Chapter 294: Wan Chuan's Shock

Are there really so many treasures in Hundred Beasts Mountain?

Li Yuan memorized this, planning to thoroughly explore the mountain later, but he did not forget the main matter; he cleared his throat lightly, clasped his hands, and asked:

"Senior, this junior has some doubts."

The reply from the stone stele came very quickly:

"Twelve questions."

Li Yuan was slightly stunned before realizing: this was a clear price tag.

"Who is this Long Long Daozhu?"

Li Yuan asked the key point.

Regarding the identity of this Long Long Daozhu, he was truly curious to the extreme, and had some guesses in his heart.

Experts wielding blades are as numerous as carp crossing a river, but above the Grandmaster realm there are not many; if pushed to the Shenbangda Sect Grandmaster level, there are only three or two people at most.

But he had never fought a Grandmaster-level expert, so he truly could not distinguish whether every Grandmaster was this overwhelmingly powerful.

Thus, he could not judge.

Hoo~

A gentle breeze blew.

Li Yuan waited quite a while before characters finally floated above the stone stele:

?

"Next."

"?"

Not answering yet occupying a question slot?

Li Yuan inwardly criticized; he subconsciously wanted to argue, but the thought turned once and was dispelled; the initiative for the answer did not lie with him, so arguing was meaningless.

At the same time, he also extinguished the thought of asking about this person's identity.

This attitude of the Bronze Tower Master clearly showed he did not wish to reveal his identity.

"Hmm..."

Li Yuan pondered for a moment and asked:

"What is incense?"

Incense?

The white-robed woman atop the bronze tower frowned slightly, and characters floated onto the stone stele:

"Where the human heart turns."

"???"

Playing games with vague stuff, right?

Daoist Li's heart immediately felt disgusted; he had always deeply detested such mysterious and obscure explanations.

As if sensing his resentment, the stone stele floated out supplementary text:

"Taking 'God' as the root, taking burning incense and sacrifices as the basis and ritual, the faith, will, and wishes of believers gathered together—that is incense and vow power."

"Burning incense itself also counts as a ritual?"

With this explanation, Li Yuan understood slightly; after all, he counted as half a Daoist Priest and had also performed the Heaven Grant Talisman ritual.

"How is incense used?"

This was the doubt that had long lingered in Li Yuan's heart.

"Through specific rituals, incense can temper weapons and armor, refine pills, heal wounds, extend life, curse others... its effects vary depending on the ritual."

A universal remedy?

Li Yuan's heart stirred slightly; this matched some obscure records he had seen in some books in the library; he pressed on: "How is it used?"

"... Next."

The stone stele trembled slightly, perhaps considering Li Yuan's feelings, and added:

"Draw this blade, and this doubt will be resolved."

"..."

Drawing a pie in the air?

Li Yuan was speechless in his heart; he felt this Bronze Tower Master must hold a high position, otherwise he would not possess such skilled pie-drawing techniques.

Changing his thoughts, Li Yuan asked questions in succession; he discovered that questions involving secrets, or regarding the Bronze Tower Master's identity, would be ignored.

Conversely, for cultivation questions regarding Grandmasters and below concerning various Wu Gong and realms, there was no avoidance; so he simply focused on these, asking about precautions needed for blood replacement and Grandmaster breakthroughs.

These two realms are universally recognized as the most dangerous and most difficult hurdles; especially the Grandmaster realm, which has blocked too many brilliant geniuses.

"Refining marrow and replacing blood are originally one."

Hmm, marrow creates blood.

Li Yuan indicated understanding.

"For the blood replacement hurdle: first, one needs a powerful physique; cultivating one supreme martial art of body-hardening is sufficient; second, one needs spiritual pills—pills to strengthen bones, nourish blood, transform tendons, protect organs, and so on—the more the better."

Characters on the stone stele scrolled out like a waterfall; compared to the previous vague wording, this was far more detailed:

"Blood replacement requires one hundred days of quiet rest; one must seek the safest and most secure place; and after blood replacement, one needs a large quantity of pills and spiritual pills to replenish; otherwise, it will damage one's qi and blood and spirit..."

