"Look through the requests," she told me before she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. Glancing at my smartphone, I opened the email when the alert came and quickly scanned through the contents.

"Um, okay…"

Tang Qi Hong watched me with a bright smile, her clear blue eyes shining eagerly. I tilted my head at her.

"You want me to help you with these?"

"Of course!" Tang Qi Hong placed her hands on her hips proudly as she straightened up. "Don"t worry, I"ll make sure you receive your fair share of the payment. Since you"re a Spirit Engraver and blacksmith as well, you should have no problem forging these Spirit Artifacts now, right?"

"…say what?"

My eyebrows creased as I stared at her, baffled. Shaking my head, I took a deep breath and swallowed.

"You do know I suck at Spirit Engraving and smithing, right? There are a lot more competent blacksmiths and Spirit Engravers that you can approach. Why are you asking me of all people? Wouldn"t Lian Rou be more suitable?"

"True, Lian Rou might be more capable than you," Tang Qi Hong admitted. "But you"re a great a.s.sistant." She leaned in and patted my shoulder. "What I need is an able a.s.sistant who carries my instructions out to the letter. It would be a little demeaning for Lian Rou if I ask her to be my a.s.sistant for this project."

A vein twitched in my temple, but I fought down my irritation. "But it"s not demeaning to approach me for a.s.sistant duties?"

"Hey, you said it so yourself," Tang Qi Hong retorted. "That you suck at Spirit Engraving and smithing. I wasn"t the one who said that."

She had me there. Sighing, I nodded.

"Fine. I"ll help you. What do you need me to do?"

"Hmm…" Tang Qi Hong thought for a bit, placing a delicate-looking finger on her chin. Then she brightened up. "You will just do the basics, refining Spirit Materials, grinding them, shaping them. I"ll take care of the final steps and inscribe the Spirit Engravings. You should be all right with that, right? I know you can at least complete the basics."

"Uh, yeah. I"ll do my best." I nodded, despite not feeing very confident.

"But we are still lacking a few Spirit Materials. The sect just ran out of stock recently, so I"m afraid we won"t be able to start today. Tomorrow, you"ll follow me to Tushan City, and we"ll purchase the Spirit Materials that we are missing."

"Roger that. Tomorrow, right?"

"Yep. Make sure you write that in your calendar."

I didn"t have to. While my memory wasn"t perfect, it wasn"t bad either. Remembering a date…I mean an appointment the next day was an easy task for me. Most likely Tang Qi Hong would remind me right after cla.s.s tomorrow anyway.

"Understood." I nodded. "I"ll see you tomorrow then."

Since there wasn"t much else to do, I decided to return to my workshop and continued with my personal project. Despite already having the Azure Lotus Sword, I still wanted to forge my own personal Spirit Weapon. Even though I had made great progress over the last two months, I still had yet to complete it.

"Speaking of which, how is your Spirit Weapon going? Are you still forging it?"

As if she had read my mind, or perhaps she was able to guess accurately when she saw me heading in the direction of the Blood Blades dormitory, Tang Qi Hong spoke up and asked me. I turned back to face her with a smile.

"Yeah. I"m almost done. Look forward to it."

"I"m sure you"ll impress me. If you need any help, you can always approach me. After all, I"m technically your senior in this sect."

Tang Qi Hong patted her well-endowed chest proudly.

"Um, thanks. I definitely will."

Obviously I was only being polite. I probably could finish the final few steps myself. As long as I found a way to iron out the unexpected difficulties that surfaced right before completion, I didn"t need to trouble anyone for advice.

"Still, why is it taking so long? Didn"t you get the last component you need from the Nascent Soul Stage pract.i.tioner"s tomb two months ago? Normally you should only take about a month or so to finish smithing."

"Ha ha, I screwed up a few times, plus I wanted to try something new."

I chuckled sheepishly, scratching my head. Tang Qi Hong regarded me suspiciously, but when I didn"t divulge any further details, she didn"t press me.

