Of the Half-Spirit Weapons in his possession, the only ones he could sell were Guan Du’s and Li Haoran’s. Getting rid of the others could bring him trouble.
But all these Half-Spirit Weapons were worth a combined seventy to eighty thousand taels of silver. It was his greatest fortune, and it would be a pity to just throw them away.
’I should put them away for now. Once my Weapon Forging Skill improves, I’ll see if I can modify them and change their original appearance.’
’But I can’t take these Weapons back to the Purple Sun Sect!’
Picking up the bundle and Yan Guiyun’s body again, Xu Yang rushed into the mountain forest to dispose of the corpse.
「One day later.」
He appeared near the Purple Sun Sect, found a hidden spot to stash most of the Half-Spirit Weapons, and entered the Sect carrying only Guan Du’s and Li Haoran’s Half-Spirit Weapons.
"Brother Xu!"
"Greetings, Brother Xu!"
As he walked through the Outer Disciple area, many disciples greeted Xu Yang, and he returned their greetings one by one.
He soon arrived at Li Fire Peak. He first dropped his luggage off in his courtyard before heading to Fire Cloud Elder Hall.
"Disciple Xu Yang requests an audience with Master," he said, cupping his fists outside the hall.
"Come in!" Elder Huoyun’s resonant voice came from within.
He pushed his Breath Concealment Skill to its limit, straightened his clothes, and only then stepped into the main hall. Bowing deeply, he said, "Disciple pays his respects to Master."
On the large, gilded chair, Elder Huoyun barely lifted his eyelids, his gaze remaining on the book in his hands. "When you return in the future, there’s no need to come and pay your respects specifically. If there’s nothing else, you may leave."
"This disciple came to thank you, Master," Xu Yang said.
’Without Elder Huoyun’s backing, Liu Qingyuan and Song Yushao would have likely made a move against him long ago.’
Hearing this, Elder Huoyun snorted coldly. "If you want to thank me, then stop doing such absurd things to anger me."
He was clearly still bothered by the fact that Xu Yang had spent over a thousand contribution points on the Dragon Tiger Great Golden Pill Formula.
Xu Yang was a bit speechless. ’Why won’t he let this go?’ "Disciple will remember Master’s teachings," he said.
Only then did Elder Huoyun wave his hand in satisfaction. "You’ve been traveling for days. You may go. Settle yourself and focus. There are only two and a half years until the Secondary Dragon Ascension. You don’t have much time left."
’Getting Xu Yang to the Celestial Essence Realm within two and a half years would be quite difficult.’
’But if he doesn’t compete this time, he’ll be too old for the next one. Even with enough talent, he wouldn’t be able to step onto the Dragon Ascension stage. This is why I’ve steeled my heart and pushed him so hard.’
"Disciple will certainly do my utmost and not disappoint Master’s expectations."
Xu Yang nodded seriously before backing out of Fire Cloud Elder Hall.
After days of eating nothing but dried meat on the road, he went straight to the dining hall. Along the way, many people greeted him, their tones tinged with a kind of awe.
Xu Yang thought for a moment and quickly understood the reason for this change.
’Before, he just had talent. His Cultivation at the Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement Realm was nothing special to some of the Inner Sect Disciples.’
’But in his four months at Moon Lake, he had not only slain Luo Xin and the others, but also Guan Du, who was at Marrow Cleansing Great Success. This change in his strength was the real reason for their awe.’
"Junior Brother Xu, over here!"
Just as he finished getting his food, he heard Zhu Yuan’s voice call out.
Xu Yang smiled and walked over. He saw Zhu Yuan, Hong Lei, and a few other disciples of Elder Huoyun sitting together and eating.
"Greetings, senior brothers!" Xu Yang said with a smile as he sat down.
The few of them greeted him and went back to their food, and he too began to eat.
"I just heard some news. Yan Guiyun failed to break through to the Celestial Essence Realm after several months in seclusion. I heard he’s already left the Sect to go train in the Yunling Mountain Range."
A voice suddenly caught everyone’s attention, and they all looked over subconsciously.
When Celestial Essence and Yan Guiyun were mentioned in the same breath, no one could help but be curious.
"The Celestial Essence Realm is too difficult. Even a genius like Yan Guiyun couldn’t break through after several months in seclusion."
"What do you take the Celestial Essence Realm for? Forget Yan Guiyun; even the Young Master Marquis and Li Chuyang might not be able to break through in just a few months."
"It seems Yan Guiyun is determined, heading into the Yunling Mountain Range this time. When he returns, he’ll probably be at the Celestial Essence Realm. In two years, our Purple Sun Sect will have another Secondary Dragon Ascending Genius."
...
’He’s not coming back!’
Xu Yang thought to himself. He had dumped Yan Guiyun’s body in the mountains; by now, it had probably been devoured completely by wild beasts.
