Chapter 222: The Second Big Hammer
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“Teacher, you’re back!”
Seeing Xu Yong, Junior Leopard could not help calling out in surprise.
He hadn’t seen Xu Yong for a long time. Although it should be safe for Xu Yong and the Elders from the other smelting families to go to the Li family in Pingzhou, Junior Leopard was still worried. Now seeing that Xu Yong had come back, his worry naturally disappeared and it turned to joy.
“Hehe, I’m back!” Xu Yong felt comforted by the sight of Junior Leopard’s glad appearance. Even though he had been in the Li family in Pingzhou these days, he had heard of what his disciple had done in Jianghu. As long as he thought of this guy’s achievements at such a young age, as his teacher, he felt happy. He only had one disciple, and the Xu family had no outstanding characters in the young generation. It would be okay while he was still alive. However, when he passed away in the future, the Xu family might have to be taken care of by his proud disciple!
“Teacher, were you okay in the Li family?”
“Yes, I’m okay. I didn’t expect you to have a good relationship with the young master of the Li family. I got the best service among the group of people. I benefited from your good relationship!”
“Li Xiu!” Hearing the words and thinking of the Emerald Pearl Sword that Li Xiu gave him, Junior Leopard couldn’t help laughing, “He’s a nice guy. It’s just that he was too aggressive!”
“If he hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t know that your original twin hammers had been destroyed!”
“Hehe, I have one again now!” Junior Leopard answered with a smile, pointing at the oppressive black hammer in front of the house.
“Hum, good!” Walking to the black hammer, Xu Yong looked it up and down and reached out to lift the iron hammer. The hammer was nearly 1000 kilograms, but it would not take much effort for Xu Yong, who was a Level Five expert, to lift up it. However, it might be a little difficult for him to wield it.
“Good hammer, great strength!” Lifting up the hammer, he looked at it carefully, “It seems that the old guys have done their best for your hammer. It has cost the family a lot of good materials!”
“Yes, it was not easy to forge the hammer!” Junior Leopard laughed.
“Look at what I brought for you first!” Xu Yong said. Then he gently clapped his hands, and four strong men outside the door, huffing and puffing, came into the yard carrying a huge iron hammer.
“It’s made of the unused Meteorite Metal material of the Li family. I asked some old guys of the Jian Family to help me to forge it. See if it works for you!”
Junior Leopard took a gentle breath and raised his hand lifting up the Big Iron Hammer that was carried by four strong men.
“Well, good, about 1000 kilograms. It fits me!” He took the other iron hammer from Xu Yong as he said this. The two iron hammers were about the same size and weight, but the feeling with one hammer in the hand was quite different from the feeling with two hammers in his hands.
It was a weird sense of balance, and in this weird sense, Junior Leopard seemed to have sensed something. With one swing of his hammers, a gust of wind suddenly swept through the courtyard.
“Stop, Junior Leopard. This is the Wu Residence. If you swing the hammers, you’ll hit half of the Residence!” Seeing Junior Leopard’s unusual delight, Xu Yong hurriedly stopped him.
Junior Leopard smiled awkwardly. He put down the two hammers and asked in puzzlement, “Teacher, the Li family laboriously got the Meteorite Metal. Why did they give you these materials to forge a hammer for me?”
“This is something they don’t use!” Xu Yong answered with a smile, “This piece of Meteorite Metal is all in one. It’s not big, but it weighs 1000 kilograms, so it’s hard to separate or forge. Look, isn’t the shape very ugly? There was no way to do it. The Jian’s old guys and I put a handle on it with all our might. It was no use for the Li family, so they decided to give it to you as a favor. Junior Leopard, you have to return the favor in the future!”
“I understand!” Junior Leopard replied. He gently waved the twin hammers and felt a little pity in his heart, “Its strength is strong and it’s powerful. With the two hammers, even the Flying Sword can’t break my defense. But it’s too big to carry around. Damn it, If only I had some space equipment!”
Frustrated, Junior Leopard thought of the novels he had seen in his previous life. Those time-travellers could easily get a couple of space rings, magic weapon bags or things like that. Why hadn’t he come across this kind of thing in all these years?
Obviously, Xu Yong had seen Junior Leopard’s confusion and patted him on the shoulder with a laugh, “Junior Leopard, be content with it. Although these two hammers are inconvenient to carry, as long as you hold them in your hands to wield them, I believe you won’t lose to a Level Eight expert in strength!”
