The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-128

In a restaurant in Huai City, a city located in Chu County.

A man in plain commoner clothing was sitting at a table next to a window, drinking wine and having his food.

There was a long saber tied around his waist.

"Sir, here's your big plate of mutton!" The waiter ran over and served the dish on the table, "Please enjoy." He then turned to leave. However, just as he walked away, he bumped into this man's left arm.

The strange thing was... The sleeves to that left arm just floated up.

He had only one arm!

He had lost his left arm!

The man glanced at his left arm and then continued to enjoy his wine and meat without a care.

He had lost that arm many years ago. In the past, he had felt despair and gone crazy. However, time soothed everything. After twenty years of hard work, he once again possessed great power. Compared to the arrogant person he was twenty years ago, he was now more even-tempered and more powerful.

"Yesterday, why did Tie Yi Sect send out a group of over a hundred elites from Chu County's Chu City to Xuyang County?"

The person leading that group was Tie Yi Sect's Elder, 'Wei Canglong.'

"Ten years ago, he was an expert who had been listed on the "Earthly Ranking"." Seated not far behind the one-armed man were a few cultivators who had started discussing among themselves.

Hearing this, the one-armed man sneered coldly.

Wei Canglong?

There were countless experts in this world. If one did not strive to improve, one would then just be replaced by others.

Wei Canglong had once been listed in the "Earthly Ranking"ten years ago, but he was merely ranked seventy-first. And now, he had long been replaced by stronger experts.

Of course, being able to be listed temporarily on the"Earthly Ranking" was also a great representation of how strong the Elder of Tie Yi Sect was.

"Why did Tie Yi Sect send experts to Xuyang County? Could it be that Tie Yi Sect is thinking of gaining control over Xuyang County?"

"You're wrong. You guys should know that around Xuyang County's Blazing Mountain, there were rumors that an adolescent Red Scaled Beast was born!

"And it was eating people from a village called 'Jin Jia Village'.

"It was discovered by quite a number of cultivators and was chased all the way into the Blazing Mountain.

"It was only an adolescent beast which had a height of close to one Zhang!

"Do you know what the birth of the adolescent Red Scaled Beast implies?" That young cultivator asked proudly.

However, the one-armed man trembled.

Adolescent Red Scaled Beast?

"The appearance of the adolescent Red Scaled Beast means that there are Black Fire Spirit Fruit and Black Fire Spirit Root nearby!

"Once experts at the peak of the Postliminary Realm eats the Black Fire Spirit Fruit, it's said that they can become innate experts." When the young cultivator said this, a huge commotion broke out. "If you eat that Black Fire Spirit Root, you will immediately become a First Rated Warrior!" The young cultivator added.

The one-armed man took a sip of his wine and his gaze turned more serious.

Adolescent Red Scaled Beast?

Black Fire Spirit Fruit?

"Waiter!

"Bill!" The one-armed man said indifferently.

"Alright, sir." The waiter ran over, "It's six strings of coins, which is twenty coins in total."

The man casually tossed some crushed silver which weighed about seven Qian[1] on the table and asked, "Is this enough?" The waiter had handled money for so many years, therefore, he was able to tell the weight of the crushed silver. He gauged it and said, "It's enough, it's enough."

The one-armed man immediately walked out, took his horse, and rushed over to the Blazing Mountain.

"Black Fire Spirit Fruit!

"I must get it!" The one-armed man's gaze turned cold and sharp.

…

The scene which had happened in the restaurant was very normal. Huai City was very close to the Blazing Mountain and thus the news had spread to this area the next day.

The news spread out to more and more people at an increasing speed, scattering out in all directions crazily.

Many cultivators came. Some of them came to vie for the Black Fire Spirit Fruit.

Some of them came to vie for the Black Fire Spirit Root.

There were even some who came to watch the excitement.

Everyone knew that for the next one to two months, the Blazing Mountain would be very lively.

The cultivators from the entire Yangzhou, and even all the way to the Qingzhou in the north rushed toward the Blazing Mountain.

