After not sleeping all night, Li Yuan returned to the forging shop, washed his face, and then returned to the forging room. Hearing the tinkling sound of forging, his heart finally calmed down.
"This is a big deal!"
Wielding the forging hammer, Li Yuan was still thinking about what he saw and heard yesterday.
At first, he only thought that someone contacted the forces in the inner and outer cities to ambush Qiu Long in order to compete for the interests of Gaoliu County. Now it seems that the water behind this is probably much deeper.
The Divine Soldier Valley has dominated the Hidden Dragon Mansion for thousands of years, and its influence has already spread to all aspects. It is no exaggeration to say that it is a country within a country.
What level of power did Cao Yan have to rely on to dare to stroke the tiger's beard?
"Lu Yunqing and Cao Yan teamed up to ambush Qiu Long. The masters from the Divine Weapon Valley have been silent for a long time. Are they also waiting for the person behind them to show up?"
Is this mutual fishing?
"It took a lot of effort for me to catch up with Fang Yunxiu, but I haven't even secured the spot yet..."
Li Yuan murmured in his heart.
What he saw last night made him suddenly feel a sense of crisis. The fire at the city gate and the damage to the pond fish should not be too much.
"I'm still too weak..."
The sound of hammering became heavier, and Li Yuan quickly put aside his distracting thoughts and calmed down.
Forging requires both patience and talent. To create a high-grade sharp blade, from mineral selection to final quenching, tempering, and polishing, every step needs to be just right. Anything less than that will not be considered top-grade.
Li Yuan worked hard, and soon the day passed.
After work in the evening, he wiped his face and was about to go home when Zhang Bi walked over quickly with a relieved smile on his face:
"Quickly, pack up and follow me to the inner courtyard. The big shopkeeper is back!"
These days, he felt quite heavy in his heart. If something happened to Cao Yan, the 200-year-old foundation of the Forging Shop would be in ruins. The rest of the Cao family would not be able to support this stall.
"Cao...the big shopkeeper is back?"
Li Yuan was excited, this was exactly what he heard yesterday.
"Yes, I came back at noon. After counting the recent transactions, I asked about you first."
Zhang Ben smiled, obviously feeling better.
"He, the big shopkeeper asked me?"
Li Yuan's heart tightened slightly.
"Hurry and clean it up, this is a good thing!"
Zhang Ben urged.
"Don't rush me!"
Li Yuan fetched a basin of water and scrubbed it, but he couldn't help but feel worried.
He didn't have a good impression of Cao Yan. He had shown his talent before and was planning to bypass Cao Yan to reach the Divine Weapon Valley.
Now……
"call!"
After cleaning up hastily, Li Yuan followed Zhang Bi to the backyard.
The backyard is divided into three courtyards. The one where Cao Yan is located is naturally the largest and best. It not only has various pavilions, but also a small garden.
At this time, the sky was already dark, and candles were lit in the small courtyard.
Cao Yan changed into his coat and sat at the table. Several female apprentices were waiting on him, serving tea and water.
"Mr. Zhang is here, sit down quickly."
Cao Yan raised his hand and asked the master and apprentice to take their seats. He smiled warmly and raised his glasses to each other:
"A lot of things have happened in the shop these days, thanks to Mr. Zhang's care..."
"The boss is so polite. The old man is doing nothing but cultivating the shop today. What does it mean to put in some effort?"
Zhang Bi picked up the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp, his face flushed.
"It is in times of trouble that you see the heart!"
Cao Yan put down his wine glass and took a deep look at Li Yuan:
"Speaking of which, it's because of my incompetence as the great shopkeeper. After several meetings, I didn't know that in addition to your forging skills, you also had such attainments in hammering skills!"
After studying martial arts for one year, he perfected his hammering technique.
The most talented disciple in the blacksmithing shop for more than two hundred years has also mastered the hammering technique in more than a year. In comparison, the apprentice in front of him is much better than him.
With such a talent, it would take at least a few years for someone to be able to perfect their skills, transform their own bones and so on.
Then visit the Valley of Divine Weapons...
"Disciple dare not..."
Li Yuan lowered his head to drink wine, a light shining on his back.
He naturally knew that what Cao Yan said was about his initiative to contact Fang Yunxiu...
"Not only the big shopkeeper, but even the old man and I didn't realize that his talent was so good! His hammering skills are perfect. The old man and I only got to know this a few years ago..."
Zhang Bi raised his glass and made a toast, feeling quite proud of himself.
He fell in love with such a good prospect at first sight.
"It's a pity that such a good young talent can't stay in my weapon forging shop!"
After finishing the glass of wine, Cao Yan looked at Li Yuan with bright eyes.
At this time, no matter how slow Zhang Bi was, he noticed something was wrong.
But no matter what he thought, he didn't think there was anything wrong.
The talented apprentices in the shop are sent to the big sects. As long as they are successful, the weapon forging shop will be able to make a lot of profits based on this incense and love.
