Chapter 159 Riding on Cloud and Wind Technique, Arrival of the Great General
[The Eight-Sided Han Sword you forged effectively completed a kill. You are rewarded with the Riding on Cloud and Wind Technique]
Zhou Shu was casting the Flaming Sunset Saber when a message suddenly flashed in front of him.
He was distracted for a moment and nearly destroyed the Flaming Sunset Saber.
He focused and completed the current step of the forging. Only then did he put the Flaming Sunset Saber aside.
!!With a thought, the Legendary Armament Canon appeared in front of him.
At the same time, figures flew through Zhou Shu’s eyes. These figures walked with profound steps, as if they were treading on waves or riding on clouds.
The Riding on Cloud and Wind Technique was an exceptional lightness skill. It was split into two levels: Cloud Riding and Wind Riding. Cloud Riding required leveraging one’s feet. After mastering it, one could ride on the clouds.
After mastering Wind Riding, even if there was nothing to leverage on, one could still ride on the wind.
Not only did the various profundities of the Riding on Cloud and Wind Technique appear in Zhou Shu’s mind, but all the information regarding the Riding on Cloud and Wind Technique also appeared. After seeing the information, Zhou Shu revealed a pleasantly surprised expression.
His current combat strength was comparable to a first-rank Martial Dao cultivator.
The twelfth level of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Technique, the eleventh level of the Golden Bell Shield Technique, the Heavenly Saber Art, and the perfected Astounding Heavenly Eighteen Swords Technique all gave him strength.
But to put it into perspective, his situation is somewhat similar to preaching by force.
Fighting was not a problem. But in other aspects, he was far inferior to ordinary first-rank martial artists.
First-rank martial artists would have all sorts of mystical abilities, but Zhou Shu only had two – his strength and resistance to attacks!
First-rank martial artists could fly, while Zhou Shu could run on the ground…
Although the Golden Bell Shield Technique would give him the ability to tread water without falling after attaining perfection, it was a protective technique after all and not a lightness technique. This was only a side effect.
Now that he had the Riding on Cloud and Wind Technique, if he could cultivate it to the Wind Riding realm, he would be able to travel using the wind. It would be similar to flying in the air for first-rank martial artists.
Can I finally fly? Zhou Shu was somewhat excited at this thought. Who wouldn’t want to fly freely in the sky?
With a thought, he moved quickly in the forging room using mysterious steps. Afterimages filled the entire room. A moment later, Zhou Shu stopped.
My Riding on Cloud and Wind Technique has only just reached basic mastery. I’m still far from the Wind Riding realm. Still, it has increased my speed by thirty percent. Although Zhou Shu didn’t know any lightness technique before, his speed wasn’t actually slow. After all, the divine strength brought about by the Dragon Elephant Prajna Technique made him almost unparalleled.
Under such circ.u.mstances, it was absolutely shocking that his speed could increase by 30%.
The feedback from the Eight-Sided Han Sword?
Zhou Shu had previously asked Yang Hong to give the secret forging formula of the Eight-Sided Han Sword to Emperor Yuan Feng. At the time, he had been worried that he wouldn’t be able to leave You Prefecture after entering
After he returned to Chang’an, Emperor Yuan Feng returned the forging formula of the Eight-Sided Han Sword to the oth Workshop.
Zhang Yibei and the others were currently learning the forging process of the Eight-Sided Han Sword. For the time being, they were unable to lead the other workshops into ma.s.s forging. Zhou Shu had created some Eight-Sided Han Swords, but he had not distributed them.
I’ve only given away one Eight-Sided Han Sword, Zhou Shu thought. Liang Hongxiu!
She went to Qingzhou to join Lu Wenshuang’s Demon Executing Army. She succeeded so quickly? Or was her Eight-Sided Han Sword stolen?
Zhou Shu slightly regretted letting Liang Hongxiu leave on her own.
But at the time, he didn’t think that there were demonic beasts in this world. It was his instinctive thinking that it was fine for a woman to travel far. After all, in his previous life, many women traveled far on their own.
He had forgotten that this world was different from his previous world. It was too dangerous.
Liang Hongxiu was just a woman who was barely familiar with martial arts. It was really very dangerous for her to travel all the way to Qingzhou.
I hope Miss Hongxiu has good luck. Qingzhou was thousands of miles away. He also didn’t know the route that Liang Hongxiu took. Even if he was worried, it was beyond his reach. He could only pray for her.
This Riding on Cloud and Wind Technique is really good stuff.
Unfortunately, the Eight-Sided Han Sword is a standard weapon. It’s not appropriate to give it to the Demon Executing Army. How can I get it to have the opportunity to complete kills?
