“Teacher!” As soon as she recovered, Luo Qiqi immediately got up and clasped her fist.
Immersed in her previous state of enlightenment, she was unaware that Zhang Xuan had gone through a Celestial Master Teacher acknowledgement. However, her understanding toward pill forging and smithing had improved significantly.
Her previous talent in smithing could only be considered as slightly above average, but with her current understanding, she was confident that she would be able to best those famous geniuses from the Blacksmith School as well!
“Not bad!”
Seeing the other party’s spirited gaze, Zhang Xuan knew that the other party must have benefited greatly from her state of enlightenment, so he nodded in satisfaction.
No matter what, the other party was his student. As her teacher, he would feel pride at her improvement.
“Teacher, thank you for your guidance!”
Luo Qiqi knelt down and kowtowed in gratitude.
Hu!
Just as Zhang Xuan was about to help the other party up, the Library of Heaven’s Path jolted, and the Book of Heaven’s Path appeared.
A golden page was within in.
Zhang Xuan had tried to create it previously when he was attacked by the puppet but to no avail. To think that it would appear now!
‘This is great…’
With this golden page, he would surely be able to turn that puppet into minced meat and escape without worry.
‘It seems like my conjecture was right. Only gratitude derived from the impartation of knowledge can induce the golden page!’ Zhang Xuan nodded.
He had won Luo Qiqi’s gratitude previously by stalling the puppet and allowing her to get away, but the golden page hadn’t been produced.
All of this was pointing to one fact—only gratitude earned from accomplishing his duty as a teacher would trigger the golden page. Anything other than that was ineffective.
“Stand up. Since you have managed to smith a weapon with quality exceeding Spirit high-tier, let’s see if you can receive Wu Yangzi’s heritage and find the escape route!”
Seeing the golden page, Zhang Xuan’s mood lifted. He hurriedly helped the lady up, before flicking his wrist and placing the Glacier Rain Sword on the platform before the Crimson Blaze Cauldron.
Jiyaya!
Having seemingly assessed that the quality of the sword had met the standard, the stone platform shook, and the voice from the Mechanical Recorder sounded once more.
“Congratulations, you have forged a weapon exceeding Spirit high-tier. As such, you’re qualified to become my student, and I’ll impart my life’s work to you!”
Hu!
As he spoke those words, the ground before him trembled, and a stone pedestal slowly surfaced.
To think that there was a mechanism below the stone chamber as well!
“On the stone pedestal, there’s a total of three objects. First, there is a manual on the forging technique that I created through consolidating the essence of my understanding of smithing, Zither Forging Technique. Second, there is my physical body cultivation technique, Quintuple Incandescence Golden Body. Last but not least, my experience here and the exit route!
“Even though I was trapped here, I didn’t feel the slightest anger or hatred at all. Instead, by devoting all of my attention to smithing, I was able to forget my sorrows instead… However, it was a pity that there is a limit to a man’s lifespan. My ultimate goal of forging a Saint weapon remains out of my reach even as I approach the end of my life, and it will forever remain my greatest regret.
“I hope that after receiving my heritage, you can accomplish my wish and smith a Saint weapon using my ‘Zither Forging Technique’ so as to appease my soul in the heavens above. This way… I’ll be able to rest in peace.
“If you are willing, make a vow and I’ll reveal an important piece of information to you. This information concerns a treasure left behind from ancient ruins, and if you manage to obtain it, there will be no problem reaching Sainthood!”
“Reaching Sainthood?”
Glancing at one another, Zhang Xuan and Luo Qiqi’s breathing hastened.
Transcendent Mortal 9-dan Chrysalis realm was also known as the Embryonic realm, Nascent Heart realm, or Golden Core realm.
The main purpose of that realm was to gather the entirety of one’s cultivation to form an Origin Embryo. Once the formation of the Origin Embryo was complete, one would be able to surpass one’s limitation and achieve Sainthood.
The formation of the Origin Embryo was the final, as well as the greatest, hurdle that Transcendent Mortals would face, and many found themselves unable to overcome this challenge.
