The Xu Household had five weapons workshops scattered throughout Canglan City, producing large quantities of weapons every day.
Much had happened over the past few days. The Xu Household's master weaponsmith had been poached by the Tian Household, and the new smiths' immature techniques kept causing problems with their weapons. Training replacements would take a long time.
The weapons brought back to the main hall yesterday had all been defective.
He headed toward the nearest weapons workshop, a journey of about an incense stick's time.
His ears suddenly twitched, and a cold smile touched his lips. "Someone really does have a death wish, following me around. Let's see who's been tailing me."
Leaving the main road, he turned down a street and entered a deserted alley. Tall courtyard walls stood on either side, and a foul stench drifted from its depths. Many passersby relieved themselves here.
He stopped. Swishing sounds came from behind him as six figures surrounded the alley's exit.
"You've followed me for so long. Are you going to keep hiding your heads and showing your tails?"
He looked toward the six men. Dressed in black with their faces masked, they had only their eyes exposed. Gleaming weapons in hand, they radiated sky-shaking killing intent that filled the entire alley.
A man coming in to urinate stumbled upon the scene and was scared out of his wits. He fled without even pulling up his trousers.
"Trash, today is the day you die. Get on your knees and beg for mercy."
The man in the middle spoke in a low voice. They advanced step by step, forming a tight encirclement to prevent Liu Wuxie from escaping.
All six were fairly strong. Only one was at the fifth layer of the Houtian realm; the other five were all at the sixth layer of the Acquired Realm.
"Zhou Tong, I spared you at the Pill Treasure Pavilion, but you still refuse to give up. You're digging your own grave."
Liu Wuxie's gaze suddenly fixed on the face of the man to his right. Frightened, the man stepped backward. How had his identity been exposed?
"You trash! You slapped me at the Pill Treasure Pavilion and cost me my position there. Today is the day you die."
Zhou Tong pulled off his mask, his face twisted with malice. After leaving the Pill Treasure Pavilion yesterday, he had spent all his savings hiring five assassins. They had been keeping watch outside the Xu Household's gates and had finally seized their chance.
Without the Pill Treasure Pavilion as his powerful backer, Zhou Tong would find it difficult to take even a single step. Over the past few years, he had developed a gambling habit and piled up debts. As a minor supervisor at the Pill Treasure Pavilion, his creditors had not dared do anything to him.
Without the Pill Treasure Pavilion's support, it would not be long before those creditors came knocking. He would lose everything he owned, including the several concubines he kept.
"You think trash like you can kill me?"
A wicked smile touched his lips. Even someone at half-step Innate could not kill him, much less mere Acquired Realm cultivators.
"Stop wasting words on him. Kill him!"
The five assassins had committed their share of murders and wasted no more words. They understood perfectly well that villains died from talking too much.
A long saber cleaved down through the air, its Saber Qi driving straight toward Liu Wuxie's face. The air churned violently, countless vortices bursting in midair. Their simple combined formation corresponded to the five elemental positions.
Zhou Tong did not attack. He withdrew to one side, a trace of madness in his eyes.
"A pack of clay chickens and tile dogs!"
Liu Wuxie suddenly vanished from where he stood. Executing the Seven Star Steps, he disappeared like a succession of afterimages, and all five attacks missed.
Who could have expected Liu Wuxie to use such exquisite footwork? Like a ghostly shadow, he left no trace they could track. Suddenly appearing outside their circle, he chopped down viciously with his palm like a blade.
Crack!
The black-clad man before him fell backward, his neck snapped by Liu Wuxie's palm in one clean, efficient move.
Pushing off with his right foot, he evaded the descending blade like a dragonfly skimming the water. Every movement flowed with natural perfection, making it impossible to predict his next move or where he would appear.
Losing a man in their very first exchange drastically changed the remaining four assassins' expressions. They attacked faster and harder.
"Your saber techniques are too weak. Let me show you what true saber technique is."
He flipped through the air, and the long saber on the ground landed in his palm. Still airborne, he traced a beautiful arc, the merciless blade tearing through the air.
Slash!
Without warning, Saber Qi scattered in all directions. Before the four charging assassins could react, they suddenly froze in place.
"What a fast blade!"
The leader's mask slipped from his face, his eyes filled with terror. He had never seen anyone so frightening.
Blood dripped from the four men's necks onto the ground. They would not die immediately. Ignoring them, he walked toward Zhou Tong, step by step.
Scared nearly out of his soul, Zhou Tong retreated one step at a time. A tall wall stood behind him. He had nowhere left to go.
"Y-you're supposed to be trash. How can you be so strong?"
Zhou Tong panicked. Rumor had it that the Xu Household's live-in son-in-law was trash who could not cultivate. Yet that slash had shaken heaven and earth and made ghosts and gods weep. Those at the sixth layer of the Acquired had been brutally slain without even a chance to react.
"Want to know?"
