Chapter 7 Deciphered

"Haa, haa, haa. HAAAA!" Mo Xiaowen roared before taking one final step. This was his 25th lap today, and finishing it had taken all of his strength.

"BOOM!"

Out of nowhere a large sound echoed out of Mo Xiaowen's body. The weight now felt lighter, while his previously fatigued body now felt as if it was full of vitality. 'The 4th Stage!'

Finally over a year after he began his cultivation Mo Xiaowen had attained the 4th Stage of the Body Tempering Realm. While this wasn't exactly a great feat it also showed that Mo Xiaowen was at least average talent wise.

At this moment the rest of the disciples were staring at Mo Xiaowen. Most of them were about to leave but after the disturbance Mo Xiaowen caused they naturally looked at him in shock. Some of them even felt a pang of rage deep down.

This was because, a large number of them had been ahead of Mo Xiaowen, but now he had caught up and even surpassed them. All because they had slacked off. 'If he can do it why can't I!' Was a resounding thought amongst the disciples.

Naturally Mo Xiaowen could careless about their thoughts. At the end of the day they had began to slack while he worked harder, it was only natural he surpassed them. And now he had a new goal, the 5th Stage.

'Normally the first 4 Stages in Body Tempering take about 3 months each to complete, the next 4 take about 4 months each, while the final 2 take half a year each. At my current pace I'll be about 15 and a half when I complete Body Tempering. While not slow that isn't fast either. If I want to be any faster.... I'd have to use that.' Mo Xiaowen concluded.

His efforts would at best allow him to shave off maybe a month or 2 when spread throughout all the breakthroughs, but he felt that was inadequate. Ever since he began cultivation Mo Xiaowen had seen himself as average.

He was never picked on for being too far behind, but never praised for being ahead or sucked up to. So in his eyes, reaching the peak of Body Tempering before 15 and half wasn't to compete with others, but simply to prove to himself that he had surpassed his previous self, that he had become above average compared to his previous average status.

--

Sitting down at his desk Mo Xiaowen began studying "Lizard's Body" as he had done many other times. He had already used up all his Body Tempering pills before breaking through into the 4th Stage, so now his hopes either rest on him discovering something via this book or the Body Tearing Grass.

There was also the food route which he wanted to pursue, but until he reached the 5th Stage and was granted more freedom it was pretty tough to go down that route. After all he didn't want to put his knowledge to waste, any help was welcomed.

By now he had concluded one thing, the numbers were what was crucial to understanding the book. It wasn't possible to piece anything together by reading the book, there wasn't a story, nor any information, just random strings of words.

'Well clearly the book is bound together, so its not possible that the pages were jumbled. Which can only mean that the numbers is some kind of code. Lets start with the second page, the numbers 2,4. The only thing I can possibly think of after all this time, is that the first or second number relates to a page.

But if I recall correctly around the 8th page there's a number, 12,58, and since there's only 51 pages in the book the second number can't relate to a page. As far as I can tell no pages are missing. So if I work with what I am given the first number might be telling me to go to those specific pages.' Mo Xiaowen pondered flipping to the 8th page.

After confirming the numbers on the page he flipped back to the second page, and then looked at the number four. 'Wait.... it can't be this easy can it.' Mo Xiaowen face palmed before looking at the 4th word on the page.

Grabbing a piece of paper and some ink he began to write down every 4th word he found. And about half way through the page he managed to form a coherent sentence.

"After crushing it, one must place the extract in a bowl and let it set for around 5 days." Mo Xiaowen read out the sentence, and was obviously confused. But then he realised he was on the second page, naturally he needed to figure out the first page as well.

'Okay, 1,3... this actually makes sense now. Wait is this really what I think it is!?' Mo Xiaowen thought in shock before continuing to decipher the book.

Hours passed, and Mo Xiaowen even missed lunch but he didn't care, his only focus was on deciphering the book. Flitting through the pages he began to write down word after word. Soon even the sun had set and the moon had risen high but he didn't stop.

Only when the sun rose the next morning had Mo Xiaowen completed deciphering the book, a smile on his face. "Haha, if this is real, I can easily complete the Body Tempering Realm in 2 years." He chuckled to himself before falling asleep.

Later that day Mo Xiaowen woke up. He had not only missed practice but also another meal, because of this his body was sorely lacking in nutrients and if he didn't eat something soon his progress might be effected.

Normally he'd have never done something so irresponsible but this wasn't anything normal. "Body Tearing Paste." Mo Xiaowen muttered to himself. This is what he had discovered via the book, something that could make a real difference in his training.

Collecting the books he had borrowed Mo Xiaowen made his way to the library to return them. Now that he had no use for them it was best to just give them in lest any mishaps happened.

Entering the library, he weakly placed the books on the counter to which the librarian half opened his eyes. "You look like a ghost are you all right?" The librarian asked with some concern.

It was true that at this moment Mo Xiaowen looked quite pale and sickly. "I am fine I just missed a few meals. Thank you for letting me borrow those books." He replied before making his way to the exit.

But before he could leave the librarian appeared in front of him. "Here take this. Consider it a gift from a fellow reader. Just make sure not to skip meals next time." The librarian said before handing him a decently large round pill.

Receiving the gift he thanked the librarian and ate it before heading to his residence. What the librarian had handed him was a food pill which albeit not very precious was still something out of reach for someone of Mo Xiaowen's standing.

Because of this Mo Xiaowen would luckily not suffer any negative effects due to his over eagerness. 'Now the grind will truly begin.' He smirked to himself before entering his room.