Chapter 18

Lu Yan’s Gundam looked like something that had crawled out of an urban-rural fringe district.

It was not exactly cool or flashy. A person could climb inside the puppet to control it, but it could not fly and could only patrol on land. It looked bulky, but in truth it was extremely agile. Every joint was fitted with arrays of various sizes, and it was loaded with the heaviest firepower Lu Yan was capable of making.

Yet it was precisely this rough-and-ready style, combined with its towering body and scarlet eyes, that could draw out the fear hidden deep in human blood.

Without an operator, the puppet would automatically counterattack according to the enemy’s cultivation realm. It even had anti-escape measures specifically aimed at those above Nascent Soul.

With Ying Sanliang’s cultivation realm, never mind leaving behind an intact corpse—it would probably be difficult for him to reincarnate in one complete piece.

At Divine Creation Sect, on Leisurely Glow Peak, Lu Yan was currently discussing how to further improve the giant puppet with Daoist Yichen and Daoist Yiwen.

Ying Sanliang had been tied up tightly and thrown on the ground, his face numb.

Jiao Ruyan, who was dressed so gaudily he looked like a parrot, tidied up his appearance, then crouched beside Ying Sanliang in a deliberately delicate manner. In a soft, dainty voice, he said, “You’re so amazing. You actually managed to keep breathing after breaking into the sect.”

Ying Sanliang had a complicated expression. “Thank you. I don’t feel like that’s a compliment.”

“How could it not be a compliment?” Jiao Ruyan twirled a strand of hair around his finger. “Young master, you are so accomplished at such a young age, so dignified and imposing. Might I ask which sect or faction you come from?”

Ying Sanliang scooted his backside outward. He was not used to being too close to female cultivators, especially when the female cultivator beside him spoke in such a sweet, affected way that goosebumps stood up all over his back. Ying Sanliang said, “No sect, no faction. I’m a sword cultivator.”

Jiao Ruyan’s hair-twirling paused. He stood up cleanly and swiftly, his voice returning to normal. “Why is it another poor sword cultivator?”

Ying Sanliang suddenly turned his head. He looked Jiao Ruyan up and down, his face filled with terror. “A-a-a-a-a-a man?”

“Oh, keep that expression. Don’t move.” Jiao Ruyan looked as if he had discovered some treasure. He circled Ying Sanliang and repeatedly observed his expression from different angles, then said with satisfaction, “That fat bird had the same reaction back then. What a pity the fat bird’s skin has only grown thicker and thicker. I can no longer see that tender little expression of his.”

Over on the other side, Lu Yan had just finished the discussion. When he saw that Jiao Ruyan was up to his old tricks and flirting with people again, he was not surprised. There were very few of the Merfolk’s kind, and even fewer who could cultivate for seven or eight hundred years. Add to that the Merfolk’s instinct to reproduce, and even if Jiao Ruyan had no such intention, he would still symbolically lose control and go flirt a little.

Lu Yan heard Jiao Ruyan’s last sentence and said, “That’s awfully heartless of you. Do you really have no idea how He Nian ended up the way he is now?”

Jiao Ruyan blinked, feeling inexplicably guilty.

Daoist Yichen had originally been watching the show. Suddenly, his divine sense seemed to sense something. He reached out and caught a streak of golden light. The golden light turned into a letter, solemnly bordered in red and gold. Daoist Yichen opened it and read the contents, then tipped a small wooden green token out of the envelope. He smiled and said, “That old undying fellow from Medical Valley is finally going to pass on his position. The one succeeding him as Medical Valley Master is his martial nephew. He has specially invited us to Medical Valley to observe the ceremony.”

Daoist Yiwen nodded. “When is it? Who is succeeding him?”

“The sect master handover ceremony will be in one month. The successor is Meng Ke, Daoist title Kongqing. Speaking of which, he has some fate with Bupo.”

The first time Lu Yan learned of Meng Ke was when he had just transmigrated. Daoist Yichen had called upon the Medical Valley Master through a water mirror to seek help. At the time, Meng Ke had shown half his body behind the water mirror while drawing an array, and Lu Yan had spotted at a glance that he had drawn one extra stroke.

The second time had something to do with Medical Valley. At the time, Lu Yan was researching an automatic pill furnace and lacked pill formulas, so he shamelessly asked the Medical Valley Master for some alchemy knowledge and techniques. After going back and forth a few times, they began communicating. By coincidence, the Medical Valley Master said he had a martial nephew with metal and wood spiritual roots who was extremely talented in pills, but was restricted by his spiritual roots and found cultivation rather difficult. Lu Yan remembered that he had an extreme wood-element spatial ring. Grateful for the Medical Valley Master’s help, he sold it to Medical Valley at a friendship price.

