parentshiftbook Chapter 70 Victory, The Secret of the Black Iron Sheet
Chapter 70 Victory, The Secret of the Black Iron Sheet
Xue Yin roared.
His beard and hair stood on end, and his entire body moved without any wind.
The long sword in his hand trembled as he swung it down with force.
"when!"
The swords and halberds clashed suddenly, producing a tremendous sound.
A powerful surge of energy erupted in all directions.
Even those who practiced body tempering visibly paled as they surrounded the high platform.
The attack unleashed by the two was already enough to threaten a body-refining martial artist.
Lu Cheng felt a jolt in his arms, as if he had been struck by a giant hammer weighing ten thousand pounds, and his halberd almost slipped from his grasp.
Xue Yin's condition was even more serious.
His strike, delivered with a secret technique, mobilized all the blood and energy in his body, unleashing a force more than twice his normal strength.
But Lu Cheng stopped him.
Moreover, the force emanating from the blade surged wave after wave, continuously impacting the body.
Neither of them backed down; instead, they accelerated the exertion of their strength.
After a brief standoff, the platform beneath their feet suddenly trembled.
With a loud "crack", a crack spread out from the middle.
Immediately, a series of "crackling" and "creaking" sounds followed.
The cracks began to spread rapidly in all directions like a spider web.
Dozens of thick wooden stakes below the platform cracked one after another, and finally, with a loud crash, the platform collapsed.
Two broken blades flew out from the billowing dust.
One section is Xue Yin's broken sword, and the other is Lu Cheng's iron halberd.
The two broken blades spun into the air and then fell rapidly back down.
Clang!
"Clang!"
"..."
Everyone was so stunned by this scene that they forgot to speak.
Even the body-refining martial artists were all intently watching the smoke and dust.
After a long while, the dust settled.
Two figures slowly appeared before the crowd.
Lu Cheng's halberd was now reduced to half a crescent blade, which he held upside down behind him.
His arms trembled visibly, and blood from the split between his thumb and forefinger flowed down the shaft of the halberd.
On the other hand, Xue was in a much worse state, kneeling on his left knee, his right hand supporting a broken half-sword, his chest heaving with heavy breathing.
The sweat seeping from his entire body was a pale red color, and he exuded a strong smell of blood.
Li Wei and Han Bao immediately rushed forward.
Before they could reach out, Xue Yin collapsed to the ground.
Shen Yi sighed, turned to look at Feng Qi, and kept opening and closing her mouth.
Feng Qi's expression shifted slightly, and he nodded a little.
Shen Yi then stood up, gave an instruction to a lieutenant beside him, and turned to leave.
The subsequent announcement was unremarkable.
Many people only care about the process of the fight and don't care about the result at all.
Only the person in charge who paid the prize would feel the pain.
Before long, the drill ground was empty.
The area where Changfeng Escort Agency is located
The disciples of the escort agency have all returned.
Only Feng Qi and two others, along with Lu Cheng and Zhao Cheng, remained.
"You mean, Shen Yi won't bet?"
Upon hearing this news, Lu Cheng frowned and glanced into the depths of Zhenwu Camp, his heart sinking.
If Shen Yi were to renege on his promise based on his power, the Changfeng Escort Agency would truly be powerless to stop him.
Feng Qi shook his head:
"It's true that there's no prize involved, but he's willing to exchange items from the Zhenwu Camp's armory to make up the 50,000 taels."
"Furthermore, they are willing to help us ask the other two parties for the prize money."
Lu Cheng's heart stirred.
If that's the case, then there's no problem.
Given the nature of the Chen and Lin families, they might very well try to renege on their debt.
With the Zhenwu Battalion involved, there's no need to worry.
Secondly, there's that black iron piece.
No one knows what this thing is used for, but since it's in the collection of the Vermilion Bird Martial Arts School, it must be something extraordinary.
Lu Cheng sensed that this was far more important than 50,000 taels of silver.
"In that case, I have no objection."
Feng Qi nodded:
"You and Zhao Cheng won this competition, so you two can go ahead. Whatever you choose, don't worry about the escort agency."
Feng Qi cared about those three spots.
As for other elixirs and silver, it's better to have them, but it's okay if you don't.
For the development of a power, a mere 100,000 taels is nothing.
Those three spots in the Dongyang Sect are the real opportunity to establish a firm foundation.
"However, we could try to ask Xue Yin for his 'Burning Blood' technique."
