Chapter 543: Tempering a Sword

Shen Lian did not move on with riding in the clouds, instead, he brought both mother and daughter up the mountain by foot. The wilderness in the mountain was filled with snow and the northern wind howled. Under normal circumstances, it should be freezing for the mother-daughter duo. However, being close to Shen Lian, they felt as warm as spring.

The uneasiness within her heart subsided following the warmth. Shen Lian suddenly asked, “Is there a name to this mountain?”

“Yes, it is called Chong Hou. The king of the mountain here is Chong Hou Tiger. He was conferred with that title by the son of the White Emperor, Yunyang, and made this mountain his feoffment.” Ah Lian became a little braver as she answered Shen Lian.

Shen Lian pointed towards Xiao Hei and said, “Chong is a good surname. How about I call you Chong Heihu from now on?”

Xiao Hei replied, “Sounds good, sounds good.” It was speaking the common tongue of the Xia Kingdom. Ah Lian did not quite understand but looking at Xiao Hei’s expression, she too felt he was being funny.

It was said that the king of the mountain was a tiger demon. Xiao Hei, on the other hand, seemed easier to get along, at least it would not eat human.

Xiao Hei could not be bothered if he had embarrassed itself, as long as he could make his master happy.

Shen Lian traveled for quite a while in the Eastern Barbarians and knew many of the folklore and legends. He then picked a few and told it to both Ah Lian and her daughter, which made the journey less wearisome.

By the time Shen Lian finished his third story, they reached a cave area. The cave was dry and wide. It was the source of the demonic Qi emerging from the mountains.

Shen Lian reached the entrance, and a gust of demonic wind blew. For a moment, the surrounding was dark. Finally, a demon king with the head of a tiger and the body of a human emerged, behind him, a massive army of ghost followed. The previous tribe leader of Wuzhong was among them. He gesticulated towards Shen Lian and said many things to the demonic king.

Shen Lian was unfazed as he looked at them.

The demon king opened his mouth and said, “I am Chong Hou, the King of this mountain. My title is conferred by the son of the White Emperor. All areas within three thousand miles from here would be my feoffment. You, young cultivator, want to look for trouble with me? That would mean you are also opposing the union of the Eastern Barbarians.

The demon king, Chong Hou, was a fierce tiger within the mountains that cultivated into a demon. He cultivated for a thousand years and had shapeshifted for three hundred years. Within this three thousand mile of area, he acted like a tyrant. At that time, Yunyang was gathering warlords from the Eastern Barbarians. Coincidentally Chong Hou Tiger had some reputation and mana, coupled with the fact that he was a demon, he was then simply conferred by Yunyang

Originally, he wandered all over different mountain peaks. Ever since he accepted the conferment, he settled on this mountain peak. Due to the evil arts he cultivated, he needed to consume humans. He turned the Wuzhong tribe leader into his own Changgui, so the tribe leader could steadily supply fresh ingredients to him.

Before that, there was a simple-minded cultivator of Qi which was hardly his opponent. He was devoured within two or three moves. But this cultivator before him, even though he seemed young, he was hard to read. Chong Hou could only use the name of the son of the White Emperor in hopes that he could scare the other.

Shen Lian opened his mouth and replied, “There is a good saying in the human world, ‘ a fox masquerading as a tiger ¹ ‘. But you are already a tiger, why do you need to mask behind other people’s prestige. Worst of all, you chose the prestige of the White Emperor’s son. Do you not know that he had been defeated by Emperor Xia and is now an outcast?”

Chong Hou heard Shen Lian’s claims and did not know the reliability of it. The son of the White Emperor and Emperor Xia were too far away from him. In fact, he was only a demon at a remote area, how could he have known so much?

Which was why Chong Hou did not refute and said, “Who knows if your words are true? If you want to fight, I’ll accommodate.”

At the same time, he exercised a formula. All of the Changguis rushed to the front. Since he was unclear of Shen Lian’s background, he would just let his own Changguis do the test. After all, he would not feel bad about their death.

