Chapter 103: Provocation
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In a private courtyard within the Weapon Casting Hall’s residence, Xu Yunfan was practicing the Tendon Stretching Skill for his Flying Leg technique on the Refined Iron Stakes. His bare legs were a mass of bulging, knotted veins when Zhan Yan arrived with news of the True Inheritance Ceremony, which was to be held in three months.
Each Bouncing Leg kick tore through the air with a sharp whistle, the taut tendons in his ankles looking like two tightly wound bullwhips.
"Master, you don’t have to worry. As long as..."
As Xu Yunfan spoke, he raised one leg high, his calf pressing against his forehead. A sound like a bowstring being plucked occasionally echoed from his legs.
He suddenly grinned, but then decided it was best not to speak too absolutely. He amended his statement, "If it’s just those people from the Celestial Craft Cave, I’ll give them a one-hand handicap."
Seeing Xu Yunfan’s brimming confidence, Zhan Yan smiled. The moment he’d met this boy, he knew he was a veteran of the Mortal World’s life-and-death struggles—someone who had drawn blood with his own hands. His combat prowess was beyond question.
"Confidence is a good thing, but you must remember that even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. You can’t afford to be careless."
Xu Yunfan readily agreed, chuckling. "Master is right. Back when I was in Wuzhou, I saw a First-Level Martial Artist get a knife to the kidney from an orphan with a severed leg."
Upon hearing this, Zhan Yan nodded slightly. He didn’t say much more, just made a bit of small talk before leaving.
Not long after he left, Fu Jin, carrying two Heavy Hammers on his back and riding a Scale Horse, led three others straight for Qingzhou.
***
News that the Weapon Casting Hall would hold a True Inheritance Ceremony in three months spread quickly throughout all of Cangzhou. As the only Master of Weapon Forging in the Celestial Craft Cave capable of creating Treasure Level artifacts, Zhan Yan naturally drew a great deal of attention.
During this time, Xu Yunfan turned a deaf ear to the outside world. He had an endless supply of Exotic Beast Flesh, a daily Spirit Fish caught from Cuibo Lake in Cui Bo City, and he was popping Primordial Candle Pills like candy. With such resources, he immersed himself completely in his training.
His originally slow progress in raising his Skill Levels saw an explosive, almost exponential, increase with the aid of these Spiritual Elixir Pills.
On the seventh day after the news had spread, Xu Yunfan was soaking in a cast-iron bathtub, his skin flushed red.
’You have trained the Flying Leg technique day and night. You suddenly feel your leg muscles moving like agile leopards, perfectly synchronized with the rhythm of your steps. When sprinting, you are as swift as an arrow loosed from a bow; when turning, as nimble as a cunning rabbit darting through the woods. Amidst the whistling wind, your control over speed and agility has reached a new level. Your Flying Leg Skill Level has increased.’
’...’
At the end of the day, Xu Yunfan lay comfortably in his medicinal bath. The acrid scent of Tiger Bone Powder wafted from the concoction. He couldn’t help but grin as he watched the Skill Level notifications that had been flooding his vision all day.
As he lay there with his legs spread, two female Outer Disciples from the Celestial Craft Cave were pounding on them with powerful fists, kneading his muscles to relieve fatigue and help the medicinal properties of the bath seep in deeper.
Looking at the two female Outer Disciples, who were beaming as they worked, Xu Yunfan tightened the coarse loincloth around his waist and asked, "Are you two really this happy to be doing this?"
The girl on the left, who had a physique like a Vajra—her muscles bulging and veins popping as she worked, with the muscles of her shoulders and back rolling like mountains, yet possessed a lovely face—replied gleefully, "Senior Brother, you’ve only just arrived, so you might not know. A few days ago, the Weapon Casting Hall posted this task in the Celestial Craft Cave’s Affairs Hall. A single session earns a lot of Sect contribution points. It’s equivalent to half a month of my regular duties! All the senior brothers and sisters were fighting over it. I was lucky to get this one."
The one on the right applied even more vicious force. The pressure of her ten fingers digging into the acupoints behind his knees made even Xu Yunfan grit his teeth. This girl had an hourglass figure, but you could still sense the immense power contained within her muscles.
