Chapter 8 – Purple-Clothed Maiden
“Young master can now learn a couple of techniques, since young master has already mastered the art of manipulating Yuan Li. However, if young master wants to quickly master these techniques, it is best to only pick two or three of them instead of many. After all, I can only teach you general techniques while the sect can offer you many more.” Guan Lao Da suggested.
“Alright. Besides an attack technique, the remaining two techniques should be intended for protecting my life. How about Yuan Fortress and Lighten?” Liu Ming had obviously considered this before and answered without any hesitation.
TL: These techniques have many names – Yuan Fortress, Yuan Block etc.
“Sure. You do not need to choose for the attack technique as Practitioner Weapons usually have the same method of attacking. All you need to do is just concentrate the Yuan Li within you and then have the Practitioner Weapon release it. Take my glove Practitioner Weapon for example, the attack that it emits is a Yuan Li blob. Gu Lao San’s Practitioner Weapon, which is a short sword, concentrates Yuan Li into a light blade. As for young master’s Tiger’s Bite Bracelet, I have not personally witnessed it in action. However, the power is definitely not low. I will teach you the methods later and you can slowly dissect them. If you have anything that you do not understand, the two of us will be here for you.” Guan Lao Da explained.
“When you fight with someone, no matter what technique you use with your Practitioner Weapon—you must record the number of times that you use a technique. We Practitioners cannot compare to Apostles as we have a very limited amount of Yuan Li within our bodies. Every time we use our Practitioner Weapons, a huge cost is extracted on our bodies. Especially for young master who is a Beginning Practitioner. I am afraid that you can only use your Practitioner Weapon three or four times before you will run out of Yuan Li. A Practitioner without Yuan Li is only slightly stronger than a normal person. Young master must remember that.” Gu Lao San reminded by the side.
“If it is like that, we Practitioners don’t need a second Practitioner Weapon. So strength is not determined by the number of Practitioner Weapons one has.” Liu Ming was somewhat surprised.
“Normally it is like that. After all, Beginner and Middle Tier Practitioners have very limited amounts of Yuan Li. They wouldn’t have much use for more Practitioner Weapons. However, for High Tier Practitioners it is different. They have a lot more Yuan Li and with more Practitioner Weapons, they have more options. Which in turn leads to them being able to respond to attacks or attack in manner appropriate for the situation. However, no matter how many Practitioner Weapons one has, one can only use one at a time. I have heard that the Spirit Apostles and Spirit Masters have some kind of method that lets them use more than one Practitioner Weapon at a time, but the details aren’t very clear to Practitioners like me and Gu Lao San.” Guan Lao Da said seriously.
“Thanks for the advice, I finally understand it a bit more. I will be more careful about these things next time.” Liu Ming said seriously as he cupped his hands.
……
Two months later, on the winding path of a very dark and daunting mountain, Liu Ming’s group was slowly climbing—bit by bit.
This mountain path was abnormally dangerous with bottomless cliffs and precipices on two sides. The path was also very narrow, and only one person could pass at a time. Furthermore, the rock steps of stairs were covered with green moss due to no one walking on it for years which made the path even more slippery.
If the three were not Practitioners, who were much more agile than normal people, they would have fallen down the cliffs by the side long ago.
Even like this, Guan Lao Da and Gu Lao San walked with utmost caution while sweat poured down their backs.
However, the young man between the two stayed calm, as if he couldn’t see the dangers in front of him.
While being surprised by the youth’s lack of response, Guan Lao Da and Gu Lao San began to respect his courage.
To Liu Ming, the danger in climbing this mountain was nothing compared to the dangers he experienced on Savage Island.
After climbing for four hours, the three of them finally reached the top of the huge mountain.
All three were dumbstruck after they had looked around.
The top of the mountain was a huge field, quite a few acres large, but not even the shadow of a single human could be found.
“Guan Da, this is right place, the place the sect designated for us to come to, right?” Liu Ming asked as he furrowed his brows.
“Young master, this is an extremely important matter. How could I not remember where to go? Maybe the envoy hasn’t arrived yet.” Guan Lao Da wiped the sweat off of his forehead and bitterly responded.
“How long is it until the deadline the sect set?” Liu Ming thought about it for a second before asking again.
“About two days.” This time, it was Gu Lao San who answered.
“Since we still have time, let’s wait here for a while.” Liu Ming looked around before making a decision.
The him now was completely immersed in the character of young master Bai.
Guan Lao Da and Gu Lao San naturally agreed.
Thus, the three of them found a clean rock and started to rest on it.
Time went by little by little and soon, it was noon with the sun up high.
At this time, sounds of footsteps came from the other side of the mountain. The resting Liu Ming and group quickly opened their eyes and looked in that direction.
Quickly, five people came out from another path that led to the top of the mountain.
There were two middle-aged men, one elderly man, and one middle-aged woman who all crowded around a girl dressed in purple.
