Descent into the Forest

The muscles of a human are such a fickle thing. They can become as strong as the heavens if trained properly, but they grow weaker with each day they aren't trained.

Very unlike the stalk of a tree. From the day they sprout from the ground, a tree is weak, just like a human. But from that moment onward the tree continues to grow stronger and stronger, unlike a human, who will grow stronger one day, just to get weaker another.

But a tree will still get cut down by a human, regardless of how strong it may be. But even a human can learn the secrets of how trees stay strong. All one would need is a clear mind and the will to see it.

The key is roots. Sturdy roots that won't break under the pressure of time or outside force. Such roots are not physical roots, but the roots of one's training. Physical strength is maintained through the ground, the ground is maintained through the mind, the mind is maintained through the training of the body. That is the essence of nature.

"Plenty of sturdy trees and rocks around to train with, this should help a lot with my progress."

I had left the Demon Dragon Cult to fend for a little over an hour ago, taking only a recently forged sword, the records from the past fifty years, and a small amount of food to last until I would start hunting animals for food.

Though, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried sending a few assassins after me in a couple months, or if they tried to move the cult in my absence, giving the previous cult leader his position as leader once more.

But that didn't matter now, I left them to their own devices while I came out to train my body to pass through the Muscle Tempering stage. It's time I began the training, I've wasted too much time already.

Tossing my bag of food and sword up against a nearby tree, I took a deep breath and lowered myself into a squat position. The first step to any strength is to have a strong-rooted base.

Seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours as I continued to hold the squat position, my thigh and hip muscles burning. What felt like an eternity of agony would pass before I collapsed.

A few moments later I stood up and lowered myself into the squat position once more, this time focusing on my breathing alongside my keeping my legs balanced. If I wanted to be strong enough to save the Mount Song Sect in four years, I would need to train to the point of obsession.

In the future, there were certain laws prohibiting those who were known to be obsessive from training their body physically without supervision. It was because of one lunatic who drove himself to train like a person in what he thought was a legend.

But that legend was just a tale from the Jianghu, altered to make the Europeans at the time seem strong. But that man was much more obsessive than the original legend, he trained his body until his mind broke.

His once funny and kind personality turned vile, and his body followed suit. Soon after the man was a husk of his former self, reverting to the most basic nature of all carnivorous animals, killing and eating every human his eyes would be laid upon, like he was a tiger at a buffet of plump, juicy deer or antelope.

He was later executed by the local police force after eating the faces off of over a hundred people. Those civilians had made the mistake of being in his eyesight, so he punished them for it

But it was that one man's actions that caused millions of young talents from the future to not reach their full potential.

That future is a lesson to me now, keep your mind focused not on the obsession or the training, but on the long-term goal during training. The small details can be worked out later, but the bigger goal must stay in sight for the smaller goals to later be worked on.

With each time I collapsed from the squat position, the time I could stay in the position would decrease. Hours would pass of me going back and forth between squatting and collapsing, until the point where my legs could only tremble, leaving not an ounce of energy within them to walk.

I looked up at the slightly orange sky through the leafy forest roof and spoke to myself, "if my legs can't train anymore, then it's time to train my core."

Since I didn't need to move my legs to train my core, I could train them until I needed to eat or sleep.

Growwll!

On second thought, I think I'll eat and rest before continuing.

The sky grew dark as I waited for the fire, created from fallen branches, to heat up a slab of meat on top of a homemade stone grill I had made from a nearby boulder.

If I ate properly at designated intervals, I could make my current reserves last for three days, but the first thing I'd need to do tomorrow morning is find a river or stream.

The sound of crackling meat filled the air fifteen minutes later, leaving my mouth watering in anticipation. This was the first proper piece of meat I'd eaten in this new life; I'd be sure to savor it.

Tearing a bite out of the slab of meat without a second thought, I quickly realized how much better it tasted compared to raw dragon meat. In under a minute, the slab of meat was gone, leaving only the sweet flavor of its juices lingering in my mouth.

As the evening sun disappeared into the horizon and the dark hue of night settled in, I stared out at the stars shining in the sky. This night sky was just as beautiful as it was a week ago before Jinlong's death, such a beautiful night wasn't supposed to be soiled by death.

I'm sorry Jinlong... I didn't get to mourn your death because of my inpatients. I wish you good luck in the afterlife, old friend...