To be honest, I could have completed my personal Spirit Weapon a long time ago, last month, if I hadn"t decided to suddenly make major alterations at the last minute. Closing my eyes, I recalled briefly the epiphany I received when I was almost done.

The device looked more like a hi-tech shield than a weapon. Since Elder Tie and Tang Qi Hong repeatedly informed me that the most outstanding property of an Ice Soul Python"s scale was its defensive power, I ended up making it my focus and forging a shield-like equipment instead. However, I wasn"t satisfied with merely making a Storage Shield – the shield doubled as a spatial device, which was why I was combining the Void Whale"s void thing with the Ice Soul Python"s scale in the first place. The spherical yin-based artifact allowed me to merge both of them seamlessly and I produced the shield-like armament after a month.

While I was about to apply the finishing touches, I caught sight of the broken Castellax-cla.s.s battle-automata I found in the ancient tomb, right before entering the Sea of Flames that protected the burial chamber.

At that time, I suddenly had an idea. What if I combined my Spirit Armament with the spare parts from the broken Castellax-cla.s.s battle-automata? Even though the frame and cha.s.sis was damaged beyond repair, many of the inner components could still be salvaged. For example, the cerebral cortex that essentially served as the mind of the battle-automata, the qi battery that could receive my energy, and the power capacitators.

Moreover, I had been learning Spirit Engravings for battle-automata from Elder Hai Mo himself. If I could apply that knowledge and modify it to suit my needs, then perhaps I would be able to design an innovative Spirit Armament that had no precedent.

Of course, that was easier said than done. The installation of the Castellax-cla.s.s battle-automata parts was simple enough, and I had no problem merging all the components together. However, as I expected, I ran into trouble when it came to Spirit Engraving. Even after a month of experimenting, I was still unable to come up with the right Spirit Engraving that could grant my Spirit Armament life, or at least make it work the way I intended it to. I was not Ya Se, unfortunately. The protagonist from The Great Conqueror might be a genius Spirit Engraver who often revolutionized the Spirit Engraved Gear industry with inventive designs, but I was just an average, mediocre Spirit Engraver. There was no way I could create entirely new, innovative designs as if I was drawing water from a spring fountain. I just didn"t have the talent.

Fortunately, my recent attempts had been increasingly successful. Not successful in that I finally found the winning formula, but I was able to get closer to the effects I wanted. Perhaps I had been watching too much sci-fi anime, but I really wanted a hi-tech weapon right out of the mecha genre. This timeline didn"t have guns, but I was planning on going beyond guns and skipping straight to futuristic tech and weapons.

If I pulled this off right, then we didn"t have to care about projectiles. My "guns" could intensify the shooters" qi and amplify the firepower of their qi blasts by several magnitudes, finally serving the same function as melee weapons that boost their wielders" strength and killing power. Or so I hoped.

But for that to materialize in reality, I needed to perfect my Spirit Engravings and find out what that final flaw was…

"Fei Wu! Are you listening to me?" Tang Qi Hong suddenly frowned.

She had noticed that I was drifting away in the middle of our conversation, and was getting a little impatient when I wasn"t answering her questions directly. Evidently, while I was in the middle of reminiscing, she was asking me what new experiments I was trying out.

"I"m listening," I a.s.sured her hastily, not wanting to get her in a bad mood. "I just want to surprise you when I complete it." I grinned. "It will be something n.o.body has seen before."

"Oh…you sound pretty confident, don"t you?" Tang Qi Hong smiled sweetly, but there was a dangerous edge to her voice. "I guess I"ll look forward to your end product."

"Um…prepare to be disappointed," I added frantically. "a.s.sume the worst. You know I"m a Blood Blade and not a Spirit Engraver. Chances are, I"ll screw up."

"Then why don"t you ask me for help? I"m sure I can a.s.sist you in completing it."

"Nah. It wouldn"t be a pleasant surprise if I do. And it"s something personal…I don"t want to cheat after coming so far on my own. Call it a man"s pride…yeah, I know it"s stupid, but I really want to achieve this with my own strength."

