Chapter 172: A Heart of Sincerity

The tremors in the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Valley persisted until Li Yuan turned around.

He tried to release his control and discovered that at least Four heavy mouths, including the Chen Shan Zhong hammer and the Hunjin Da Xiyi hammer, were required to trigger the violent tremors of the Liehai Xuanwei Hammer.

After removing the Four heavy mouths, that wisp of dark light remained, yet it appeared much dimmer, and the faint, almost imperceptible summons gradually subsided.

"This hammer is far too realistic..."

Inside the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Valley, the ironworkers were still shaken; Li Yuan gazed at the dark light shooting straight into the sky, muttering to himself.

Divine weapons possess spirits; without a master, they would rather gather dust. The spiritual nature of the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing is evidently even greater, able to sense his hammer technique talent across hundreds of zhang of earth.

Just thinking about it terrified him; with this hammer before him, could he even lift it?

"Everyone, remain on the ground for now; do not go out."

At this moment, Lei Lei Jingchuan also came to his senses; he looked around and ordered Niu Jun and Li Yuan to guard this place, forbidding anyone from leaving or spreading news.

He himself took a deep breath and returned underground.

As soon as he left, the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Valley immediately filled with discussion; many faces showed fear, still shaken.

Niu Jun paid no attention, simply standing before the narrow valley entrance and exit, forbidding anyone from going out.

"Junior Brother Li."

Niu Jun lowered his voice: "Have you heard of the Liehai Xuanwei Hammer?"

"Liehai? Oh, Senior Brother Niu is talking about the Daoist Tianyun Divine Weapon?"

Li Yuan was currently very excited, forcing himself to respond to Niu Jun; he had not merely heard of it, he could actually see it now.

"Yes, that Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing; it is said that when the Founding Ancestor abandoned the fiefdom of Ziyun Zhou to choose Zhelong Fu, it was related to that Xuanwei Hammer..."

Niu Jun lowered his voice, speaking secrets that were not truly secret.

It has been fourteen hundred years since the Founding Ancestor of the Divine Weapon Valley, Feng Yun, migrated here; even the most secret secrets are no longer secret by now.

However, the vast majority of people treat it merely as a legend, and no one truly cares.

"I have heard a little."

Li Yuan was distracted, staring at that wisp of dark light; unfortunately, apart from the name, he still could not see the rest.

He guessed that something was likely blocking his perception?

"Divine weapons have spirits and can choose masters; without a master, they would rather gather dust. Could this Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing also be waiting for a destined person?"

Niu Jun's eyes were very bright.

The matter of divine weapons choosing masters is not considered a secret for the disciples of the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Valley; he had personally seen a divine weapon.

He had even seen the Founding Ancestor's daily records.

"Hmm?"

Li Yuan immediately became wary; two tremors within a year, would people suspect him?

"This, the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing is just a legend; it's impossible for it to truly exist, right? Over a thousand years, the Founding Ancestors dug out the entire Divine Weapon Mountain Range; if there was one, wouldn't they have found it long ago?"

"The Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing definitely exists!"

Niu Jun was very certain.

Li Yuan had thought he had some profound insight, but instead, he dragged the name of the Great Destiny Taizu Pang Pang Wenlong into it.

"... That peerless warlord Gao Gao Feiqing, with powerful men like clouds under his command and an army of three hundred thousand all elite martial artists, on what basis did the Taizu defeat him?"

Niu Jun was very certain.

Regarding the sky-fire like a waterfall falling from the heavens, he did not believe it; he was more inclined to think that Taizu was the master of the Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing.

"What Senior Brother Niu says seems very reasonable."

Seeing Niu Jun so excited, Li Yuan almost became excited himself.

"The Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, the destined one obtains it!"

Niu Jun's body trembled slightly; just thinking that the legendary Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing might be within the valley made him very excited.

Back then, Pang Pang Wenlong obtained the Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing in his seventies or eighties and could still stabilize the world; although he was nearly fifty, there was still a possibility for him, right?

"The destined one obtains it."

Li Yuan thought for a moment; he felt it was more like "the talented one obtains it"; with talent too low, this hammer wouldn't even glance at him.

