The Nine Cauldrons

During noon of the day, Zhuge Yuanhong could be seen on the south city gates of Yong’an County.

As the cold breeze blew, he stayed on top of the city wall and watched the blood-red cavalrymen leave the city. The expression on his face looked very serious.

"Father, can you tell me what’s wrong?" asked Zhuge Yun as he saw the expression on his father’s face.

"Mhmm, nothing."

Zhuge Yuanhong shook his head.

When Teng Qingshan came back, Zhuge Yuanhong asked him with the use of the Sound Transmission Technique and received the confirmation that both Shen Gongfu and the Shooting Sun Heavenly Wolf had died. Only then, Zhuge Yuanhong had the courage to dispatch his army. Simultaneously, Zhuge Yuanhong felt helpless and could not help but think to himself, "Qingshan must have guessed that I did not have any evidence. He must have known that the claims I made were all just assumptions."

Indeed, Zhuge Yuanhong did not find any evidence. When Teng Qingshan asked if the Shooting Sun God Mountain was really the mastermind, Zhuge Yuanhong knew that Teng Qingshan was aware that there was no evidence.

Teng Qingshan was not good with mind games but he was very intelligent.

Nothing was explained clearly between the teacher and the disciple but they both understood.

"Qingshan, I’m sorry. It is all for the sake of Gui Yuan Sect," Zhuge Yuanhong thought to himself, "Once we conquered Yanzhou and the eight counties of Yangzhou, and have the countless citizens under our jurisdiction, Gui Yuan Sect would rise to become a really powerful sect in one century. Then, we won’t need to depend on Qingshan."

On the day of December 9th, the Longgang Army of Gui Yuan Sect departed.

Soon after Zhuge Yuanhong himself had settled many things, he met up with the Long Gang Army. He managed the Longgang Army as the Longgang Army destroyed everything that was in its path. A portion of the Black Armored Army and a great number of ordinary soldiers were also dispatched and departed towards Yanzhou.

For some time, the attention of the entire Land of the Nine Prefectures was focused here.

...

Although a battle was going on, a joyful event happened in Yong’an County. The Martial Ancestor of Internal Martial Arts, Teng Qingshan, had proposed the marriage for his son to the Lei Family of Yong An County and the Lei Family had accepted and agreed that the joyful day of marriage would be on the 18th of January.

There were a lot of carriages outside the mansion of Lei Family in Yong’an County.

"I did not expect that Lei Luotian would have a change of fortune one day." Inside a luxurious carriage, two men, one wearing a black coat and the other wearing a purple coat, were having a conversation, "Since the day that his brother and sister-in-law died, the status of Lei Family declined. Previously, Lei Luotian was protected by his brother. And now, his brother’s daughter helped him."

"He is fortunate! I have seen that little girl before. She is so weak and timid, but she was actually able to marry Teng Qingshan’s son and become Teng Qingshan’s daughter-in-law. The Lei Family is going to be successful."

The two men, who were talking, were clearly pampered.

They were the two salt merchants who were very famous in Yangzhou. There were only ten bodyguards outside the luxurious carriage, but all of them were First Rated Warriors. The two salt merchants had spent a great number of silver taels to hire these First Rated Warriors. The fact that these two young men had more than ten First Rated Warriors revealed that they were no ordinary salt merchants.

"Lord, we have arrived."

The carriage stopped.

"We have arrived. Let’s get out." The man with the black coat smiled.

"I never expected that I would be trying to befriend Lei Luotian." The man with the purple coat shook his head while he laughed bitterly, "The hard work of generations for centuries cannot compete with the marriage of a daughter."

"That depends on whose family she is marrying into."

When the two rich merchants came out of the carriage, the bodyguards immediately gathered around.

"Tsk tsk... Look at the carriages outside Lei Family’s mansion. They don’t look ordinary at all. The Lei Family today is no longer the same as before. We are late..." The two rich merchants laughed as they exchanged glances. They then walked towards the gate of the mansion with the ten bodyguards.

...

In the Land of Nine Prefectures, famous salt merchants were very impressive to ordinary people.

Before Teng Jia Village prospered, they were afraid of even the leader of the bodyguards working for a famous salt merchant. Even when the leader of the bodyguards stole their silver taels, they could not do anything. They were obviously even more afraid of the wealthy salt merchant.

But now, these salt merchants had to curry favor with even the in-laws of Teng Qingshan. After all, their status did not permit them to befriend Teng Qingshan. Therefore, they could only try to build a relationship with Teng Qingshan’s in-laws.

On the 19th of January:

"Father and Mother, have some tea."

Teng Qingshan and his wife Li Jun sat on the chairs as their son and their new daughter-in-law served tea together.

"Mhmm."

Teng Qingshan and Li Jun both took the cups.

"Hongwu, let Little Ru do her own things," ordered Li Jun when she saw that the new daughter in law seemed nervous.

"Mhmm."

Hongwu then left with his newlywed wife.

After a while, Teng Qingshan and Li Jun also came to the training field in the East Flower Garden. The confetti and strips of cloth from yesterday’s celebration were still present. During the wedding of his son yesterday, many people who had relations with Teng Qingshan came and gave their congratulations.

"Sovereign Teng," a hearty voice sounded.

Teng Qingshan turned his head and saw a man with a prickly beard walking towards him, waving his hand as he said, "I have disturbed you for many days. Now that the wedding has ended, I have come to bid farewell."

"Brother Luotian, why the rush?" smiled Teng Qingshan, "Stay for a few more days. You have not been to a lot of places in the Great Yan Mountain."

