Chapter 152: Divine Craftsman (Begging for Monthly Votes)

Privilege often comes with obligation.

True disciples enjoy transcendent privilege, so naturally they must lead the other disciples and dare to be first.

That was also why Fang Fang Bao Luo had rushed to the battlefield before his injuries had healed.

But…

"A genius weapon-forging talent naturally has a genius weapon-forging talent's way of doing things."

After taking leave of Fang Fang Yunxiu, Li Yuan headed toward the Weapon Forging Valley. On the way, Yu Jin popped out again and brought up what Fang Fang Yunxiu had said earlier.

"That little lass is still too green. The sect's effort in raising true disciples is no small matter. Even if you wanted to leave the mountain, Old Feng would never dare agree to it."

Yu Jin said in a low voice.

He truly feared Li Yuan would act on impulse and leave the mountain—if that happened, his own troubles would be enormous.

The true disciple with the finest innate talent in the Weapon God Valley of this generation—his head was worth more than a hundred inner disciples. No need to think about it; there would certainly be experts willing to take the risk.

"Not bad, not bad."

The other old veterans also popped out, chiming in one after another: "Leave the mountain? Those inner disciples only know how to be jealous. How could they possibly understand the significance of a true disciple?"

Body Transformation is the foundation by which the sect governs its commanderies and prefectures, but only those who have achieved Great Accomplishment of the Meridian Opening are the sect's backbone.

Li Yuan's importance was far greater than the other inner disciples imagined, far greater than any of them.

"Mm, Elder Yu is right."

Li Yuan nodded repeatedly. He had absolutely no intention of leaving the mountain at this time.

"What do other people's gossip amount to? The road of the martial world is long; the one who stays steady to the end is the victor!"

Yu Jin touched his own empty sleeve, sighing inwardly: "If this old man had understood this principle back in the day…"

The other old veterans immediately avoided the topic, drifting off, refusing to pick up that thread at all.

In his day, Yu Jin's innate talent and bone structure had both been superior to Feng Feng Zhongyi's, but alas…

"What Elder Yu says, this junior will keep firmly in mind."

Li Yuan's expression grew slightly solemn. What sounded like a casual remark was in truth a lesson written in blood.

"Enough, go on."

Yu Jin waved his hand and faded into the shadows.

Regarding Li Yuan, he was still at ease. Though the boy had risen to fame young, he possessed a certain steadiness and gravity, was far more tactful than Han Han Chuijun, and his path would surely be far smoother.

"The old-timers really do see things clearly."

Li Yuan mulled it over. If he went down the mountain now to kill a few assassins, others would still have something to say.

After thinking it over, he felt he still had to do something—at the very least, something worthy of this true disciple's privilege.

"Mm, I can try forging One superior-grade piece of a famed weapon. With my current attainments, plus the boost from five forging hammers, it shouldn't be a problem."

Having made up his mind, Li Yuan quickened his pace. When he returned to the Weapon Forging Valley, he happened to run into Brother Qiao Tianhe.

This true disciple from the Seven Star Palace had a bundle on his back and seemed to be waiting for him as well.

"Brother Brother Qiao, you're leaving?"

Li Yuan stopped, somewhat surprised.

Over the past two months, while recuperating from his injuries, Brother Qiao Tianhe had also made plenty of trips to the Molten Cave, even braving his wounds to charge into the Molten Earth Passage several more times. He hadn't achieved anything, but he had grown familiar with Li Yuan.

"Mm, I've been out a long time this trip. It's time I went back."

The fire poison had yet to be cleared. Brother Qiao Tianhe coughed a few times before cupping his hands in salute:

"Brother Li, if you ever find the time to visit Purple Cloud Prefecture, be sure to let Brother Qiao know. Brother Qiao will take you to our Seven Star Palace's weapon-forging site. I trust you won't be disappointed."

"Safe travels, Brother Brother Qiao."

Li Yuan cupped his hands in farewell. His impression of this genius weapon-forging master from the Seven Star Palace was not bad—apart from being a bit arrogant, there were no major flaws.

"This token, Brother Li, keep it."

Brother Qiao Tianhe left behind a token, then waved his hand and strode away.

Li Yuan watched the glow of the Crimson Flame Flood Dragon Fire-Repelling Pearl fade into the distance. He felt a pang of regret for quite a while before turning and heading underground.

