Chapter Forty-Five Restoring the Magic Weapon

Yang Nan led thirty-two disciples out of the Alchemy Hall and set off toward the Heavenly Gate. The procession moved with great momentum, and every outer-sect disciple who saw it could not help but reveal looks of envy. To serve as an overseer in the outer mountains was truly far better than staying in the inner ranges.

On Blue Snow Peak, Li Yun set the broken Night Watch Snow-Splitting Sword upon the desk. Beside him, Li Guo wore a face full of anger as he cried, "Uncle, Yang Nan is so arrogant. If he is not restrained now, what will become of him in the future?"

Li Yun smiled faintly, then suddenly turned and struck Li Guo across the face with a palm, sneering, "Besides causing trouble and saying odd things behind people's backs, what else can you do? Yang Nan has reached the fourth rank of the Soldier Master realm in only three or four years! Give him a few more years and he will surely become a Grandmaster! Today, even at the Soldier Master level, he nearly fought me to a draw. If he becomes a Venerable one day, would he not be able to destroy you and me with a single wave of the hand? You have swallowed countless precious elixirs and yet after four years have only just attained Soldier Master. Compared with him, you are far, far behind!"

To dare challenge a seventh-rank Grandmaster while only at the fourth rank of Soldier Master!

In all the world, who besides Yang Nan had such courage? If a man like that were given a few more years, how terrifying would he become? How could Li Yun, born into an immortal cultivation clan, not know Yang Nan's danger?

Li Guo, both wronged and frightened, said, "Uncle, I've already worked very hard, only..."

Li Yun waved a hand and said, "I have already made the sect master very displeased. Even Daoist Longxu has said he will no longer concern himself with our affairs. If you do not temper yourself with bitter cultivation, I will have no choice but to drive you off the mountain so you can continue the Li bloodline."

Once one descends from Kunlun, there is no hope of the Heavenly Dao. Li Guo was startled and instantly so frightened that he no longer dared speak, let alone complain.

Fang Wen, who had stood silent for a long while to the side, sighed and said, "Yang Nan's methods are ruthless, and he is domineering and overbearing. He never drags his feet in anything he does. Added to that, he is so young, yet possesses boundless potential. Truly he is our great enemy."

Ji Han had always been sparing of words, but now he also uttered a few: "If he is not eliminated, he will become future trouble."

A flash of viciousness crossed Li Yun's eyes as he sneered, "If I do not act, do you think no one else will? Rest assured. Yang Nan will not remain long on Kunlun Mountain." He picked up the sword on the desk, the very one that seemed to be lamenting in pain, and muttered, "He has injured my divine weapon and delayed my progress. If I do not drive him down the mountain, how can I vent the hatred in my heart? As long as he leaves the mountain..." Upon the Night Watch Snow-Splitting Sword, Li Yun's handsome and elegant face suddenly turned ferocious and twisted.

On Cloud-High Peak, in the Ancestral Master's Hall, the Kunlun sect master, Daoist Xuanxu, after hearing the report from the steward disciple, laughed to the crowd around him and said, "Interesting. This little fellow truly bears some resemblance to Buxu! Looking at him, I almost feel as though I were seeing Cangyan himself. If Cangyan had not passed beyond physical dissolution and been reborn, I would almost have thought he had been reborn into another life."

When the sect master spoke the name "Cangyan," a faint look of remembrance suddenly appeared on his face.

If Yang Nan had seen this, it would have been hard to believe that the foremost great sect under heaven, the Kunlun sect master, was nothing more than a lecherous little old man. Such a gaunt, bony old fellow, with thin brows and small eyes, had actually become the sect master of Kunlun, and astonishingly he possessed not the slightest trace of a sect master's dignity. He looked at the Daoists filling the hall and grinned as though watching a play.

One long-bearded old Daoist shook his head and said, "Sect master, this sort of uproar cannot go on. The inner sect is uneasy, and it has made the outer sect disciples panic as well."

Daoist Xuanxu smiled slyly and said, "No matter. Children fighting among themselves, must the adults panic? So long as Longxu and Buxu do not get involved, is this not precisely the sort of thing that tempers the Daoist heart? Our Kunlun sect has stood for thousands of years. Are we to fear these few little troublemakers?"

A middle-aged Daoist with a short beard stepped forward, ashamed, and said, "Longxu's discipline has not been strict enough. I ask the sect master to punish me!"

