Chapter 351: Before the Mountain Gate

"Damn the Long Hu Temple! They dare sell a single Bai Yu Body Pill for eight thousand taels of gold, and yet there are still fools rushing to buy it!"

North of the city, inside a wine tower, Xie Xie Tongzhi held a Bai Yu porcelain bottle, pouring out a pill with a pained expression; the pill was like jade, like sheep fat, with flowing light upon it.

"The Long Hu Temple's medicine quality is number one under heaven; even if it is expensive, people still chase after it. If this pill is resold, it can fetch eight thousand taels apiece."

Pei Jiu also held a porcelain bottle, containing more than ten dark red pills; these were 'He Lian Sui Sheng Xue Dan', a good medicine to assist blood replacement, and their price was three times higher than the Bai Yu Body Pill.

This single bottle had taken away more than half of his fortune.

"Though that is the case, it still hurts."

Xie Xie Tongzhi put the medicine away; he did not simply feel it was expensive, but rather that it was a loss: "To the inside, this pill costs only a thousand taels of gold, yet to the outside it is eight times higher; truly, the profit margin is too steep."

"It is the only one of its kind, with no other place to go; what can one do?"

Pei Jiu also felt the pain, but he saw it clearly.

Under heaven, only the Wudadao Sect and the imperial court can refine spiritual pills; their Changhong Sword Sect also has spiritual pills, but in both quantity and quality, they are far inferior to the Long Hu Temple.

"Enough; at least the goods are correct."

Xie Xie Tongzhi glanced at his own disciple: "With this bottle of 'He Lian Sui Sheng Xue Dan', you may now begin the blood replacement."

"Disciple plans to start the blood replacement after the preliminary selection; if nothing unexpected happens, before the martial arts of the various Dao Sects, the blood replacement should be fully accomplished."

Pei Jiu tightly gripped the porcelain bottle; the reason he came to Mount Hengshan City early was to purchase spiritual pills at the Long Hu Pill Festival, and the intentions of many Dao Sect disciples were much the same.

The Long Hu Temple's spiritual pills, aside from being expensive, truly have no flaws.

"With your talent and Wu Gong, if this martial arts tournament could be delayed by ten or twenty years, you might not be unable to contend for the championship; now, you can only contend for the top ten."

Xie Xie Tongzhi felt some regret in his heart.

Pei Jiu fell silent but thought of Li Yuan; even if it were delayed by ten or twenty years, would he really be able to contend with that person?

But that thought flashed by and was immediately extinguished by him:

"Disciple will do his utmost."

"That disciple of Long Xi Xiang is quite lucky; thirty years from now, he will indeed have a chance to contend for the championship."

Xie Xie Tongzhi took a 'Mount Hengshan Long Hu List' from his robes, his expression changing somewhat:

"Not yet twenty years old, yet he has ascended to second place on the Long Hu List; this youth's talent is truly terrifying..."

Pei Jiu's expression changed slightly; he dared not speak, so he changed the subject:

"Master, you bought this bottle of Bai Yu Body Pill, is it to prepare for breaking the Tian Gang?"

"Correct."

Xie Xie Tongzhi stroked his long beard: "My cultivation has reached the point; in the least fifteen years, at most twenty years, I can attempt to break the Tian Gang; it is time to prepare."

Pei Jiu hurriedly raised his cup to offer congratulations.

"Do not rush to congratulate; wait until I truly break the Tian Gang before offering congratulations; the difficulty of this barrier is no less than the barrier of entering the Dao."

Xie Xie Tongzhi shook his head; regarding this, he was very cautious.

"Difficult, difficult, difficult."

Pei Jiu had only wanted to change the subject, but seeing his own master's face full of sighs, he could not help but feel curious:

"Disciple has heard that breaking the Tian Gang allows one to see the Divine; how exactly is the Tian Gang broken, and what Divine is seen?"

"Penetrating Yin and Yang to enter the Dao; after entering the Dao, Qi and Spirit combine to form True Gang and Spiritual Image; the Spiritual Image can contend with Heaven and Earth, requiring the collection of various 'Strange Scenes' from Heaven and Earth, undergoing the Di Sha and Tian Gang transformations, before one can touch the threshold of the Grand Master."

