11 Bad News

Sreesh slowly walked into the mountain forest looking around, enjoying the scenery. The morning dew had not dried from the leaves and the grass giving the forest a fresh a feeling. There were less soldiers stationed around the mountains this time. It had been a few days since the 'treasure' had emerged and no one had been able to find it yet. This meant that that either the treasure had disappeared or someone had already acquired it. If someone had really found the treasure they would not be foolish enough to still remain in the mountain range, unless they had a screw loose in their head. The remaining soldiers were stationed just in case. As Sreesh walked through the forest he saw many hunters walking in and out of the mountains. Winter was almost here and food would be in short supply at that time. Therefore there was rigorous hunting going on.

Along the way Sreesh managed to kill some rabbits which he put in his backpack. After walking for a couple hours he arrived at a place that he was familiar with. There was a small stream running nearby and many deer would come to this place to drink water. He took out one of the rabbits and started preparing it for lunch. After lunch he climbed up a large tree nearby and took out the magical stone bead and started examining it.

The stone bead was small oval shaped like a teardrop. It was smooth without any roughness. It was cold to the touch but not freezing cold. It felt cool and refreshing. When Sreesh tried looking inside the bead all he saw except the book was darkness. He could not make out how large the space was inside the bead or how it was possible to fit a book inside a small stone bead.

Sreesh started experimenting with the stone bead. First he tried taking the book out and putting it inside for a few times. Then he plucked a leaf from the tree he was on and tried to put that in. He was surprised to find out that it actually worked. He tried with different things like twigs, small pieces of wood etc. His happiness grew as he realised that it worked. He wanted to try with animal meat. If he could put animal meat in the bead without any accidents occurring, it would save him a lot of energy as he would not have to carry the carcass around as a heavy load. First he removed everything inside the bead so that if any accidents occur nothing else would be affected by it. After which he tried putting a rabbit carcass inside the bead. When the carcass went in Sreesh was extremely overjoyed. He tried putting his backpack his bow and book inside carefully. He was extremely happy to see that the different items did not interact with each other unless he wanted them to.

At this time Sreesh heard movement around him and looked around. He saw a plump wild boar had come up to the stream to drink some water. Sreesh was overjoyed. This huge boar would be enough for his family for a long time. Plus pork was expensive it could be sold for a lot of money.

"Today is a really good day." Sreesh thought to himself. Then he took out his bow and arrow and carefully aimed at the boar's eye. The boar's hide was thick so the eye was it's weak point.

'Twang'

Sreesh released he bow carefully using the exact amount of strength required. The arrow shot through the air at breakneck speed. The arrow embedded itself in the eye of the boar. The boar thrashed around for a few second and then fell on the ground, lifeless. Sreesh climbed down the tree and slowly put the entire boar into the stone bead. Then he went around trying to find a few more animals to hunt. He found a deer an a few small animals and put them all into the bead.

After his hunt was completed he wanted to find a good secluded place to start cultivating. This was the main reason he wanted to come into the mountains. The place had to be near the stream so that he could wash up after his breakthrough. It also needed to be secluded enough for him to not be disturbed when he was cultivating. After some looking he found an acceptable place. It was under a large banyan tree. The tree was extremely large with roots hanging to the ground. It was relatively dark under the tree. It was a cool place and was well hidden. Sreesh sat down under the tree with his legs crossed. He took the book out and opened it and started reading it.

The book talked about spiritual energy and how a cultivator could use it. It talked about all the advantages of the Kundalini Chakra manual. According to the book a Kundalini Awakening could be done at the peak of body tempering realm when one was about to breakthrough to the Spiritual refinement realm. The word chakra came from the Sanskrit word 'chakram' which meant a wheel or a disk. This chakra would be in a shape of a round disk with spokes on the edges. The first Kundalini chakra would be stored at the bottom end of the spine when it was not being used. This Kundalini chakra could also be used as a weapon during fights and could be thrown out towards the enemy to cut or behead them. The range for which the chakra could be used and the duration depended on the user's soul strength.

Sreesh finished reading all this information and then decided to start cultivating. He closed his eyes and opened up his other senses and started to absorb the spiritual energy into his body. The entire process was extremely smooth and his body started growing stronger slowly minute by minute.

Sreesh stayed under the tree cultivating for the entire day and night only taking a break once to have some food. After a full day of cultivating Sreesh finally broke through the next step to the Second layer of body tempering.

Similar to last time his body released a lot of impurities. Sreesh ran to the stream and dove into it. After washing up he felt stronger and his senses were sharper. Sreesh knew that it was time to return home.

He took out a deer and started carrying it outside. He did this to stop arousing suspicion. There were still people looking for the treasure and he had to be careful not to expose it.

He was happily walking towards the exit when he heard some men talking. To his surprise they were talking about him and Bali. Sreesh listened carefully as his face became paler and paler from what he heard. Turns out that the soldiers that he had beaten up the other day had come to his house last night with reinforcements. They had thrashed the entire house and broken everything inside. Sreesh's uncle Roran was injured and Bali was missing. He was taken away by the soldiers.

The anger inside Sreesh erupted like a volcano. Last time he had controlled his strength so that no one was seriously hurt. His eyes became red with anger and he started to emit strong killing intent. He ran towards his house in full speed.

When some people saw this they became stupefied to see a young boy with an entire deer on his back running with such fast speed.