16 A Humble Tortoise
The sun poured a torrent of scorching heat unto Wu Niu's naked body as he dried himself off along the riverbank. It was now midday.
Wu Niu had been bathing away the pestilent stink for the past few hours. He hadn't quite calculated for how persistent the odorous stench would be. It seemed as though no matter how hard he scrubbed, the pungent smell wouldn't dissipate.
Fortunately, Wu Niu did manage to get rid of the odor, but it came at the cost of multiple hours of being completely exposed to the sun.
He was already quite tanned on his arms and head, but now the entirety of his body was thoroughly sunburnt. The sunburns were especially painful because of Wu Niu's newly improved sense of touch.
When a practitioner restructures their nerves and skin, they also slightly increase the sensitivity of their skin. Multiple factors typically balance out this effect, but it can still make surface-level skin damage like sunburns somewhat more uncomfortable.
Wu Niu sat down on the gravelly surface of the riverbank. Then pulling his feet in, he peeled away the soaked cloth wrapped around his toe nubs. They were completely healed over. Almost as if they had been cut off for many years.
-Well, that's good.
Before the body tempering breakthrough, the stubby masses were infected and rotting. Now that they healed over, it felt as though a weight had been lifted off Wu Niu's shoulders.
Standing up, Wu Niu felt the light breeze caress his sensitive skin. The draft had a refreshingly chilled tingle on his sunburnt skin.
As Wu Niu stepped over to grab his clothes, he noticed something was off. Wu Niu's body felt quite heavy and harder to carry. Looking down, he observed that his muscles looked diminutive. They hadn't become less defined, but rather they were now concentrated into a smaller size.
-Oh yeah, this happened last time as well.
Wu Niu rubbed his short black hair as he racked his brain for the reason this had happened.
"Hmm…?"
-Oh yeah.
Body tempering doesn't increase the amount of matter comprising the body. Instead, it condenses that matter and lets the user fill out the open space through cell mitosis.
Wu Niu sat down and slipped his loincloth and pants on while caught in thought.
-Body tempering pills can induce a breakthrough without the need for too much exercise. Too bad I didn't get any.
It was indeed true that body tempering pills could help a practitioner breakthrough much sooner and with less physical work required.
-Though what if…?
Wu Niu had come to a sudden and world-shattering realization.
Though Wu Niu could breakthrough faster by taking pills, what if he were to accumulate as much muscle mass possible before breaking through? If he didn't, he wouldn't be able to take the fullest advantage of body tempering because the more muscle you have, the more condensed it will become in a breakthrough.
-Now I'm kind of glad I didn't receive those pills. Though without pills, it'll be hard to get very far.
"Hmm…?"
Wu Niu slipped his robe and belt on. Looking up to the pale blue colored sky, he contemplated the path he would take. This was the fork in the road, and he knew his decision would resign his fate.
-A practitioner who doesn't use pills is completely unheard of. Is it even possible?
At least from every practitioner success story that Wu Niu knew of, a big part of that success was due to the aide of many body tempering pills. Without body tempering pills, it could take a very long time to breakthrough. In some of the higher echelon body tempering stages, it could take multiple lifetimes of constant exercise to breakthrough.
-it's impossible...
Wu Niu stood up and tidied his clothing as he grabbed the fish sack. Turning to the path, he walked toward the dirt trail that led back to his cave home.
Wu Niu was deeply irked by his reliance on pills. It was like there was a vital component he failed his decision that he failed to recognize.
Out of the corner of his eye, Wu Niu spotted a tiny creature haggardly inching along the trail. It was short but long and wide. On its back was a large yellow shell with black splotches.
-A tortoise?
Wu Niu stepped in front of the tortoise, scaring it into its shell. Wu Niu laughed and sat right in front of it. Then picking a leaf from off the ground, he held in front of the turtle's mouth.
Wu Niu softly spoke with a warm smile.
"C'mon little buddy, Eat up. You know you want to."
The tortoise salivated as Wu Niu enticingly wiggled the leafy sustenance. Slowly reaching its head out, it gave the leaf a little nibble.
Wu Niu reached his other hand to pet the little tortoise on the head, but before he could, the tortoise retreated into the safety of its shell.
"Hmm—?"
Wu Niu eyes diverted to something that looked like a tortoiseshell, but on closer inspection, it was a small boulder with a flat bottom. The rock looked much like a tortoiseshell in its own right.
-It would be impossible to live in a shell that big.
Wu Niu focused back on the tortoise. Its legs were so much smaller than its body, yet it still walked—slowly, but walked nonetheless. The tortoise cared little for what nature thought was possible. It broke free from those shackles long ago.
Realizing this, Wu Niu stood up and smiled at the tortoise.
"Thanks, little buddy!"
Wu Niu tied the fish bag to his belt and walked toward the boulder. Reaching down, he wiggled his fingers underneath the stone. Pulling hard, the muscles in his lower back strained to lift the hefty boulder.
'U-Urgh—" Wu Niu grumbled as he slowly lifted one side of the boulder.
Turning away and leaning up against the flat of the stone, Wu Niu squatted over and grabbed the base of the rock. Pushing his legs up, the boulder's heavy weight crushed down onto his aching back.
-Damn. This thing weighs a ton. I can barely move.
With every step forward, it felt like the weight of the boulder would snap Wu Niu's knees inward.
Around 20 paces Wu Niu felt like he was on the precipice of collapsing. He began questioning his safety.
-I should drop it and come back for it later…
Wu Niu stopped at that thought. His fingers loosened, and the boulder began slowly slipping off of his back. Wu Niu knew he wasn't ready for something this intense yet.
-…
-Wait.
The fingers that were loosening their grasp retightened, stopping the boulder from sliding off his back.
-No.
With panting breathe, Wu Niu wheezed, "N-NO!"
Wu Niu's slow, weighty steps resumed.
"K-Keep… GOING!"
Wu Niu's slow march gradually began to speed up. So too did the toll his body was taking, but It mattered little. He would see this through regardless of whether he was capable or not because:
-Nothing is impossible!
Wu Niu's face twisted into a pained scowl. The bull's unrelenting ferocity ignited within him.
-Keep going!
Spittle dripped from Wu Niu's gaping maw, as his legs began to quiver under the intense stress.
-Keep going!
***
The sun had already set by the time Wu Niu made it back to the cave abode. It took him the whole day to make it back to the cave. Despite this, he was triumphant in attaining the goal he set out for. To him, what he had managed to accomplish was no small feat, but rather the beginning of many great ones.
Pant. Pant.
Wu Niu was spread atop the dirty cave floor with the boulder lying on the floor next to him. Wu Niu was physically exhausted. He struggled to lift even a single finger. His clothes were drenched with sweat, and his mouth was parched dry.
-So… Thirsty.
Wu Niu's strained calf muscles twitched and contorted from severe cramping.
"N-Need… water."
Slowly lifting a finger off the ground and then a hand, Wu Niu reached to grab his leather waterskin from off his belt. Pulling out the cork, he tilted the lip above his mouth. The water that streamed down his throat tasted like precious mana.
Once the waterskin was empty, Wu Niu let his hand fall to his side. He was reinvigorated, but his muscles were still unresponsive.
Flipping onto his chest, Wu Niu dragged himself toward his bed. Pulling himself atop it, he flipped back and tried to find the most comfortable position. It was hard to sleep comfortably in the state he was in, but he tried nevertheless.
Eventually, Wu Niu drifted off into the shadowy embrace of torpor. It was a dreamless slumber, but it was a substantial improvement from the constant waking nightmares he had up to this point been accustomed.
A tear slipped out from his shuttered eyes as he peacefully slept.
