155 Chapter 154: The Shadows Stir (1/2)

After the battle-automata lesson, Tang Qi Hong took me aside. Outside the building, she retrieved her cellphone and forwarded me the email she received from the Great Elders earlier.

”Look through the requests,” she told me before she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. Glancing at my smartphone, I opened the email when the alert came and quickly scanned through the contents.

”Um, okay…”

Tang Qi Hong watched me with a bright smile, her clear blue eyes shining eagerly. I tilted my head at her.

”You want me to help you with these?”

”Of course!” Tang Qi Hong placed her hands on her hips proudly as she straightened up. ”Don't worry, I'll make sure you receive your fair share of the payment. Since you're a Spirit Engraver and blacksmith as well, you should have no problem forging these Spirit Artifacts now, right?”

”…say what?”

My eyebrows creased as I stared at her, baffled. Shaking my head, I took a deep breath and swallowed.

”You do know I suck at Spirit Engraving and smithing, right? There are a lot more competent blacksmiths and Spirit Engravers that you can approach. Why are you asking me of all people? Wouldn't Lian Rou be more suitable?”

”True, Lian Rou might be more capable than you,” Tang Qi Hong admitted. ”But you're a great assistant.” She leaned in and patted my shoulder. ”What I need is an able assistant who carries my instructions out to the letter. It would be a little demeaning for Lian Rou if I ask her to be my assistant for this project.”

A vein twitched in my temple, but I fought down my irritation. ”But it's not demeaning to approach me for assistant duties?”

”Hey, you said it so yourself,” Tang Qi Hong retorted. ”That you suck at Spirit Engraving and smithing. I wasn't the one who said that.”

She had me there. Sighing, I nodded.

”Fine. I'll help you. What do you need me to do?”

”Hmm…” Tang Qi Hong thought for a bit, placing a delicate-looking finger on her chin. Then she brightened up. ”You will just do the basics, refining Spirit Materials, grinding them, shaping them. I'll take care of the final steps and inscribe the Spirit Engravings. You should be all right with that, right? I know you can at least complete the basics.”

”Uh, yeah. I'll do my best.” I nodded, despite not feeing very confident.

”But we are still lacking a few Spirit Materials. The sect just ran out of stock recently, so I'm afraid we won't be able to start today. Tomorrow, you'll follow me to Tushan City, and we'll purchase the Spirit Materials that we are missing.”

”Roger that. Tomorrow, right?”

”Yep. Make sure you write that in your calendar.”

I didn't have to. While my memory wasn't perfect, it wasn't bad either. Remembering a date…I mean an appointment the next day was an easy task for me. Most likely Tang Qi Hong would remind me right after class tomorrow anyway.

”Understood.” I nodded. ”I'll see you tomorrow then.”

Since there wasn't much else to do, I decided to return to my workshop and continued with my personal project. Despite already having the Azure Lotus Sword, I still wanted to forge my own personal Spirit Weapon. Even though I had made great progress over the last two months, I still had yet to complete it.

”Speaking of which, how is your Spirit Weapon going? Are you still forging it?”

As if she had read my mind, or perhaps she was able to guess accurately when she saw me heading in the direction of the Blood Blades dormitory, Tang Qi Hong spoke up and asked me. I turned back to face her with a smile.

”Yeah. I'm almost done. Look forward to it.”

”I'm sure you'll impress me. If you need any help, you can always approach me. After all, I'm technically your senior in this sect.”

Tang Qi Hong patted her well-endowed chest proudly.

”Um, thanks. I definitely will.”

Obviously I was only being polite. I probably could finish the final few steps myself. As long as I found a way to iron out the unexpected difficulties that surfaced right before completion, I didn't need to trouble anyone for advice.

”Still, why is it taking so long? Didn't you get the last component you need from the Nascent Soul Stage practitioner's tomb two months ago? Normally you should only take about a month or so to finish smithing.”

”Ha ha, I screwed up a few times, plus I wanted to try something new.”

I chuckled sheepishly, scratching my head. Tang Qi Hong regarded me suspiciously, but when I didn't divulge any further details, she didn't press me.

To be honest, I could have completed my personal Spirit Weapon a long time ago, last month, if I hadn't decided to suddenly make major alterations at the last minute. Closing my eyes, I recalled briefly the epiphany I received when I was almost done.

