Great Xia, North County.

There is a mountain on the east side of Whitefish Town, its name is Xiu, Xiu Mountain is so high that it is impossible to climb.

Clouds cover the mist, halfway up the mountainside.

A boy, facing the rising sun of winter, took a steady step, looked firm and peaceful, and slowly pulled out a pair of fists. Pick and hit the elbow, both rigid and soft, quite a few grandmaster style.

However, not much.

The boy's face suddenly flushed, his body trembled, and finally he fell to the ground without controlling his steps.

"Failed again."

Ji Ning sighed softly, his expression lonely.

He has been learning this set of boxing techniques for six years, and he has practiced it well in his mind, but he still can't play it completely.

It's just because he's not a true practitioner yet.

"The human body hides nine orifices, all of which are opened before the age of sixteen, and then the bones are fixed before they can be practiced."

"Now I'm fourteen years old, but I've only opened a few tricks, and I'm the least of the countless disciples in the view, I'm afraid I won't be able to fix my bones in this life!"

Ji Ning muttered to himself, the corners of his mouth bitter.

He had no parents since he was a child, and he was brought up by the master of the Taoist temple, so he vowed to become a strong man in the cultivation world since he was a child, and he would take revenge in the future.

Who would have thought that now I have only opened a trick.

At this pace, not to mention that there are only two years left, even if he is given another twenty years, it will not be enough.

"Could it be that in my life, I can only be a miscellaneous disciple?"

Ji Ning looked at his calloused young hands, his eyes were full of unwillingness.

Although he is nominally an outer disciple of the Taoist temple, he does all the things of miscellaneous disciples all day long.

Chopping wood and carrying water, lighting a fire to cook rice, and even some people's bath water had to be poured by himself.

But even if this is the case, he still has to bear the cold eyes of the rest of the miscellaneous disciples, just because his master is an elder in the view, so he can also follow the light and enjoy the treatment of the outer disciples, and he can receive five lower grade spirit stones every month.

However, a normal miscellaneous disciple can only receive ten taels of silver every month.

One hundred taels of silver is worth a low-grade spirit stone.

In other words, the treatment between them was fifty times worse, but he still couldn't break through the second trick and completely became a laughing stock!

"Ugh."

Just when Ji Ning's confidence was dim, from the bushes in front of him, a tall and sturdy young man wearing a burlap shirt ran out of him, with a hearty smile.

"Senior brother!"

"Senior Brother Li Hu."

When Ji Ning saw the visitor, a rare smile appeared on his face, and he got up to greet him.

Li Hu is different from him, he is a miscellaneous disciple who worships the Taoist temple on his own and seeks immortality, but he does not discriminate against him like others, but also helps him a lot, so he is called a senior brother.

"Senior brother, look, what is this!" I saw Li Hu running over with a red face, and without saying anything, he stuffed a piece of butter pastry wrapped in cloth into the boy's arms, and said with a fluttering eyebrow:

"This is what I secretly took from Lord Xiaobao when I first lit the fire, and it is said that it is intended for the guests of the Taoist temple to enjoy, you can eat it quickly!"

Ji Ning was stunned when he heard this, looked down at the butter pastry in his hand, his heart was sour for no reason, his eyes were wet and red, and he was about to cry.

"Hey, what's the matter, junior brother?" Li Hu smiled and took the initiative to rub the corner of the boy's eye with the side of his sleeve.

Ji Ning didn't dodge, just silently lowered his head and broke the pastry in his hand in half, handed the big one to the tall boy, and said hoarsely:

"Senior brother, you eat."

"I'm full!"

"If you don't eat it, I won't eat it."

Li Hu was stunned when he heard this, and then took away another piece of pastry from the boy's hand with a smile, put it in his mouth and chewed it, and at the same time shook his head with a pretended demeanor, and said with satisfaction:

"Well, it's really delicious!"

Ji Ning looked at him blankly, looking at the young man's eyebrows dancing and unbeaten, and he also burst out with joy:

"Senior brother, has anyone ever said that you are very poor when you eat?"

"There are a lot of people who want to beat me, who are you talking about!"

"Senior brother, you are so humorous."

"Did you find out!"

Ji Ning tasted the pastry in his mouth, with a satisfied expression on his face, and after a while, he swept away the haze, stretched his waist with a spring breeze, looked at the young man sideways, and smiled softly:

"Senior brother, thank you."

This time, the tall boy didn't answer immediately.

I saw him with his back to the boy, looking at the rising sun, and his back seemed to become taller.

After being silent for a long time, Li Hu turned around, looked at Ji Ning with a light smile, and asked:

"Senior brother, have you ever thought about what you would do if one day you were no longer an outer disciple, but completely reduced to a miscellaneous servant like me?"

When Ji Ning heard this, his immature little face turned white, and he forced a smile and said:

"Of course I did."

"According to my progress of enlightenment, within two years, if there is no accident, there will definitely be no legal bones, and after the age of sixteen, I will naturally become a miscellaneous disciple."

Hearing this, Li Hu slowly shook his head and asked with a serious expression:

"I mean, if not two years from now."

"Senior brother, haven't you ever thought about giving up and giving up the position of the outer disciple, or giving up the spirit stone?"

When Ji Ning heard this, his little face became whiter:

"Why did Senior Brother say this?"

"Senior brother, do you remember what the master said?" Li Hu looked at Ji Ning and said seriously, "Cultivators, respect strength, do whatever kind of strength you have." ”

"Over the years, you have suffered a lot from the same family, just because you can receive five spirit stones every month, but you have never used them well."

Ji Ning's little face turned pale, and he explained hesitantly:

"I ...... I'm using it well, it's just ......"