"Ha ha!" Tang Qi Hong slapped my shoulder, looking very pleased. "I know exactly what you mean! Like how this will be your own personal baby, and you don"t want anyone else touching it or contributing to it! You want to be able to boast that you created this Spirit Artifact through your own efforts and your own efforts alone!"

Oh, right. Tang Qi Hong was a premier Spirit Engraver and blacksmith. Of course she would know exactly how I felt.

"All right…I won"t keep you then. Spend as much time as you can tonight. From tomorrow onward, you probably won"t have as much time to work on your personal project. We"ll be taking on the Dark Asura Sect"s request tomorrow!" she flexed her arm in a humorous manner. "Get ready! I"ll be working you hard as usual!"

I stifled a groan when I remembered the last time I was her a.s.sistant and tried valiantly to plaster a smile on my face.

"Yeah. I look forward to working under you again."

*

"Young Master."

"Young Master."

At the Water Margin Town just a few miles from Tushan City, Liang Shao Yang arrived in a secluded house. The moment he entered, the many martial artists residing within rose sharply and saluted smartly, their dark gazes filled with respect.

Despite the respectful reception, Liang Shao Yang"s expression remained cold and indifferent. He ignored the martial artists and walked straight to the back of the house. Stopping before what looked like a blank wall, he reached out and pressed a specific location.

There was a loud clanking sound and the "wall" began to slide apart, revealing a secret room behind it. An unseen bell rang melodiously, its soft and gentle chime contrasting vividly with the shadowy interior of the dilapidated house.

Liang Shao Yang stepped into the secret room and stopped in the middle. Crossing his arms, he waited.

Two seconds after he stopped, two thin, middle-aged men appeared, kneeling before him. Like ghosts, they seemed to have materialized out of thin air, emerging from the shadows unseen and almost coming into existence the moment the young master of the Divine Shadow Sect summoned them.

"Greetings, Young Master," the both of them greeted him respectfully, their hooded heads bowed and their knees bent.

"There will be a change in our plans," Liang Shao Yang informed them coolly without any preamble. He sure didn"t waste any time. Repressing his emotions, the young master of the Divine Shadow Sect stared down on his two Great Shadow Guards, Gray Shadow and Black Shadow. There was a slight tremor in his expression, and his usual arrogance was gone, replaced by bitter disappointment. "It will be very difficult for me to control Tang Qi Hong. Since that method has proven to be impossible, then we will have to resort to Plan B."

Neither Gray Shadow nor Black Shadow stirred, their faces hidden underneath their hoods. Eerie lights seemed to flash, occasionally lighting up their middle-aged features, but whatever few glimpses one could catch of their faces appeared to be distorted and blurry. They remained stationary and silent as they listened to Liang Shao Yang.

"Father"s original plan was for me to court Tang Qi Hong, and after she takes over as the next sect leader, I will be able to control the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect from the shadows as her husband." Liang Shao Yang snorted bitterly. "But neither of us antic.i.p.ated that she would already have someone she likes. And she has remained resistant to my charms."

There was also another reason. Liang Shao Yang had found someone more suitable to be his future wife, but he obviously could not voice out his feelings about Hu Mei Er to his Great Shadow Guards. Even though they were his subordinates, their true loyalty still lay with his father, and they would undoubtedly report everything back to him.

If they were aware of Liang Shao Yang"s romance with Hu Mei Er, they chose not to mention it, though. And Liang Shao Yang was not dumb enough to drop that bomb on them if there was still a chance that they didn"t know about his affair with the pink-haired beauty.

"Furthermore, I have succeeded in triggering a response from the Spirit Engraved Pillars, and have become a candidate for the future sect leader selection, there is no need for me to court her in order to gain control of the sect. Once Tang Qi Hong is dead, there will be no one left to compete with me for the position of future sect leader. That way, I can ascend to the position of sect leader and directly control the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect from there!"

