"This disciple will keep your teachings in mind."
Xiao Wu and Xiao Yue were seen off, and now even Lu Xianyuan was gone. Lu Wangchuan suddenly felt a great sense of relief, feeling not even half an ounce of lingering attachment to this city anymore.
"This is a letter I wrote for you. When you reach the Divine Water Sect, find a way to give it to Cheng Yunxiao. He is my junior martial uncle and has an exceptionally close relationship with my father, besides holding a high position within the Divine Water Sect as its current Law Enforcement Elder.
With him looking after you, you can rest easy in the Divine Water Sect."
"Many thanks, Mentor."
Lu Wangchuan took the letter, and Lu Xianyuan continued.
"However, before going to the Divine Water Sect, you must first make a trip to Daze City, eight hundred miles to the north, find the Black Iron Stronghold, and take something by using my name. As for what kind of thing it is, you will know when you see it."
Lu Wangchuan nodded.
"If there is nothing else, then be on your way."
Lu Xianyuan issued the dismissal order as usual. Lu Wangchuan hesitated for a moment, then suddenly spoke up:
"This disciple has received my master's great kindness and has no way to repay it. I take an oath here today that when I reach the Divine Water Sect another day, I will surely win back Still Water Peak for my master!"
Lu Xianyuan was startled, then merely smiled.
"I appreciate the sentiment, but you cannot possibly be her match. Cultivate properly and just focus on doing your own part."
"Is she very strong?"
"Strong! Stronger than your natural talent!"
Lu Xianyuan was extremely confident, as if he had firmly concluded that Lu Wangchuan could never defeat the other party.
Lu Wangchuan did not bother to explain further. He took the letter of recommendation, raised his hands in a respectful salute of thanks, and then quickly hurried home.
As soon as he returned home, he discovered a crowd ransacking the place, most of whom were neighbors.
The moment everyone looked at each other, an awkwardness seemed to hang in the air for about a second, but immediately afterward, the other party simply dropped all pretense and threw caution to the wind.
"Young Master Lu, we thought you had left, which is why we came to take things."
"That's right, you didn't want them anyway, and sooner or later they were bound to be seized by the Black Lotus Society. Since we're all neighbors, rather than letting those people have the benefit, it's better to let us have it."
Lu Wangchuan smiled coldly.
"Let you have the benefit? Why should I give you the benefit? Have you ever invited me to dinner, or offered me a cup of water? The moment I leave through the front door, you start tearing down my roof beams through the back door. Do you really take me for someone easy to bully?"
"Cut the crap. Aren't you just riding on the coattails of your sister to have what you have today? Otherwise, in eight lifetimes you wouldn't live in a mansion like this."
"That's right, we've taken the things today anyway. What are you going to do about it?"
Lu Wangchuan did not waste words. With a tap of his toes, the Heavenly Dipper Eight Steps brought him right in front of them in an instant, and he directly grabbed one person by the neck, giving it a crack to snap it right then and there—as simple as breaking a hemp stalk.
The crowd shuddered with fright, their previous arrogance instantly vanishing into thin air and replaced by endless terror.
"Young Master Lu, spare our lives! We were wrong; we'll return the things to you right now."
"Your hands have soiled them all, and I wouldn't even deign to take them."
"Then... then what does Young Master Lu want?"
"Hand over all your gold, silver, and jewels to me. Otherwise, I will snap your necks one by one."
The crowd's expressions soured, yet they dared not disobey. They could only hand over their own family treasures. Lu Wangchuan made a rough estimate: there was no less than seven or eight thousand taels of silver. This money was enough to buy three or four times the entire mansion, so it could also be considered an unexpected windfall.
He had always lived by the code that if others did not offend him, he would not offend them; but if others offended him, he would never show mercy.
They had only themselves to blame for having sticky fingers.
"The mansion is yours."
After getting the money, Lu Wangchuan cast one last glance at the old family home where he had lived for over a year before quickly leaving Jianghai City and heading toward Daze City.