Zhou Shu knew his Martial Dao talent very well. If he cultivated the Riding on Cloud and Wind Technique on his own, he probably wouldn’t be able to reach the Wind Riding realm even when he died.
Only by using the Legendary Armament Canon would he be able to level up his Riding on Cloud and Wind Technique quickly and advance to the Wind Riding realm.
But there are some people in the Demon Executing Army that are unable to use ranked weapons. They’re still using standard weapons.
Zhou Shu remembered seeing a few people in Yin Chengshan’s team using the standard weapons he had developed. There were quite a few of them in Yin Chengshan’s team. There might be several more people in the Demon Executing Army who didn’t have ranked weapons.
There should be some among them who use swords, right? Zhou Shu didn’t want to look for Yin Chengshan and the others. The last time he saw them kill demonic beasts, he knew that they were actually good at using sabers.
The Great Destroyer Sword was a heavy sword after all. If they used the Eight-Sided Han Sword, they might not be used to it, and they might encounter danger while killing demonic beasts.
Zhou Shu wanted the Demon Executing Army to work for him, but he didn’t want them to be in danger.
Later, I’ll ask Yin Chengshan to introduce me to some Demon Executing soldiers who are good at using swords.
But I still need to report this matter to the grand minister. After all, this can be considered the Forging Division supplying weapons to the Demon Executing Army.
However, I should forge the Flaming Sunset Saber first. I can’t give up halfway.
Zhou Shu picked up his forging hammer again and began to forge the Flaming Sunset Saber.
He was engrossed in forging weapons while Chang’an was bustling about.
Great Xia’s military parade, which was held once every five years, was about to begin. All the Forging Masters partic.i.p.ating in the parade rushed over from all over Great Xia.
In comparison, the three armies of Great Xia partic.i.p.ating in the military parade didn’t attract much attention. After all, they were training in the military camps outside the capital, unlike the Forging Masters who lived in Chang’an.
Those qualified to partic.i.p.ate in the military parade were all elites among the Forging Masters. Some lived in the capital, while others came from various places. They were surrounded by various high-ranking officials, n.o.bles, and ranked martial artists the moment they arrived in the capital.
It seemed like this liveliness had nothing to do with the You Marquis residence. But in reality, almost every Forging Master that entered the capital would send a letter to the You Marquis residence.
Some of them simply came to visit, while others directly issued a challenge. Since ancient times, there was no best scholar, nor was there a second-best fighter. These Forging Masters were all exceptional, especially since they were invited to partic.i.p.ate in the military parade.
Originally, Zhou Shu was just a mere Forging Apprentice. With just a few standard weapons, he had become a high and mighty marquis. This attracted many people’s attention.
The Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber, the Horse Slaying Saber, and the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow Saber that he developed were indeed good sabers.
But if not for the bet between Great Wei and Great Xia, he wouldn’t have made the huge contribution of recovering the two prefectures.
In the eyes of many people, the You Marquis was merely lucky. Naturally, many people were dissatisfied with how he got his status.
These invitations were blocked by the steward.
The most important rule of the You Marquis’s mansion was that when the marquis was forging, no one was allowed to disturb him!
Not even the princess!
Do these Forging Masters really think that the marquis’s mansion is a place where anyone can behave atrociously?
Challenging my marquis? Why don’t you look at yourself in the mirror?!
My marquis’s first weapon is ranked eleventh in the Yellow-grade Armament Manual. Which one of you can do it?
The steward now had a strong sense of belonging to the marquis residence.
“Teacher, this is the place.” The day before the military parade began, an old man and a young man came to the entrance of the You Marquis’s mansion.
They had just reached the door when the gatekeeper fell to his knees.
“Young Master!”
The servants of the You Marquis residence had all been carefully selected by the head steward of the Mi residence, Mi Zhifu.
This gatekeeper was once a member of the Mi residence, so he naturally recognized the young master of the Mi family, Mi Ziwen.
“No need for formalities. Where’s your marquis?” Mi Ziwen asked.
“Young Master, the marquis is currently in seclusion forging. He is currently declining to see guests.”
As soon as he said this, he looked at Mi Ziwen uneasily, wishing he could slap himself.
Am I treating the young master as an outsider?
But thinking about it, the marquis and the steward had indeed instructed him to do so. It seemed like he wasn’t wrong either.
Mi Ziwen’s expression was the same as usual, and he was not angry at all. “The military parade is starting tomorrow. Second Brother is going to partic.i.p.ate in the military parade, so he will definitely come out of seclusion today. Teacher, why don’t we go in and wait?”
“Sure.” The old man beside him nodded.
This old man was Great General Meng Bai.
In just a few short months, Meng Bai had aged more than ten years since Zhou Shu first saw him.
Although his back was still straight, he had aged considerably. Mi Ziwen helped Meng Bai cross the threshold of the marquis’s mansion, his heart aching.
