Chapter 60: Wielding, the White Ape's Fundamental Diagram (Subscribe Please)

Qin Xiong's death shook not only the Weapon Forging Shop, but the inner and outer cities alike—people everywhere were talking about it.

News that the killing madman Nian Jiu had resurfaced spread fast, and for a time, panic ran high; several squads of government office Runners patrolled day and night.

The City Guard, upon hearing the news, also swiftly sealed the city gates.

After that came another wave of searches digging three feet into the earth, as if they would not rest until they found Nian Jiu.

Li Yuan was absorbed in selecting ores—choosing soft armor for his first superior-grade sharp blade put even him, with his forging mastery at Great Completion, under considerable pressure.

If he botched it, half the cost of materials would be wasted—not a small sum.

In the warehouse, Wang Hu accompanied him the whole way, watching Li Yuan pick out superior-grade iron stock, his heart trembling involuntarily—should this be ruined, half a year of work would be for nothing.

"Enough, enough. Junior brother, you try your hand first; if you need anything, come back, or send word, and I'll bring it to you!"

Seeing Li Yuan still wanted to pick more, Wang Hu hurriedly held him back.

"Then I'll trouble you, Brother Hu!"

Li Yuan had picked about enough; with a slight cupped-fist salute, he pushed the wooden rack cart out of the warehouse door, and just happened to see Yue Yue Yunjin and Wu Ming hurrying past:

"Senior brothers, where are you headed?"

"Ah?"

Both men's steps faltered slightly, awkward expressions on their faces.

"Miss Lu's little gathering?"

Li Yuan glanced at the sky, understanding at once: "I heard the inner city isn't letting people in—can you two senior brothers even get in?"

Yue Yue Yunjin grew even more awkward, but Wu Ming reacted quickly, smiled, and lowered his voice: "Miss Lu is leaving the city today; we're going along to accompany her."

"Oh, then you two senior brothers had best go and come back quick."

Li Yuan, very tactfully, did not press further.

He had attended the inner city's little gathering once, but clearly these two might have gone more than once.

He figured this was also a screening process; he had the misfortune of being screened out in the first round—just wondered how many rounds these two senior brothers could last.

"Poor root-bone constitution?"

Li Yuan scratched his palm, smiled, and went back to smithing.

……

"Sigh, Junior Brother Li, he…"

Once away from the Weapon Forging Shop, Yue Yue Yunjin could not help but sigh.

His impression of Li Yuan was not bad, but alas, his words carried too little weight to decide anything.

"Junior Brother Li's root-bone is middling-to-poor, yet his forging talent is extremely high—perhaps staying in the shop would suit him better, no?"

Wu Ming did not even turn his head, striding quickly toward the city gate.

He had no real friendship with Li Yuan; giving him a pull was already the full measure of their bond as fellow students in the same courtyard—given his own precarious situation, he felt he had a clear conscience.

"Sigh…"

Yue Yue Yunjin shook his head and also hurried after him.

The tightly shut city gate stood wide open today, yet almost no one came or went; two squads of government office Runners guarded either side, while outside the gate two or three dozen people had gathered, seemingly waiting to welcome someone.

"Lu…"

The moment Yue Yue Yunjin and the other tried to approach, they were stopped by several government office Runners and, along with Wang Gong and Zhao Zhao Xiaoming, dodged into a corner, watching eagerly.

At the city gate, Lu Lu Bailing wore a brisk martial robe, accompanied by inner-city Young Ladies and Young Masters including Liu Zheng, Wang Wang Peiyao, and Wen Wen Yida.

At the very front stood County Commandant Liu Bin and other officials, gathered around a refined middle-aged man, speaking in low voices.

……

Neigh~

At the foot of Mount Fajiu Mountain, three riders came thundering down the official road, reining in at a grove; in the distance, the outline of Gao Liu County seemed faintly visible.

The three riders—one woman and two men—were led by an old man wearing a ghost-face mask, his features unseen, but his beard and hair all white; at his side was a pair of young man and woman.

