Chapter 140: Final Preparation & Back to Yunzhou
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Eventually, Lin Xiu did not go to find trouble with Chen Ning.
It did not mean that Junior Leopard’s persuasion worked. It was because Madam Li came to Zhonghe City suddenly the next day, which naturally made Li Xiu well-behaved. Madam Li only spent a day in Zhonghe City, taking a little break before she went back to Pingzhou with Li Xiu.
Before leaving, Li Xiu seemed to be a little reluctant to say goodbye to Junior Leopard, which caused Junior Leopard to tease him. There was no distressed scene like the Pavilion of Farewell, while Li Xiu gave Junior Leopard a jade card and told him that he could take the jade card to Li Manor to find him without obstructions in Pingzhou. Junior Leopard searched in his pocket and found nothing worth giving. Even if there was, it could not be shown to someone. Finally, he took out three Spiritual Stones from his pocket and gave them to Li Xiu with some reluctance, yet those stones made Li Xiu extremely happy.
There was no change in Junior Leopard’s life after Li Xiu’s departure. In addition to going on duty for Li Yuan, he had been practicing at home. The greatest gain was that he had refined many Bone-forging Pills. He took a few and felt the effectiveness. Although he suffered at the beginning, the improvement speed of his physical strength and skeleton hardness were indeed several times faster than when he practiced Blood Evil Harden Bone Fist only. Therefore, he took the suffering.
According to his present speed, he was confident that his cultivation would reach Bone-Forging Realm in half a year.
By then, he would not only be Li Yuan’s personal guard and a core disciple of the Wu Family, but he would be qualified to be an Elder of the Wu Family.
There was a rule that was set down when the Wu Family set up: a disciple of the Wu Family would become an Elder automatically as long as his cultivation had reached the Bone-Forging Realm.
Junior Leopard came from the Wu Family and was a core disciple, so the rule was applicable to him.
Nevertheless, Junior Leopard did not want to be an Elder of the Wu Family so early. First of all, people were sure to doubt his achievement of Bone-Forging Realm with Level Four cultivation, since he was so young, practiced late and had no assist of decoction for bone forging. Besides, although some Elders were idle while others were in power, there was interest distribution involved in many issues eventually. He did not want to rush into the core circle of the Wu Family’s interest. He had nothing to worry about in terms of food and drink, and his status was not low. There was no need to get involved in the interests of the family so early. Therefore, half a year later, he would not tell anyone when his cultivation reached Bone-Forging Realm. Anyway, he had the wonderful secret skill of Snake-like Breath Holding Skill. It would be very easy to hide his spirit and cultivation.
With each passing day Junior Leopard became more and more nervous. Instead of practicing the hammering skill, he practiced his sword technique every day. He was extremely skilled at the movements of Silver Moon Sword Technique. His understanding of sword technique had also made a big step, especially in the few days with Li Xiu, and he benefited a lot from asking Li Xiu some questions about sword technique from time to time.
The cultivation of his External Elixir had reached Level Six as expected. Thanks to the Bright Moon Deifying Technique, the Green Jade Qian Yuan Internal Qi in the External Elixir was extremely clear and like a part of the External Elixir itself as though it had been practiced for 10 years. Furthermore, it was not only the power of the Green Jade Qian Yuan Internal Qi, but also the refining power of the Mysterious Fire that infiltrated into the External Elixir seemed to be absorbed into the Green Jade Qian Yuan Internal Qi and made his Green Jade Qian Yuan Internal Qi produce some strange changes. For example, the color of the Internal Qi began to darken and show a trace of fire, which made the Green Jade Qian Yuan Internal Qi more lethal.
If he started the External Elixir and wore a mask, holding a dagger in hand to exert the Silver Moon Sword Technique, even Xu Yong could not recognize him.
He had gotten the mask from the peddler. Honestly, the peddler’s craftmanship was really good. The mask was almost identical to his painting. Of course, it was not very complicated.
The pattern of the mask came from some of his odd interests. It was the mask from the comics Death he read in his previous life. It was not complicated, but it looked so weird that if you went out wearing it and a black cloak in the middle night, it could certainly frighten people to death.
“There is still one month, but Yunzhou seems far from Zhonghe Prefecture. What shall I say to Admiral? Your Excellency, I’m going to destroy Lu Shaoyou’s wedding and I want to take a few days off? No!”
It was complete bullshit!
However, this trouble was solved soon. He received an invitation card from Yunzhou, which was the wedding invitation card of Jin Nanqing and Wu Yuzhu, the daughter of Wu Yuntian.
It was reasonable but unexpected to Junior Leopard. He thought it would take at least a year before it happened, since in this world, people observed a mourning period after their parents passed away. Why was she getting married only half a year after her father died?
