The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-245

The Blind Swordmaster remained silent. The atmosphere was extremely depressing.

"You said that Zhuge Yuanhong cut off Zhao Danchen's arm and heavily injured the Golden Dan innate expert of Snow Hawk Hall in one slash?" The Blind Swordmaster did not mention Teng Qingshan, but instead he mentioned Zhuge Yuanhong.

"Yes." Gu Yong nodded.

The Blind Swordmaster humphed deeply, "This Zhuge Yuanhong is slightly younger than you. Since you were young, this Zhuge Yuanhong has been on top of you. You are the Island Lord and he is the Sovereign, but you are the Island Lord of Qing Hu Island! You were ranked seventh on the «Heavenly Ranking», but Zhuge Yuanhong was ranked sixth on the «Heavenly Ranking». Numerous years have passed...The power of Zhuge Yuanhong's sword has actually reached such a state. It's obvious that his strength has improved greatly. I guess he's not far from the realm of the Harmonization of the Spirit and the Heavens and Earth and Boundless True Origin. Once his spirit merges with the Heavens and Earth and his True Origin becomes boundless, Zhuge Yuanhong would be an Emptiness Realm Expert! Gu Yong, the difference between you and him is not becoming smaller. Instead, it is becoming increasingly bigger."

Gu Yong lowered his head. He didn't dare to make any sound.

"If that one slash could possess such power, Zhuge Yuanhong should be ranked second or third on the «Heavenly Ranking»." The Blind Swordmaster sighed and continued speaking, "Also, this time, did you notice something special about Wu Hou? According to my calculations, he has probably broken through the last step and reached the Emptiness Realm."

In the eyes of the Blind Swordmaster...

The Emptiness Realm was the only power that could decide the future of the world! As for the innate experts, they were the reserve forces of the Emptiness Realm Experts. The more innate experts a sect had, the higher the possibility of the birth of an Emptiness Realm Expert,

"Wu Hou's ability is terrifying, but he is still not able to borrow the power of the Heavens and Earth." Gu Yong said.

"This Wu Hou..."

The Blind Swordmaster shook his head as he spoke, "Although I have never seen him before, based on some news I have heard, he must have reached the dividing line of the Innate Realm and the Emptiness Realm thirty years ago. With his talents....he must have already reached the Emptiness Realm." Despite the fact that his eyes were blind, the Blind Swordmaster seemed to be able to see Gu Yong's expression as he asked, "Yong, anything else?"

Gu Yong nodded and replied, "Yes, I would like to abdicate my position and have Junior Martial Brother or Senior Martial Brother be the next Island Lord!"

"Abdication is good too."

The Blind Swordmaster nodded and said, "Choose a good day from the coming few days. Abdicate your position and have….your Junior Martial Brother Tie Pan take the position of the Island Lord. Being the Island Lord will serve as good training."

"Yes." Gu Yong said, perturbed, "Martial Ancestor, that Teng Qingshan….."

"Of course we need to deal with Teng Qingshan, but that's something small." The Blind Swordmaster said indifferently, "This time, we lost twelve Law Enforcing Elders and Danchen lost his arm. Qing Hu Island suffered a loss too great.... Yong, after you abdicate your position, you must be a boatman for Qing Lake. For the rest of your days, you must be a boatman during the day and come to Sword Edge Mountain for training at night."

"A boatman….." Gu Yong froze for a second.

"Hmph." The Blind Swordmaster humphed deeply, and a faint rumble could be heard in the Heavens and Earth. He then spoke, "Yong, before you were the Island Lord, you did have the courage and aggressiveness, but now, you aren't as...Your eyes have been blinded by power. The position of the Island Lord is not important! Only the ones who can reach the Emptiness Realm and borrow the power of the Heavens and Earth are true masters."

Gu Yong recalled the past few years and his heart quivered involuntarily.

