The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-155

All the eleven lieutenants present held on to their expectations. Since they were short of a commander, they would of course have to be chosen from amongst the lieutenants!

And Pang Shan, Zang Feng and Guan Lu could not settle down either!

Selecting the First Commander?

Pang Shan was the Second Commander, Zang Feng was the Third Commander and Guan Lu was the Fourth Commander. All three of them wanted to progress further as well!

“At present, I have also reached a small achievement in my 《Shooting Star Blade》! Probably even Martial Uncle wouldn’t be my opponent… The First Commander position should be mine!” A burning feeling grew in Zang Feng. The 《Shooting Star Blade》was one of the two Heaven level secret manuals. Zang Feng had always been developing his blade skills and he had barely roamed the world. Therefore, the level of his fame was not that high.

But, before Teng Qingshan had came along, Zhuge Yuanhong had thought most highly of Zang Feng!

The diligent Zang Feng really had outstanding abilities. The people from the younger generation such as Zhuge Yun would be easily defeated by him!

“Second Martial Uncle has led the Black Armored Army out to battles for our Gui Yuan Sect for so many years. He has worked very hard and has lots of achievements! From today onwards, Second Martial Uncle will be appointed as an Elder of our Gui Yuan Sect!” Zhuge Yuanhong said in a clear voice. A smile broke out on Ji Hong’s face as well. Now that he was old, he also gained success and recognition to be appointed as an Elder after stepping down from his position.

Quite a number of people congratulated Ji Hong.

Zhuge Yuanhong paused for a while, before he continued, “However, the position of the commander in our Black Armored Army cannot be left vacant.”

Immediately, silence filled the main hall once again.

Zhuge Yuanhong’s voice echoed within the spacious main hall, “The position of the new First Commander of the Black Armored Army will be assumed by Lieutenant Teng Qingshan from the First Division!”

The main hall was filled with a state of uproar!

Teng Qingshan is going to be appointed as the First Commander? Quite a number of people turned to look at Teng Qingshan.

“Teng Qingshan, come up to receive your armor!” Zhuge Yuanhong called out in a clear voice.

Teng Qingshan immediately stood up and walked towards Zhuge Yuanhong.

“How could it be him?” Zang Feng’s face paled. “I was a commander to begin with! Even if Teng Qingshan was to be appointed as a commander, he should only be appointed as the Fourth Commander. The First Commander should be picked from the three of us! With my abilities, the position of the First Commander should be mine!” Zang Feng squinted his cold eyes.

Suddenly ---

Zang Feng suddenly stood up and walked to the middle. Quite a number of people looked at him.

“Hmm?” Zhuge Yuanhong looked at his beloved disciple.

“There’s going to be a good show!”

“Zang Feng probably is not willing to accept this.” Those Elders and Protectors all exchanged glances and smiled. They were interested in how this would turn out. This was an internal issue of the Black Armored Army. Regardless of who was chosen, the person would not be from among the Protectors and the Elders.

Teng Qingshan also looked at Zang Feng.

“Master!” Zang Feng called out with respect. “Martial Brother Qingshan has exceptional abilities and he has established great merit. He definitely has the right to be a commander! It’s just that he is still very young and he has little experience. When Martial Granduncle was appointed as the First Commander previously, the three of us were convinced. But Qingshan… I think, it is still better for him to be appointed as the Fourth Commander for now!”

Guan Lu and Pang Shan remained silent.

Zang Feng was feeling restless as he waited for Zhuge Yuanhong to speak up.

“Step down!” Zhuge Yuanhong hollered.

Zang Feng stifled, as he raised his head to look at Zhuge Yuanhong.

Zhuge Yuanhong’s face turned sullen. “With regards to who is appoint as the First Commander, it was decided with consultation with the Law Enforcing Elders. Since when has it been for you to decide? Alright, Feng Er, you step down first.”

Zang Feng’s was stunned.