Considering how this object provided a ticket to reaching Sainthood, its value was indeed immeasurable.
“I agree!”
After glancing at Zhang shi and receiving his approval, Luo Qiqi stepped forward and bowed deeply to the pedestal to signify that her acknowledgement as of Grandmaster Wu Yangzi as her teacher.
Zhang Xuan was Luo Qiqi’s apothecary teacher. While he did impart the art of smithing to the latter as well, he didn’t accept the latter as his disciple, so there were no qualms with her acknowledging another as her teacher.
Not to mention, a precious treasure and a heritage were at stake here.
After making her vows, the voice in the Mechanical Recorder finally continued speaking.
“Since you have made a vow, I will reveal the secret to you now. I have left most of my treasures and the information beneath my old mansion. At the Three Stars of the Earth Dragon, you just have to put down three formation flags according to the Three Stars, and the items will surface automatically!”
The voice came to a halt.
“Three Stars of the Earth Dragon? Old mansion?”
Zhang Xuan and Luo Qiqi stared at one another, and they nearly fainted from anger.
Are you taking us for a fool?
It has been two thousand years since you died, who in the world would know where your old mansion was? Also, what the heck is the Three Stars of the Earth Dragon?
Given that this cryptic message was left behind on a Mechanical Recorder, there was no way they could ask about it, and this only left them even more frustrated.
To reveal the existence of a treasure to them but not identify the location clearly, just the thought of it left the duo light-headed.
“Considering how Wu Yangzi was captured and brought here, there’s no way of telling who would challenge his trial and obtain his heritage. As such, it’s understandable that he would speak in riddles!”
Even though Zhang Xuan was frustrated, he could understand the rationale behind the other party’s actions.
Given that Wu Yangzi was brought here against his will, any precious treasures that were on him must have been already taken away by his captors. Considering how his captors had the easiest access to this stone chamber, there was a high chance that they would have uncovered this information and claimed the treasure for themselves should the clue be too direct.
Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but ask, “But… where is his old mansion?”
“I have no idea either. However, if I recall correctly, Grandmaster Wu Yangzi used to live in Hongyuan Capital, the city where Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy is located.” Luo Qiqi thought for a moment before continuing. “I’ll check the records after I return to the academy. It has only been two thousand years, so I should be able to uncover some traces of it!”
“Un!”
Zhang Xuan nodded.
Two thousand years might be a long time to a small kingdom like Tianxuan Kingdom, and immense changes could happen to it in that timeframe, but to a massive behemoth like Hongyuan Empire, the effects of the passing of two thousand years wasn’t as obvious.
Tier 1 Empires had Saint realm experts, and considering how they possessed a lifespan of around a thousand years, a span of two thousand years could only be considered as the passing of two to three generations. Thus, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find Wu Yangzi’s old mansion.
“Let’s take a look at his heritage.”
Since they couldn’t access the treasure stuck in this underground chamber, there was no use thinking about it for now. Thus, Zhang Xuan gestured for Luo Qiqi to look at the items on the stone pedestal.
Luo Qiqi nodded and walked toward the stone pedestal.
Of the three items that Wu Yangzi left behind, she reached out for the third one immediately—the way to escape from here.
Naturally, their survival took precedence over everything else.
“Teacher!”
Luo Qiqi passed the book over.
“Un!” Taking the book, Zhang Xuan flipped through it casually before a bizarre expression appeared on his face.
Seeing Zhang Xuan’s expression, Luo Qiqi’s face tensed.
“What’s wrong, teacher? Is there no way to leave here?”
It would truly be a disaster if they couldn’t get out, but Zhang Xuan smiled reassuringly.
“Don’t worry, there’s a way out. It’s just that I saw something interesting. It seems like Grandmaster Wu Yangzi is a very different person from how we thought he was…”
“Different?” Luo Qiqi was perplexed.
“You should take a look yourself.”
Zhang Xuan passed the book over to Luo Qiqi.
