Tribulation of Myriad Races

Su Yu looked at Master Chen and said, "That is only one of the reasons. Secondly, I wish to pay Great Ming King a visit. In fact, that was my initial goal. If only I had succeeded in my advancement into an earth weaponsmith..."

He helplessly said, "I need to get Great Ming King to warn that guy. I am worried that during my travels, I would accidentally find myself captured by Great Tang and forced to become the husband of that fierce woman..."

"I wasn't too confident before, but Great Ming King might be willing to see me if I could become an earth weaponsmith. It would be even better if I could see Great Tang King as well. Perhaps I could solicit his help in this..."

"..."

Everyone was left speechless.

Holy shit!

Holy shit! This damn guy was actually still trying to escape? Was the granddaughter of a ninth-stage Sunmoon not good enough for him? So this fellow was only going to the Allheaven Battlefield to get some Invincibles to warn Cheng Mo off him? Amazing.

Seeing their speechless expressions, Su Yu said, "Everyone, don't look at me like that. It's not that I don't know what's good for me. But I'm still young. I'm only thirty-five. I still have a long life ahead of me. How can I allow myself to be shackled down? That would be such a sad life. Even if I'm going to get married, I need to be like fifty or something, right?

"I need to hurry up or Director Cheng might really come after me after hearing about my advancement. Everyone, I get that news of my advancement will start spreading. But make sure it doesn't reach Great Tang so fast. At the very least, give me enough time to enter the Allheaven Battlefield..."

Meanwhile, Zhang He was greatly relieved. He hurriedly said, "No problem. I will escort you to the Allheaven Battlefield. But if we really encounter Senior Cheng on our way...I'm afraid I won't be his match."

Su Yu clenched his teeth and said, "Since you've interrupted my advancement, you need to delay him even if you can't defeat him! Otherwise, forget about solving this issue so easily. Do you think I care about money? Do you think I want you as a dao protector because I'm afraid of some weak bandits? I'm only afraid of Director Cheng!"

"..."

Zhang He finally understood everything. He had a helpless expression. So this fellow only wanted him around to delay Cheng Mo in the incident of an encounter.

Would Cheng Mo come after this fellow? So long as he left seclusion, he would definitely come after hearing about this. This...might be a very troublesome task.

Zhang He was only a third-stage Sunmoon while the opponent was a ninth-stage Sunmoon. Sure, this wasn't a fight to the death. But he might still end up receiving a beating from Cheng Mo. There was no getting off painlessly.

"Master Cui...this request of yours..." Zhang He bitterly said, "Fine. I will make it up for you. I'll try my best to delay Senior Cheng."

"Trying is not enough. You must do it." Su Yu warned, "General Zhang, if I end up captured, I'll tell Director Cheng that I you're my heart demon. I won't be able to advance before you're dead."

"..."

That was way too ruthless. Zhang He's face twitched. Would Cheng Mo kill him because of that? Unlikely. After all, he was still a Sunmoon. But he would not be able to escape a terrible beating. Cheng Mo was very likely to capture him and beat him up until Cui Lang was happy. And not even Great Jin would protest. For interrupting someone's advancement, he should count himself lucky to survive with his life. He even needed to thank them for sparing his life after the beating.

"I'll...do everything in my power to escort you to the Allheaven Battlefield."

Finally, Su Yu nodded with satisfaction, "Good. As long as you manage to send me there, I'll forget about the matter today. This way, there will still be hope for me to complete my advancement in the future. There will no longer be any entanglements between us. As the saying goes, it is better to squash enmity than to keep it alive. My teacher told me that. He also said that a tiny loss when you're out in a foreign land is nothing. I need to be patient and magnanimous."

A tiny loss? Zhang He wanted to curse. With this arrangement, he was the one who would suffer a loss. Furthermore, Cui Lang was still one of the suspects in the murder of his son.

If Cui Lang was really the murderer...no, that was unlikely. He wouldn't have dared to make this demand if he was the murderer. In fact, he would have tried his best to stay away instead.

At that thought, Zhang He was no longer so sure that Cui Lang was the murderer. His suspicion of Cui Lang dropped considerably.

He stopped mentioning his son, but Su Yu was the one to raise the topic instead, "Is your son Zhang Heng, General Zhang?"

"Yes." Zhang He answered bitterly, "That was my only son. I only got a son after I was over a hundred years old. Sigh. I never expected to see my child die before dying myself. You were in Nanyuan during his death, right? Did you notice anything when you were there?"

Zhang He asked the question as a test, and Su Yu shook his head. "I saw nothing. I was getting a massage with someone. I only found out later. But I think you should not give up hope. Perhaps he's still alive. He might have accidentally entered the ruin. Who knows? Maybe he would be a Sunmoon or an Invincible the next time you see him."

Su Yu said, "That is a mysterious place. I know Su Yu as well. His talent is honestly quite ordinary. But someone like him was able to defeat even Shan Xiong. I believe that's all thanks to the ruin. Be optimistic, General Zhang."

