Chapter 308: Confucian Sect (II)

In the afternoon, just as Lin Zheyu was about to go out for a stroll, a knock sounded at the door. When he opened it, he saw three men who looked quite unfamiliar, with Huang Youwei standing beside them, grinning.

"Are you Lin Zheyu, who is about to become a disciple under Sect Master Huang?" the leading man asked as he sized Lin Zheyu up and down.

"That is correct. May I ask how I should address you?" Lin Zheyu asked.

This man’s aura was not weak, but compared to Luo Dinglong from before, he was clearly inferior. He should not be the Boyi that Huang Youwei had mentioned.

"My name is Chang Dachun. I have come specifically to seek some guidance and see your strength for myself," Chang Dachun said calmly.

He was the disciple of Huang Baizhong’s disciple and of the same generation as Huang Youwei. Upon learning that Sect Master Huang Baizhong had taken in another disciple, leaving him with an inexplicable new martial uncle, he felt quite displeased yet helpless. Thus, he came to challenge the other party and see his strength for himself.

"Aren’t you supposed to bring that Boyi over?" Lin Zheyu turned his head and looked at Huang Youwei beside him.

"Senior Brother Boyi had something to attend to and went out. Senior Brother Dachun is extremely powerful, so you can spar with him first. If you cannot even defeat Senior Brother Dachun, then there will be no need for Senior Brother Boyi to make a move," Huang Youwei said with a smile.

"

Oh

, then come in." Lin Zheyu stepped back two paces and made an inviting gesture. He walked to the center of the courtyard and looked at Chang Dachun. He said, "You should make the first move; otherwise, you will not get the chance later."

"

Hmph

, how arrogant!" Chang Dachun snorted coldly as his true intent pressure surged forth. He stepped forward, and his blood qi rushed through his body.

Whoosh.

He then struck out with his palm. The howling palm wind carried a trace of scorching aura as it slammed toward Lin Zheyu’s face.

Bang!

The corner of Chang Dachun’s mouth lifted slightly as his palm descended toward Lin Zheyu’s face. In that instant, his expression changed drastically. Lin Zheyu, who had been standing there, vanished from his sight in a flash. Immediately after, intense pain erupted in his chest as a dull sound rang out. Chang Dachun was blasted backward by tremendous force and sent flying. With a heavy thud, he crashed onto the ground in a miserable state.

"Thank you for showing restraint," Lin Zheyu said.

At this moment, his temperament changed drastically. From the harmless and refined scholarly aura he had before, he instantly became overwhelmingly domineering, fierce, and powerful. He swept his gaze over the remaining few and said calmly, "Do you want to come up and try as well?"

"N-no."

The few of them shook their heads frantically. Huang Youwei, whose strength was the weakest, could not help but swallow in anxiety. Lin Zheyu was too strong. Chang Dachun’s strength was already considered decent within the Marrow Refining realm, yet he had not even the slightest ability to resist. The gap between them was simply far too great.

"Is there anything else?" Lin Zheyu asked.

"No, nothing."

The group helped Chang Dachun up from the ground and quickly rushed out through the door.

"

Huh

? You are not leaving?" Lin Zheyu looked at the Huang Youwei who remained and asked curiously. Huang Youwei had never been fond of this suddenly appearing martial uncle, so logically, he should have left together with Chang Dachun and the others.

"Why should I leave? Yuqing, bring tea." Huang Youwei snorted, sat down by himself at the stone table beside the courtyard, and instructed Yuqing to serve tea.

"

Oh

, then you can drink tea here. I will go out for a stroll," Lin Zheyu said. The domineering true intent pressure receded as he once again returned to an unremarkable state, carrying a trace of refined and gentle bearing.

"Where are you going?" Huang Youwei sprang to his feet.

"I am going to the forging workshop to take a look and find a craftsman to make a set of heavy armor," Lin Zheyu said.

"Going now will be useless. The craftsmen in the forging workshop only forge weapons for Wuji Sect disciples. You have not joined the sect yet and do not have an identity token, so you cannot forge weapons there. However, if I am with you, there will be no problem." Huang Youwei chuckled and said, If you agree to help me with one thing in the future, I will have the craftsmen forge something for you. How about it?"

"No. At worst, I will just wait a few more days before going to the workshop," Lin Zheyu shrugged and said.

He did not know what scheme this fellow was plotting. Agreeing to conditions just to have the other party help him forge armor would be foolish.

"Hey, don't reject so quickly. Fine, then you do not need to agree to help me. I will let the forging workshop help you forge it for free, alright?" Huang Youwei said hurriedly.

"What are you plotting?" Lin Zheyu asked curiously.

He did not believe Huang Youwei would be so kind. Then Lin Zheyu suddenly recalled that when Huang Youwei had witnessed his strength earlier, his eyes had suddenly lit up. Perhaps this fellow had used Chang Dachun to test his strength.

Could it be that Huang Youwei intends to have me act as his enforcer?

Lin Zheyu speculated, feeling it was highly likely.

"Nothing, nothing! Elder Yang instructed me to familiarize you with the sect, so I must do my duty wholeheartedly," Huang Youwei said with a grin.

"Alright then. By the way, what status does Elder Yang hold within the sect? Why does everyone respect him so much, even Sect Master Huang?" Lin Zheyu asked curiously.

