Chapter 108 - New Elder; Winter’s Arrival; Dragon-Fanged Spear - Part 2

That very day, Yan Yu began chatting up her circle of friends at a tea gathering about lowering the grain tax. The other wives all promised to discuss it at home.

Meanwhile, beside Silver Creek, an old-style boat rocked on the lake.

Li Yuan stood at the prow in a simple black robe with white trim, not his elder’s uniform but an outfit Yan Yu had picked out for him on one of her shopping trips.

He surveyed passersby, scanning for data with his special ability. None were remotely near Tie Sha’s level, which reassured him.

Being able to kill an opponent of Tie Sha's caliber in one stroke, should it come to that, allowed Li Yuan to breathe more easily in these turbulent times.

Before long, the boat brushed the shore. The boatman bowed respectfully. “Elder Li, safe travels.”

Li Yuan returned the gesture with a smile, scooping up a jar of wine before stepping onto the dock.

As he moved through the black market streets, people recognized him and paid their respects.

“Elder Li.”

“Good morning, Elder Li!”

No one called him Young Master Li anymore. That would be an insult now that he held equal rank with the sect’s enforcers.

Soon, Li Yuan reached the north gate of the black market, where he spotted an old man idling around in a small, unnamed pavilion. He strode over, wine jar in hand.

Senior Li barely turned his head but obviously recognized his disciple’s footsteps. Eyes half-lidded, the old man chuckled. “Well, well, so you’re an elder now, but I see you’re not wearing the official robes. Instead, you’re in plain clothes?”

Li Yuan dropped down next to him and cracked the seal on the jar.

Senior Li produced two cups from within his sleeve, and Li Yuan filled them both. The older man took his cup with practiced ease.

Then Senior Li quipped, “Not bad. So you’ve even ascended to elder. Why not flaunt the new status?”

Taking a swig himself, Li Yuan answered, “Don’t tease me, Master. I’m already in over my head; no need to drape myself in a tiger’s skin any further. Actually, I brought you my last jar of aged Springdream Brew, a bit of vintage from the tavern. Figured I’d share it with you.”

Senior Li laughed heartily, but his gaze held a complex mix of emotions as he regarded his disciple.

He couldn’t see through Li Yuan, no matter how he tried. Something must have happened for Tie Sha to appoint him as an elder.

Senior Li knew full well who Tie Sha was. If not for their remote corner of the world...if only Tie Sha’s cultivation had reached above seventh rank...he’d have been a warlord of considerable ambition.

For Tie Sha to choose Li Yuan, there had to be a reason, something that made him worthy of the position. Why was Li Yuan worthy?

The alliance of the Sun and Wei families had lain hidden, baited away Tie Sha, then stormed the inner district. They’d nearly succeeded, only to be shattered in one stroke, all credited to the mysterious Blood Blade Patriarch.

But did Li Yuan have any connection to this patriarch?

Or could it be...?

A flicker of shock and disbelief lit Senior Li’s eyes. His throat bobbed, and he looked up abruptly at the young man before him, whose eyes were clear and guileless as he raised his winecup.

Impossible

, Senior Li thought with a wry internal laugh. Then another voice in the back of his head whispered,

Is it really impossible, though?

Ultimately, what did it matter?

“Master?” Li Yuan held out his cup with both hands.

Senior Li lifted his own cup.

Li Yuan lightly tapped the bottom of it, downing his drink in one go. He grinned. “Nothing beats sharing a drink with you.”

Senior Li smiled back. He asked a few questions about Li Yuan’s progress with his blade, then said quietly, “The black market’s been seeing more items lately. You should drop by when you can.”

He took another sip of wine, voice dropping to a near-murmur. “They’ve stopped letting just anyone see the registration ledger, but if you want to look, come find me at dusk. I’ll sneak it to you. You just bring it back when you’re done.”

“Thank you, Master,” Li Yuan said. He’d never forgotten the favor that Senior Li had shown him. Senior Li had personally taken him as a student back when he was just a nameless disciple, guided him, and even looked out for him beyond their formal lessons.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Half a month later.

Li Yuan was casually strolling the black market in disguise, wearing a mask, high-heeled boots, and a heavy cloak stuffed with padding. Before long, he reached a certain stall and started browsing the goods; he’d spent the previous evening studying the ledger in advance.

He picked up one of the books and casually flipped through the pages several times, drawing the ire of the rough-looking vendor in blue robes. Then, he pointed to one volume as though at random. “You sure this isn’t fake?”

“Just a copy, from a faraway place,” the vendor snapped. “Selling fakes here would be asking for trouble. I’ve been around this market more than once, you know.

“But listen, since it’s just a copy, don’t come crying if you can’t make it work. At least I can vouch that learning the basics should be fine. Anything beyond that is up to you.”

Li Yuan nodded inwardly, well aware that many advanced skills sold in this market were copies. Still, a single good copy could hold hidden gems, just like his Spring-Autumn Blade. This particular manual detailed a spear skill spanning ninth to seventh rank. That alone made it rare.

After a quick scan, he asked, “How much?”

“300 taels of gold.” The vendor eyed him.

