Ethan Clark grinned and said, "This is called the Soul-Dissolving Nectar, also known as the Heartbreaking Jade Elixir. You'll soon experience another side of it."

As soon as he finished speaking, Samuel Bennett's stomach began to rumble, and a sharp pain shot through his lower abdomen, as if his intestines were being torn apart.

"Ah!"

Samuel Bennett cried out, leapt up, and rushed out clutching his stomach.

Robert Clark laughed and shouted after him, "Fifth Brother, make sure you go far away!"

That night, Samuel Bennett was tormented seven or eight times. By midnight, he was completely exhausted. Although his lower abdomen still hurt, he couldn't fight off the drowsiness any longer and drifted off to sleep.

……

The next morning, his stomach had finally settled down, but every muscle in Samuel Bennett's body ached unbearably. He couldn't even lift his arm while brushing his teeth.

Robert Clark said gleefully, "Fifth Brother, that's what you get for training so hard on your first day, even doing the one-legged stance! Now, even if you had three legs, you couldn't stand up."

"You damn fatso, all you do is make snide remarks!"

Samuel Bennett glared at him fiercely and snapped, "Anyway, I can't move today. Go find food yourself!"

"No way, Master doesn't allow that."

Robert Clark glanced at the master's room. The door was locked; he figured the master had gone out early. He lowered his voice, "If you really can't walk, I'll carry you down, but you can't skip it. Master's rules are strict."

"I don't need you to carry me. I'll go down the mountain myself."

Although Samuel Bennett's arms and whole body ached terribly, his legs were still fine. He grabbed a bamboo staff and followed Robert Clark down the mountain.

After walking for a while, the soreness in Samuel Bennett's body gradually faded, and he was able to grab onto tree branches with his arms. Somewhat puzzled, he asked, "Senior Brother, what exactly was that medicine I drank last night?"

Robert Clark smiled and said, "Anyone who practices martial arts has to take medicine, but everyone's prescription is different. Some take Strength Pills, some drink Meridian-Soothing Powder. Honestly, I don't know Master's recipe, but I heard from Eldest Brother that Master's formula uses over forty different herbs, and each of us gets a different mix. I feel like the medicine you drank yesterday was ten times worse than what we had back then."

"So what does it do?" Samuel Bennett pressed.

"Just four words: strengthen tendons and bones. You'll understand in time."

The two chatted as they quickly made their way down the mountain.

……

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, half a year had passed. Every morning, Samuel Bennett would go out with Robert Clark to forage for food, then come back to chop firewood, practice the one-legged stance diligently, and finally drink his medicine before going to sleep.

Every day was the same, and he gradually adapted to this intense lifestyle. Only the longing for his wife and daughter would strike from time to time, plunging him into deep sorrow. At those times, he would train like a madman, using extreme physical exhaustion to numb his grief.

That morning, Robert Clark and Ethan Clark went to Qingniu Temple to sell medicine, and then down the mountain to buy some cloth—their Taoist robes were already tattered and had to be replaced.

Samuel Bennett also noticed something: although their robes were old, they weren't really ragged, and there weren't many patches. But every time they went down the mountain, they would deliberately wear the most worn-out clothes, as if to show others how hard life was on Xiangshan.

But why they did this, Samuel Bennett could never figure out. It felt to him as if there was some treasure hidden on Cuiping Peak, and they were trying to keep others from coming to look for it.

With Robert Clark gone, Samuel Bennett had to go find food by himself. Seeing the weather wasn't great, he decided to chop firewood before heading out.

As Fourth Senior Brother Ethan Clark would say, labor is martial arts training, and Samuel Bennett gradually came to understand this.

For example, chopping firewood was actually sword practice. When he first came up the mountain, it took him a whole day to chop two hundred logs. After a month, he could chop five hundred logs in an hour.

Now, he could chop a thousand logs in half an hour. His speed was already on par with Ethan Clark.

Previously, Ethan Clark would help him cut the trunks into sections, but now he left it all to Samuel Bennett, making him saw each log shorter himself before splitting them into several pieces.

Samuel Bennett dragged over a pine tree more than ten feet long, trimmed off the branches with his hatchet, and with a single swing, chopped through a trunk as thick as a bowl. 'Crack! Crack! Crack!' Eight chops in a row, and the pine was cut into nine sections, which he kicked aside.

At that moment, Samuel Bennett sensed something and turned around, only to see his master, Edward Wood, standing nearby with a smile. Embarrassed, he scratched his head and said, "Third Senior Brother went out. I'll go pick peaches in a bit, Master. The peaches are ripe now."

Edward Wood walked over to look at the pine logs, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"That's a bit beyond my expectations. You can actually chop through a trunk in one swing?"

"A few days ago, I still needed two swings to break a log. Starting the day before yesterday, I found my strength had increased again, and now I can chop through a pine trunk in one go."

"Excellent! Excellent!"

Edward Wood stroked his beard and praised, "That's half a year earlier than I expected. How long can you hold the one-legged stance now?"

"The longest was a bit over an hour, usually about half an hour."

Edward Wood nodded in satisfaction. "To be able to stand for an hour after just half a year is faster than I was back then. It took me a year to reach that."

"I dare not be complacent, Master. I will continue to work even harder."

Edward Wood smiled slightly. "No need to pick peaches today. Come with me!"