The Alchemist God

Lin Mu Yu spent his next two days alternately in sparring in the Temple and training in the rock garden. This resulted in a significant increase of his cultivation. At least a few meters high of red essence stones were refined into a pile of powder, and these contained a spirit force inside of it, which was then all absorbed into his skin; moreover, its effects were distinct, and he could almost be called to have copper skin.

There was no need for any further evidence, Zhang Wei, Lei Ying and the other instructors have seen the staggering changes of Lin Mu Yu. While sparring over the past few days, he had not received any injuries, and this was absolutely unprecedented in the history of the temple.

Since his identity has already been exposed, Lin Mu Yu hasn’t gone to visit Chu Yao for these past few days. Zeng Fan has been attentively watching, so there was no need to bring any trouble to Chu Yao by visiting her. In addition, Chu Yao was under the protection of her brother Chu Huai Sheng, so there weren’t many other people who dared to offend Chu Yao, after all her brother was one of the 200 imperial bodyguards; therefore, his status was quite special.

…….

After his evening dinner, Lin Mu Yu got permission to leave the the temple, it was a day to purchase the daily needed goods, and Qin Zi Ling was at his side. Qin Zi Ling truly admired Lin Mu Yu’s in regards to his cultivation. Qin Zi Ling’s attitude was one of hoping to be a little brother to him; however, Lin Mu Yu had no plans to treat him in such a way, and so held him in regards as a friend instead.

At night, the streets of the imperial capital were bustling with noise and excitement, Lin Mu Yu, with his Prarie Sword positioned behind him, lightly treaded on the stone road. Qin Zi Ling following behind him. With his forehead covered in sweat, he smiled: “Lin Zhi, don’t go so fast, tell me where you do you want to go?

“A weapon shop. Where is the best weapon shop in the imperial capital, can you bring me there Zi Ling?”

“Oh” Qin Zi Ling pondered and then said: “Sales is best in the North City, but the South City without a doubt has superior quality. At Wan Sheng’s weapons shop, there is said to be even be spiritual level weapons for sale as well.

“Good, we will go then”

“En!”

After nearly half an hour of running, they arrived at the South City, seeing from afar the signboards of Wan Sheng's weapons shop, they noticed a brothel was noticeably beside it.

After entering the place, the shop assistant saw both teenagers arrive, but did not seem to mind them; however, Lin Mu Yu took his attentioned and asked: “Excuse me, can you point me to the best weapon here?”

The shop assistant was taken by surprise. He took a look at Lin Mu Yu and wondered whether this man even had money on him, he raised his eyebrows: “Can you even afford the best weapon?”

Lin Mu Yu smiled: “Oh I’m sorry, I actually wanted to sell weapons first, take a look at this.”

He took out his Ling Yuan sword then handed it over, as the shop assistant drew it half-way “Keng”, there was a sound that emanated and reverberated from the sheath; moreover, the shop assistant couldn’t help but show an expression of pure joy, “It’s a third level spirit weapon....great stuff... how did you get this, young man?

Li Mu Yu raised his eyebrows with a smile: “You don’t have to know. Tell me, do you have a better a sword than this?”

“Naturally, there is one. Come with me!”

The shop assistant brought the two and detoured into a corridor, he respectfully said: “Shopkeeper, there is a young mercenary who wants to see the treasures of Wan Sheng’s weapon shop.”

A door in the hall burst open, and there appeared a hearty old man in the hallway, his eyes pierced alertly into the surroundings. Seeing the Prarie Sword on the back of Lin Mu Yu’s shoulder, his eyes glanced and a saw a trace of peculiarity of the sword. He was an expert, and naturally could see that this sword is not ordinary, smiling: “Young mercenary, please come in!”

Lin Mu Yu stepped into the shop and discovered that beautiful weapons in the anteroom were indeed of the best quality, and that the blades arranged in this room were apparently rare. Just approaching the blades would make one conscious of its sharpness, and it made one nervously tremble because of this.