“Any chance you can go lower?” Li Yuan palmed a few gold nuggets. As he circulated his abundant blood energy, his hand almost turned black with power. Under that crushing force, the gold softened, twisting into a braided strand.

Seeing this display and the potent aura Li Yuan wasn’t bothering to hide, the man swallowed. He himself was no slouch at eighth rank, but he realized he might be facing a stranger at seventh rank. “So...how much did you plan to offer?” he asked.

“100 taels of gold,” Li Yuan replied.

“That’s too cheap,” the vendor protested. “No way.”

“Look around. This isn’t some major underworld bazaar. There aren’t many spearmen here, and even if they do use spears, most have their own family skills. If you insist on lugging a bunch of skill manuals around from place to place, who knows when you’ll sell them? Maybe you’ll run into trouble first.”

The vendor frowned but never took his eyes off Li Yuan’s hand, still simmering with lethal intent. Perhaps concluding Li Yuan was a formidable seventh rank fighter, he abruptly said, “Then how about I sweeten the deal and sell it to you for 50 taels, Senior?”

“What...?” Li Yuan stared at the man incredulously. He’d expected to go through the usual game of haggling back and forth, so this was a surprise.

With a nervous chuckle, the man introduced himself, “My name’s Chen Shuang. Please look out for me.”

Without another word, Li Yuan tossed him 100 taels of gold. “Not a coin less,” he said. He tucked the manual into his cloak and strode off.

Two would-be pickpockets who’d been trailing him, having witnessed his show of strength, quickly backed down and vanished.

Li Yuan quietly took note of their faces.

They never used to tail people so openly before

, he thought. The market wasn’t this crowded either.

He cast a glance at the expanding sea of strangers. More outsiders, meaning the shockwaves from the Central Plains were reaching here too.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

A few days later.

Li Yuan returned under a different disguise—his posture slightly hunched, leaning on a cane. Having checked in the ledger what new items would be available today, he went straight to his target stall.

He riffled through the merchant’s displayed manuals and sighed in a rasping voice, “Might as well buy something to burn for Brother Gu, so he can fulfill his dream in the afterlife.”

He looked up at the vendor. “Boss, what’s the price?”

It was a seventh rank beast taming skill manual, rare and usually hard to sell. The stall owner was surprised anyone would want it so soon.

With practiced zeal, he began haggling with Li Yuan, who wove a tale about how his late friend had always dreamed of becoming a respected beastmaster, only to fail in life.

Now, Li Yuan wanted to

burn

the manual for him to study in the underworld.

The vendor pretended to be deeply touched by Li Yuan’s story, while Li Yuan mercilessly haggled the price down.

Ultimately, Li Yuan snagged the seventh rank beast taming skill for a mere 50 taels of gold, which was dirt cheap for something usually going for around 1,000 taels of silver.

The reasons were straightforward. First, few people actually wanted this skill; second, a copied manual was typically incomplete. Even if one could learn the basics, reaching true mastery was next to impossible.

Returning to the inner district, Li Yuan made his way to Residence No. 9, having moved out of his old No. 38.

This new home was more lavish, closer to the demon enclosure, puppet pavilion, and the Blood Fury Hall. It also included a proper cultivation chamber, spacious and soundproof enough that no one outside could hear even if you went crazy swinging a sledgehammer around.

It was in that chamber that Li Yuan now stood. A shaft of golden light fell through a small skylight, illuminating two books laid out before him.

One was the spear manual titled

Heaven-Turning Spear

, though its cover had been defaced and renamed at some point; the original text had been scratched out, replaced with four hastily inscribed characters. It was likely not called Heaven-Turning Spear at all.

Senior Li had hinted the black market he monitored was fairly upright about skill manuals. If a seller claimed it ran from ninth rank basics up to seventh rank, one could at least count on reaching the entry level.

The other was a beast taming manual called Great Avian Training Rd. Despite the odd name, it offered a different focus from the Wilderness Demon Taming he’d learned before.

“Since I still can’t find any life chronicles, I’ll keep broadening my skills in the meantime,” Li Yuan mused.

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the spear propped against the wall.

Whoosh!

The tip quivered, its blood-red tassel shaking out in midair.

Li Yuan’s grip was firm, his expression resolute. His mastery of Spring-Autumn Blade, and the creation of City Toppler, had given him tremendous confidence.

Day by day, he was coming to understand the interplay between

skills

and

martial cultivation techniques

.

Cultivation techniques were the root of one’s power. Ordinary people had mundane blood; when they swung a blade or spear, they relied solely on muscle and reflex.

Martial artists, however, cultivated shadow blood, which demanded specific

pathways

in their body to execute skills effectively.

Without specialized training, one could only perform simple acts, such as forming a blood veil, but not advanced abilities.

Real skills required guiding that shadow blood along a unique pathway, essentially programming your energy flow to manifest a skill.

Most martial artists never glimpsed these hidden pathways; only someone like Li Yuan, who had fully mastered all three forms of the Spring-Autumn Blade—and fused them into City Toppler, touching the apex of seventh rank—could faintly perceive the shape of a skill’s flow.

Even so, he only fully sensed the

blade

pathway in his body right now. That didn’t stop him from practicing both the spear and beast taming skills day and night.