Chapter 296: Harvest and Preparation

The banquet was extremely harmonious.

The host, Nie Xianshan, smiled in welcome, and the Four Divine Smiths were also quite humble and gentle.

At the table, the Four Divine Smiths exchanged insights on forging weapons; Nie Xianshan would smile occasionally, or ask questions, and when someone asked about cultivation insights, he would also lecture a little.

Li Yuan and Brother Qiao Tianhe did not participate, exchanging words quietly while burying their heads in their food.

For Li Yuan, being able to participate in weapon forging was already enough; the forging of a divine weapon takes at least a year or two of effort, and he had plenty of time to learn by stealth... ahem, to exchange insights.

"Come, Brother Nie, drink this cup to the bottom."

Jiang Xie, though a woman, was extremely bold; a wine jar the size of a human head was like a teacup in her hands. She downed half a jar in one gulp, causing Nie Xianshan to feel somewhat drunk from the clinking.

The other Divine Smiths were even closer to collapsing halfway through.

Daoist Li saw the situation was unfavorable and decisively took his leave; even so, he was dragged into drinking a whole jar. Brother Qiao Tianhe fared worse, collapsing completely under the table and being carried away to his quarters.

"Hah!"

Stepping out of the Jingtao Hall, the moonlight was intense; Nie Ying held a whisk, the night wind blowing her Taoist robe, giving her a somewhat dashing and free-spirited air.

"Senior Sister."

Li Yuan let out a burp and bowed with clasped hands to greet her.

This eldest senior sister of the Hu Gate ranked second only to Long Long Xinglie on the Tiger List, and was one of the few closest to breaking through to the Xiangju Sect master level within the Dragon-Tiger Temple; it was said she had been preparing for the breakthrough five years ago.

"My father has a deep obsession with divine weapons."

Nie Ying sighed lightly; she also could not understand why, given her father's talent in Wu Gong, he could not gain the recognition of a divine weapon.

"My Shushu also looks down on ordinary divine weapons."

Li Yuan let out a long breath; the wine effect had already dissipated by more than half.

"You should call him Shibo."

Nie Ying corrected.

Li Yuan smiled bitterly and said nothing.

"Oh, is this Elder Long's idea?"

Nie Ying did not care too much; she had no interest in the entanglements of elders.

After chatting for a few moments, she asked about the 'Jingtao Zhang Fa Body Diagram'.

"Replying to Senior Sister, this junior brother has some insights, but it should still require some time to comprehend."

Li Yuan left room in his words.

Although he had not yet mastered that Jingtao Zhang Fa Body Diagram, with his current talent, he had gained many realizations; yet, vaguely, he felt that within that Pure Yang Finger Technique, there seemed to be something else hidden.

After pondering slightly, Nie Ying said, "How about you make a Ta Yin copy?"

"Better not."

Li Yuan felt no urge at all; a Ta Yin copy of the fundamental diagram held no value for mastery, and it was better than him traveling back and forth here to observe at close range.

"Hmm, no rush."

Nie Ying did not say much more.

Li Yuan bowed and took his leave.

Not long after he left, the banquet also ended; the Four Divine Smiths carried away three of them, and Wan Chuan, without exception, was drunk by Jiang Xie, while the latter left on her own like nothing had happened, returning to her quarters.

"Is there any result?"

Nie Xianshan appeared silently before the waterfall; Nie Ying bowed to greet him and replied:

"I have met one by one all the new disciples who entered within the last three years, as well as the inner and outer sect disciples who have been to Huizhou, except for those not in the sect..."

Nie Ying lowered her voice and transmitted her thoughts: "Among these disciples, there are indeed several with good talent, but that 'Li Li Yuanba' should not be among them; it is also possible he has some other hidden method."

Nie Xianshan stroked his long beard and asked, "What about Li Yuan?"

"Junior Brother Li? His talent is supreme, should not be inferior to Junior Brother Long, so it is not impossible..."

Nie Ying shook her head.

The Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing is no ordinary weapon; it can change size at will and transform between void and reality. If it truly recognizes a master and is deliberately hidden, even a Land Immortal would find it hard to locate, let alone her?

She could only calculate based on bone structure, after all, the threshold for the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing to recognize a master is very high, requiring extremely good bone structure.

"He indeed has the possibility."

Nie Xianshan yawned, turned around, and went back to his room.

More than a month ago, he had vaguely sensed something was wrong; now, the more he pondered, the more he felt he might have been tricked by those two old fellows.

Nothing else, that Li kid's talent far exceeded his previous expectations.