Everyone knew what happened afterward. Meng Ke relied on the extreme element to forcibly wash away his already somewhat weak metal spiritual root and completely secured the position of heir in his own hands.

Daoist Yiwen understood. He said, “Then why not have Bupo go down the mountain and make a trip to Medical Valley? He will happen to pass through Luoyan City and can visit your Martial Uncle Yizhu. He has many arrays related to puppets.”

Lu Yan nodded. He often went down the mountain, but he rarely left Divine Creation Sect. The main reason was that his physique was special, and tribulation lightning could not strike him. If he suddenly broke through outside, it might expose him. Now, he had only recently broken through to Golden Core and was still far from Nascent Soul, so it was within a controllable range.

“However,” Daoist Yichen said, frowning as he folded the letter and put it back in the envelope, “Fuyi and Shen Mengji are in seclusion. I’m still a little worried about Bupo leaving the sect alone.”

Lu Yan was also very eager to see other places. He smiled and said, “Does Master still not know what I’m capable of? Even if I run into danger, I have more than enough ways to protect my life.”

Aside from the runes embroidered on his Daoist robe, the personal disciple token contained a defensive talisman personally drawn by Daoist Yichen. It could block one strike from a Spirit Transformation cultivator, not to mention the various arrays Lu Yan had accumulated over the past ten years.

Daoist Yichen immediately became unhappy. “Where would all that danger come from? If anyone dares provoke you, just announce Divine Creation Sect’s name. I’ll hunt them down to the ends of the earth!”

Lu Yan could only turn his gaze toward Ying Sanliang, who was tied up tightly.

Ying Sanliang: “???”

Ying Sanliang: “Why are you looking at me? Don’t come over here!”

Lu Yan rubbed his chin and had an idea. “Master, Martial Uncle, there’s no need to worry. Isn’t there a ready-made guard right here? Isn’t that right, Fellow Daoist Ying?”

Ying Sanliang struggled. “I’m not a disciple of your Divine Creation Sect…”

“Ahem.” Lu Yan coughed twice and lowered his voice. “Oh, dear, my hummingbird. I still haven’t found it. And there’s also the mountain-protecting grand array. That was supported by an entire spirit vein. And my Gundam…”

With every word he said, Ying Sanliang’s head drooped a little more. By the end, he threw his neck back with the air of one ready to die a martyr’s death. “Fellow Daoist Bupo, rest assured. I guarantee I’ll deliver you safely to Medical Valley!”

Lu Yan signaled for Jiao Ruyan to untie him, then rummaged through his storage pouch and took out a bottle of pills. “Your first day’s salary.”

Ying Sanliang did not understand what Lu Yan was talking about, but he recognized pills. After he opened the stopper, a rich pill fragrance burrowed into his nose. There was no need for appraisal. He knew at once that this was something valuable!

It could be said that since Ying Sanliang began cultivating, he had never used much of anything good. Pills were ridiculously expensive. If he got injured, he could just endure it. In any case, cultivators had strong physiques. As soon as he got the pills in hand, Ying Sanliang asked warily, “This isn’t being counted toward my debt, right?”

Jiao Ruyan could hardly bear to watch.

A perfectly good sword cultivator had been tormented into this by the little ancestor.

Lu Yan narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Of course not.”

Only then did Ying Sanliang finally relax.

Then Lu Yan took out another small box and placed it in front of Ying Sanliang. “I noticed that your sword seems to be damaged. It so happens that on this trip down the mountain, I’ll drop by Houtu City and have Martial Uncle Yiyue reforge it for you.”

Ying Sanliang opened the box and inhaled sharply. “Th-th-th-th-th-this!”

Lu Yan sat in his chair and made a “please” gesture toward Ying Sanliang. “It’s a piece of meteoric iron Sword Sect gave me. This half is covered in ice crystals, so it’s just right for your spiritual root.”

Back then, when Lu Yan entered the sect, Sword Sect had sent over a piece of meteoric iron. Half of it had been given to Fuyi in exchange for Qionggu Peak, and the other half remained.

Ying Sanliang stared fixedly at the meteoric iron. Trembling, he reached out and carefully touched it, afraid he might damage even the slightest bit.

This was meteoric iron. Indestructible and the most suitable for forging swords. In particular, the ice crystals on it would be of great benefit to him if they could be integrated into his bonded sword.

Ying Sanliang’s bonded sword had not been forged by a famous master. Relying on such a sword, he had walked nearly two hundred years, all the way until its tip was chipped. With a snap, he closed the box. His eyes shone as he resolutely said to Lu Yan, “Fellow Daoist Bupo, please rest assured. If we encounter danger on the road, I will brave fire and water and die ten thousand deaths without hesitation!”

