Chapter 206: Star-Picking Tower Outpost

Wang Wen Yuan was very certain.

The letter ran to several thousand words, mostly detailing Long Xi Xiang's temperament and an analysis of the man himself.

It was clear he knew Long Xi Xiang very well.

"My recommendation can only ensure you will definitely meet Long Xi Xiang, but whether you catch his eye and can learn the Dragon-Tiger Hun Tian Hammer depends entirely on your own ability."

"You once asked me how to resolve the calamity of the Divine Weapon Valley; if you can enter Long Xi Xiang's gate, everything will be solved effortlessly."

In the private room, Li Yuan held the letter, pondering it word by word, committing it to memory.

He truly felt the looseness of the Star-Picking Tower.

Assassins of the Tian character rank and above had the right to recommend True Seeds; one person could recommend ten, but the treatment of the recommended depended entirely on the recommender's connections.

Wang Wen Yuan provided a path to contact and learn the Dragon-Tiger Hun Tian Hammer, but it was merely a path.

"No wonder the paper listed dozens, even hundreds, of supreme arts and divine skills..."

Li Yuan shook his head inwardly, yet he was not particularly disappointed.

He had truly tasted the bitterness of learning a craft; a single White Ape Cloak Hammer took a normal apprentice twenty years to learn fully, let alone a supreme art?

The Divine Weapon Valley had transmitted its legacy for over a thousand years, yet it possessed only one complete supreme art within its ranks, and only the valley masters of each generation could receive it.

Having a path to contact and learn a supreme art was already enough to satisfy him in his heart, let alone the fact it could also resolve the plight of the Divine Weapon Valley.

It was just...

"This Master Fulong Zen Master is not easy to deal with."

Li Yuan looked at the letter, feeling a slight headache.

Long Xi Xiang, known in the Jianghu as the Master Fulong Zen Master, had made a name for himself throughout the world in his youth; had he not suffered heavy injuries in his early years, he would have been an unparalleled figure with the potential to become a Earthly Immortal.

Wang Wen Yuan wrote at great length not only because he knew Long Xi Xiang very well, but also to show that catching his eye was difficult, extremely difficult.

"Body Transformation, Meridian Opening, Organ Refining, Marrow Refining, Yin and Yang..."

Li Yuan murmured to himself.

The month he spent in Gao Liu County was not in vain; after asking repeatedly, Wang Lao had taught him some things.

In the martial arts, reaching Body Transformation meant entering the hall and room; reaching Marrow Refining meant one could be considered a top expert in a province or a Dao, yet they were merely a Zhun Sect master.

"The body is Yang, the spirit is Yin; only when Yin and Yang converge is one called a Sect Master."

Li Yuan felt a flutter in his heart, along with some longing.

In legend, a Sect Master with converging Yin and Yang possessed true qi that was endlessly generated and never extinguished; it could shine even years after leaving the body and could kill from a hundred li away.

This was a realm he could not yet imagine.

At the end of the letter, Wang Wen Yuan's tone remained very certain: "Long Xi Xiang has long understood Yin and Yang; his true qi merges with heaven and earth, and even years after leaving the body, its radiance does not diminish..."

"If he wishes to see you, he will likely send out a wisp of true qi to follow the Dragon-Tiger Temple disciples; if you do not catch his eye, you will hardly see him..."

"True qi taking form?"

Li Yuan thought again of the Split-Sea Black Whale Hammer.

The true qi of this Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing could transform into a Mi Jing that was half-void and half-real, and could even manifest experts who had entered and left the Mi Jing over the past thousand years.

This realm was far, far higher than that of a Sect Master.

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"Supreme Art level hammer technique."

Li Yuan pondered inwardly: "According to Old Master Wang's guess, if Long Xi Xiang comes with the Dragon-Tiger Temple disciples..."

This letter from Wang Wen Yuan was very important.

Being observed in the dark versus knowing someone is observing you in the dark is completely the difference between an open-book and a closed-book exam.

