Forging Materials, Demon "Bo" Token

Inside the Peng Family Noodle Shop, the tables and stools looked somewhat old, but the air carried a faint, fresh aroma.

Following the voice, Lu Li saw a girl in a goose-yellow dress slumped before the wooden cabinet at the very back, her face listless.

The girl had a round, lovely face. She rested her chin on one hand, shallow dimples at the corners of her lips, and did not even raise her head when she heard him.

"My name is Lu Li. I'm not here for noodles. I'm looking for someone."

Lu Li walked over and placed the wooden hairpin Madam Peng had given him on the counter.

The girl's eyelids drooped with sleepiness. Upon hearing him, she reluctantly raised her head and looked over.

A young man stood before the counter, his hair cropped short like a monk's. He held a delicate little girl in his arms, with a sheathed blade tucked at his waist.

"Looking for someone? Who are you looking for?"

The girl muttered, casually glancing at the wooden hairpin on the counter. Her eyes instantly widened.

Lu Li's gaze shifted. The girl swiftly reached for the hairpin, so fast it was hard to follow. She clearly knew martial arts.

He still did not know whether he had found the right place. Before the girl could seize the hairpin, he snatched it away first and retreated two steps.

"Not bad. Please enlighten me!"

The girl's eyes lit up. Rather than getting angry, she immediately stepped onto the counter, sprang forward, closed in, and thrust out a palm.

Holding someone with one arm, Lu Li infused his free hand with the force of the Heart-Breaking Buddha Body and met her attack head-on.

The instant they made contact, the girl tried to twist her wrist and change moves. Yet to her surprise, Lu Li seemed to have seen through her every intention and easily deflected her.

The two did not use internal energy inside the noodle shop, merely exchanging three or four moves.

At the same time, Lu Li had sounded out the girl's abilities. She was at the Third Layer of Meridian Opening, her palm techniques nimble, seemingly paired with a matching lightness skill, and her movements were exceptionally agile.

Before, Lu Li might have found it somewhat difficult to deal with such close-range combat. But after obtaining the Ride Things, Roam the Mind Manual, his movement techniques had undergone an earthshaking transformation.

Within a tiny space, Lu Li shifted and maneuvered, always evading the girl's touch by the narrowest margin.

"Stop, Wan'er. With your martial arts, you're no match for this young brother. He's been playing along with you."

At that moment, a deep middle-aged man's voice came from the back kitchen. Then a burly man emerged, looking somewhat helpless.

He had watched their exchange and understood that Lu Li was simply an old man teasing a child.

As soon as he spoke, Peng Wan'er stopped. Her pretty, baby-fat face puffed up in anger. After only a few exchanged moves, she too had realized that the man before her was far stronger than she was.

Seeing this, Lu Li smiled faintly.

"You let me win."

"Hmph!"

Peng Wan'er puffed out her cheeks. The bangs on both sides of her forehead fell loose, hiding the faint redness of her ears. Perhaps she felt a little embarrassed.

"I am Peng Shan. There has been some unrest south of the city lately. Seeing that you possessed martial arts, my younger sister could not resist testing you. Please forgive her."

Peng Shan stepped forward, pulled Peng Wan'er behind him, and cupped his fists toward Lu Li.

"It's nothing."

Lu Li nodded lightly. He knew Peng Wan'er had not gone all out just now.

"However, I came here today at someone's request, to find someone."

Lu Li took out the wooden hairpin again and spread it across his palm.

At the same time, he looked toward Peng Shan, his thoughts stirring.

When he had asked passersby for directions, he had vaguely noticed something unusual. Now that he had met Peng Shan, his suspicions were confirmed.

At this time, the Xue Household and the Myriad Life Sect were forging an Evil Armament. Peng Shan, meanwhile, was a member of the Hidden Heroes Alliance. Later, he would join forces with the Heavenly Righteousness Society and the Righteousness Gang to destroy the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple and prevent the Evil Armament's creation.

The Hidden Heroes Alliance, Heavenly Righteousness Society, and Righteousness Gang were organizations spontaneously formed by righteous heroes within and beyond Qing Prefecture. Later, they would perish alongside the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple.

Information about Peng Shan flashed through Lu Li's mind.

The Xue Household forged the Evil Armament through sacrificial rites, having the Myriad Life Sect abduct children for blood sacrifices, with the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple presiding over it.

Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple...

Lu Li lowered his eyes slightly, ripples stirring in his gaze.

The Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Temple was an evil cult formed by a group of madmen who had mistaken demons for gods.

That Drooping-Ear Monk was the temple's abbot. He had personally overseen the Evil Armament's creation, intending to use a Demon Token as material to forge a weapon capable of rivaling the Heavenly Profound Divine Weapons.

And the demon corresponding to that Demon Token was Bo!

Upon seeing the wooden hairpin, Peng Shan glanced at Lu Li and seemed to sink into memory.

"I carved this hairpin for my elder sister when I was young. Ever since she married that beast, I haven't seen her for many years..."

"Brother."

Peng Shan cupped his fists. "Have you seen my elder sister? Did she ask you to come here and find us?"

Lu Li gathered his thoughts and nodded. Seeing this, Peng Wan'er suddenly spoke anxiously from the side.

"How is my sister now?"

Peng Shan also looked over nervously. Lu Li smiled.

"Madam Peng is safe and sound. By my reckoning, she should have already left White Crow Town."

Peng Shan and Peng Wan'er sighed in relief. They felt pain over Madam Peng's plight, yet there was nothing they could do.

The Peng Household had once been illustrious, but its legacy had long since declined. At best, it could still be considered a second-rate family power.

Moreover, the Peng Household's core Mechanism Arts had always been passed down only to men, never women. Naturally, they would not offend the Xue Household for a woman. Keeping Madam Peng alive had already been the Peng Household's limit.

Because of this, Peng Shan had furiously left home with Peng Wan'er.

At this point, Lu Li looked at Peng Wan'er, knowing that the girl must be Madam Peng's sixth younger sister.

"Could it be that my sister has finally come to her senses?"

Peng Wan'er's expression brightened with joy.

Ever since her nephew, whom she had never met, had been offered to the Xue Household, Madam Peng had become like a wandering ghost. Peng Wan'er wanted to help, but lacked the means.

"The Huang Household has been destroyed."

Lu Li shook his head and said no more.

Peng Shan had already known of Madam Peng's circumstances. Hearing this, a flicker passed through his eyes.

"Since you are a brother known to my sister, why stand here talking? Please, come inside."

Lu Li nodded and did not refuse.

The three entered the noodle shop's rear courtyard together.

Only upon entering did Lu Li realize that the noodle shop concealed far more than it seemed.

The courtyard corners were filled with weapons such as iron hammers, blades, and swords. Under the Weapon Lord's perception, he also discovered a cellar beneath the ground, filled with exquisitely crafted mechanical weapons.

"So this is Mechanism Arts..."

Lu Li sensed it inwardly.

Back in White Crow Town, he had seen the Mechanism Arts beneath the cellar Madam Peng had opened. Yet compared with this place, the Mechanism Arts in White Crow Town had been extremely crude.

They could even be called a watered-down version.

"Mechanism Arts traps... if I were caught inside them, even I would have to spend considerable effort breaking free."

Lu Li assessed inwardly. After the Stubborn Force had advanced, the Weapon Lord's perceptive ability had also strengthened.

At that moment, within the Weapon Lord's range of perception, using the intricate iron mechanisms as anchors, a three-dimensional panoramic map of the underground cellar appeared in his mind.

Everything was laid bare.