Chapter 138: A Day in the Life of Liang Liang Ashui

The price of a top-grade famous artifact is several times, even ten times, that of an ordinary famous artifact; even if a great family in Fucheng obtained just one, it could serve as a family heirloom.

And this sword counts as a fine piece even among top-grade famous artifacts.

【Meteor Yin Wind Sword (Fifth Tier)】

【Forged from meteoric iron fallen from beyond the heavens, mixed with the essence of a hundred spirits, refined through a hundred fires and a thousand smelts, and tempered with dragon blood...】

【Mastery Conditions: One lower-grade sword technique fully perfected, one middle-grade sword technique perfected, Great Expansion Sword Art fully mastered, Crane Form Snake Body】

【Mastery Effects: Sword Heart (pale yellow), Spiritual Crane Body (deep green), Great Expansion Sword Art perfected (deep green)】

"That day, if Ding Zhi had drawn his sword, it would have been very troublesome."

By observing the sword and judging the person, Liang Liang Ashui had already gained a general understanding of Ding Zhi's Wu Gong before the fight even began.

Knowing that all his learning was focused on the sword, he had chosen first to cripple his right hand to stop him from wielding the sword.

"This sword is excellent, but unfortunately, I cannot use it for now."

Liang Liang Ashui paid close attention to this sword for a while.

Although he is skilled in hammer techniques, he never forgets sword techniques.

A wild Daoist Priest is still a Daoist Priest, and a Daoist robe paired with a heavy hammer is simply too strange.

"Relying on the Command of Weapons Talisman, I will sooner or later assemble a complete set of sword techniques to master, but for now, I must still prioritize hammer techniques."

As the Master of Weapons, how can a single weapon be enough?

Liang Liang Ashui muttered to himself; Ding Zhi's 'gift' had also been inventoried, and among the remaining trivial items, the most useful were a few pairs of dual blades.

This pair of dual blades was one of the reasons he chose the Turtle and Crane Dual Blades Fundamental Diagram; he only needed to buy a non-tiered pair of dual blades from a disciple of the Bingtang, and he could directly master the Fundamental Diagram to continue altering his bone structure.

"It's just a pity that the house deeds and land deeds cannot be cashed out; otherwise, gathering enough materials to promote the Command of Weapons Talisman would be more than sufficient."

Liang Liang Ashui felt only a slight regret, yet he still carefully stored these house deeds and land deeds.

Undoubtedly, this was a huge windfall.

"Huff!"

After flipping through and counting several times, Liang Liang Ashui finally lay down satisfied; in his dream, he heard a 'chitter-chitter' sound of teeth grinding.

When he woke up, he saw a little mouse with bloodshot eyes, still gnawing on the door threshold with a 'grind-grind' sound, sending wood shavings flying.

"Chitter!"

Seeing Liang Liang Ashui open his eyes, the little mouse scurried away and vanished.

"It gnawed the door threshold flat in half a night?"

Liang Liang Ashui naturally didn't chase it; this little fellow was now very fast, faster than a civet cat.

However, he was certain this little fellow was already a spiritual beast; ordinary mice absolutely did not possess such spirituality.

"Regarding the possibility of raising a spiritual beast."

Liang Liang Ashui enjoyed the pleasure of raising one and pondered whether he could raise other things.

Like the Crimson Dragon Fish.

"Without a fire, the taste of the spiritual fish is too strong; if I really cooked a pot, the entire Bingtang would probably smell it."

Liang Liang Ashui's heart itched; he closed the door, took out the Crimson Dragon Fish, cut off a piece of loin with a small knife, and went to the kitchen to start a fire.

"This fish meat is too fragrant!"

Liang Liang Ashui sprinkled seasonings and, after grilling just a few moments, immediately stopped; the fragrance of the spiritual fish had already filled the room.

This scent was ten times stronger than the spiritual fish he had eaten before.

He didn't dare to grill it any further; in over a year, Liang Liang Ashui had only bought that one Crimson Dragon Fish; if it really leaked out, that would be trouble.

"Hmm, half-cooked is fine too."

Liang Liang Ashui stuffed it into his mouth and immediately felt tender, sweet flesh, and a warm current spread sluggishly throughout his body.

"Good stuff!"

Liang Liang Ashui's eyes lit up.