The device looked more like a hi-tech shield than a weapon. Since Elder Tie and Tang Qi Hong repeatedly informed me that the most outstanding property of an Ice Soul Python's scale was its defensive power, I ended up making it my focus and forging a shield-like equipment instead. However, I wasn't satisfied with merely making a Storage Shield – the shield doubled as a spatial device, which was why I was combining the Void Whale's void thing with the Ice Soul Python's scale in the first place. The spherical yin-based artifact allowed me to merge both of them seamlessly and I produced the shield-like armament after a month.

While I was about to apply the finishing touches, I caught sight of the broken Castellax-class battle-automata I found in the ancient tomb, right before entering the Sea of Flames that protected the burial chamber.

At that time, I suddenly had an idea. What if I combined my Spirit Armament with the spare parts from the broken Castellax-class battle-automata? Even though the frame and chassis was damaged beyond repair, many of the inner components could still be salvaged. For example, the cerebral cortex that essentially served as the mind of the battle-automata, the qi battery that could receive my energy, and the power capacitators.

Moreover, I had been learning Spirit Engravings for battle-automata from Elder Hai Mo himself. If I could apply that knowledge and modify it to suit my needs, then perhaps I would be able to design an innovative Spirit Armament that had no precedent.

Of course, that was easier said than done. The installation of the Castellax-class battle-automata parts was simple enough, and I had no problem merging all the components together. However, as I expected, I ran into trouble when it came to Spirit Engraving. Even after a month of experimenting, I was still unable to come up with the right Spirit Engraving that could grant my Spirit Armament life, or at least make it work the way I intended it to. I was not Ya Se, unfortunately. The protagonist from The Great Conqueror might be a genius Spirit Engraver who often revolutionized the Spirit Engraved Gear industry with inventive designs, but I was just an average, mediocre Spirit Engraver. There was no way I could create entirely new, innovative designs as if I was drawing water from a spring fountain. I just didn't have the talent.

Fortunately, my recent attempts had been increasingly successful. Not successful in that I finally found the winning formula, but I was able to get closer to the effects I wanted. Perhaps I had been watching too much sci-fi anime, but I really wanted a hi-tech weapon right out of the mecha genre. This timeline didn't have guns, but I was planning on going beyond guns and skipping straight to futuristic tech and weapons.

If I pulled this off right, then we didn't have to care about projectiles. My ”guns” could intensify the shooters' qi and amplify the firepower of their qi blasts by several magnitudes, finally serving the same function as melee weapons that boost their wielders' strength and killing power. Or so I hoped.

But for that to materialize in reality, I needed to perfect my Spirit Engravings and find out what that final flaw was…

”Fei Wu! Are you listening to me?” Tang Qi Hong suddenly frowned.

She had noticed that I was drifting away in the middle of our conversation, and was getting a little impatient when I wasn't answering her questions directly. Evidently, while I was in the middle of reminiscing, she was asking me what new experiments I was trying out.

”I'm listening,” I assured her hastily, not wanting to get her in a bad mood. ”I just want to surprise you when I complete it.” I grinned. ”It will be something nobody has seen before.”

”Oh…you sound pretty confident, don't you?” Tang Qi Hong smiled sweetly, but there was a dangerous edge to her voice. ”I guess I'll look forward to your end product.”

”Um…prepare to be disappointed,” I added frantically. ”Assume the worst. You know I'm a Blood Blade and not a Spirit Engraver. Chances are, I'll screw up.”

”Then why don't you ask me for help? I'm sure I can assist you in completing it.”

”Nah. It wouldn't be a pleasant surprise if I do. And it's something personal…I don't want to cheat after coming so far on my own. Call it a man's pride…yeah, I know it's stupid, but I really want to achieve this with my own strength.”

”Ha ha!” Tang Qi Hong slapped my shoulder, looking very pleased. ”I know exactly what you mean! Like how this will be your own personal baby, and you don't want anyone else touching it or contributing to it! You want to be able to boast that you created this Spirit Artifact through your own efforts and your own efforts alone!”

Oh, right. Tang Qi Hong was a premier Spirit Engraver and blacksmith. Of course she would know exactly how I felt.