The girl nodded repeatedly. "I had to start lining up before dawn yesterday, or I wouldn’t have gotten this job."
Xu Yunfan: "..."
After finishing his refreshing bath and getting Xu Yunfan’s approval and signature on the task sheet, the two girls with astonishing physiques departed, their faces alight with joy.
Xu Yunfan watched them go, speechless. He was just about to pick up a nearby Heavy Hammer to warm up when the courtyard gate exploded inward. With a loud BANG, the private courtyard’s main door was kicked open.
Through a shower of splintered wood from the broken door frame squeezed a giant of a man, nearly two and a half meters tall. His muscles rolled like mountains, and his gnarled trapezius muscles formed two humps on his back. The muscles in his neck were twisted like thick steel cables, and his waist was half a circle wider than the old locust tree in the courtyard.
The flagstones groaned with each of the giant’s heavy steps, the weight of his presence making it hard to breathe.
"Xu Yunfan?"
The giant snorted two jets of white air from his nostrils. His voice, grating like a broken gong scraping an iron pot, was filled with contempt as he looked at the skinny monkey before him.
"And you are?"
"Yue Shan of the Hidden Blade Pavilion. I came to see just what kind of person the Weapon Casting Hall’s designated True Disciple for the ceremony in three months is."
The moment he heard the man was from the Hidden Blade Pavilion, Xu Yunfan’s expression relaxed. He sized up his opponent, and once he had a measure of the man, he put down the Heavy Hammer in his hands and walked over to stand before Yue Shan.
"Good name."
Hearing Xu Yunfan’s praise, a mocking smile appeared on Yue Shan’s face. But Xu Yunfan’s next words made his expression freeze instantly.
"But didn’t your parents teach you to knock before entering someone’s home? Or are you an orphan, with no one to teach you any manners?"
Since the other party had come with ill intent, Xu Yunfan saw no reason to be polite.
A flash of anger crossed Yue Shan’s eyes. He brought his millstone-sized palm down toward Xu Yunfan. Just as his right hand was about to press down on the skinny monkey’s shoulder, his wrist was suddenly caught in what felt like five red-hot iron tongs. He tried to push down, but his hand stopped dead in mid-air.
With a crack of his knuckles, Xu Yunfan held the millstone-sized hand suspended in the air. He clamped down on Yue Shan’s wrist like an iron hoop; no matter how much the giant struggled, Xu Yunfan didn’t move an inch.
"Did the Hidden Blade Pavilion teach you to train by breaking down doors?"
Xu Yunfan grinned, showing a mouth full of white teeth. "Is that all the strength you have? All brawn and no brains?"
Blood rushed to Yue Shan’s head, and the veins on his forehead bulged. The muscles in his descending right arm swelled rapidly, bulging out like tumors. The veins on his expanding deltoid throbbed violently, as if a dozen centipedes were crawling beneath his skin.
CRACK!
The three-inch-thick flagstones beneath Yue Shan’s feet shattered and flew apart, and his ankles sank half a foot into the earth.
Yet, across from him, aside from the diamond-hard muscles flexing in his arm and a few veins pulsing beneath his skin, Xu Yunfan’s expression was calm and unconcerned. It was as if this wasn’t even a warm-up for him.
Yue Shan’s eyes instantly turned red. He let out a low roar and had just started to raise his other hand when Xu Yunfan suddenly released his grip. The abrupt loss of resistance caused Yue Shan’s energy to surge backward. Having overexerted himself, he staggered and crashed into several Refined Iron Stakes in the courtyard, tumbling to the ground.
Xu Yunfan watched with a smile as Yue Shan, his face flush with shame and anger, scrambled back to his feet.
Completely blinded by rage, Yue Shan grabbed a Refined Steel stake with one hand. He lifted it with a single arm and was about to charge when a coarse palm suddenly pressed down on his shoulder.
The sudden, immense force was too much for his massive frame to bear. He was forced to his knees, his body collapsing under the pressure until only his knees kept him from being flattened completely.
(Still 10,000 words today. Two Chapters this afternoon and two more tonight.)