Let alone the fact that the letter also detailed an analysis of Long Xi Xiang's personality.

"Hmm, how to cater to his tastes? According to the letter, this Master Fulong Zen Master is skilled in a hundred weapons, so..."

Li Yuan stroked his chin; this was quite a coincidence, as he too was skilled in a hundred weapons.

"Hmm, I must ponder this carefully."

Having formed a plan in his heart, the waiter had also brought the food and dishes to the table; Li Yuan's appetite opened wide, and he swept everything away like a wind rolling up clouds.

After Body Transformation, his food consumption had surged several times; although not as much as Master Master Baili, it far exceeded Fang Bao Luo's.

After finishing the meal, Li Yuan took out the letter again and flipped through it several times before heading out.

As dusk approached, Dechang Fucheng was still extremely lively, and many shops along the street had already lit their candle flames.

Li Yuan wandered around, casually bought a few tiered items, and during his stroll, he went to the temples in the city.

Since the Divine Fire Combined Weapon Furnace opened, he searched for nearby temples wherever he went; when he returned to Gao Liu, he had bought the incense burners from those few temples.

Dechang Fucheng was not as large as Zhelong Fucheng, yet there were even more temples, and the incense at the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple remained the most vigorous.

"The Xieshen Sect is truly everywhere."

Walking out of the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple, Li Yuan's gaze grew slightly cold; this statue of the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva was surrounded by blood light.

Those temple attendants carried no weapons, but he estimated that among them were likely people of the Xieshen Sect.

"When the Divine Weapon Valley opens its gates again, this Dechang Fucheng will have to be cleansed once more."

As night was about to fall, Li Yuan returned to the Divine Guard Army base; before he could return to his courtyard, Liu Zheng and Wang Wang Peiyao also returned one after another.

"The pills in Dechang Fucheng are two or three tenths more expensive than in Zhelong Fucheng."

Liu Zheng felt a sting in his heart; he had come back empty-handed, and with such a huge price difference, he truly did not dare to make a move.

"That expensive?"

Li Yuan frowned as he accepted the silver note.

Pills were already extremely expensive; being two or three tenths more expensive made him feel a sting in his heart as well.

"Before and after the fall of Qianjun Cave, prices in Dechang Prefecture skyrocketed—and they never came down."

Wang Wang Peiyao held up six pairs of shoes: "Still, Dechang Prefecture has many spirit beasts, so these boots are much cheaper."

One pair is second-tier, five pairs are first-tier.

Li Yuan felt a faint surge of delight.

Along this journey, he'd visited several temples and accumulated some incense offerings; he now had enough to buy one more pair of third-tier boots.

"Tomorrow, I'll go check the apothecary."

Li Yuan took the remaining silver and returned inside.

"Squeak!"

The little rat poked its head out from under the bed; this little creature was used to hardship and showed no discomfort in a new place.

Li Yuan's sharp eyes spotted at least a dozen rats huddled beneath the bed.

"Don't bring rats onto my bed."

Li Yuan warned him—if he didn't keep an eye on it, one day he might wake up to find himself lying in a sea of rats.

"Squeak!"

Clutching the Blood-Enriching Pill Li Yuan had fed him, the little rat darted away in a flash.

"Huh!"

After stowing the boots, Li Yuan took out the letter, flipped through it for a while, then resumed his Bone-Refining practice as unshakably as ever.

When the night grew deep, Li Yuan finally slowed his movements.

He pushed open the window; the night was dark, no moon in sight, and seemed somewhat gloomy.

"Linghu Baiman..."

Li Yuan thought for a moment, changed into a plain, coarse hemp robe of common design, then put on the human-skin mask and the ghost mask.

Only then did he open the door and stride out quickly.

In the night, many courtyards in the Divine Weapon Valley's encampment glowed with lantern light, and patrols of disciples were numerous.

Li Yuan vanished into the darkness; after his transformation, his lightness skill had greatly improved, and with the two pairs of third-tier boots enhancing him, his speed increased further.