With so many experts coming together, this would be a rare gathering.

They might be able to see many powerful experts.

For example, experts listed in the "Earthly Ranking","Hidden Dragon Ranking", and the "Young Phoenix Ranking".

…

A group of merchants was slowly advancing along the official paths.

A convoy with a large number of merchants would normally hire many guards.

The abilities of the guards varied. The powerful guards were allowed to leisurely sit in the horse carriages.

They wouldn't take any action unless it was necessary.

Squeak, squeak.

The wheels on the carts went round and round. On one of the carts was a bare-!footed young man who donned plain clothes. He held onto his anti-cavalry saber with his left hand and sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.

No one dared to disturb this young man.

In the beginning, the other guards had looked down on this bare-footed young man who wore very plain clothes.

Two of the guards had wanted to scam this young man, but... the other guards only saw a splash of blood and the two of them dropped to the ground. Their throats had been slit.

It was only then did the group of guards gasp in astonishment.

The young man had drawn his saber, killed two people, and sheathed his saber.

Yet, none of them saw him move.

The speed at which the blade was drawn and the attack made was overwhelming. The guards no longer dared to offend the bare-footed young man.

"Did you hear what they said when we were resting in the inn earlier? An adolescent Red Scaled Beast appeared at the Blazing Mountain at the borders of the Xuyang County. Once the adolescent Red Scaled Beast matures and eats the Black Fire Spirit Fruit, it can grow up to three Zhang tall, five to six Zhang long…" The other guards chatted as they advanced.

The bare-footed young man who was resting with his eyes closed opened his eyes.

"Black Fire Spirit Fruit? Black Fire Spirit Root?" The bare-footed young man squinted his eyes, looking like a lone wolf with cold and detached eyes.

Immediately, a smile broke out on his face. "These guards are right. This will definitely attract thousands of warriors! I've roamed the world for eight years, braving the wind and hardship, but those so-called warriors at the pinnacle of the postliminary realm couldn't even take one blow from me! This time, there will be many experts that gather, and it will be the time for me, 'Yan Tie', who's been in training for eight years, to spread my fame across the world! Teacher will definitely be happy when he finds out that I am able to get myself listed on the "Hidden Dragon Ranking"and the "Earth Ranking"! If I can also get the Black Fire Spirit Fruit…"

The bare-footed young man didn't hesitate anymore once he thought of this.

He picked up the bag at his side and took a leap.

Hu!

With one kick, he knocked a guard off his war horse and landed on the warhorse. With a whip, he galloped away.

"My horse!" The guard quickly shouted.

Bang!

A hard item smashed onto his head. The guard lowered his head and saw that it was a tael of gold.

"So stingy." The guard cursed softly. "My war horse also took me close to a hundred taels of silver. He could've given me a little bit more." The guard ran up to the cart and boarded it temporarily.

"Brother, you should count yourself lucky that the God of Slaughter was willing to give you gold. Even if he didn't, what could you do?" The other guards laughed.

"Where is that God of Slaughter going?"

"Who knows? He's better off gone. When he's here, I'm always weary!"

Even if the guards were to leave halfway, the merchants wouldn't care. It was also not something that they could control. Moreover, the merchants would pay half the money when they reached midway, and the other half when they arrived at the destination. Since they wouldn't lose anything, they weren't afraid that the guards would run off.

Regardless if it was those who were after the Black Fire Spirit Fruit and the Black Fire Spirit Root, or those who came to join in the party — or even those who wished to make a name for themselves amidst the gathering of the experts — many experts rushed off towards the Blazing Mountain after hearing of the news!

This was a great opportunity for the cultivators who ventured the world and experienced hardship to make a name for themselves!

There were also those who had already gained fame but yearned to be able to attain the innate state.

There were also those who harbored feelings of great hatred and would like to become stronger quickly in order to be able to exact revenge!

There were those who wanted to join in for the fun!

There were those who were disciples of experts who'd hidden their names from the world, and wanted the world to know their names!

…

In short, all sorts of characters had rushed towards the Blazing Mountain.

