Chapter 72: Enter the Inner Vault

"Second Shopkeeper."

Li Yuan turned around and bowed.

Looking over the apprentice before him, Yu Zhen squinted slightly: "Minor Qi Blood completion?"

"Report, Shopkeeper, I barely achieved full completion a few days ago."

Li Yuan clasped his fists, red light shimmering along his arms.

"Less than a year of martial training, and your Qi Blood is already fully complete? With middling-to-poor roots, even with pills and medicine, that must've cost at least one or two hundred taels of silver, right?"

Yu Zhen remembered.

Half a year ago, when he broke into the inner courtyard and used the Mind-Confusing Method to interrogate an apprentice, wasn't this the one?

"My forging skills are decent, and Master Sun the Cook is quite generous."

Li Yuan chose his words carefully.

He could sense the danger radiating from Yu Zhen—this Fuxiu Fuxiu Daoren from the Chelonian Dragon Mansion had neither comparable strength nor combat experience to Qin Xiong.

"One or two hundred taels of silver? That's more than just generous."

Now that he recalled who this apprentice was, Yu Zhen had no suspicion left—he had confidence in his own Mi Hun Fa.

Had this apprentice's Qi Blood been even slightly complete half a year ago, he wouldn't have been so easily deceived into speaking.

"Go."

Yu Zhen waved his hand.

Li Yuan felt a wave of relief—he knew he'd passed the test for now, and turned to leave.

…

"Just now he achieved full Qi Blood completion—was he truly only minor completion three months ago? Then it probably wasn't him…"

Yu Zhen's expression was grim.

He had spent nearly two years on this pursuit: not only could he not claim the reward for Nian Jiu's head, but he hadn't even glimpsed the shadow of the Bing Gu Wu Gong.

"Who is it?!"

Yu Zhen's eyelid twitched, a nameless rage rising in his chest.

But then he realized something was wrong—cold sweat broke out all over him.

For a single instant, he wanted only to kill—every single person who had gone to Fa Jiu Mountain to hunt Nian Jiu, he wanted them all dead!

"This Bai Shen Fa is too sinister—it's twisting and corrupting me. I must reach the First Level as soon as possible, or I'll go mad…"

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Yu Zhen took a deep breath and prepared to return to his room to suppress it.

"Brother Yu, you seem unwell?"

Just as he reached the inner courtyard, before entering his room, Yu Zhen heard a voice—Wang Ding stepped in from outside the gate, apparently seeking him.

"He has something to ask me?"

Yu Zhen's heart stirred slightly; he pushed open the door and invited Wang Ding inside.

He lit a candle, and the two sat down.

"Where is the Chief Shopkeeper?"

Wang Ding got straight to the point.

"The Chief Shopkeeper is still in the mountains hunting the Poison Snake Gang. He won't return before winter."

Yu Zhen replied.

"Perhaps he won't return until after the New Year."

Wang Ding clearly knew something; he gave Yu Zhen a deep look: "Han Han Chuijun has still not shown himself, but he certainly won't give up easily. He may not leave before winter."

"He'll leave eventually."

Yu Zhen guessed Wang Ding's purpose—he wasn't familiar with this old man.

"Brother Yu is still tracking Nian Jiu—no, the Bing Gu Wu Gong he stole, right?"

Wang Ding smiled faintly.

"Who would dare covet the Bing Gu Wu Gong? I, Yu Mou, have no such boldness."

Yu Zhen denied it outright and had no patience for circumlocution:

"Brother Wang, you didn't come here just to waste my time, did you?"

"In Gao Liu City, there is also a martial art—at least Zhong Cheng Wu Gong, possibly even Shang Cheng Wu Gong!"

Wang Ding lowered his voice.

"Oh?"

Yu Zhen's eyes brightened slightly: "Where?"

He had been stuck in the Qi Refining stage for years—only one Zhong Cheng Wu Gong stood between him and Nei Zhuang breakthrough. That was why he had dared to learn Bai Shen Fa.

But if another martial art truly existed, he would never choose this strange, incomplete fragment.

"Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple."

"Hm?"

Wang Ding answered promptly, but Yu Zhen frowned.

Wang Ding answered readily, but Yu Zhen furrowed his brow.