Soon, he had left the Divine Weapon Valley encampment.

The Star-Plucking Tower had no branches, but every prefecture had temporary outposts; during his daytime strolls, Li Yuan had spotted the Star-Plucking Tower's insignia.

Soon, he arrived at a residence in Chengnan.

The small courtyard was secluded, with two courtyards front and back, and only two rooms lit by lamps.

"Quite discreet."

Li Yuan tapped lightly on the door—once long, twice short, varying in pressure—and repeated it several times. The door opened, revealing an elderly man trembling with age.

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"Cough, cough, follow me."

The old man glanced at Li Yuan, then turned toward the dark room on the left, skillfully twisting a mechanism.

With a series of "click-click" sounds, a deep tunnel appeared behind one wall inside the room.

"Not much different from the one in Zhelong Prefecture."

Li Yuan followed the old man into the tunnel, winding through twists and turns until they reached a spacious cavern.

On the open space, roughly ten zhang long and wide, stood several stone steles, each three zhang tall, covered densely with characters.

Seven or eight masked assassins stood nearby.

Li Yuan drew closer and realized this place resembled the Zhelong Prefecture outpost: the same steles, the same labyrinthine tunnels, the same cavern tavern.

"I wonder if they have Monkey Wine."

Li Yuan glanced at the tavern, which seemed crowded, then his gaze settled on the steles.

From bottom to top, many familiar names appeared: Bawangli, Fang Fang Bao Luo, Shi Hong, Qiu Qiu Changying...

The Divine Weapon Valley's true disciples, elite inner sect members, and elders all appeared on the list, prominently displayed with high bounties.

"My bounty is this high?"

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes—he discovered his bounty was even higher than Bawangli and the other true disciples, nearly matching Jing Jing Shuhu and Lei Lei Jingchuan.

At first glance, his bounty was enormous, yet his Wu Gong level was the lowest—clearly the most profitable target.

No wonder Linghu Baiman had delivered the letter so furtively; he clearly wanted to pocket some extra cash.

"Qianjun Cave is already destroyed—why is someone raising the bounty?"

Li Yuan scanned upward; Han Han Chuijun's name appeared near the top, right after and before Gong Gong Yangyu, both written in red, strikingly visible.

But the highest was not them—it was...

"Suspected Master of Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing: Li Li Yuanba!"

"According to intelligence from the Xieshen Sect's main headquarters, this individual is suspected of gaining Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing's recognition..."

"Li Li Yuanba may be a false name; he is likely a native of Zhelong Prefecture, suspected of originating from the Divine Weapon Valley, and rumored to have once been an assassin of our Star-Plucking Tower..."

Li Li Yuanba's bounty sat at the very top, the characters glowing crimson as blood, enlarged for all to see clearly upon raising their eyes.

"They even know I was once a Star-Plucking Tower assassin? How did they figure that out?"

Li Yuan muttered inwardly; after a few glances, he felt slightly relieved—the bounty notice was long, but every line used words like "suspected" and "alleged."

"Suspected to be Shi Hong, the young master of the Divine Weapon Valley..."

Li Yuan felt a strange unease, but after thinking it over, he found it made sense.

As the Divine Weapon Valley's publicly acknowledged most gifted young master, he was among the first to enter the Cold Pond tunnel after Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing's emergence—and never appeared again.

From any angle, it was highly suspicious.

"This is truly..."

Li Yuan continued reading; the bounty on Li Li Yuanba was extremely high.

"Whoever discovers this person's whereabouts, once confirmed, may receive a bounty of... one hundred taels of refined gold, ten thousand taels of yellow gold, ten bottles of Spirit-Preserving Minor Return Pills, ten Dragon-Tiger Minor Return Pills, one Dragon-Tiger Major Return Pill..."

Gold and silver, pills, weapons, Wu Gong.

Li Li Yuanba's bounty was high and complex; at a glance one could tell this wasn't just one party posting it, and it wasn't an assassination mission.

"This is quite a good deal."

Even Li Yuan was somewhat tempted.