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The only difference from last time was that Su Keji could no longer conceal the hatred in his heart. He didn’t even bother with basic courtesy anymore. Whenever he looked at Su Chen, his gaze was filled with poison and viciousness. If the clan elder was not present, he most likely would have already rushed forward to teach Su Chen a lesson.

Su Changche’s expression was complicated as he stared at this grandson of his.

He spoke after a long while, “I will ask you one more time. Are you absolutely sure you want to choose Scarlet Punishment? You still have the opportunity to back out; if you change your mind, I can arrange another method of punishment for you.”

Su Chen shook his head. “Right now, my only desire is to go there.”

“Okay.” The elder let out a sigh. “Since you have chosen the Scarlet Punishment, let everything be done by the rules. It will not be so easy this time, I can no longer take care of you. I decree a hundred days of Scarlet Punishment. You also need to go to the Eastern Blackpeak mountain and pick a Scarlet Blood Lotus from its peak. It must be the one that opens at dawn, it must have six petals, and its fragrance must be exotic. Seal it in this jade box and bring it back. Then, go to the Hundred Mountain Peak and harvest one log of Ironbirch Wood, no more. Only retrieve the section between the head and the tail of the plant. The roots must have branches with thorns on them. The tree must also not be more than thirty years of age.”

The real Scarlet Punishment included a few special assignments in addition to exile. By including these tasks, the offender would have a predetermined route, preventing them from finding a place to turtle up in after entering the forest.

Last time, Su Changche had taken Su Chen’s blindness into consideration, as well as the fact that he had voluntarily chosen Scarlet Punishment. In addition, Su Chen’s crime was no more than beating a disrespectful underling. Thus, Su Changche had not made any of these requests, implying that it was enough for Su Chen to just survive for a hundred days.

But now that Su Chen had beaten Su Qian and once again chosen Scarlet Punishment, the circumstances had changed.

Even though Su Chen was blind, Su Changche could not possibly give him a way out again.

For a blind person to find a location and harvest certain items, as well as doing so in an extremely treacherous environment, was no easy task. Su Changche wanted Su Chen to know that the Scarlet Mountain Range was not his backyard. It was not a place where he could come and go as he pleased, and it was definitely not a “protective talisman” that he could use after wantonly flying into a rage.

Unfortunately, Su Chen had decisively chosen this “protective talisman” anyways!

“Grandson will remember this.”

Su Chen replied with calm confidence, then turned around and left.

As he gazed at Su Chen’s departing back, Su Changeche had an inexplicable feeling that the Su Clan was missing something.

It was impossible for him to get rid of this feeling, and his heart became jittery and unsettled, causing his mood to worsen quite a bit.

——————————————

Because this time he had additional tasks that he needed to complete, Su Chen did not choose the path that he had previously taken. Instead, not long after he entered the mountain range, Su Chen began heading in the direction of the Eastern Blackpeak.

The Eastern Blackpeak and the Hundred Mountain Peak were both relatively well-known peaks in the Scarlet Mountain Range and were not difficult to find. However, they were very far from each other, and to go from one to the other required traversing through a large amount of forest. Thus, even if Su Chen wanted to avoid danger, he would not be able to, so instead he advanced bravely, choosing not to worry about encountering danger and preparing himself for any battles that might happen.

His first day in the Scarlet Mountain Range passed by without incident. Because he had moved very quickly, Su Chen encountered a Vicious Beast on the second day. However, this beast was mid-tier, and its strength was similar to the upper limit of the Qi Drawing Realm. Su Chen was forced to immediately flee. Thankfully, the Vicious Beast was not particularly fast, and Su Chen was able to escape.

His opening encounter was unsuccessful, dealing Su Chen’s confidence a heavy blow. Once again, he was reminded of what Night Demon had said before.

Su Chen became even more careful.

In his heart, he couldn’t help but sigh that his eyes had not yet developed long-range vision. This way, if any dangers appeared, he would be able to see them from afar.

But as he thought about it, he realized that this would make him someone who only bullied the weak and feared the strong. In the future, he would encounter many more dangers, and in order to grow strong, he needed to take them head on as a way to progress.

No matter how one put it, his main goal was still to increase his strength.

In the end, Su Chen did not encounter any other exceptions like that mid-tier Vicious Beast. The fourth day that Su Chen arrived in the Scarlet Mountain Range, he encountered his first low-tier Vicious Beast on this trip – a Mountain Armored Beast.

Using his four Origin Tools, Su Chen easily killed this Mountain Armored Beast.