The taste of this Crimson Dragon Fish was extremely good; such a thin slice was actually equivalent to half a Zeng Xue Dan, and he discovered that this fish seemed to require no grilling, as if it was already fully cooked?

"Is it because of the fire vein under the cold pool?"

Liang Liang Ashui waited until the smell in the kitchen dissipated before taking the seasonings back to his room and cutting a few more slices to taste.

Only then was he certain that this fish meat needed no steaming or grilling at all!

"This works too?"

Liang Liang Ashui had gained new knowledge; his hands didn't stop as he ate slice after slice for several jin, and when he came to his senses, his face had turned flushed red.

The medicinal power of this spiritual fish was very gentle, but even if gentle, a large quantity was enough to be astonishing.

Immediately, he went to the courtyard, lifted his hammer and stood in a stance, practicing the Xu Tui Weapon Body Stance; after a long while, only when the sky turned white did he calm the medicinal power within his body.

"Huff!"

Exhaling a mouthful of turbid qi, Liang Liang Ashui immediately broke out in a sweat, feeling completely refreshed, as if he had taken a bath from the inside out.

Perhaps because he had just eaten, he didn't notice any change in his bone structure, but he felt his whole body was clear and transparent.

"Three hundred taels of gold, worth it!"

Patting his belly, Liang Liang Ashui resisted the urge to finish the whole fish at once; after savoring it for a while, he headed to the Weapon Casting Valley.

In these half months, he hadn't left the Li Chen Hall, but he had flipped through the 'Weapon Forging Hammer Method' back and forth several times and hadn't wasted any time.

He estimated that he was nearly at the entry level of this Weapon Casting Technique.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The hammer sounds, some crisp and some deep, rose and fell in succession.

Walking through the tunnel to the forging hammer, Liang Liang Ashui's heart stirred involuntarily; he discovered that this place was much cooler than half a month ago.

"No, wait—I've become more heat-resistant? That Red Dragon Fish?"

Li Yuan's heart stirred, and he approached the hottest of the forging hammers' earthfire furnaces.

This furnace drew upon earthfire; normally even ten-plus meters away one felt scalding heat. This time, he only felt sweltering heat within a ten-meter range, and only when he got within three meters did he feel scalding.

"That spirit fish can resist high heat?"

Li Yuan's eyes brightened slightly; he felt it was very possible.

As far as he knew, Red Dragon Fish lived beneath cold pools, beside fire veins, between extreme cold and extreme heat—perhaps they truly could resist water and fire?

At this thought, Li Yuan's mind immediately became active.

Wasn't this exactly what he needed?

"Resisting high heat."

Li Yuan felt his heart itch with anticipation.

He was well aware that eating just one Red Dragon Fish couldn't possibly let him withstand the high temperature at the end of the Chi Rong Cave.

But what about several more—or even taking the fish skin to forge a few weapons?

The more he thought, the more feasible it seemed. Yet he didn't show it. He greeted the other blacksmiths and picked up his hammer to forge iron.

His Weapon-Forging Method had only been at the entry level for a few days; he could wait until he advanced, then use the fish skin to forge a pair of soft inner armor—or gloves?

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of hammers rose one after another.

Though he'd been away for half a month, the Weapon-Forging Valley was just as before, seemingly completely unaffected.

Li Yuan asked around and learned that the three elders of Weapon-Forging Valley had all gone down the mountain earlier and hadn't returned yet.

"Even the blacksmiths were called down the mountain—aren't they afraid of being robbed at home? Well, with those old guards still here, defending the home is more than enough."

Before coming, Li Yuan had already switched out five forging hammers; while forging iron, his mind was still turning things over.

Except for a few small areas, he'd been to every part of the inner island, seen many of the old guards, and knew how formidable they were.

That night of heavy rain, he had deliberately steered clear of those restricted areas.

"That Su Su Wanxiong has already fled; he should be back soon. Surely they can't all be going to find Old Han, right?"

Li Yuan calmed his mind and forged iron. After a while, he again felt the sweltering heat hard to bear.

"After eating the fish meat, within four hours I can resist high temperatures…"

Li Yuan wasn't surprised; he calmly continued forging iron.

……

After finishing work, Li Yuan returned to his room. Yu Xiang had already prepared the meal and was getting the hot water ready for his medicinal bath.

