Lou Gao

The short, stout old man stepped forward and scrutinized Tang San carefully, shaking his head all the while.

"Tai Tan, you old fossil, when did you get yourself another grandson?"

"Look at those skinny arms and legs. He doesn't look anything like the descendant of a big ape like you."

This man was truly rude!

Tang San could not help clenching his fists at those words, but the social etiquette Tang Yuehua had taught him still came into play. He knew that he was asking for a favor now and could not fall out with the man.

Thus, Tang San could only pretend not to care as he said:

"You flatter me, Senior. This junior is not Elder Tai Tan's descendant."

"Allow me to introduce myself. This junior is Tang San, the Tang Sect Master. Senior Tai Tan has already agreed to join the Tang Sect and serves as an elder of our sect."

Seeing this, Tai Tan, who stood behind Tang San, also explained:

"You fat bastard, this is the Tang Sect Master, not this old man's grandson."

"If my worthless grandson were even half as outstanding as the Sect Master, this old man would be more than satisfied."

After saying that, Tai Tan pointed at the short, stout old man and introduced him to Tang San:

"Sect Master, this is my good friend, as well as the president of the Blacksmith Association—Lou Gao, one of the three Divine Craftsmen in the world today."

Sect Master? Tang Sect?

Lou Gao was somewhat baffled by those words.

He first gave Tang San a suspicious look, then shifted his gaze to Tai Tan and voiced the doubt in his heart:

"Tai Tan, you old bastard, don't tell me you've developed dementia?"

"You've acknowledged some snot-nosed brat as your sect master. Are you terminally ill, or am I going deaf and blind in my old age?"

"Do you need me to slap some sense into you, you old fool?"

"You fat bastard, what nonsense are you spouting?!"

The faintly pitying look in Lou Gao's eyes sent Tai Tan's blood pressure soaring. He stepped forward, grabbed Lou Gao, and shook him around, spittle spraying all over Lou Gao's face.

"This old man is perfectly clear-headed! I'm neither terminally ill nor suffering from dementia!"

"The Young Master is the Tang Sect Master, and this old man is an elder of the Tang Sect. Do you hear me?"

Lou Gao was shaken so hard that he became dizzy and hurriedly said, "All right, all right, stop shaking me. Put this old man down."

After Tai Tan put Lou Gao down, Lou Gao wiped the spittle from his face with his sleeve before muttering:

"Young Master? So he's that man's son. You old bastard should've said so earlier."

"Otherwise, would this old man have said all that?"

He then turned to Tang San and asked:

"Boy Tang, why aren't you being a direct disciple of the Clear Sky Sect? Why go off and establish some... what was it, Tang... Tang Sect? What are you doing that for?"

Tang San, who had been ignored by the two of them for quite some time, wore a practiced smile and explained politely:

"The Clear Sky Sect is the Clear Sky Sect, and the Tang Sect is the Tang Sect."

"A man should strive for self-reliance. This junior does not wish to live beneath the shelter of his forebears, but is determined to carve out an undertaking of his own in this world."

"This junior happened upon a strange book and intends to use it as the foundation for establishing an entirely new sect—the Tang Sect."

"This strange book records all manner of powerful weapons and forging methods. These weapons are collectively known as hidden weapons."

"Unlike Soul Tools, which require Soul Power to activate, hidden weapons can be used even by ordinary people without Soul Power."

"For example, this Zhuge Crossbow in this junior's hand, I wonder if Senior—"

Before Tang San could finish speaking, the Zhuge Crossbow he had just taken out was snatched away by Lou Gao with lightning speed.

"What an exquisite design!" Lou Gao carefully examined the object in his hand.

Immediately afterward, a series of afterimages flashed past. Without activating his Purple Demon Eye in advance, Tang San could not even make out Lou Gao's movements.

In but an instant, the Zhuge Crossbow in Lou Gao's hand had been reduced to parts scattered across the forging table.

"Incredible!" Tang San was astonished by the technique Lou Gao had displayed, thinking:

"This is his first time seeing a Zhuge Crossbow, yet after only one glance, he was able to completely dismantle an assembled one."

