For your own protection

The title alone was enough to send ripples flying throughout Chao Feng's heart. He recalled his father mentioning such a thing but then trailing off the end of his sentence. As if he was in a trance, he started to flip through the pages of the book, absorbing the knowledge that was transferred to him by the author of the book.

"Rocky Stone Mountain. A mountain overrun with beasts and mysteries, but most significant is the amount of cultivation medicines available there."

"Every year, a few clans go there on an expedition to gain medicines, even some members of the Chao Divine Clan venture there."

"Yet, every year. One of them mysteriously disappears."

"There has been many speculation on what actually happens to these people."

"The first few times people believed they were simply killed a beast."

"But after it happened so many times, the word 'coincidence' cannot escape anyone's mouth."

"I am writing this book as a survivor of the mountain's tragedy."

"I am writing this book as a reminder, a saviour, an angel sent down by the heavens to prevent your death."

"Do not venture into the Rocky Stone Mountain."

Chao Feng felt his entire body tense up and shivers continuously ran down his spine.

"That's it? Just from that, I do not want to enter the mountain, but somehow, I have a strange sense of anticipation." Chao Feng chuckled to himself.

Time had flow by. In a blink, it was already the day before the expedition.

During this two-week period, Chao Feng had increased his body's strength and speed to its current peak and he had gained a decently high proficiency with the second style of the Four Styles of Destruction. While it wasn't mastery, it was progress.

He had also done a little bit of condensing, he had successfully condensed fifty percent of his spiritual energy.

Most importantly, he had gained a ton of knowledge. He was more knowledgeable on the topic of cultivation than any other child from the younger generation of the Chao family.

He had complete confidence that his expedition would be a fruitful, although the strange book he had just read diminished it by a small amount.

He left the library and went to his room, noticing that night had already fallen.

At that moment, he heard a peculiar growling noise from his dantian!

"Is it hungry?" He laughed and shook his head, venturing to the garden and picking a few cultivation herbs. He picked a couple of Soaring Saint Leaves and three Green Crystal Grass.

Soaring Saint Leaves were used to allow the cultivator to move faster and the Green Crystal Grass sped up the speed of cultivation.

"It wouldn't eat normal food, right?"

He consumed the cultivation herb and instead of going to his stomach, his dantian rushed for the falling herbs and began to chew, finishing it in a matter of seconds.

Quickly after, Chao Feng noticed that his dantian suddenly grew a thick wall around its thin wall.

He tried to look inside his dantian but he couldn't.

"Haha, weak human. Even your own dantian doesn't want to associate with you. Haha." He could still hear the dragon's feminine voice teasing him even while the dantian was sealed.

"Shut up. Why did this happen?" Chao Feng replied angrily.

"Huh? You told me to shut up?" The dragon also grew angry after Chao Feng's rude reply.

"Yeah. What about it?" Chao Feng snorted.

"Haha, don't expect me to ever converse with you again." The dragon snorted back and was about to curl up in a ball before it heard Chao Feng's voice.

"What if I cripple my own cultivation?" Chao Feng smiled evilly.

He wasn't actually going to cripple his own cultivation, it was an empty threat.

"Like you would." The dragon laughed but when Chao Feng's hand was raised against his own dantian, she stopped.

"Stop! Chao Feng! Alright, I concede! I will tell you what happened!" The dragon frantically screamed.

"I'm waiting." Chao Feng brought his hand back to its natural position.

"Your dantian was sealed for your own protection." The dragon gave an extremely vague answer and stopped talking, its aura also disappeared.

"Come back! Explain!" Chao Feng called out but there was no answer.

"Sigh, at least I can still cultivate, but the efficiency is less than a quarter of it was." Chao Feng sighed and shook his head.

He went back inside the building, this time going to Chao Zheng's room on the second floor and knocking.

*knock* *knock*

"Hello? Who is it?" Chao Zheng's deep voice sounded from beyond the door.

"It's me, Chao Feng."

"One moment."

After a minute or so, Chao Zheng opened the door and smiled.

"Is something the matter?" He asked.

"No, I was just wondering if you and me are going to explore the mountain by ourselves." Chao Feng said.

"There wasn't really a plan for that, I expected to figure it out on the day." Chao Zheng scratched his cheek and asked: "Why? Do you want to go by yourself?"

Chao Feng nodded his head.

"Chao Feng, it is much too dangerous. As your elder brother, I cannot let you do this." Chao Zheng sternly refused, shaking his head.

"Brother, I will prove it to you. You do not need to worry about me in this case." Chao Feng smiled confidently.

"Uh-well, even if I would let you, Father wouldn't." Chao Zheng still refused.

"I will convince him, do not worry."

With that, Chao Feng went to his father's room at the fifth and final floor.

"Father, I would like to explore Rocky Stone Mountain separately from Chao Zheng. Please allow to me do so." Chao Feng asked.

"Sigh, Feng'er, the danger is much too high. I can't let you-" Chao Lieshuan began.

"Father. I will be completely fine." Chao Feng said sternly.

"Sigh, I can never win with you, can I?" Chao Lieshuan shook his head. "Alright, you can explore separately. But don't stray too far from your brother, in case of an emergency, you need a viable escape route."

"Thank you. Since I am going separately anyways, I will leave now. I'll see you later." Chao Feng said with an excited tone.

Chao Feng went to his room, got a random empty sack he found laying around and slung it over his shoulder.

Since he was exploring separately from Chao Zheng, he could naturally leave earlier than him. It was only a single day's difference anyways.

In the garden, there was a horse stable.

Chao Feng got on the horse that was bought for him and waved at Chao Lieshuan who was standing at the door of the first building, using a map he had been given a week beforehand to navigate his way to the mysterious Rocky Stone Mountain.