The man was burly and powerfully built, the woman cool and elegant; both carried long swords on their backs and wore riding boots.

"Elder Han, this stretch of mountain forest is where Senior Brother Qiu met his end. The bandits of Qianjun Cave should have fled into these mountains."

The burly young man pointed at the distant range and said coldly: "The City Guards of Gao Liu, Anxi, and other counties have been sweeping the mountains for days—unknown whether they've found any trace of the bandit."

"Mm…"

The ghost-masked elder's voice was hoarse, yet he looked toward the woman beside him: "Fang Yunxiu, what do you think?"

"This disciple believes we should return to the city first."

Fang Fang Yunxiu answered.

She was roughly twenty-something, her voice cool and sparse with words.

"Sha Pingying, you may enter the mountain for now, seek out those City Guards and inquire, then come report to me."

The ghost-masked elder spoke.

"Yes!"

Sha Sha Pingying responded solemnly and urged his horse away into the distance.

Fang Fang Yunxiu frowned slightly:

"Elder Han, you clearly know Senior Brother Qiu did not die at Nian Jiu's hands—why still send Senior Brother Sha into the mountains?"

The three of them were not traveling together originally but had joined up on the road; when Sha Sha Pingying caught up with them, she and Han Han Chuijun had just captured a Gao Liu merchant caravan attempting to slip through the checkpoint.

On one of them were wounds from a Dragon-Slaying Saber.

"We have enough hands either way, so naturally we should poke around a few more thickets, see just where the venomous snake is hiding—surely it can't really be that Nian Jiu, can it?"

Han Han Chuijun stroked his long beard, finding it rather tedious:

"This old man has never been fond of fighting and killing, which is why I took this idle post of 'Seeker of the Worthy'—who would have thought I'd be dragged out to handle affairs again,

"Sigh, such a bitter fate…"

"Why don't you go look, then?"

Fang Fang Yunxiu grumbled inwardly, but could only lower her brows and obey—she feared this one's temper deeply.

After a long stretch of sighing and lamenting, Han Han Chuijun finally instructed:

"First, drive that fatty we caught on the road back to the city, stir up some grass. You follow after, just pretend you're on your way home and investigating Qiu Long's death in passing. Other matters, don't bother with them."

"And you?"

Fang Fang Yunxiu instinctively wanted to ask, but immediately swallowed the words, acknowledged the order, and urged her horse toward Gao Liu city.

……

……

"Open the door!"

Just back home from the weapon-forging shop, Li Yuan heard heavy knocking at the door, with the bearing of kicking it open if no one answered.

"Why'd you only just open up?"

The moment Li Yuan opened the door, two city guards barged in, swept him with a cold glance, then began searching the house room by room,

not even sparing the latrine, jabbing at it hard twice with a dung ladle.

"……"

Letting the two city guards turn his home upside down, Li Yuan only shut the courtyard gate after they left cursing and grumbling.

All his important things were in the Liuhe Boots, so naturally he wasn't afraid of a search.

Only…

"The money shops, pawnshops, jewelry stores are all sealed off. Exchanging silver notes for cash is going to be a real pain."

Li Yuan felt a bit of a headache coming on.

After Qiu Long's death, the city guards were all sitting on a powder keg, exploding at the slightest spark. Yesterday alone, three clashes broke out in the outer city, with six or seven commoners beaten into serious injury.

These past few days the city had been under full lockdown; ordinary people weren't allowed in or out at all, and the pedestrians on the street were visibly fewer.

"Wrought iron is twenty times more expensive than pig iron. Even buying from a shop, a thousand catties would cost two hundred and twenty taels of silver, ten taels of gold—and exchanging gold for silver still costs a hundred and twenty taels,

plus the hundred taels of silver needed, that's four hundred and forty taels of silver already!

Not even counting that one tael of pure gold!"

Running the numbers in his head, Li Yuan's headache only worsened.

He'd estimated that between the silver notes, loose silver, pearls, agates and the like on him, five hundred taels wouldn't be enough, but four hundred and fifty would definitely do.

