Chapter 321: A Mountain of Treasure

At the pavilion outside the mountain, Long Xi Xiang watched Li Yuan enter the mountain, quite curious what gains this trip might bring him.

"Outer armor first, inner armor second, hammer weapons third…"

Long Xi Xiang unconsciously yawned; he had not slept for many days and was truly drowsy, but after a slight adjustment of breath, he was full of vigor again.

"Martial Uncle!"

At this moment, a burly, rough-looking man strode over quickly, several disciples behind him carrying tea, wine, and various dried fruits and pastries.

Glancing at the man whose face was full of rueful sighs, Long Xi Xiang rubbed his chin: "And you are?"

"…Ah, me, Qing Song, Shan Qing Song."

The man gave a wry smile, cupped his fists in greeting and introduced himself: "My master is Cang Xian Zhi. This disciple now guards Shenbingtang. Do you still remember, Elder?"

"Oh."

Long Xi Xiang nodded, recalling a little: "Qing Song, I remember you had already undergone Blood Exchange forty years ago?"

"…This disciple is ashamed."

Shan Qing Song looked a bit sheepish, turned to take the tray, and poured tea for Long Xi Xiang:

"For forty years now, I've been diligent enough, but I'm still stuck at that final step of Body and Spirit Unity. I've made a laughingstock of myself before you, Martial Uncle."

"Only a little short."

Long Xi Xiang held his teacup. Body and Spirit Unity was the final step to penetrating Yin and Yang, and also the most dangerous step; the slightest mishap would at best cause Qi and Blood to decline, at worst cost one's life on the spot.

But among the more than a hundred thousand disciples of Dragon Tiger Temple, those who could reach this step were truly few and far between.

Those who dared to take that final step were even fewer.

"This little bit, I've been walking it for nearly twenty years now. Perhaps it's that as one ages, one's courage shrinks too, and gradually I don't dare to take it anymore."

Shan Qing Song sighed, not wanting to dwell on this sore subject, and changed the topic:

"Martial Uncle, you didn't even give us advance notice when you came. I was hoping to meet our little Martial Brother too."

"There's no harm in waiting to see him when he comes out."

Long Xi Xiang sipped his tea, then recalled something: "Over these years, how many Divine Weapons have been added or lost in the mountain?"

"This…"

Shan Qing Song scratched his head and turned to look at the two attending disciples:

"Your Martial Ancestor is asking you a question!"

"This…"

The two disciples wore bitter expressions. One of them quickly begged pardon, turned and left, and before long had dragged over an old man with a woebegone look.

"Reporting to Martial Ancestor."

The old man looked old, but in truth merely had an aged appearance. He cupped his fists in some trepidation to pay his respects, and only answered upon hearing the question:

"In forty years, the mountain has lost four Divine Weapons. The last one was taken by Junior Brother Long — it was the Black Jade Qianshan Qilin Armor. Seven have been added. The newest is the Flesh and Blood Four Vajras Dharma Armor…"

He knew the mountain's Divine Weapons by heart, managing their entry and exit from the vault:

"Currently, the mountain holds a total of twenty-three Divine Weapons, sixteen Superior Divine Weapons, four Supreme Divine Weapons, and twenty-three Damaged Weapons. Of these, blades account for nine-tenths, armor for one-tenth…"

"Hmm?"

Long Xi Xiang frowned slightly. The old man flinched instinctively, nearly dropping to his knees, only to realize this Martial Ancestor was not targeting him but looking at someone approaching not far away.

"Junior Brother Xin?"

Shan Qing Song also caught sight of the newcomer and could not help but furrow his brow heavily: "What day is it today? Of the sect's six True Inheritances, four have already come."

"Martial Uncle, Senior Brother Shan."

Xin Xin Wenhua cupped his fists in greeting, sat down as if he belonged, and poured himself a cup of tea:

"I heard people say Junior Brother Li has come to Shenbingtang, so I dropped by on the way to take a look at the other Martial Brothers and Sisters."

He smiled without saying it outright, and Shan Qing Song caught on:

"No wonder. If back in our day we'd also run into figures like Junior Brother Long and Junior Brother Li, we'd have used up every last quota before the sect's examination."

Each generation of Dragon Tiger Gate has only six True Inheritances; when one rises, another must fall. After Li Yuan ascended to Dragon Tiger Second, the remaining True Inheritances naturally could not sit still.

"Running into two at once — what can you do?"

Xin Xin Wenhua sipped his tea slowly, finding it quite bitter. Having been called Second for ten years and suddenly becoming Third, he too found it somewhat hard to adjust.

Of course, those who found it even harder to adjust were Shan Hong and Lin Lin Fangzhui.

