Level 3 (1)

In the blink of an eye, half a year passed since Taotie agreed to his father's condition. Since that day he didn't leave the Wusun Clan.

In the Wusun Clan on a big ground, a group of youths was ardently training.

There, in an empty corner of the ground, Taotie was quietly sitting with Uncle Surf standing next to him. Over the course of half a year, Uncle Surf had observed Taotie training harder and harder each passing day.

Taotie was now a Level 2 Warrior for almost 3 months and he had even gotten quite close to leveling up once again, he could feel that he can breakthrough to Level 3 at any day.

"You're doing absolutely good, Tao! Just hold it a little more, just a little more!" From the side, Surf encouraged the boy who was sitting silently on the ground with his legs crossed.

Right now, Taotie was only wearing trousers down his waist as his upper body was naked. But his whole body was covered in some kind of grayish goo. His feet were trembling fiercely, but with tightly closed eyes the rest of his body was motionless.

That goo was a paste of black mud that was found near the lake inside the deepest region of the forest along with some of the special herbs grown near that black mud.

That grayish goo smelled worse than a rotten egg. But it was also the cheapest yet very effective body strengthening method. According to Surf, if a person kept his body covered with it for a month continuously, then his skin becomes as hard as a thick sheet of steel.

That grayish goo was prepared by Surf according to a lost ancient method of Wusun Clan. Surf found that method many years ago in a scroll while he was researching something inside the library of Wusun Manor. But he was already in his forties by then and according to that scroll, the goo needed young skin to be effective so he couldn't try that on himself.

He told about that to some other young men of the clan and many of them even showed interest and tried it. But sitting cross-legged at one place with that rotten smell was too much for them so most of them used to run away in just one week. Some daring ones persisted for two weeks but none were able to complete it till a month.

Drip!

Drip!

Beads of sweat rolled down from Taotie's forehead and wetted the ground.

"Big brother is really amazing!" A child said while looking at Taotie with worshipping eyes.

"To be able to persist this long!" Some of the young men who had already given up just after a week were chatting while training as they watched Taotie, "Young master is really a prodigal child born once in hundred years."

"Hehe... Of course. You all are nothing compared to my big brother." The child once again said with showing his white pearly teeth, while puffing his chest and pointing his little nose upwards.

"I'm sure the young master's smelling sense has been destroyed already." A jealous child retorted silently.

"Keep it up! Keep it up for the rest of us!" From among them, a girl shouted.

"Yeah, keep it up!" Seeing her some other children also started shouting as well.

"I have to hold it. I have to hold it." While gritting his teeth Taotie constantly kept reminding himself in his mind.

While Taotie kept reminding himself to hold, there was also the words of his father constantly echoed in the back of his mind.

That day half a year ago when Surf tried to protest against the conditions put by George for letting Taotie attend the Imperial Academy.

George said, "Surf if he could not even reach to Level 5 in eleven months then he should forget about passing the entrance exam of the Imperial Academy much less being able to graduate from there. That academy is a place where only strong or powerful ones can exist; even the weakest of them there tends to be at Level 6. There the students who are below Level 5, either have a strong connection with the administration of the Academy or have powerful backing behind them."

"Hmm... There are also few students who are below Level 5 and without connection or backing but had entered the Academy because of their luck. But you know after entering they either become slaves or foot-washers of the powerful ones.

I'll not mind Tao being a foot-washer or dump-carrier or even slave of those bastards but I will never let my blood to fall so low. I'll rather prefer killing my own blood with my own hands than letting it fall so low and become a sucker of those bastards."

These words keep on reverberating inside Taotie's mind as he shook his head while tightly shutting his mouth and eyes.

Taotie growled to himself, "I have to grow stronger than only father will let me go out. There are so many wonderful things out there. I want to see everything, experience everything out there. Why father hate them? Uncle Liu was right, only strong people can do what they want. My only options are training harder and harder! If those children can reach Level 5 then why can't I?"

"Yes, I have to hold it!" Taotie gritted his teeth.

After sitting like that for a whole month, his whole body had gotten senseless. He cannot even sense the ants climbing on his body or even the falling crust of now solidified goo.

"Ahhhhhhh..."

Suddenly Taotie felt his skin being cooked on fire. Inside his skin he felt like thousands of ants biting. His entire body started quivering, and every single muscles on his entire body trembled.

Thud!

After a painful shrill he collapsed there unconsciously.