"..why are you following me?"

Shortly after the lady receptionist informed me that I was to go report to Elder Hai Mo and Elder Zhao immediately, I had set off on the journey to Elder Hai's residence high up in the Flame Volcano. Apparently Elder Zhao would be meeting us there too.

What I didn't account for was Tang Qi Hong tagging along. After packing her chosen battle-automata away, she followed me closely. I wondered why she even bothered to go to the sect admin building in the first place. Probably a contrived way for her to run into me so that she could follow me for whatever plot development that occurred from now on.

How convenient.

"Didn't I already tell you?"

Tang Qi Hong frowned, as if it was something obvious

"You're the one who asked me about this. Since you're going to meet Elder Hai Mo anyway, I might as well follow you and ask about Spirit Engravings for battle-automata. I suspect that's why he and Elder Zhao want to see you in the first place."

Either the news had gotten out and spread online like wildfire, or Tang Qi Hong was able to make an accurate guess based on the lady receptionist's response after seeing my battle-automata and making a quick phone call, and knew they were linked.

"Besides, it's Elder Hai Mo we're talking about here! Who wouldn't pass up the opportunity to see him?"

In other words, Tang Qi Hong was using this as an excuse to pay her favorite mentor a visit, especially since he wasn't someone you could just drop in and visit as and when you liked. Being the First Elder of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, Elder Hai Mo was super-busy. It would be a miracle if you were able to arrange a meeting with him sometime in the near future. His schedule was usually packed full with such meetings, if not smithing.

I hoped inwardly that I wouldn't be wasting his time.

Having heard of his reputation before, I was aware what kind of status Elder Hai Mo held not just in the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, but the Great Zhou Empire. He was known as one of the most innovative and creative blacksmiths in the Great Zhou Empire, and ranked among the most powerful Spirit Engravers. There were plenty of rumors that he was slated to be the next sect leader of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, but Zi Shou De managed to stay just one step of him, barely, because of his martial ability and charimastic leadership.

Even then, Elder Hai Mo had acquired a huge range of titles, and he was famous throughout the Great Zhou Empire. It was difficult to find someone who hadn't heard of him. Many of the spirit weapons used by the military were designed and forged by him. Hell, even the spatial devices that we used were based off blueprints that Elder Hai Mo pioneered.

The most interesting aspect about Elder Hai Mo's legend was his birth. Apparently he was born into a lower-class family bordering on poverty. His parents were regular working class people, and none of his family members cultivated in martial arts. His father, though, was a normal blacksmith, which was how Elder Hai Mo learned smithing when he was young. He directly learned from his father, who forged regular weapons and artifacts without qi or spiritual energy. Even so, the basics were the same, and the only difference was probably the lack of Spirit Engravings or the materials used, but the techniques and foundation of smithing would be the same no matter what you forged.

One of the six great elders of the sect, Huang Qi Yang, had been searching for spirit materials in the countryside when he coincidentally stopped by the small town where Hai Mo's family lived in. By chance he encountered Hai Mo when he was smithing, and was thoroughly impressed by what he saw. He immediately offered the young Hai Mo the opportunity to join the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect and learn spirit forging and Spirit Engraving, even providing a scholarship and funds.

Needless to say, Hai Mo accepted the offer. The moment he joined the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, Hai Mo immediately displayed incredible talent in blacksmithing and Spirit Engraving. Not only did he pioneer innovative new ways of forging Spirit Artifacts and Spirit Weapons, he even triggered a reaction in one of the Spirit Engraved Pillars and benefited from the insight of the Spirit Engraving blueprint contained within it.

Following that, Hai Mo grew up rapidly over the next few years, developing into a legendary blacksmith whose Spirit Artifacts and Spirit Engraved Gear attained near-mythical renown.

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Every single Spirit Artifact or Spirit Weapon he forged were estimated to be of astronomical value, and countless people would compete for ownership over them.

Now that I thought about it, wasn't Zhu Jiao's original gauntlets – the ones he owned and used before he found the Heavenly Golden Draconic Gauntlets in the ancient tomb – a high-quality spirit weapon forged by Elder Hai Mo? If I recalled, it was one of the numerous Spirit Weapons forged by Elder Hai Mo early in his career. No wonder it displayed such terrifying power after Zhu Jiao achieved Man and Sword as One with them.

