Chapter 108: The Treatment of a True-Lineage Disciple

Gao Liu County, Li Yuan.

Superior-grade dragon-form root bone, direct true-lineage disciple upon entry!

The sky had not yet fully darkened, yet under the spreading of thousands of onlookers, the news had already swept through Zhe Long.

For a time, Fucheng was in an uproar; not only ordinary commoners, but even many great and small powers were astir.

Direct true-lineage upon entry—the last time such a figure appeared in Divine Armament Valley could be traced back over seventy years ago!

And those two, seventy years later now, one is among the five great elders of the inner sect, and the other has even become Valley Lord, renowned across the prefecture, a great figure whom many great and small powers must look up to.

"Li Yuan? That tiny speck of land, Gao Liu County, actually produced such a figure? Not yet eighteen years of age—a heaven-gifted talent!"

"Direct true-lineage upon entry, surely in the future he must be one of the five great chiefs?"

"Dragon-form root bone, must be a true seed who will surely achieve great mastery of body transformation!"

……

Fucheng was shaken; in every street and alley there were discussions about this entry examination and about Li Yuan.

"Dragon-form, dragon-form… why did it have to be him?"

The early spring evening held no chill, yet hearing the discussions drifting over, Zhao Zhao Yunsheng was utterly dumbfounded:

"I've really run into the most rotten luck imaginable—a superior-grade dragon-form not yet eighteen, how many such are there in all of Huizhou? How did I happen to bump into one?"

How did his Zhao family rise to prominence?

The dung-tycoon alone could not prop up a great clan; it was because his family's elders had befriended the young Qiu Qiu Zhengxiong, and as the latter rose to become one of the five great elders of the inner sect, the Zhao family became one of the six great clans of Fucheng.

"So long as he doesn't die, in the future the five great elders of Divine Armament Valley's inner sect will surely have a place for him—such a person, such a person…"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng trembled at the very thought.

He had never imagined that by merely swallowing up a country bumpkin's shop, he had indirectly offended such a genius.

Direct true-lineage upon entry, superior-grade dragon-form root bone.

Such a person, even without a clan or connections, would have hordes of people willing to patronize him, even willing to give him silver, women, and pills.

"What do I do?"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng's heart turned bitter.

His Zhao family was indeed one of the six great clans of the city, but his grandfather had nineteen sons, his own father ranked sixteenth, and moreover, he had six elder brothers above him…

"Give the shop back to him—no, return it to him, then hold a banquet to apologize—yes, apologize!"

After a long daze, Zhao Zhao Yunsheng hurried home; just as he reached the courtyard, he was met with a heavy slap across the face.

He was dragged by his own old man to the rear courtyard.

In the Zhao family's rear courtyard, lamps blazed bright, yet father and son Zhao Zhao Yunsheng did not dare enter, and could only wait outside the courtyard gate to be summoned.

After a long while, a steward came out and called Zhao Zhao Yunsheng in.

"Grandfather…"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng dropped to his knees in the courtyard, not daring to raise his head; only in his peripheral vision could he see a pair of black-soled cloth shoes, and the scent of incense and candles drifting through the courtyard.

"Superior-grade dragon-form, hammer-technique prodigy—heh, interesting, interesting…"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng heard the aged murmur, his whole body trembling: "Grandfather, I—I didn't know he was…"

"Do you know what to do?"

"I—I know… return the shop, hold a banquet, hold a banquet to apologize…"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng was extremely nervous, but he still remembered how the clan had handled such matters in the past.

Those you cannot kill, you must only befriend; the weak must yield.

"Still not enough."

"What does your apology amount to? Return the shop to him, then invite him to the house; this old man will apologize on your behalf—only that shows the sincerity to turn an enemy into a friend."

"Ah? You—you're going to apologize on my behalf?"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng jerked his head up, both flattered and finding it inconceivable.

Who was his grandfather?

The head of the Zhao family, one of the six great clans of Fucheng—a great expert who had made his name over several decades!

Over such a trivial matter of his, to take the initiative to hold a banquet and apologize?

"Grandfather…"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng opened his mouth, only to see, amid wisps and strands of smoke,

an old man in a long gown slowly turn and walk back into the house.

The lamps inside were very bright, yet he could not help shivering, and trembling, withdrew.

……

……

Fucheng was far larger than Gao Liu County, yet news spread even faster.

Walking along the way, Li Yuan heard no fewer than a hundred people mention his own name, and felt it was rather strange.

As if he had become a celebrity in an instant?