Supreme talent, joined the sect not long ago, Liu Liu Jingshan in hammer techniques, from Huizhou, true transmission of the Divine Weapon Valley.

"The path of a genius is far easier to walk than that of an ordinary person."

Moving swiftly through the night wind, Li Yuan's long sleeves fluttered; looking back at the Jingtao Hall, his heart was crystal clear.

He knew very well that there were certainly not a few people inside and outside the sect who suspected he was 'Li Li Yuanba'; if he had not displayed his talent and been valued by the sect's high leadership, his situation now would likely be entirely different.

"Hmm, quite good."

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Li Li Daoye, having lived two lives, knew too well how immense an opportunity it was that effort led to progress; thus, even though he himself was not a particularly diligent person, over these years of learning martial arts, he could still be called hardworking and assiduous.

He stood for an entire night.

At dawn, Li Yuan washed up, returned to his room for a short nap, and woke up right on time as the sky began to lighten.

"Didn't come again?"

Li Yuan felt slightly disappointed in his heart; for over a month now, those two Divine Realm masters had not appeared.

"They even left me time to digest it; truly considerate."

Li Yuan muttered these complaints in his heart, did not get up, lay back down, closed his eyes slightly, and entered the Weapon-Commanding Space.

Within the star map formed by the Weapon-Commanding, seven great stars shone brilliantly; the most radiant was naturally the Sea-Splitting Black Whale Hammer amidst the interwoven black light.

"That Hammer Spirit's temperament still needs tempering; there is no rush to communicate for now."

After taking command of the Black Whale Hammer, Li Yuan had hardly communicated with that Hammer Spirit; mostly, those with incomplete intelligence are very stubborn, and if not tempered properly in one go, communication becomes too painful.

He wanted to be a Weapon Master, not a Weapon Slave.

"Should be about right in a few more months?"

Li Yuan turned these thoughts over and looked at the Thousand Spirits Human-Counting Stele; his hope for those two Divine Realm masters was naturally to borrow their hands to kill the 'God' within it.

Two months ago, he had been very urgent, especially after the Dao Master returned to the mountain; he had even been prepared to abandon the eighth-rank incense within the stele and expose Chu Shan Xuan Kong's collusion with the Xieshen Sect.

But gradually, he discovered that the sect had not pursued the matter of Chu Shan Xuan Kong's death further, so he felt relieved for the time being.

He guessed that the few people who were captured must have confessed something.

"Huff!"

In the blink of an eye, Li Yuan had entered the Black Whale Mi Jing.

At the peak of the Upside-Down Mountain, the breeze blew gently; Li Yuan placed his hand on the stone stele, upon which a Sea-Splitting Black Whale diagram, several times larger than before and already quite intricate,

slowly unfurled under his gaze.

The sky, the sea of clouds, the earth, the Upside-Down Mountain, the Black Whale...

Within this extremely intricate scroll, the various scenes were vivid and lifelike, entirely formed from true qi, sketched by Li Yuan based on the glimpse he had seen while commanding the Black Whale Hammer.

It was far richer than the original picture on the stone stele.

"Setting aside other things, my mastery of true qi manifestation has reached a considerable level; at the very least, Old Han back then was not as good as me."

Surveying the scroll he had sketched, Li Yuan was very satisfied, feeling the pleasure of splashing ink to create a painting, turning a tangled mess into a masterpiece of the ages.

Not to mention, this painting itself represented the growth of his spiritual power and his mastery of true qi manifestation.

"My preparations are sufficient enough; once Shen Shen Wuming's spiritual pill arrives, I can begin the attempt: transforming the Thunder Dragon into a Black Whale!"

Li Yuan murmured to himself, somewhat expectant: "Using the Thunder Dragon as the spine, using a hundred beasts as flesh, blood, bones, and sinews; while sketching the Black Whale, I must also retain the essence of the Thunder Dragon... keeping a hidden hand is never wrong."

Releasing the stone stele and letting the Black Whale diagram dissipate, Li Yuan sat cross-legged, sorting through his deductions again and again, pondering the problems he might encounter.

He divided the realization of the Black Whale diagram into several steps; the most critical was visualization, followed by the meridians, or perhaps both were equally important.

Any supreme divine art must touch upon the 'Essence, Qi, Spirit' three elements merging into one; the meridians are the key to connecting the body and the spirit; if this step goes wrong, it could leave oneself with an irreparable 'deadly point'.

Li Yuan had read countless similar records in the Library Tower, so naturally he took them as a warning.

"The Black Whale diagram is mostly clear; as for 'Sea-Splitting', this relates to the form of heaven and earth, so for now I can only set it aside..."

