The boat moved swiftly.
The scenery on both sides receded in Koda’s eyes as they gradually entered an area with more open trees.
“We’re here.
Get off.”
A Fu spoke to Koda, who was sitting at the stern with his eyes closed, resting.
Koda gave a light jump, and the water’s surface instantly froze into ice.
This was merely the most basic application of waterbending.
Don’t think that the Water Control Divine Art is easy to learn.
Even after studying it for a year, he was still a complete novice.
His level was about the same as Katara’s when she first set out on her adventure.
He didn’t know any impressive moves.
However, unlike Katara, Koda had a master to guide him, so his growth rate was bound to be very fast—something Katara didn’t have at his age.
“Before long, you will surely become a waterbender capable of standing on your own.”
Back then, Father had patted his head and said those words with relief.
Koda was also full of confidence in himself.
Possessing Life Energy, he would surely be more powerful than ordinary waterbenders.
Although for now, he had no idea what Life Energy was useful for other than inspecting terrain and exploration.
…
Koda followed A Fu into the tribe.
As soon as they entered, he saw A Shou picking his teeth with a small tree root, leaning against a rock and sitting on the ground.
“Koda—hic—you’re back.
How was—hic—practice today?”
Hearing that lazy voice and seeing A Shou, who was clearly full and didn’t want to move, Koda immediately felt a surge of anger.
“You fat pig, did you eat everything?!”
“No~ How can you slander a good person like that?
Look, I left you this much.”
As he spoke, A Shou pulled out a small cloth bag hidden behind his back.
“I specifically saved this for you.
I didn’t even tell A Fu.
See how good I am to you?
Hehe.”
“You glutton, seems you still have a bit of a conscience.”
A Shou chuckled and secretly pulled Koda over.
“Look at what this is.”
Koda looked down and saw it was actually a gold necklace with patterns engraved on the gold.
“Whoa!
A Shou, where did you pick this up?
It looks really nice.”
“It’s nice, right?
Do you want it?”
A Shou had a mischievous grin on his face.
“Yes!”
One look at A Shou’s expression and Koda knew nothing good was coming.
“Just tell me what it is.
Don’t make that face.
It’s really gross.”
A Shou pulled back that expression, resumed his lazy look, and whispered, “Make me one of those clay figures you call a ‘figure,’ modeled after A Fu.
Once it’s done, I’ll give this to you.”
“Ah…
give me the necklace first so I can see if it’s gold.
If not, I don’t want it.
You can keep it.”
Hearing Koda say this, A Shou quickly handed it over.
Koda took the necklace and habitually bit it.
Finding the texture very soft, he determined that if it was real gold, the purity must be quite high based on his experience.
“Fine.
I’ll keep the necklace for now.
I’ll have it made for you in three days.”
“No way!
What if you don’t make it for me?”
“Don’t worry.
If I don’t make it, you can go find my Father.”
“Then…
alright.
Remember!”
“I know!
I know!”
“What are you two whispering about?
What do you know?”
A Fu walked over after mooring the boat and saw their suspicious behavior.
“Nothing, nothing.
Oh, your share of the snacks is over there.
I’m just chatting with Koda.
Nothing to do with you.
Go—hic—away.”
“I always feel like you guys are hiding something from me.”
A Fu was suspicious for a moment but then didn’t care anymore.
It could only be said that he was truly A Fu.
Koda sometimes particularly admired their “indifferent” personalities.
“Then you guys eat first.
I’m off.
I’ll take Father’s share to him.”
As he spoke, Koda had already stepped away and gradually disappeared from their sight.
“Go on, go on!”
A Shou smilingly saw Koda off.
A Fu looked at A Shou.
“Why do I feel like you guys did something behind my back?”
“No, it’s just your imagination.
Are you going to eat or not?
If not, I’m eating it.”
“Get lost.
Get out of here.”
…
Half a year later.
With a bang.
“Are you capable or not?
I’m very busy too.
Hurry up and lie down.
Don’t get up.”
Koda got up and rubbed his butt.
Just now, he had been sent flying over ten meters by a torrent formed by A Fu’s Water Control Divine Art.
If he hadn’t used a stream of water to cushion the impact the moment he landed, that hit would have really given him a hard time.
His current body was too weak.
Even though he exercised every day, he still couldn’t sustain a battle for very long.
Even though A Fu was the weakest in the tribe, he still couldn’t beat him.
“Bye-bye.
I’m off, kid Koda.
Not playing with you anymore.
I’m going back for a nap.”
A Fu patted his butt and wanted to leave, but how could Koda let him go like that?
“Wait…
wait a minute.
Stop right there!”
“What now?
Not satisfied?
You shouldn’t have the strength to stand up anymore, right?”
“I want to make a bet with you!!!!”
Koda almost roared these words.
He was truly frustrated.
It was normal not to be able to win.
But what was with the mocking?
He could endure that, but whipping his butt with a water whip—where was his martial ethics?
Had it been eaten by a dog?
“What kind of bet do you want to make?”
A Fu turned around, using a hand formed from water to pull down Koda’s grass skirt and slapping his butt.