Lu Yan waved his hand. Casually, he took another wine jar out of his storage pouch and said, “Fellow Daoist Ying, you’re too polite. I heard from Senior Sister Fuyi that Fellow Daoist Ying loves wine. I brewed this jar of wine with my own hands using spirit seeds from Qionggu Peak. It has a unique flavor, so I’ll give it to Fellow Daoist Ying.”

Ying Sanliang… Ying Sanliang swallowed with a gulp.

After Lu Yan took out the wine jar, the heavy aroma of wine nearly burst through the small stopper and exploded into the air. There was no need to taste it. Just by smelling it, one could tell how rich and intense the wine would be.

Ying Sanliang was almost drunk on the fragrance alone. He put down the meteoric iron and lifted the wine jar in both hands as if holding a sacred object. He gently opened the stopper a little and only then realized the wine gave off a faint spiritual qi. Ying Sanliang took a deep breath, looked at Lu Yan, and said in a ringing voice, “Fellow Daoist Bupo, from now on, you are my ancestor!”

Jiao Ruyan silently applauded.

Brilliant. I’ve learned. I’ve learned.

When I run into sword cultivators in the future, I’ll use this three-step process. It’ll work every time.

Lu Yan smiled faintly and shook hands with Ying Sanliang, the two of them instantly becoming good brothers.

His achievements and fame hidden deep away.

Lu Yan did not have much to bring. He had a storage pouch, so all he needed to do was carefully choose the congratulatory gift to send to Medical Valley.

There was still one month until Medical Valley’s sect master handover ceremony. If they moved at Ying Sanliang’s speed, starting from Divine Creation Sect would not even take them a few days.

Yes, Ying Sanliang was a sword cultivator, and he was extremely fast.

Perhaps it was the instinct of a rogue cultivator. When Ying Sanliang was young, he had been very arrogant and suffered no small number of losses. In the course of being beaten up over and over, he somehow taught himself how to control his bonded spiritual sword to run even faster.

The first stop was Luoyan City.

Luoyan City was a very strange city. It was not governed by the mortal world, nor was it governed by the cultivation world. All sorts of people mingled together there. Immortals and mortals lived together in the same city, and it strangely maintained a balanced order.

Lu Yan’s martial uncle, Daoist Yizhu, lived here.

Ying Sanliang had been here before. He introduced it to Lu Yan. “The City Lord of Luoyan City rarely appears. Rumor says she’s a peerless beauty, but I’ve never seen her either. If she were a sword cultivator, maybe I’d try barging in.”

Those words were truly worthy of a sword cultivator.

As for Lu Yan, his feeling was somewhat subtle.

Ever since he entered Luoyan City, his divine sense had been giving light pulses again and again, as if reminding him of something.

On both sides of the main city’s broad street, pair after pair of eyes moved away from the young man in the white Daoist robe.

Invisible air trembled.

“Is it him?”

“It’s him.”

“Act…”

“No.”

“It is not time yet.”

“We must wait.”

“Wait until Houtu collapses.”

Lu Yan frowned and looked around.

The pedestrians were either walking or chatting. In front of the shops, noisy bargaining rose and fell. He did not see anything wrong.

Ying Sanliang clapped a hand onto Lu Yan’s shoulder and pointed at a restaurant. “Look, I used to love the wine from that place!”

Lu Yan came back to himself and looked in the direction Ying Sanliang was pointing. He said, “Let’s go. I’ll treat you to wine.”

The restaurant was lively and bustling. The waiter moved lightly back and forth between each table. When he saw the customers outside the door, he hurriedly welcomed them in. “Are you two here for a meal or staying the night?”

Lu Yan chose a relatively quiet corner in the first-floor hall. He had already abstained from grain, but he still liked the feeling of food filling his stomach. He said, “Bring two pots of your best wine, and a few plates of your house specialties.”

“Right away. Please wait a moment!”

Not long after the waiter left, Lu Yan noticed someone acting sneaky. Bent low, the person threaded his way through the hall, stopping briefly at table after table before finally arriving at Lu Yan’s table.

The person seemed to discover something. His eyes lit up, and he asked in a low voice, “You two look unfamiliar. You’re from outside, aren’t you?”

Since he had nothing else to do, Lu Yan nodded. “That’s right.”

The person lifted a small corner of his clothing, revealing the spine of a book. In a tone as if introducing some shady little disc, he winked and asked Lu Yan, “Have you heard of Lu Bupo?”

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