Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
To many onlookers, the battle today could be described as a shocking one with many twists and turns. No one expected Yan Liqiang to be this powerful with a bow. He was actually able to kill Cai Yingwu, the best archer in Yun Province, with just a single arrow. A powerful figure hidden within Mount Azure Dragon showed up to say something, then left. The mystery caused everyone’s imagination to run wild. After that, Guo Yifei from the Soaring Heaven Sect actually wanted to take matters into his own hands. It was a surprise that Yan Liqiang came well-prepared and took out a million taels of silver to bind his life and the lives in the Soaring Heaven Sect together, making sure that they would share the same fate. Then, the most surprising thing was a cavalry rushing into the area with the Soul Mountain Sect’s ensigns…
Even one of the four major sects in the Great Han Empire was going to intervene in the showdown between Yan Liqiang and the Soaring Heaven Sect? Things were starting to get very interesting…
The series of events brought great satisfaction to the tens of thousands of people who were gathered around the Heavenly Lake. Every single one of them was secretly thinking to themselves that their trip to Mount Azure Dragon wasn’t in vain, as their attention was drawn to the source of the sound…
Only thirty people came rushing out from the mountain pass. Under everyone’s gaze, one of the figures soared up from his rhinodrake steed before all thirty of them even reached the edge of the lake. He then flew toward the center of the Heavenly Lake with a speed far greater than a rhinodrake steed’s.
Yan Liqiang stood in the middle of the Heavenly Lake as he watched the figure flying toward him with great interest and slight surprise. Judging from the man’s aura and speed alone, he was definitely far superior to Cai Yingwu and Yan Liqiang knew he wasn’t an ordinary man with just a glance. He might just be a powerful cultivator of the Martial Ancestor realm.
As the figure approached at a high speed, Yan Liqiang was still able to get a clear look at his face despite the heavy snow. It was a middle-aged man who had a square face, big ears, graying hair, big eyes, and a thick beard. He was about two meters tall and carried a huge axe on his back. One could feel his powerful aura just by looking at him from afar. When he charged toward the center of the lake with his huge axe, he looked like a running T-rex that could easily crush everything standing in his way.
“Are you Lord Yan…?!” Before the man reached Yan Liqiang’s side, the man had already spotted him and asked when he was still several hundred meters away. There was a slight urgency in his voice.
“Yes, I am Yan Liqiang. May I know who you are, Senior…?” Yan Liqiang responded.
“Gwahaha, I’m glad you are fine, Lord Yan! I am the Vice Hall Master of the Soul Mountain Sect’s Thousand Engineering Hall, Wen Zhaolun…!” By the time the man finished speaking, he had landed five steps away in front of Yan Liqiang, bringing a strong gust of wind with him. The lake’s hard icy surface sank half a foot deep under his weight. The snowflakes which fell several meters around him were sent into the air from the impact, scattering in the wind.
Wen Zhaolun? Yan Liqiang repeated the name in his heart while looking at the man in front of him. This was truly a coincidence! The appearance of this man brought an inexplicable joy to him.
“Ah, so you are Hall Master Wen from the Thousand Engineering Hall! What an honor it is…!”
“Has the duel begun yet? Where is your opponent from the Soaring Heaven Sect? Where is Elder Cai Yingwu?” The moment Wen Zhaolun landed, he scanned the surroundings with his big eyes.
“The duel is over!” Yan Liqiang pointed at the traces of blood about a hundred meters away. “Cai Yingwu is there!”
“Ah, so you won!”
“The duel ended in just the blink of an eye.” Yan Liqiang said dully.
Wen Zhaolun sized up Yan Liqiang at his reply. When his eyes swept past the Horned Python Bow in Yan Liqiang’s hands, his brows raised and his eyes immediately widened because he was able to determine the bow’s power and grade by just looking at the patterns on the bow frame. Anyone who was familiar with Horned Python Bows would be able to distinguish them. The surprised or even shocked expression immediately appeared on Wen Zhaolun’s face because it was extremely rare to find someone who could draw a 100-picul powerful bow even in this world.
“This is a… hundred-picul bow?”
“Good eye, Vice Hall Master Wen. This is indeed a hundred-picul bow!”
“HAHAHA. As expected of a figure the Hall Master has chosen to be worshipped by our Thousand Engineering Hall. Hall Master Zhang told me about your rather unusual cultivation in archery that day when he came back. Little did I expect you to be able to draw a hundred-picul bow. How impressive! You are one young hero indeed!” Wen Zhaolun grinned and gave Yan Liqiang a thumbs-up.
“You are flattering me. I remember Hall Master Zhang gave me an honorary visitant identity pass that day, but why did you mention that I am a symbol of worship?” Yan Liqiang had a feeling that Wen Zhaolun was probably an outspoken individual, so he asked the question directly.
“I have no idea either!” Wen Zhaolun scratched his head. “When Hall Master Zhang returned from the Imperial Capital that day, he did mention asking you to become our honorary visitant. However, when I was on the way here to deliver something to you, I received a post from Hall Master Zhang, stating that you are the Thousand Engineering Hall’s symbol of worship. He also mentioned in the letter that you ran into some trouble in Gan Province and wanted me to settle it while I was here. About a month ago, I heard about the Soaring Heaven Sect challenging you to a duel when I was still on my way, so I made haste. Unfortunately, I encountered a bad avalanche in Su and Xu Provinces. The roads were cut off and my journey was delayed by a few days. I arrived at Lan Province yesterday and went ahead to the Heavenly Lake first with my men, leaving the carriages to travel slowly behind…”
Yan Liqiang finally understood how the Soul Mountain Sect managed to make it here so fast after listening to Wen Zhaolun’s explanation. It turned out that Wen Zhaolun already brought the others from the Soul Mountain Sect to deliver something to him before Zhang Yourong even received his letter. When Wen Zhaolun was halfway here, he received news from the Soul Mountain Sect that Yan Liqiang had run into trouble so they made haste.
As for the upgrade from being an honorary visitant to a special guest, it was probably the outcome of having Zhang Yourong as his backing. Although Yan Liqiang wasn’t part of the Soul Mountain Sect and didn’t know much about their rules, he still figured out that it was definitely not easy to be recognized as the special guest of the sect.
“May I ask what Vice Hall Master Wen has been ordered to deliver to me?”
Wen Zhaolun’s face suddenly lit up at the question, and rubbed his hands in excitement. “Well, it’s a strange object — a lump of metal moves if you add water to it and burn it with fire. The amount of energy it can produce is shocking and unstoppable. The Hall Master said that the object is the fruit of discussion between both of you over tea at the Imperial Capital. He built this with a group of artisans over the past year. They made many prototypes and continuously refined them before finally settling with this. He then produced quite a few of them in one go at the Thousand Engineering Hall and had me deliver one of them to you. The Hall Master said that you will know when you see it…”
Yan Liqiang immediately realized that Zhang Yourong had made a breakthrough after getting some inspiration from him. After returning to the Soul Mountain Sect, the best engineer in this world finally created the very first functional steam engine after a year of experiments with countless trials and errors…
Although Yan Liqiang had expected this day to come very soon, he was still surprised to receive the news. It felt almost surreal. In this world, perhaps he was the only one who was most aware of the changes that would be brought to this world by the steam engine that Zhang Yourong invented. The Silver Continent was about to enter the Age of Steam. This was the dawn of steam technology coexisting with martial arts…
This was the day Yan Liqiang had actually been waiting for ever since he returned to Gan Province…