But looking at the overly excited Niu Jun, he couldn't help but feel some inner

criticism.

Could this Senior Brother Niu think he is the destined one?

"Junior Brother Li, tell me, could I be the destined person?"

You are truly humorous.

Li Yuan twitched the corner of his mouth, becoming even more wary in his heart.

Even Niu Jun, with such thick eyebrows and big eyes, shook like this just from imagining it; one could imagine the attraction the Daoist Tianyun Divine Weapon holds for people of the Jianghu.

"No wonder the Xieshen Sect is so cautious..."

Everyone knows divine weapons choose masters, but everyone also thinks they will be that destined person...

"Before obtaining this hammer, I absolutely cannot trigger its tremors again."

Li Yuan felt a chill in his heart, while Niu Jun remained immersed in his longing for the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, unable to extricate himself.

"Roar!"

Suddenly, a high-pitched roar piercing the clouds came from the distance, rolling like thunder.

"What is this?"

This sound suddenly exploded; although the distance was great, it echoed endlessly, and the ironworkers in the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Valley all looked around.

"This sounds like a beast's roar?"

Li Yuan's heart startled; he followed the sound and looked, and far away, he seemed to see columns of water shooting into the sky, probably thirty or forty meters high.

Hah!

His feet trembled; he leaped up along the cliff of the Sword-Forging Valley, gazing from the hilltop. Beyond the Inner Island, the Cold Pool boiled.

Pillars of fire leaped from the Cold Pool, fell, and splashed up towering waves, causing uproar across both the Inner and Outer Islands.

"Roar!"

The mighty roar came again. From the column of water shooting to the sky, a crimson-and-gold fish shadow darted forth, complete with whiskers and horns, thirty to forty meters long.

"Red Dragon Fish King!"

On both islands, many disciples and guardians of the Divine Weapon Valley cried out in shock. Rolling waves surged skyward, then scattered like heavy rain.

"Even this Fish King has been blasted out?"

Liang Liang Ashui hurried over, guessing in his heart that this Fish King was likely closely tied to the Sea-Splitting Black Whale Hammer.

"??!"

Liang Liang Ashui, who had been fishing in the Cold Pool, stood frozen like a wooden chicken. He dropped his fishing rod and fled madly, his heart pounding like thunder.

He had fished for so many years, yet where had he ever seen something so large?

No, this was not a fish at all; it was a jiao!

In his panicked flight, Liang Liang Ashui's face turned deathly pale. Struck by a wave, he was flung twenty or thirty meters sideways, crashing heavily onto the shore and spewing blood wildly.

The bone-chilling water of the Cold Pool poured down like heavy rain.

"Jiao Dragon!"

Watching the colossal beast that sometimes fell, sometimes leaped, and frequently emitted earth-shattering roars, Liang Liang Ashui stood frozen like a wooden chicken.

Everyone on both islands who witnessed it was thrown into uproar and frenzy.

The beast was over thirty meters long, its scales crimson, complete with whiskers and horns, resembling a snake or a jiao, radiating immense majesty.

Liang Liang Ashui's heart trembled; this truly was the Red Dragon Fish King he had seen earlier when he went into the water.

"Wretched beast!"

Liang Liang Ashui rushed forward. From hundreds of zhang away, he heard a furious rebuke, then the sound of bowstrings snapping and vibrating filled his ears without cease.

"This is a crossbow?! A siege crossbow!"

Liang Liang Ashui's heart startled. He saw a swarm of crossbow bolts raining down, each as thick as a child's arm, flashing with cold, bone-chilling light.

Inside the Divine Weapon Valley, there were actually a vast number of bed crossbows hidden away.

"Roar!"

The Red Dragon Fish King let out a roar amidst the water mist, like the legendary jiao dragon; whenever it moved, wind and clouds followed, and waves surged to the heavens.

It resisted the barrage of bed crossbow bolts raining down.

On both islands, the disciples and guardians all stirred at the news, watching from afar, their hearts utterly shaken.

The presence of the Red Dragon Fish King in the Cold Pool was no secret; years ago, some had even witnessed Han Chuigun's heavy hammer blasting the Fish King.