"No wonder Tai Tan held this man in such high regard. With such ability, he ought to become a disciple of my Tang Sect."

At that moment, Lou Gao lowered his head and searched for something on the forging table.

"What was that sound just now? It sounded like metal being damaged?"

Before long, he indeed found several damaged parts.

"There can't possibly be anything wrong with this old man's technique. Then the problem must be..."

Lou Gao turned his head to look at Tang San. His tiny eyes were opened wide, and his tone was somewhat unfriendly.

"Boy Tang, did you tamper with this thing?"

"Naturally!" Tang San stepped forward with an air of composure, his expression unchanged as he replied:

"The Zhuge Crossbow is a core inheritance of my Tang Sect. To prevent outsiders from obtaining it and reverse-engineering it, I naturally installed an anti-disassembly mechanism inside."

"Without the Tang Sect's unique disassembly method, no matter how exquisite one's techniques are, they will definitely trigger this anti-disassembly mechanism."

"You have just witnessed the ingenious construction of the Zhuge Crossbow, Senior. Now let me tell you about its power."

"The Zhuge Crossbow contains forty-eight bolts. Each time the Spring Mechanism is wound, it can fire sixteen bolts in an instant."

"It is so powerful that even a four-ring defense-type Soul Ancestor would need to use their third soul skill to be confident of blocking it."

"Fifty meters is the Zhuge Crossbow's effective killing range. Beyond fifty meters, its power drops drastically. That is one of its few shortcomings."

As Tang San explained, Lou Gao listened while examining the parts on the forging table, nodding from time to time.

With Lou Gao's knowledge and experience, he could naturally tell from these components and their construction that Tang San was speaking the truth. The delight on his face grew ever more intense.

Seeing that Lou Gao's curiosity had been thoroughly hooked, Tang San put on an enigmatic air and delivered his final line:

"And among the Tang Sect's many concealed weapons, this Zhuge Crossbow is only of middling quality. There are even more powerful concealed weapons beyond anything you can imagine, Senior."

"What? There are even stronger concealed weapons?" Lou Gao spun around sharply, his worldview, built up over many years, being overturned once again in a short span of time.

"Take them out and let this old man see them, or I won't believe it!"

"Senior, that is rather presumptuous of you." Tang San shook his head repeatedly and said, "Concealed weapons are the foundation upon which the Tang Sect stands. The fact that I allowed you to see the Zhuge Crossbow was already an exception made out of respect for Elder Tai Tan."

"If you wish to..."

However, Tang San was interrupted by Lou Gao once again.

"Enough, brat Tang. You don't need to say any more. This old man will join the Tang Sect right now."

After saying that, Lou Gao shouted toward the door, "Si Long, get in here!"

Within just a few breaths, Si Long came rushing over and stood before Lou Gao, asking respectfully, "Teacher, what do you need from your disciple?"

Lou Gao swept out a large hand, draping it over Si Long's shoulder as he instructed, "From this moment on, you are the president of the Blacksmith Association. I'm sick of staying here. I want to travel the continent and enjoy myself."

"After this old man is gone, you four brothers must work together wholeheartedly and run the association well."

"If there is any trouble you cannot handle, go find that old bastard Tai Tan. No matter what, he is still the vice president of the Blacksmith Association."

"That old bastard Tai Tan lives at... lives at..."

Lou Gao faltered, then turned his head toward Tai Tan and scratched his head as he asked, "Old bastard, where are you living again?"

The original novel used the characters "mechanism jade pendant."

I looked it up online. A jade pendant refers to a semi-circular jade ornament.

I could not find any clear explanation for the term "mechanism jade pendant," either.

In the Zhuge Crossbow, the Spring Mechanism serves the same function as a spring.

Therefore, the correct term should be "mechanical spring."

Not "mechanism jade pendant," as written in the original novel.

This was not the first time the original author had made such a mistake.

For example, they wrote "carriage ground plate" instead of "carriage chassis" for a carriage chassis.