Chapter 444: Year's End, Xiao Li

Dong~

A deep, resonant bell toll echoed through the sea of clouds.

On the Star Gazing Platform, Huang Huang Longzi held a black umbrella in one hand and kept the other behind his back; his gaze carried an immense weight as the Great Sun Jin Lin Bell swayed, its tolls rolling out one after another.

His bristling whiskers trembling, Huang Huang Longzi glanced up at the golden bell—or perhaps at the sea of clouds higher above, the great sun—his thoughts turning, subtly nuanced.

"Mr. Huang Long, have you grasped anything?"

Riding the wind, Wu Wu Yingxing arrived at the Star Gazing Platform, his gaze lingering on that great umbrella for a brief moment.

Huang Huang Longzi's eyes brightened slightly as they fell on the small cauldron cradled in Wu Wu Yingxing's hands.

"Here is a century's worth of incense offerings—might it suffice for Mr. Huang Long's needs?"

Wu Wu Yingxing gripped the Yun Xiang Ding tightly, the jade coin in his hidden hand turning ceaselessly; these past days, he had been observing this so-called visitor from beyond the heavens.

Huang Huang Longzi gathered his thoughts.

Wu Wu Yingxing's eyelid twitched—this old fellow's appetite was enormous.

"Six cauldrons of incense offerings would not be impossible, but on what grounds would Mr. Huang Long take them?"

Huang Huang Longzi pinched his fingers: "Your Majesty has already agreed to this old one; Brother Wu, surely you would not defy the imperial decree?"

"Since ancient times, transactions have always been silver for goods. Your Majesty permitting you to come here to comprehend the Great Sun Jin Lin Bell already shows our sincerity."

Wu Wu Yingxing gave his sleeve a shake, concealing that incense burner:

Huang Huang Longzi narrowed his eyes slightly, and the Emperor's voice rose at just the right moment:

Slowly ascending the Star Gazing Platform, the Emperor spoke in a calm tone, yet Huang Huang Longzi sensed something was amiss—the man had clearly been determined and willing to pay any price just moments ago.

Why the sudden change now?

"What manner of sincerity does Your Majesty require?"

Huang Huang Longzi's eyes flickered; glancing at the Emperor's silver hair and dragon motif, his expression grew solemn.

"You claim to hail from the Venomous Dragon Academy, then..."

The Emperor's tone paused briefly, and the Great Sun Jin Lin Bell trembled in perfect timing, emitting a quivering hum: "I wish to build a temple and erect a statue for the Venomous Dragon God. What say you?"

Huang Huang Longzi's face changed.

Li Yuan stayed at the Weapon Forging Shop for three days.

Early on the fourth day, while he was still standing post in the rear courtyard, Xin Xin Wenhua hurried over.

In the courtyard, as Li Yuan practiced the Longhu Great Post, the grinding of his sinews and bones sounded like a faint tiger's roar and dragon's cry; mist swirled around him, and wind blew the accumulated snow.

With half-closed eyes, his mind's sea reflected the various internal organs, meridians, and sinews and bones within his body.

Invisible to the naked eye, his skeleton already bore a jade-like quality, occasionally emitting the sound of metal and stone when grinding; with the medicinal power of the Longhu Great Pill and the augmentation of the Health-Preserving Furnace, his progress in marrow refinement was extremely swift.

Xin Xin Wenhua did not disturb him, waiting for Li Yuan to finish this set of post exercises and conclude his form.

He had been somewhat anxious at first, but listening to that faint tiger's roar and dragon's cry, his thoughts gradually settled; from several zhang away, he could sense an extremely vigorous and powerful vitality.

Though it was the depths of winter, he could perceive a realm of thriving vitality where all things vied to burst forth.

"Junior Brother Li's physique is somewhat astonishing."

Xin Xin Wenhua was somewhat startled—such surging vigor, he had truly never felt from anyone within the sect.

The only ones approaching it were those old monks of the Xinyi Sect; this was the outward manifestation of a physique grown immensely powerful.

A moment later, Li Yuan concluded his form, in fine spirits: "Senior Brother Xin, what is it?"

"The Pure Yang Sword forging will be completed in just these few days; Master wants me to summon you."

Xin Xin Wenhua stepped into the courtyard.

"The progress of those few Divine Artisans is not slow."

Li Yuan washed up casually, then followed him back to Huishan; along the way, Xin Xin Wenhua mentioned the forging progress of recent days—having overseen the work so long, he had become quite familiar with weapon casting.

Seeing him arrive in haste, Li Yuan had thought something major had happened; upon asking, he learned that after those four had each forged a Divine Weapon-grade Pure Yang Sword embryo, they had finalized the ultimate plan.

Li Yuan had no objections to this.

Though he was more confident in his own Unorthodox Treasure-Forging Art, first, Nie the Daoist had invested heavily, and the four Divine Artisans had poured in tremendous effort; second, in Nie the Daoist's heart, he ultimately trusted those few more.

Therefore, these past days, he had merely been processing various iron materials, using Nie the Daoist's four bloods in conjunction with the Unorthodox Treasure-Forging Art, making preparations.

"I wonder how confident those few are?"

The thought flashed through Li Yuan's mind.

He hoped those few would succeed on the first try; that way, the processed iron materials in his hands might be purchased from Nie the Daoist.

These top-grade heaven materials and earthly treasures included quite a few fine things that money could not buy.

Surging Wave Hall.

In the depths of winter, the waterfall had long frozen; along the banks thick with ice crystals, however, the scene was bustling—a row of furnaces burned fiercely, with not even a trace of accumulated snow on the ground.

? ￠o

Wan Chuan and the other three were all forging iron, with a group of disciples assisting.