A hugely profitable deal, how could Cao Yan...
What do you want to do?
Forcing me to stay in the forging shop?
Li Yuan's heart tightened, but he could only pretend that he didn't understand, and raised his glass to toast: "No matter how talented you are, the disciple will never forget the kindness of the shop and the great shopkeeper."
"Ji En is good."
Cao Yan held the cup without drinking, but said calmly:
"Originally, the shop was planning to settle in Fucheng next year, but who would have thought that this year, several shopkeepers and Qin Guards had troubles one after another, and for a while there was no one available..."
After saying this, Zhang Ben's expression changed:
"From the big shopkeeper?"
Cao Yan ignored him, but looked at Li Yuan with a sincere expression:
"Cao can promise that as long as you stay temporarily, you will be treated the same as the shopkeepers, and your family members will also be able to live in the shop.
In a few years, if you still want to go to the Divine Weapon Valley, the store will give you full support..."
"What do you think?"
Your butt didn’t even leave the chair...
Looking at Cao Yan with a sincere face, Li Yuan's heart felt cold, but naturally he could only bow and respond:
"Thanks to the great shopkeeper's attention, the disciple is flattered..."
Cao Yan was certainly not asking, and Li Yuan didn't feel he had any room to refuse.
Of course, there was still a symbolic struggle on his face, fearing that Cao Yan would not believe him if he agreed too quickly...
Cao Yan looked at him for a long time, then raised his glass and smiled:
"good!"
Looking at the two smiling people, Zhang Ben felt a chill on his back for no reason.
…
A banquet where guests and hosts enjoy themselves.
Li Yuan was a little drunk when he left, but he only relied on Zhang Ben's support to avoid falling.
"The hammering genius!"
At the wine table, Cao Yan was twirling his wine glass with a subtle expression.
In less than a year, his martial arts skills were perfected.
He would not be surprised if such a person appeared in Zhelong Mansion, but in Gaoliu County, he had never heard of it in dozens or hundreds of years...
"This kind of person has always been arrogant. If you suppress him like this, aren't you afraid that he will have hatred in his heart?"
Feng Gang walked out of the shadows with his sword in his arms:
"If I can't use this kind of talent, I might as well kill him with a single blow to avoid causing trouble in the future."
"So what if I have a grudge?"
Cao Yan chuckled, his eyes cold:
"The apprentices in this hospital are working hard every day, and who is not full of complaints? But they still have to work every day for fear of being kicked out of the shop."
Killing, he was a little reluctant to kill.
There are only a few blacksmiths who can continuously forge high-quality sharp blades at the age of seventeen. In the past two hundred years, there are only a few blacksmiths in the weapon forging shop, and those few have allowed the weapon forging shop to develop to what it is today.
If he hadn't relied on the top-grade sharp blades and famous weapons left by those people, how could he have learned the Tiger Roaring Sword to break through the inner strength, and how could he have broken into the Hidden Dragon Mansion?
"Tsk.
"
Feng Gang twitched the corner of his mouth, and suddenly retreated into the shadows as if he was aware of it.
"Big shopkeeper!"
Leader Zhao, holding an iron gun, came to the backyard, slightly arched his hands, and handed over a booklet.
In the booklet, there are very detailed events that happened in the inner and outer cities of Gaoliu County in the past few months.
"Thank you."
Cao Yan nodded slightly and asked a lot of questions before sending Leader Zhao away.
"This kid's talent is indeed excellent. He asked Chijin, is he already somewhat confident in making the best blade?"
Cao Yan's eyes brightened: "If that's the case..."
"No wonder you value him. If he can make the best blade at this age, I'm afraid even the Incense Master would be willing to accept him!"
Fenggang reappears like a ghost.
Cao Yan's expression turned cold: "This is my person!"
"Ha~"
Feng Gang sneered.
Cao Yan's face was gloomy, but he didn't say anything more. He just flipped through the booklet, focusing on Fang Yunxiu's words about the "Massacre at the Bodhisattva Temple".
"Valley of Divine Weapons..."
…
"Okay, stop pretending!"
After helping Li Yuan out of the yard, Zhang Ben let go.
"No, I'm really drunk..."
Li Yuan staggered.
"Those who are really drunk say they are not drunk yet."
Zhang Bi sighed:
"If I had known this earlier, I shouldn't have let you try to make a high-grade sharp blade. Now that it's better, the big shopkeeper is reluctant to let you go..."
He didn't believe it after a few years.
A few years later, Cao Yan made it clear that he didn’t want to let him go...
"What does this have to do with you?"
Li Yuan was open-minded: "If you always feel guilty, why not give your disciple a few hundred taels..."
"screw you!"
Zhang Bi glared at him and saw that he was not drunk, so he yawned and turned around:
"Since everything is agreed and you want to stay, you have to ask for what you want, otherwise..."
Otherwise, it’s time to be suspicious.
