Chapter 829: The Free Cui Lang (2)

General Zhang knew that some people were scolding him inwardly, but he remained silent. He watched on with a gloomy expression. Even if he had really misunderstood Cui Lang, he could only leave after Cui Lang was done. Otherwise, this could very well develop into a blood feud.

Two more hours passed. At that moment, Su Yu roared and slammed his hammer down. The massive recoil blasted him away, sending him flying through the barrier and into the crowd.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Master Chen was a Mountainsea. When he saw that, he hurriedly flew up and caught Su Yu. The impact created a loud rumble and forced him several steps backward. Blood was seeping out of Su Yu's mouth.

Drop by drop, the blood dripped onto the ground. But the blood was not actually his. The cautious Su Yu had actually taken out some actual blood of Cui Lang right after General Zhang's intrusion and kept the blood pellet in his mouth.

That was a trick Niu Baidao taught him before he left Great Ming. With this trick, even when someone investigated his blood, they would only conclude that he was the real Cui Lang.

Niu Baidao would continue sealing Cui Lang away, making it impossible for even Invincibles to track the location of the real Cui Lang. The only thing an Invincible could conclude was that the blood belonged to Cui Lang.

And sure enough, General Zhang was tempted when he saw Su Yu's blood. He wouldn't be able to see much from Cui Lang's blood as that wasn't the blood of his son. But he could still find more new information from Cui Lang's blood.

He threw all caution to the wind and rushed forth. Placing his hand on Su Yu, he apologized, "My apologies, Master Cui. I was too rash earlier. I wasn't thinking straight..."

While saying that, he stealthily touched the blood with his finger. The bloodstain on his finger vanished immediately, as though he had not touched the blood at all.

Su Yu said nothing. Ignoring the general, he looked at the hammer floating in the air. The seventy-second stripe had completed its formation. After that, the glow on the stripes dimmed as the hammer dropped onto the ground.

The forging session had ended. There were seventy-two stripes on the weapon, but as Su Yu had been blown away at the final moment, the completion was imperfect.

Even so, Master Chen still appeared quite pleased. He said, "Seventy-two stripes. A pseudo earth weapon. Brother Cui, you might be able to complete your advancement in your next attempt..."

But Su Yu had an unsightly expression. He coughed and stood back up. He walked up to the hammer and picked it from the ground before turning to face General Zhang with an incomparably ugly expression.

"Cough. I...was planning to borrow the momentum of my advancement into the Cloudbreach Realm to forge seventy-three stripes. But the interruption forced me to complete my breakthrough in advance. As a result, I failed to forge the seventy-third stripe."

He clenched his teeth and casually tossed the hammer into the crowd, "It's yours. Damn it. My earth weapon was ruined!"

He was furious.

Meanwhile, the crowd was going crazy.

Pesudo earth weapon! Had that person gone mad? Numerous people rushed toward the hammer. Even General Zhang and Mayor Liu were tempted. This was an extremely valuable weapon!

Holy shit! What a willful individual. Were all weaponsmiths so willful? Just like that, he tossed a weapon of such quality away? Cui Lang had indeed promised to give his forged weapon away, but he had not specified the grade of the weapon. There was no need for this.

With a cold snort, Su Yu said, "If I was able to complete my breakthrough, I would have been able to give away an earth weapon. I only wanted an advancement, not a weapon. General, you owe me an explanation."

General Zhang hurriedly said, "Please don't misunderstand me, Master Cui. I—"

Su Yu interrupted the explanation with a snort. He said, "I'm only this calm because I'm confident I can finish my breakthrough in my next attempt. But that does not mean that we can put this behind us just by claiming that it is a misunderstanding."

Master Chen's attention was on a different matter as he hurriedly asked, "Brother Cui, can you really complete your breakthrough in your next attempt? Do you want to take a few days of rest before the attempt? You need a few Sunmoons as your dao protector if you're going to make an attempt to forge an earth weapon! I was too careless previously. I should have provided you with several Sunmoon dao protectors!"

But he had never imagined that this attempt would turn into an attempt to forge an earth weapon. That was the reason for the lack of protection.

Generally, one would always obtain the protection of several Sunmoons before attempting to forge an earth weapon. That was applicable to even Zhao Li. As his attempt was made within Great Xia, he had been under the protection of several Sunmoons the whole time.

Su Yu acted like he was forcing himself to calm down and said, "Thanks for the offer, Brother Chen. There is no need to trouble you. I will invite several Sunmoons myself for my next attempt. I'll consider this a lesson learned. I finally understand why all weaponsmiths will invite numerous friends over during their forging sessions. I had suffered from my inexperience. If I had been successful, I could have borrowed the momentum of the weapon completion to push my cultivation to the second or even the third stage of the Cloudbreach Realm. All my efforts have been for nothing..."

Master Chen also had a look of resentment as he said, "Truly a pity. This is such a rare opportunity. If one completes a weapon forging at the same time as an advancement in cultivation, one will indeed receive more reward from the weapon completion. But instead, not even your character managed to advance from the weapon completion..."

Su Yu helplessly said, "I didn't have the time for anything else. The interruption caused me to lose control over everything."

He looked extremely vexed and indignant. The other weaponsmiths were lower in status than Sunmoons, but they couldn't avoid feeling a sense of resentment and grief as well. Yes, as weaponsmiths, they might not be too strong in combat. But that was no reason to bully them like that!

How could a Sunmoon interrupt a forging process?

At this moment, a Mountainsea from the crowd managed to snatch the hammer for himself. The others wanted to keep fighting over the weapon, but they eventually gave up. It was inappropriate to get into a fight here.

