Chapter 22

Lu Yan slowly opened his eyes from meditation.

The spiritual energy in his meridians was incomparably abundant. His Jin Dan floated round and steady in his dantian, faintly bulging a little toward its surroundings, like limbs and a head that had only just begun to develop. Even after his meditation ended, the surrounding spiritual energy was still drilling through every pore of Lu Yan’s body as if it cost nothing. His cultivation method began circulating on its own, as though it could hardly wait to make his Jin Dan metamorphose into a tiny Nascent Soul.

The uncontrolled circulation of spiritual energy made Lu Yan feel rather uncomfortable.

Not in terms of physical comfort, but as a sort of premonition about the future. Something felt not quite right.

Lu Yan tried to deduce it within his divine sense, but something seemed to be obscuring his perception, deliberately preventing him from calculating anything at all. It gave Lu Yan a subtle feeling of being offended.

Ying Sanliang was protecting Lu Yan from the side. He was one major realm higher than Lu Yan, so naturally he could sense the unusual aura around him. Ying Sanliang cherished the last mouthful of wine allotted for the day and drank it down, his eyes filled with envy and jealousy. “How old are you, and you’re already at mid-stage Jin Dan?”

Lu Yan was still sitting cross-legged, propping his face up with one hand as he said lazily, “It’s only been half a year since I broke through to Jin Dan.”

Ying Sanliang had originally been sitting with no proper posture at all. Hearing this, he immediately stood straight, paced back and forth across the room twice, and said gravely, “Your cultivation speed isn’t right.”

Too fast. No one could go from having just broken through to Jin Dan to mid-stage Jin Dan in half a year.

Ying Sanliang had experienced it himself. After breaking through to Jin Dan, he had spent ten years stabilizing his early-stage Jin Dan realm, as well as comprehending his lightning tribulation. Only with stability could one integrate everything thoroughly and enter the next stage of the Jin Dan realm.

If the Jin Dan was unstable, breaking through to Nascent Soul later would become far more difficult.

And Ying Sanliang had taken a full hundred years to go from Jin Dan to Nascent Soul.

Of course Lu Yan knew this speed was not right. But there was no problem with his body, and the quality of his Jin Dan looked very good. What was even more troublesome was that the spiritual energy was drilling into his meridians on its own. It was not Lu Yan controlling its absorption. This meditation session of his had actually been to suppress the circulation of spiritual energy. Otherwise, if Lu Yan let go and absorbed it to his heart’s content, he might have to undergo tribulation on the spot.

Ying Sanliang asked, “Have you sent a message to your master? Divine Creation Sect might have a solution for your situation.”

“All of Divine Creation Sect’s collected books are here.” Lu Yan lifted one finger and tapped his own head. “Relax. I know what I’m doing.”

When soldiers came, block them with generals; when water came, cover it with earth. What Lu Yan feared least was a challenge.

Besides.

Lu Yan turned his head slightly. Up in the sky, golden lines kept shifting, arranging themselves into all kinds of combinations.

Not being able to act directly, and only being able to target him through roundabout methods, meant the other party also had misgivings.

Since the person involved was not anxious, it was no use for Ying Sanliang to be anxious either. They were currently staying temporarily in a house opposite Yiyue’s shop. On the day they arrived, the City Lord’s Estate had specially sent an invitation, wanting to invite Lu Yan and Ying Sanliang to stay there for a while.

But Ying Sanliang’s bonded sword was being reforged, and he needed to draw blood from time to time to merge it with the sword in order to strengthen the connection between him and his bonded sword. As for Lu Yan, he had just shut the young city lord inside an ultimate space and let him get struck repeatedly, so he felt too embarrassed to meet the young city lord’s parents.

This was Lu Yan’s ninth day in Houtu City. There were still fourteen days until the Medical Valley Master’s handover ceremony.

Daoist Yiyue had personally forged or reforged thousands upon thousands of swords. There had long been a procedure for it. It was just that his apprentices were not around, so he would be a little slower on his own. Even so, on the tenth day, Ying Sanliang received the brand-new bonded sword he had imagined.

