Chapter 130: Third-Grade Spirit Boots, A Letter from Home (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)

The Divine Guard army sealed off this stretch of riverbank.

In the courtyard of the Blood Vajra Temple, beneath an old tree, Ku Yue sat cross-legged, his expression slightly grave:

"The things of the Xieshen Sect are bizarre beyond compare — you really didn't take anything?"

Several people shook their heads, and Li Yuan said nothing either.

He guessed that what Su Su Wanxiong had come looking for was the 'Dead Man's Stele' in his hand.

'This thing is a bit hot to handle…'

Li Yuan felt a twinge of unease in his heart.

But if he took it out now, he had no way to explain it…

"Something that could make Su Su Wanxiong drag his wounded body here to take…"

Fang Fang Bao Luo bent down and closed Zhao Zhao Yunsheng's jaw, asking in a low voice: "What was he looking for?"

"Ha, haha… you all deserve to die, all deserve to die!"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng's face was savage, his manner near-mad: "Blaspheme the divine, you all deserve to die, must die!"

"He's gone mad!"

Qiu Qiu Changying frowned: "This man calls himself Zhao Zhao Yunsheng? His aura and Wu Gong actually bear some resemblance?

This Bai Shen Fa…"

'Truly dangerous.'

Looking at the madness on the man's face, Li Yuan felt a chill in his heart — this one had gone crazy just like that.

Over the past two years, he had acquired quite a few items related to the Bai Shen Fa, but since he himself had not learned the Bai Shen Zheng Fa, he did not dare to attempt to master them lightly.

Looking at it now, it was fortunate he hadn't, or his spirit might well have been affected as well.

"Among all the Wu Gong under heaven, those that touch upon the spirit are invariably strange and dangerous, and the Bai Shen Fa ranks among the Shi Da Mo Gong — extremely dangerous."

Elder Ku Yue shook his head slightly: "This man is about to die."

"He was fine before, but in this state now — he must be faking madness!"

Ba Ba Wanli, refusing to believe it, hauled Zhao Zhao Yunsheng up, turned sideways, bent low, and walked out the temple gate. Before long, a shrill scream rang out.

"There's still one alive."

Fang Fang Bao Luo dragged out the captive Li Yuan had left behind earlier.

The courtyard fell silent. Qiu Qiu Changying took a pill to heal her wounds, while Li Yuan kept replaying in his mind the earlier clash between the two great Tongmai masters — that moment when inner Qi took form.

Before long, Ba Ba Wanli and the other returned one after the other.

"Truly mad!"

Ba Ba Wanli's face was slightly dark.

"That one's mouth was loose — got some things out of him."

Fang Fang Bao Luo's expression solemn: "That Talent List — the people behind it are from Sanyuanwu…"

"Sanyuanwu?"

Elder Ku Yue was not surprised either:

"In recent years, though those three families have made no moves on the surface, behind the scenes…"

"Perhaps the Xieshen Sect is framing and sowing discord, driving a wedge."

Qiu Qiu Changying spoke up at this point; her wounds seemed to have improved: "By the Yixieshen Sect's methods, bewitching an outer disciple of Sanyuanwu would be nothing remarkable."

"That Talent List catalogs several hundred elite disciples of the Valley — the weapons they use, the Wu Gong they practice. To possess such intelligence, there are only so many families in Huizhou capable of it."

Fang Fang Bao Luo's face was dark as water: "This disciple believes that some of the planted agents from other houses within the sect must be rooted out!"

Naturally there were planted agents from other houses within the Divine Weapon Valley, just as other houses had secret scouts sent by the Divine Weapon Valley.

"This matter must be reported to the Valley Master."

Elder Ku Yue rose to his feet, admonished the others not to spread word of this, and told Ba Ba Wanli and the other to delay their departure from the city.

⊙co

Then hurried away.

The moment she left, Qiu Qiu Changying lingered not at all, turned, and left.

"This little…"

Ba Ba Wanli instinctively tried to speak, but Fang Fang Bao Luo clamped a hand over his mouth.

His wounds were far from healed — he had no wish to provoke that mad woman again.