But how to exchange it, how to sell it, was the troublesome part—especially with things so tight right now.

"Looks like I'll have to wait for the June grand market."

Li Yuan missed Fatty Sun a little.

When that fatty was around, not only were the two daily meals good, but anything involving silver could be pushed onto his head.

Now, he could only figure things out himself.

"When I get the inner armor forged, I'll ask Master if he has any pure gold."

After tidying up the house the city guards had messed up, and splashing some water on his face, Li Yuan finally took out the three bottles of pills obtained from Qin Xiong.

Of these three bottles of pills, one was seven Bone-Strengthening Pills, one was three Leopard-Fetus Sinew-Changing Pills, and the last was three Qi-Blood Pills.

Just these thirteen pills alone were worth over a hundred taels of silver!

"One Qi-Blood Pill is worth more than a dozen Blood-Nourishing Pills, and its effects are quite mild—truly good stuff. All three bottles are oral medicine for aiding horizontal-training Wu Gong cultivation, and they're also of great use for replenishing blood and qi…"

Squeak squeak squeak~

Seeing Li Yuan take out the porcelain bottles, the little field mouse in the corner immediately got excited.

"These pills really are nourishing—the little thing's doubled in size."

Casually flicking a piece of broken biscuit to the little fellow, Li Yuan toyed with the pills in his hand. Every time he got new pills, he'd try them out on this little fellow first.

Once it became habit, even pills bought from the Four Seasons Medicine Hall were no exception—didn't cost him any trouble either way.

"Gulp!"

Li Yuan swallowed a Qi-Blood Pill, took up his hammer, and stepped into the Soldier-Body Stance. He closed his eyes slightly, sensing the mobilization of blood and qi as they circulated.

The 'x'-shaped small circulation of blood and qi had already begun spreading toward the torso, but it was still some distance from the great circulation that covered the whole body.

"Lacking a breathing method, and at this pace—not bad."

Li Yuan's Soldier-Body Stance was already quite proficient; running through all twenty-four forms, forward and reverse, he only stopped when his blood and qi were spent and he was drenched in sweat.

The growth of blood and qi was this simple and brutal—if pills were sufficient, even the worst bone structure could quickly be built up to great completion; there was simply no such thing as impure blood and qi.

What there was, was only that the strength grew too fast, the moves and realm couldn't keep up, leading to an inability to fully bring it out.

He naturally didn't have this problem.

"Hoo!"

The night was already deep. Li Yuan slowly withdrew his stance; blood and qi swirled around his body in a warm, cozy feeling, and the faint stinging left from his explosive killing of Qin Xiong a few days prior had all vanished.

"The Qi-Blood Pill's potency still has over eighty percent left—expensive, sure, but it does make sense."

He went to the yard, drew a basin of water, wiped his face, lay down in his clothes, and took out another top-grade Origin-Supplementing Pill to hold in his mouth. Then Li Yuan gently closed his eyes.

In the deep, dark, eerie blackness, the Soldier-Destiny Register emitted a faint glow, with hammer-shadows flickering on two 'stars'.

On the gray stone platform, various Weapon items were neatly piled.

"White Ape Root Diagram."

Sensing that sheepskin scroll, Li Yuan didn't hesitate and directly chose to master and control it.

He'd had it on his mind for many days now; if not for the injuries on his body after that explosive kill of Qin Xiong, he would have tried it that very day.

"Replace—Jade-Essence Copper Hammer!"

Hum!

Almost as soon as he thought of it, Li Yuan felt something suddenly vanish from within him, and a great sense of powerlessness surged into his heart.

The immense drop left him so nauseated he nearly spat blood.

The enhancement and departure of the Azure Essence Bronze Hammer were far stronger by many times than any other weapon he had wielded.

Whoo!

Forcing down his discomfort, Li Yuan soon sensed the changes after taking control of the Bai Yuan Gen Ben Tu.

Lii!

In a daze, Li Yuan seemed to hear Bai Yuan's furious roar.