"Elder Yang is the former Grand Elder of Azure Tide Pavilion and once possessed Grandmaster realm strength. Later, he suffered severe injuries and his strength dropped to the peak of the Force Transformation realm. In terms of seniority, my grandfather has to address Elder Yang as grand martial uncle. What status do you think he has?" Huang Youwei said.

Hearing this, Lin Zheyu could not help feeling surprised. He had not expected Elder Yang’s status to be so high.

"How old is Elder Yang this year?" Lin Zheyu asked curiously.

"Probably over two hundred and thirty or two hundred and forty. I do not know the exact number," Huang Youwei said.

Over two hundred years old. At such an age, and still so powerful. How terrifying must his strength have been in his youth,

Lin Zheyu sighed inwardly.

At such an advanced age, it was no wonder Elder Yang’s insight was so sharp. Even with the Ninefold Origin Lock Art and the Tortoise Breath True Technique in use, Lin Zheyu had still been seen through to a considerable extent.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Soon, the two arrived at the forging workshop. Along the way, Huang Youwei was very courteous and proactively introduced various people and things within the sect to Lin Zheyu. His attitude was a hundred times better than when he had first encountered Lin Zheyu.

"Is Li Sheng free? Have him help me forge..." Huang Youwei turned his head and asked, "Young Master Lin, what was it you wanted to forge again?"

"Heavy armor for wearing as weighted gear during training. It needs to be designed as detachable, with the full set weighing three thousand kilograms." Lin Zheyu roughly described his requirements.

"Alright, do it according to Young Master Lin’s specifications." Huang Youwei took out his identity token and had the person in charge register the information.

"Sir, everything has been registered. You may come to collect it at this time, three days from now," the person in charge returned the token and said respectfully.

"Many thanks," Lin Zheyu said.

"

Heh

, no need to be polite. Come on, I will introduce you to a few friends of the Wuji Sect...

Uh

, forget it. You are going to become my grandfather’s disciple in the future. It would be rather awkward to go and socialize with them now." Huang Youwei stopped midway and shook his head, deciding not to bring Lin Zheyu to meet his friends.

At this moment, facing Lin Zheyu felt somewhat strange to him. He looked so young and had not yet joined the sect. Calling him martial uncle felt impossible, yet calling him Brother Lin would be improper in terms of seniority. In the end, after some thought, he settled on addressing him as Young Master Lin. Once Lin Zheyu truly passed the heart inquiry and temperament aptitude examination and officially became a disciple under Huang Baizhong, it would not be too late to change his form of address then.

***

In the blink of an eye, three days passed, yet Sect Master Huang Baizhong had still not returned. Lin Zheyu lived quite comfortably within the Wuji Sect. Life here was stable and peaceful, and the sect had everything one could need. Each day after finishing his training, he would stroll around under Huang Youwei’s company.

That afternoon, he collected the newly forged heavy armor from the forging workshop. The craftsmen of the Wuji Sect forging workshop were highly skilled, and the armor was extremely comfortable to wear. Unfortunately, he had not yet joined the Wuji Sect and had not learned a powerful concealment technique. Within a sect filled with experts, if he were to release the Ninefold Origin Lock Art, there was a high chance of being exposed.

"Young Master Huang, may I ask whether there are any places in Wuling City that sell rare or unusual techniques?" Lin Zheyu asked.

Recently, Huang Youwei often came around to ingratiate himself and build a good relationship, dropping by from time to time. Lin Zheyu had reason to suspect that this fellow had taken a liking to his strength and was laying the groundwork so he could ask for help in the future. Still, having Huang Youwei around did save Lin Zheyu a great deal of trouble.

"Didn’t you just obtain the Great Strength Vajra Fist? This technique is extremely extraordinary and can be used as a complementary technique to the Azure Tide Boundless True Technique. A martial artist’s energy is limited. After entering the sect, it is best to focus your efforts on your primary cultivation technique and not waste too much thought on other techniques," Huang Youwei advised.

This was also what his father had taught him since childhood. A martial artist’s energy was limited, and if it was divided too much, the most likely outcome would be achieving nothing at all. This was also why, at the Marrow Refining realm, few genius martial artists devoted much effort to lightness and movement techniques. Only those whose strength could no longer advance, who had lost the possibility of growing stronger, or who had passed their rapid growth period would develop in other directions.

"I am not buying them to cultivate, I am simply curious about those techniques. By studying different techniques, especially some rare and unusual ones, one can broaden one’s horizons, deepen one's understanding of martial cultivation, the body, essence, qi, spirit, and also enrich martial cultivation knowledge. Sect Master Huang does not seem to be returning anytime soon, so I plan to see if there are any interesting techniques to buy and study during my spare time," Lin Zheyu explained.

"So that is the case. In that case, the black market in Wuling City has them. You can find all kinds of rare and strange ones there," Huang Youwei said.

"The black market? Is it the kind of black market that ordinary people cannot enter?" Lin Zheyu asked.

Not long after arriving in Wuling City, he had already learned of the location of the city’s black market, but the items there were only useful to martial artists below the fourth transformation of blood qi.

"Of course. Black markets are also divided by level. That black market can only be entered once one’s status and standing reach a certain level. The threshold is very high, but the level of secrecy is also extremely high, making it convenient to sell certain forbidden items inside," Huang Youwei said with a smile. "In a couple of days, it will be the opening day of the black market. I will take you in to have a look then."