“It’s not just strength!” Junior Leopard praised in his heart, “If I’d had the two hammers, it would not have been so troublesome when I met Dragon Granny. I could have directly put her to death with the hammers. Besides, I wouldn’t have been in so much danger when I met Buyan Gerel!” Even if Buyan Gerel’s Internal Qi was as hard as steel, he could’ve broken it with the two iron hammers.
All in all, whether an expert of Level Seven or Level Eight, he was stronger in the following aspects. One was the strength of his body, one was the condensing degree of his Internal Qi, and the other was his Gang Qi which could protect him.
However, the strength of the body, the condensing degree of Internal Qi, and the Gang Qi all had a limit. Once your cultivation reached Level Seven, your body would be as strong as iron, your Internal Qi would be hard as steel, and your Gang Qi would combine attack and defense with hardness and softness. However, what if the attack force exceeded their limits?
Just like now, if Junior Leopard took the two iron hammers weighing up to 1000 kilograms respectively, and swung them with his Internal Qi and the mental cultivation method of Extraordinary Strength Fist, the hammers could smash everything that was mentioned above.
This was the suppression effect of absolute power!
Why were sword practicers known as the most powerful group in attack force?
It was just because they had the suppression effect of absolute power. Perhaps they were not like Junior Leopard who could wave two Big Iron Hammers weighing 1000 kilograms respectively like waving Juncus Effusus. But their Sword Qi could produce a powerful destructive force on a very small scale and destroy an area from one point. Then they could seriously injure a man whose cultivation was above them.
Besides, if you got a good Flying Sword in your hand, it was more lethal.
“Okay, don’t show off here!” Seeing that Junior Leopard was delighted and thoughtful, Xu Yong went forward and patted him, “Put the hammers away. Don’t you feel tired with them?”
“Oh, yes!” Junior Leopard laughed, putting the twin hammers together. With a big bang, the twin hammers had been directly thrown out of the door, deep into the mud.
The two hammers were so heavy that he did not worry about them being stolen.
As they entered the room, the servants naturally came in to make tea.
“What about it? Are you used to living here?”
Entering the room, Xu Yong looked up and down the room and asked with a laugh.
“Yes, the Family Head and the First Elder did go through great pains!”
Junior Leopard answered. Indeed, this courtyard was connected to the courtyard of Xu Yong, and they were about the same size. Although Junior Leopard’s strength and reputation were far ahead of Xu Yong’s, and both of them were the Elders of the Wu Family, he was Xu Yong’s disciple. So he could not be treated better than Xu Yong, but Xu Yong was unassuming amongst the Elders in the Wu Family, and had not made many demands for his own treatment. That caused the Wu Family to be put in a difficult position.
Now that Xu Yong’s yard and several rooms were just like Junior Leopard’s. It was just a little more elegant, which fit his taste and satisfied him very much.
“Of course they would take great pains! In 500 years, there has only been one disciple like you!” Xu Yong took a sip of tea and said smugly.
“Teacher, I’m flattered!”
“I’m not flattering. I’m telling the truth! Not only in the Wu Family, but also in Jin, there are few excellent young people like you. But you’re too young. Success may not be a good thing right now!”
Junior Leopard answered with a nod, “Teacher, you’re right. But I haven’t achieved success yet. I’ve just won some fame by fluke!”
“If only everyone had your fluke!” Xu Yong said, “I was worried that you were going too fast and that some people would be jealous. Now, it seems my worries are needless. What you have achieved now, is something those who are jealous of you will never catch up to. Therefore, their original jealousy has turned into awe!”
“Then let them spend their whole lives in awe!” Junior Leopard picked up the cup, took a sip, and said with confidence.
“What do you intend to do next? To be an Outer Core Elder in the Wu Family, or is there any other plan? I heard that you have some estates outside!”
“No estate can earn more than what the refined iron mine earns in a year!” Junior Leopard laughed. “My estates outside are mainly used to settle my families. You know I have a big family!”
“Right, but you don’t have to worry too much. There are rules in Jianghu and the grudges that happened in Jianghu must end in Jianghu. It has nothing to do with the family. This is the iron law that has been passed down over thousands of years. No fool dares to break it!”
“Not necessarily. Did not Xue Wuya kill the whole He Family in Yangzhou?”