Yet even those who had seen it before were still horrified upon seeing this jiao-like beast churning the waves and resisting the barrage of bed crossbows.

"Wretched beast!"

When Yu Yu Xuanji stepped ashore, the waves had rolled up seven or eight zhang high, and the colossal beast had already vanished without a trace.

"How did this monster come out?!"

As Yu Yu Xuanji pondered in confusion, he suddenly heard the whistling of wind. From left and right, two figures plunged into the water with a "plop."

"Liang Liang Ashui?"

In the bone-chilling waters of the Cold Pool, Liang Liang Ashui unleashed his internal strength, arms spread wide, clutching a Red Dragon fish weighing at least a hundred jin to his chest.

His lightness skill was extraordinary; he had already closed the distance. Seeing the Fish King dive into the water and depart, and noticing another Red Dragon fish nearby, how could he resist? He immediately jumped into the ice-cold water.

"Go!"

Daring not to linger in the Cold Pool, Liang Liang Ashui exerted force, leaping from the bone-chilling water and landing on the shore.

Only then did he discover that Liang Liang Ashui was also in the water, grappling with a smaller Red Dragon fish.

"Catching fish!"

The disciples from both the Inner and Outer Gates, previously intimidated by the Red Dragon Fish King and unwilling to approach, saw someone catch a Red Dragon fish; the bold ones actually plunged into the water.

However, most disciples still dared only to watch from a distance.

"You young man are far too bold."

Yu Yu Xuanji frowned deeply, having not expected Liang Liang Ashui to suddenly dive into the water; he was thoroughly startled.

Liang Liang Ashui stunned the Red Dragon fish, then looked at the disciples catching fish in the Cold Pool: "The bold ones are not just the disciples."

His own boldness stemmed from relying on two pairs of Grade-3 boots that allowed him to tread the Cold Pool water as if on flat ground for a short time; these people were truly bold.

Especially Liang Liang Ashui, who was badly injured, yet still decisively jumped into the water with him.

"Far too bold!"

Yu Yu Xuanji's face was as calm as water; he paced along the shore, constantly rebuking them.

"Brother Liang, are you alright?"

Liang Liang Ashui took the Red Dragon fish he had thrown up. Liang Liang Ashui lay on the shore with difficulty, gasping for breath:

"N-no, I'm fine."

A single Red Dragon fish is worth at least a hundred taels of gold; that is enough to make a group of people risk their lives.

Yu Yu Xuanji shouted to stop others who still wanted to enter the water, standing guard by the shore with a solemn expression.

"This Fish King is likely very close to the Sea-Splitting Black Whale Hammer."

Relying on a subtle, faint connection, Liang Liang Ashui could sense that the Fish King had already plunged deep beneath the Cold Pool and was approaching the Sea-Splitting Black Whale Hammer.

Was it guarding the Black Whale Hammer?

Liang Liang Ashui pondered in his heart. At this moment, the ripples in the Cold Pool had just calmed, and yet there was still one bold disciple who had caught a slightly smaller Red Dragon fish.

The others did not catch a Red Dragon Fish, but they did catch many other spirit fish, and almost no one returned empty-handed.

"Senior Brother Li."

Liu Zheng and Wang Wang Peiyao hurried over then; as the servant disciples he brought to the Inner Island, both lived on Hammer Soldier Mountain.

Li Yuan looked at the inner sect disciple who had caught the Red Dragon Fish and was cheering; Liu Zheng understood the hint and quickly stepped up to him.

Li Yuan handed the Red Dragon Fish that Liang Liang Ashui had caught to Wang Wang Peiyao; the latter looked resistant, for she truly dared not touch that sticky, wet, snake-like fish.

"Huff!"

At this moment, Liang Liang Ashui had also recovered after taking the pill; looking at the gradually calming cold pool, he felt instant regret in his heart.

So many fish; if he had not been severely injured, he could have caught some, for spirit fish are all silver.

"That Fish King..."

He instinctively glanced at Li Yuan; the two exchanged a look and shook their heads in unison.

Even a bed crossbow could withstand the Red Dragon Fish King; unless it came ashore, the entire Divine Weapon Valley probably had no one capable of catching it.