Even then, it seemed that Elder Hai Mo rarely began his own projects and hadn't invented any new Spirit Artifacts for the last few years. He had been busily entertaining requests from numerous powerful factions such as the othe major sects in the Martial Arts Alliance, who would obtain their own precious spirit materials and then bringing them over and commissioning him with massive amounts of money just to get him to forge artifacts or weapons for them.

However, Elder Hai Mo would not necessarily agree to every single one of them. There were many times when he refused the request. Sometimes it depended on his mood, or if he had an interest in forging that specific spirit artifact to begin with.

It was no exaggeration to say that Elder Hai Mo would be the one person whose good books that every powerful person in the Great Zhou Empire wanted to get in. Given that he was the most reputable blacksmith and Spirit Engraver, it was no wonder.

Naturally, I would be nervous about being told to meet such a well-respected and venerable Spirit Engraver and blacksmith. I couldn't imagine what would happen if I unintentionally offended him or angered him. My career as a blacksmith..no, as anything would be finished. I had to do my best not to do or say anything stupid.

Tang Qi Hong looked delighted that we were about to go meet her idol and mentor.

"Elder Hai Mo's skills in blacksmithing are second to none! They surpass even Father's, even though he's the sect leader! Then again, Father is also quite skilled in martial arts, and it is his leadership that raises the sect to new heights. Elder Hai Mo, however, specializes in blacksmithing and Spirit Engraving alone, and for the past ten years, he has been forging nothing but high-ranked Spirit Artifacts! They are at least Profound Level Six!"

Again with all these obscure levels and ranks. I honestly didn't understand them, except that a higher rank meant it was of higher quality. But how did you define an ambiguous term like quality? Just because something was level six, for example, didn't mean level five weapons would automatically break when hitting them.

The wielder's strength mattered as well. No matter how high the quality of your weapon, if you sucked at wielding it, then..well, it was like casting pearls before swine. It was practically dead weight in your arms. You might as well swing a wooden branch around.

That said, there were clear differences. I mean, of course a high-ranked spirit weapon would be able to cleave through a wooden branch with no difficulty, unless the person wielding the latter was a master whose skills surpassed the wielder of the former by far. But that was obviously an extreme example. Often, the differences between each level and rank were exaggerated, and even among weapons that were supposedly of the same rank or level, there were still some differences in quality here and there. It wasn't as if all Profound Level Six artifacts possessed identical strength to the exact iota of qi or whatever measurement unit they used for such an elusive thing.

"And today, Elder Hai Mo is a Profound Seventh Rank Blacksmith and Spirit Engraver! Recently, he was aiming to achieve the Earth Rank, and he left last year on a journey to gather specific spirit materials in order to forge an Earth Level Spirit Artifact." Tang Qi Hong's beautiful face was glowing with admiration. "I am only a Profound Second Rank Spirit Engraver and blacksmith, which means I'm five ranks away from Elder Hai Mo. It is extremely difficult for us blacksmiths to achieve our next rank. I can't imagine the amount of time I need to reach Elder Hai Mo's rank."

"Cool."

Again, the ranks and levels meant absolutely nothing to me. I was aware that I was currently a Common First Rank blacksmith and Spirit Engraver, though what that meant other than I sucked at blacksmithing and Spirit Engraving, especially when compared to everyone else, I had no idea. At least it meant I knew the very basics and could probably forge something that could barely pass off as a proper Spirit Artifact.

Yeah, it sucked that I wasn't a multi-talented protagonist who excelled at everything I did and could climb the ranks meteorically, but that was reality for you. You weren't always going to succeed at everything you did. There were often times when you failed, or realized that you just weren't cut out for this, even after investing so much time and energy into it. That was why people sometimes changed careers late into the game.

And right before my death in my previous timeline, I had been suffering so many setbacks in graduate school that I was considering dropping out of it. No wonder people complained that it was so difficult to get a PhD. I had experienced the difficulty firsthand, and I never succeeded. Well, nothing was easy in life, and if there was one thing I learned, it was to never give up, and to stop obsessing over being the best or reaching the top. That just brought unneeded stress.