Xie Xie Tongzhi pondered slightly, then spoke to explain:

"Qi is void; True Qi is likewise; only by contending with Heaven and Earth can one see the truth; the Spiritual Image collecting various Strange Scenes can become 'real', and to achieve the Grand Master, one must finally break the 'Strange Scenes'; this is breaking the Tian Gang."

Pei Jiu hurriedly committed it to memory; although he had not yet replaced his blood, he still had infinite longing for the Di Shen Xian Jing.

"As for how to break the Tian Gang, it varies by person; the most common method is the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing."

"Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing?"

Pei Jiu was stunned.

"Take Nie Xianshan as an example; his Spiritual Image is the 'Pure Yang Sword'; thus, the best method for him to break the Tian Gang is to hold a divine sword that shares his life and death..."

"Break the Tian Gang with a divine sword?"

Pei Jiu suddenly felt enlightened in his heart: "No wonder he traveled for decades collecting heavenly treasures and earthly gems, and spent such a huge price to hire four divine craftsmen; so that is why."

"Nie Xianshan esteems himself highly; for years he has traveled under heaven, collecting various 'Strange Scenes'; with this, he ascended to fifth place on the Hero List, but because of this, his Tian Gang is hard to break, unless he can forge a supreme Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing."

Xie Xie Tongzhi spoke with a cold sneer: "Pity, the few who can forge supreme Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing in this world are all in the imperial court; even if he invites the four divine craftsmen, he cannot succeed."

"Breaking the Tian Gang..."

Pei Jiu murmured in his heart, but thought of himself; to this day, he has not received the approval of a divine sword.

"Come, drink."

Xie Xie Tongzhi raised his wine cup and took a small sip; this was the Long Hu Temple's Hundred Herbs Brew, with an excellent taste; among the various Dao Sects, and even in Ducheng, it was a highly popular superior wine:

"Though the Yang Sheng Furnace's attack is not as good as our 'Changhong One Sword', and its defense is not as good as the Green Dragon Pavilion's 'Two-Color Green Dragon Armor', for sect disciples, the benefits are too great."

"Ah?"

Pei Jiu stared blankly, not knowing why he suddenly mentioned the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing; just as he wanted to ask, he suddenly heard a clamor from outside.

Whoosh~

Xie Xie Tongzhi pushed open the window; he saw on the long street two teams of government office Runners walking quickly, parting the crowd, and then an eight-bearer sedan chair appeared.

The gilded top was decorated with gems all around.

The bearers were all strong, powerful men; in front of and behind the sedan chair were old servant guards riding Jiao horses; further back, experts from the Zhenwu Hall followed.

"What a grand procession!"

Pei Jiu glanced once and knew who the person was.

Whoever could be so flamboyant in Mount Hengshan City could certainly not be the Governor Ouyang Ying or the Zhenwu Hall Master Ding Xiu.

"The Marquis has arrived—quite the grand procession."

Xie Xie Tongzhi gave a cold laugh, but his gaze drifted toward the Dragon Tiger Temple gate not far away, his expression subtly amused: "Looks like there's some entertainment to watch?"

The heavy hammer fell, and the red-hot iron ingot was flattened in an instant.

"Hah!"

Li Yuan set down the hammer, exhaled a breath of stale air; he had clearly broken a heavy sweat, his body and mind utterly clear.

"Good!"

Lin Tingfeng darted over in a flash, reached out and took the red-hot iron ingot in his hand, weighed it up and down, his eyes full of amazement:

"Nine kinds of fine iron with different properties, completely fused into the Dragon Blood Stone—Junior Brother Li's Weapon-Forging Art has reached Great Perfection!"

The fine iron that Nie Xianshan had gathered was all top quality, with differing properties, extremely difficult to fuse. He had tried before himself, expending great effort to fuse just two kinds of fine iron, and even that couldn't be called perfect.

But this iron ingot was a fusion of ten kinds of fine iron, and also contained one of the main materials—Dragon Blood Essence Stone.

"Congratulations, young friend Li!"

Jiang Xie stroked his belly and sighed in praise, his voice like a great bell: "Just by the sound of our forging hammers, you could pierce through that final move. Young friend, your talent truly leaves the lot of us envious."