Ying Sanliang’s bonded sword was called Wenchen. At this moment, the sword no longer had the slightest trace of its former battered appearance. Its blade was silver-white, bright enough to reflect a person, and its edge was sharp enough to sever a hair blown against it. Because the meteoric iron contained ice crystals, and Ying Sanliang had a mutated ice spirit root, there were also a few tiny snowflakes on the blade. As soon as one approached, they could feel cold energy spreading outward.

Lu Yan was not a sword cultivator, but that did not stop him from loving weapons. He took a sword out of his storage pouch, full of interest. “Want to try it?”

Ying Sanliang’s palm fit perfectly against the hilt, as if he could feel Wenchen Sword’s hum and battle intent. His eyes shone. “Fight me!”

Daoist Yiyue and Elder Pojun moved over with small stools and sat at the doorway to watch. All they lacked was a plate of melon seeds.

Lu Yan’s swordsmanship had been taught to him by Fuyi, hand by hand. Fuyi’s sword moves emphasized directness, speed, and killing with one strike. Ever since she began practicing swordsmanship as a child, she had swung her sword three thousand times a day, and her foundation was very solid. Lu Yan, however, was different. In his usual state, he lacked the sword cultivator’s omnipresent sharpness.

If a sword cultivator was “kill,” then Lu Yan was “break.”

Ying Sanliang and Fuyi were two extremes. He was an independent cultivator without systematic sword moves, only moments of sudden enlightenment born between rough struggle and life-or-death situations. He knew that no one could be underestimated, even though the youth before him was only sixteen years old, a full major realm below him, and was not a sword cultivator.

Buzz.

A layer of frost coated Wenchen Sword’s blade. Ice began beneath Ying Sanliang’s feet and spread under Lu Yan.

On the ice surface bright enough to reflect a person, Lu Yan lowered his eyes and looked at the shadow, the corner of his mouth curving. “Wenchen Sword. So that’s how it is.”

There was no shadow on the ice. One could not see the path here, and one could not see the road back.

An illusion!

In the past, for the sake of researching why Merfolk voices could weave illusions, Lu Yan had tormented Jiao Ruyan quite badly. Illusions acted on the eyes and brain. This was especially true for cultivators, whose divine senses were vast enough to capture minute signals and construct models. For example, Lu Yan’s martial uncle, Daoist Yiwen, could not see with his eyes and relied entirely on divine sense to identify people.

In other words, if one was not firm enough, and also had a rather large imagination, one might directly face one’s own heart within an illusion, or become addicted to the illusion.

Ying Sanliang’s sword tip pointed straight at Lu Yan’s fair neck.

Clang!

Lu Yan held his sword horizontally before him, stopping Ying Sanliang’s sword momentum, then swung back.

After that, the two exchanged blow after blow, passing through more than a dozen moves in succession. Each time his sword collided with Wenchen Sword, Lu Yan would fall into an illusion. If it had been someone else, with their opponent an entire major realm ahead of them, they would have long been beaten by the illusions until they no longer knew what day it was, able only to let Ying Sanliang butcher them as he pleased.

Unfortunately, Ying Sanliang’s opponent was Lu Yan.

A genius who could deconstruct arrays and runes at a glance.

In the end, Ying Sanliang called for a stop. “Not fighting, not fighting. Why are you so hard to deal with?”

Lu Yan put away his sword and smiled. “If we’d exchanged two more moves, you would have won.”

“You didn’t even use runes. Winning like that would be dishonorable.” Ying Sanliang had never seen someone this hard to deal with. His illusions changed in countless ways, which was why his bonded sword was named “Wenchen.” In ordinary sparring or fights, if his opponent’s realm was higher than his, he could release illusions and flee. If his opponent’s realm was about the same, it could give him more chances of victory. Even Immortal Fuyi of the Chaomu Sword, who was known for suppressing violence with violence, had never been so effortless as to break one illusion with every sword strike when sparring with him. Ying Sanliang pursed his lips. “If your big puppet hadn’t shown no signs of life, I wouldn’t have been caught by you.”