Liang Shao Yang did not mention his worries. He had seen the gradual shift in the Great Elders" att.i.tudes. Originally, they had backed him purely because he was male, and they still maintained that patriarchal mentality from the past. However, recently, Tang Qi Hong had been getting a few achievements, and was now in possession of a small maniple of battle-automata, thus augmenting her combat strength. Right now she only had three Thallax-cla.s.s battle puppets under her command, with the rest of her battle-automata yet to come online because she hadn"t finished the Spirit Engravings for them. If he waited too long, then Tang Qi Hong would become too powerful.

The Great Elders had recognized the change in the wind and Tang Qi Hong"s growing power not just as a genius Spirit Engraver and blacksmith, but also the increasing formidable combat power that was backing her. Not to mention, Tang Qi Hong had me, a Blood Blade, backing her. Even though she openly denied it, apparently the Elders and leaders of the sect thought it was obvious that we had some sort of special relationship.

I wish. I wish they were right, but reality could be so cruel.

Honestly, Liang Shao Yang couldn"t care less about me. His target at the moment was Tang Qi Hong. If I stood in the way, which he knew was a near-inevitable possibility, he would just eliminate me. He was basically treating me as someone who would get caught in the crossfire and accounted for my intervention, but otherwise I was not his target priority.

"You would like to attack Tang Qi Hong, Young Master?" Gray Shadow asked incredulously, his voice hoa.r.s.e and distorted.

"Yes. Infiltrate Tushan City. She should be leaving the main sect grounds to go into the city tomorrow in order to purchase Spirit Materials. I want her to die outside the main sect grounds." Liang Shao Yang"s expression was cold and merciless. "Most of the Blood Blades operate inside the main sect grounds and the surrounding areas. Be very careful, and stay as far away from the main Nine-Tailed Fox Sect grounds as possible."

"Understood," Black Shadow acknowledged, his voice just as indecipherable as Gray Shadow"s. Clearly there was some technique that was concealing the true nature of their voices and features. They really were masters who lived in the shadows.

"In all likelihood, there will be at least one Blood Blade with her." Liang Shao Yang was not stupid (at least not when it came to killing and a.s.sa.s.sination), and he refused to rule my existence out as insignificant. He of all people knew how dangerous it was to underestimate someone. "But he should only be at the middle level of the Qi Fusion Stage at most, so you should be able to handle him. Kill him if he gets in the way."

"Yes," both of them chorused.

"But…" Liang Shao Yang hesitated, causing the both of them to freeze just before they were about to melt away into the shadows. "That boy is a surprise. If you do run into him when a.s.sa.s.sinating Tang Qi Hong, do not underestimate him. I still don"t understand what kind of techniques he learned or what tricks he used, but he can be more than a match for a Pure Spirit Stage pract.i.tioner. Do not take him lightly if he intervenes. Kill him immediately."

If they were surprised by his warning, neither Gray Shadow nor Black Shadow showed it. They merely affirmed the order and withdrew quietly, disappearing into the darkness. Liang Shao Yang watched as they vanished from existence, and then permitted himself an icy smile.

"I"m very sorry, Tang Qi Hong. But you"ll becoming more of a threat than I antic.i.p.ated. I hate to do this, but for the sake of Divine Shadow Sect and our goals…we need to control the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect at all costs. And your life is just a small price to pay for it."

He lingered in the secret room for a bit longer, and then sharply turned around to leave. The walls closed behind him as he exited the secret room. Quietly departing through the bas.e.m.e.nt located under the secluded house, Liang Shao Yang then returned to Tushan City and the main sect grounds quickly, before anyone from the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect noticed his disappearance.

Except Hu Mei Er, of course, who was faithfully waiting for him in his apartment. When he thought of her, Liang Shao Yang smiled.

He had made the right decision to eliminate Tang Qi Hong. He wondered how Hu Mei Er would react the moment she learned that her most hated rival was a.s.sa.s.sinated.

*

Unbeknownst to Liang Shao Yang, there was someone tracking his every movement.

Tapping his comn bead, Shen Cha whispered into his speaker, reporting to his boss who was monitoring the situation back at the Blood Blades headquarters.