Do what you can do, with the time and resources available to you. If you succeeded and went far in life, then congratulations. If you found yourself in a rut, like I often did, then adjust your expectations and lower your goal to realistic level. That didn't mean giving up your eventual goal altogether, but doing things one step at a time. After all, if you couldn't even make it to the fifty-kilometer point, then perhaps you should focus on completing the journey there instead of obsessing over the hundred-kilometer mark. Once you reached the fifty-kilometer point, then only would you start worrying about the next few steps to the seventy-five milestone, and so on.

"Um..Earth Rank Blacksmith and Spirit Engraver?" I repeated, trying to comprehend that meaning. To me, it was just recognition that the guy was much better than all the other Spirit Engravers and blacksmiths out there. But if you want to recognize him, you could give him all kinds of titles without these fancy ranking system. Sure, it meant that Elder Hai Mo was better at blacksmithing than everyone else, but I was sure that there would be particular artifacts that so-called lower-ranked Spirit Engravers and blacksmiths specialized in that they would do better than Elder Hai Mo. For example, Sect Leader Zi Shou De probably could build better swords than Elder Hai Mo even if he ended up being ranked lower, but the latter could forge almost everything else better.

All these ranks were overly reductive, simplified, arbitrary and restrictive, separating everything into a simple binary of better and worse, stronger or weaker. Reality was a lot more complex than that, as I repeated myself over and over again. It was just like school. the first-ranked person might be someone who scored the highest overall in examinations, but that didn't mean he had the highest grade in every single subject – someone ranked lower might have scored higher than him in a single subject, say, history, but fared a lot worse on the other subjects.

Even so, Earth Rank was something like..a Nobel Prize, I guess? Or a PhD, in a way. A recognition, or an award, or a qualification to show that you are better than most other blacksmiths and Spirit Engravers. So in a way, it was not totally meaningless, but as I said, I found these stupid ranking systems overly reductive and arbitrary, which ignored most of the complexities in reality. Oh, and then there was Heaven Rank, which was above even Earth Rank. Don't ask me why they had so many stupid ranks, especially when people hardly reached those ranks. I seriously hoped it wouldn't turn into a case of having to leave the Middle Continent and then finding out that we were in such a small place, and Earth Rank blacksmiths were extremely common outside the Great Zhou Empire. Most of those stories just randomly made up new places for the protagonist to visit, and they ended up inflating the power levels just so the protagonist can repeat the tedious process of "growing strong" and "catching up" to the power levels of his new foe.

No..please, that was not going to happen here.

"Father was planning to retire as the Sect Leader since a few years ago and have Elder Hai Mo take over as the new sect leader," Tang Qi Hong explained softly. "But Elder Hai Mo has no intention of becoming the sect leader. His dreams lie elsewhere. Ever since a long time ago, he declared that once he succeeds in forging an Earth Level Spirit Artifact, then he would leave the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect and journey overseas."

"That makes sense." I nodded in agreement. "Being a sect leader is so troublesome and stressful. He's more interested in forging spirit artifacts than dealing with all that pressure and trying to handle politics."

Tang Qi Hong scowled at my remark, probably thinking I was too flippant about this. "Yeah. Thanks to that, Father had no choice. He originally discussed with me, hoping that I can take over as the sect leader in the future. I used to be the only candidate, but as you know, now there is another. Liang Shao Yang..not only that, he's male as well. And he has proven his talent, so he might be an even more suitable candidate than me."

"What's with this misogynistic, patriarchal way of thinking? It's been outdated since a few decades ago!" as an advocate of gender equality, this greatly pissed me off. "Whether you're male or female should have no bearing on your suitability to be the next sect leader! It should be based on meritocracy! If you have the skills and talent, then you deserve to be the next sect leader regardless of whether you're a girl or not!"

Tang Qi Hong smiled wryly. "In an ideal world, yes. And indeed the feminist movements of the previous century has aided a lot in making a lot of things better for us women. But the reality is that gender discrimination has not been totally eliminated yet, more so in sects that emphasize on the martial way. Of course, the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect can be considered one of the more progressive sects, with Mother being the strongest martial artist in the sect, but a lot of the Great Elders cling to their old, patriarchal ways."

