Han Li slowly walked out of the Divine Hand Valley, following the mountain path towards the vaguely visible Crimson Water Peak.
He didn't have anything important to do at the moment. Over the past few days, his only reason for visiting Zhang Tie at the waterfall was to see his comical appearance while training.
"This Elephant Armor Technique is not something ordinary people can endure. Just the first level alone inflicts such torture. As for the later levels, they're even more excruciating, likely stripping layers of skin off one's body," Han Li thought to himself as he walked, absentmindedly kicking fallen leaves and branches along the path.
"I bet Zhang Tie is starting to regret it now. The dominance of this technique far exceeds the imagination of us youngsters," Han Li muttered to himself, feeling somewhat uplifted at the thought of finding a way out of their current suffering for his friend.
Han Li glanced at the trees lining the road. It was late autumn, and the branches were bare, with a thick layer of fallen leaves and dead branches covering the path, making it soft and comfortable to walk on.
Suddenly, from a nearby mountain peak, came the sound of weapons clashing, accompanied by occasional shouts of encouragement.
Hearing the sounds, Han Li's mood soured. It was the instructors of the Hundred Forges Hall training the new disciples in weapon combat.
Whenever Han Li saw his fellow disciples engaging in live weapon training, he couldn't help but feel envious. Unfortunately, ever since officially becoming Doctor Mo's disciple, he had been forbidden from handling such things, as it was said to interfere with his progress in practicing the technique.
Feeling frustrated, Han Li consoled himself, "If I can't learn other things, then so be it."
Han Li's mind wandered as he walked, and his spirit became increasingly distracted. His gaze wandered aimlessly along the sides of the path, not focusing on anything in particular.
Suddenly, Han Li gasped in pain, his expression turning strange. Almost reflexively, he crouched down, clutching his right big toe tightly with both hands before collapsing onto the grass. The sudden intense pain had overwhelmed him, causing his face to pale. Waves of piercing pain radiated from his toe.
It seemed he had accidentally kicked a very hard stone buried in the leaf pile.
After a while, Han Li managed to ease the pain. He lifted his head and scanned the leaf pile nearby, trying to identify the culprit.
All he saw were monotonous yellow leaves, making it impossible for him to find the object he was looking for.
Frowning, Han Li reached out and rummaged through the pile with his hand, grabbing a thick branch and using it to poke around. Suddenly, he unearthed a fist-sized object.
Han Li examined it closely. This was the culprit that had caused his injury—a cylindrical bottle with a slender neck, covered in mud, completely turning it a dull gray color.
Han Li had initially thought it was a small porcelain bottle, but upon picking it up, he realized it was much heavier than expected. Perhaps it was made of metal? It was rare to see a bottle made of metal.
Now intrigued, Han Li forgot about the pain in his foot. He rubbed off the dirt from the neck of the bottle, revealing its original green color. There were delicate, dark green leaf patterns on the surface, and a small cap tightly sealed the mouth of the bottle.
Curious about its contents, Han Li shook the bottle gently, but felt no movement inside.
He tried to twist the cap with his hand, but it wouldn't budge.
Growing even more curious, Han Li was about to take the next step when suddenly, a sharp pain shot up from his foot.
"Oh no! How could I forget? My foot is still in contact with the object that caused this injury," Han Li cursed inwardly.
Realizing he couldn't go to Zhang Tie's place with this injury, Han Li decided to return to his residence first to apply some medicine and then carefully examine the unexpected find.
With that in mind, Han Li, wary of being seen by others, tucked the bottle into his pocket, turned around, and limped back home.
