Stinky

Ends up that going through the sewage would make a man smell bad. Not only would it make a man smell bad, but the smell was so abhorrent that all bus drivers refused to let him on the bus. It was even worse with cab drivers, they would outright shout at David for even trying to use their service. To make things worse, David couldn't even call his family for help as they lived up in the north of the county, and his phone's battery ran out back when he was still staying in the TsavTsav Sect. Thus, David had to escape his urban environment by foot. The wilderness was quite far away, as David had to cross multiple neighbouring cities, yet after a long trek, he made his way into the wilderness.

David was now staying on a small mountain that was barely higher than 300 metres, however, the mountain was fairly wide. To survive, David has been foraging all kinds of edible plants and fungi. It wasn't great, but at least he was off the grid. Whoever was chasing him would have a hard time tracking him all the way up this random, unimpressive mountain that could almost be considered an oversized hill.

David sat down in front of a battered Picknick Basket that suffered far more punishment than it was originally made for. David was even mildly impressed with its survivability. He took out the first book and placed it to his side. David had already read every single line of that book during his time in the sect, and he did not feel like going over it again. "Now I'm going to read from the second book onwards the same way someone rapidly rising the ranks of the TsavTsav sect would. "Are you doing this to make sure you didn't miss out on any necessary foundational knowledge?" "Yep." 

With a goal in mind, David sat on the mountain peak, reading the books one by one. He did not let the mountain winds disturb him nor the occasional cries of the vultures that lived on the mountain top. He would only stop reading to drink, sleep, or forage for anything edible. After two days of such nonstop reading, it was time for David to open up the final book. But beforehand, he wanted to go over everything he had gained one final time. "The first book was to temper a person to be able to receive the teachings of the following books more easily. It's technically unnecessary, as you could just start from the later books; only idiots would need it to be able to advance further, although maybe it would slightly speed up one's progress in the higher levels."

"The second book is more useful but is not what I currently need. Its teachings are used to stave off ageing and its side effects, giving old people more youthful energy, which also affects their appearance. It also has a secondary function, which is that it strengthens one's ability to advance forwards in the art's taught by the TsavTsav sect. Just like in the previous book. If one has read both books and learned them well, the boost's effects should be added together to make a stronger boost. It also slightly improves the speed at which its readers can learn more teachings. The more they study and comprehend here, the smoother the rest of their journey will be. Still, this is all useless, as if you just start from the third book, you can succeed right away as long as you're not an idiot. Maybe when I turn 40 I should start learning the arts of the second book, but for now they are all useless."

"The third book. Until now, all the books were accessible to all the other sect members (me not included). but this one is exclusive to those who have become elders. I can see why they are less willing to share it, as this one is actually useful... Just not for me. Other than having the same secondary advantage as the second book, this one also taught techniques for how to increase one's physical strength, stamina, and speed. All are things that [SEX STREANGTHENING] already covers. I might have thought to try and master this technique to enhance my strength even further, if only this technique was any better. It's just not good enough to be worth it. Those elders studied it for years, and their strength was a fraction of what I've achieved in far less than two months. Maybe I can try and gift this book and the second book to Max?"

"Now for the fourth book. The sect master had many copies of this book and only a single copy of the fifth book. This book is interesting, as there isn't actually much to learn here. It's more like a guide on how to reach the Qi refining realm while also acting as an instruction manual for the fifth book. In fact, I shouldn't even call it that. The fifth book's actual name is the Fire Water Turtle Tome. It seems like this tome was the sect's core treasure. No wonder they got so pissed off when I stole it. I should return it to the sect once I'm done studying it."

"Now I have to ask myself, do I want to try and enter the Qi refining realm now, or do I want to try and read the tome first?"