“That’s not the same. Xue Wuya killing the whole He Family in Yangzhou was not for the grudge happened in Jianghu. In addition, there was no one in the He Family who could threaten him. But you’re different. You’re powerful and have the ability to retaliate, so…”
“So this so-called iron law is actually supported by people’s strength, right?” Junior Leopard chuckled.
“Right, all the interests in the world are dependent on strength. Having been in Jianghu for so long, you should know it clearly!” Xu Yong nodded. “Well, I’m not going to bother you any more. I’m really tired since I just came back. I’m gonna rest. You should rest well too. Stay more days here and communicate with your Senior and Junior Brothers!”
“I know!” Junior Leopard nodded and sent Xu Yong out of the yard.
In the following days, he ate, drank and chatted with Jin Nanqing and some other familiar disciples of the Wu Family according to Xu Yong’s words. These disciples were the accomplices of the 10 carriages of medicinal herbs when they went out to perform tasks together. With them, Junior Leopard did not need to act as an Elder.
A few years later, these disciples formed a small circle within the Wu Family.
As the saying goes, what’s the best relationship in the world?
To be a classmate, to visit prostitutes together, and to face danger together!
In short, it was a partnership of doing immoral things. Only when everyone knew each other was it easy to get along. Although Junior Leopard’s cultivation had already surpassed them by a lot, there was nothing strange when they met again. With a smile, a lot of things were saved.
Led by Jin Nanqing, they had secretly embezzled 10 carriages of medicinal herbs. Everyone had benefited a lot from those herbs. Their cultivation grew extremely fast. Although their cultivation was not as good as Junior Leopard, who was a freak, they were the top in the inner core disciples of the Wu Family. Especially Jin Nanqing whose cultivation had reached the peak of the Skin-Toughening Realm and was only one step away from the Bone-Forging Realm. If he took that step, there would be one more Elder in the Wu Family. In addition, considering his relationship with Wu Yuzhu, in the future, even if he could not become a core person of the Wu Family, he would be sent to take charge of a local real power. Therefore, he was welcomed in the Wu Family now. Naturally, their circle was the most powerful among the inner core disciples of the Wu Family.
Now, even the eldest son of the Wu Family had to be respectful of them.
Junior Leopard was in no mood for caring about the Wu Family’s affairs, and he also did not care about the grudges inside the family. However, he was still very friendly with the disciples who were dog-eat-dog with him in those days. They mingled together and organized feasts from time to time, really having a good time.
Of course, while Junior Leopard was hanging out with these disciples in the Wu Family, he had been watching the war between the Jin and Northern Yuan.
The situation of the war was as expected. Northern Yuan was all washed up. Half a million troops of Jin swept across the prairie. Not only did they wipe out the royal court of Northern Yuan, which certainly had no king, but they also wiped out the Elders of the Tribe Alliance which had been passed down for 10,000 years.
Northern Yuan had no ability to resist. Ba Siba was killed. Mie Chen was badly hurt. Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, Kunlun Master returned to the Kunlun Mountain, announcing that he would cut himself off from the outside world and no longer care about the outside affairs. Northern Yuan morale had hit rock bottom. Experts of Northern Yuan also fell apart in the joint suppression of the men in martial arts world from Jin. Three Level Eight experts, known as the Four Wolves in the Prairie, along with Buyan Gerel, all died under the siege of the experts from the Mingyi School and Tian Long Taoism. This time, each school and well-known family in the martial arts world from Jin were out in full force, rushing to the prairie to rob money, articles and women, which was a devastating blow to Northern Yuan. The population of every tribe in the prairie was very badly damaged. Most importantly, this time, Jin did not show any mercy. In the later stages, the army dragged away people they saw instead of killing the people they saw, as they did in the earlier stage. Between 70 and 80 percent of the population of the prairie was taken to the central plains and handed over to the traffickers to sell to other countries. At this point, Jin announced its ownership of the prairie for the first time.
Then there was the tedious finishing work. It included the distribution of interests to the big families and schools, as well as the medium-sized, well-known families like the Wu Family that wanted a share of the spoils.
Of course, Junior Leopard’s Anyuan Store also took this opportunity to make a fortune. Now it was managed by the Navy of Jiang City, still controlling the waterways of Luo River. The new Navy Commander had no control over the navy that had been spoiled by Junior Leopard and was in league with water bandits. Relying on the Luo River, Anyuan Store made a huge fortune. Of course, Wang Tianlei also made a fortune. He was the representative of Junior Leopard in Anyuan Store, and also ran the food business. Now, his grain store was one of the biggest grain stores in Jiang City, and it was even a little famous in the whole Zhonghe Prefecture.