"Speaking of which, Junior Brother, your lightness skill is rather too good…"

Both looked at Li Yuan, still remembering how earlier he had covered over twenty zhang in a single leap — a speed even Dacheng of Yixing couldn't match.

"Could it be related to his root bone?"

"Dragon-form root bone, really that remarkable?"

Fang Fang Bao Luo glanced at Ba Ba Wanli,

somewhat puzzled: "Or is it that the Mu Mu Xiantian Nine Forms differ from those of us who altered our root bone after birth?"

"That, I don't know either."

Li Yuan shook his head.

Asked, and the answer is 'don't know'; pressed further, blame it on the root bone; pressed again, then it's the Mu Mu Xiantian Nine Forms.

"It must be because of the Nine-Form root bone."

Ba Ba Wanli nodded in ready agreement.

He himself had become inhuman only after gathering all nine forms, and he felt Li Yuan was the same.

"Junior Brother's speed is already this great before even reaching Yixing — once he does, I'm afraid even Dacheng of Tongmai would be no match for you…"

Fang Fang Bao Luo was a little envious.

Mu Mu Xiantian's Nine Forms, are they really that formidable?

He was slightly puzzled, but thinking of his own master, he felt it very possible — his master was far more terrifying than this…

"That's called extraordinary talent."

Ba Ba Wanli grinned.

"Shut your mouth!"

Fang Fang Bao Luo's face darkened. He looked at Li Yuan, his expression solemn:

"Junior brother, before we catch that group of people lurking in the shadows, don't leave the city alone!"

Li Yuan nodded.

Let alone not leaving the city — until this matter was settled, he didn't even want to come down the mountain.

However…

Li Yuan's eyes dimmed slightly as he thought of Sun Zan.

He had already inquired — that old fellow's birthday had only just passed last winter…

……

The three martial brothers talked in the temple for a long time, mostly Fang Fang Bao Luo speaking, while Li Yuan and Ba Ba Wanli listened quietly and nodded.

After a long while, Ba Ba Wanli and the other split up — one went to the gathering place outside Fucheng to capture Zhao Zhao Bogang, the other went into Fucheng to investigate Yunshu Lou.

"Turbulent times indeed."

Li Yuan sighed inwardly.

A faction bold enough to hunt disciples of the Divine Weapon Valley was one he truly could not afford to provoke right now.

He turned and walked into the long-abandoned Blood Vajra Temple. The interior was covered in cobwebs and dust, the ferocious dark-red stone statue badly damaged.

【Damaged Blood Vajra Statue (Third-Tier)】

【A statue cast from Blood-Nurturing Essence Stone mixed with Yin Blood Clay. After receiving the incense of ten thousand worshippers, the stone and clay can form a pill. Now the incense has faded, with only a trace of the spiritual remaining…】

【Control Requirement: Entry-level mastery of the Blood Vajra Method】

【Control Effects: Blood Qi Boiling (Blue), Blood Qi Replenishment (White), Lingering Blessing of Incense (White)】

"This has been 'harvested.'"

Looking at the badly damaged statue, Li Yuan's heart chilled slightly.

Even this third-tier statue couldn't compare to the incense burner in the Bodhisattva Temple in Fucheng — one could see how severe the damage was.

"These pits and hollows — what was dug out? The Blood-Nurturing Essence Stone and Yin Blood Clay?"

Reaching out to touch the statue, Li Yuan grew increasingly curious about exactly how the imperial court had utilized this statue.

Stone and clay forming a pill?

Or?

Turning the thought over in his mind, Li Yuan shut the temple door before moving the statue. Though damaged, the statue still retained residual incense.

"Buzz!"

In an instant, the massive statue landed on the gray stone platform, and the originally spacious platform instantly became crowded.

"A third-tier statue should have third-tier incense, right? As for third-tier Weapon items…"

Li Yuan took stock of the Weapon items on the stone platform.

With the expansion of the gray stone platform, the things he had collected were many — sabers, spears, staves, and clubs all present, with hammers naturally being the most numerous.

"Combine boots?"

Li Yuan did not hesitate. With a thought, wisps of pale smoke drifted out from the three incense burners, igniting the Divine Fire Weapon-Combining Furnace.