Liu Wuxie suddenly leaned forward, smiling, seemingly harmless to man and beast. Their faces nearly touched. Zhou Tong nodded involuntarily, wanting to know how this piece of trash had suddenly become so powerful.
"Why should I tell you?"
His eyes turned cold. The long saber in his hand suddenly pierced Zhou Tong's lower abdomen, and blood sprayed wildly.
Zhou Tong died an utterly stifled death. That harmless smile had felt like a spring breeze. Just when he thought he could survive, the saber had pierced his body.
The saber's tip embedded itself in the wall, keeping Zhou Tong's corpse from falling for a long time. Only when the next person came in to urinate and let out a piercing scream, alarming many passersby, did people discover that someone had died here.
Liu Wuxie would never show mercy to anyone who wanted to kill him.
The large characters "Xu Household Weapons Workshop" appeared before Liu Wuxie. The premises occupied over a thousand square meters. Usually, the workshop would have been packed with customers at this hour, but something was strange today. Customers were few and far between, leaving the entire sales hall cold and deserted.
It was probably the defective goods' doing. The standing of the Xu Household's weapons had plummeted a thousand fathoms.
The Xu Household made its living selling weapons. Losing this business would deal it an enormous blow.
He entered the hall. Many weapons lined the walls on either side: long sabers, longswords, and even obscure weapons such as judge's pens, concealed darts, and tobacco pipes. The Xu Household could forge them all.
"Young master, what brings you here?"
With hardly any customers, several attendants were slumped over the counters, half asleep. A young man suddenly approached and greeted him warmly, without a trace of contempt in his eyes.
This actually left Liu Wuxie somewhat unaccustomed. Usually, every Xu Household servant looked at him as though he were garbage, their faces full of disdain.
"I want to forge a long saber. Are there any furnaces free?"
He glanced at the long sabers hanging on the wall. None suited his tastes. He preferred a fast blade, thin and of a weight suited to him. A streamlined shape was especially important.
"Business has been slow these past two days, so the weaponsmiths are all resting. All dozen or so furnaces are idle. If you want a weapon, young master, you can pick one here."
The young man was named Hu Shi, an apprentice weaponsmith. His father also worked for the Xu Household, and his loyalty to them was unwavering. Liu Wuxie learned his background through their conversation.
He shook his head. The long sabers on the wall were all sharp, but most were thick and heavy, favoring strength. There were two goose-feather sabers, but they were too light.
"Hu Shi, just get back to sleep. Why waste so many words on a piece of trash?"
The drowsy attendants and the shopkeeper opened their bleary eyes. The shopkeeper who had spoken was named Dong Changliang. He had worked for the Xu Household for over a decade and knew everything about Liu Wuxie like the back of his hand.
"Pfft..."
The blue-clad attendants beside him burst out laughing as well, their eyes brimming with mockery.
Liu Wuxie remained expressionless, unmoved by the sneers and ridicule around him.
"Don't take it to heart, young master. Their tongues are just a little venomous."
Hu Shi felt somewhat embarrassed. Whatever else, they drew their pay from the Xu Household, and treating its son-in-law this way was hardly justifiable. When Hu Shi and his father first arrived in Canglan City, the Xu Household had taken them in. They felt nothing but gratitude toward it.
Liu Wuxie nodded, his impression of Hu Shi growing increasingly favorable. He was indeed someone worth molding.
"Come inside with me. I'm going to forge a weapon myself. Give me a hand."
Liu Wuxie headed toward the forging room, and Hu Shi could only follow. Waves of mocking laughter rose behind them. Liu Wuxie had visited the forging room before, when Xu Yilin had forced him in to learn the art of weaponsmithing.
The result!
He had nearly blown up the forging room. Since then, he had never set foot inside it again.
"Shopkeeper Dong, should we stop him? If he causes trouble, we'll all be implicated."
Several attendants gathered around and spoke quietly.
"Let him make trouble. He won't be able to for much longer."
With that, Dong Changliang went back to dozing. Without business, the Xu Household could hold out for a month at most before all its weapons workshops closed.
"Young master, what weapon do you want to forge? Let me do it."
The furnace was lit. What burned inside was not ordinary charcoal, but a black ore with an extremely high ignition point that could easily melt solid iron.
After lighting the furnace, Hu Shi stepped forward first. Although still an apprentice, he could forge ordinary weapons, though they were somewhat rough.
"Hu Shi, do you want to become a great master weaponsmith?"
Liu Wuxie selected several pieces of exceptionally high-quality meteoric iron and laid them on the workbench, then suddenly asked Hu Shi.
Thanks to "Red-clad Vicky," "Fan Huaying," "Caterpillar 797," "Echeng County Magistrate," "Heavenly Dog Daoist Chen Pingdao," "Azure Dragon Daoist," "Your Candy," "Qilin Lucas," and "xhzhl0505" for your tips and precious monthly votes. Six updates today. Happy New Year, everyone!