‘These people are too much—’

Li Ao shook his head. Why didn’t these masters just try to...not look?

That seemed to be a pretty good solution.

Sighing, Li Ao bought the manual for 250 coins, leaving him with 120.

He hoped that finding the First Capital would bring him coins. However, the mission didn’t seem to judge it as the ‘Mission Stage’, as it put Shouyo Village.

‘Will it be ‘the stage’ when the Imperial Ancestor arrives?’

The difficulty made him think. Right then, a flood of information flowed into his brain.

Sitting still, as if dead, Li Ao fell limp on his bed. A few hours later, he woke up with red lights of the setting Sun entering his room.

‘Holy heavens, what the fuck was that?’

It felt like his soul escaped from his body. Li Ao rubbed his chilled hands and shoulders, then circulated his Qi.

As he did so, instinctively, he knew another route he could take.

This one was separate from Scarlet Path or Li Noble Family Cultivation Art—It passed through his heart meridian to all limbs like a straight line like a stickman.

‘Instant transmission...’

Many arts and cultivation techniques would be hidden in jade slips. Few would, however, teach the user directly.

Most would be like a faster way to read a book through your divine sense.

Even then, mainstream learning required books in the shape of manuals.

After all, jade slips were complex mechanisms that required expensive material and mastery of Forging and Formations to produce.

Li Ao had never seen a jade slip that could make you memorize everything.

Feeling excited, but also horrified by how System taught him, Li Ao began practicing.

Rick’s Body Tempering Technique had five levels: Bronze Body, Silver Body, Gold Body, Violet Body, and Jade Body.

Each of them were equivalent in order to Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Soul Formation.

Though the technique’s author considered this a foundational technique for Infiltration Techniques, Li Ao could see how impressive it was as an external art.

The Great Wei Dynasty had few people practicing Physique instead of Qi—only the Southern Kingdoms had Physique experts.

Of course, their martial arts were also great, with three Soul Formation level Body Practitioners among them.

Still, very few people practiced both. Cultivating the Qi already required too many resources—even a large clan would be left penniless if they practiced both Physique and Qi.

Li Ao, however, didn’t consider it a problem.

His Qi cultivation, for now, needed stabilization, and he wasn’t truly serious about becoming a Physique Cultivator.

Even if he was serious, he wouldn’t worry about it.

With these missions under his hand and Universal Store, what resource could he not get?

Just the ‘Envoy In Danger’ mission gave him 2000 High-grade Spirit Stones.

That was worth more than a few years of Li Family’s earnings.

The Universal Coins themselves flowed so long as he progressed through the mission. He would only lack time, if he ever lacked anything, and definitely not resources.

‘Ahh, I feel rich.’

Letting out a pleased sigh, Li Ao circulated his Qi through five limbs.

The Qi penetrated his muscle and bones, washing over like a massage. Practicing Physique was so relaxing!

He spent a few hours expelling the impurities in his body, then once he couldn’t, he started practicing for real.

Of course, nothing was easy in cultivation. Rick’s Body Tempering Technique required the user to first get rid of impurities, then in strict order temper his bones, organs, tendons, muscles, and skin.

Only then would he attain a Bronze Body. Then on the next stage, rinse and repeat...

Sweat formed on his forehead as Li Ao forced his Qi to circulate. It felt like a pulsating wave of heat in his bones.

Bit by bit he tempered them with his Qi. His skin turned red, then each of his breath turned into a storm of vapor.

He stopped an hour later.

‘It is...fast?’

If he kept the pace, he could attain the first-layer of Bronze Body in a week.

First-layer Bronze Body was equivalent to a second-level Qi Condensation Cultivator.

Every layer upgraded it by two more stages, though Li Ao felt like refining his skin would make him a bit outrageous in Qi Condensation level...

Thinking so, Li Ao went downstairs to take a bath, then returned to cultivation.

It took him nine days to reach the first layer of the Bronze Body.

Once he broke through, an intense wave of pleasure flooded through his bones to the rest of his body.

It felt like warm spring water, and the sweet massage left him drooling on the bed. After a long while he woke up and checked his own body.

Swiping his divine sense, Li Ao noticed a bronze tint on his bones. There was also a faint bronze aura spreading out of him, which he suppressed out of fear.

What if people thought he was a show off?

Its color also looked like poop...

But the changes themselves were profound.

With each circulation, his bones seemed to expand with refined Qi. Right now, if faced with that Foundation Establishment Cultivator again, Li Ao felt like he could take him on with more ease.

‘Defeating is problematic.’

He didn’t think himself too strong even then. Technically, he should be able to match the first or second level of Foundation Establishment level cultivators.

But that evaluation depended on the ‘average’ cultivator. Who knew the other side was not someone able to realm-leap like him?

The biggest downfall of any cultivator was to underestimate the potential of an enemy.

‘Thank god I am not some third-rate do you dare villain.’

At least he had a brain, albeit a malfunctioned one.