The two middle-aged men wore colorful clothes and both had knives at their waist.
The elder had a green robe and was somewhat skinny. His eyes seemed to be eternally narrowed, and he had a goatee.
The middle-aged woman looked normal but her skin was whiter than normal. She was dressed in green servant clothes.
The purple-clothed maiden looked to be about eleven or twelve. She looked extremely cute with a jade-like carved face and two pitch-black eyes. Whenever she looked around, a sense of eccentricity was conveyed.
When the five people saw that there was already someone at the top of the mountain, they paused for a second. After examining Liu Ming and his group for a few seconds, the elder whispered something to his group.
Thus, the five led the girl to the other side of the space and found a few rocks to rest on as well. They were almost directly across from Liu Ming and his group.
Seeing this, Liu Ming had a hint of doubt and turned his head and used a gaze to question Guan Lao Da and Gu Lao San.
“Young master need not worry. They are not from the Barbarian Ghost Sect. They are probably other participants in this ceremony and are waiting for the sect’s envoy just like us. Hehe, looks like we found the right place.” Guan Lao Da explained and smiled.
“That’s why. So that means that someone else will come.” Liu Ming looked like he was pondering a serious matter.
“I cannot say for sure. It depends on whether the nearby Practitioner Families are willing to take out enough resources to buy a spot for their kids to go to the ceremony.” Guan Lao Da answered.
Liu Ming nodded and closed his eyes to rest again.
Although Liu Ming looked like he was resting, in reality, the Yuan Li within him was orbiting under some special rhythm. At the same time, the Yuan Li resonated with the Tiger’s Bite Bracelet, making it lightly pulse.
However, this all was covered by Liu Ming’s robe and thus no one could see what he was doing.
Not long after, one of the middle-aged men stood up and walked toward Liu Ming’s group.
Seeing this, Guan Lao Da and Gu Lao San’s eyes sparkled, feelings of caution were etched onto their faces.
Liu Ming also seemed to have sensed something and opened his eyes.
“I am Guang Lin City’s Mu Clan’s member, Tie Yun. I am here to greet you by my lady Ming Zhu’s orders. You three are…?” The middle-aged man did not come too close and stopped about seven to eight meters away from the three.
“So it is the famous Mu Clan. I am Yu Mu City’s Bai Clan’s guest, Guan Da. This is my young master Bai Chong Tian.” Guan Lao Da became serious as he quickly stood to return the greeting.
“Ah, so it is the Bai Clan’s young master. Our two clans have quite a good relationship, why not come over and sit with us?” The man was initially taken aback before he reacted with a smile.
“Hm. Our young master does not feel well so we will not bother lady Ming Zhu.” After hesitating, Guan Lao Da respectfully declined.
“Oh, that is quite regretful. Then we can only wait until our young masters are accepted into the sect before they interact.” The middle-aged man showed some surprise and looked deeply at Liu Ming. However, he did not insist and, after cupping his hands, he turned around.
“Guan Lin, the Mu Clan, is it powerful, famous?” After the middle-aged man left, Liu Ming turned around to ask.
“Famous would be an understatement! The Mu Clan is the strongest Practitioner Family in the entire Da Xuan. Although the Mu Clan and the Bai Clan look to be about the same, it would probably take three or four Bai Clans to be equal to a single Mu Clan. I have heard that the Mu Clan has at least four Spirit Apostles in various sects.” Gu Lao San seemed to be quite fearful of the Mu Clan.
“So it is like that. However, why does he want me to go over there? Would he be able to see through our deception?” Liu Ming continued to ask.
“I do not think so. Although, the Bai Clan and the Mu Clan had a period of communication when our previous family head was still alive, our two clans have not had much of a relationship ever since the new family head took control. These people have at most heard your name but have never met you in person.” Guan Lao Da said confidently.
Gu Lao San to the side also nodded his head in agreement.
Seeing this, Liu Ming relaxed his worries.
At the same time, among the Mu Clan members, the girl named Mu Ming Zhu showed a peculiar expression when she heard the middle-aged man’s report.
“Uncle Tie, I did not think that they would be from the Bai Clan. I think I heard the name Bai Chong Tian from my father before, but I do not have a deep impression of him. Third Uncle, do you know this Bai Clan young master?” The girl turned her head and asked the skinny elder beside her.
“Bai Chong Tian. Hmm, Bai Clan does have such a young master. He should be the unrecognized son of their family head that now has the title of adopted son.” Hearing the girl, the skinny elder smiled and slowly told her what he knew.
Although his words were slow and careless, he exposed a secret that the family head of the Bai Clan had been desperately hiding.
“Hmph, the Bai Clan’s family head owes my aunt a lot. That action of his is not too out of character. However, the Bai Clan’s family head must really value his ‘adopted’ son. To the point where he even convinced the other members of his clan to send Bai Chong Tian to the opening ceremony.” The girl said with a hint of arrogance.