Daoist Yiyue closed his eyes and applauded his own martial nephew. “Little Bupo is so amazing!”

Elder Pojun was not a sword cultivator either, but unfortunately for him, he had read a lot of books. In his eyes, Lu Yan’s sword moves did not form any proper system, but his posture really was beautiful. Dressed in white and holding a sword, tall and jade-straight, he looked exactly like the sword cultivators in storybooks who stood between heaven and earth and saved the world from peril.

Then, when compared to Ying Sanliang, who was rough, poor, and occasionally used moves with particularly ugly posture, Elder Pojun also closed his eyes and praised blindly, “Young friend Bupo is amazing!”

Ying Sanliang showed not the slightest loneliness from being ignored. He carefully stroked Wenchen Sword, the corners of his mouth uncontrollably rising high, lacking only the impulse to kiss it.

Just as the words fell, a plop came from inside the sword-forging shop.

Daoist Yiyue and Pojun subconsciously looked back.

A burly man more than two meters tall ran out of the shop. His hair was slightly scorched, and his clothes were ragged. In front of Pojun and Daoist Yiyue, he hopped up and down like he had reverted to his ancestors, holding a small lightning ball in his hand.

It was Yuan Chi, who had been struck repeatedly inside the Extreme Element space.

Pojun was already very used to Yuan Chi looking like this. Seeing how stable the little lightning ball was, he nodded in satisfaction. “You’re controlling it well.”

Daoist Yiyue smiled. “My apprentices can finally come back!”

After showing off in front of his two elders, Yuan Chi turned and saw Lu Yan. He still remembered that he had said the wrong thing when they first met. And this good-looking young boy was not afraid of the lightning on his body!

Lu Yan put the sword in his hand back into his storage pouch and turned to examine Yuan Chi’s condition. The power of the tribulation lightning was not leaking outward, which meant it could be hidden very well inside his bloodline. That was a good thing.

Ying Sanliang chuckled twice and raised Wenchen Sword. “Fellow Daoist Bupo, we independent cultivators have an unwritten rule. While you’re still in a duel, before you’ve thoroughly knocked the other person flat, never leave your back to anyone!”

Lu Yan suddenly turned around, a talisman pinched between his fingers. Before he could tear it apart, an enormous figure loomed over him.

Yuan Chi ran excitedly toward Lu Yan and opened his arms as though he wanted to hug him.

However, the next moment.

Crack.

Ice instantly wrapped around Yuan Chi’s body. Under the blazing sunlight, it froze him in place, turning him into a crystal-clear statue.

Lu Yan: “…”

Ying Sanliang: “…”

The city lord and his wife, who had heard that their family’s silly second son—no, their family’s eldest son had come out of seclusion and had specially rushed over, intending at the same time to invite Lu Bupo to visit their home: “…”

Silence. Silence was tonight’s City Lord’s Estate.

The chandelier overhead shone brilliantly, and the young city lord of Houtu City kept sneezing.

Every time he sneezed, Ying Sanliang felt another degree of shame.

At that time, Ying Sanliang had not used a killing move. After all, it had only been sparring. Independent cultivators did indeed have this rule: before the end was declared, sparring could resume. So Ying Sanliang had deliberately chosen a moment when Lu Yan was unguarded to use a move. According to his idea, Lu Yan should have reacted very quickly and counterattacked. Who knew the young city lord of Houtu City would suddenly come out?

And who would have known that the young city lord of Houtu City, a lightning spirit root cultivator, would suddenly catch a chill just because he had been frozen for a tiny moment?

Lu Yan took out a bottle of pills and broke the silence of the evening banquet. “I see that the young city lord seems to have some congenital insufficiency. This bottle of pills happens to be suitable. They gently replenish qi and help regulate the body.”

Yuan Shuo looked at his own silly son, then at the impeccably courteous Lu Yan, and sighed. “Young friend Bupo, you’re too polite. I should be the one thanking you. If not for the ultimate element, Ah Chi would never have gained such a powerful lightning spirit root.”