On the first blade he stopped by, the elderly shopkeeper bellowed laughter: “Azure Lion Blade, mystic first rank, the Saint of War Lu Xuan Ying used this blade. It is the foundation of this shop’s collections, and it cost 400,000 golden yin coins, but none have been able to buy it so far.

Lin Mu Yu was speechless, extremely expensive, his own salary each month was a mere 100 yin coins. Even making that number annual made it only 1200 coins each year. Counting pensively with his fingers, he figured he would only be able to afford it if he skipped eating and drinking for 333 years. Moreover, he was already considered highly paid within the imperial capital and was called “Mr Perfect (Mr. Lucky and Handsome)”. Now it felt like he was this poor loser who would have to grind at work for 10,000 years just to be able to afford this!

He quickly moved on until he stopped by a fiery coloured long bow. He also had his own treasured carved bow, but no matter how you look at it, his own bow could not even compare because the string of this bow seemed suffused in crystal light, glowing gently like the moon. One glance would have been enough to make a person realise that this was a treasured object!

The shopkeeper said with a smile, “This is the Jade Snow Moon Bow, holy fifth rank. It is said that 3000 years ago, this was the weapon of a nymph that had stepped into the edge of heaven. After she ascended, she left this bow. It passed through many hands until it finally reached this old man. The selling price is 80,000 gold.

Lin Mu Yu was silent once again, this was a truly a great bow, but he definitely could not afford to buy it.

“Shopkeeper, can’t the imperial blacksmith create spirits weapons? How are these weapons so expensive?” He asked in disbelief.

The Shopkeeper laughed: “Blacksmiths do not practice these cultivation arts, their only have a 100 year life span. Also, weaponsmiths are rare people, it takes many years until another can become one. A lot of people are poor all their lives, so they can only produce one or two representative works, so there are very little spirit and mystic weapons.

He smiled: “Young mercenary, do you know what all the people from the imperial capital call me?”

“En, what do they call you?”

TL: En can mean yes or no in a way depending on your tone in China

“Old Jian”

“For what reason?” Qin Zi ling curiously asked.

“Because this old man has been for his whole life infatuated with sword art!” Old Jian laughed, he suddenly raised his hand, the Prarie Sword on Lin Mu Yu’s back was immediately unsheathed. An invisible force made levitate into the air where it flipped several times and whistled across the air. Lin Mu Yu looked upward, his face clearly in shock. Without waiting for him to respond, the palm of an old hand motioned, and the fire sword voluntarily returned to the sheath, leaving Lin Mu Yu had no opportunity to even react.

“Senior…as expected, truly outstanding swordplay. Unequaled!” Lin Mu Yu’s heart filled with utter respect.

Old Jian, proudly stroked his beard with a smile: “I cannot say that it is unrivaled, but in my collection, there is one treasure considered to be unequaled, young mercenary do you want to take a peak?”

“En”

Old Jian walked next to a wall and lightly pressed a mechanism. The wall shook, and all by itself extended a drawer-like container. Within Old Jian’s hands was a black small box which he gentled place on a table. He smiled: "Please check it out!”

In front of Lin Mu Yu, he opened a box to reveal a simple and unadorned long sword, which he then held up in his hands. Pulling out the edge of the sword, a dim feeling of intangible Qi wave surged throughout the surrounding. It glowed with cold distinct rays, and the edge of the sword appeared to be possessed by an unnatural beauty. The body of the sword was transparent and bright, as if it were densely covered with layers of extremely precious art. Most importantly, the blade of the sword had layer upon layer of folds compounded into the edge of the blade. The naked eye could hardly capture its design, which put Lin Mu Yu in a state of shocked awe. His refining included the art of casting weapons, but this sword in his hand was surely rarely seen within this world.

“Senior, what is this sword called? It’s a truly unique sword!” He said admiringly.

