The Immortal Ascension

Chapter 11: The Stubborn Bottle

On his way back, Han Li didn’t encounter many people. Only a few passing Senior Brothers noticed him limping and were somewhat surprised, but none of them said anything to him. It seemed that no one paid much attention to this little Junior Brother.

When he returned to his residence, the pain in his foot became even more intense. Han Li quickly sat on the edge of his bed, gently removed his shoe and sock, and examined the injury.

The swelling was severe! The big toe on his right foot was already swollen high, and the skin around the injury was red and shiny, resembling a large, fiery red chili pepper.

Han Li hurriedly reached for the wooden pillow on his bed and pulled out a small medicine bottle from underneath it. This was a specially formulated external injury medicine meticulously prepared by Doctor Mo. It had miraculous effects on bruises, swelling, and even bleeding. Han Li had gone through great effort to obtain this from Doctor Mo, originally intending to keep it as a precaution for Zhang Tie’s injuries while practicing the "Elephant Armor Skill." Unexpectedly, he ended up using it himself.

As soon as he opened the bottle cap, a strong medicinal aroma filled the entire room. He gently sprinkled the powder onto the swollen toe, and a cooling sensation immediately spread through the area. It was indeed Doctor Mo’s secret injury medicine—it worked instantly. Doctor Mo’s medical skills were truly unparalleled!

Han Li then found a clean cloth and wrapped the injured toe into a large bundle before putting his shoe and sock back on.

Hmm! Good, the pain had lessened considerably.

He took a few slow steps back and forth, feeling quite satisfied with his quick treatment of the injury.

Now it was time to deal with that mysterious bottle—the culprit that had caused his severe injury.

Han Li took the bottle out from his chest and found a cloth to wipe it clean. Only then did the bottle’s true appearance reveal itself.

The bottle wasn’t very large; it could be completely held in one hand, even slightly smaller than his medicine bottle. The entire bottle was a pale, light green color, with several dark green patterns on its surface. The patterns were leaf-shaped, so lifelike that they seemed to protrude when touched, as if real leaves had been embedded into the bottle.

He weighed it in his hand—it was quite heavy. However, it was clearly not made of any metal Han Li knew of, nor was it any type of porcelain he was familiar with. When touched, it didn’t have the cold feel of ordinary metal, nor the smooth texture of typical porcelain.

After carefully observing it for a while, Han Li concluded that the bottle was made of some unknown material. The pale green color also seemed natural, as if it were the material’s inherent hue, not something dyed on later.

When he saw the tightly sealed bottle cap, Han Li decided to satisfy his curiosity and immediately open the bottle to see if there was anything inside.

Once again, he placed his hand on the cap and twisted it with all his strength.

Once, twice, three times… The cap and the bottle seemed to be cast as one, completely unmoving. The cap showed no sign of opening.

Han Li was startled. When he first picked up the bottle, he hadn’t been able to twist it open. But at that time, he had been preoccupied with his injury and hadn’t exerted much effort, nor had he paid much attention to it. He had thought that using his full strength now would make opening it an easy task. Unexpectedly, it still wouldn’t budge.Han Li twisted the bottle a dozen more times, feeling his arm grow sore, but there was still no sign of success, so he stopped.

He shook his arm and flexed his wrist, as he had strained it a bit from exerting too much force.

He brought the bottle close to his eyes and examined it carefully once more. Unfortunately! He didn’t find any hidden mechanisms on it.

Now Han Li was at a loss. Without opening the bottle cap, how could he know if there was anything inside? If there was, given how peculiar the bottle was and how tightly it was sealed, it must be something extremely valuable.

Han Li gripped the bottle tightly, staring at it in a daze for a while. Finally, he decided to let Zhang Tie, who was much stronger than him, try to open it. After all, the current Zhang Tie could lift buckets weighing dozens of jin with each hand and could swiftly run up and down the mountain. The large water vats in the valley were filled by him every day without fail.

Having made up his mind, Han Li went to Zhang Tie’s room to wait for him, hoping he would return soon.

The feeling of waiting was unbearable. Han Li felt time pass so slowly. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally heard the creak of the door as Zhang Tie pushed it open and entered.

Looking up, Han Li saw Zhang Tie wearing a thin green cloth shirt, faint wisps of steam rising from his body, and sweat dripping from his forehead. Han Li knew this was a normal phenomenon after he had just finished his training, so he wasn’t surprised.

When Zhang Tie saw Han Li in his room, he was momentarily stunned. Before he could say anything, Han Li, who had grown impatient from waiting, immediately handed the bottle to him.

“Brother Zhang, could you do me a favor and help me open this bottle?”

“Where did you find this? It looks quite nice!” Zhang Tie was slightly taken aback but took the bottle.

“Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!”

“Huh! This thing is really sturdy. It’s so hard to twist open! What is it made of?” Without wasting words, Zhang Tie took it and exerted force with both hands, but he still couldn’t open the cap.

“No, I can’t twist it open. Maybe you should go ask another Senior Brother to try?” Zhang Tie shook his head apologetically at Han Li, tossed the bottle back to him, and offered another suggestion.

“You can’t do it either?” Han Li grew a bit anxious and started pacing around the room.

“Hey! What’s wrong with your foot?” Zhang Tie finally noticed that Han Li was walking a bit oddly.

“It’s nothing. I just kicked a stone while walking.” For some reason, Han Li didn’t want to tell him the truth about the bottle. Perhaps it was just subconscious, but he had already started treating the matter of the bottle as his little secret.

Han Li was now deeply disappointed and didn’t have the energy to chat with Zhang Tie. After asking a few questions about his training progress, he left his room, determined to find a way to solve the bottle problem on his own.

Returning to his small room, Han Li placed the bottle upright on the table and leaned on one side of the table, staring intently at it. His mind was racing, trying to come up with a good solution to the problem.

(End of Chapter)