These years, his only thoughts were how to make Qing Hu Island stronger, how to obliterate Tie Yi Hall and the Gui Yuan Sect, etc. His state of mind had completely changed...As for Zhuge Yuanhong of the Gui Yuan Sect, he hardly showed his face. He and Zhuge Yuanhong used to be well matched in strength, but now…..the difference was rather big.

Gu Yong couldn't help but feel fear as he thought about it.

If this continued, a dozen years from now, Zhuge Yuanhong would probably be able to kill him in one move.

"Yes, After the abdication, Yong is willing to be a boatman." Gu Yong said respectfully. He had already prepared…..to get a human skin mask. He would wear the human skin mask and be a boatman.

"Good." The Blind Swordmaster said indifferently, "Be a boatman. When you fall from a highly positioned Island Lord to a low position…..Maybe you will understand a lot more. I understand that with your personality, you would definitely disguise yourself. But the day when you can tear away the disguise and be a boatman in your true appearance, maybe there's still hope for you to catch up to Zhuge Yuanhong. There's still hope for you to reach the Emptiness Realm one day."

"Yes." Gu Yong answered.

Let him be a boatman in his true appearance? That was even worse than killing him.

"You may leave. Regarding Teng Qingshan, I will have your Junior Martial Brother solve the problem," the Blind Swordmaster said coldly.

Immediately, Gu Yong left.

...

On the twelfth of November, Gu Yong, the Island Lord of Qing Hu Island, abdicated his position. Fifty-one year-old Golden Dan innate expert Tie Pan became the next Island Lord of Qing Hu Island. It was on this afternoon that Gu Yong hid his identity and wore the human skin mask. He became one of the most ordinary and common people seen on Qing Lake, a boatman.

Jiangning County City, Gui Yuan Sect.

Zhuge Yuanhong was in his study.

As usual, Zhuge Yuanhong wore a white cloak and was barefoot. He held a drawing brush in his hand and was drawing on the paper hung on the drafting board. His facial expression was very calm. He stared at the drawing before his eyes quietly and occasionally dipped his drawing brush in the ink. His whole mind and heart seemed to be immersed in this drawing. This was a drawing of a lonely traveler in the snow.

In the endless snowfield, there were messy footprints and corpses on the ground. Far away, there was only a lonely traveler moving forward.

A murderous aura came straight ahead from the drawing.

Suddenly, the brush stopped!

Zhuge Yuanhong threw the drawing brush to the side and actually started smiling. However, his smile seemed very sad.

"Father!" A shout rang.

Zhuge Yuanhong turned to look and saw that it was his son, Zhuge Yun.

"Father, Senior Martial Brother Qingshan didn't die! He didn't die!!!" Zhuge Yuan hastily said.

Zhuge Yuanhong's eyes brightened.

These past few days, Zhuge Yuanhong hadn't been in a good mood. His daughter died, and Teng Qingshan's survival was uncertain. All of these made him feel sad and terrible. However, as the Sovereign…..he couldn't show his emotions. He could only swallow everything in.

"How did you know?" Zhuge Yuanhong hastily said.

"Here." Zhuge Yun handed a secret letter, "I just met Second Martial Uncle, who told me this. He also asked me to give you this secret letter. Actually, it's not really a secret...It's just the official bounty Qing Hu Island issued. This official bounty document at least tells us that Senior Martial Brother Qingshan is still alive."

When Zhuge Yuanhong saw this, he secretly let out a sigh of relief. A rare smile appeared on his face.

"He didn't die. Great. Great." Zhuge Yuanhong sighed emotionally and said, "This Qing Hu Island was really willing to spend that money. Once this official bounty document spreads out, I am afraid most of the people in the entire world would try to kill Teng Qingshan, but….with Qingshan's skill of disguise, it would be very hard for Qing Hu Island to catch him."

"Qingshan didn't die. That really made me happy." Zhuge Yuanhong praised and sighed.

"Yeah. Sister in heaven will be happy when she knows." Zhuge Yun sighed and said.