Old Jian was satisfied with his admiration, and then smilingly said: “The sword is called “Star”, 3rd rank holy item, its degree of sharpness surpasses the Azure Lion Dagger and the Jade Snow Moon bow. It is the true treasure of this town’s shop, even this old man can be certain of this. Throughout the whole empire there is not even a handful of blades in the imperial palace that is on par with this sword. What do you think of it?

Lin Mu Yu holding the sword put it down steadily, then said: “Truly exceptional, how much does this sword cost?”

“Priceless…..” Old Jian shook his head, sighed, then laughed: “Actually nobody can afford to buy this priceless God’s weapon, even me, the Old Man, is not willing to sell. I am just waiting for the day I die so that the sword will be buried alongside me beneath the earth, but I hope that it will not be stolen by gravediggers without conscience.

Lin Mu Yu, who could not help but joke, says: “I’ll just wait for you die then, don’t forget to tell me where your tomb will be.”

Old Jian smiled unconcernedly because this is certainly the best sword.

“Young mercenary, do you want to buy or sell a sword?” Old Jian asked.

Lin Mu Yu shook his head: ”No, Wan Sheng’s weapon shop has opened my eyes, Old Jian allowed us to see your treasures. Thank you…”

“Haha, you are most welcome, godspeed as I won’t be seeing you out. “

……….

In fact, Jian was always a person who loved swords, and his name serves to reinforces this reputation. People appreciating and admiring his collection was his greatest pleasure.

TL: Jian means in Chinese a type of sword, so his name is practically sword.

Lin Mu Yu at the bottom of his heart was thinking about how in the refining arts there was the metal refining arts. Within this world, what kind of almighty and impossible heights would this reach? Could I even possibly creating something that can match the God’s weapon, “Star”. This will be difficult, but if I do not even try, how would I know my limits?

Passing through a corridor, he noticed a group of soldiers at the backyard were training themselves. The weapon store had the most valuable treasures within it, and it would have been a surprise if there wasn’t an ample military force on guard and protecting it. This protection was on top of the imperial guards that patrolled at night all throughout the city.

………………..

On the way home, Qin Zi Ling had been very surprised of the reason for Lin Mu Yu’s checking the weapons shop. Lin Mu Yu had not yet said a word about his universal refining technique; however, keeping it a secret seemed to be for the best. After all, for a common man, treasuring a jade becomes a crime. If other people were to find out that he had a treasured alchemy cauldron then the city would consider mobilizing to eliminate him.

TL: Treasuring a jade becomes a crime, means that they will get into trouble because of a precious item.

As they were walking, the sound of hooves coming from fierce horses came from ahead, hundreds of cavalry charged onwards relentlessly.

“Watch out!” (be careful kind of feeling)

Lin Mu Yu swiftly dodged the cavalry clash with Qin Zi Ling who, pale with fear, said: ”What the hell? Whose army is that?”

Their eyes followed the direction of the armored horses as they passed by. From the rear there was a seemingly unending supply of cavalry. Written on the banners of the horsemen in large, golden letters -- The House of the Seven Seas!

Qin Zi Ling was stunned: “Ah……. Is this the army of the Seven Seas City’s Azure Tide. What’s happening?

Lin Mu Yu’s heart trembled, then said: “Azure Tides……Isn’t this Tang Xiao Xi’s grandfather?

“Oh yes, did you know of this Lin Zhi?”

“En.”

Lin Mu Yu said no further words and he rapidly squeezed through the crowd of people to grab a middle aged uncle’s neck collar, impatiently asking: “Uncle, What’s happening with the Tang family.

This Uncle, being quite friendly despite seeing Lin Mu Yu carrying a sword on his shoulder politely said: “ Seven days ago, the eldest young lady Tang Xi rode out of the city with her guards into the forest to look for a youngster named Lin Mu Yu. Who would have known that they would be followed by a band of mercenaries? Whether Tang Xing Xi is alive or dead is unknown. That night her surviving guards returned without her. So now a whole legion has been dispatched into the forest to search of her.”

“Xiao Xi, she came to find me?

Lin Mu Yu’s mind became momentarily blank.