Because the True Inheritance examination was conducted within the Dragon Tiger Pagoda…

"Dragons have the dragons' way, rats have their way; each walking their own path isn't fine too."

Shan Qing Song laughed and asked:

"Aren't you going to try, Junior Brother Xin?"

"If twice doesn't work, trying a few more times still won't do it."

Xin Xin Wenhua sighed. Which martial artist under heaven did not yearn for a Divine Weapon? But this truly could not be swayed by human effort.

His own master, a man of peerless talent, ranked fifth on the Contemporary Heroes List — did even he not obtain a Divine Weapon's acknowledgment?

"There's always an exception."

Shan Qing Song raised his left hand, where blue-black dragon-scale-like finger guards clung to his five fingers, emitting a cold sheen:

"Back in my day I also thought it was quite impossible, but who would have thought I'd later find one. Look at this luster and brilliance — truly magnificent."

"…"

Xin Xin Wenhua's eye twitched, and he suddenly realized this old scoundrel had gone round and round in such a big circle just to show off his Divine Weapon.

The two chatted happily. Long Xi Xiang naturally did not join in; he merely sipped his tea from time to time, either pondering in a daze or gazing into the distant mountain forest.

"Junior Brother Li probably won't come out until evening. Why not come to my place for a few cups first?"

After several pots of tea had been drunk dry, Shan Qing Song finally spoke up to ask.

"Shan Qing Song, if this old man remembers correctly, when a divine weapon acknowledges its master, it will actively radiate light?"

"Huh?"

Shan Shan Qing Song was taken aback — you can even forget something like this?

He was about to answer when he heard a "shwa" sound; Xin Xin Wenhua leapt up. Following the sound, he saw a faint trace of silver light rising between the trees of the forest.

"Someone's divine weapon has already acknowledged its master?"

Xin Xin Wenhua was both envious and shocked. If it were Li Yuan that would be fine, but if it was one of the others…

At this thought, Xin Xin Wenhua could no longer sit still. He leapt up and strode quickly toward the forest:

"Senior Brother Shan, register this one for me."

Shenbingtang is one of the three halls of Humen, bearing the duty of guarding divine weapons.

But the divine weapons were not, as one might expect, displayed in a pavilion — they were scattered throughout the mountain forest.

"Divine weapons conceal themselves; only those with affinity may obtain them."

Casually pulling a long saber that had been stuck into an old tree, Lin Lin Fangzhui weighed it in his hand and tried to channel true qi through it, but there was no response.

"Won't work."

Lin Lin Fangzhui sighed. He didn't even know whether this saber was a divine weapon, because among the weapons scattered through the forest, ordinary ones of various grades outnumbered divine weapons by dozens or even hundreds of times.

If a divine weapon did not reveal itself, he would find it hard enough just to locate one, let alone have it acknowledge him.

"Chi!"

Casually shoving the long sword back into the tree trunk, Lin Lin Fangzhui moved swiftly through the dense forest. Every weapon he saw — saber, sword, or otherwise — he would pick up and examine for a moment.

Though he used a saber, if a divine sword acknowledged him, he wouldn't mind switching to sword practice. The same went for a spear.

But alas…

From the foot of the mountain to the summit, Lin Lin Fangzhui grew increasingly disappointed. Fortunately, along the way he had brushed past Shan Hong and the other person, and they too had come away empty-handed.

"Affinity — what does that even mean?"

Lin Lin Fangzhui landed on a mountaintop and looked around at the surrounding forest. Suddenly, his gaze sharpened as he looked toward the cliff — a faint glimmer of light entered his eyes.

A divine weapon!

Lin Lin Fangzhui's heart raced, and without thinking he lunged toward the edge of the cliff.

But before he reached the edge, he heard a "shwa" sound as a figure shot up from below the cliff face, holding in his hand a long saber radiating dazzling silver light.

This light was so dazzling — even more brilliant than the radiance scattered through the forest.

The saber was two meters long, half-curved like a crescent moon, its blade covered in flowing water-like patterns. With a slight shake, it gave off the feel of moonlight cascading down.

"This saber fits my Han Yue Dao Fa perfectly!"

This thought flashed through Lin Lin Fangzhui's mind. Only then did he shift his gaze from the blade to look at the figure illuminated by the silver light.

"Li — Li Yuan?!"

Lin Lin Fangzhui felt a sudden tightness in his chest. Looking at the young man in the Daoist robe before him, he instinctively recalled the violent thunder dragon he had seen in the tower, and could not help feeling a chill of dread.

"Senior Brother Lin, you've come too?"