"These three Red Dragon Fish combined weigh at least four hundred jin; forging three pieces of Red Dragon Fish skin armor should be no problem. Pity, there is no incense..."

Looking at the Red Dragon Fish flopping on the shore, Li Yuan nodded inwardly; although the situation was sudden, fortunately, his reaction was very fast.

The one he caught weighed fully one hundred thirty or forty jin; its scales were crimson, with a bulge on its head, seeming better than any he had seen before.

"Perhaps its bloodline is purer?"

Having eaten hundreds of jin of Red Dragon Fish meat for nothing, Li Yuan could vaguely distinguish the quality grades of Red Dragon Fish.

"If I could forge a piece..."

"... of fish skin armor of the Supreme Grade Famous Artifact tier..."

Li Yuan's heart stirred greatly.

If he could master and control six pieces of fish skin armor, he would have even more confidence in charging the Red Fusion Earth Realm.

"Where is the Red Dragon Fish King?!"

At this moment, Lei Lei Jingchuan finally hurried over; looking at the calm cold pool, he hated it so much he slapped his thigh.

It was not only Han Han Chuijun and Jing Jing Shuhu who coveted this fish; he had coveted it for many years as well...

Boom!

Spring thunder exploded; raindrops fell like threads, piercing the night curtain and plunging into distant mountains and wilderness.

In Yunjing Commandery City, on the city wall, squads of soldiers patrolled the ramparts.

At the city tower, wisps of cooking smoke rose; wine was warming on a red clay stove, and in the night rain, Shi Hong drank alone.

"The wine has no wine taste, the meat has no meat taste..."

Setting down the wine cup, Shi Hong's tightly clenched five fingers turned white; looking at the rain falling like a curtain, his eyes were unwilling.

It had been no more than half a year; he had followed the army on a long expedition for thousands of li, returning from near death several times, yet had he subtly become a lone man?

"A true transmission first of the Divine Weapon Valley, the current Young Valley Master, and yet no one to accompany him even for a small drink; pitiable, truly pitiable!"

Moving with the wind and rain, a gray-robed knife-wielder wearing a bamboo hat appeared at the city tower.

Crack!

The wine cup shattered into powder; Shi Hong held the long knife in his hand, his expression cold: "Yuan Brother Qiao, do you wish to die?"

"No."

The gray-robed knife-wielder walked into the city tower:

"My Helmsman heard the Young Valley Master has returned; he is delighted in his heart and has specially ordered me, Yuan, to come and invite..."

"Su Su Wanxiong!"

Shi Hong's eyes grew cold; the long knife in his palm emitted a cold gleam, and he was almost about to strike it out:

"Yuan Brother Qiao, joining the Xieshen Sect, you still dare to appear before me?!"

"Half a year ago, Yuan naturally would not have had that courage, but now..."

Yuan Brother Qiao smiled and took a letter from his chest:

"This is a piece of intelligence my Helmsman bought at great cost from Yunshu Tower; Young Valley Master, might you care to take a look?"

"Yunshu Tower?"

A flash of knife light sliced through the letter; Shi Hong's face grew even more ugly.

"The aptitude of a Divine Artisan!"

Yuan Brother Qiao poured wine for him: "Yuan recalls that in the seven hundred years of the Divine Weapon Valley, there were only two or three with the aptitude of a Divine Artisan?

The previous one seemed to be Jing Jing Shuhu, who nearly snatched your master's position as Young Valley Master?"

Shi Hong held the wine cup, saying not a word.

"Valley Master Master Gongyang possesses the Great Dragon Form Bone Structure, with peerless talent, yet he is thus; Young Valley Master..."

Hiss!

A flash of knife light sliced through the bamboo hat; Shi Hong's expression was indifferent:

"The friendship between us ends here; next time we meet, I will surely kill you!"

"The Young Valley Master's heart is truly full of sincerity, visible to the sun and moon; pity only..."

The bamboo hat cracked; Yuan Brother Qiao's expression remained normal; he drained the wine in his cup and rose to his full height:

"My Helmsman wants me to tell you that the Bai Shen Fa he gave you back then was the Zheng Fa."