"I heard that Li Chuyang and the Young Master Marquis have already started to break through to Marrow Cleansing Great Success. The talent of those two is truly terrifying," someone suddenly said.
As soon as this was said, it piqued another round of curiosity among those present.
Those two were already trying to break through to Marrow Cleansing Great Success. It seemed all the geniuses hoping for a Secondary Dragon Ascension were starting to make their move.
"What about Du Chuan? He was once as famous as the Young Master Marquis and Li Chuyang. Has he also started to break through to Marrow Cleansing Great Success?" someone asked.
The three of them had once competed on the same stage, their talents arguably equal. Since Jiang Fan and Li Chuyang were now challenging the bottleneck to Marrow Cleansing Great Success, Du Chuan should be about the same.
"I haven’t heard anything about Du Chuan. He’s probably still a ways off," that person said.
"Junior Brother Xu, your talent isn’t much worse than Li Chuyang’s or the Young Master Marquis’s. What about you? How long until you reach Marrow Cleansing Great Success?" Someone suddenly looked at Xu Yang, and the entire spacious dining hall fell silent.
Xiong Kun held his breath, perking up his ears to listen closely, terrified that Xu Yang would say something like, "I’ve also started to challenge the bottleneck to Marrow Cleansing Great Success."
Xu Yang laughed. "How could I compare to the Young Master Marquis and the others? I think it will still be a very long time before I reach the bottleneck of Marrow Cleansing Great Success."
Xiong Kun instantly let out a sigh of relief. ’The Young Master Marquis and Li Chuyang both have powerful backgrounds and no shortage of resources. How could Xu Yang possibly keep up with them?’
At this, he laughed and said, "Brother Xu, if you hadn’t wasted so many contribution points on the Dragon Tiger Great Golden Pill Formula back then, you might have been able to keep pace with the Young Master Marquis and Li Chuyang. Truly unwise."
’This bastard just had to bring up a sore subject.’
Everyone knew that not only had Xu Yang done something foolish, but he had also been punished by Elder Huoyun to guard Moon Lake for four months, only returning today.
Xu Yang gave Xiong Kun a calm look. "If you were still on the Ten Heroes List, you might have already reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement by now. What a shame."
’So we’re pointing out each other’s failures? Anyone can do that.’
"You..." Xiong Kun’s face immediately turned the color of pig liver, and he was seething with anger.
Now that Han Feng and Lu Ren were both starting to challenge the bottleneck to Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement, the gap between him and them was widening because he had lost the resource rewards from the Ten Heroes List. He harbored extreme hatred for Xu Yang, who had kicked him off the list, which was why he was being so passive-aggressive toward him.
He never expected Xu Yang to refuse to spare his feelings and bring up the matter of him being kicked off the Ten Heroes List again.
In the dining hall, everyone was trying to stifle their laughter, but they didn’t dare laugh out loud out of respect for Xiong Kun’s pride.
Xu Yang, ranked fifth on the Ten Heroes List, dared to mock Xiong Kun, but they didn’t. Even though Xiong Kun had been knocked off the list, he was still a former on-list genius, and not just anyone dared to make fun of him.
Just as the atmosphere grew strange and Xiong Kun was feeling utterly humiliated, a figure rushed anxiously into the dining hall and announced in a shocked voice, "Lu Ren... Lu Ren has forged a Half-Spirit Weapon!"
When these words were spoken, it was like a clap of thunder exploding in everyone’s ears, making their hearts tremble.
A Half-Spirit Weapon!
Other than the heads of some mid-sized families who might possess a Half-Spirit Weapon while at the Minor Success Realm of Marrow Cleansing, weapons of this level were basically exclusive to experts at Marrow Cleansing Great Success. As long as it was a Half-Spirit Weapon, no matter how poor the quality, it was worth at least four to five thousand taels of silver. A better one could sell for seven to eight thousand taels apiece.
When one’s Weapon Forging Skill reached this level, fame and fortune were both easily within reach.
Everyone wore looks of astonishment. They all knew Lu Ren had astonishing talent for weapon forging—it was the reason he, who had previously been looked down upon, was taken in by Elder Tie Fu as an Inner Disciple. But they had never imagined his weapon forging talent would be *this* good.
Elder Tie Fu had predicted he could forge a Half-Spirit Weapon within a year, but who would have thought that after only seven or eight months, Lu Ren had actually done it? His talent was shockingly strong.
Forget seven or eight months; for most disciples on Li Fire Peak who studied the Weapon Forging Skill, being able to forge a Half-Spirit Weapon within seven or eight *years* was considered decent. Most people would never be able to forge one in their entire lives.
"That talent... it’s truly powerful!" Hong Lei exclaimed with a sigh.
He had also practiced the Weapon Forging Skill, but he had given up after wasting several thousand taels of silver.