Wang Ding said nothing more, bowed, and took his leave.

"Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple?"

Yu Zhen pondered, then suddenly growled, his face darkening as he stood up—again, he wanted to kill.

"This martial art is too sinister… too sinister…"

"This Wu Gong is too sinister, way too sinister…"

Yu Zhen broke out in a cold sweat, strode out the door, and headed for the Spring Wind Tower in the inner city.

He needed to vent a little.

……

……

Splash splash splash~

A basin of cold water poured over his head.

In the small courtyard, Li Yuan was wearing only shorts, bathing; under the moonlight, one could see his tall, well-proportioned frame, his lean, taut muscles clinging close to his bones.

"Got careless!"

Basin after basin of cold water poured down, and Li Yuan's drunkenness vanished completely.

In the three months since Cao Yan left the city, his hammer technique had broken through to perfection, his qi and blood had shifted from a small cycle to a great cycle, his bone structure had been remade, transforming from middling to ape-arms and wasp-waist.

These were changes accumulated drop by drop over the three months.

Zhang Ben, Wang Hu, Fatty Sun, Yue Yue Yunjin and the others saw him often, so naturally they couldn't sense any obvious change.

But Yu Zhen was seeing him again after a full three months' gap, ……

"Achieving great success in qi and blood only needs medicinal pills; being exposed doesn't matter—there are so many in the city who've reached great success in qi and blood, one more of me is nothing.

It's just that this venomous snake probably hasn't given up searching for Nian Jiu—no, should be the Soldier Dao Combat-Slaying Hammer… and this venomous snake has even practiced the Bai Shen Fa?"

Li Yuan toweled himself off, mulling it over in his heart.

Three months ago, Yu Zhen hadn't had that wooden tablet on him.

"This venomous snake is very dangerous…"

Yu Zhen was no Qin Xiong—not only had he succeeded in body-tempering, but he also chased fugitives year-round, rich in real-combat experience; even a sneak attack probably wouldn't be enough to take him down.

Picking up the startled little field mouse, Li Yuan went back inside and began to reflect on himself.

"Yu Zhen is different from Qin Xiong. These blade-bearers act without any taboos at all—a tiny suspicion is enough for them to test you, and if there's even a shred of evidence, they'd dare to strike directly!"

In the months after getting rid of Qin Xiong, he'd grown quite comfortable; his hammer technique and qi and blood were progressing step by step, it seemed nurturing internal qi was at hand, and an advancement of the Soldier Control Register wasn't far off either.

Everything was steaming upward.

Yu Zhen's probe jolted him awake in an instant—there were still people investigating Nian Jiu, not only Yu Zhen, but also experts sent from the Divine Weapon Valley.

"I just want to practice martial arts in peace—why does trouble always come knocking at my door?"

After feeding the little fellow a few slices of meat, Li Yuan sighed inwardly.

He asked himself whether he'd acted prudently, but who could say for certain they wouldn't be traced back to him?

After all, that day he really did go to Mount Mount Fajiu.

"If this matter isn't resolved, my heart won't be at ease! As the saying goes, fear not ten thousand, fear the one in ten thousand…"

Rubbing his temples, Li Yuan disliked this vague, lingering sense of crisis, and wanted to settle the matter once and for all.

Joining the Divine Weapon Valley was one way; but the immediate priority was Yu Zhen.

"Hoo!"

Li Yuan sat in stillness for a long while before lying down to sleep, clothes still on.

Once the cooldown of the Soldier Control had passed, he immediately swapped the Bai Yuan Fundamental Diagram and the Grand Craftsman Hammer back on, feeling the fullness within his body,

and only then did Li Yuan's heart settle slightly:

"It shouldn't be long now before I nurture out the Bai Yuan Strength…"

……

……

Seven days later, at the One-Word Tavern, there was another gathering.

Li Yuan naturally went along with Yue Yue Yunjin, but this time the lively gathering was much quieter; that Young Lady Lu didn't come, and her followers didn't come either.

"Young Lady Lu is staying behind closed doors, saying she wants to train hard at martial arts."

Getting this answer, Li Yuan couldn't help but feel disappointed—apart from this gathering, he had no way to make contact with the county magistrate.