Along the road, Lu Wangchuan witnessed numerous refugees migrating and saw plenty of people taking advantage of the chaos to make a fortune.
Among them, the thing that left the deepest impression on him was that the ones who bullied ordinary people the most were not entirely bandits; sometimes the plunder and oppression of government soldiers were easily stronger and fiercer than those of bandits.
In times of such troubled chaos, how could rebels not rise up?
At times, Lu Wangchuan genuinely could not bear to watch and would step in, but he did not manage everything.
To put it bluntly, when even ten-year-old children started stealing and robbing at a time like this, was he supposed to kill them too?
The roots of this world were rotten. If he truly wanted to save it, it would be far better to quickly raise his own cultivation realm and eventually become a powerhouse of a region, where a single casual order would instantly bring peace to the world—a hundred times easier than saving a thousand or ten thousand people right now.
Pressing on with haste, in less than two days Lu Wangchuan arrived at the Black Iron Stronghold of Daze City in the north.
He had also heard of this Black Iron Stronghold before. It was a renowned smithing stronghold in Shu Province, gathering the most exceptional group of artisans in all of Shu Province and forging countless superior weapons.
After arriving, Lu Wangchuan stated his purpose, and a clerk led him into the main hall before several men carried over a weapon.
It was a single-edged sword with dragon-scale patterns, its blade incomparably sharp and flashing with a frigid gleam on one side, while thick and sturdy on the other.
"A fine sword!"
With almost a single glance, Lu Wangchuan judged that this sword was no ordinary article.
"Young hero, this sword is called the Godslayer Sword. It was forged using otherworldly meteoric iron and Northern Sea cold iron, then hammered and refined a thousand times by our best master artisans over eighteen consecutive days to create it. It cuts through iron like mud and severs hairs blown against the edge.
Its value is no less than forty thousand taels, and it was specially crafted for you by your master."
Lu Wangchuan's mind and heart shook.
"This is for me?"
"Yes, exactly."
"Master."
A wave of warmth surged within Lu Wangchuan's heart. Although Lu Xianyuan was usually ice-cold, he truly treated him without the slightest reservation.
These profound favors could not be repaid overnight.
Taking a deep breath, he directly lifted the Godslayer Sword. The treasured sword that required several men of the Black Iron Stronghold to carry was handled with utter ease in his grasp.
This sight instantly shocked quite a few people.
"The young hero possesses marvelous martial arts."
Lu Wangchuan did not become complacent. He was a Dantian Realm powerhouse; lifting two or three thousand pounds of heavy objects with a single hand was effortless for him, while the weight of the Godslayer Sword was at most two or three hundred pounds, which even a Bone Forging cultivator could lift with great ease. The praises of ordinary people would not affect his state of mind.
Yet right at that moment, countless soldiers suddenly forced their way through the gates of the Black Iron Stronghold, surrounding the entire stronghold tightly on all sides.
"Nobody move!"
The master of the Black Iron Stronghold immediately hurried forward.
"My lords in uniform, what wind blew you all here today?"
The leading Big Beard Commander, whose cultivation had already reached the Open Source stage, swept his gaze across the entire stronghold and said coldly:
"The Black Lotus Society has been altogether too rampant lately. This Thousand Household has received orders to take a batch of weapons from your Black Iron Stronghold to expand our military supplies."
The stronghold master hurriedly spoke up:
"My lord, is there some misunderstanding? I have not received any dispatch orders or purchasing silver from the Imperial Court."
"What? You still expect dispatch orders and silver from the Imperial Court? Can you bear the responsibility if you delay military opportunities and let the people of the Black Lotus Society escape? Could it be that you are a spy for the Black Lotus Society and want to deliver these weapons to the Black Lotus Sect?"
The Big Beard Commander's words left the stronghold master trembling and utterly speechless.
This was clearly daylight robbery, yet he had no recourse.
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