Chapter 802: Smelting Bronze

Chu Liang and the others carried away the small iron-eating beast, who had fallen unconscious.

Only Wen Yuan and Lu Cang remained in the mountain cave.

After a brief silence, Lu Cang was the first to speak.

"It appears that we made the right choice back then. It was indeed better for you to become the leader of the Mount Shu Sect instead of me."

At last, his tone carried some emotion; he seemed a bit sentimental.

"I want to know... What did you experience during these past hundred-odd years?" Wen Yuan asked.

The Lu Cang he remembered had been headstrong, arrogant, confident, and unbridled. Dauntless and full of ambition, he had exuded the grand and heroic air of an immortal sect’s prodigy. He had been determined to lead the Mount Shu Sect and restore it to greatness.

But now, Lu Cang was like a cold river stone, visibly devoid of any emotion.

What kind of experiences could change a person so much that even their very nature was altered?

"It cannot be spoken," Lu Cang said firmly, shaking his head.

"Then why did our esteemed teacher make you leave back then?"

Lu Cang considered the question for a moment before slowly answering, "Every few hundred years, the Divine Ruins Monastery demands prodigious disciples from certain immortal sects to serve as monastery guardians. Each guardian can request one thing from the Divine Ruins Monastery in exchange. It is essentially a trade."

"What did the Mount Shu Sect get in exchange for giving you up?" Wen Yuan asked. "Do I have the right to know?"

"You do," Lu Cang replied. After a brief pause, he continued, "The Divine Ruins Monastery cannot directly interfere with the world. It can only provide a path to achieve the request, without guaranteeing success—only offering hope.

"Back then, my father requested for the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda."

Caught off guard, Wen Yuan's gaze wavered. "

Eh?

"

Lu Cang's next words surprised him again. "The Divine Ruins Monastery’s reply to him was... 'Wait.'"

Wen Yuan repeated, "Wait?"

Lu Cang explained, "The monastery said that the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda would inevitably return to the Mount Shu Sect, but the timing was uncertain. It could be a few days or tens of thousands of years later.

"My father feared that if future disciples learned of this, they would lose their drive and wait idly for the pagoda’s return. So, he hid this from you, hoping you would rely on your own strength to uphold the sect. The truth speaks for itself; you and the sect have done well."

Wen Yuan remained silent for a moment and thought,

He’s right.

The sect had faced many difficult times over the years. If Wen Yuan had known that the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda might return, he would have abandoned many of the risky choices he had made. However, in doing so, the Mount Shu Sect would have inevitably lost everything it had gained in its relentless pursuit of stability.

My esteemed teacher told me, "As long you persist, it will survive."

Did he encourage me to never give up on our sect, no matter how difficult and dangerous things might become, because he knew our sect’s beacon of hope would return sooner or later?

Wen Yuan was glad to have learned this only now, as the Mount Shu Sect no longer needed to suffer an agonizing wait for the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda’s return. The Mount Shu Sect had already ushered in a new dawn, thriving and basking in a different kind of glory.

Lu Cang looked in the direction where Chu Liang and the others had gone. "Mount Shu... seems to have found a new path."

"Indeed." Wen Yuan smiled. "Mount Shu’s beacon of hope is not the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda but Chu Liang."

This time, it was Lu Cang’s turn to be surprised. "You hold him in such high regard...?"

He knew that Chu Liang was a genius, but he hadn’t expected Wen Yuan to place him on the same level as the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda.

"If you were the sect leader, you would understand why I value him so much," Wen Yuan said with a deeper smile. "I have one last question."

Lu Cang turned to look at him.

Wen Yuan asked, "If Mount Shu faces trouble in the future, can I mention your name?"

Wen Yuan was a master at making connections in the world of immortality cultivators. It was precisely because of those good bonds he had developed that he had managed to thrive over the years.

Mount Shu does not have a legendary artifact, but I can call upon my friends who do. Likewise, even though we don’t have many eighth-realm cultivators, I can invite eighth-realm Eminent Ones from elsewhere to lend us a hand.

The Divine Ruins Monastery was isolated from the world, so it wouldn’t be possible to summon people over from there as reinforcements. However, sometimes, merely mentioning connections was enough to resolve some issues. If the Mount Shu Sect ever encountered trouble, just saying that he had ties with a member of the Divine Ruins Monastery would make even the top immortal sects think twice.