A massive, mighty white ape, hammer raised to the sky, let out a sharp, piercing, and furious scream.

"Great Perfection, Cloak Hammer Art!"

Stance, striking method, training method, breathing technique!

The complete Bai Yuan Cloak Hammer unfolded before his eyes in the clearest, most intuitive way; Li Yuan focused his perception and could not help but sink into it.

The Great Artisan's Hammer also carried a Perfection-level hammer art, but while the two overlapped, their styles were distinctly different.

The former came from Zhang Ben—calm, solid, honed over decades of relentless practice—while the latter carried a fierce, bloody edge, as if forged through a hundred battles.

The two distinct hammer arts clashed before his eyes, then merged into a gentle stream that flowed into his heart.

Then, Li Yuan felt the medicinal power within his abdomen split apart, and his entire body's blood qi stirred violently, warmth turning into searing heat, forcing him to roll over and sit up.

"Is this about to break through?!"

Li Yuan's heart leapt; he nearly swallowed the Bu Yuan Dan in his mouth, but quickly realized something was wrong.

This agitated blood qi did not surge toward his heart—it merely circled endlessly around his limbs, waist, and abdomen, flowing in a loop of 'x'.

Gradually, he felt his legs, feet, waist, and abdomen growing hotter, and the medicinal power of the pill inside his dantian was consumed at an astonishing rate.

The blood qi pill, meant to last him seven or eight days, vanished completely at a visibly rapid pace!

"Ape Arms, Bee Waist!"

Li Yuan jolted awake, realized what was happening, and quickly swallowed the Bu Yuan Dan.

Afraid it wasn't enough, he pulled out all the other bottles of pills.

【Ape Arms, Bee Waist: Innate bone structure, alterable through cultivation; all who achieve Great Perfection in the Bai Yuan Cloak Hammer inevitably develop bee waists and ape arms, this is,】

【training the body to resemble the ape's form…】

"Superior Bone Structure!"

Li Yuan's heartbeat quickened; he had once speculated this possibility before taking control of the Gen Ben Tu, but now that it was real, he still felt overwhelming excitement.

Gulp~

The Superior Bu Yuan Dan entered his abdomen; warm, rich medicinal power spread from his stomach, pushing the flow of his blood qi to an extreme height.

This pill, worth fifty taels per piece, was the best for breaking through to Inner Strength when blood qi had fully matured—its power was immense and unceasing.

Li Yuan felt his hands, feet, waist, and abdomen burning hot, numbness seeping into his bones; he gritted his teeth and held on for a few more moments, but could no longer endure—he groaned and leapt out.

Barefoot, he grabbed his training hammer and began practicing the Cloak Hammer Art.

Huh!

Huh!

The numbness and searing heat made Li Yuan swing the hammer faster; a gale seemed to erupt inside the room, blowing the candlestick off the table and making the window paper rustle "huahua."

"So intense?!"

After completing three full sets of the Cloak Hammer Art, Li Yuan could barely hold back—he could only relieve the pain by slamming the hammer into the ground.

The burning was bad enough, but this itching was unbearable!

"Sss!"

Li Yuan staggered, drenched in sweat, burst out of the room, and leapt into the large water vat in the corner—only then did he feel some relief.

Huh-chi~

Huh-chi~

He had no idea how long he soaked, but when he finally crawled out of the vat, he was utterly drained and collapsed onto the floor, limbs limp.

"Bone restructuring isn't finished—the pills are enough, but I can't hold out any longer…"

The numbness and searing heat in his legs and waist gradually faded; Li Yuan was too exhausted to move, his entire body's blood qi and the Superior Bu Yuan Dan completely spent.

"But once bone restructuring is complete, I'll immediately be able to 'cultivate Inner Strength'!"

Lying on his back, staring at the four great moons hanging in the night sky, Li Yuan gasped for breath, his heart burning with heat:

"Taking control of the Gen Ben Tu can alter bone structure?! The Bai Yuan Hammer can—can the Qing She Spear and Hu Pao Dao do the same too?!"