When Zhuge Yuanhong heard, he regained his calmness and immediately said, "Let's go. Accompany me to meet Qingshan's parents. During these few days, his parents have been constantly worried about Qingshan..."

"Yeah. Aunty was so worried that she fell sick." Zhuge Yun nodded, "Now, we are sure Qingshan didn't die, and Aunty's health will be better when she knows about this."

Immediately, Zhuge Yuanhong led his son and went to meet Teng Yongfan and his wife. Because of the two cauldrons of the Elixir of the North Sea, Zhuge Yuanhong felt grateful and guilty. Teng Qingshan wasn't here now…..so naturally, Zhuge Yuanhong could only repay it to Teng Qingshan's parents.

Plus...

Zhuge Yun and Qingyu would soon get married. In the future, they would be in-laws, thus it would be natural for Zhuge Yuanhong to care for Teng Qingshan's parents.

...

Xuyang County, Wu City.

The company of traveling merchants wasn't fast, but Teng Qingshan wasn't worried because he knew…..if he traveled alone and went a thousand Li per day, he would draw many people's attraction. If Qing Hu Island had garrisoned people at certain areas and those people received news to find him, then he would be easily found!

That would be too dangerous!

As for now, although the speed was slow, it was be better to be safe.

This company of traveling merchants entered the Wu City at this moment.

"This bumpy road makes your back hurt." Old Zhang smacked his lips and said, "We are finally in Wu City, Qin Wei. Now that we are in the city, we must find a place to rest."

"No problem. However, you need to drink less." Teng Qingshan smiled, "Last time you drank with me, you couldn't even ride your horse. You could only lie on the wagon alone and you even got crazily drunk. We exerted much force to take care of you, a mad drunkard."

"I was happy that day." Old Zhang laughed awkwardly and said, "Also, Qin Wei, you really have a high tolerance level for alcohol. You drank with me and easily surpassed me. I, Old Zhang, was drunk, but you seemed to have felt nothing."

"Old Zhang, your level of tolerance for alcohol is average, but Qin Wei's level of tolerance is a lot better than yours." A bald man sickly in color smiled and said

"Baldy Jia, is your tolerance for alcohol is also better than mine?" The Old Zhang glared and replied.

"I am not going to mess with a crazy person like you." The bald man sickly in color laughed.

Recently, Teng Qingshan had been with these merchants, and it felt great. These merchants traveled in the wind and in the rain and had to face the threat of bandits often. This was not an easy life. The lives of the great merchants might appear luxurious, but the great merchants started small, or their ancestors worked hard and left an inheritance.

"Everyone, let's part here. We meet at the west gate two hours from now. We won't wait if you are late." A shout rang.

"Alright!"

"Brothers, let's go drink."

"Let's go. The third brother is treating us to food."

The merchants and guards separated into different groups. Teng Qingshan, Old Zhang, and the other four formed a group and left.

"Look!" Beside Old Zhang, Hei Zi shouted, "Look in front! So many people gathered there. What are they doing?"

"Aiya, there are many people. Let's go check it out." Baldy Jia's eyes brightened.

Those that travelled the world loved a lively place.

Teng Qingshan also approached curiously with the crowds. He was disguised as a "merchant" and so he had to hypnotize himself into becoming one. He must act like the merchants and never be alone. This way, it wouldn't make him look conspicuous.

"One thousand taels of gold? Or ten thousand taels of gold? Brother, read it to me. I can only read the words, one thousand taels of gold and ten thousand taels of gold."

Teng Qingshan and his companions had just approached when they noticed a group of people shouting noisily.

"Motherf*ckers. If I kill this Teng Qingshan, it means that my future generations will prosper?" An excited voice came from the crowds in front, and soon many people joined the crowds.

When Teng Qingshan heard the two words "Teng Qingshan," he frowned.

Immediately, he squeezed into the crowds with the other merchants, desiring to squeeze into the innermost areas.