He was mildly surprised; the accompanying Liu Zheng and others were still somewhat dazed and shocked, never having imagined that Gao Liu County could actually produce a true-lineage disciple of Divine Armament Valley.

Counting back several hundred years, Gao Liu County had never produced such talent!

Yue Yue Yunjin, Wu Ming, and the other apprentices of the Forging Shop were even more unable to believe it—back then, he had been a mid-to-lower grade root bone who had to slip money in just to enter the Forging Shop!

"Was the bone-feeling at the shop inaccurate?"

Yue Yue Yunjin thought about it the whole way, gradually convincing himself.

Li Yuan had cultivated the Cloak Hammer to great completion in just one year; mid-to-lower grade root bone was impossible—it had to be at least a six-form root bone!

'Nine forms!

Glancing at Wu Ming, both of them felt the quickening of each other's breath — for them, this was a great stroke of fortune.

Liu Zheng and the others naturally understood this reasoning as well; they went nowhere along the way, simply following behind Li Mou.

"The weight of a true disciple of the Divine Weapon Valley is heavier than imagined."

Li Mou counted on his fingers.

The Valley Master, the five inner-elder elders, the eight outer-elder elders, the three stewards of the Casting Valley, the four commanders of the Divine Guard Army.

If he truly became a true disciple, then in terms of status, he seemed to vault in one leap to an extremely lofty position.

And this change in status, Li Mou felt it vividly even before he returned to his small courtyard.

Sedan chairs, one after another, blocked the alley where he lived completely full; from afar, someone was already waving a visiting card:

"Master Li, our family head has set a banquet at Hundred Flowers Tower, and has invited the great artiste Qiuyun to keep you company…"

"Hundred Flowers Tower!"

Liu Zheng's eyes went wide: "You're saying, the great artiste Qiuyun, is, is the one ranked thirty-sixth on the Hundred Flowers List?!"

"That's right! My Liu family sincerely invites…"

The old man dressed as a steward had not finished speaking before he was shoved aside by someone else, who called out loudly:

"My family's lord has invited the great artiste Ning Shuang…"

"My family's lord…"

The moment the two of them moved, several dozen people swarmed over with a great clatter, the commotion so large that Liu Zheng and Wang Wang Peiyao were both stunned speechless.

Yue Yue Yunjin and Wu Ming retreated step after step.

"Take the cards!"

Li Mou stepped back, gave Liu Zheng a push; the latter came to his senses as if waking from a dream, patted Yue Yue Yunjin and the others, and hurried forward to intercept the swarming stewards of the various houses.

"Gentlemen, Li Mou accepts all your invitations; please convey to your respective masters that whenever Li Mou has the time, he will certainly attend every banquet!"

Li Mou responded in a loud voice — whether he would go or not, he'd accept first and talk later; he was no pedantic sort.

In his view, these were not visiting cards at all, not banquet invitations — they were plainly the provisions for his advancement in the Soldier-Controlling Register!

No matter how many, he wouldn't find it a bother.

"Li Mou remembers my Liu family…"

Outside the alley it was a chaotic mess; only after Li Mou responded to each one in turn did he watch the crowd of stewards depart.

Liu Zheng and the other two came back clutching a thick stack of invitations, their eyes red with envy.

"Brother Li — no, Master Li, Grandpa Li! Take me along, take me along no matter what!"

Liu Zheng hugged the invitations and refused to let go, his voice changing pitch:

"Give me one, just one will do…"

"……"

Li Mou was instantly at a loss for words; Wang Wang Peiyao could no longer hold back and kicked him sprawling to the ground.

……

"Thirty-four invitations, all from small families in Fucheng, none of them large in scale. Mm, reasonable — the mid-sized powers mostly have ties to the other true disciples and elders within the Valley."

In the small room, after driving out Liu Zheng who insisted on sleeping in the same room, Li Mou began sorting through the invitations, and his heart immediately stirred with interest.

If he didn't gather enough materials to advance the Soldier-Controlling Register to the fifth rank with this, he'd have wasted his identity as a true disciple!

"Mm, later I'll visit them one by one — mm, can't take the initiative, wait for them to come a second time, don't refuse benefits, for the rest, make no promises…"

What these families wanted him for, Li Mou understood perfectly well in his heart, but since he had his own needs, he had no scruple against exchanging what each required.

As for how to exchange, and with whom — naturally that would require mulling over slowly.

"Tsk, not bad, not bad!"