Without standing up, Li Ao began working on the second layer of the Bronze Body.

While he cultivated, Zhu Qiu dropped by from time to time to give him news.

It seemed that this particular Sun Family, which turned out to be one of the three Great Nobles of the Bai Dynasty, intended to hold a Forging Competition for the youth.

Zhu Qiu brought him a registration paper. Li Ao refused at first, since he didn’t really have the ability to compete with his peers. Zhu Qiu, however, convinced him otherwise.

The Sun family was also a Forging family. Their ancestors had produced a Grandmaster, and their current patriarch was also a Master Forger.

They could forge Earth-grade weapons, even first-grade Earth-quality ones. Even if he didn’t do well, becoming connected to them was a good thing for him.

Li Ao understood where Zhu Qiu came from.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

However, he didn’t really belong ‘here’.

Any connections he made would be unstable. Friendship was another matter, but network of benefits? He doubted any would be carried over.

Still, since he would be able to use a forge of the Sun family, Li Ao agreed.

With a good enough result, he might be able to convince someone to rent a forge to him.

‘’What name should I put down?’’

Zhu Qiu thought for a moment. He sat cross legged on the ground, while Li Ao remained on his bed.

There was a faint booming coming out of his body—his heart thumped like a drum.

‘’Did you give your name to anyone?’’

Li Ao shook his head.

‘’Then anything is fine.’’

Thinking so, Li Ao wrote down Xu Liao.

‘’Apart from your name...’’

‘’This isn’t my name though?’’

‘’...really?’’

‘’What? Isn’t it a good name?’’

‘’Just be done with it.’’ Zhu Qiu sighed.

Why did this guy seem to lose his brain cells at the weirdest moments?

After Li Ao put down his name and Qi signature, Zhu Qiu left him alone to cultivate. There was more than two months to the competition, so he had ample time to prepare.

First, however, he wanted to reach the second layer of the Bronze Body. He had already tempered his stomach, liver, lungs, and guts.

Only his heart and brain remained, and the latter needed to be finished in one go to prevent any mishaps.

This kind of tempering was not the same as muscles, but a kind of baptism as some tribes did with their child.

Li Ao spent a week tempering his heart. The thick veins pumped out bronze blood, nourishing the rest of his body, and cleared up his mind.

Then, gathering the bronze aura radiating out of his bones and organs Li Ao let it wash over his head.

The aura poured in like mist through his nose and ears. A sickening feeling washed over him.

His eyes, ears, mouth, and nose ceased to function.

For a brief moment, Li Ao lost all sense and bearing.

A moment later he fell to the ground. Sweat poured down his back like a river—a literal stream of salty smelling liquid.

He vomited, pushed himself up, then vomited again.

‘What the fuck was that!?’

That was a terrifying experience.

Opening his mouth, Li Ao plucked out a crushed molar. His tongue also seemed to be cut a little—several of his fingers were broken.

Without any sense of touch and any bearing, he had used too much force in panic. With no conscious limiter, his own strength had damaged himself.

‘I was too rash. I was too retarded.’

He had greatly underestimated the difficulty of the manual.

Swearing at his carelessness, rubbing his stomach, Li Ao reeled from the stench around him. Not even burnt corpses smelled this hideous.

Then, however, he noticed the fault.

Why was the smell so strong?

Looking down, Li Ao saw the ground in hyper-detail. He could focus on the individual carvings left by the seesaw of the artisan. The vomit, too—

Holding back the rising vile, Li Ao looked outside the window. His sight extended at least two times its previous limit.

He could see someone standing a few hundred meters away in perfect clarity with all their details, unlike a blurry picture. There were three buildings blocking his sight, so he didn’t know how far he could perceive.

‘It improved my five senses...’’

There was a reason any damage to the head could impair someone’s five senses. Tempering of the brain was not just the brain, but also the nerves that belonged to it.

Though the improvement didn’t add much to his eventual prowess, for in Foundation Establishment he could reach a similar standard, having it much before made a big difference.

Perhaps, now he could match Zhu Qiu’s sight?

Sighing, Li Ao now cursed the Rick fellow, or whoever shared this technique.

Why did this person not warn him of these side effects?

Li Ao wasn’t aware that no one would rashly practice a technique tempering the brain.

He also wasn’t aware that anyone reading upon this manual could make a short guess of what ‘tampering’ with the brain could do to a person.

It was only his fault he didn’t think things through.

‘Still, it seems worth it.’

In the future, he would be more careful.

Now, it was time to smile.

His body could match fourth-level Qi Condensation cultivators now, but couldn’t match their stamina yet. He could use such pure strength on forging, though.

Taking out the Elementary Forging Manual, Li Ao began to study...then a minute later went down to call a servant.

The vomit was truly too unpleasant!

*********

Two months passed by in a flash, and soon the First Capital was bustling with activity.

The sun was up high, the sky was crystal blue, and for all intents and purposes it seemed to be a good day to make merry.