Body-hardening supreme martial art, satisfied; physique sufficient.

Only spiritual pills are missing...

Li Yuan calculated in his heart; after asking several questions, he felt he had no doubts about this hurdle, so he asked about the Grandmaster hurdle.

"From blood replacement to entering the Yin-Yang Dao, there are four steps: spirit-soul leaving the body, kneading qi-blood and true qi, merging form and transforming the body, and uniting body and spirit."

"These four steps respectively require the following spiritual pills, spiritual incense, and..."

……

"Spirit Pills, ah, Spirit Pills."

Carrying a thirst for Spirit Pills, Li Yuan fell into a deep slumber.

After that day, he returned to normal, and those two Sovereigns of the Divine Realms did not come to disturb him again.

Without Spirit Pills, Li Yuan could clearly perceive his progress slowing down, even with large quantities of ordinary pills and medicinal baths nourishing him.

He tried to purchase Spirit Pills, but aside from Wang Shan Xuan Ying, there were no other channels; the inner disciples of Dragon and Tiger were all worth a fortune, and even those from humble origins lacked no great power willing to sponsor them.

Naturally, he could not buy a share of Spirit Pills.

The only channel to acquire them was to forge supreme-grade Famous Weapons, but for weapons of this tier, even if he cast aside all trivial matters and hammered away with his head down, he could only produce one or two a month, let alone that he still had to practice Wu Gong.

Helpless, Li Yuan could only pay attention while diligently hammering iron.

Every day before dawn, he would get up, stand in stance for several hours first, then rush non-stop to the forge to hammer iron, practice Wu Gong in the afternoon, and read books at night, preparing for the final preparations to comprehend the Black Whale Diagram.

Li Yuan, having returned to a dull and regular life, immersed himself in it.

Without noticing, the New Year had already arrived.

……

……

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

As the New Year approached, Mount Hengshan City was quite lively; every household hung lanterns and decorations, and firecrackers could be heard ringing out from various places, clearly visible even outside the city walls.

"The common people of Mount Hengshan City are truly wealthy; it hasn't even turned night, yet they have already started setting off firecrackers."

On a carriage outside the city, Brother Qiao Tianhe lifted the curtain, looking at the towering mighty city so close at hand, and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration:

"This city is so huge!"

At this moment, the sun had just set, but outside Mount Hengshan City, pedestrians were as numerous as threads, carriages and horses were in a constant stream, and countless merchant ships were rushing to arrive before the spring thaw under the great bridge.

Brother Qiao Tianhe looked closely and discovered that everyone coming and going wore swords or knives; in just this short while, he actually saw several knives and swords that were clearly of the Famous Weapon tier.

He even spotted several renowned masters within the crowd.

"Master, I see Zhen Sanshan, Yu Changshan, the one who blocked the road asking for weapons earlier and whom you sent away, and also, and also..."

"So many masters! Look, isn't that knife a superior Famous Weapon?"

"The Great Martial Arts Tournament of the Paths is in two years; this is the greatest event in the Jianghu; is it not normal for masters to come here? What is there to be so alarmed about!"

Inside the carriage, a Spirit Incense burned; Wan Chuan, clad in a black robe, was stroking his forging hammer. Hearing the exclamation, he scolded:

"Go back and read!"

"Yes."

Brother Qiao Tianhe returned with a bitter face, flipping through books with a numb expression, and couldn't help but groan:

"Master, disciple has been reading the whole way; I truly cannot bear to look anymore."

"Then sit in meditation, move the blood and qi, and internal qi!"

Wan Chuan, hating iron for not becoming steel, pointed his finger almost at his face:

"Look at you; you are neither accomplished in literature nor in Wu Gong; it has been so long and you still haven't opened your meridians, how do you have the face to be so lazy?"

"..."

