Chapter 14: The Mysterious Liquid

"Yes!" Han Li raised a fist triumphantly, his childlike excitement bursting through.

His hypothesis was correct: in open spaces, the bottle absorbed far more of the glowing white strands than in enclosed rooms. Though he still didn't understand the origin or purpose of these lights, progress thrilled him.

By dawn, the glow faded. The bottle lay inert, its lid still sealed. Disappointed but resigned, Han Li returned to his stone chamber for meditation.

For days, the phenomenon repeated nightly. On the eighth day, a new change struck.

After absorbing light for mere minutes, the bottle's leaf patterns blazed emerald green. Golden characters—ancient and cryptic—flashed across its surface before sinking into relief. Han Li, now numb to strangeness, barely blinked.

Casually, he twisted the lid. It opened effortlessly.

Inside, a single drop of jade-green liquid rolled lazily, coating the glass in a verdant sheen.

*This is it?* Disappointment deflated him. Sealing the bottle, he trudged back, the mystery's anticlimax bitter on his tongue.

He vowed to study the droplet later. For now, sleep reclaimed priority. Nights spent obsessing over the bottle had drained him, drawing Doctor Mo's ire.

Since mastering the mantra's first layer, Han Li's motivation had withered. The lack of tangible results bored him. Mo's scoldings only deepened his apathy.

Then Mo dangled a carrot: "Double your monthly stipend for each layer you advance."

Greed reignited Han Li's zeal. He plunged back into relentless cultivation, sequestered in Divine Hand Valley. The bottle faded from his thoughts.

Four years blurred by. At fourteen, Han Li had grown into a wiry, sun-darkened youth. His world narrowed to the stone chamber, Doctor Mo's lessons, and dusty medical texts. The mantra's third layer came effortlessly—a hollow victory.

The green droplet, forgotten, waited.