Forging a superior-grade famed weapon required much preparation.

……

Whooosh~

A cold wind stirred gently. A small skiff glided from the Cold Pool into a tributary, drifting downstream.

The waters of the Cold Pool were bone-chillingly cold, yet even in the depths of winter and heavy snow, they never froze.

"The Cold Pool's Earth Fire truly lives up to its name as one of Huizhou's three great wonders, a sacred ground for weapon forging."

Brother Qiao Tianhe looked back at the gradually blurring mountain gate of the Weapon God Valley, feeling this place was even better than the Seven Star Palace's weapon-forging site.

"The place is fine, but the people here are no good."

Wan Chuan's face was expressionless. The wasted trip left him in a foul mood, making him doubt the sect's intelligence—or perhaps that was the Xieshen Sect leader deliberately laying false trails?

The divine weapon was not in the Weapon God Valley, but rather referred to Huizhou, or perhaps one of the other wonder-sites within the Mount Hengshan circuit?

"This disciple believes not."

Brother Qiao Tianhe hesitated, then still shook his head.

"Oh?"

Seeing his disciple refute him for the first time, Wan Chuan's expression actually improved: "What, you have a different view?"

"This disciple believes that the reason counties are inferior to commanderies, commanderies to prefectures, and prefectures to provinces, is that the greater sects have greater prestige and territory, allowing them to select and cultivate more outstanding disciples."

Brother Qiao Tianhe scratched his head.

"Continue."

Wan Chuan gave him a Longhu Longhu Dandan glance.

"Just like Brother Li, Li Yuan. His talent is excellent; if Master you take a liking to him, you might even take him away, but there is no way a disciple like me could stay at the Divine Weapon Valley."

Brother Qiao Zhu felt regretful again:

"Master, Brother Li's talent is truly excellent. The famous weapons he forges are more seasoned than mine, as if he had been casting weapons for decades..."

"Come to think of it, it is indeed somewhat strange."

Wan Chuan pinched his beard.

He had also seen the famous weapon forged by that Li Yuan; at the time, he felt it was full of craftiness and lacked spirit, almost identical to Lei Lei Jingchuan and Jing Jing Shuhu.

But now that he thinks about it, that boy has only been casting weapons for a few years, yet he managed to learn to be so similar; this must be said to be a kind of talent.

"Master, think about it: if he can learn seventy percent of what you know, he might even be able to forge divine artifacts..."

"Enough!"

Wan Chuan frowned, then felt curious: "You have met him only a few times in total; why are you so eager?"

"This disciple just feels it is a pity."

Seeing his master's thoughts, Brother Qiao Tianhe said no more.

"Hmm..."

Wan Chuan pondered for a moment, then still shook his head: "Too much craftiness, not enough spirit; a genius who merely copies the gourd to paint the melon, this old man does not look up to."

Mainly because that Han Han Chuijun, he truly did not want to provoke; a dragon form at nineteen years old was not worth it...

Brother Qiao Tianhe sighed inwardly and asked again: "Then shall we return to the Sect?"

"No rush."

Wan Chuan looked toward the mountain gate of the Divine Weapon Valley: "This old man wants to see what the Xieshen Sect truly intends; just in case..."

He lightly tapped his foot, the black-canopied boat gradually drifted away, and Wan Chuan whispered to himself:

"The Black Whale Hammer."

"He's gone?"

Inside the Cold Pool Cave, Lei Lei Jingchuan's suppressed anger:

"The Crimson Fire Naga Pearl, the North Sea Dragon Whalescent, the Wind-Thunder Strange Stone... seven treasures, not a single one brought back?"

"Bring them back? It would be good enough if we didn't lose another one!"

Jing Jing Shuhu sat quietly fishing; hearing this, he almost laughed in anger: "He is a Divine Artisan, the Divine Artisan who forged four divine weapons in thirty years; what can we use to win?"

"Hateful!"

Lei Lei Jingchuan's chest heaved; thinking of the strange objects accumulated by the Ancestor falling into others' hands, he could not suppress his anger:

"If we cannot bring them back, how can we face our Master?"

He gritted his teeth and could not help but pull a tiger-faced mask from his robes: "Or..."