"Nothing just." When Li Hu said this, his tone suddenly became stern, and his eyes were staring at the boy, "Senior brother, if you persist any longer, it will be a waste of time!" ”

"Taking the initiative to become a miscellaneous disciple will be of some benefit to you, at least from now on, you will no longer have to suffer the white eyes of others, and the spirit stones you save can be distributed to more useful people to practice."

Ji Ning was silent for a moment when he heard this, then raised his head, looked at the tall young man in front of him and asked:

"Senior brother, is it more useful to refer to you?"

Click!

This sentence was like a thunderbolt that hit the heart of the tall boy.

Li Hu looked at the boy, panic flashed in his eyes, and then he stepped forward, patted Ji Ning on the shoulder, and smiled calmly:

"How so, junior brother."

"You know, I've resigned myself to my fate."

As he spoke, a trace of bitterness appeared at the corner of Li Hu's mouth.

In another half a year, he will be sixteen, and the deadline for fixing the bones is approaching, but his last point is still occluded, and there is no sign of breaking it for a long time.

He had already thought of any way he could think of, and he even did not hesitate to use those outer disciples as human targets, just to earn some more silver and exchange it for spirit stones and break through the ninth acupoint.

However, it is only a drop in the bucket.

He is a miscellaneous disciple, the monthly silver is limited, if you want to exchange for a low-grade spirit stone, at least you have to save for a year without eating or drinking, and the spirit stone he needs at present is far from being solved by one or two pieces.

Ji Ning listened to the tall young man's words, and after a moment of silence, he took out two small spirit stones from his back waist and said:

"Senior brother, these two spirit stones are for you, and I have left two under the pillow, and I will give them to you when I go home, I hope you can succeed."

When Li Hu heard this, a flash of heat flashed in his eyes subconsciously, but before he could speak, he heard the boy continue:

"I'm just sorry, senior brother, I can't give up hope, let alone give up all the spirit stones in the future."

Ji Ning said, and a trace of tenacity slowly climbed on his immature little face.

He's rubbish, that's right.

But who can really be sure that if he is given another two years, he will not have the slightest chance of succeeding and becoming a true cultivator?

"Poor and strong, don't fall into the ambition of the clouds."

"Senior brother, I will definitely succeed in enlightenment, and I hope you will too."

Li Hu saw the tenacity in the boy's eyes, the sideburns floating in the wind, and was slightly stunned.

In a trance, he only felt that Ji Ning no longer seemed to be naïve, maybe one day, the boy's wish could really come true, and he would really become a cultivator.

But at that time, what will he be?

"Okay, then borrow the auspicious words of the junior brother."

Li Hu smiled stiffly and took the two spirit stones into his arms.

After two seconds of silence, the tall boy took a deep breath, as if he had decided something, and solemnly took out a paper letter and handed it to Ji Ning:

"Senior brother, can you do me a favor."

"In Baiyu Town under the mountain, in the seventh lane of the street, there is a restaurant called Longmen Gambling House, can you help me send a letter to Jiang Chuan."

"Dragon Gate Casino?"

When Ji Ning heard this, he frowned and took the letter, feeling the thickness inside, it seemed to be like two large silver tickets, so he solemnly asked the young man:

"Senior brother, are you gambling again?"

When Li Hu heard this, his expression pretended to be flustered, and he scratched his head unnaturally and said:

"Yes...... Yes. ”

"Didn't I say it, I resigned myself to my fate, Qiao Asi is right, since we can't be cultivators in this life, we might as well live happily and enjoy ourselves."

Qiao Ah Si, one of the miscellaneous disciples, is about to be sixteen, only three tricks, and has long given up the dream of cultivation.

When Ji Ning heard this, his brows furrowed even more, and he said firmly: "Senior brother, how can you be like this!" ”

"You're different from Qiao Asi, you're only one step away!"

When Li Hu heard this, the tip of his nose twitched slightly, and he snorted, but he didn't say anything on the surface, but his expression when he looked at the boy became more and more complicated.

"It's only one step away, you must not gamble anymore, otherwise you will return those two spirit stones to me!"

Ji Ning looked at the young man and said, spreading his right hand with a serious expression.

When Li Hu heard this, he hurriedly laughed and explained:

"Don't gamble, don't gamble, with the help of my junior brother's spirit stone, I naturally want to do my best to open the ninth aperture, but it's just ......"

"Just what?"

Li Hu scratched his head, hesitated, and finally gritted his teeth and said with a bright smile:

"I owe money to others, I'm too busy today to leave, the rules of the mortal gambling house can't be messed up, and they seem to have some background, I'm afraid that if I don't pay it back, people will come to the door, and then the master will know that he will only be afraid to expel me from the Taoist temple."

"So can you help me deliver the letter?"

Ji Ning's face was slightly cold, staring at the tall young man in front of him for a long time, but after all, he still didn't doubt it, shook his head and put the letter paper in his pocket.

"Okay, leave it to me."

"Whew." Seeing that the boy agreed, Li Hu quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Senior brother!"

"Ahh Hearing Ji Ning call him, Li Hugang's heart hung up again and became nervous, "What's wrong?" ”

"Can you lend me the knife?" Ji Ning pointed to the firewood knife pinned to Li Hu's waist, and said seriously, "I know you have a lot of chores today, and there are some old trees under the mountain, I may be able to chop some back for you." ”

When Li Hu heard this, he was suddenly stunned.

The tall boy looked at the boy, and after a long silence, he untied the firewood knife from behind him and handed it over, and at the same time squeezed out a pale smile:

"Senior brother, be careful on the road!"