The next morning.
At the residence of Grand Mage Bai Yuanzhi in Yi Water City.
The window stood open. The bitter northern winter wind swept into the empty meditation room. Clad in a loose white robe and barefoot, Grand Mage Bai Yuanzhi sat cross-legged inside, letting the wind blow over him until his face was red with cold.
"Where exactly is the problem?"
"How could the test subject's body have collapsed?"
Bai Yuanzhi kept turning over the problems he had encountered during the previous night's experiment.
Suddenly—
"Teacher, Teacher, the lord of Snow Eagle Territory is here to see you!" A somewhat timid voice came from outside. Everyone knew that Grand Mage Bai Yuanzhi hated being disturbed while he was meditating in the morning.
Of course, he merely disliked it; it wasn't forbidden!
During an experiment, however, interruptions were absolutely prohibited—unless something momentous had happened.
"That young lord?" Bai Yuanzhi was slightly taken aback, puzzled. It hadn't been long since Dongbo Xueying's last visit. Could he already have obtained a Silver Moon Wolf King's heart or fifty thousand gold coins?
"Quick, invite him in!"
Bai Yuanzhi immediately rose and left the meditation room to greet his guest in the reception hall.
Grand Mage Bai Yuanzhi stood at the reception hall's entrance to welcome him personally. The young man in black, a weapon case on his back, approached. Bai Yuanzhi couldn't help feeling wary. The aura surrounding this young lord had grown even more restrained, but a grand mage's powerful spirit made him exceptionally perceptive. He could sense that the seemingly subdued aura was even more startling than before.
"Grand Mage," Dongbo Xueying said with a smile.
"Lord, please," Grand Mage Bai Yuanzhi replied politely.
The two sat down.
"Lord, what brings you here this time..." Grand Mage Bai Yuanzhi looked at Dongbo Xueying.
"Please take a look, Grand Mage." Dongbo Xueying turned his hand over, and an iron box appeared in his palm. A faint, bloody odor wafted from it. He handed the box over.
Bai Yuanzhi immediately guessed what was inside. His body trembled with excitement as he reached out to take it.
He opened it gently.
Inside was the Silver Moon Wolf King's heart, still remarkably fresh! Only a day had passed since the wolf king's death, and the heart had been kept in the Storage Pendant, where not a breath of air could reach it. It was exceptionally well-preserved.
"Silver Moon Heart? It feels like it was harvested less than an hour ago." Bai Yuanzhi was thrilled. Between the Silver Moon Heart and fifty thousand gold coins, he wanted the heart more. Even with fifty thousand gold coins, he could only buy some materials at most... but the Silver Moon Heart would let him quickly complete a creation he had long been eager to finish.
Yet finding a fresh Silver Moon Heart was a matter of sheer luck. It wasn't as if someone would conveniently go to the Destruction Mountain Range and kill a Silver Moon Wolf King so quickly. He had prepared everything else for this experiment long ago, but he had waited a full eight years for a Silver Moon Heart and still hadn't obtained one.
Hiring experts specifically to hunt down and kill a Silver Moon Wolf King in the Destruction Mountain Range would cost far too much. It was beyond what he could afford.
"Grand Mage," Dongbo Xueying began.
Only then did Bai Yuanzhi manage to suppress his elation. He looked up and said, "Rest assured, Lord. Since you've brought me the Silver Moon Heart, I, Bai Yuanzhi... will do everything I can to teach your younger brother and accept him as my personal disciple. Once his spiritual power reaches the threshold, I guarantee he'll become a mage!"
Having received such a precious treasure, he naturally intended to fulfill his promise.
"Then I'll be entrusting him to you, Grand Mage." Dongbo Xueying smiled. "When can my brother come?"
"Whenever he likes," Bai Yuanzhi replied. He then took a wooden token from his robes. The character "Bai" was carved into it. "This is a token of introduction. Your brother can bring it with him when he comes."
Dongbo Xueying nodded.
He wasn't worried that Bai Yuanzhi would dare go back on his word!
Nor would Bai Yuanzhi take the treasure and then turn against him. After all, Dongbo Xueying had brought him such a fresh Silver Moon Heart in so little time. If he wanted to kill Bai Yuanzhi in secret, it might not be difficult. Killing a Silver Moon Wolf King was no easier than killing a Meteor Rank grand mage.
"After the New Year, I'll bring my brother here. I'll be imposing on you then, Grand Mage." Dongbo Xueying pocketed the token and rose. "I'll take my leave."
Bai Yuanzhi also stood to see him off.