Lu Yan placed the pills on the table and said, “Each person has their own destiny. The Extreme Element space was purchased by Martial Uncle Pojun, so it should rightly be the young city lord’s opportunity.”

Yuan Chi, who was sitting to Lu Yan’s left, sniffed, wiped his hands clean with a handkerchief, then with a flash of light, made a handful of white popcorn out of spirit rice and held it out in front of Lu Yan. “Bupo likes eating this.”

Yuan Shuo, who had never eaten popcorn personally made by his own son: “…”

Why did he feel a little jealous?

Lu Yan looked at the handful of popcorn and the tall young man’s sparkling puppy eyes. For some reason, he thought of his own slow-reacting Shen Erji. He accepted the popcorn and placed the pills into Yuan Chi’s palm. “Many thanks, Young City Lord.”

Sigh. He wondered whether Shen Erji had come out of seclusion yet.

Yuan Chi gripped the pills. “No need to thank me!”

“Ahem.” Seeing Yuan Shuo’s old face filled with an expression of “a son grown up is no longer obedient to his father,” the city lord’s wife gave a light cough and said gently, “Fellow Daoist Bupo and Fellow Daoist Ying have been in Houtu City for many days, and we have been remiss in our hospitality. Please forgive us.”

Lu Yan shook his head. “It is I who failed to visit the city lord and madam. There have been shortcomings in my etiquette.”

Ying Sanliang hurriedly followed along. “Please forgive us, please forgive us.”

At five hundred years old, before Yuan Shuo truly met Lu Yan, he would not have believed that someone could really break through to Jin Dan at sixteen, handle people and matters in such an orderly fashion, speak so flawlessly without showing the slightest timidity, and possess both the manners of someone from a great sect and the warmth needed when interacting with others. It truly made it impossible not to feel close to and fond of him.

One had to know, even Duan Tongfeng, the highly anticipated chief disciple of Sword Sect, had been unable to hide the arrogance beneath his courteous face when he came to Houtu City.

A person like this would certainly become a pillar of the future cultivation world.

Yuan Shuo believed this firmly.

The city lord’s wife chatted with Lu Yan very happily. Lu Yan catered to her interests, speaking about many methods of self-care, and also gave her a gold hairpin.

In the early years, when Lu Yan had just started selling lamps, he had considered the possibility that spirit stones and gold and silver might not circulate interchangeably. Later, he discovered that gold and silver were very good carriers, with a very high success rate for engraving arrays and runes on them.

Once the first batch of students from Never-Fall passed the graduation exam and the repair departments were gradually established, repair departments in various places could directly receive currencies such as gold, silver, and copper, then send them into Divine Creation Sect.

Lu Yan rarely made jewelry. This gold hairpin had originally been made for Fuyi, but Fuyi felt gold was too flashy and made it easy for her to be locked onto while sparring, so she refused it no matter what. In the end, Lu Yan settled for making Fuyi a wooden hairpin instead, and this gold hairpin had been sealed away until now.

The city lord’s wife had a very kind-looking face, and was very suited to gold jewelry. Lu Yan had engraved a defensive rune on the gold hairpin, which could withstand one attack at Jin Dan or below.

Lu Yan said, “Houtu City has been passed down to this day. I can only offer a borrowed flower to the Buddha. I hope Madam will not disdain it.”

With just that one sentence, he revealed without a trace the information that Houtu City suppressed the gate to the demon realm. The city lord’s wife could not refuse. It had to be said that among the people present, not one of them could outtalk Lu Bupo.

After Ying Sanliang finished drinking the wine allotted for the day, he kept drinking tea, rubbing his teacup as he thought that Lu Bupo should change his name to Fortune-Scattering Boy.

When the evening banquet reached its end, Yuan Shuo asked softly, “Is Fellow Daoist Bupo also going to Medical Valley this time to observe the ceremony?”

Lu Yan had some guess and answered, “That’s right.”

“What a coincidence,” Yuan Shuo said. “I have an unreasonable request. I hope Fellow Daoist Bupo will be magnanimous.”