"I hope you're right, Master Cui."

Zhang He wasn't too hopeful. He tried sensing his son through his bloodline, and the result indicated that his son was most likely dead. But he was also willing to comfort himself and lie to himself that his son might have really entered the ruin.

Seeing Zhang He's bitter expression, Su Yu said, "I'm not doing this to stab at your wound. That would be pointless. I am just a regular man. Even weaponsmithing is only a hobby for me. As for my real profession...hehehe. You guys are aware of it as well."

Su Yu said, "You only had one son. General Zhang, I doubt that was intentional. Perhaps your essence is too strong, making it hard for you to produce an offspring. That's no big deal for me. I know a special technique called Essence Stimulating Art. It can improve the functions of your essence. Hehehe, back then, I relied on this technique to battle dozens of—cough, cough. There are some women here so I won't go into detail. General Zhang, with this technique, you will have a bunch of kids after a few years. The only side-effect is a slight drop in strength.

"I also know an Origin Solidifying Art. I have traveled the world without leaving a bunch of kids behind. Do you want to know why? It's all thanks to this technique. My old teacher taught me this technique. He's an even bigger womanizer than me, but he has not left a single offspring behind.

"I'll be frank, General Zhang. If your son is really dead, you should start producing more offspring sooner instead of later. Sunmoons are very long-lived. And you're still quite young. After twenty or so years, you will have yet another outstanding young heir."

Zhang He was stunned. He looked around and noticed everyone staring at him. He felt awkward, but he still replied through voice transmission, "Master Cui, are you telling the truth? As a Sunmoon, it's very hard for me to produce more offspring, right?"

Su Yu replied by speaking normally, "Trust me. Sunmoons? Not a problem. Even Invincibles...cough, cough. I've never seen an Invincible use this technique before, but I guarantee you it works on Sunmoons."

Zhang He appeared relieved after hearing that. Ignoring the odd gazes he was receiving, he said, "Master Cui, we can talk more while we're on the road."

Cui Lang was right. If his son was dead, even if he could kill the murderer, what could it achieve? The more pragmatic option was to produce more offspring. Unfortunately, his cultivation level was too high, making it hard for him to produce more offspring. But if that was solved...well, he had to keep living, right? He couldn't wallow in grief forever, right? After all, Sunmoons were very long-lived.

In fact, he was not the only person troubled by this issue. Mayor Liu couldn't stop himself from asking, "Master Cui...we...uhm..."

"I'm not supposed to teach this to outsiders." Su Yu said, "This is a secret art. I only agreed to teach General Zhang because...well, I took pity on him. Also, if you don't have enough strength, cultivating this art will cause a great decline in strength. Thus, it can't be spread rashly. If I accidentally caused an Invincible to drop in strength through this art, that Invincible would probably kill me. Alright, let's move on from this topic."

He took out a profound weapon, stopped to think, and pulled out a second weapon. Both were the weapons he had forged inside the Heart Calming Spring. He looked at Mayor Liu and said, "Thank you for your help, Mayor. As I promised, I will pay a price for this favor. These garbage profound weapons only have about sixty golden stripes each. If you don't mind, you can have them."

"..."

Two peak profound weapons were garbage weapons? Up until now, the mayor only had a single peak profound weapon for personal use. In fact, most Mountainseas were also stuck using profound weapons.

Only at the seventh-stage Mountainssea Realm and above would one stand a chance to obtain an earth weapon. Mayor Liu did not hesitate and accepted the gift politely. What a wealthy guy. Weaponsmiths were indeed different from those in the other professions.

The cost of forging a peak profound weapon wasn't even that high. It would only cost one about one or two thousand merit points to produce. But the price of a peak profound weapon was much higher than that.

Su Yu then looked at Master Chen and the other weaponsmiths, "Thank you, fellow daoists. Let us have a gathering tonight to talk about the dao of weaponsmithing. I'll leave early morning tomorrow."

He said with a regretful tone, "I initially planned to stay a few days here. I also wanted to make a second attempt at forging an earth weapon in the Heart Calming Spring. But...I really can't stay. There are too many people here. And some of them are bastards from Great Tang. They might have sent words back by now. I would be in great trouble if I waited until Old Cheng arrived. I need to leave as soon as possible."

Some of the people in the crowd looked incomparably awkward. They looked like they were caught thieving. Yes. Some of them had indeed sent words back to Great Tang.

This was an earth weaponsmith! Director Cheng should hurry up and catch this guy back, That way, Great Tang would gain an additional earth weaponsmith. That would make it easier for them to get better weapons in the future.

Master Chen and the others knew what was happening. They didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this.

"We'll have to thank you for this, Brother Cui."

Cui Lang had probably called for a discussion session to impart some of his experiences to them. He was a pseudo earth weaponsmith. His experience would be very helpful for them. This was a great favor. They naturally had to be grateful.

Su Yu smiled, "Don't worry about it. I did trouble all of you with this visit of mine. Brother Chen had also been very helpful by in getting the Heart Calming Spring closed for my private use."