"Command, this is Eagle."

"Eagle, Command. What have you got? Report."

"Eagle. Liang Shao Yang has gone to a house in the nearby town of of Water Margin. If I"m not mistaken, it is the temporary base of the Divine Shadow Sect in the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect"s territory. Gray Shadow and Black Shadow should be hiding inside it."

Shen Cha flattened himself against the gra.s.s, using the tall plants to hide his body from view when he sensed a terrifying aura. Gritting his teeth, he compressed his qi to hide his presence as much as possible.

"Eagle? This is Command. Are you all right? Report!"

"Not now," Shen Cha hissed. Elder Zhao took the hint and fell silent.

After what seemed like an eternity, the terrifying aura vanished. Shen Cha took a deep breath and relaxed, slowly rising to his feet.

"Command, this is Eagle. Are you still there?"

"I"m more worried that you are no longer there," Elder Zhao replied dryly. "What happened? Did you almost get caught?"

"Yeah." Shen Cha sighed. "One of the Divine Shadow Sect members swept through this area, probably noticing something was amiss. Seems like they haven"t found me yet."

Exhaling in relief, he peered from behind the tall gra.s.s.

"As I said earlier, I"ve located what seems to be the Divine Shadow Sect"s base in our territory. I"ve been tailing Liang Shao Yang as you"ve instructed, and I saw him leave the main sect grounds and Tushan City, before entering this house. However, I have just received confirmation from Falcon that he has returned to the main sect grounds. I didn"t see him leave the house at all, at least not through the outside, so I suspect there is a secret pa.s.sageway underground. He must have used that, and so succeeded in escaping my surveillance."

"You have a confirmation on the coordinates of the temporary base?" Elder Zhao"s voice was frosty. No doubt the vice-leader of the Blood Blades (the leader being none other than the Sect Lady Zi Da Ji herself) was enraged that the Divine Shadow Sect was audacious enough to set up a base within their territory.

"Yes, I do. I"ll send them to you now."

Using his smartphone and the Google Maps app, Shen Cha sent his current position, complete with a satellite-based photograph, to the Blood Blades headquarters.

"Very good." Elder Zhao sounded satisfied, even though his voice was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with murderous rage. "We will wait. Right now, we don"t have sufficient evidence, but once it is clear that Liang Shao Yang has been betraying us and is scheming with the Divine Shadow Sect against our Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, then we will act. The next time he uses this route and meet with his Divine Shadow Sect subordinates again, we will move in and capture the base, and arrest every d.a.m.ned member of that insidious sect."

"Yes, Elder Zhao." Then Shen Cha hesitated for a moment. Detecting his doubts, Elder Zhao inquired.

"What is it, Shen Cha?"

"Is that…a good idea? Should we not inform Sect Leader and the Great Elders about this? Would they disapprove of our plan?"

"Sect Leader is already aware of our plans. As for the Great Elders…" Elder Zhao shook his head. "By the time they finally wake up and open their eyes to the danger directly in front of us, I fear it will be too late."

*

The next day, as expected, Tang Qi Hong practically jumped on me after school ended for the day.

"Fei Wu! I hope you haven"t forgotten. We"re going to Tushan City immediately today."

"No, I haven"t forgotten," I a.s.sured her as I packed up my belongings in my bag and stood up. Tong Xue grinned mischievously and pounced over.

"Oh? What is this? Are you two going on a date?"

"Don"t talk nonsense!" Tang Qi Hong tried to hit him, but Tong Xue agilely ducked out of the way. Her face red, she tried to pursue him, but Tong Xue was too slippery. "We"re just running a couple of errands for the sect!"

"Right." Tong Xue grinned.

"Grr…!" Tang Qi Hong bristled, but she wasn"t as fast as Tong Xue and thus was unable to catch him. I shook my head as I watched the duo mess about. What were they, twelve? We were already high school students, for heaven"s sake. Stop indulging in juvenile behavior.