The blood aura cut sliced the Vicious Beast in two, and the beast’s blood drenched the ground beneath his feet.

Upon exercising his Dartfrog Absorption Technique, Su Chen began absorbing the Origin Energy motes that were floating around in the air.

As Su Chen had expected, his rate of assimilation of those Origin Energy motes had greatly increased. Of the thousand or so Origin Energy motes, Su Chen was originally able to absorb roughly thirteen to fourteen. However, with the Dartfrog Absorption Technique, he was able to absorb roughly twenty or so. This implied that every Vicious Beast he killed would raise his strength by two White Stairs, or 0.2 of a Yellow Star. The peak of the Qi Drawing Realm was a hundred Yellow Stars, so as long as he killed roughly five hundred low-tier Vicious Beasts, he would be able to break through.

Of course, this calculation didn’t really mean all that much. There would always be loss when assimilating energy, and different Vicious Beasts possessed different amounts of Origin Energy. Even so, Su Chen’s cultivation base had greatly increased.

Upon confirming the value of the Dartfrog Absorption Technique to himself, Su Chen no longer hesitated. He continued to head deeper into the Scarlet Mountain Range.

Because he continued to go deeper, Su Chen began to encounter many more Vicious Beasts.

At first, he would only encounter one every two or three days, but very quickly he began to run into different kinds of Vicious Beasts every day.

Since Su Chen was now an official Origin Qi Scholar and possessed four Origin Tools. He was very well-equipped. Not many in the entire Scarlet Mountain Range could compare with him. In one-on-one situations, low-tier Vicious Beasts were basically not his opponent. Encountering Su Chen was the same as sending themselves to their deaths.

However, as Su Chen began to encounter more and more Vicious Beasts, other unforeseen situations also began to pop up.

Su Chen would also occasionally run into a few mid-tier Vicious Beasts or hordes of Vicious Beasts on the prowl.

Whenever Su Chen encountered these kinds of situations, he couldn’t help but flee in a sorry state. The Cloud-Stepping Battle Boots were thus his most commonly used Origin Tool.

Night Demon was absolutely correct. The more one’s’ strength and self-confidence increased, the greater the dangers one would encounter.

The last time he went to the Scarlet Mountain Range, Su Chen had to run away a total of four times. This time, in less than ten days Su Chen had already fled from three different groups, leaving him with a sour feeling.

Perhaps this was also a truth of human life. No matter how one’s strength increases, there is always a higher heaven, an insurmountable obstacle ahead.

When faced with these circumstances, some chose to give up, while others chose to continue on without stopping.

Su Chen naturally belonged to the latter group of people.

These unanticipated encounters caused Su Chen to be more careful and prudent, but despite being in the dangerous forest, he would not forget his goal of honing his combat prowess and Origin Skills.

Perhaps it was because these life-and-death battles were drawing out his full potential, but just half a month of experiencing these difficulties caused Su Chen to experience a significant breakthrough in his usage of the Soul Eye. Now, he could use it normally, without enormous amounts of preparation. However, because the Soul Eye was still extremely complex, it would take some time before he could use it as he wished.

This was a unique attribute of soul-type Origin Skills, which was that even if one could cultivate them to perfection, they were very difficult to activate multiple times in a row.

In any case, the progression of his Soul Eye caused Su Chen’s strength to once again increase. As long as the Vicious Beast wasn’t too powerful, Su Chen could handle them even if two came at him at once.

As his strength increased, he could also choose to fight more often. Correspondingly, the unanticipated encounters that left him fleeing also began to decrease in numbers.

As these unanticipated encounters decreased, the danger would also decrease, and the time that he could utilize would increase. This in turn would boost Su Chen’s cultivation base and overall strength, resulting in a positive cycle.

A month after arriving at the Scarlet Mountain Range, Su Chen had already finished the two tasks that Su Changche had left for him. He had also killed twenty four low-tier Vicious Beasts, and he had risen another layer in the Qi Drawing Realm, as well as going from twelve Yellow Stars to seventeen. At the same time, he had also become more and more familiar with the Soul Eye technique.

What made him distinct from other people was that while Su Chen was not in combat, he could focus all his attention on cultivating his Origin Skills, causing his battle prowess to increase in leaps and bounds.

Today, Su Chen found a mountain to climb, and just as he always did, he stood at the peak, scanning his surroundings for any Vicious Beasts that he could hunt.

Just as he was searching, he found that there was a person hurriedly rushing over in the distance. Behind that person were two Rainbow Twin-Tailed Tigers.