Brother Qiao Tianhe, having been spat upon, felt lifeless; on this journey, or rather, over this past year, the number of times he was scolded exceeded the previous ten-plus years.

All of this started when that letter containing intelligence on Li Yuan was delivered to his master's hands.

Knowing that Li Yuan had entered the Dragon and Tiger inner sect and risen to fame, once being called the 'Dragon and Tiger Rising Star', he was quite happy, not knowing that his nightmare had arrived with it.

"Two months from now, if you still cannot open your meridians, I will punish you by copying the Key Formulas for Forging Weapons three hundred times!"

Wan Chuan scolded mercilessly: "In the past, I was not strict enough, which is why I cultivated such a lazy nature in you!"

Brother Qiao Tianhe let the spit dry on his face but couldn't help muttering softly: "You just regret not taking Brother Li in..."

"What did you say?"

Wan Chuan slapped his shoulder, his old face turning somewhat red.

With this slap, Brother Qiao Tianhe also got angry, stiffening his neck and standing his ground: "You just regret not taking Brother Li into the sect!"

"You?!"

Wan Chuan was furious.

"I told you many times back then; you said Brother Li had too much artisan spirit, and although his talent was good, it was not enough for you to make an exception..."

"Enough!"

Wan Chuan's hands trembled slightly from anger, feeling as if a sword had pierced his heart.

He had friends everywhere and many sources of intelligence; more than a year ago, he had already received news of Li Yuan attending the Dragon and Tiger Banquet, and at that time, he could still view it calmly.

But later, as news arrived that Li Yuan had become a disciple under a Grandmaster, causing the Azure Dragon Shadow to appear and forging a supreme-grade Famous Weapon, he truly could not remain calm.

"What do you know?"

With a stifled heart, Wan Chuan still scolded:

"Although Li Yuan's talent is good, he is not material for forging weapons; do not look at the fact that he can now forge supreme-grade Famous Weapons, but his artisan spirit is too strong; let alone Divine Weapons, he cannot even forge Quasi-Divine Weapons!"

"Brother Li actually forged a supreme-grade Famous Weapon?"

Hearing this news, Brother Qiao Tianhe was extremely shocked.

He studied under a Divine Artisan for over ten years, and even now, he sometimes fails when forging Famous Weapons, estimating he needs another ten-plus years before he can attempt forging a supreme-grade Famous Weapon.

This...

"Do not be depressed."

For a moment, he let it slip. Seeing the disciple's face full of shock and astonishment, Wan Chuan feared he might be crushed by the blow and hurriedly offered comfort:

"Longhu Temple has no Divine Artisan; only two or three could be called Master Smiths. In a few years, when you inherit my mantle, your skill in forging weapons will surely surpass his."

"I..."

Brother Qiao Tianhe still felt dizzy, shaken by the revelation.

"Hmm?"

At that moment, Wan Chuan sensed something. The carriage stopped. He lifted the curtain, glanced once, and jumped down as if his backside were on fire.

"Master Nie!"

Wan Chuan straightened his robes and bowed deeply in greeting, feeling greatly honored.

Though he was a Divine Artisan, his normal dealings with Daoist Sects involved escorts who were merely Deputy Hall Masters, Hall Masters, or at most those few Deputy Sect Masters.

Where had there ever been the treatment of a Master coming out to welcome him from afar?

"Divine Artisan Wan has finally arrived."

At the city gate, Nie Xianshan smiled slightly. He did not mention how long he had waited, but simply clasped his hands in greeting:

"This poor Daoist has prepared a welcome banquet in the mountains. Would you care to step this way?"

"Wan is unworthy of such honor."

Wan Chuan dared not act arrogantly.

This was the second figure of Longhu Temple, a supreme Master ranked in the top five of the Hero List. Whether in status or Wu Gong, he was supreme under heaven.

Brother Qiao Tianhe also hurriedly bowed in greeting, feeling somewhat trembling and apprehensive.

The Seven Stars Palace dominates an entire province, yet only the Palace Master has comprehended Yin and Yang, and even his ranking on the Hero List is far inferior to the one before them.