Then it was high time we replace them, but obviously I couldn't say that out loud or I would get both myself and Tang Qi Hong into trouble.

"Even so.." Tang Qi Hong looked worried as she glanced in the direction we were heading in, most likely thinking about Liang Shao Yang. Evidently she didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing for her beloved sect. it was clear that she wasn't very enthusiastic about taking over as the next sect leader, but she dreaded to think how the sect would end up if it fell into the hands of someone like Liang Shao Yang.

We finally reached the upper echelons of the Flame Volcano. As we ascended, we found ourselves surrounded by beautiful scenery, flowers and plants growing atop hardy rocks, and jagged cliffs that resembled an outcrop of blades.

There was a magnificent waterfall right where we stopped, and located near the gushing stream were a few elegant-looking houses. In front of these houses was a number of herb gardens, which were carefully tended to. Even from this distance, I could sense the spiritual qi emanating from the rare spirit herbs growing withn them.

Tang Qi Hong stopped in front of one of them, a garden that was currently occupied by a single, quiet and graceful middle-aged lady. She had crouched down to gather spirit herbs, but she elegantly rose to her feet when she saw us approach.

She seemed to give off a kind and gentle air, smiling at us. I estimated her age to be about forty, but with xianxia and immortals and martial artists, you never know. She could easily be twice that age, but preserved her physical appearance through cultivation methods and qi. But that was none of my business and I lowered my head respectfully.

"Oh, it's Qi Hong." the middle-aged lady's smile grew when she recognized the girl walking ahead of me. "You must be here for Ah Mo."

"Yeah." Tang Qi Hong returned the smile sweetly. "Auntie, is the First Elder free right now?"

Well, he had better be. He was the one who called me here. Why the fuck would he ask me to report immediately if he was too busy to talk to me?

"Ah Mo is wrapping up his lesson with Shao Yang. Apparently they were having a session on forging spirit artifacts, but he is ending it earlier than expected." The auntie glanced at the patio of the house, where a familiar silhouette lay reclined in a chair, sipping iced tea. "Funny that you showed up at this time. Elder Zhao also came about a few minutes ago, wanting to see Ah Mo as well. So you'll have to wait your turn."

"That won't be necessary." Elder Zhao waved his hand when he spotted me. "Fei Wu is here for the same reason as me. We'll be talking to Elder Hai together." He frowned in puzzlement when he saw Tang Qi Hong. "Qi Hong? Why are you..?"

"I happened to run into Fei Wu in the sect admin building, and thought I should tag along." Tang Qi Hong smiled dazzlingly. I swear, that pretty expression had to be considered cheating. "You don't mind if I join in the discussion, do you?"

"No, of course not." Elder Zhao shook his head, but he stilled looked bemused "Please feel free to do so."

"Then I'll indulge in your kind words," Tang Qi Hong said as she joined him in the patio and settled down on one of the chairs. I tagged along, keeping a respectful distance, and then found myself a seat in a more obscured position.

"Liang Shao Yang, huh?" I muttered as I glanced at the house where Elder Hai Mo resided in, most likely his workshop. While he hadn't targeted me for the last year or so, I had remained on guard. Once bitten, twice shy and all that. I had to be cautious, in case Liang Shao Yang was still plotting something, like he did last year. Recalling how he silently and sneakily eliminated Hao Ying and the other guy who provided the bugs.

Nonetheless, I understood that he had no reason to target me at the moment because I presented no threat to him. As long as I didn't poke the hornet's nest, so to speak, he wouldn't raise a hand against me because I wasn't worth the effort and trouble. So we were at an impasse of sorts right now.

As if to answer the edgelord readers' responses on why I hadn't killed him (never mind that murder was outlawed as a criminal act and I would get into very huge trouble for that if I killed him without any grounds for self-defense), Tang Qi Hong glanced at me sharply.

"Don't clash with him. Right now, he is held in high regard by Father and the six Great Elders. Even if you're a Blood Blade and outer sect disciple, the person they will side with is him if the both of you come in conflict."