The Mountainsea was overjoyed. What a great profit! Pseudo earth weapon! Sure, it was a cultural weapon, not a martial weapon. And the burly Mountainsea was a warrior, not cultural researcher. But he could easily sell this pseudo earth cultural weapon to purchase a proper earth martial weapon.

With a registration fee of ten merit points, he won a weapon worth more than ten thousand merit points. This felt incredible.

When he heard the conversation of the weaponsmiths, he hurriedly said, "Master Cui, the next time you forge a weapon, you only need to notify me and I will personally stand guard for you! I might only be a Mountainsea, but I am also willing to lend my little strength to you! I am a member of Great Song's Heavenly Wave Army."

Su Yu cupped his hands and showed a forceful smile as he said, "Thank you. But I doubt I'll feel like making another attempt anytime soon."

He looked very gloomy.

General Zhang could only apologize awkwardly. With a fawning smile, he said, "Master Cui, I was at fault. I wasn't thinking straight as my son died in Great Xia..."

Su Yu's expression changed slightly as he said, "You...sigh. My condolences. So that was the case. I did hear about it...are you...General Zhang He of Great Jin Army?"

"Yes." Zhang He had a bitter look as he said, "I just returned from Great Xia. When I heard about someone cleansing themselves in the Heart Calming Spring, I rushed over without thinking twice. I'm truly sorry, Master Cui."

"I see." Su Yu nodded, "I thought...forget it. I thought you did it deliberately to sever my path of weaponsmithing. I thought my grandfather-in-law sent you here. So it was a misunderstanding."

"..."

The others blanked out slightly. Grandfather-in-law? Who? Cheng Mo? Their hearts chilled. That was a ninth-stage Sunmoon powerhouse. True. Cui Lang was on the cusp of becoming an earth weaponsmith. If that person learned of this, he might really capture Cui Lang back.

He might look at Cui Lang with disdain previously, but he would be blind if he continued looking down on Cui Lang now. In that case, he should probably forget about marrying his granddaughter out since he was so blind.

Zhang He also felt a chill crept up his spine.

He hurriedly said, "Master Cui, I feel really bad for this. Will you be fine? I am willing to compensate you for all your losses. During your next attempt, I am willing to offer myself as your dao protector. I guarantee something similar won't happen!"

If it was concluded that he had severed Cui Lang's path, it would be over for him. That would really develop into a blood feud.

Su Yu said, "I guess my losses aren't that big. I did not expect success before the attempt. But the Heart Calming Spring was a lot more helpful than expected. I will take a break and stabilize my cultivation before my next attempt. I will most likely succeed."

His tone turned cold as he said, "I sympathize with you for losing your son, but I still need an explanation for this. After all, I am no saint. All the other weaponsmiths will look down on me for being such a coward. After all, if I allow this to become a precedent, it might happen to other weaponsmiths in the future as well. I will become a public enemy of all weaponsmiths."

Zhang He hurriedly said, "That is perfectly understandable. I was too rash. I will accept all punishment, Master Cui."

"You're a Sunmoon, so stop kidding with talks about punishment." Su Yu replied, "I only need you to compensate me with enough materials to forge an earth weapon. I will make a list and you will provide me with the materials on the list. I also need compensation for my emotional damage. I am generous so I'll settle with only twenty thousand merit points. I'm not asking for much. Money isn't that important. After all, we can't carry our money to the grave, right? We weaponsmiths can easily earn as much money as we want if we're really desperate. Thus, money is never an issue for us. This is acceptable, right?"

Zhang He's heart ached. Materials for an earth weapon and twenty thousand merit points. He would probably need to spend twenty or thirty thousand merit points to solve this issue. Was that cheap? Nope. But in the context of an advancement into the earth grade, this was actually a cheap price to pay.

Even as a Sunmoon, he would need to put in a lot of work to gather that much money. Not all Sunmoons were rich. After all, it also wasn't cheap to cultivate. There were plenty of impoverished Sunmoons around. The rich ones were mostly those who had been in the realm for a while.

"That is a very generous demand. It is acceptable for me."

Zhang He did not show any reluctance on his face. He was more than happy to buy his way out of this.

Su Yu indifferently said, "Also, since you already owe me one, I might as well get one extra help from you. That way, I don't need to trouble anyone else. I'll be traveling to the Allheaven Battlefield soon. Do you mind escorting me there?"

"..."

Zhang He blanked out slightly as he asked, "You're going to the Allheaven Battlefield?"

Master Chen hurriedly said, "Brother Cui, why are you going there? It's very dangerous!"

Instead of focusing on his advancement, why was he going to the battlefield?

Su Yu laughed, "I have several things to do there. Firstly, I wish to visit Heavenly Forge King and seek his guidance in weaponsmithing."

"..."

Silence descended.

After a short moment, Master Chen nodded with envy, "Yes. That is perfectly understandable. Heavenly Forge King will definitely be willing to see you. He might even accept you as a student on the spot. Yes. You should really pay him a visit."

Master Chen was not qualified to meet Heavenly Forge King. But that wasn't the case for Cui Lang. He was basically a pseudo earth weaponsmith. He might even be able to reach the earth grade before reaching the battlefield. Heavenly Forge King would be more than happy to meet such a young earth weaponsmith.

Zhang He was smiling happily, but inwardly, he was greatly worried. Was this Cui Lang trying to trick him into the battlefield before complaining about him to Heavenly Forge King?

This...

He wanted to say no, but he couldn't find an excuse to say it. Whatever. Even if Heavenly Forge King wanted to punish him, he was still a Sunmoon. And the incident was not deliberate. He had even agreed to compensate Cui Lang. Not even Heavenly Forge King would make things too difficult for him, right?