Chapter 458

Those whose names were called wore faces full of joy, while those whose names were not called looked dejected.

Xu Yang stepped out of the crowd and stood beside these inner sect disciples.

Once the roll call ended, without even collecting any master-disciple submission slips this time, he led Xu Yang and the others toward Li Huo Peak.

Although Xu Yang had come to Li Huo Peak many times to perform tasks, he had only ever reached the fire grounds at the halfway point of the mountain and had never truly walked to the summit.

Before long, a massive gate tower appeared before their eyes; resembling a palace, the plaque above bore the two majestic characters "Li Huo," emitting a startling aura.

Xu Yang noticed that the others seemed unable to sense this aura; only he felt somewhat uncomfortable.

"It must be that my five senses are keen and my mental strength is powerful, allowing me to sense the majestic pressure contained within the characters; the person who wrote these words must possess an extraordinarily high cultivation realm."

He had been comprehending the Yu Xin Dao Jing for nearly half a month; although he had not yet entered the sect, his mental strength and five senses were increasing day by day, becoming extremely sharp, enabling him to sense a majestic momentum like mountains and peaks from within the characters.

The person who wrote these characters must have imbued them with their own martial will, which was why he had this sensation.

Passing through the gate tower, a vast open area lay before them, where several splendidly decorated palaces stood, and people could occasionally be seen shuttling in and out of the halls.

"This is the true Li Huo Peak; I will first take Xu Yang and Xiong Kun to see Elder Tie Fu and Elder Elder Huoyun, then lead the rest of you to receive your assessment tasks," said the Li Huo Peak disciple who had brought them up.

From their earlier conversations, Xu Yang knew this person was named Lu Lu Chuping, a disciple of the Li Huo Peak master.

"Oh, Xu Yang!"

As if suddenly remembering something, Lu Lu Chuping spoke: "Elder Tie Fu was unwilling to accept you as a disciple, so the Peak Master has assigned you to study under Elder Elder Huoyun; if you are unwilling, you may still back out now."

What the hell?

He was rejected by Elder Tie Fu, and the Peak Master had arranged for him to join Elder Elder Huoyun's sect?

Xu Yang was stunned!

Although he did not care much about who became his master, having merely chosen an elder at random besides the Peak Master to apprentice himself to, he also knew that under such circumstances, joining Elder Elder Huoyun's sect would not make him welcome.

If he were in Elder Elder Huoyun's position, he would not welcome such a disciple either.

"This disciple is willing to follow the Peak Master's arrangement," Xu Yang hurriedly said, cupping his hands.

At this moment, how could he dare to refuse? Refusing would offend both the Peak Master and Elder Elder Huoyun, and the other elders of Li Huo Peak would likely refuse to accept him as well.

Being unwelcome was not a big deal; anyway, he did not expect that taking on a master would allow him to latch onto a powerful backer; as long as they did not make things difficult for him, that would be enough.

According to the style of the Ziyang Sect, the relationship between disciples and masters was roughly similar to that in a martial arts hall; only a few individuals would gain their master's favor and be cultivated as successors.

Lu Lu Chuping nodded with satisfaction: "Elder Elder Huoyun is actually a very good person."

He actually felt that Xu Yang was even luckier than Xiong Kun; although Xiong Kun seemed to have smoothly apprenticed himself to the master he wanted, anyone who knew Elder Tie Fu also knew that what Elder Tie Fu disliked most were those who failed to find a master at Medicine King Peak and then transferred to Li Huo Peak.

In the future, Xiong Kun's days under Elder Tie Fu would probably be even harder than Xu Yang's days under Elder Elder Huoyun.

"Is Elder Elder Huoyun present?"

Lu Lu Chuping led the few of them and soon arrived before a side hall, asking the disciple guarding the entrance.

"He is!" one of them replied.

Lu Lu Chuping nodded, turned to look at Xu Yang, and said: "This is Elder Elder Huoyun's main hall; go in yourself."

"Thank you, Senior Brother Lu!"

Xu Yang adjusted his clothes and cap, stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said: "Outer sect disciple Xu Yang requests an audience with Elder Elder Huoyun."

"Come in!"

Shortly after, a dignified voice came from inside.

Xu Yang's expression turned solemn; he stepped into the hall, and his nose caught a strange, fragrant scent, making him instantly feel his mind become ethereal and his spirit calm.

"If I had this strange fragrance to assist me while comprehending the Yu Xin Dao Jing, I would surely achieve twice the result with half the effort."

This was not Xu Yang's first time seeing Elder Elder Huoyun, so he was somewhat familiar with him.

At the far end of the hall, Elder Elder Huoyun sat cross-legged on a gilded large chair; beside him, an ancient incense burner emitted curling green smoke, and the exotic fragrance capable of refreshing the mind and awakening the brain that he had smelled originated from this.

He quickly stepped forward and immediately announced in a clear voice: "Disciple Xu Yang pays respects to Elder Elder Huoyun."

Elder Elder Huoyun opened his eyes; instantly, two beams of sharp light shot from his eyes, and the dim hall seemed to brighten for a moment.

Xu Yang's hair stood on end; he felt as if he were being stared at by a fierce tiger, and in front of this person, he felt as insignificant as an ant.