To combine a third-tier item, one must first combine a second-tier one.

"Boots are too few — let me try hammers first… let's see what happens after a failed combination…"

Buzz~

The flames of the Weapon-Combining Furnace flickered six times, and Li Yuan was quite astonished — because all six actually succeeded.

"Is my luck really this good?"

Li Yuan was somewhat amazed. Or was the furnace's 'relatively high probability' really that high?

Was it truly that great?

Thinking this, he casually tossed in several different unranked Weapon items.

"Puff!"

The firelight dimmed, and those few Weapon items were all blasted back out.

"No damage?"

Li Yuan, who had been prepared for the Weapon items to be destroyed after a failed combination, was immediately delighted. This meant that as long as incense and Weapon items were sufficient, he could keep combining without needing to worry about the consequences of failure.

"A single case proves nothing — let me try again…"

Li Yuan tried many more times. Mainly, his luck was truly excellent — seven or eight out of ten combinations succeeded.

"Mm… failure does still have consequences… the silver consumed seems to be a bit more?"

After a long while, Li Yuan had a clear picture in his mind.

The Divine Fire Weapon-Combining Furnace truly lived up to its reputation as a divine artifact that appeared after the fifth tier of the Weapon Mastery Registry — after a failed combination, the Weapon items would not be destroyed, and combining could continue.

Only the silver, flames, and time required for combining doubled.

He didn't know what the principle was, but compared to Weapon items being destroyed upon failure, this was naturally acceptable.

"Mm, combine the boots…"

This time, Li Yuan felt no burden at all.

Without a second thought, he tossed every boot he had collected into it.

Of these boots, three pairs were unranked and three pairs were first-rank, and they were not all Six Harmonies Boots.

There was no helping it — spirit beasts were hard to come by, and the suitable spirit-beast hides were always used to make inner armor first; only the leftover scraps would be used to make boots.

Hum!

As the white-and-blue flames flickered, Li Yuan calculated the silver he was feeding in. After putting in thirteen taels, he heard a hum.

Two pairs of boots were spat out — one pair first-rank, one pair second-rank.

"How is my luck this good?"

Li Yuan was a little startled, but quickly, he recalled something.

"Speaking of luck…"

He glanced back at the corner where three incense burners sat — one large, two small — all three bearing the wielding effect of 'a touch of good fortune.'

"Luck may be invisible and intangible, but it must be useful. No wonder my luck is this good."

Li Yuan muttered to himself, then carried the three incense burners over beside the Weapon-Forging Furnace, right next to it.

"Mm, now, much better."

Li Yuan was satisfied in his heart.

Counting the Six-Spirit Boots bestowed by the sect, he now had three pairs of second-rank boots.

"Pale cyan flames!"

Li Yuan did not delay. He drew on the incense-fire power within the stone statue to ignite the Weapon-Forging Furnace.

Then, he began adding silver.

He tossed in the silver one tael at a time, calculating in his mind, until twenty-six taels of silver had been thrown in.

The flames churned violently for an instant, then spat out a new pair of boots.

【Exceptional Six Harmonies Boots (Third-Rank)】

【Forged by the Weapon-Forging Furnace, with divine fire as the primer, gold and silver as fuel, through the hand of the Weapon Master…】

【Wielding Requirement: Any Lightness or Vaulting Art at Minor Accomplishment】

【Wielding Effects: Stride Like Flight (pale cyan), Walk as on Flat Ground (blue), Swift as a Galloping Steed (pale cyan), Swift as an Eagle (pale cyan)】

"Done!"

The Weapon-Forging Furnace's fire died down. Li Yuan was quietly pleased. He reckoned that the incense fire within this stone statue could still be lit at least four more times.

"Mm, I'll forge a few smithing hammers. This stone statue isn't easy to carry off…"

Li Yuan struck while the iron was hot. From his pile of hammer weapons, he picked out the relatively better ones and began forging.

……

……

Before nightfall, Li Yuan returned to the city together with Fang Fang Bao Luo.

They had just arrived at the smithy when Liu Zheng came striding over briskly, carrying a bundle:

"Brother Li, this is a letter from your second brother. The courier station's people just delivered it."