Liu Zheng, Wen Wen Yida and the others would do, but he wasn't close enough to them, and besides, he didn't want to reveal too plainly his craving for Red Gold.

If an overly intense desire became known to others, and they set a trap with it, that would be very dangerous.

This gathering was nothing worth mentioning; Li Yuan left early, though

he did hear that Yue Yue Yunjin had gotten drunk again, and together with Wu Ming, was once more carried back.

"The inner armor's been soaking about long enough."

Li Yuan finished soaking the inner armor and put it on right there in the forging room; as for the silver, naturally he still owed it.

An inner armor at half price was still a hundred taels of silver.

He did have it on hand, but he still had to prepare for the advancement of the Soldier Control Register—how could he bear to part with it?

"I'll make it up later."

If it were anyone else, that naturally wouldn't be possible, but since it was Li Yuan who owed, Zhang Ben agreed very readily, even looking rather smiling:

"Twelve top-grade sharp blades—at your forging speed, three months should be about right?"

The reassigned blacksmiths returned, and Old Zhang was finally freed, no longer having to rush the forge every day.

"At least six months, right?"

Li Yuan's face fell.

Twelve pieces in three months wasn't impossible, but he'd have to be in the forging room day and night.

"No way, four months at the most!"

"Five months!"

Master and apprentice haggled back and forth, and finally settled it: Li Yuan took the inner armor, but had to forge twelve top-grade sharp blades of any type within four and a half months.

If the time limit is exceeded, the inner armor will be reclaimed.

Li Yuan agreed helplessly, though in his heart he knew this was the rule.

If there were no rules, with over thirty blacksmiths in the forging room all imitating him, Zhang Ben would have been the first one stripped of his position.

"I'm going to the warehouse to pick ore, and I'll borrow your waist-tally to take a look at those finished superior blades in the inner vault."

"Mm."

Taking the waist-tally, Li Yuan turned and headed toward the warehouse.

"This kid…"

Zhang Ben shook his head and was about to leave when he saw Yu Zhen walk in; his brow furrowed at once.

The forging room's hammering sounds also stopped in an instant.

"Please, everyone, carry on. Yu has come to find Elder Zhang."

Yu Zhen's face went slightly pale as he took out a blueprint and handed it to Zhang Ben:

"An order from the Yuan family of the inner city, Yuan Yuan Pingjun's — a top-grade heavy hammer. It has to be you, Elder, who handles it!"

"A top-grade heavy hammer?"

Zhang Ben's expression darkened further: "Why on earth does a hammer need to be that good? Is Yuan Yuan Pingjun's current superior-grade hammer unable to kill people or what?"

Hammers, second only to iron rods, are the easiest weapons to forge.

Yet Zhang Ben disliked them, feeling it was a waste of materials — one heavy blade could often be forged into four or more blades of the same grade.

"The iron material is self-provided, two hundred taels of silver, please make your move, just finish it before the new year."

Even Yu Zhen was a little envious.

No matter how hard he fought all year, he might not be able to save up that much silver.

"That'll do then."

Zhang Ben's expression eased slightly.

Hammer-type weapons are easy to forge, but top-grade ones are hard to come by; he could very well drag it out a bit, and once Li Yuan became proficient, let him take part as well…

……

"If I can't get Scarlet Gold from Lu Lu Bailing, then I can only wait for Cao Yan to come back."

In the warehouse, Li Yuan was somewhat absent-minded.

He simply couldn't calm down to grind his forging art right now; all he wanted was to nurture Bai Yuan Strength as soon as possible, get the Scarlet Gold as quickly as possible, and advance to the Palm-Soldier Register.

"Brother Hu, open the inner vault."

After circling a few times and picking out the iron materials he wanted, Li Yuan looked toward the inner vault.

Now, his hammer technique was perfected, Bai Yuan Strength was about to form, and the boosts from the Grand Craftsman's Hammer and the Bai Yuan Root Diagram had become very small; even actively triggering them, the augmentation was inferior to the Jade Essence Copper Hammer.

He planned to pick a new one, follow Zhang Ben's route, and buy one or two second-tier weapons.

Reconfigure the Palm-Control effects.