Teacher has been a hero his entire life. Now, he even needs someone to help him cross a threshold. Why is this happening? The heavens are blind!
I have to find a chance to talk to Second Brother. Teacher doesn’t have much time left. Will he really let Teacher leave with regrets? Is he really unable to forgive Teacher and refuse to call him father?
If Zhou Shu knew what Mi Ziwen was thinking, he would definitely spit water on his face.
Boss, you can say whatever you want, but I can’t randomly acknowledge someone as my father.
At most, I can only acknowledge him as my G.o.dfather…
Mi Ziwen and Meng Bai entered the marquis’s mansion. The steward had already rushed over to receive them.
Even the divine constable hiding in the shadows who was in charge of protecting the marquis’ mansion appeared. He silently bowed toward Meng Bai before once again hiding in the shadows.
“Before we left for the war, he was just a Forging Apprentice, right?” Meng Bai smiled. “It hasn’t even been that long, yet he’s already a marquis. Even if I have to ask him to give me a job. The world is truly unpredictable.”
Mi Ziwen could tell that his teacher was joking. Although the marquis was the second rank, his teacher had the t.i.tle of duke. Even if he didn’t, the great general of Great Xia was still a first-rank t.i.tle.
No matter how fast second brother grows, he’s still just a child before Teacher.
“Second Brother’s talent is outstanding. It’s not strange for him to have such results,” Mi Zi Wen said and added in his heart, Like father, like son.
“Unfortunately, he refused to accept me as his teacher.” Meng Bai shook his head.
“Ziwen, you have learned my military tactics, but your personality isn’t suitable for my Martial Dao. Originally, I saw that Zhou Shu’s Martial Dao talent was outstanding, so I wanted him to inherit my Martial Dao, but unfortunately, things didn’t go according to my wishes.”
Meng Bai shook his head and bitterly smiled. He had already learned from Emperor Yuan Feng that Zhou Shu had been taught martial arts by the mysterious expert who had severed the arm of Great Wei’s Imperial Preceptor Xiao Shunzhi.
Even though Meng Bai was arrogant, he didn’t feel like his own Martial Dao was stronger than this mysterious expert.
After all, before he was injured, his cultivation at this peak had only been at the second rank of the Martial Dao.
As for the mysterious expert, he could even sever the arm of a first-rank martial artist. It was obvious who was stronger.
“Teacher, since you’re already an advisor of the Huaxia Pavilion, you will have plenty of time to teach Second Brother the Martial Dao,” Mi Ziwen said.
“I don’t think he will reject you, Teacher. It’s just that there’s no master-disciple status. Teacher, do you still care about this?”
He’s your illegitimate son. Do you still need to care about the status of master and disciple?
“There’s no rush,” Meng Bai said. “We’ve only come this time to greet him. After all, if I want to go to the Huaxia Pavilion, I need to get the owner’s permission.
“As for the rest, we can talk about it after the military parade. “Right now, I am a bit curious. Even at this time, he’s still in seclusion forging. Will the weapon he prepared for the parade shock the world?
“In the path of forging, I have absolute confidence in Second Brother,” Mi Ziwen said with a smile. “In this Great Xia military parade, Second Brother will definitely shine.”
“No matter how strong ranked weapons are, there are not many of them. As for the Eight-Sided Han Sword, I feel that it is comparable to the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow,” Meng Bai said with a smile. “Ziwen, let me ask you. If you could equip the Country Protector Army with Eight-Sided Han Swords, how would you use them?”
Meng Bai had fought for a lifetime, and some habits were already deeply ingrained into his bones. He couldn’t help testing his disciple.
Mi Ziwen didn’t find it strange at all. He pondered carefully and said, “If it’s me…”
The two of them were in the front hall of the marquis’s mansion, seriously discussing the art of war.
The steward was confused. Not long after, he snuck out and ran to Zhou Shu’s forging room. He hesitated whether or not he should report this matter.
After all, the two people waiting in front had extraordinary statuses.
One was the marquis’ sworn brother, while the other was Great Xia’s G.o.d of War, Great General Meng!
Just as the steward was hesitating, a loud laugh came from the forge room.
“I succeeded! I knew it! I’m indeed a forging genius!”
Even through the door, the steward could feel a hot breath blowing at him. He didn’t know what was going on, but he still walked forward quickly and raised his voice. “Marquis, Young Master and Great General Meng have come to visit you. They are waiting in the front hall.”
“Young master?” Zhou Shu sounded somewhat puzzled. “The young master of the Mi family,” the steward repeated.
“My big brother?”
Zhou Shu reacted. With a creak, the door to the forging room opened. “I didn’t even know when my big brother returned victorious. Why is Great General Meng here too? Come, lead the way.”