Watching Dongbo Xueying leave, Bai Yuanzhi held the iron box and mused to himself, This young lord said he'd bring me a Silver Moon Heart or fifty thousand gold coins within a month. Now he's brought the heart so quickly, and it's still so fresh. He must have just killed a Silver Moon Wolf King. But who killed it? Snow Eagle Territory doesn't seem to have an expert powerful enough.
Zong Ling and Tong San had been famous for a long time, but neither could kill a Silver Moon Wolf King.
Could it have been the young lord himself? Bai Yuanzhi wondered.
He had met Zong Ling before. Though the Six-Armed Snake Demon was an expert, he hadn't made Bai Yuanzhi feel threatened.
Only the young lord was difficult to read.
Dongbo Xueying also went to repay the ten thousand gold coins he had owed for the Flying Snow Divine Spear. Then, with a few of his subordinates, he hurried back to Snow Eagle Territory.
He entered through the castle's main gate.
The soldiers and servants along the way greeted him with deep respect.
"Brother, Brother, you went to Yi Water City this morning and didn't even take me with you!" Qing Shi leaned against the railing on the third floor of the castle's main building, looking down at him.
"You were still asleep when I left." Dongbo Xueying leaped up and landed beside his younger brother on the third floor. He took out the token and handed it to him. "Qing Shi, take a look. What's this?"
Qing Shi examined the wooden token in confusion. "A wooden token. What's it for? There's a 'Bai' on it, too."
"It's Grand Mage Bai Yuanzhi's token of introduction. After the New Year, you can go to him and become his personal disciple," Dongbo Xueying explained.
"Ah, the grand mage agreed to take me as his personal disciple? Ah, hahahaha..." Qing Shi was so excited that he wiggled his hips. "This is awesome! This is awesome!"
"But, Brother, won't that mean I won't see you?" Qing Shi said reluctantly.
"Hahaha, Yi Water City isn't far from here. You can come visit me anytime, and I can visit you, too." Dongbo Xueying laughed.
"Mm." Qing Shi nodded firmly. He had already read many of the mage-related books their mother had left behind, and he was looking forward to a life as a mage.
That afternoon.
Snow drifted down from the sky. As the northernmost province in the entire Empire, it snowed there all the time.
Dongbo Xueying sat cross-legged inside, watching the snow swirl outside. Now that his spear technique had reached the master realm, he still spent an hour practicing every day, but training now served mostly to spur the faster growth of his muscles and bones. If he wanted to improve his spear technique, what he needed now... was insight into Heaven and Earth.
He needed to learn from nature and find enlightenment in it.
"Master, Master, someone outside claims to be the lord of Dragon Mountain Tower and wishes to see you." A servant came running in, slightly out of breath.
"Dragon Mountain Tower?" A glint flashed in Dongbo Xueying's eyes.
He knew a little about Dragon Mountain Tower.
It was a mysterious organization with branches throughout the Empire. The lord of Dragon Mountain Tower in Yi Water City held a position no lower than the city lord.
He immediately rose and hurried to the castle's main gate to greet the visitor himself.
"Open the gate and let our honored guest in." Dongbo Xueying reached the castle's main entrance.
A group of people had been stopped outside. At the front stood a black-haired, middle-aged man of distinguished bearing, with a white-haired old man at his side. Behind them stood a group of Heaven-Rank Knight guards.
"Haha, I've long heard of the Spear Demon Dongbo Xueying. Meeting you today, I see the stories were true." The black-haired man smiled. "I'm Si An, lord of Dragon Mountain Tower in Yi Water City!"
"Greetings, Lord Si An." Dongbo Xueying was also quite polite. "Lord Si An, please come in."
Dongbo Xueying and Lord Si An walked side by side, with everyone else following behind.
"Lord Si An, you've come through the snow. May I ask what brings you here?" Dongbo Xueying asked with a smile as they walked.
"Did you think you could keep it secret that you single-handedly wiped out the Curved Blade Alliance? And yesterday, Lord, you carried the Silver Moon Wolf King's pelt and ran more than nine hundred miles. Plenty of people saw you. Were you going to hide the fact that you killed a Silver Moon Wolf King, too?" Lord Si An asked with a smile.
Dongbo Xueying was secretly astonished.
Lord Si An seemed to know everything he had done yesterday. Dragon Mountain Tower was indeed impressive.
"Of course, I came here today for two reasons. First, to give you the bounty for killing the wanted criminal Gai Bin! Second—and more importantly—to present you with a Black Iron Token from Dragon Mountain Tower," Lord Si An said.
"A Black Iron Token?" Dongbo Xueying's heart gave a slight tremor.
He had waited for this day...
for far too long!
(The End of This Arc)
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