Tianyuan!

This must be a Tianyuan expert who had surpassed Xisui.

"You originally intended to apprentice yourself to Elder Tie Fu, but the Peak Master assigned you to my sect; do you have any objections?" Elder Elder Huoyun asked calmly.

"This disciple would not dare!"

Xu Yang hurriedly shook his head: "The Elder is also a renowned master admired by this disciple; to be able to apprentice myself to the Elder is this disciple's good fortune."

Elder Elder Huoyun smiled slightly: "You are quite clever; rest assured, this Elder is not such a petty person and will not hold this against you; just work diligently from now on."

From Xu Yang's words, he roughly understood that Xu Yang was worried about being made to suffer, so he immediately stated his attitude.

Such were the rules of the Ziyang Sect; there were too many second- or third-hand disciples; if one really wanted to hold grudges, most disciples would have to be made to suffer.

Xu Yang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, cupped his hands, and said: "This disciple thanks Master; from now on, this disciple will definitely cultivate with all his heart and not bring shame upon Master."

Elder Elder Huoyun nodded, looked toward the outside of the hall, and said: "Go and call Gao Lin."

"Yes!"

A response came from outside; then Elder Elder Huoyun looked at Xu Yang again: "Currently, you are only my registered disciple; only when your cultivation base reaches the small achievement stage of Xisui can you become my formal disciple."

"At that time, we will perform the formal master-disciple ceremony."

Without reaching Xisui, one did not even have the qualification to become a formal disciple.

"This disciple will definitely not disappoint Master's expectations and will become Master's formal disciple," Xu Yang said in a deep voice.

Elder Elder Huoyun nodded: "In your future martial cultivation, if you have any doubts, you may come to ask for guidance once every half-month."

Just as he was speaking, Gao Lin strode in from outside, bowed respectfully, and said: "Disciple Gao Lin pays respects to Master."

Xu Yang also hurriedly bowed: "Greetings, Senior Brother Gao."

Gao Lin smiled and nodded without speaking, his gaze fixed continuously on Elder Elder Huoyun.

Elder Elder Huoyun said, "Take Xu Yang to register him, issue him an inner disciple waist token and the corresponding treatment, and arrange his lodging."

"Yes, Master!"

Gao Lin cupped his hands, looked at Xu Yang, and said, "Junior Brother Xu, come with me."

Xu Yang cupped his hands: "This disciple will take his leave!"

Having said that, he turned and walked out of the great hall with Gao Lin.

"Junior Brother Xu, if you wanted to join Li Huo Peak, why didn't you come ask me?" Leaving the great hall, Gao Lin laughed.

"I didn't want to trouble Senior Brother Gao either," Xu Yang said.

He didn't want to owe anyone a favor, and he hadn't expected that, with his top-three finish in the Outer Sect Grand Competition, Elder Tie Fu would refuse to take him as a disciple.

Any of the four Elders would have done — he never imagined he'd pick the one with the worst temper.

Gao Lin shook his head. The two soon arrived at a great hall. Gao Lin stepped forward and explained their purpose. After the disciples here registered Xu Yang, they handed over a waist token, several books, and a few sets of clothing.

The clothing was inner disciple attire, in several styles — for daily wear and for cultivation practice — the most eye-catching feature being the round purple sun on the chest.

Looking over the books, Xu Yang saw one called the Inner Disciple Code, one called Qian Duan Jue, and the last one called Refined Iron Hand.

Gao Lin told Xu Yang to put the things away first, and the two of them left the place.

"The core inheritance of our Li Huo Peak is the Li Huo Gong, but this method is extraordinarily domineering — without breaking through to Heavenly Origin, one doesn't even qualify to cultivate it.

What entry-level disciples receive as inheritance is mainly the art of weapon-forging.

This Qian Duan Jue and Refined Iron Hand are the foundational techniques of weapon-forging. Once you've brought both Zhong Gong Fa to minor completion, you can learn other methods."

Gao Lin laughed: "Of course, if your ambition lies elsewhere and you're devoted to the martial Dao, you don't have to study it. Many senior and junior brothers on Li Huo Peak never specialized in the path of weapon-forging."

Weapon-forging also burns through money — just not as much as alchemy.

To learn Duan Bing Zhi Shu, you also have to spend your own money buying materials to practice with. A single piece of iron can be forged repeatedly, but after three or five times it loses its nature, which is bad for the forging craft — you still have to buy new material.

Moreover, some precious materials, by the same weight, are even more expensive than gold and silver.

"I'd like to give it a try!" Xu Yang said with a smile.

Gao Lin nodded: "First spend some time studying and comprehending. Once you've worked it out well enough, then go to Duanbingge to put it into practice. Cultivating Refined Iron Hand and Qian Duan Jue still requires actually getting your hands on it.

But you need to be mentally prepared — the path of weapon-forging actually demands even more talent than alchemy."

Xu Yang's answer didn't surprise him. Everyone who joins Li Huo Peak wants to become a weapon-forging master; it's just that many people, after studying for a while, discover they have no talent in this area and give up.

He wasn't trying to scare Xu Yang either — the talent required for weapon-forging really is higher than for alchemy.

So in truth, he wasn't optimistic that Xu Yang could become a weapon-forging master.