This was a giant of the Jianghu with the potential to become a Mortal Immortal!

"Please."

Nie Xianshan, feeling he had observed all proprieties, smiled slightly and invited him onto the carriage.

Wan Chuan clasped his hands, boarded the carriage, and during the journey inquired about the divine weapon Nie Xianshan wished to forge, quietly examining the blueprints.

Brother Qiao Tianhe followed behind. This was his first time in Hengshan City; he had intended to explore thoroughly, but now he could only follow along to Longhu Temple.

The temple was like a city, built within the mountains.

This was Brother Qiao Tianhe's impression of Longhu Temple. All along the way, he gazed about in excitement, exclaiming repeatedly.

Wan Chuan, in the carriage ahead, frowned tightly. When they dismounted at the Inner Gate, he glared fiercely at him.

"Master Nie, where did you obtain the blueprint for this 'Pure Yang Dragon-Tiger Sword' you wish to forge?"

On the mountain path, Wan Chuan's expression grew somewhat Solemn.

"What is it?"

Nie Xianshan frowned slightly but answered: "Many years ago, this poor Daoist obtained it in a hidden place. Although no one before has forged it, following the clues in the blueprint, there should be no problem."

"A hidden place?"

Wan Chuan's brows knitted tightly: "This sword is truly, truly somewhat special. I fear I may not be able to undertake it..."

"No rush."

Nie Xianshan smiled slightly: "Let us go up the mountain first. This poor Daoist has invited a few old friends; Divine Artisan Wan may go meet them first."

Old friends?

He invited other Divine Artisans as well?

Wan Chuan's expression eased slightly. At that moment, he saw columns of smoke rising into the sky in the distance, and Brother Qiao Tianhe was also gazing into the distance.

Vaguely, one could see fireworks exploding halfway up the mountain, as if many people were hammering and forging iron.

"If I recall correctly, that is Pure Gang Peak?"

Wan Chuan withdrew his gaze.

Longhu Temple bears the title of the First Pill Sect, but it is not skilled in forging. While standard blades and some famous artifacts are naturally not lacking, there is no lineage of Divine Artisans.

"Indeed."

Seeing his thoughts, Nie Xianshan nodded inwardly and smiled: "Since it is on the way, why not take a look? I also ask Divine Artisan Wan not to hesitate to offer guidance."

"Where, where."

Wan Chuan felt somewhat overwhelmed by the honor; he truly did not expect such courtesy from this supreme Master.

"Brother Li should be there, right?"

Brother Qiao Tianhe muttered softly, having seen through his master's thoughts.

"Ahem, Li Yuan of your sect and I have met on a few occasions."

Wan Chuan felt slightly embarrassed; even a supreme Master could intercept sound transmission, let alone a soft mutter.

"Indeed, fated."

Nie Xianshan smiled.

The group walked toward Pure Gang Peak. Along the path stood a Dragon Stele by the mountain road. Wan Chuan instinctively stopped and searched for Li Yuan's name at the bottom of the stele.

"Senior Brother Li is only ranked thirty-first?"

Wan Chuan searched from the bottom, but Brother Qiao Tianhe let out an exclamation, as he was looking from the top down.

"What?"

Wan Chuan's pupils contracted. Seeing that familiar name, he felt his very eyes sting.

The Dragon List is unknown to outsiders, but how could he not understand what this list signifies?

Entering the sect one year ago, and at barely twenty years of age, reaching this rank...

"Ao!"

Suddenly, a clear and high-pitched dragon cry rose from the distance.

"Eh?"

Nie Xianshan raised an eyebrow and looked, seeing only that amidst the fireworks drifting from Pure Yang Peak, a deep blue dragon shadow leaped forth from within,

shooting straight up into the clouds.

"What is this?"

Wan Chuan also saw that sword-light in the shape of a dragon; as if realizing something, he pounded his chest, only then catching his breath:

"Quasi-Divine Weapon?!"