Before Zhang Bi finished speaking, Li Yuan understood what he meant, but he had no intention of being polite.
"He should know that I want red gold, right?"
Turning around, Li Yuan didn't feel a trace of drunkenness.
He had known for a long time that Cao Yan had a secret room where the rarest materials and the best weapons in the weapons forging shop were all contained, and the red gold should naturally be there too.
"Cao Yan..."
…
"call!"
"suck!"
Back in the yard, Li Yuan stood on the stake with a hammer in his hand, adjusted his breathing, transferred the energy, blood, and internal energy until the blood energy was exhausted, and then took out ointment and oil to wipe his body.
Then I jumped into a large water tank that I had just bought, and endured the friction of iron sand.
It is not difficult to learn martial arts horizontally. As long as you can endure the pain and have ointments and oils, at least until you are successful, there will be no obstacles.
Wow!
In the large vat, Li Yuan stirred the iron sand naked, feeling the stinging pain all over his body and his breathing became rapid.
Iron sand is not sand, it is something for sharpening knives. If ordinary people dare to come here and take a dip, not even a good piece of skin will be left on their bodies.
Kaka~
The large tank was nearly two meters high, which was more than enough for Li Yuan to stand in. He used his military posture to distract himself.
Even he couldn't stand this kind of rubbing method.
"call!"
After a long time, Li Yuan was completely exhausted. He climbed out of the vat and lay down in the yard, breathing heavily and feeling the changes in himself.
After long-term friction with iron sand, although his skin seemed smooth, it was still very tough. It was like a shoe sole made of several layers of cowhide, and even a dull knife might not be able to cut it.
"If a weak woman cuts
Cutting, you may not be able to cut through the oily skin, but if you are stronger, you probably won’t be able to, and besides, you can’t stand the stabbing..."
Li Yuan relaxed his muscles and bones, and practiced Qixing Heng to achieve mastery, which slightly dissipated the depression in his heart.
"For flesh and blood, it is best not to come into head-to-head confrontation with swords. This can only be used as a last resort. If you really think you are invulnerable, you never know when you will be hacked to death..."
As a blacksmith, Li Yuan knew this very well.
After Qixing Heng practiced his body and claimed to be a great success, he was not afraid of being slashed by swords, but he was skeptical.
He estimated that this fearlessness was only limited to ordinary people. It would be impossible to replace an ordinary sword with a sharp blade, a high-grade sharp blade, or a top-grade sharp blade.
In the same way, even if masters like Cao Yan and Fang Yunxiu were holding ordinary swords, who would dare to resist with their bodies?
"call!"
After lying for a long time, he felt that half of the blood in his body had recovered, and his internal energy began to circulate again. Li Yuan just stood up, scrubbed himself, and went back to the house to put on clothes.
"Cao Yan is back, but Fatty Sun isn't back yet?"
Glancing at the inner room, Li Yuan shook his head inwardly.
Although he guessed that nothing would happen to Tang Tong and his wife, how could Sun Hao believe it?
"This fat guy is not very courageous. Cao Yan is already back, so he probably won't dare to stay any longer..."
After tearing a few pieces of bacon and feeding them to the fat little mouse who was still a little wary, Li Yuan lit the oil lamp and took out the human skin mask that he had brought out of the city but had not had time to look at carefully.
"It's as thin as a cicada's wings!"
Holding this human skin mask at close range, Li Yuan couldn't help but marvel.
This mask was as light as weight and very transparent, almost like a work of art. He couldn't help but marvel at the workmanship.
"Try it on!"
Holding the oil lamp and walking to the bronze mirror, Li Yuan carefully applied it to his face. He felt a slight chill, as if he had applied a transparent and breathable mask.
He carefully kneaded the edges and was surprised to find that his face and facial features in the mirror had suddenly changed into the former sallow-faced swordsman, Li Ba!
"What a wonderful work of art!"
Li Yuan looked at it carefully and found no flaws. He reached out and tore it apart, only to feel his face hurt, as if it was stuck to his face.
With a touch of his right hand, he was directly transported into the palm space. Now he felt that the human skin mask was so powerful that it was like a different face.
"It's a pity that we only have this face. It would be nice if we could switch it back and forth..."
Li Yuan played with it and tried it several times, and was quite satisfied. Even if he didn't control this human skin mask, it was still a rare treasure.
"Well, if you stick this on, it will be much easier to do some things."
After putting the mask on again, Li Yuan pulled out a piece of papyrus, scrawled some words with his left hand, put it in his sleeve and went out at night, heading straight to the inner city and the road to the mansion.
Cao Yan was in the first year of junior high school, and he had to be in the fifteenth year.
He didn't know who the owner of the incense was, so Fang Yunxiu should know, right?
After changing his face, Li Yuan acted boldly and directly knocked on the door of Lu Mansion, punched the servant who opened the door and knocked him unconscious, and put the straw paper on the door.
Without waiting for any sound to be heard from the house, he turned around and ran away.