"Don't worry, you'll have the support of the Blood Blades," Elder Zhao assured me, a fierce grin flashing across his face.

"Elder Zhao!"

"That said, don't go doing anything reckless," he hastily added when Tang Qi Hong glared at him. "Even as the military arm of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect and with the support from Lady Da Ji, our power is limited to a certain point."

"Don't worry," I assured the both of them, leaning back in my chair lazily. "I'm not a big fan of getting into unnecessary fights. Too troublesome."

Tang Qi Hong shook her head with a wry smile while Elder Zhao chuckled.

It didn't even take two minutes before Liang Shao Yang walked out of the magnificent house. After greeting the middle-aged lady, he walked outside the herb garden and spotted Elder Zhao, Tang Qi Hong and me with a single glance.

Liang Shao Yang was wearing a luxurious blacksmith robe that had a lot of golden patterns sewn into it. As usual, there was an arrogant air about him, but having just seen him last week in the ancient tomb, I had already gotten used to that. His expression darkened when he spotted me, his gaze turning chilly, but when he saw Tang Qi Hong beside me, he then restrained himself and bowed respectfully. No doubt the presence of Elder Zhao also contributed greatly to that.

"Greetings, Elder Zhao, Senior Tang."

"Shao Yang," Elder Zhao replied with a small smile that wasn't reflected in his eyes. For the past year, I knew that he had been keeping an eye on Liang Shao Yang to ensure the latter didn't commit any more murders or killed any other sect disciples.

Tang Qi Hong, on the other hand, only nodded slightly. The tiniest form of greeting that just barely met the requirements for minimum politeness.

Ever since she learned of Liang Shao Yang's true character, becoming aware of his schemes against me, and his murder of Hao Ying, Tang Qi Hong had stayed on guard whenever she saw him, maintaining a cautious and distrustful attitude. I mean, the guy had literally slaughtered a senior she had known for years without batting an eyelash.

How could she trust someone like that?

"Senior Tang, both Sect Leader and Elder Hai Mo said that your talents are extraordinary. They advise me to learn more from you in future."

Unaffected by her cold attitude, Liang Shao Yang was all smiles as he stared directly into her eyes and spoke. He was not the least affected by her barely concealed hostility and suspicion, and smiled warmly.

"I hope that Senior Tang will offer me guidance in future!"

"I can't teach you anything," Tang Qi Hong replied with a scowl. "You already have Father..I mean Sect Leader and First Elder teaching you personally. There is nothing more I can add to the great insights they provide."

Elder Zhao and I exchanged a glance, but before either of us could say anything, Tang Qi Hong stepped forward and tried to go into the house. However, Liang Shao Yang firmly stood in her way, occupying the narrow path leading to the entrance. Annoyed that Liang Shao Yang was blocking the way, Tang Qi Hong glared at him.

"Please excuse me. We have business with the First Elder, so I would appreciate it if you let us through."

Liang Shao Yang did not move. I swear, he was doing this on purpose. As I mentioned earlier, the path was pretty narrow, so as long as he remained where he was, it would be difficult for any of us to pass through.

Unless we stepped on the spirit herbs, of course. But obviously we couldn't do that. They were clearly grown and meticulously groomed and tended to by the auntie. Considering that she had addressed Elder Hai Mo endearingly as Ah Mo, it was clear that she had an intimate relationship with him. I would later learn that she was his wife, but even if I didn't, I wasn't stupid enough to trample over the spirit herbs and incur her wrath.

"Senior Tang, I only joined the sect very recently and I am still unfamiliar with many of the workings of the inner sect. please offer me your guidance!"

Refusing to budge until she agreed, Liang Shao Yang continued to stare into Tang Qi Hong's enraged eyes.

"I'm busy!" Tang Qi Hong snapped, her patience wearing thin. "Please step aside!"

"You have time to help an outer sect disciple, but not me?" Liang Shao Yang glanced coldly at me, but he continued to maintain a casual tone. "Is it really worth Senior Tang's time and effort to bother with an untalented outer sect disciple? In my opinion, you're only wasting your time, Senior Tang. You might as well spend that time on me. I promise, I won't disappoint you."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Elder Zhao burst out laughing, causing all three of us to stare at him.