The ones with the highest status in the Gui Yuan Sect are undoubtedly the Sovereign as well as the Law Enforcing Elders. Most of the major issues are decided after they discussed them. As a mere disciple, it was true that he had no rights to raise doubts against this decision. Zang Feng was not satisfied… All these years, he had been the representative figure of the younger generation in the Gui Yuan Sect.

No one else could compare against him.

Zang Feng did not step down, but gritted his teeth as he spoke, “Master! The ranking of the four Commanders is based on one’s abilities. Back then, Martial Granduncle defeated the three of us. And today, if Martial Brother Qingshan wishes to take on the role of the First Commander, he would need to convince us as well. I will be the first to challenge him… to see how the abilities of Martial Brother Qingshan!”

The Sovereign Zhuge Yuanhong sighed to himself when he heard this.

This disciple Zang Feng does have great perseverance and talent. The only thing was that… he was too concerned about fame! In the Black Armored Army, he had regarded the different rankings highly. Most of the lieutenants in the Black Armored Army were apprehensive of him.

“To be bickering about such a small issue of who should be the First Commander… He doesn’t have much foresight. Commander? Elder? These are nothing. Only the one who can reach the innate realm and become an innate master has the real ability.” Zhuge Yuanhong was obviously not happy with his disciple, Zang Feng. “This time around, it’s also good to use Qingshan to teach him a lesson. Hopefully, he will wake up!”

Towards this disciple with talent and perseverance, Zhuge Yuanhong still held hopes for him.

“Qingshan, are you willing to take up the challenge?” Zhuge Yuanhong looked at Teng Qingshan. So did the rest of the Elders, Protectors and lieutenants in the main hall.

“Disciple is willing.” Teng Qingshan bowed and answered.

Zang Feng threw a chilling glance at Teng Qingshan.

Zhuge Yuanhong nodded his head slightly and said in a clear voice, “However, today is the day that Qingshan takes up the appointment of the First Commander! It is not suitable for a challenge… Feng Er, you step down first! Today, Qingshan will receive the armor. On the 28th of September, should the other three commanders be unwilling to accept this arrangement, he or she can feel free to challenge Qingshan! The eventual winner will become the First Commander!”

“Yes, master.” Only then did Zang Feng step down as he threw a glance at Teng Qingshan. “Hmph, killed Meng Tian? On par with the Black and White Elders? He is probably not weak. But…...at only the age of seventeen, I don’t believe he is able to take my 《 Shooting Star Blade》!”

Zang Feng was very confident in himself.

……

On the main hall, Teng Qingshan respectfully received the set of Darksteel Armor as well as the tablet of the First Commander!

“The ‘Darksteel Heavy Armor’ of the commanders are really the heaviest.” When he held the armor, Teng Qingshan was able to tell the weight clearly. The whole set of the centurions’ ‘Hematite Heavy Armor’, including the battle boots, helmets and such, weighted about two hundred Jin. And the weight of the whole set of the lieutenants’ ‘Coldsteel Heavy Armor’ would be over three hundred Jin. Afterall, just the Coldsteel Inner Armor alone would weigh tens of Jin.

While the whole set of the commanders’ Darksteel Heavy Armor add up to over five hundred Jin!

Even a First Rated Warrior would feel uncomfortable wearing a weight of five hundred Jin. The warriors who were close to the level of the 《Earth Ranking》 would be able to take this weight usually. But in a battle, it would affect their flexibility a lot. Most of the time, they would take it off and go to battle in only their inner armor. This goes to show how good the armored scales of the Red Scaled Beast was!

The whole set weighs only about a hundred Jin.

Its defensive ability was stronger than that of the Coldsteel Heavy Armor, and it was better able to protect the joints!

The new First Commander was appointed in the main hall. Outside the main hall, the disciples of the 27th generation as well as the centurions of the Black Armored Army could hear the voice in the main hall clearly. All of them started chattering in low voices.

“To think that the First Commander is Teng Qingshan.”

“I had long guessed it. He was someone who is on par with the Black and White elders of the Xiao Yao Palace. The Black and White elders… are both listed on the 《Earth Ranking》. Any one of them could kill us with just one move, but the two of them together could not defeat Teng Qingshan. Tsk tsk, if only I could match up to Martial Brother Qingshan one day.”