"He has cultivated his organs for years; do you want to die?"

Jing Jing Shuhu put down his fishing rod, his face full of helplessness, and sighed:

"Old Lei, we are weapon casters; victory and defeat must be decided by the methods of weapon casting, not like that old thing Han Han Chuijun; don't resort to fighting and killing every time!"

"Those were left by the Ancestor..."

"Their ancestors were also true transmissions of the Divine Weapon Valley."

"They are not anymore!"

"He is a Divine Artisan; you and I are not. In the eyes of the Jianghu people, they are the true transmissions of the Ancestor Feng Yun Ancestor!"

"But..."

"The Jianghu has always been the law of the jungle; what can be done?"

Inside the Cold Pool Cave, the two brothers almost quarreled; Lei Lei Jingchuan ultimately lost the argument because Jing Jing Shuhu mentioned the 'Divine Artisan's connections'.

As a weapon-casting elder of the Divine Weapon Valley, how could he not know the weight of a Divine Artisan?

Relying on producing Divine Artisans generation after generation, the Divine Weapon Valley had once suppressed the Huailong Palace, the nominal master of Huizhou!

"In these thirty years, countless experts have sought divine weapons from him; do you really dare to ambush and kill him?"

Two months and more passed; Jing Jing Shuhu seemed to have let go of his obsession, and his whole person appeared very peaceful.

Divine Artisan, organ cultivation.

Lei Lei Jingchuan had no words to respond.

He had achieved great success in meridian opening for several years, but without supreme arts, his internal qi could not transform into truth; it was unlikely he would ever succeed in organ cultivation in this life.

And without organ cultivation, to forge divine weapons, one absolutely must possess talent surpassing the world.

"The items are still here; they have merely been moved to a different storage place. If a future disciple possesses talent that shocks the world, they might not be able to retrieve them."

Jing Jing Shuhu comforted him.

"Li Yuan!"

Suddenly, Lei Lei Jingchuan raised his head, his eyes shining terrifyingly: "Does he have the potential to become a Divine Artisan?

If he can defeat that Brother Qiao Tianhe, he can retrieve the items, and even make that old thing Wan Chuan die of anger!"

The victory or defeat of a weapon caster lies in forging armor and weapons, yet Li Yuan had only entered the sect for over half a year, yet he could already forge famous weapons.

In his view, except for his bone structure being slightly inferior, all other talents surpassed Brother Qiao Tianhe!

"His talent and bone structure might not be able to achieve it, but..."

Jing Jing Shuhu had obviously pondered this too, but still shook his head: "He is not the Young Valley Master; he cannot learn the 'Five Weapons Colorless Spirit Void Qi'..."

Without supreme arts, one cannot transform qi into truth, and thus there is no way to cultivate the organs.

"Young Valley Master?"

Lei Lei Jingchuan's voice was low:

"He can be!"

"Hmm?"

Jing Jing Shuhu frowned tightly, yet still shook his head: "With the Valley Master present, this plan cannot work..."

"So what if the Valley Master is here? The Divine Weapon Valley has its own rules!"

Lei Lei Jingchuan paced back and forth, the more he thought, the more likely it seemed:

"Following the rules, with you and me, plus Han Han Chuijun, Li Yuan might just be able to surpass Shi Hong!"

"Han Han Chuijun?"

Jing Jing Shuhu's face instantly turned cold, frowning as he analyzed:

"For this assault on Qianjun Cave, Shi Hong led from the front, personally killing the two great true disciples of Qianjun Cave; his merit is already sufficient..."

"However, against those two great true disciples, if Li Yuan can forge even one supreme-grade famous artifact, it would be enough to offset this merit!"

Lei Lei Jingchuan rolled up his sleeves and rushed off in a hurry.

Leaving only Jing Jing Shuhu with his brows tightly furrowed.

The difficulty of forging a supreme-grade famous artifact after learning for only a few months is even lower than the probability of Shi Hong suddenly dying.

"Divine Artisan..."

Whoosh~

Inside the Crimson Fusion Cave, no bellows were needed; toss in a few pieces of spirit wood to aid combustion, and the fierce flames would leap several meters high, the temperature extremely high.

Li Yuan rolled up his sleeves, rubbed his hands together, and prepared to forge his first One superior-grade item.