A mansion inside Hua City in Xuyang County.

This was one of the stationary points Gui Yuan Sect had set up in Hua City and this was the place in which Teng Qingshan and his company were staying temporarily.

"These two days, it's really been bustling at the Blazing Mountain." Teng Qingshan stood by the window of the pavilion, drinking wine as he swept his gaze towards the distant streets. "So many warriors have already arrived at the Blazing Mountain! Within only two days, several hundred men had gathered! Because of the great number of people, three inns were set up near the Blazing Mountain.

There were too many people, and these strong warriors didn't care much about money.

It was a great opportunity for inns to earn big bucks. Therefore, three inns were quickly constructed in the area near Blazing Mountain.

"But that adolescent Red Scale Beast is really sneaky! It hasn't appeared for the past two days. I've entered the Blazing Mountain three times to search for it, but I wasn't able to find any traces of the adolescent Red Scaled Beast." Teng Qingshan had also been trying to think of ways and means to search but had never been able to find the adolescent Red Scaled Beast. The Red Scaled Beast had obviously noticed the danger.

But one thing Teng Qingshan was sure of—the adolescent Red Scaled Beast would not leave its nest until it had eaten the Black Fire Spirit Fruit.

"Cousin is really diligent." Teng Qingshan threw a glance towards the courtyard below, where Teng Qinghu was practicing the spear art "Five Techniques of the Ardent Flame".

"Hmm?" From the corner of his eyes, Teng Qingshan saw a large number of men appearing on the streets, wearing black heavy armor and riding black war horses. There were also many who weren't wearing heavy armor.

Teng Qingshan could recognize the two people leading the group at a glance!

The one with long silver hair and a cold gaze was the first commander, Ji Hong, while the cool-looking lady in the black suit was the fourth commander, Guan Lu.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

Teng Qingshan quickly descended the stairs and headed for the front entrance, while the person-in-charge of the station, Yang Ta, was already waiting at the main gate.

"Commanders," Yang Ta said respectfully, "Please come inside and rest, leave these war horses to my men." With a wave of his hand, a group of servants immediately ran over and led the horses away.

Under the lead of Ji Hong and Guan Lu, A majestic group of people entered.

"Commanders." Teng Qingshan cupped his hands in front of the two people.

"Haha, Qingshan!" The moment Ji Hong saw Teng Qingshan, he broke into a smile. He walked over and patted Teng Qingshan on the shoulder as he said, "You have really earned great merit for Gui Yuan Sect his time. I can't believe you actually defeated Meng Tian. Haha… By the way, were you really the one who killed Meng Tian?"

There were no traces of Meng Tian's corpse, and since there was no one in the vicinity, no one knew if Meng Tian was killed by Teng Qingshan.

"Of course he was killed by me." Teng Qingshan said.

"Excellent, excellent." Ji Hong's smile stretched wider. He then turned and introduced, "This is Commander Guan!

"This time, the Sovereign had commanded Commander Guan and me to lead thirty elites of the Black Armored Army and thirty core disciples here. The birth of the adolescent Red Scaled Beast attracted a large number of experts Even though there is a tremendous number of experts, Gui Yuan Sect is determined to get our hands on that treasure!"

"Qingshan, when the time comes, you better not be holding back!"

Regardless if he had defeated Meng Tian or had killed Meng Tian… Teng Qingshan at least had the abilities to be listed in the "Earthly Ranking", and an expert from the "Earthly Ranking" would be very useful when Gui Yuan Sect was vying for the Black Fire Spirit Fruit.

"Yes, Lord Commander." Teng Qingshan replied. When Teng Qingshan glanced behind Ji Hong, he was stunned. His gaze was fixed on the face of a guy who was wearing heavy armor and had a stocky and imposing build. That elite of the Black Armored Army was also looking at Teng Qingshan doubtfully.

"Brother, is your name Li Jinfu?" Teng Qingshan could still distinctly remember the genius from Li Jia Village who had a wolf fang mace which weighed a hundred and twenty-two Jin.