Huang Ying sat in his carriage and stuffed two small pieces of cloth into his nostrils, clogging them and stopping the bleeding from getting worse. Li Jun assured him that his nose wasn't actually broken, only bruised, so he didn't bother checking with Yang Anju if they had any medicine for it. But shortly after he sat down on the bed in his carriage, Yang Anju gave his door a few knocks.

"Little Brother, do you mind if I come inside for a short moment?"

One of Huang Ying's eyebrows couldn't help but rise slightly when he heard what Yang Anju called him, but he didn't bother pursuing it, it simply meant that Yang Anju thought rather well of him. He didn't have anything to put away, so he allowed Yang Anju to enter the carriage after only a few seconds delay.

Yang Anju was a bit paler after his battle against the bandit leader, a bloody wound going from the left side of his nose and all the way down to his throat, only a thin sticky bandage covering it. The wound luckily wasn't very deep so it didn't end up being fatal, but it would certainly leave another scar on his face. Yang Anju cupped his hands and bowed his body slightly, lowering his head in gratitude and apology.

"Thank you, Little Brother, for protecting the other passengers when we failed to perform our duty and keep the bandits away. I dread to imagine how many people might have died if that fat bastard managed to reach them. If you have any wishes, I promise that I will do my utmost to grant them."

It was Yang Anju and his men's responsibility to guard the passengers, all of their lives were on his shoulder and each one lost would be on his hands. Yang Anju would end up with quite a lot of innocent blood on his hands if it hadn't been for Huang Ying revealing that he was stronger than he looked and successfully holding back the bandit. Huang Ying knew that Yang Anju didn't actually have anything that he wanted, he was just a guard after all, he didn't even have any cultivation resources. But his thoughts moved slightly while he was in the process of refusing, his words quickly changing.

"There's no need for any... Actually, I want a weapon, I want to test out various weapons to find one that suits me."

Huang Ying felt that he would have been able to create some more openings in the fat bandit's guard if he had a weapon he could use to block the axe, rather than having to dodge all the time. Yang Anju's expression brightened when he heard Huang Ying's wish, gesturing for him to follow him out of the wagon with a laugh.

"Haha, I had a feeling you were that kind of person when I first saw you, it seems like my old eyes haven't failed me yet! We've got weapons aplenty in case ours break, come, you can test out a few right now while Kong breaks down the boulder blocking our path!"

Huang Ying eagerly nodded his head and hopped down from the bed, following Yang Anju to the third wagon in the caravan. Yang Anju opened the room-like wagon and took out a nearly three-meter wide wooden chest, hoisting it onto his shoulder and carrying it a few steps away from the wagon before placing it down. He opened the chest to reveal that it was filled with smaller wooden boxes, each one most likely containing one weapon. He then called out to one of the two women that Huang Ying met back when he first encountered Yang Anju.

"Lixi, you've got the most energy to spare, help this Little Brother test out a few weapons until we find one that suits him."

The orange-haired and brown-eyed woman cast her gaze over when Yang Anju called out, nodding her head and quickly walking over. She gave Huang Ying a deep glance as she took up position a few steps away, clearly already aware of what he had done. Yang Anju pat the side of the wooden chest, stepping back after doing so.

"Little Brother, you can test out these weapons here, just take any one that you think suits you."

Huang Ying nodded his head and pulled out the first box within the chest, revealing a standard Jian sword that gleamed slightly. He pulled the sword out of the box and grasped it tightly, his gaze landing on Lixi, who had already put on a pair of metal gauntlets, her weapon of choice. Huang Ying's eyes narrowed slightly as he bent his body, a faint fire of excitement flaring in his pupils as he dashed forward.

He swung out the sword the moment he got close to Lixi and swept it sideways at her chest, a move that Lixi easily blocked by first knocking the sword upward with her fist and then knocking it aside with her other arm. Huang Ying strengthened his grasp on the sword and stopped it from being knocked too far aside, swinging it at Lixi again, a bit faster this time. Lixi once again blocked the sword rather easily, knocking it a bit down before sliding her hand along the blade and grabbing onto the top of the hilt. Huang Ying pulled back his arm to prevent her from grabbing onto the hilt, something Lixi allowed him to do by pulling back her own arm. He slashed out a few more times with the sword before stopping his attacks, weighing the sword for a few seconds.

"It's not this one."

The weapon meshed well with the speed and flexibility of his wind element, but it wasn't able to utilize the strength and stability of his earth element as he wished. He put the sword back in the box and took out the next one, revealing a pair of gloves that seemed to be made from small green scales.

Huang Ying put on the gloves, which were a bit sticky on the inside so that they didn't slide off, and then charged at Lixi again. He stomped the ground and punched out when he got close to Lixi, transferring the power from the stomp into his punch. Lixi responded by raising her own arm and blocking Huang Ying's fist wit her own, a clank sounding out as the two armored hands clashed. The resulting force pushed both of them back a step, but Huang Ying didn't feel any pain in his hand thanks to the gloves.

He dashed forward and punched out again, Lixi raising her palm and blocking the attack while also moving her arm to the side to deflect Huang Ying's punch. Huang Ying's fist rapidly opened and closed down on Lixi's hand so that he could pull her closer with a powerful yank, punching out with his other hand. Lixi was a little caught off guard but quickly regained herself and kicked out with her left foot, aiming a sideways kick at Huang Ying's knee and forcing him to back off, causing him to mutter softly.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Maybe, maybe."

Huang Ying stopped his attacks, his eyes gleaming slightly as he looked at the gloves. Using the gloves was the same as using his hands, they allowed him to perfectly utilize the traits of both his elements and maybe even his element of devouring. But he didn't choose the gloves just yet, he wanted to see what other weapons might suit him. He put away the gloves and brought out the next box, revealing a large axe.

