Chapter 464: Heroes See Alike

Lü Tu said nothing, but looked at Yu Die.

"It's because I, a useless Hundred Commander of the Demon Suppression Office who came down from the Capital City, almost capsized in a ditch as soon as I arrived in Qingyang County!"

Yu Die stood up, her face full of self‑mockery, sighing: "Provoking entities that should not be provoked caused the Wei County Magistrate to be taken hostage, and even set up a Sword Formation that almost cost the life of the Tang Imperial Attendant!"

"Small Five Elements Sword Formation?"

Hu Jianbai spoke subconsciously, his words not finished when he saw Yu Die's strange look, clearly full of doubt—how could she know? He pretended not to see and asked curiously:

"Wei Hundred Commander, the formation you mentioned, is it the Small Five Elements Sword Formation?"

Yu Die did not rush to answer, but retorted: "Chief Hu, you said you do not know the cultivator named 'Li Fugui'; how could you know that he unleashed the Small Five Elements Sword Formation?"

At that time.

When Wang Ping'an deployed the Small Five Elements Sword Formation to attack Tang Anzhi, she was startled; it was not her first time dealing with Wang Ping'an.

Prior to that, Wang Ping'an had saved her life, and at first they even fought to the death; Wang Ping'an's combat skill amazed her.

However, what surprised her even more was…

When Wang Ping'an fought her, his understanding of swordsmanship changed as if by a world of difference.

Had she not studied swordsmanship since childhood, guided by master after master and fought countless battles, any sudden change from Wang Ping'an could have caused her to be defeated by him.

This was when Wang Ping'an merely used sword techniques, without deploying any proper sword method, let alone the Small Five Elements Sword Formation that killed Tang Anzhi.

Otherwise.

Who would win or lose remained uncertain!

Of course.

What shocked her even more was Wang Ping'an's Small Five Elements Sword Formation; as a Sword Cultivator, her knowledge of swordsmanship was not comparable to that of ordinary cultivators—she knew many sword principles that common cultivators lacked, and the Small Five Elements Sword Formation was one of them.

She knew more clearly than anyone the difficulty of setting up a Small Five Elements Sword Formation.

Wang Ping'an is very likely a Five‑element Spiritual Root!

A cultivator's spiritual root attribute is mostly classified by the five elements, mutually generating and overcoming each other, with no simple hierarchy.

A single spiritual root is not necessarily better than double, triple, or even Five spiritual roots, and a Five spiritual root is not inherently stronger than others.

Yet many sects and families highly favor single or special spiritual roots.

Because nurturing a single‑root cultivator requires far fewer resources than cultivating double, triple, or Five‑element roots—by an unknown multiple.

Moreover.

Human energy is limited; focusing on one root is far easier than mastering multiple roots, by an unknown factor; many cultivation methods are easy to learn but hard to perfect.

Under all these circumstances, single roots become more coveted, but the world is impermanent; throughout countless ages, there have been Five‑element root cultivators who left their names in history, and those who do are either suppressors of an era or the pinnacle of their contemporaries.

Precisely because of this, she cared whether Wang Ping'an, as a Five‑element root holder, would achieve what his predecessors did.

Suppress an era!

"I was just speaking offhand!"

Hu Jianbai, speaking offhand, didn't care whether Yu Die or others cared, and changed his tone: "Wei County Magistrate, Lv Thousand Commander, since it's so dangerous— even the Tang Imperial Attendant died at the hands of that mysterious person— how dare you stay here? Why not go back? Aren't you worried about another attack by the mysterious person?" He knew Tang Anzhi's abilities, after all he was the former Immortal Official of Qingyang County; he hadn't expected that Li Daoyou had only recently obtained the Small Five Elements Sword Formation, and that it wasn't a complete formation but rather the forging method and materials for the Small Five Elements Sword Formation, which he had personally refined, and could successfully set it up to slay Tang Anzhi.

Previously.

He had seen remnants of the Small Five Elements Sword Formation in the Zhang Family courtyard; according to his conjecture, it was likely laid out by Li Fugui, which is why he valued the Wang Family—not because he valued the Wang Family itself, but because of the mysterious Li Daoyou behind them.

At that time.

Li Daoyou's small prank Sword Formation set in the Wang Family was also remarkable, though it had many flaws; he had never personally experienced Li Daoyou's Small Five Elements Sword Formation, learning about it only from his sister Hu Meiniang.

According to his guess, the Small Five Elements Sword Formation that Li Daoyou arranged in the Wang Family courtyard at that time probably could not deal with Tang Anzhi.

How could he know.

How much time had passed since then?

Li Daoyou not only repaired the shattered Small Five Elements Sword Formation, but also mastered it more skillfully, unleashing greater power, which allowed him to slay Tang Anzhi.

Wei Yuan gave an awkward smile.

He naturally felt embarrassed to tell Hu Jianbai that he wanted to stay here.

He suspected the mysterious person might be linked to the Zhang Family, and no longer hoped to gain benefits from them; although he had just been in the bedroom having a long private conversation with Zhang Deben, it was all his one‑sided effort, letting Zhang Deben reap all the profit.

This novel you…

…the thoughts you had when you arrived have long been discarded from your mind.

If he could, he would have left this broken place long ago; who would still be willing to stay here? It's only Lü Tu and Yu Die who refuse to leave, and he cannot speak up, so he can only hide here like an ostrich.

"I want to take another look at my disciple, not in a hurry to leave; what, Chief Hu, are you afraid…"

Lü Tu said in an unfriendly tone.

"Disciple?"

Hu Jianbai was taken aback; Lü Tu, a Thousand Commander of the Demon Suppression Office, is the one who deals with monsters like them. It would be impossible for him not to learn about Lü Tu, and he had never heard that Lü Tu had a disciple, so he couldn't help but ask:

"Lv Qianhu, may I know who your senior disciple is, and could you recommend them?"

"My disciple, of course, is the son‑in‑law you have your eye on!"

Lü Tu chuckled, his face full of smugness; regarding whether Wang Ping'an would become the son‑in‑law of Nine‑Head Mountain, he had no strong opinion, but lamented:

"Unfortunately, Mrs. Wang is still unwilling to let her child become my disciple, but I believe that time will reveal hearts, and eventually Mrs. Wang will agree to let her child study under me!"

"Lv Qianhu, what are you saying? The disciple you mentioned, is it this child?"

Hu Jianbai was instantly shocked; after all these years he had never heard that Lü Tu intended to take a disciple, and he didn't expect that when he finally was about to, the one he chose was Wang Ping'an.

He wanted to say something, doubting whether Lü Tu was joking, but before he could speak, his mind couldn't help recalling what his sister Hu Meiniang had told him.

At that time.

When Hu Meiniang saw Wang Ping'an, she suspected he might be a Qilin child, a promising cultivation seed, and prepared to conduct a thorough examination; if he proved worthy, she would find him a master, but before she could act, Xuanqing Lao Dao and Li Daoyou disrupted her.

At this moment.

Lü Tu's desire to take this child as a disciple was not beyond comprehension!

(End of chapter)