Nevertheless, Lu Cang rolled his eyes in response.

"No."

...

On the way back from the Jiuli Hidden Realm, Chu Liang stood on the deck of the Lianglong, lost in thought.

What did Lu Cang mean?

"Be careful of Penglai..."

Everyone knew that the Mount Shu Sect and the Penglai Supreme Sect had a strained relationship. That was especially evident when Chu Liang killed Qi Lin'er, and Daoist Cangsheng personally took action in retaliation against him.

Since then, Chu Liang had not dared to leave Mount Shu in his corporeal body. The main reason was to guard against the demon race, but the secondary reason was out of concern that the Penglai Supreme Sect would attack him again.

Nonetheless, if that was all, then Lu Cang wouldn't have needed to warn him. Despite being isolated in the Divine Ruins Monastery, Lu Cang seemed to know about everything that was happening in the world. So, he should have known that Chu Liang was already being very cautious.

In other words... he’s saying I’m not being careful enough.

Chu Liang suddenly turned to Jiang Yuebai and said, "I have an idea."

Jiang Yuebai was stroking the iron-eating beast. Hearing Chu Liang’s words, she looked up and asked, "Hmm? What?"

This trip to the Jiuli Hidden Realm had prevented a great catastrophe, but the actual gains were rather meager—just Lu Cang’s cryptic warning and this furry, chubby little creature.

Before Chu Liang could explain, someone knocked on the door of the ship’s cabin.

Knock, knock, knock.

Chu Liang burst into laughter. "Senior Brother Xu, you don’t need to do that when you're coming

out

of the cabin..."

Seriously.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

He had heard of knocking before entering a room, but this was the first time he had seen someone knock before leaving. Xu Ziyang had been staying inside the cabin all this time, very tactfully refraining from disturbing the couple’s alone time.

Xu Ziyang pushed open the cabin door and walked out calmly. "I didn’t want to interrupt you."

Chu Liang wanted to reply,

What could we possibly be doing on the deck?

Thinking about it, he realized Xu Ziyang simply meant well, so he shook his head with a smile. "You’re really considerate."

Xu Ziyang said, "I wanted to tell you that I obtained something in the Jiuli Hidden Realm."

"Oh?" Chu Liang’s eyes lit up. "What is it?"

Xu Ziyang waved his hand, conjuring the Tribulation-Forged Divine Bronze. "It’s a chunk of bronze."

The chunk of Tribulation-Forged Divine Bronze was almost as large as the Lianglong.

Xu Ziyang lifted it effortlessly as if it weighed nothing, but its immense weight would be evident at the slightest touch. The only reason it didn’t press downward was the spiritual qi surging within it. Once activated with a bit of foundational qi, it could hover in the air.

Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai had seen their fair share of rare materials, yet neither of them could discern the exact nature of this divine bronze.

The Lianglong had been forged from the finest materials available at the time, yet compared to this Tribulation-Forged Divine Bronze, it was nothing more than a pile of scrap metal.

Xu Ziyang went on to explain the origin of the divine bronze, and Chu Liang understood the reason for its brilliant quality.

It was a chunk of bronze that had survived the legendary Heavenly Tribulation in Bronze City. This couldn’t be called a remnant; it was more like the essence of Bronze City! It was immeasurably valuable.

It might even be suitable as a material for making a legendary artifact.

Jiang Yuebai wasn’t as excited. Instead, she said, "But the problem is... if even the Heavenly Tribulation couldn’t destroy this material, how can we refine it into an enchanted tool?"

Chu Liang summoned his Divine Dragon Fire. The roaring divine flames surged around the chunk of divine bronze for quite a while, yet the divine bronze remained completely unchanged—not warming up in the slightest.

"I can’t smelt it," Chu Liang admitted, withdrawing his flames. "But there is someone who may be able to."

The Lianglong landed on Silver Sword Peak, and the three of them headed straight for Di Nufeng’s pavilion.

Di Nufeng was holding a pot of wine while reading a picture book. Now that she had grown wealthy, she indulged even more in wine and pleasure.

Seeing the younger ones rush in, she belched and asked, "Why are you in such a hurry? What’s the matter?"

Chu Liang’s voice rang loud and clear. "Esteemed Teacher, please smelt some bronze."