He grasped the axe and charged at Lixi, smashing it down towards her head in a violent manner similar to the chubby bandit. Lixi easily side-stepped the axe and gave it a kick, the force causing vibrations to run up along Huang Ying's arms. He clenched his fists around the axe to resist the shockwaves and forcefully swung the axe sideways at Lixi's waist. But Lixi simply jumped up and stomped down on the axe, forcing it into the ground and easily neutralizing the attack. Huang Ying let out a sigh and carried the axe back to the chest.

"Not this one either."

The axe was too heavy and forceful, it meshed with his earth element but not with his wind element. The next box Huang Ying opened contained a whip that ended in three sharp tips, Huang Ying taking a bit more distance from Lixi this time. He swung out with the whip, but actually controlling it was far harder than he first expected, the attack wasn't even close to Lixi. He lashed out with it a few more times and got it a bit closer to her, but it quickly became apparent that this wasn't the weapon for him, it didn't mesh with him or his elements.

"Nope, not this one either."

The next box he opened contained a thick silver mace with a round head covered in spikes. He already knew how this would end due to having tested out the axe, but he still gave the mace a few swings as he charged at Lixi. Just like he guessed, it was too heavy and forceful to be used properly, it was quickly placed back in the box and discarded.

"Another failure."

Huang Ying opened another box, one of the last two in the chest, this one containing a long spear that was folded into three pieces. He unfolded the simple spear, the tip thrumming slightly from the movement due to the fact that the material of the spear was rather flexible and soft. He tightly grasped the spear and charged forward, aiming an overhead smash at Lixi.

Lixi sidestepped it just like she had done with the axe and the mace, but the spear was so flexible that it bounced up slightly when it hit the ground. Huang Ying used the force of this bounce to quickly change the direction of the spear, sweeping the tip at Lixi's abdomen and forcing her to raise her right arm to block it. Huang Ying pulled the spear back slightly the moment she was about to block it, allowing it to bypass her arm before he thrust it forward again. Surprise flashed in Lixi's eyes, a thin layer of metal suddenly appearing on her abdomen and blocking the spear just as it touched her.

Lixi had already reached the 7th Step of Mortality, meaning that she could conjure her element. Of course, she herself already considered it her loss after having been forced to do this against someone at the 1st Step of Mortality. The spear bounced back slightly after being blocked and deflected by the layer of metal, Huang Ying utilizing this chance to flick the spear upward and aiming the speartip at Lixi's chin. But just like the previous attack, a thin layer of metal appeared on her skin and blocked it, not even receiving a scratch. Huang Ying pulled back the spear and stopped his attacks, his eyes gleaming slightly as he looked at the weapon.

"Maybe, maybe."

The spear was flexible enough to mesh with his wind element but strong and sturdy enough to mesh with his element of earth, as long as it was a flexible spear it would be rather suited. But Huang Ying still wanted to see the last weapon in the chest so he folded up the spear and put it away, opening the last box and revealing a pair of metal nunchucks.

Huang Ying grabbed the metal nunchucks and gave them a few spins, just barely able to prevent them from crashing into his own head. They were rather uncommon weapons so he didn't have any memories containing information about how to fight with them. He attacked Lixi to test them out but the end result was the same as with the whip, the nunchucks didn't mesh with him or his elements, quickly returning to their box.

Lixi put away her own gauntlets after seeing that Huang Ying was done testing out the weapons, her eyes flickering slightly as she looked at him. Huang Ying had his right hand on his chin, quietly looking at the box containing the gloves and the box containing the spear, Li Jun throwing in his two cents.

"I'd suggest the gloves. They'll be just like your hands and feet, they'll never betray you and you'll always know how to best use them."

There was logic in what Li Jun said, but Huang Ying still wasn't fully able to decide. In truth, both weapons were rather intriguing to him, the gloves were well suited to close combat while the spear was a bit better for short to medium-range combat. The spear also had a sharp tip that would make it more suited for exploiting small holes in defense or armor, while the gloves themselves were better suited for dealing with heavily armored foes where he would need to crush them head-on.

A loud banging sound from ahead told him that the man known as Kong had finished breaking the boulder blocking their path, meaning that he had to hurry up and choose. This first weapon didn't matter much, he could just buy a new one whenever, but he still found it rather hard to choose. Yang Anju came to his rescue, chuckling at Huang Ying and giving his shoulder a few heavy pats.

"Can't decide, eh? Just take em both, consider the gloves and apology for failing to do our job and the spear a gift for protecting the other passengers. If you end up feeling bad about it you can just come and pay us back in the future, you can find us in Wind's Touch city most of the time."

Huang Ying glanced at Yang Anju, who was smiling casually and didn't seem the least bit bothered. He gave Yang Anju a grateful bow and picked up both boxes, slinging them over his shoulder using the leather rope attached to both of them. Yang Anju nodded his head after Huang Ying accepted the boxes, spinning his finger while roaring out.

"Alright you lot, let's get a move on! Burning Clouds is right ahead of us, let's get there pronto!"

Everyone who had gotten off their wagons boarded them again, the caravan quickly resuming its journey, storing the corpses of the deceased guards on the wagon furthest in the back. The corpses would be returned to their families once they reached the next city, the families would also receive a hefty sum of money to help them in the future.

Huang Ying also got back on his wagon and sat down on his bed, calming his breathing and slowly absorbing in the Qi that was drifting in the surroundings, using it to slowly increase the size of the island in his dantian. The journey continued without any problems, the large stone walls surrounding Burning Clouds city becoming visible after three days. Rising up at the very center of the city was a tall granite pillar nearly ten-meters thick, a violent crimson flame burning brightly atop the pillar, the symbol of the Fierce Flame academy.