There were huge family banners strung around the Central Square. Hordes of people went in and out of the busy street in clamor.

There was a gigantic stage being set up at the center of this commotion, and on top of this stage were almost a hundred portable forges and furnaces placed in an orderly manner.

Below this stage were seats and thrones, where people could recognize various influential figures of the Bai Dynasty.

At the first-row, among all the others, were several old men and women.

Almost all of them were elders of some Clan or Court Officials. There were two that stood out the most among them—one was a elderly man with silver, long eyebrows touching his cheek, and beside him a young man with similar features stood on his feet.

The other was a young woman that seemed to be at most twenty or thirty years old.

She had her hair tied up in a bun, wore a dark purple robe like the old man beside her, and seemed to hold such an influence among these people that only the old man beside her dared to speak in her presence.

‘’You might be taking a huge loss.’’

‘’It is just business.’’

Their words made no sense to others around them except the young man.

He was Sun Jian, the young master of the Sun Clan.

‘’Business is risky!’’ He said aloud.

‘’Jian is very clever indeed.’’ The old man, Sun Zhongyan, smiled at his grandson and glanced at the woman.

She was named Fan Yueyin and, unlike her young appearance, was actually one of the three Forging Grandmasters alive in the Bai Dynasty!

‘’Master Fan shouldn’t worry herself about those matters—’’ Sun Zhongyan waved his paper fan like a retired drunkard. ‘’If we find such a vein, it is a blessing. In case it fails, you shan’t suffer any loss from us.’’

‘’I know Master Sun is a honorable and trustworthy man.’’

‘’Yes, my grandfather is a very trustworthy man. You can trust him!’’

Sun Jian’s silly smile caused Zhongyan’s flaring anger to calm down.

Fan Yueyin cast the boy a glance, smiled, then pointed at the stage full of competitors. In a few moments there were dozens of young men and women gathered upon it.

‘’Are you not joining in?’’

Sun Jian shook his head, his brows furrowed like a soldier. ‘’I won’t bully anyone with my skills!’’

‘’You are a good boy.’’ Fan Yueyin nodded.

‘’My mom says the same thing.’’

‘’...your mom is a good person.’’

‘’Yes she is a very good person.’’

Ignoring the boy, two elders focused on the stage. Servants carried coals and Fire Stones to burn the furnaces and start the forges, while a few other clerks took attendance of the competitors.

‘’Ah! Grandpa, that’s him!’’

Looking at where Sun Jian pointed, Sun Zhongyan and Fan Yueyin saw a peculiar young...man?

He was a man. He had a bright yang aura about him, though his pale complexion and soft features could make him pass off as a woman.

‘’He doesn’t seem like a forger?’’

‘’He’s like a thin blade of grass...’’

Casting a look at the stage—bronze and tanned bodies with bulging muscles flexed towards the audience—the duo looked back at the frail looking young man.

Even the thinnest woman on the stage seemed to pack more muscle than him?

But a moment later, Sun Zhongyan and Fan Yueyin let out a soft gasp.

‘’Thirteenth-level Qi Condensation?’’

‘’He must be quite talented.’’

‘’Yes, yes! I said before—I couldn’t read his cultivation at all!’’

‘’No wonder.’’ Sun Zhongyan nodded. ‘’Why don’t you go and greet him for us?’’

‘’I shall!’’

Sun Jian shot forth like a rocket under their eyes, spoke a single word with the man, then came back in a flash.

Flabbergasted, Sun Zhongyan frowned at Sun Jian.

‘’What happened?’’

‘’He said...he wasn’t that thin...’’

*********

Upon the stage.

Li Ao took his seat as the ninety-eighth participant.

His forge and furnace was lit, and a few basic tools like hammers and tongs laid on the anvil beside him.

Gazing at the audience for a while, he savored the long sight, then put in his ear plugs.

He still had difficulty controlling his sharpened senses. As he spent most of his time repeating his theoretical knowledge and using formations to stimulate his practice, he also didn’t cultivate further on his Bronze Body.

Still, it didn’t seem too bad. He had a certain amount of confidence to reach the top three.

Top three of this competition could get Earth-grade weapons made by Sun Zhongyan himself, though any specific modifications would have to be paid by them with a discount.

As for the winner’s reward, Li Ao had no interest in that. He didn’t know this Fan Yueyin fellow, and didn’t have the mind to become the disciple of a lower-realm Forger.

Or at least one without high standards.

Standards!

They were important indeed. Li Ao had a few thoughts bouncing back and forth in his head as he kept gazing at his feet, waiting.

Then he saw a shadow extend towards him.

Raising his head, Li Ao saw a clerk waving his hand in front of him. He shouted something, but no voice reached Li Ao’s ears.

‘’Oh, sorry.’’

Taking out his ear plugs Li Ao nodded at the clerk.

‘’What’s wrong?’’

‘’I SAID, BEGIN FORGING ALREADY!’’

‘’...’’