Lu Yan said, “City Lord, you’re too polite. What is it?”

Yuan Shuo’s gaze turned to Yuan Chi. “My Ah Chi also happens to be going to Medical Valley to observe the ceremony. I am somewhat worried about him traveling alone, so I would like to ask Fellow Daoist Bupo to take him along for the journey.”

Lu Yan’s heart gave a thump. Without changing expression, he smiled and said, “It’s only a small matter. City Lord, rest assured.”

But Yuan Shuo stood up and, together with the city lord’s wife, bowed deeply toward Lu Yan. “Many thanks, Fellow Daoist Bupo.”

How could Lu Yan accept the city lord’s bow? Strictly speaking, the city lord was of the same generation as his master. He also stood, turned slightly aside, then returned the courtesy and said, “City Lord, there’s no need to be like this. After all, I also need Fellow Daoist Ying’s protection.”

Yuan Chi, simple-minded and unable to tell what was going on, copied his parents’ manner and bowed all the way down to Lu Yan.

Just as Yuan Shuo was about to speak to Ying Sanliang, Ying Sanliang forcefully interrupted him and raised his teacup. “Don’t worry. Protecting one person is protection, and protecting two people is still protection. I’ll drink this tea in place of wine first. I was the one at fault for freezing the young city lord!”

“Many thanks, Fellow Daoist Ying!”

Before they left the City Lord’s Estate, Yuan Shuo looked at Lu Yan as if he wanted to speak, but stopped.

Lu Yan understood and walked alone to Yuan Shuo’s side. He asked, “Does the City Lord have something to say?”

The sky had gone completely dark. The entire Houtu City had already fallen asleep. Only the city tower was lit, with guards standing there.

Yuan Shuo took a token the size of a child’s palm out of his robes. Two ancient characters, “Houtu,” were carved on it. The token was warm, showing that it had been kept close to his chest for a long time. He placed the token into Lu Yan’s palm and said, “Fellow Daoist Bupo, I ask for nothing else. If one day Houtu collapses, please give this token to Yuan Chi. He is Houtu’s last bloodline and hope.”

For the first time, he did not call him “Ah Chi,” but said “Yuan Chi.”

But Lu Yan did not accept it.

Lu Yan stuffed the token back into Yuan Shuo’s robes. Even in the night, his pitch-black eyes showed bright light. He said seriously, “You must personally teach him what responsibility means, and then hand Houtu City to him. If Houtu collapses, I will personally repair the array!”

The next day.

Because there was one more person, Lu Yan brought out a spirit boat, carrying the three of them as they flew toward Medical Valley.

It was Yuan Chi’s first time leaving Houtu City, and he waved hard in the direction of his parents.

Yuan Shuo, Pojun, and Daoist Yiyue watched the three of them go far away, until they turned into a tiny dot.

Daoist Yiyue clasped his hands behind his back and chuckled honestly. “These past two days nearly suffocated me. That little brat finally left. He could fool Yizhu, but he couldn’t fool me. Us old fellows are still alive, so how could there be any need for him to step forward?”

On his towering body, his muscles nearly burst out of his clothes. Daoist Yiyue had a smile on his face, while another sentence was hidden between his lips and teeth. “What’s the damn use of fate? I don’t believe in fate!”

Pojun frowned. “I’ll immediately notify the elders of Heavenly Evolution Sect to come to Houtu City.”

Daoist Yiyue held a message talisman paper between his fingers. “My Junior Brother Yichen and Junior Brother Yiwen are already on the way. Of everyone in Divine Creation Sect, only the two of them are best at arrays.”

Yuan Shuo’s weathered face was filled with resolve. “Sword Sect has already replied. They will arrive at Houtu City soon.”

None of them knew that a tiny hummingbird was circling above their heads.

On the spirit boat, another hummingbird perched on Lu Yan’s hand. His eyes narrowed slightly, and no one knew what he had heard.

“Oh my, so Martial Uncle Yiyue turns out to have quite the temper…”

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