Chapter 1486 - 80: Lu Buzhen
"Let’s go take a look over there."
Xie Xuanyi tapped the wheelchair, signaling Ao Ying to push him toward the smithy at the end of the long street.
Ao Ying looked a bit unwilling, but still complied.
Sparks flew.
That Venerable from Five-Colored Ridge had not left, and was still watching from in front of the smithy.
"Fellow Daoist."
Xie Xuanyi took the initiative to strike up a conversation, smiling as he said, "Fellow Daoist, are you from Five-Colored Ridge?"
"...Hm?"
Giant Martial City might have order, but what Xie Xuanyi just said was really too presumptuous.
The black-robed Venerable immediately frowned.
To have cultivated to the Yin God Realm, looking across the Demon Country, in any Holy Land you’d be someone ranked among the Strong People.
He had actively concealed his own aura; by rights, anyone who could see through his cultivation should at least be Yin God Middle Realm, or Late Stage!
This Venerable of Five-Colored Ridge gazed coldly behind him.
He saw.
A young Great Demon seated in a wheelchair, smiling and gesturing at him.
Behind him.
Was a maid.
The two of them... had hardly any Primordial Energy aura; they didn’t look like anyone powerful.
"Who are you?"
The Venerable of Five-Colored Ridge spoke in a deep voice, eyes full of cold intent.
"I am but a Mountain Wanderer Loose Cultivator, my humble surname is Lu."
Xie Xuanyi spun the tale without missing a beat: "Many years ago, my father received the grace of Five-Colored Ridge and was given a Token; this Token can sense bloodline..."
As he spoke.
He handed over a jade pendant.
Upon hearing this, the black-robed Venerable’s expression eased quite a bit.
He glanced at the jade pendant, not noticing anything out of the ordinary.
Tokens like this were common in the Demon Country; Five-Colored Ridge truly had helped many Mountain Wanderer Loose Cultivators. In most cases, the Tokens they handed out were actually a kind of "gift." If one later cultivated to fruition, underwent Transformation and Awakening, they could use the Token to participate in Five-Colored Ridge’s assessment; once they passed the trial, they’d be considered proper disciples under the Holy Land’s banner.
After all, the Demon Country was barren and impoverished.
Many Holy Lands used this method to seek out young blood.
"The Holy Land hasn’t had any openings these years."
The black-robed Venerable waved his sleeve, speaking almost by reflex: "Besides... this is Giant Martial City. Five-Colored Ridge doesn’t recruit disciples here."
"I know."
Xie Xuanyi produced another item from his sleeve.
A small pouch of Primordial Pills.
To him, this naturally wasn’t much of a Treasure.
But in the Primordial Energy–poor Demon Country, this pouch of Primordial Pills was rather valuable.
"This?"
The Venerable of Five-Colored Ridge froze for a moment, clearly not having expected this twist.
"Please accept it, Fellow Daoist."
Xie Xuanyi said earnestly, "Thanks to the kindness of Five-Colored Ridge’s seniors back then, I was able to cultivate and Awaken... Two years ago, I headed south with Heavenly Phoenix Palace to wage war, killed some Human Race Cultivators, and earned quite a bit in reward. This pouch of Primordial Pills is merely a token of my gratitude."
As he spoke, he released Tao Realm aura.
The Venerable of Five-Colored Ridge’s expression immediately changed.
The other party looked young, but was in fact also a Yin God!
"So you’re a Dao Brother from Heavenly Phoenix Palace."
The Great Demon of Five-Colored Ridge took the Primordial Pills of his own accord; he suddenly became much more polite and familiar, even taking the initiative to cozy up: "Dao Brother, you even went to Great Chu two years back?"
"That’s right."
Xie Xuanyi sighed. "That battle at the Sea Suppression Platform was truly brutal. A lot of Great Demons died."
"Tsk."
The Great Demon of Five-Colored Ridge sighed with feeling. "I took part in one battle as well... but it was the war at Shifang City. That fight, we won by a landslide, killed a ton of Human Race Cultivators. It’s just a pity we were later ordered to pull back. If you ask me, if we’d kept fighting there might’ve been a real chance."
"..."
Standing behind the wheelchair, Ao Ying watched this scene, her expression complicated.
She really hadn’t expected.