"This secret technique has been widely circulated in the Zhenwu Camp. When mastered to its highest level, it can unleash ten times one's own strength and can save one's life in times of crisis."
Lu Cheng and his companion nodded and, led by a lieutenant, headed towards the warehouse at the edge of the training ground.
"Everything in the warehouse has a specific value; you just need to pool together 50,000 taels."
Two months later, Lu Cheng finally stepped into the warehouse again.
Unlike two months ago, the warehouse has now been organized in a very orderly manner.
At a glance, weapons, elixirs, ores and materials are laid out in rows.
Only the unidentified items were all piled together without any detailed categorization.
Lu Cheng and Zhao Cheng circled the armory but found nothing of value.
Zhao Cheng wandered around the weapon rack for a while, then suddenly pulled out a halberd, weighed it in his hand, and then smiled at Lu Cheng.
"This halberd is quite good. Why don't you take it? It'll save you the trouble of forging another weapon later."
Lu Cheng took it, and it felt heavy in his hand.
Zhao Cheng's halberd was eight feet four inches long and weighed thirty-two pounds.
This halberd is a foot longer and much heavier.
"This halberd is called the Cold Star Halberd. The halberd head is made of wrought iron as a base, mixed with a lot of cold iron and purple gold sand."
"The shaft is made of a century-old core of huang wood, wrapped with three layers of purple bamboo strips."
"Then copper and iron wires are intertwined and wrapped together, and finally covered with rattan cloth woven from spruce vines and ice silkworm silk."
"Afterwards, it was soaked in tung oil three times and left to dry three times, taking nine years to complete."
"Nine feet three inches and three-tenths inches long, weighing fifty-seven pounds."
"Worth 19,000 taels."
Both Lu Cheng and Zhao Cheng were overjoyed upon hearing the introduction.
These are all extremely high-quality materials, and the price of only 20,000 taels is really not expensive.
"Okay, I'll take him!"
Lu Cheng immediately made the decision.
"Brother Zhao, what do you want?"
Zhao Cheng shook his head:
"Most of the items in this warehouse are quite valuable, but they are of little use to me. I'd better switch to a secret technique."
Lu Cheng looked at the vice-captain beside him, and before he could speak, he received an answer:
"The Blood Burning Secret Technique is worth 30,000 taels of silver, but only the three of you who come up on stage are permitted to practice it. Anyone who shares it with others will be executed by the Great Yun Zhenwu Army!"
Lu Cheng and the other man exchanged a glance and nodded.
"In that case, there is still a thousand taels left. You can choose some pills and trinkets."
The lieutenant pointed to the medicine shelf and the three shelves closest to the door:
"Various pills can be purchased at 80% of the market price. The three shelves over there, from the outside in, are priced at 50 taels, 70 taels, and 100 taels per item, respectively."
Lu Cheng walked calmly toward the three shelves.
On the shelf, unidentified objects were placed haphazardly.
On the outermost shelf, the black iron sheet lay quietly.
Lu Cheng first picked up a small figurine, about the size of a palm.
The lieutenant next to him explained:
"This statue has a clever mechanism; by twisting its right foot, it can demonstrate a set of boxing techniques. Although it is a secular martial art, it is quite interesting."
Lu Cheng twisted the little man's right foot, and the little man immediately started moving.
[A human figure is demonstrating five-step boxing to you. Do you want to learn?]
Lu Cheng was greatly surprised. This thing could actually learn?
However, because it was a secular martial art, Lu Cheng issued a "refusal" order.
Putting down the petty person, Lu Cheng picked up a hairpin inlaid with three pearl flowers.
"This hairpin has three medicine compartments inside. Pressing the three beads will release the corresponding medicine in the corresponding compartment."
Lu Cheng put down the hairpin and looked at each one in turn. The deputy captain patiently explained to each of them.
After a while, we finally arrived at the black iron plate.
"This piece of iron should be a fragment of some array plate, but unfortunately the array patterns on it have been destroyed, so it is worthless."
"However, this piece of iron can absorb vital energy and preserve it for seven days."
"According to the assessment, the amount of vital energy it absorbed is equivalent to one-tenth of that of a martial artist in the early stage of Qi Refining, roughly equivalent to a Qi Replenishing Pill."
Upon hearing this, Lu Cheng felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
All my consciousness was focused on the phrase "absorb vital energy".