Chapter 173: Chapter 170: Can’t Keep a Low Profile! (Second update)
Translator: 549690339
Yang Zhen had arrived at Wanhua Island!
The news spread like wildfire across Wanhua Island. In a short span of time, almost everyone knew that Yang Zhen had made it to the island.
“Now things will get interesting. There are so many extraordinarily talented individuals on Wanhua Island just waiting for Yang Zhen. Given his nature, his arrival will certainly cause a grand commotion.”
“The heir of Mountain Hua’s Blessed Land is already putting on quite a show, and Lu Baichi even openly declared, should Yang Zhen dare to set foot on Wanhua Island, he will take his head. I wonder if Lu Baichi has received the news.”
“What a joke! If we heard the news, surely Master Lu would have too. I wonder why he’s targeting Yang Zhen.”
“I heard that Yang Zhen has been overly arrogant, overlooking the heirs of the Cave Heaven Blessed Land. Master Lu plans to teach him a lesson!”
“You might not know this, but I heard a rumor. The reason Master Lu wants to kill Yang Zhen is simply a wager amongst a few heirs of Cave Heaven Blessed Lands.”
Upon hearing this, the surrounding people gasped, commenting in astonishment, “That’s the saddest part for small sects and rogue practitioners. No matter how talented or wildly arrogant Yang Zhen is, in front of these true heirs of the Cave Heaven Blessed Lands, he is nothing more than a pawn in their gambling game.”
“You’re right. If I were Yang Zhen, I wouldn’t tolerate this. I would kill all the disciples from the Cave Heaven Blessed Lands.”
Because of the appearance of the Eastern Desolation Emperor’s imperial marks on Wanhua Island, it had become the liveliest place on the Coast of the East Sea, with practitioners from Nether State and various cultivators from all over the seas.
!!..
Some people sneered at Yang Zhen, considering him nothing but a buffoon. Yet, others admired him immensely, deeming his true nature to be that of a real practitioner.
No matter how they felt about Yang Zhen, everyone was somewhat looking forward to his performance on Wanhua Island.
But Wanhua Island was unlike the other islands on the Coast of the East Sea. If Yang Zhen dared to act recklessly, certain individuals wouldn’t hesitate to slap him down. Many people relished the prospect of this happening; after all, Yang Zhen was too audacious and arrogant.
Everyone was eager and excited, waiting to see what trouble Yang Zhen would stir up.
However, what perplexed everyone was that in the next five days, Yang Zhen caused neither a stir nor offended anyone. He stayed as low-key as a passerby and hadn’t appeared in public for several days.
This result surprised everyone. No one thought that Yang Zhen would behave this way, leaving them both disappointed and curious. Had Yang Zhen changed his personality, or was he scared?
On an ordinary street in Wanhua Island, Yang Zhen was pouring sweat, bare-chested, wielding a massive hammer, and striking a piece of Star Iron.
Sparks flew with the burst of his sweat, the Star Iron gripped in his left hand was slowly changing shape, and his expression became more intense.
“Young man, take a break!”
An ordinary old man brought a cup of water over and placed it beside Yang Zhen.
The elderly man was bent with age, his arms strong and muscular. His eyes sparkled as he watched Yang Zhen approvingly, a smile playing on his lips.
Wiping sweat from his face, Yang Zhen gulped down the water. He flashed a brilliant smile and said without turning his head, “Great Master, I’ll take a break after I finish this piece of Star Iron.”
The lazy cat sleeping nearby lifted its head drowsily to glance at them and let out a sharp “meow”.
The Great Master was an average blacksmith on the street who had honed his skills over a lifetime. Yang Zhen was a quick learner, and the two got along as comfortably as a grandfather and grandson would in a rural village.
The Great Master had ceased all businesses, and it seemed that Yang Zhen had forgotten about the matters of the Eastern Desolation Emperor.