“Three years!
If I win even one match within three years, you have to give your precious novels to me.
If I lose, I’ll use Life Energy to roast fish for you for a year.”
The movements of A Fu’s hand showed no sign of stopping.
No matter what Koda said, he felt that educating this child was a lot of fun.
“I won’t bother you all the time.
Just fight you once every three days.
Three years from now, when the Turtle Swallows migrate, will be the time for our final battle.”
Speaking of Turtle Swallows, Koda had also found them miraculous back then.
This kind of bird had the head of a turtle and the body of a bird.
Every six months, they would come to the Swamp Forest to stay for a short while and then continue their flight.
They also relied on these birds to barely discern the passage of time.
A Fu stopped his hand, placed it on his chin, and rubbed it thoughtfully.
“Fine.
If you lose to me, you must roast fish for me for a year.
Don’t go back on your word.”
“Whoever goes back on their word is a coward!”
Koda also laid down harsh words.
Since he discovered a while ago that Life Energy could be trained to leave the body, he had conducted many experiments.
The results were a great disappointment.
It could only consume Life Energy to change the texture and taste of dead animal meat.
He tried it on living creatures, and it was useless.
For example, making roasted fish meat taste like roasted mutton, and so on.
But eating like this once would consume a lot of energy, and it would take three days to recover naturally.
There was another way, which was to meditate under the Giant Tree.
This was fast, taking only half a day.
To give an easy-to-understand example, Koda’s current limit was 100, and he had trained to 6.
Eating one roasted fish consumed 2.
Such consumption was still terrifying.
Koda making such a bet was also to motivate himself to work harder.
Otherwise he would really have to sell himself into slavery for a year.
Regarding this bet, A Fu was naturally very happy.
There weren’t many entertainment activities in daily life, and occasionally bullying a little novice was one of the few joys.
Now he could even get a free recipe for a year.
He’d made a huge profit.
A Fu walked away laughing, not caring at all about Koda, who was still lying on the ground.
He remained prone on the ground, without a shred of strength.
From the blow just now, he had used all his strength to protect his butt.
After a long while, Koda finally recovered some strength.
He put his grass skirt back on and walked toward the Giant Tree.
At this moment, he was unwilling to return to the tribe.
Every time after a fight, A Fu would always tell the tribesmen the process of how he bullied him.
He’d be laughed to death if he went back.
Furthermore, he needed to go to the Giant Tree to find Father for healing.
Quite a few bruises had appeared during the fight just now.
“Honestly, A Fu is such a grown man, yet he still uses real force when fighting a little kid like me.”
And what he didn’t know was that a few months ago, A Fu was still fighting Koda with a playful attitude.
But now, if he didn’t use some real force, he really couldn’t suppress Koda throughout the match.
From this, it was evident that after the baptism of Life Energy, his talent was already extraordinary.
After walking for a while with his exhausted body, he finally reached the Giant Tree.
From afar, he could see Father practicing on it in the form of a Seaweed Giant.
“Father!” Koda shouted this from quite a distance.
He really couldn’t walk anymore.
His whole body was aching, and he had no strength at all.
The tree roots beneath his feet began to sway, gently wrapping around Koda’s waist and carrying him all the way up the Giant Tree to the person he called Father.
It wasn’t the first time Koda had encountered this situation, so he wasn’t surprised.
Instead, he relaxed his whole body to recover his strength.
“How did you get covered in injuries again?
A Fu doesn’t know how to go easy.”
Looking at the injuries on Koda, Father couldn’t help but blame A Fu.
Even so, Father still controlled the Seaweed Giant’s hand to reach over.
Clusters of water droplets flew from the hand, enveloping Koda’s entire body except for his head.
After a few seconds, he dropped from the air to the ground.
The external injuries on his body were already healed, but his strength hadn’t recovered, so he could only lie down.
He also knew how to use water for healing.
It was the first lesson in learning the Water Control Divine Art.
Koda could heal such minor injuries with his eyes closed, but healing was also very physically taxing.
He didn’t want to waste his strength on that.
In battle, one must use all their means to win.
Of course, this only applied to practice with one’s own people.
Father’s teachings included that when dealing with an enemy, one must always think about how to survive and reserve all means to stay alive.
Even if you know the enemy is much weaker than you, you must maintain 100% vigilance.
After all, who knows if they will shoot a series of poisoned darts or hidden weapons when you get close.
Under Father’s day-and-night training and constant practice with A Fu, on this day, the first batch of Turtle Swallows in three years had arrived at the Great Swamp, and Koda was already eight years old.
…
In these three years, Koda’s youthful face had become somewhat resolute, though not to the point of being frightening.
At first glance, one would only think this child looked a bit fierce.
But when Koda smiled, a sunny young boy emerged.
His appearance was no different from his previous life—the look of an ordinary person.
However, in this life, no matter what he did, the confidence radiating from his whole body improved his temperament.
This was the true Koda!
“The three-year period has arrived.
Prepare to be stepped on by me, A Fu!
You will be the first difficulty I need to conquer.
Of course, not the last!”