Xuanxu shook his head, revealing a look of gleeful misfortune at another's expense, utterly without any appearance of a sect master. "Junior Brother Longxu, you had better keep an eye on your Junior Sister Buxu. She is not someone to provoke. If your descendants truly anger her and she takes action in earnest, even I would not be able to manage it."

All the Daoists were at the level of Venerable or Saint. Seeing the sect master in such a scoundrel's guise, they all shivered together. Longxu respectfully said, "From this day on, whether Yang Nan and those few useless wretches live or die, I will no longer concern myself. Let them fight as they please, so long as they do not kill each other."

Xuanxu chuckled. "Junior Brother Longxu, you have finally come to your senses. Earlier you were still forcing the boy toward the Spirit Beast Mountain, and now look at this—it has only let that little fellow make a name for himself! By now he has quite a few formidable demons under his command. Even if you wanted to move against him, it would be difficult. Truly, this is self-inflicted."

Longxu wore a bitter smile but could not refute him. How could the sect master not know the petty tricks he had been playing? In the eyes of experts at the Venerable and Saint levels, such squabbles among inner-sect disciples were nothing more than children at play. When a Venerable grew angry, blood would flow like a river. If he were to continue aiding Li Yun, then Buxu on White Cloud Peak would likely erupt in fury. If Buxu made a move, not only would his descendants meet a tragic end, but he himself would be in trouble as well. Though his realm was not far from Buxu's, his divine arts were far inferior.

Longxu said awkwardly, "Sect master, if Junior Sister Buxu should return from outside..."

At the mention of Buxu, the Daoists all seemed to shiver at once, as though the air had suddenly grown incomparably cold.

Sect master Xuanxu waved a hand carelessly and said, "Enough, enough. I think this time Li Yun has suffered a loss, and Yang Nan has not gained the upper hand either. The two of them will likely calm down for a while. So long as things remain orderly from here on, that will do. Even if Buxu returns, as long as you do not say anything and I do not say anything, how would she know? I still need to go refine a furnace of Spring-Meeting Pills. Aren't all of you busy? Hurry and go."

As he spoke, the sect master slapped his backside and turned away, vanishing at once.

The group of proper old Daoists stared at one another when they saw the sect master roll up his sleeves and leave, all of them stunned in place.

Yang Nan did not know that his actions had been treated like children's play. Hundreds of demon soldiers had died, and the Dark Erosion Divine Soldier had also been shattered—how could he possibly be happy? Still, bringing back thirty assorted talents had at least eased some of his gloom.

As soon as these thirty talents arrived in the Jade Purity Hall, their eyes were dazzled. The riches of the Seventy-Two Demon Valleys were so abundant that piles of spirit stones, spirit metals, and spirit medicines immediately set the thirty disciples to work. Ten disciples, led by Hunyuan, began setting up furnaces and refining pills. Ten more, led by Qian Ren, used spirit stones to establish restriction arrays across Jade Purity Peak. Bai Lian took nine fellow disciples to the armory. Huang Shan, finally seeing a group of helpers arrive, at last breathed a sigh of relief.

With the addition of these thirty new disciples, Jade Purity Peak immediately shone with brilliance and became much livelier than before. The four commanders, seeing that the manpower Yang Nan had brought back each specialized in different tasks and could do everything, were inwardly astonished at the foundation of this foremost great sect under heaven.

Yang Nan carved the Blood Battle Saber Art and the Tiger-Striking Fist Technique into jade slips and distributed them to every little demon. The avian demon soldiers received the Snow Dance Formation; with their innate aerial speed, they became even more terrifying when entangling enemies. The beast demon soldiers received the Meteor Formation. Jin Yu chose the Snow Dance Formation, while Su Shu selected the Trapping Dragon Formation. After each commander chose a battle formation, they led the little demons in daily drills and martial training, and for a time the demon valley became thriving and full of life.

The three women of Fish Maiden's group, together with a host of maidservants, arranged the mortal women in the herb garden to tend and nurture spirit medicines. In the midst of this gathering of graceful figures and exotic flowers, a splendid scene was created.

Old Crab had already selected two thousand personal guards. Aside from the thousand stationed permanently within Yang Nan's Mountain River Ring, he led the other half of the guards in daily drills. Under the guidance of the Spirit Monkey, they roamed the thousands of li of the Spirit Beast Mountain searching for treasures and digging out spirit stones. With the Spirit Monkey present, the extraction of spirit materials was no longer a bitter chore. Wherever the little monkey hopped about joyfully, there were surely spirit treasures to be found. Old Crab and the others could enjoy the mountains and waters while also bringing back spirit materials for their master. Why would they not be pleased?