"Qi Hong, Fei Wu, are the both of you going to the city instead of returning straight back to the sect today?" Lian Rou asked, surprised, as she waded over to put herself firmly between the running Tong Xue and chasing Tang Qi Hong.

"Yeah, we"re going to purchase some Spirit Materials and fulfil the request of those people from the Dark Asura Sect." Tang Qi Hong smiled cheerfully. "What about you and Tong Xue?"

"I have Blood Blades stuff," Tong Xue grumbled. "And so do the two of you, as a matter of fact. Are you going to skip out on that?"

"I already spoke to First Elder Hai, and he permitted us to go. I"m not a Blood Blade in the first place, and Wu already has two Castellax-cla.s.s battle-automata done, which is the minimum for the Blood Blades" battle-automata maniples. We can do the Spirit Engravings for the remaining battle puppets in our own time, at our own pace."

"Ah. Okay." Tong Xue nodded, looking a little disappointed. With Pang Feng having finished his two Castellax-cla.s.s battle-automata as well, it seemed that Tong Xue would be feeling lonely.

"Don"t worry, you only have one left," I a.s.sured him. He smiled and shrugged.

"Yeah. I"ll be able to endure a month of hardship by myself, I suppose."

We proceeded toward the parking lot and climbed aboard the Phoenix Express. Once all of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect disciples from Wu Ling Academy were embarked, the driver shifted into high gear and the bus flew off, speeding back toward Tushan City.

When we arrived in the hoverport of Tushan City and got off the bus, we went our separate ways. Tong Xue headed toward the main sect hall to finish up the Spirit Engraving for his Thallax-cla.s.s battle puppet. Lian Rou went to look for an outer sect elder to inquire about something. While they did so, Tang Qi Hong and I went into the main city premises instead of going toward the direction of the Flame Volcano where the main sect grounds were.

There were many Spirit Material shophouses lined up along the streets, with vendors carting out huge crates showcasing their products.

"Over here! Fifty percent discount! Unicorn horns, hydra fangs, manticore tails! Everything must go!"

"You"ll regret it if you don"t buy this Mandrake"s roots!"

"Thousand-year Ginseng! I swear this is genuine! If you don"t believe me, you can have a closer look!"

The two of us had to make our way through a sea of crowd, hustling and bustling along the shophouses. The shopowners were yelling as loudly as they could, touting their wares and trying to convince scurrying pa.s.sers-by to stop and take a look at their products. Tang Qi Hong ignored every one of them, and being the inexperienced blacksmith that I was, I hurried to keep up with her.

I didn"t want to get lost in such a huge crowd. Not that I would actually get lost, but it would be a pain to look for her when we got separated. Yeah, we had our phones, but I would prefer not to waste time calling and searching for each other when it was not necessary.

As if she read my mind, Tang Qi Hong reached out and grabbed my hand. Pulling me along, she kept facing forward, but I was astute enough to know she was blushing a little.

"D…don"t get the wrong idea! This is so that we won"t get separated and lose each other in the crowd! There"s no other meaning!"

I smiled, despite myself. "Yeah, yeah."

Tang Qi Hong said nothing, but she continued to look ahead while her face burned slightly, and she yanked my arm with more strength than before. I winced, but did not complain.

While we jostled through the crowd, a single person watched us from afar, his face seemingly normal. In fact, I wouldn"t even have noticed him if not for the fact that he was staring at the both of us intently the moment he spotted us. Even though he didn"t approach us, he backed away and kept a safe distance.

But he didn"t disappear into the crowd. No. Even though the both of us moved further ahead, for some reason the fella was able to maintain the exact same amount of distance and continued watching us.

That guy was a stalker, for sure.

Should we confront him?

The thought crossed my mind, but I realized that it might not be a good idea. After all, if the confrontation turned into a fight, we would end up involving all the people around us in the battle and cause civilian casualties.

I guess we should wait for him to make an actual move. He probably wouldn"t be stupid enough to try and attack us with this many people around.

For now, I resolved to keep an eye on our stalker the same way he was keeping an eye on us.