600 kilograms.
The third level of martial arts, with a strength exceeding a thousand pounds, has entered the ranks of preparatory practitioners.
The fourth level is internal breath, and the practice of the method begins. Qi begins to be generated in the body, which is the internal breath. With the qi, the force is controlled, and the explosive power is very strong. All aspects of the body are greatly improved. At this stage, one can be considered a true practitioner.
As for the five levels after internal organs, bravery, intelligence, great strength and transformation, they are not something that a choreman like Zhu San can achieve.
As long as one is able to cultivate internal energy and is not too old, he will be accepted as a registered disciple by the sect and his status will be greatly improved.
Bi Fan was unwilling to be ordinary and had been working hard to exercise, but his body was too weak and he couldn't even reach the first level of strength, so it was no surprise that he was bullied.
"Bi Fan, your body is not suitable for cultivation, so you'd better give up." This is what the old man said to him before he died.
But Bi Fan never gave up. The old man had been dead for almost three years, and Bi Fan's training volume continued to increase, but with little effect.
"I don't want to do menial work forever, I don't want to be bullied forever, I want to become stronger, I want to be the best..." Bi Fan was shouting in his heart before he fell into coma.
"Master Zhu, Bi Fan has fainted and is not far from death. What should we do now? Should we throw him into the Ten Thousand Snakes Cave?" A medicine boy stepped forward to check on Bi Fan's condition and said with glee.
Throwing it into the Snake Cave is equivalent to destroying the body and eliminating all traces, which will save a lot of trouble.
Zhu San waved his fat hand, and the medicine boys lifted Bi Fan up and walked towards the back mountain.
There is a huge cave at the back of Qingyang Mountain. The cave is so deep that you can't see the bottom. There are countless poisonous snakes underneath. People from Qingyang Sect call this place the Ten Thousand Snake Cave. Usually, Qingyang Sect will throw traitors and people from hostile sects into the Ten Thousand Snake Cave, which is the most vicious punishment.
When talking about the Ten Thousand Snakes Cave, even the people from Qingyang Sect shuddered.
The opening of the Ten Thousand Snakes Cave is about a hundred meters in radius, and a fishy odor can be smelled from a long distance away.
Just smelling the smell is enough to make people dizzy. It is obvious how many poisonous snakes there are in the Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes and how venomous they are.
Those medicine boys didn't dare to get too close to the Ten Thousand Snakes Cave. They selected two of the strongest ones, threw Bi Fan into the Ten Thousand Snakes Cave, and then left leisurely, talking and laughing.