Yang Nan simply let the demons run wild as they pleased, and each day he only remained in the Divine Talisman Cavern to gather qi and refine his cultivation. After the battle with Li Yun, Yang Nan finally understood how great the gap truly was between himself and experts at the Grandmaster level.

If a Soldier Master were like a small pond, then a Grandmaster would be a great river.

When a river's waters pour violently into a pond, how could that pond not burst?

That horrifying scene of ice and snow from that day still seemed to stand before his eyes.

Fortunately, Li Yun had not dared to kill him outright. The two had only probed each other. Otherwise, Yang Nan would surely have been shredded into countless fragments by the endless snow and ice.

The supreme demon body forged from the power of a thousand demons did not have quite the effect against Li Yun, who had reached the seventh rank of Soldier Sovereign, as Yang Nan had imagined. Yet if he wished to cultivate to the power of ten thousand demons, he would first have to raise his cultivation to the Grandmaster realm before it would even be possible.

Li Yun, transformed into a snow dragon, possessed immeasurable power. Even the union of man and weapon was no match for him.

Ten years to become a Grandmaster. Yang Nan was now at the fourth rank of Soldier Master. Given six more years, he could seek out a spirit spring and temper his weapon qi to achieve Grandmaster status.

Such a spirit spring must be a rare wonder born of heaven and earth, neither created nor destroyed. Kunlun Mountain itself possessed many such springs, and the size of a spirit spring's spiritual power directly affected the depth of one's cultivation after attaining the Grandmaster realm.

However, Yang Nan did not worry about the spirit spring. The Spirit Beast Mountain also contained several spirit springs, and Kunlun Mountain likewise had one suitable for achieving Grandmaster status. More than that, he possessed an immortal treasure, the Heavenly Origin Pure Void Divine Abode, whose value far surpassed any spirit spring. With the Divine Talisman Cavern and the aura of a spirit spring, so long as he could cultivate to the ninth rank of Soldier Master, he would certainly become a Grandmaster.

By now, Chi Yang had already reached the eighth rank of Soldier Master. Yang Nan intended to have him break through to the Grandmaster realm, so he sent him into seclusion within the Divine Talisman Cavern. Under normal circumstances, Chi Yang ought to enter the Grandmaster realm before Yang Nan did.

Yang Nan himself cultivated bitterly every day, casting aside all other matters. He had to cultivate the True Interpretation of the Asura Yin Soldiers, and the Nether Soldier Devouring Heaven Record demanded even more relentless effort. The second transformation had already shown such formidable power; if Yang Nan could obtain several more transformations, then when he faced Li Yun again, the outcome might well be different.

In the cultivation world, strength was all that truly mattered.

During Yang Nan's cultivation, the Spirit Beast Mountain also underwent tremendous changes. The ten disciples of the array chamber used spirit stones to raise one restriction after another across Jade Purity Peak. Given enough time, the one hundred and eight layers of array restrictions would be completed in full. The ten disciples of the pill chamber also opened their furnaces to refine medicines, producing many mid- and low-grade pills. There were no shortage of pills needed for training at the Soldier Master realm, and after Yang Nan took them, the speed at which he gathered and condensed spiritual energy increased far beyond before.

Bai Lian and the nine disciples of the weapon chamber spent more than a month finally refining the Nine-Dragon Wheel Fire Platform to completion. However, the only heaven-and-earth flame they could find was the Earth Vein Fire. The four commanders mobilized their underlings to search the Spirit Beast Mountain Range for a while, but they only found three true flames: True Wind Nether Fire, Flame Rock True Fire, and Withered Wood Thunder Fire. Looking at the Nine-Dragon Wheel Fire Platform, where only four of the nine dragon mouths were lit, Yang Nan's brows furrowed tightly.

The Dark Erosion Divine Soldier had been broken. If it could not be repaired, how could he advance to the Grandmaster realm? A divine soldier was the lifeblood of a Soldier Sovereign disciple. Unless one had no other choice, it would never be allowed to suffer serious damage. Had it not been for the utterly extraordinary divine skill of the Undying Yin Wheel serving as the weapon spirit, Yang Nan would have been gravely wounded this time.