Chapter 219 – A Warm Welcome - Part 3
Li Yuan had been waiting for his seeds to sprout, his path to a fifth rank breakthrough. But after speaking with Gu Xuejian, he was keenly aware that no powerful force could ever be allowed to discover his secret.
He understood that achieving the fifth rank required a full inheritance of cultivation knowledge—something that always signaled involvement with a formidable faction.
The ramifications of openly revealing that he was a fifth rank martial artist, or that he had developed new techniques and drawn three new visualization aids, would be beyond his control. He’d be dragged into complicated power struggles with no way to turn back.
That wasn’t the life he wanted.
From his conversation with Gu Xuejian, Li Yuan had also learned that past the fifth rank, weapons themselves were less critical; true experts sought spirit weapons instead.
Forging a spirit weapon typically required two main materials—top-quality blood gold crystal and a fifth rank martial artist’s source blood. After that, the real question was the skill of the weaponsmith. Each spirit weapon was bound to its future owner from the moment it was forged. No one else could ever wield it.
But that created a difficult problem for Li Yuan. Once he reached the fifth rank, he would definitely need a spirit weapon. And to get one, he would have to commission a weaponsmith, who almost always served a larger faction.
As soon as Li Yuan handed over his source blood for forging, his fifth rank status would become known. That would surely raise suspicions about his power and attract exactly the kind of attention he was trying to avoid. Fortunately, he still had time to prepare.
After a brief hesitation, Li Yuan decided to step into the blacksmith’s shop. The two men hammering away didn’t so much as glance at him, but a middle-aged man with a pleasant smile emerged from the back and sized him up.
“Welcome!” he said. “What are you looking for today?”
Li Yuan gave a small bow. “I noticed your sign offers custom spirit weapons. I was curious.”
Pleased, the shopkeeper replied proudly, “That was Master Zhu’s idea. He told us to put that on the sign.”