Ah Lian watched as those Changguis came pouncing forward. Each of them looked sinister and black air emerged from their body, they were absolutely terrifying However, Shen Lian was composed and he blew a breath of air lightly.

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The breath of air manifested into a hurricane. The Changguis were caught in the hurricane, their ghostly bodies instantly disintegrated, and transformed into wisps of dispersing spirit smokes.

Shen Lian recited a verse from the Rebirth Mantra, those spirit smokes disappeared with the wind. Whether or not the changguis were evil, all of them went to the Underworld.

Chong Hou saw how easily Shen Lian could blow his Changguis away, his facial expression changed drastically. With both hands extended to the front, a giant spiked club appeared. With a tiger roar, it stood a hundred feet tall. That spiked mace continuously grew. Being held in Chong Hou’s hands, he knocked it towards Shen Lian with one swing.

This spiked mace was forged with refined steel. He met a celestial east of the sea, who gifted him with this weapon. It had the indigenous incantation of the celestials. Its strength was more than a tour de force.

That spiked mace was about to hit Shen Lian but Shen Lian stopped it with one finger. He only saw Shen Lian’s stretched out hand, that giant hand could block the sun. It vehemently gave a swat and Chong Hou, with the spiked mace, was smacked into the mountain walls.

Shen Lian was about to end Chong Hou’s life, someone in midair called out, “Daoist Brother Shen, please stop.”

Shen Lian saw the incoming person was riding a black Qilin. It was Wen Zhong who Shen Lian had not seen for many days. But the hand did not stop. With one more swat of the giant hand, Chong Hou became a pile of mush. Wen Zhong was seen to be holding a flag and he waved it once. A light green spirit smoke dissipated from the pile of mush and entered into the flag.

Shen Lian smiled lightly at Wen Zhong, “Daoist Brother Wen Zhong spooked me. I had a slip of hand and couldn’t stop it.”

Wen Zhong shook his head as he said, “With this move, Daoist brother, you have given me more work. This demon had shapeshifted with my help earlier and was fated to become a general under Wuding. With you meddling in, I would need to find a body for him to complete the merit.”

Shen Lian replied, “Could Daoist Brother Wen not have known the things he was up to? Those Changguis aside, but the people, he had eaten so many of them. You and I are sentient beings, how can you tolerate this?”

“You only know part of the story. These Wuzhongs are all descendants of criminals being exiled by those huge tribes. They have already heavily sinned, it would be better to be eaten by him. Or they would have gone through a tragedy and be rendered to dust,” Wen Zhong sighed.

Shen Lian plainly smiled as he replied, “You are weighing the advantages and disadvantages of the laws of heaven, but you do not know the principles of humanity. I’m afraid that in the future, you would not be familiar with the laws of humanity and would be harmed by the fate ordained by the heavens.”

Wen Zhong was angered, “I am giving you friendly advice, why do you have to curse me.” He chillingly said, “You truly know a lot, Daoist brother, but you do not know that all beings have a beginning and an end. I would have that end, and you too.”

Shen Lian said, “I’m afraid Daoist Brother Wen would not see that day of mine.”

Wen Zhong sneered, “We’ll just wait and see.”

He kicked the black Qilin with both feet and left.

Shen Lian smiled, “Those whose courses are different cannot lay plans for one another,” he thought. He then took another look at the spiked mace that was embedded within the wall of the mountain and turned towards Xiao Hei and the mother. He said, “I would like to temper a weapon here.”

Xiao Hei asked, “What kind of weapon does master want to temper?”

Shen Lian stared at Xiao Hei and leisurely spat out, “The Treasure Sword.”

Xiao Hei was stunned and muttered to itself, “This name sounds a little tacky.” But his reaction was quick as it said, “This name is really good. It appeals to all. Master is truly formidable.”

Shen Lian smiled and said, “Of course, this will not be the true name. But I am serious about tempering a treasure sword. I have other uses for it.”