These two would just start chatting away like this.
That surnamed Xie’s bullshit skills were the real deal; talking about the north–south war with a straight face and calm heart.
"Dao Brother, your legs, could it be..."
The Venerable of Five-Colored Ridge suddenly looked toward Xie Xuanyi’s lower body.
This young Great Demon had cultivated to the Yin God Realm, yet still sat in a wheelchair.
"Left over from the battle at the Sea Suppression Platform."
Xie Xuanyi shook his head and sighed with great sincerity, saying, "I was chopped at from afar once by Zhao Tongtian; from that day on, I could only sit in a wheelchair..."
"You were cut once by Zhao Tongtian?"
The Venerable of Five-Colored Ridge froze, clearly finding it hard to keep a straight face.
His expression turned odd.
Bragging, huh.
You fought Zhao Tongtian?
Truth be told, most Demon Cultivators, when they gathered, would brag about their battle records.
But someone who could brag this hard like the young Great Demon before him—this was a first.
"Dao Brother really is..."
The Venerable of Five-Colored Ridge thought for a long time, then tactfully said, "What a pity..."
"It is quite a pity."
Xie Xuanyi said, "Give me a few more years of cultivation, and Zhao Tongtian might not have been my match."
"..."
The Venerable of Five-Colored Ridge had no idea how to respond.
"Let’s not talk about that."
Xie Xuanyi changed the subject; seeing that the mood was about right, he smiled and asked, "With the Holy Emperor’s Birthday Banquet coming up in a few days, how come Fellow Daoist came alone?"
By rights.
This Yin God Realm Venerable should be attending alongside the Great Divine Power Users of Five-Colored Ridge.
He was, after all, a regional powerhouse.
The Great Cultivators of Five-Colored Ridge would definitely be invited to the[Great Saint Mountain]in the Third Realm.
"Don’t even mention it."
This Venerable let out a light sigh, speaking rather helplessly: "The birthday invitation arrived far too suddenly... Who would’ve thought Great Ape Mountain would be sending birthday congratulations this year?"
The Holy Emperor’s three-hundred-year birthday wasn’t exactly a secret.
But Great Ape Mountain taking the initiative to offer birthday congratulations had caught everyone off guard.
"I am a disciple under ’Master Ni Yu,’ I was supposed to be quietly in seclusion, and then this invitation letter shows up out of nowhere..."
The Great Demon of Five-Colored Ridge complained mournfully: "Master is in seclusion and cannot conveniently leave, so he ordered us to head out on our own."
"Master Ni Yu?"
Xie Xuanyi raised his brows; outwardly he feigned calm, but in his Heart Lake he couldn’t help but ripple with a smile.
An old acquaintance.
In the battle at Falcon Wind Gorge, Master Ni Yu had a Bronze Immortal Gold Ancient Sword robbed from him by Xie Xuanyi; his Lifebound Cave Heaven took a heavy hit in terms of Primordial Energy.
Now that he was in seclusion, it should be to repair those ten Lifebound Cave Heavens.
"My surname is Huo, given name Gu."
This Great Demon straightened his chest, rather proud as he said mildly, "Fourth disciple under Nishang Cave Heaven."
With that, everything made sense.
He originally should have come along with Master Ni Yu, but since Master Ni Yu was still in seclusion, he had sent his disciples ahead.
Master Ni Yu was a famed master of weapon forging in the current era.
This Venerable Huo Gu would naturally also be proficient in the Dao of forging.
His visit to this smithy was, eight or nine times out of ten, to seek materials and pre-forge some Treasures, to be offered as a modest gift to Great Ape Mountain.
"Oh."
Xie Xuanyi raised his hand in salute, speaking with genuine sincerity: "I have long admired your name, Brother Huo. I am Lu Buzhen... just a Loose Cultivator, my slight fame not worth mentioning."
"Lu Buzhen?"
Huo Gu frowned; he’d truly never heard that name before.
But this young Great Demon before him was generous, that part was real; in the Demon Country, almost no one would hand over a pouch of Primordial Pills at a first meeting.
He would need Primordial Pills for both forging and cultivation.
This pouch of Primordial Pills was equivalent to about a month’s Tributor stipend for him at Five-Colored Ridge.
...
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(PS: There will be a Chapter update tomorrow at noon.)