Hearing Yang Zhen’s words, the Great Master chuckled, picked up a towel, and handed it to Yang Zhen. He said, “Young man, you’re a practitioner, aren’t you?”
Wiping his sweat, a surprised Yang Zhen asked, “How did you know, Great Master?”
The Great Master burst into hearty laughter, pointed to the large hammer, and said, “I’m old and blind, but my eyes aren’t. This hammer is the heaviest one here. On the whole street, even the strongest young fellows can’t swing it twenty times in a row. But you, you’ve been swinging it all morning. An ordinary person couldn’t do that.”
Yang Zhen was taken aback and then laughed, saying, “Great Master, you have sharp eyes. But don’t worry, I’m just genuinely interested in blacksmithing, nothing more.”
Grinning, the Great Master answered, “That puts me at ease. Here on Wanhua Island, we mortals are actually the safest. As long as Elder Gu is still around, our lives are guaranteed. But…why are you interested in ordinary iron?” “Ordinary iron?” Yang Zhen hesitated, chuckled, and shook his head. “If it doesn’t move, it’s ordinary; if it moves, it’s mystical. Great Master, is this hammer just an ordinary object?”
“Of course it is!” The Great Master replied, looking perplexed at Yang Zhen.
Suddenly, Yang Zhen drew a deep breath. His eyes flashed with a hint of confusion. Picking up the hammer, he declared, “Yet, I can sense the purest form of energy in the universe from it!”
“What?” The Great Master was taken aback. He stepped forward, took the hammer from Yang Zhen’s hand, his gaze immediately turned gentle. Like a young man caressing his lover’s soft skin, he ran his callused hand across every part of the hammer, muttering, “This hammer has been with me for a lifetime, and it is just an ordinary hammer.”
Yang Zhen laughed lightly in response but said nothing more. Instead, he focused his attention on the Great Master’s face. The hammer was indeed a mundane object, and yet not so ordinary.
The Great Master was on his last legs, his body long hollowed out. At this rate, he would surely pass away within the year.
Life was unpredictable. Once a person’s life force began to ebb away, even an emperor would be helpless to stop it.
Suddenly, Yang Zhen’s body shuddered violently. He gasped in shock and immediately submerged his consciousness into his spiritual sea.
Under the vast starry sky, within the river of consciousness on a small island, a sprout with only two leaves suddenly erupted in a massive wave of green light. In the blink of an eye, the entire spiritual space was filled with it, startling Yang Zhen, who thought something was wrong.
Ever since this little sprout sprouted in Yang Zhen’s spiritual space, it had always been in a dormant state, continuously absorbing the energy of heaven and earth for its slow growth.
The fact that the little sprout, which hadn’t shown any changes for such a long time, suddenly erupted in a terrifying green glow, was genuinely bewildering.
The next moment, a horrifying life force exploded from Yang Zhen’s body. Green rays of light swathed around him, startling the sneaky cat so much that its tail hair stood on end. It jumped three feet high, swore, and stared at Yang Zhen.
Buzz!
Inside his consciousness sea, the terrifying life force exploded, rolling like a vast ocean in Yang Zhen’s spiritual space and filling his entire meridian in the blink of an eye.
Driven by this terrifying life force, Yang Zhen involuntarily walked over to the Great Master and held the latter’s rough hands.
The sneaky cat quickly ran up to Yang Zhen, tightly hugging his thigh with its four legs. It rubbed its head on his leg, squinting its eyes blissfully and purring.
A trickle of life force encapsulated the two of them and the cat. Yang Zhen and the sneaky cat were fine, but the changes on the Great Master were slightly startling.
The sneaky cat seemed to sense something. It trembled all over and looked up at the Great Master. It whispered in shock, “Damn, how much good stuff does this brat have on him? Even blacksmithing can cause such a commotion. He’s a brat who can’t stay low-key even if he wants to.”
Just then, a painful grunt came from the Great Master. The man and the cat both jumped in fright, quickly backed away from the Great Master, and looked at him worriedly..