Confused, Luo Qiqi took the book and browsed through it. After she was done, a bizarre expression appeared on her face as well.
Having expected this, Zhang Xuan chuckled softly.
Wu Yangzi was captured and brought to this underground chamber by the Otherworldly Demons.
In other words, this underground chamber was a lair for the Otherworldly Demons!
The Otherworldly Demons had once enjoyed great prestige ruling over the other races, including the humans. Yet, they had been forced to hide within remote places where the sun didn’t reach just to survive. Naturally, they would seek to return to where they had once stood.
As such, the first stone tablet inscribed with ‘Yearning Abode Lodge’ actually reflected their wish instead of Wu Yangzi’s.
This was the reason why the three words carried the unique killing intent of Otherworldly Demons.
This underground chamber was constructed by the Otherworldly Demons to avoid the pursuit of human cultivators, and it housed dozens of their brethren. Due to the skillful construction of the underground chamber, it didn’t feel stifling despite the size of their group.
As for why they had chosen to capture Wu Yangzi, the reason was simple. This bunch of Otherworldly Demons had hidden from the Master Teacher Pavilion for many millenniums, but due to their limited populace, they could only cross-marry, and this resulted in a degeneration in their genes, thus limiting their ability to reproduce. As such, their populace declined steadily, and they slowly approached extinction.
To resolve this problem, they decided to capture Wu Yangzi, who was renowned for his proficiency in smithing and mechanisms then, to temper their bodies and prolong their lifespan.
The idea was good, but… how could tempering one’s body and prolonging one’s lifespan be easy?
Putting aside how Wu Yangzi was only a 6-star blacksmith, even an 8-star or 9-star blacksmith wouldn’t be able to achieve this feat!
Otherwise, that person would surely become renowned across the entire Master Teacher Continent, and countless people would flock to him in hopes of prolonging their lifespan.
Who would willingly accept death when there was an opportunity to live on?
As such, Wu Yangzi was captured and locked within this stone chamber. While it was vast, it did little to reduce the fact that it was a prison. The only way to escape this stone chamber was through the narrow stone door, but so long as someone was guarding it, it was impossible to escape.
Losing his freedom, even if he had smithing to accompany him, frustration and loneliness would surely slowly gnaw at him. As such, ‘Burying Sorrow’ was incomprehensible.
But through this book, Zhang Xuan learned why Wu Yangzi granted this stone chamber such a name.
The Otherworldly Demons who captured him wanted Wu Yangzi to temper their bodies and prolong their longevity… and that fellow was indeed tenacious. He went through all of the trouble and used every means at his disposal to temper their bodies to make them nigh indestructible…
But at the same time… while tempering their bodies, Wu Yangzi also robbed them of their consciousness, turning them into puppets who could only obey orders.
In other words… the puppet outside was actually one of the Otherworldly Demons who kidnapped Grandmaster Wu Yangzi, and it ended up being forged into nothing more than a puppet!
Wu Yangzi knew that the Otherworldly Demons would never allow him to escape, so he designed a mechanism to secretly release the weapons he forged out into the world. He intended for them to trace his location through those weapons and organize a party to save him… but who knew that this wait would take him more than two thousand years!
In these two thousand years, all of the Otherworldly Demons, except for those who had been tempered into mere puppets, had all died. This was the reason why the underground chamber seemed to be completely empty when their group entered.
Eventually, as Wu Yangzi’s lifespan approached its limit, he began to accept the fact that he might not be able to escape, so he decided to leave his heritage here. As for the puppet outside, it was probably the guard in charge of looking after Wu Yangzi’s chamber and preventing him from leaving. Considering how all of the Otherworldly Demons had died out, it was probably still in the midst of fulfilling the last command issued to it.
“This…”
Luo Qiqi was in disbelief.
Wu Yangzi was known to be an upright and honorable man. Who would have thought that he could be so scheming?
To actually turn the Otherworldly Demons that had captured him into puppets… he sure was vicious!
In a sense, this was as good as committing genocide!