He looked at Zhang He and said, "General Zhang, I will be staying the night here. Early morning tomorrow, we will need to take off. You should settle your business here. I suggest you get us two powerful and fast mounts for our journey. We need to move as fast as possible. Great Tang is quite far from here."

Zhang He also wanted to leave as soon as possible. He still needed to talk about the secret art with Cui Lang. He should learn the art and send Cui Lang away as soon as possible. Things would get troublesome if Director Cheng really managed to catch up with them.

"Sure. I'll start preparing. I'll see you early morning tomorrow."

"Thank you!"

Su Yu left with the weaponsmiths. Even after his departure, sounds of discussion did not stop.

"Yet another earth weaponsmith is going to appear in the near future."

"Tell me about it. General Zhao is quite lucky. He provoked the wrong person, but that person was magnanimous enough to forgive him. Otherwise, people like Principal Niu, Director Cheng, or even Heavenly Forge King would have an issue with him. Tsk tsk, either of those people can make his life hell."

"He simply can't be bothered to escalate the matter as he urgently needs to leave. How enviable. The granddaughter of a ninth-stage Sunmoon wishes to be with him, but he's actually refusing to agree. If I were in the same position, I would rush to Great Tang and accept the arrangement even if I had to crawl there."

"And that's why he's a big shot while you're a nobody. If Master Cui manages to advance into a heaven weaponsmith...even the daughter of an Invincible-cough. Let's stop talking about this. In short, his status will increase further. Even Sunmoons might not be comparable."

"Heaven weaponsmith...sigh. How enviable. By the way, did anyone from Great Tang send words back? This could be quite an interesting show."

"Definitely. Look at Old Zhang over there. Look at that sneaky look on his face. He must have sent a message back earlier."

"Bullshit! I did not!"

"Pfft. I would have done the same. Just look at how generous he was. As long as you manage to get him captured, you might even have a chance to get him to forge a weapon for free in the future. That would be great."

"Yeah. If we had a proper excuse to get him captured, we would have done so long ago. How can Master Cui run from responsibility after sleeping with Director Cheng's granddaughter? He needs to be captured. That way, we could potentially look for him in Great Tang when we need weapons forged in the future. Weaponsmiths are getting harder and harder to find nowadays. At least with Cui Lang caught, he would be forced to stay in a fixed location."

"..."

They all started joking with each other, talking about Cui Lang's fate after being captured.

At the same time.

News of what happened spread rapidly.

Cui Lang had forged a weapon with seventy-two golden stripes in the Heart Calming Spring. He nearly succeeded in forging an earth weapon. Unfortunately, Zhang He of Great Jin ruined his attempt. However, he also confirmed that he would definitely succeed during his next attempt.

Instantly, Cui Lang's name spread far and wide. An earth weaponsmith at only thirty-five! That seemed even more amazing than Zhao Tianbing!

Great Ming.

Heart Paradise Island.

When Niu Baidao received the news, he glanced at "Su Yu" who was out taking a break from seclusion. After a long while, he grimaced and said, "Cui Lang managed to forge a weapon with seventy-two golden stripes. He's on the cusp of entering the earth grade. His name is now known throughout the Human Realm. He has recently broken through into the Cloudbreach Realm..."

The so-called Su Yu's mouth opened wide with shock. After a long while, he gave a hollow laugh and said, "Uhm, can I exit seclusion?"

"Nope."

Niu Baidao said with sympathy, "Don't worry. He will solve all the issues before he's done using your name. You will be fine. But...you're really famous now."

Cui Lang had a look of despair. Him? Earth grade? Fuck! He was only at the yellow grade! That bastard had elevated him by two grades! He would have to stay in hiding until Su Yu cleared the misunderstanding! Otherwise, he would be in big trouble.

At the same time.

Great Tang.

The prefect of Great Tang was personally visiting a large manor. His voice rang out, "Old Cheng, I'll have to trouble you to exit seclusion for a bit. You need to catch someone. That beloved grandson-in-law of yours is on the cusp of becoming an earth weaponsmith. Congratulations, Old Cheng."

A short while later, an old man appeared. With a frown, he said, "What are you talking about? Who's my grandson-in-law?"

"Cui Lang. He just forged a weapon with seventy-two golden stripes earlier in Great Jin. If someone hadn’t interrupted the attempt, he would have succeeded in becoming an earth weaponsmith."

"Cui Lang?"

The old man muttered blankly. After a moment, he said, "Someone ruined his breakthrough?"

He immediately soared into the sky and roared furiously, "Audacious! Who dares to ruin the breakthrough of my beloved grandson-in-law? I'll cut him down!"

"..."

The prefect laughed heartily. Earlier, that old man looked like he wasn't about to acknowledge Cui Lang. But his attitude had changed completely after hearing about the breakthrough attempt.

"Hurry up, Old Cheng. Don't let him escape!"

"Don't worry." The old man instantly turned into a streak in the sky. "Precious grandson-in-law, this old man is here to seek justice for you!"