“You are still addressing him as Martial Brother? He is now a commander!”

“Like us, he is also a disciple of the 27th generation. What’s wrong with calling him Martial Brother!?”

“Forget about this. Didn’t you hear it earlier? Commander Zang Feng will be challenging Commander Qingshan on the 28th of September.”

“Zang Feng… he had never lost to anyone from the younger generation before.”

“That Teng Qingshan was someone who could kill an expert listed in the 《Earth Ranking》.”

……

The group of experts of the core disciples as well as the centurions chatted in low voices. Teng Qinghu was the happiest. Not long later, a big group exited the main hall, with the Sovereign and the Law Enforcing Elders in front, followed by the four commanders, Elders, lieutenants & Protectors.

In an instance, the centurions and core disciples outside the main hall fell into silence.

“Cousin, help me take this set of Darksteel Heavy Armor back.” Teng Qingshan passed the items to Teng Qinghu.

“Alright.” Teng Qinghu nodded.

“I still have something to tend to and will be back later.” After saying that, Teng Qingshan followed the Sovereign ‘Zhuge Yuanhong’ and left.

Following behind Zhuge Yuanhong, Teng Qingshan continued moving forward.

“Qingshan, have you decided? To learn the sword skills or the spear art?” Zhuge Yuanhong spoke out.

“Master, disciple wishes to learn the spear art!” Teng Qingshan replied respectfully.

Having heard this, Zhuge Yuanhong could not help but shake his head. “I already guessed it! Qingshan, the sword art and spear art do have their similarities! The sword, emphasizes on ‘piercing’. So does the spear! With your level in the spear art, you can change it to suit the sword art.” Teng Qingshan was also aware that there were similarities between the spear art and sword art.

A sword was the simplified version of the long spear!

“The spear is long. Should there be a distance between two person, the spear would have an advantage! But because of its length, it is difficult to manage. It isn’t as flexible as the sword! And it would be easier for a sword of four chi long to display various sword arts. Especially after reaching the innate realm… Ever since the birth of the ‘Poetic Sword God’ Li Taibai, the sword arts were pushed further to the pinnacle. Amongst the innate masters, most of them wield the sword!” Zhuge Yuanhong said.

Teng Qingshan had also heard of the ‘Poetic Sword God’ Li Taibai.

Even the books on the《Earth Ranking》 and the 《Hidden Dragon Ranking》 would mention characters such as the ‘Poetic Sword God’ Li Taibai, Yu Huang and the Celestial Emperor Qin Ling.

From the various books, the ones who were revered with the highest status were undoubtedly Yu Huang and Celestial Emperor Qin Ling. The two of them had ruled the world before and their martial arts were the best across the world. And amongst the countless experts who had not ruled the world, there some who were comparable with Yu Huang and the Celestial Emperor Qin Ling.

One of them was the one who had set up the ‘Mani Temple’, and created the buddhism training methods. The man known as the Grandmaster of Buddhism, ‘Shi Jia’!

Mani Temple dominated two of the nine prefectures and it had countless experts whose skills were unfathomable. The reason that it became the biggest sect across the Nine Prefectures was highly related to ‘Shi Jia’ Grandmaster.

And the other person, was the peerless Poetic Sword God ‘Li Taibai’. This person was undefeated across the land with just a long sword over three thousand years ago. However, he did not create a sect. His ultimate skill 《Green Lotus Sword Melody》had also brought a few calamities in history.

Over the countless years, the four who stood at the pinnacle left behind four secret manuals, namely, 《The Heavenly Book of the Nine Cauldrons》《 Green Lotus Sword Melody》《Golden Buddha》《 The Enlightenment of the God of Heaven》

“Poetic Sword God ‘Li Taibai’?” Teng Qingshan shook his head and said, “Master, I would still like to learn the spear art!”

The predecessors had not achieved much in the spear arts. Could he not… create a set by himself?

“You are really... I will not say anything else. Follow me to the Martial Pavilion!” Zhuge Yuanhong shook his head and smiled.