"First," Elder Zhao said as he held up a finger. "This boy here is a Blood Blade, under my charge. That means he's not an untalented outer sect disciple. As a Blood Blade, he has the same status as an inner sect disciple. I know you're a favored inner sect disciple of the Great Elders and Sect Leader, but I won't stand for you insulting my charges."

"I apologize." Liang Shao Yang remained calm on the outside, but I could detect a quiver in his voice. "I meant no offense."

"Second." Elder Zhao held up another finger. "Who Qi Hong spends her time with is her choice, and none of your business. Who are you to tell her who she should socialize with?"

"Again, I meant no offense. I was merely seeking to advise her..it's out of good intentions."

Was the bastard seriously saying that? I couldn't help but feel a trace of annoyance. Sighing heavily, I stepped forward.

"Well, quit wasting our time. Elder Hai Mo is the one who asked us to report to him, and I want to get this done and over with."

Liang Shao Yang snorted, and despite the presence of Elder Zhao and Tang Qi Hong, he sneered openly. "Make me."

"You asked for it."

I shrugged and shoved past Liang Shao Yang from his right. Instead of erupting into fury, Liang Shao Yang laughed in amusement.

"What a reckless idiot."

He stood his ground firmly as he channeled his qi internally. Gray, shadowy spiritual qi radiated from his body at the point of contact where I was ramming him.

"Illusory Shroud Seven Layered Force!" Liang Shao Yang yelled coldly.

I glanced up at him in exasperation. "Are you seriously shouting out the names of your techniques? Do you realize just how cheesy you sound?"

The seven overlapping layers of spiritual qi surged upward like a tidal wave, stacking against each other in order to increase their strength as they smacked against me like a truck.

I had enough of being hit by trucks. That was what led me to this goddamned world or timeline in the first place.

Standing my ground firmly as well, I remained unmoved as the qi waves crashed against me. Instead, I activated the Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula that I had been cultivating for the last year, causing thin layers of frost to freeze over my shoulder.

"Fei Wu! Don't be reckless!"

Seeing that I refused to back down, Tang Qi Hong cried out worriedly. I paid her no attention even though I understood her cause for concern. From the surface, it seemed that Liang Shao Yang had attained a higher level of cultivation than me, and theoretically had more qi than I did. On paper, he had the overwhelming advantage and could crush me.

However, as I reiterated time and time again, reality was a lot more complex than numbers and statistics and quantities.

Boom!

"!!!"

The moment our shoulders clashed, a violent wave of qi rippled outward. Shockwaves of spiritual qi radiated outward and almost obliterated the surrounding spirit herbs in the herb garden, but thankfully Elder Zhao was on hand to construct a qi barrier that absorbed most of the impact, leaving the spiritual herbs unaffected.

To his utmost surprise, Liang Shao Yang found himself retreating a few steps backward, withdrawing all the way to the porch where the house entrance was situated. In contrast, I remained standing where I was, and the moment Liang Shao Yang retreated, I seized the opportunity to walk through the narrow path and reach the porch.

Tang Qi Hong covered her mouth, completely astonished by the sight.

Elder Zhao grinned proudly with an I-told-you-so expression, as if mocking Liang Shao Yang for being stupid enough to mess with one of his subordinates.

Elder Hai Mo's wife glanced up from tending to her herbs, intrigued by the exchange, but she was still surprised by my sudden display of power. She shook her head as she studied me, a smile curling across her face.

"I didn't expect to see someone actually master the Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula. When was the last time someone learned it..?"

"Decades ago," Elder Zhao replied.

"You..what did you do?"

Liang Shao Yang's face was pale as he clutched his right side. That entire section of his body had been encased in ice, and he felt the frosty yin qi spread through his body like some corrosive venom that sapped away his strength and clogged up his qi circulation. He was no longer able to move his right arm normally, his movements now stiff and inhibited.

Instead of answering, I turned toward my companions.

"You can come over now, Elder Zhao, Senior Qi Hong."

Tang Qi Hong finally broke out of her-->>

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