"No thanks, there are still some things at home I have to do," laughed Lei Luotian.

This rough-looking man looked older than Teng Qingshan but his real age was only over 30 years old, which was younger than Teng Qingshan. Indeed, Teng Qingshan looked like someone in his twenties. Whenever Luotian thought of this, he would be amazed and thought to himself, "As expected of the real expert! At first glance, he might seem like an ordinary person. If nobody said anything, no one would think he is the great Teng Qingshan. I did not expect that there would be a day I could talk to Teng Qingshan and even refer to him as a brother."

While Lei Luotian was still a teenager, Teng Qingshan was already very famous.

"If it is so, then I will not hold you back," Teng Qingshan said with a smile and watched as Lei Luotian left.

"Little Jun, now that Hongwu’s wedding ended, I can finally train peacefully," smiled Teng Qingshan.

"Qingshan, I am concerned about something," Li Jun frowned, "According to what you told me, the Shooting Sun God Mountain was the one tried to murder my son last December. However, that idea was given by a golden masked man. This golden masked man...is like the soul of a deceased that lingers on. Qingshan, he haunts me. With him here, I don’t think I will ever be at peace."

"I can’t be at peace as well."

"However, we can’t do anything now. This man is too cautious. I can’t locate him at all. Teng Qingshan shook his head and said, "Little Jun, don’t worry. Hongwu and Linlin are both in Xing Yi Sect, what is there to be worried about? We are in the light. He is in the dark. Now, we can only counter all changes with constancy."

"Xing Yi Sect is very solid."

"If this golden masked man, who may be Gu Yong, start taking any actions, I will take the opportunity and kill him immediately. Then, I will take off his mask and see if he is really Gu Yong!" Teng Qingshan said in a deep tone. Indeed, the identity of the golden masked man was just a conjecture.

Even if the chances were high, it could not be confirmed until he had seen the face hidden behind the mask.

In the endless desert near the western regions:

Under the sun, even the desert seemed twisted. A team of merchants was slowly moving in the desert. The men advanced slowly on the backs of the camels.

"Hmmm? I think there is someone right there."

"You must have seen wrongly, How could there be someone?"

"I am telling the truth. There was one, but he disappeared in a flash."

"You must have seen wrongly. I saw a mountain last time, but when I looked closely, the mountain disappeared."

Some of the merchants chatted casually.

Hundreds of miles from them, there was a mysterious figure wearing a black coat and a golden mask. Every time it flashed, he moved a few hundred meters. He disappeared from people’s sight as he moved.

"I can only do this now."

The golden masked man’s eyes looked indifferent. While he was on the road, he was thinking to himself, "I have tried all kinds of ways, but not a single one succeeded! When the Shooting Sun God Mountain poisoned Teng Hongwu, Teng Qingshan happened to be in Yong’an County City. He is so fortunate."

"Of the people in the entire Land of the Nine Prefectures, the ones that I can fool and persuade cannot kill Teng Qingshan."

"Those that can kill Teng Qingshan, I cannot fool or persuade them."

The golden masked man was in deep pain.

He had thought of all the supreme sects, even the Mani Temple and the Ying Family. He even went to the many islands in the Eastern Sea to search for truly powerful experts. Unfortunately, he did not succeed. For example, the first Emptiness Realm demonic beast of the Barbarian Tribe Temple, that black demonic dragon, was very strong. He had been in the Barbarian Tribe for more than a decade, but the black demonic dragon did not even care about him.

He could only befriend the demonic beast, Black Crow.

"If you place someone on a field of death, he will fight to live!"

"If my death can cost Teng Qingshan’s life, it would be worth it!"

"This is the last move. There will be two attacks. I am not sure if anyone of them would succeed, but the failure of the attacks would lead to my death. So be it. If I can’t take revenge even when I am alive, it’s just suffering." The golden masked man’s eyes looked lifeless. Soon, his figure disappeared at the end of the desert in the western regions.

...

There were also many kingdoms which were built in the desert areas. Obviously, there would be oases in a desert.

In the Dashear Kingdom, a kingdom that was bigger among all the other kingdoms.

A building with a yellow dome on top could be seen. The style of the building was very similar to the buildings in the Mani Temple. This building was called the Heavenly Palace by the citizens of the kingdom. Looking from afar, it just looked like a building with a yellow dome. However, if you walk nearby, you would realize that this is a group of palace-like buildings with the tallest building being the yellow domed Heavenly Palace. In front of the Heavenly Palace, there was a huge pond.

Water was extremely precious in the desert areas, but the pond had so much water.

"Sovereign!"

"Sovereign!"

In the Heavenly Palace, women, who wore western-style clothes, greeted courteously.

Pei San, who wore a yellow, loose coat, was entering the Heavenly Palace with Meng Dujuan following behind. At this moment—

"Sovereign, Sovereign," A man approached.

"Hmmm?" Pei San looked at him.

This old man, who was native to the western region, had naturally wavy hair. He approached and said courteously, "Sovereign, the guest who wore a golden mask had left, but before he departed, he asked me to give you a letter.

"Oh?" Pei San thought about something.

With a wave of his hand, the envelope that was in the hands of the western elderly floated into Pei San’s hands. He opened the envelope and took out the letter. It was written, "Sovereign Pei San, I did lie before. The stone tablet, which recorded the secrets of the Omnipotent Expert Li Taibai, was lost. But I found it. If you want this stone tablet, bring Teng Qingshan’s head and exchange it with me in the Barbarian Tribe Temple. When I see Teng Qingshan’s head, I will give you the stone tablet personally."