"Hoo—!"

After eating, soaking in the medicinal liquid, Li Yuan felt nothing but comfort in body and mind. He greatly enjoyed this peaceful life.

No one to disturb him, someone to attend him—forging iron, reading, practicing martial arts—he was very content.

"Senior Brother Li."

Li Yuan kept his eyes closed, enjoying Yu Xiang's massage. His tendons and bones were very solid; even without exerting force, one would need to have cultivated internal force to press hard enough.

Yu

Xiang pressed with great effort, soon panting heavily; the smooth softness of her front pressed against Li Yuan's back.

Her breathing was rapid, her cheeks flushed red:

"Senior Brother Li, you—take me…"

"?!"

Li Yuan's eyelid twitched, but he didn't open his eyes:

"Sleep with me for free?"

"Bah!"

Yu Xiang instantly sobered up, spat, and twisted her waist as she ran out.

"This Red Dragon Fish seems to have an aphrodisiac effect too?"

Li Yuan could feel the sweltering heat himself.

He was eighteen or nineteen now, just at the prime of vigorous qi and blood. But martial arts training and forging iron were exhausting; once his energy was fully spent, he rarely thought of such things.

"That little girl's skin is still too thin."

Li Yuan stood up; with a single shake, the water droplets on his body were shaken off, his lean, sturdy muscles glowing red.

The Great Fortune Dynasty didn't fuss over the three bonds and five constants, but sleeping with someone for free was still not acceptable.

At the very least, as Fang Fang Bao Luo had said, he'd have to take her as a concubine.

"The surge of hormones—how could it compare to self-improvement?"

Changing into his clothes, stretching his tendons and bones, Li Yuan quickly immersed himself in martial arts practice, his abundant energy rapidly being consumed.

Hum!

He closed his eyes and focused, sensing the circulation of blood qi and internal force.

He'd read in books that after reaching Great Completion of Body Transformation, one could look inward at oneself, but he clearly couldn't yet.

At present, he could only use movements to transport blood qi and internal force, vaguely sensing the two great circulations of blood qi and internal force.

"Internal force interweaves, until it covers the viscera…"

Li Yuan adjusted his breathing, and following the records in the Soldier's Dao Combat Killing Hammer, slowly extended his internal force inward.

The viscera were clearly more tolerant than the brain; the slight tingling numbness was nothing to him.

Whoo-whoo~

Li Yuan's breathing grew ever softer, seeming to merge with the wind outside the window.

He carefully guided his internal force to spread through his body, with the illusion that he was knitting a sweater with a thin needle.

This was a delicate task; the slightest mistake meant starting over from scratch, and with the internal organs taking a hit, he'd have to rest at least ten days to half a month.

Internal Strength to its Great Completion, for an ordinary Inner-Gate disciple, required three to five years; the fastest among the True Inheritors, Qiu Qiu Changying, took a year and three months,

while Cao Yan took sixteen years, and still hadn't reached Great Completion…

"Hah!"

After his internal force was completely spent, Li Yuan slowly concluded his stance, picked up his hammer, and walked into the courtyard, casually stowing the unranked dual blades he'd bought on the way back from work into his Weapon Space.

When he slowly stood firm, he had already switched his Held Weapon, taking hold of the "Fundamental Chart of the Tortoise-Crane Dual Blades."

"The Dual-Form remodeling has to be slower, but once this remodeling is complete, it'll be the Great Dragon-Form bone structure!"

Li Yuan swallowed a Zeng Xue Dan, closed his eyes for a moment, then slowly began to move.

One hand holding the hammer, the other hand swinging empty, he practiced the Tortoise-Crane Dual Blade Art.

……

In the newly replaced iron vat in the corner of the wall, Li Yuan was drenched in sweat, panting heavily, yet he didn't rush to climb out.

Instead, he closed his eyes, and taking advantage of the lowest ebb of his blood energy, attempted to "Drive Blood Energy into the Brain."

"Hah!"

After a long while, Li Yuan climbed out of the iron vat, his complexion having recovered its healthy flush; the attempt to drive blood energy into the brain had once again ended in failure.

Still, he didn't mind much; he yawned and went back to sleep.

A fulfilling day for a True Inheritor disciple came to an end.