Though many people were angry, no one dared to offend him. After all, behind the grain store, there was an expert whose combat capability was Level Eight. Only a fool and a living impatient man would offend him for the business in a small county.
Therefore, Wang Tianlei’s business went smoothly as well. He had even begun to think of a way to extend his business to Yunzhou. He wanted to send grain to the prairie through Yunzhou. Yunzhou was the gateway to the prairie, and had the most fairs in the past. It was definitely going to be profitable to bring grain to the prairie through Yunzhou. Moreover, for Wang Tianlei, it was a very easy thing.
Because Junior Leopard was an Elder of the Wu Family in Yunzhou, and the Wu Family was the biggest well-known family in Yunzhou, owning an extremely mature business road and a huge network.
It was not a hard thing for Junior Leopard. In fact, it was quite simple. He did not even need to show up for himself, just giving it to Jin Nanqing. It was very simple to get this done by Jin Nanqing with his present position in the Wu Family.
The end of Northern Yuan was a foregone conclusion. The whole Jin was immersed in an almost frenzied mood. The chaos of thousands of years was so easily destroyed. For all of the people, from the old to the children, from the emperor to the common people, it felt like a dream.
No one could have imagined that the immortal achievements described in legend would have been achieved so soon.
Then there was no doubt that the present Jin Emperor, whether on reputation or position, had far exceeded the sage-emperor of each dynasty in history. In a sense, the better part of his lifelong wish had now been fulfilled. As for the remaining, it all depended on how he ended.
In the eyes of Junior Leopard, it was hard to deal with the end. Because the mess was too big. The prairie of Northern Yuan was vast and boundless, and its area was several times that of Jin. It was good enough for Jin to manage such a large territory with the present system of Jin. It was a big problem, seeing whether Jin could manage such a vast area of Northern Yuan. If the disposal was not good, it may even cause the whole of Jin to decline. It was not difficult to turn Jin from being extreme flourishing to being extremely weak.
In this case, Junior Leopard found his chance. It was just that this chance was not for the present, but for the future. He needed to watch and wait.
After mixing with Jin Nanqing and the other disciples in the Wu Family for a while, and arranging what Wang Tianlei asked him to do, Junior Leopard began to think about the next step.
He was a very indifferent person by nature. His only and greatest ambition was to live longer and to do the things he was interested in.
For now, he was most interested in martial arts. As for longevity, he was confident that he could live for hundreds of years, even if he did not drink the water which could prolong his life from the Golden Goose Cup.
In a sense, the 16-year-old Junior Leopard had achieved all his goals in life, and the only thing he could pursue now, was to get more power.
This was, of course, the ideal state, but it was not as simple as he thought it would be.
Just like the martial arts world, it was not what he usually heard. You could not do what you wanted in Jianghu. Now that you had stepped into the water of Jianghu, you needed to go with the stream, and to be careful of both open and covert attacks. It was not that you could be unmatched in the world as long as your cultivation was powerful.
His cultivation was great in the eyes of ordinary people. However, Junior Leopard knew that thanks to his strange eyes and unparalleled luck, he had achieved fantastic records with his current cultivation. His eyes should not be known to others, and his luck would run out one day. How would he protect himself and his family at that time?
At this moment, Junior Leopard finally had a deep understanding of the sentence “You could not do what you wanted in Jianghu”.
If nothing else, now there was a pressing matter. It was the appointment of three years with Meng Qingrong, the lady of the Meng Family. Although there was still more than a year left, that was what Junior Leopard was worried about.
It was too long. Now the Meng Family had learned that he had bombarded a Level Eight expert to death and he had the Demon Devil Needles. It could be said that they knew one of the bluffs that he used to protect his life, and they had a year to prepare.
For an aristocratic family like the Meng Family, a year was enough to do many things. For the sake of saving face and regardless of risks, they could even turn Meng Qingrong into a fighting monster with combat capability above Level Eight or Level Nine. Even if they did not take the risk, they were able to get one or two powerful celestial devices to Meng Qingrong, which was his biggest headache.
“Well, that’s enough. I have two big hammers anyway. Once I master them, I will have the absolute power. Then I’ll hammer it, no matter what a celestial device or a magic weapon it is. I don’t believe this delicate girl can stand it!” Junior Leopard thought bitterly in his heart.