Li Yuan casually drove the long saber in his hand into the mountainside, and the radiance of this 【Silver Moon Saber (Seventh Grade)】 instantly dimmed.

"Don't—"

Lin Lin Fangzhui nearly threw himself forward to catch it. Before the blade had fully sunk into the mountainside, he had already gripped the hilt — but the silver light had also completely faded.

He flipped down to the ground and forcefully channeled true qi, only to feel a sharp pain in his Hukou as the long saber clattered to the ground.

"…"

Lin Lin Fangzhui felt terrible all over. For a fleeting instant, he vaguely sensed the saber spirit's simple and pure disdain?!

"Senior Brother Lin, take your time trying."

Casually abandoning the saber, Li Yuan did not linger. He looked around, and in Lin Lin Fangzhui's eyes, he merely chose a direction at random — yet another glimmer of light rose once more.

Lin Lin Fangzhui's pupils contracted sharply for an instant. He had just walked past that spot.

【Yuanyun Sword (Seventh Grade)】

Li Yuan drew the sword and gave it a light shake. This was already the ninth divine weapon he had found since entering the mountain.

Zheng~

Hearing the sword's cry, clear and resonant like a dragon's, Lin Lin Fangzhui knew this was an excellent sword — among divine weapons, it likely belonged to the higher-quality ones.

But Li Yuan merely weighed it for a moment before shoving it back into its place.

Hearing that whimper-like sword cry, Lin Lin Fangzhui felt as though his heart were shattering.

"You — you don't want it?"

Lin Lin Fangzhui instinctively took two steps forward, then hurriedly retreated. The look he gave Li Yuan was as if he had seen a ghost.

"I'll keep looking."

Li Yuan did not pause. This stretch of mountain forest was vast, and the terrain quite complex — he had no time to waste.

Having come to this treasure mountain, if he could not find an exceptional one to take away, he would likely beat his chest in regret.

"You…"

After Li Yuan had gone far away, Lin Lin Fangzhui finally walked over to that sword. This time, the sword didn't even recoil; held in his hand, it felt like a lump of scrap iron.

If he had not seen with his own eyes this sword radiate divine light, no one would have been able to tell it was a divine sword.

Weng~

Releasing his grip, Lin Lin Fangzhui — his mood a tangled mess — had not yet collected himself when he saw another flash of light rise from the distant forest, precisely in the direction Li Yuan had gone.

Hu!

A gust of wind howled as another figure shot up from below the cliff.

Before Shan Hong had even landed, he had already caught sight of Lin Lin Fangzhui, who looked even more lost than he had that time breaking into the Dragon Tiger Tower: "Junior Brother Lin, was that you just now?"

"..."

Lin Lin Fangzhui's face twitched; he truly could not put his feelings into words, especially when yet another streak of light rose from afar.

"Another one?"

A jolt went through Shan Hong's heart; paying no heed to the dazed Lin Lin Fangzhui, he hurried after it.

"What divine weapons choosing their masters, the fated obtaining them... it's clearly about talent!"

After quite a while, Lin Lin Fangzhui finally came back to his senses. His expression was very unsightly; he wished he could snap every one of those blades in two — the favoritism was just too blatant.

In the distance, another light flickered.

Lin Lin Fangzhui was nearly numb to it by now, but he still gritted his teeth and gave chase — at the very least, those lights pointed to where the divine weapons were.

Gazing at the divine radiance shining in the distance, Lin Lin Fangzhui was both jealous and envious, yet could not help feeling a measure of awe.

Even blades and swords know who matters more.

"Still following?"

A moment later he looked at Shan Hong. The latter's breathing was a little ragged, but he still gritted his teeth: "Follow!"

Soon, following the guidance of the divine light, the two of them found Wang Lue. Clearly he too had received a tremendous shock, but at this moment he was gripping two blades in each hand.

"All divine weapons!"

Wang Lue's face was flushed, almost feverish with excitement: "All of them!"

"Won't acknowledge a master — just like scrap iron."

So the two of them said, but they still went separately to try and channel those several divine-grade blades.

"A mountain of treasure, a mountain of treasure."

Lin Lin Fangzhui and the others were feeling a bit numb, and Li Yuan, weaving through the mountain forest, was feeling a bit numb as well. Watching so many divine weapons right before him yet unable to take them, his mood was no better than those behind him.

"Really want to haul them all away!"

Li Yuan gripped his right hand tightly; the Soldier Stealing Register's trembling was extremely strong, never letting up the entire way.

"Huff!"

Suddenly, Li Yuan halted and looked toward a vine-covered cliff face not far away. A flash of red light appeared before his eyes:

【Scaled Dragon Sash (Ninth Grade)】