After a long while, Li Yuan slowly opened his eyes: "Creating a martial art is not easy."

Regarding the creation of a martial art, he was very cautious and had prepared for a long time.

"Sea-Splitting Black Whale."

Li Yuan stood up and gently stroked the stone stele at the peak; after he took command of it, the Black Whale Hammer Spirit naturally could not communicate with him.

At the peak, Li Yuan paced, looking around this Black Whale Mi Jing.

"The Black Whale Mi Jing is roughly only half the size of the Health-Nurturing Mi Jing; this should be due to no one providing nourishment; as long as one knows how to nourish this Mi Jing, it might recover very quickly."

Regarding the Black Whale Mi Jing, Li Yuan had quite a few ideas and expectations.

In his past life, when he ran a small supermarket at home, he would plant something in the backyard, even if it was just a bunch of garlic sprouts or a bunch of green onions; this Mi Jing is so large, it really bothered him that he couldn't farm here.

Alas, information regarding incense is top secret even at the Dragon-Tiger Temple; at the very least, it is not something an inner disciple can access.

"Inner disciple, true transmission... perhaps I can try to challenge the Dragon-Tiger Tower."

Turning these thoughts over, Li Yuan arrived behind the Upside-Down Mountain, before that magnificent and desolate palace complex; in these days, he had come here often to circle around, memorizing every single character he could see and copying them out.

However, he could not find any script similar to these in the Library Tower; it was as if these characters came from another planet.

"Sea-Splitting Star Core, Sea-Splitting Star..."

After indulging in wild thoughts for a long time, which was Li Yuan's way of relaxing his mind, before leaving the Black Whale Mi Jing, he summoned the Ghost-Faced Man.

Both being at the Meridian-Piercing stage, back then the Ghost-Faced Man could not withstand a single move from him, but now, without the enhancement of the Weapon Commanding Talisman, he could fight a hundred moves and emerge victorious.

"Even Old Han can't beat me anymore."

The gentle breeze blew at the peak; watching the Ghost-Faced Man dissipate, Li Yuan bowed deeply, and only then exited the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Mi Jing.

Whoosh, whoosh~

Within the Hundred Beasts Mountain, the wind was fierce and vicious, sometimes blowing in a patch of miasma.

Li Yuan spoke with Zhang Adà, took on a task, and entered the Hundred Beasts Mountain.

"In the Northern Forest, a spirit leopard is pregnant and needs feeding... Hmm, is this my first mission after joining the Ru Sect?"

Moving through the mountains and forests, Li Yuan's movements were light and casual; with his current lightness skill, he could move freely even with his eyes closed, avoiding every branch.

Here, he could truly keep his feet off the ground.

Soon, Li Yuan had reached the cliff face mentioned by the owner of the Bronze Tower and entered the vine-covered cave, where he truly found an abandoned alchemy furnace.

No one knew who had carved this cave; it was filled with dust and mostly collapsed.

"Violent Qi Pill."

Li Yuan overturned the furnace, took out the dull gray pill, and frowned tightly:

"Can this thing even be eaten?"

He blew on it again and again, yet Li Yuan still couldn't smell a trace of medicinal fragrance. Although he had never heard of an optimal time to take a spirit pill, seeing the dust piled high on the ground, he couldn't help but suspect this spirit pill had expired.

"Violent Qi Pill, high-grade spirit pill. Consuming one can increase true qi by five years and has the effects of purifying blood and qi, stimulating the bone marrow, and accelerating blood replacement..."

This spirit pill was of great value; even a master who had succeeded in refining the internal organs would waste it by taking it. Li Yuan thought for a moment and then put it away.

Whether it can be eaten or not, he would try the medicine first.

Li Yuan wandered around the cave and did find some medicine gourds, but the smell inside was pungent; they were definitely inedible.

"Saying 'one' and meaning exactly 'one' is truly rigorous."

Li Yuan muttered inwardly without much disappointment; he took out the 'Sound-Listening Ledger' from his robe and flipped through the intelligence entries marked in red.

At the same time, he was also taking stock of his assets.

With thirty thousand taels of gold in his possession and his current status and rank, there was almost no shortage of ordinary pills; he could even take the Spirit-Conserving Minor Return Pill every day.

But as for spirit pills, apart from the Violent Qi Pill he had just obtained, only one Dragon-Transformation Pill remained.

Li Yuan flipped through the Sound-Listening Ledger.

It recorded the gains from his 'Sound-Listening' over this period; most were related to spirit herbs in the Hundred Beasts Mountain, while a few concerned spirit beasts.

"After accumulating for so long, I should at least be able to refine a few batches of spirit pills, right?"