By the pool, a crowd surged over. The lowest among those who could be here were disciples of Divine Craftsmen like Brother Qiao Tianhe, all with considerable attainments in weapon-forging.

Seeing that iron ingot now, every one of them changed expression—envy or jealousy, one and all.

"I must also thank all of you seniors for your guidance."

Li Yuan cupped his fists in salute, his mood greatly pleased. With this move comprehended, his weapon-forging attainments had already caught up to Jing Jing Shuhu; compared to Wan Chuan, the only gap left was that he had yet to personally forge a Divine Weapon.

In a certain sense, apart from some gap in experience, he had already caught up to the four Divine Craftsmen present.

"Remarkable."

The several Divine Craftsmen all felt their hearts tremble.

"Young friend, this talent of yours truly inspires awe in this old man."

The speaker was Bei Mount Wuji, the Grand Elder of the Seven Fiends Sect. He naturally

took the iron ingot from Lin Tingfeng's hand, exhaled a breath of true qi, and the ingot instantly burst forth with dazzling blue light.

Beneath the blue light, one could see the ingot was of a single uniform color, like coral, the properties of ten different iron materials perfectly fused, with not the slightest impurity.

"A Quasi-Divine Craftsman in his twenties—no, a Divine Craftsman."

Jiang Xie also took the iron ingot and examined it for a moment, then passed it to Wan Chuan, whose expression was wooden. The latter was momentarily distracted and didn't channel true qi; his palm was instantly scalded bright red.

"... Congratulations."

Wan Chuan's face twitched. Enduring the searing pain, he passed the ingot on, his heart a tangle of emotions—shock, doubt, and even more, regret.

Just a little more, and this kid would have been his disciple.

Thinking back to that scene years ago when Jing Jing Shuhu came by night to entrust his orphan and was refused by him with a single word, Wan Chuan wished he could slap himself.

He had taken in over a dozen disciples already—what was one more?

"Many thanks for your guidance, Senior Wan."

Li Yuan expressed his thanks. The Startling Dragon Hammer Art was naturally inferior to the Dragon Tiger Heaven-Splitting Hammer, but it was a purely forging hammer art; although he had only learned half of it, he had benefited greatly.

Toward those who had guided him, Master Li always harbored gratitude.

"..."

Wan Chuan forced a smile that didn't reach his eyes, barely returned the salute, and turning his head, immediately caught sight of Brother Qiao Tianhe, face full of amazement, circling the ingot to examine it.

"Brother, your hammer art is already no worse than my master's!"

Brother Qiao Tianhe, face full of amazement, instinctively turned his head—and immediately caught sight of his own master's face dark as still water. His heart gave an instant shudder.

"With young friend Li's breakthrough, our confidence in forging the Pure Yang Sword has grown by several degrees."

Gui Gui Haiyou also came over to offer congratulations.

"It still depends on all of you seniors. I, the junior, can only lend a hand."

Master Li was being modest, thinking how to borrow these Divine Craftsmen's forging hammers to use, when he suddenly heard Xin Xin Wenhua's transmitted voice.

"Yan Yan Chunyang has come to Baishan?"

Li Yuan's heart stirred. After exchanging a few words with the Divine Craftsmen, he took his leave and quickly followed Xin Xin Wenhua.

"The initial selection hasn't even arrived yet—why is this Yan Yan Chunyang coming to Baishan now?"

Li Yuan was somewhat puzzled.

"I'm afraid the visitor means no good."

Xin Xin Wenhua's brow furrowed tightly as he quickened his pace.

Li Yuan fell half a step behind and followed along.

Long Long Xinglie hadn't come out of seclusion, so the matter of receiving Yan Yan Chunyang naturally fell to them.

The two moved quickly, and in no time arrived at the outer gate, at the mountain gate archway.

From afar, they saw a great crowd surging forward, led by government office Runners, a procession of several dozen people coming in grand style. In the center was a great sedan chair borne by eight men—the display was quite considerable.

"The imperial court certainly knows how to make a show."

Li Yuan swept a sidelong glance. Apart from the two of them, Dou Yue and Han Tong were also present. Regardless of how relations stood, the proper courtesies were still observed.

Soon, the sedan chair was set down before the mountain gate.

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