Li Yuan cupped his fists in greeting.

Having prepared for seventy or eighty years, Nie Xianshan could not help feeling some nervousness as the forging drew near; summoning Li Yuan back was naturally to inquire about that unorthodox weapon-casting art of his.

Li Yuan glanced at those four Divine Artisans; in terms of weapon-casting art, he was presently no better than them, but relying on the Unorthodox Treasure-Forging Art, he privately judged his chances to be greater.

"It's not that Uncle-Master distrusts you; truly, stability comes first..."

Nie Xianshan sighed.

It had taken him over seventy years to accumulate two sets of materials; he said he did not care about success or failure, but how could he truly not care?

At his age, even if he could accumulate another set, by then he would be old and his spirit decayed, and he might no longer possess the courage or opportunity to break through the Heavenly Gang.

Li Yuan merely said it casually; putting himself in their shoes, naturally one would choose the seasoned Divine Artisans.

Nie the Daoist was uncommonly polite.

This has nothing to do with having more people.

Complaining inwardly, Li Yuan naturally agreed readily — if Elder Nie could break through the Heavenly Gang, it would be a great boon for him as well.

As for thick thighs, of course the thicker the better.

After that, Li Yuan returned to his previous dull and routine days.

Every day he traveled back and forth between the Billowing Hall and the Scripture Pavilion; besides smithing and practicing martial arts, every few days he would also visit the Gate of Nurturing Life and the Mysterious Whale Gate to grind through the True Inheritance Trials.

Thanks to the blessing of the Nurturing Furnace, Li Yuan's marrow refinement progressed quickly, so he split off part of his energy to concurrently cultivate several Wu Gong, focusing on hammer techniques and horizontal training, with lightfoot skills as a supplement.

The Scripture Pavilion had long been fully open to him, but compared to upper-rank Wu Gong, gathering a thousand forms was naturally still more cost-effective with mid- and lower-rank Wu Gong.

Beyond that, there was the mastery of the Mirage Dragon Whip.

Smithing, practicing Wu Gong, reading books — Li Yuan immersed himself in it, busy yet fulfilling. During this period, he occasionally went down the mountain to attend banquets, taking the chance to receive a wave of incense offerings to use for Listening Sound.

The days passed, one after another.

Soon, accompanied by another heavy snowfall, the New Year was approaching.

That day, Li Yuan was in the Billowing Hall observing four Divine Artisans forge weapons. In the blink of an eye, over a month had passed, and the crafting of the Pure Yang Sword had reached its most critical stage.

Liu Zheng hurried over, but did not approach directly; instead, he sought out Xin Xin Wenhua. The latter was startled for a moment, then Yu Yu Xuanji walked toward Li Yuan and sent a transmission to notify him.

Hearing the transmission, Li Yuan immediately set down his forging hammer.

Gao Liu County was too far from Mount Hengshan City; sending a letter through an escort agency to fetch someone had been a matter from the start of the year.

Xin Xin Wenhua beckoned, and the white crane resting on the distant hill spread its wings and came.

Li Yuan cupped his hands in thanks, tapped lightly with his foot, and his body had already risen over thirty meters, landing precisely on the back of the white crane diving toward him.

Whoo, whoo~ The cold wind cut like a blade, snowflakes fluttered down.

On the official road, the old snow had not yet melted before new snow was added, making it rather slick. The four horse teams and merchant caravans passing through moved slowly, and from time to time a carriage would tip over!

The sound of horses neighing rose.

In the Master Fuyuan Escort Agency's caravan, a group of escort heads dismounted one after another, some leading their horses, others steadying the carriages.

As one of the largest escort agencies in Mount Hengshan City, the Master Fuyuan Escort Agency's escort heads were hardly lacking in capable hands — a thousand-jin living creature along with a horse tipping over could be lifted up by any one of them alone.

"Get a few men, go up ahead and see whose carriage flipped over."

Gao Gang gave the order.

With the Master Fuyuan Escort Agency lending a hand, the road quickly resumed operation, and many merchant caravans expressed their thanks repeatedly.

After two years of escorting, Gao Gang had already developed quite the air of a man of the jianghu. Cupping his hands in return, he offended no one, and in the end, he dismounted.

In the caravan, there were over forty carriages, and the escort heads numbered in the hundreds, every one of them carrying blades and swords at their sides. Gao Gang was one of the several chief escort heads of the caravan.

He strode quickly to the very center.

These few carriages, at first glance, looked no different from the ones around them, but in reality they were forged entirely of refined steel, with various wooden frames fitted inside and charcoal fires burning.

At the carriage curtain, a rather simple and honest-looking man poked his head out.

Gao Gang walked slowly alongside the carriage, helplessly correcting himself, and asked: "It's been quite cold these past two days — are the children managing all right?"

He made solicitous inquiries about their well-being.

The escort guards nearby could not help casting glances, some with envy, but they quickly looked away. Those who walked the jianghu had to know the rules — this household, the chief escort head could approach, but they could not.

Li Lin waved his hand, utterly unconcerned.

But before he could finish speaking, he was pushed aside by a hand. A woman smiled and said: "These two little ones can't sit still, always wanting to run outside."

"Mount Hengshan City is almost here, just bear with it a little longer." Gao Gang caught sight of the pair of little children in the carriage — about six or seven years old, a boy and a girl. The boy's features faintly resembled Li Yuan's.

"Uncle Gao, Uncle Gao…"

The two little rascals poked their heads out; Wang Juan and the others couldn't hold them back.

"It's so cold, you can't come out!"

Gao Gang did not dare to take those two little ones out anymore. Last time the two of them fell ill, it had startled the entire escort agency into a cold sweat.