”All right…I won't keep you then. Spend as much time as you can tonight. From tomorrow onward, you probably won't have as much time to work on your personal project. We'll be taking on the Dark Asura Sect's request tomorrow!” she flexed her arm in a humorous manner. ”Get ready! I'll be working you hard as usual!”

I stifled a groan when I remembered the last time I was her assistant and tried valiantly to plaster a smile on my face.

”Yeah. I look forward to working under you again.”

*

”Young Master.”

”Young Master.”

At the Water Margin Town just a few miles from Tushan City, Liang Shao Yang arrived in a secluded house. The moment he entered, the many martial artists residing within rose sharply and saluted smartly, their dark gazes filled with respect.

Despite the respectful reception, Liang Shao Yang's expression remained cold and indifferent. He ignored the martial artists and walked straight to the back of the house. Stopping before what looked like a blank wall, he reached out and pressed a specific location.

There was a loud clanking sound and the ”wall” began to slide apart, revealing a secret room behind it. An unseen bell rang melodiously, its soft and gentle chime contrasting vividly with the shadowy interior of the dilapidated house.

Liang Shao Yang stepped into the secret room and stopped in the middle. Crossing his arms, he waited.

Two seconds after he stopped, two thin, middle-aged men appeared, kneeling before him. Like ghosts, they seemed to have materialized out of thin air, emerging from the shadows unseen and almost coming into existence the moment the young master of the Divine Shadow Sect summoned them.

”Greetings, Young Master,” the both of them greeted him respectfully, their hooded heads bowed and their knees bent.

”There will be a change in our plans,” Liang Shao Yang informed them coolly without any preamble. He sure didn't waste any time. Repressing his emotions, the young master of the Divine Shadow Sect stared down on his two Great Shadow Guards, Gray Shadow and Black Shadow. There was a slight tremor in his expression, and his usual arrogance was gone, replaced by bitter disappointment. ”It will be very difficult for me to control Tang Qi Hong. Since that method has proven to be impossible, then we will have to resort to Plan B.”

Neither Gray Shadow nor Black Shadow stirred, their faces hidden underneath their hoods. Eerie lights seemed to flash, occasionally lighting up their middle-aged features, but whatever few glimpses one could catch of their faces appeared to be distorted and blurry. They remained stationary and silent as they listened to Liang Shao Yang.

”Father's original plan was for me to court Tang Qi Hong, and after she takes over as the next sect leader, I will be able to control the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect from the shadows as her husband.” Liang Shao Yang snorted bitterly. ”But neither of us anticipated that she would already have someone she likes. And she has remained resistant to my charms.”

There was also another reason. Liang Shao Yang had found someone more suitable to be his future wife, but he obviously could not voice out his feelings about Hu Mei Er to his Great Shadow Guards. Even though they were his subordinates, their true loyalty still lay with his father, and they would undoubtedly report everything back to him.

If they were aware of Liang Shao Yang's romance with Hu Mei Er, they chose not to mention it, though. And Liang Shao Yang was not dumb enough to drop that bomb on them if there was still a chance that they didn't know about his affair with the pink-haired beauty.

”Furthermore, I have succeeded in triggering a response from the Spirit Engraved Pillars, and have become a candidate for the future sect leader selection, there is no need for me to court her in order to gain control of the sect. Once Tang Qi Hong is dead, there will be no one left to compete with me for the position of future sect leader. That way, I can ascend to the position of sect leader and directly control the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect from there!”

Liang Shao Yang did not mention his worries. He had seen the gradual shift in the Great Elders' attitudes. Originally, they had backed him purely because he was male, and they still maintained that patriarchal mentality from the past. However, recently, Tang Qi Hong had been getting a few achievements, and was now in possession of a small maniple of battle-automata, thus augmenting her combat strength. Right now she only had three Thallax-class battle puppets under her command, with the rest of her battle-automata yet to come online because she hadn't finished the Spirit Engravings for them. If he waited too long, then Tang Qi Hong would become too powerful.

The Great Elders had recognized the change in the wind and Tang Qi Hong's growing power not just as a genius Spirit Engraver and blacksmith, but also the increasing formidable combat power that was backing her. Not to mention, Tang Qi Hong had me, a Blood Blade, backing her. Even though she openly denied it, apparently the Elders and leaders of the sect thought it was obvious that we had some sort of special relationship.