After putting all the invitations away, Li Mou was in excellent spirits; he took out a lowest-grade Zeng Xue Dan and tossed it to the little mouse:

"Mm, a reward for you — share the joy, share the joy!"

"Squeak squeak squeak~"

The little mouse clutched the pill, rolled over once, but didn't eat it right away; instead it sniffed and sniffed, and only after quite a while did it nibble at it in small bites.

"This little fellow's spiritual nature is growing more and more abundant — it even knows to sniff it first…"

Li Mou was slightly taken aback, yet his heart stirred.

What is a spirit beast?

The books record: a beast of a different kind, vastly unlike its own kind, born with an extra measure of spiritual nature — such is called a spirit beast.

"Eating too many pills actually has this effect too?"

Gazing at the little mouse, Li Mou was somewhat curious, and decided that later he could appropriately feed it a few more pills.

"Huff!"

Li Mou's spirit was very excited; he stood in stance and practiced with the hammer, and only after half the night passed did he finally lie down to sleep.

……

Early the next morning, a horse carriage stopped at the mouth of the alley to take Li Mou to the Divine Weapon Valley.

The carriage wasn't small, but it couldn't fit too many people; in the end, it was Liu Zheng, Yue Yue Yunjin, and Wu Ming who squeezed themselves on, so angry that Wang Wang Peiyao stamped her feet repeatedly.

Divine Weapon Mountain is one of the largest mountain ranges within Zhe Long Prefecture; the variety of minerals within is extremely rich and excellent, and beneath it lies natural earth-fire — a natural place for casting weapons.

The Divine Weapon Valley sits among the mountain ranges, within a cold pool.

Following the mountain path up to the halfway point, Li Mou saw the sprawling complex of buildings situated around the cold pool.

"This cold-pool water's quenching effect must be excellent!"

The blazing sun hung high, the water shimmered; Li Mou reached out and scooped up a handful of water, and even with his physique he found it biting cold.

"All the famed weapons within the Valley are tempered with these waters!"

The guide, Fang Fang Yunxiu, nodded slightly and pointed at the cold pool: "This cold pool connects to the mountain range; beneath it there are many branches of undercurrents, and within it are hidden many spiritual fish…"

By the time they arrived here, Liu Zheng and the others had already dispersed, and only Li Yuan followed Fang Fang Yunxiu onto a small boat:

"The inner gate of Divine Weapon Valley is on the small island in the pool!"

It was called a pool, but in fact it was not small, nor was it dead water; it only seemed very calm because the undercurrents were below.

"Truly a fine treasure land!"

Li Yuan sighed in admiration; in the eyes of a blacksmith, this place was truly excellent.

Only…

"Could the Rift Sea Mystic Whale Hammer be in the cold pool?"

Li Yuan walked onto the sampan and looked around. His eyesight was extremely good, but unfortunately, even after the boat had stopped, he still could not find a single trace.

"I'll search every inch of this mountain range—I refuse to believe I won't find it!"

Li Yuan let out a long breath, then set foot on the small island. On the island there were small hills, none more than a few hundred meters high, with lush vegetation.

"The True Disciple Grand Ceremony will take over a month to prepare. Before then, you may go to Elder Han's mountain,

or you may pick a hilltop yourself; afterwards, menial disciples will naturally come to build a dwelling…"

Even Fang Fang Yunxiu was a little envious—she still had not been able to possess a small hill of her own.

"Mm, there's no rush on that."

Li Yuan was also somewhat surprised, and slightly furrowed his brow. If all these hilltops already had owners, it wouldn't be good to wander about carelessly.

"Take your time choosing."

Fang Fang Yunxiu nodded, leading the way ahead while also introducing the fellow disciples passing by and the various buildings.

"The Scripture Pavilion, the Weapon-Forging Valley, the Storehouse, the Divine

Weapon Pavilion…"

The Soldier-Bearing Tablet stirred; the disciples on this island at the very least each had a superior blade, and there was no lack of famed weapons among them.

However, the strongest stirring came when he brushed past the Divine Weapon Pavilion.

The moment Li Yuan took a step closer, Fang Fang Yunxiu pulled him back:

"Without the Valley Master's permission, anyone who enters this place without authorization shall be put to death…"

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Sister."

Li Yuan felt a little regret; within this Divine Weapon Pavilion there must surely be top-grade famed weapons.

……

Divine Weapon Valley was very large. After circling less than half of the small island, the sky was already growing dark.

Li Yuan wanted to keep looking around, but could only take his leave of Fang Fang Yunxiu and head to the Hammer Weapon Hall where Han Han Chuijun resided.