Junior Leopard was confused, but didn’t think much about it. He took the invitation card directly to Li Yuan for leave. Unexpectedly, Li Yuan gave him permission immediately, without so much as taking a glance at him or his card.
However, looking at his expression, Junior Leopard had a suspicion in his heart.
“Shit, he gave me permission so readily. Did Wang She tell him about it?” Li Yuan’s eccentric smile appeared in Junior Leopard’s mind.
“Forget it. If Wang She has told him, it means they have a deep relationship. It’s good for me. Alas, what a nuisance! Wang She is holding my greatest weakness and I can not do a thing about it. Although he seems to be harmless to me now, the future is uncertain. It’s really a nuisance!”
After asking for leave, Junior Leopard did not delay. He left for Yunzhou after a quick pack-up and talked about his family affairs with Wang Tianlei, but actually there was nothing to talk about.
There was another purpose for him to go to Yunzhou this time, which was to ask Xu Yong to forge a pair of hammers for him. His hammers were ruined by Li Xiu and not having a proper weapon was a troublesome.
It was a safe journey from Zhonghe Prefecture to Yunzhou. In fact, there was nothing that could threat him. There were some bandits who were all desperate farmers with poor ability to fight, but Junior Leopard didn’t want hard on them, so he let them go after teaching them a lesson.
Seven days later, he arrived in Qinlingjun City in Yunzhou.
Qinlingjun City had changed little after he left, which was normal. After all, he had only been away for half a year. The only change was that citizens here seemed to be somewhat excited, as if they were waiting for something good.
After inquiring, he found out that the citizens were excited about the marriage of Miss Ma. It was not because they were eager to see her marry, but because they thought it was a big joyful event. The marriage of Governor Ma’s daughter was not only a matter of Governor Ma himself, but of the whole Yunzhou.
“Hem, it’s not their own daughter’s wedding. Why are they so excited?” Sitting on the upstairs of a restaurant, Junior Leopard looked at the beaming passersby out the window with disdain and puzzlement.
“Junior brother, you were born in a mountain village close to Misty Mountain, so you do not know the governor’s prestige in Yunzhou. You know, without the Governor, Yunzhou would still be a small place in the frontier threatened by Northern Yuan every year. Wars and calamities would occur every year. Since the arrival of Governor Ma, people here live and work in peace and contentment, they don’t have to worry any more. Even the number of beggars has been reduced. It can be said that Yunzhou is pacific now. How could they not thank Governor Ma? In the eyes of the citizens of Yunzhou, Governor Ma is their second parent. So how could they not be excited about the wedding of Governor Ma’s daughter!?” Sitting opposite Junior Leopard, Lou filled his glass with wine and said.
Junior Leopard smiled and did not say anything. Indeed, in Yunzhou, the influence and prestige of Ma Tianchang was unsurpassed, even if the imperial court did not have such a good reputation. That’s why someone said that people in Yunzhou only knew Governor Ma and not the imperial court.
“Oh, what happened to senior brother Jin? Why are you getting married now? Wu Yuntian just died half a year, and it’s still the filial piety period, isn’t it?”
“I also feel strange about it, so does senior brother Jin!” When it came to this, Jin Nanqing showed a very strange look, “I heard it seemed to be the arrangement of the leaders. We don’t know either!”
“That’s weird!” Junior Leopard said to them and muttered in his heart, “Could it be that Wang She arranged this in order to help me find an excuse to leave Zhonghe City? Yeah, definitely, or how could their wedding day be just the day after Lu Shaoyou’s wedding? Hehe, the bastard Chief of the Tian Long Taoism. In name, the Tian Long Taoism is the backer of the Wu Family, but he could even influence the private affairs within the Wu Family. And he pushed through all this without people knowing it, and gave me an excuse to go back to Yunzhou. Awesome!”
In the past, he just thought that Wang She excelled in feats and acted strangely. Now, he was surprised to find that in addition to his feats he also held a strong influence throughout the entirety of Tian Long Taoism including the subordinate families.
Taking a sip of wine silently, Junior Leopard stretched his furrowed brow slightly, “senior brother Lou, where did my teacher go? Do you have any news?”
“How could I have news? Not only Elder Xu but the other three Elders went together!” At this point, a mysterious look appeared on his face, and he slowly leaned toward Junior Leopard and said, “But I heard that they went to Pingzhou!”
“Pingzhou?!” Junior Leopard asked, somewhat unexpected, “what are they doing there?”
“It seems that Li Family in Pingzhou acquired Meteorite Metal with excellent quality, they want to forge a Secondary Heavenly Weapon, so they invited our Elders who are professional in iron smelting to Pingzhou, not only our Elders, but also the Elders of the Jian’s, Luo’s and Pei’s, who excel in Refining Weapons!”
“Li Family in Pingzhou, Secondary Heavenly Weapon?” Junior Leopard raised his eyebrows and laughed, “unbelievable, that they should all go together!”
