Tribulation of Myriad Races

Chapter 826: Even Sunmoons Need To Piss Off (3)

It was late at night when Su Yu arrived at the Heart Calming City.

This was a tranquil city. It wasn't a big city, but it was still filled with flickering city lights even this late at night. Experts could be seen entering the city from all directions. The stench of blood on some of them was so thick that one could smell it from far away.

One had to pay a fee of one merit point just to enter the city. This was only applicable to outsiders. It was actually extremely expensive, but it did nothing to dampen the flow of visitors into the city.

With a cloudrush horse, Su Yu did not seem too conspicuous here. In fact, cloudrush horses could be considered to be something only commoners would ride. Experts would generally fly themselves or travel on unique mounts.

At the city gate, a guard shouted, "As per our orders, those coming from Great Xia is forbidden from entering the Heart Calming Spring for three days. Everyone else is allowed to enter as usual."

"What? You dare discriminate against those from Great Xia?" Someone from Great Xia shouted furiously, "How audacious. Is Great Jin insulting Great Xia?"

"You misunderstand, Lord." The guard was feeling very helpless. Great Xia was not a weak prefecture that could be bullied without consequences. He said, "This is an order from the higher-ups. Not long ago, the general's son was killed in Great Xia. The general has left to personally investigate this matter. He might need to use some unique methods to detect the murderer. And the easiest option to remove the stench of blood on one's body in the Human Realm is our Heart Calming Spring..."

"Nonsense!" The visitor from Great Xia scolded, "The Heart Calming Spring is located right in the middle of Great Jin. Is that murderer dumb? Why would the murderer enter Great Jin after killing the son of a Great Jin Sunmoon? They only need to hide somewhere safe. Once enough time passes, no secret method will be able to locate the murderer. How many days have it been since the murder? If the murderer really intended to remove the stench of blood here, that would have happened days ago. What's the point of closing the spring now?"

The burly guy from Great Xia was a ninth-stage Skysoar. He was furious after hearing that he couldn't enter the spring. What nonsense was this? Why was this ban issued right when it was his turn?

Were they discriminating against him? Not far behind, Su Yu frowned. Pursuit? Was that Sunmoon capable of locating him? He had not taken anything after the murder. Nor had he left anything behind. In that situation, how could a mere Sunmoon locate him? He found that hard to believe.

Of course, he did not deny that there might exist some secret techniques that could locate the murderer through the belongings left behind by the victim. But it had been too long for that to even be effective.

Nevertheless, he was someone who was present in Nanyuan previously. Now that he was here, would they suspect him? It didn't make much sense for a weaponsmith to visit the Heart Calming Spring.

That worry did not last long. When it was Su Yu's turn to register his entry, he indifferently demanded before the guard could say anything, "Get someone here to show me the way to Master Chen's residence."

"Master Chen?" The guard blanked out.

Su Yu frowned and said, "Is Master Chen Qizhong not here?"

"Yes, he is..." The guard hurriedly replied, "Master Chen is here. Lord, are you here for weaponsmithing?"

Master Chen was a weaponsmith as well. He was a peak profound weaponsmith. He had decided to settle down in the Heart Calming City because there were a lot of murderous individuals there. Thanks to that, the demand for good weapons in the city was quite high. This city was actually a good place for weaponsmiths. There were a few other famous weaponsmiths in the city, but Chen Qizhong was the best among them.

Su Yu smiled and said, "No. I'm here to visit him as a friend. Stop wasting time. Show me the way."

He looked around and beckoned at a random Skysoar on the city wall and said, "Little Commander, get over here and show me the way."

The Skysoar commander blanked out slightly, but he did not hesitate to fly over. With his hands cupped, he asked, "May I ask for your name?"

"Cui Lang!" Su Yu answered, "Do you know me? Little Commander, stop wasting my time. I have an urgent business with Brother Chen. I have been staying awake for several days to prepare for this. Hurry up already."

"Cui Lang..." After a while, that commander finally recalled who this person was. He hurriedly said, "Master Cui, please come with me. Master Chen might have gone to bed since it's quite late. But he did mention you when he returned two days ago. He will be happy to see you here."

He personally held the reins of the horse and led Su Yu into the city. As for the regular questioning and procedures to enter the city, all had been forgotten. This was a genius weaponsmith from Great Ming. The master weaponsmiths of the city had just returned not long ago. All of them had mentioned Cui Lang. Thus, the guard was well aware of who Cui Lang was.

As for the fact that Cui Lang had also arrived from Great Xia, that did not matter. Even the mayor himself would not stop a peak profound weaponsmith from entering the city. Cui Lang was someone of considerable status. He was as respected as a Mountainsea. Nobody wanted to offend these weaponsmiths.

***

About ten minutes later, inside a large manor in the city.

An old man exclaimed with surprise, "Young Friend Cui, why are you here?"

"Do you not welcome me, Brother Chen?" Su Yu smiled and grumbled, "Brother, you left too quickly. I only recalled something the day after you left. I need your help with something. I traveled many days without sleep to see you. I have been quite miserable during the past few days. I didn't even enter any of the cities I passed by while I was on my way here."

"Help?" The old man asked, "Are you in trouble?"

Su Yu helplessly said, "A few days ago when I was forging a new weapon, Master Zhao Li said that I am too aggressive when forging weapons. If this continues, I will probably be stuck below the earth grade for several years. The fire in me is too strong. I am too brash. I never felt that, but Master Zhao suggested that I find a way to calm my heart. And the most suitable place for that in the Human Realm is the Heart Calming Spring."

Su Yu sighed, "If this is any other issue, I won't be bothered to get help as I don't like owing favors. But I hope I can forge a weapon inside the Heart Calming Spring. And the process will last a day or two.

"I doubt I’m important enough to get the Heart Calming Spring shut for a day or two. After thinking about it, you are probably the only person with enough status to persuade the mayor to agree. You understand how important a calm environment is when forging weapons. And I also need to keep some of my techniques secret. Thus, I need the Heart Calming Spring sealed when I'm forging a weapon inside."

The old man finally understood. No wonder this fellow required his help. Closing the Heart Calming Spring for a day or two was not a minor matter.

After a slight hesitation, he said, "I can give it a try. It will probably be fine. But Young Friend Cui, you might need to pay a price for that. After all, the Heart Calming Spring welcomes over a hundred visitors per day. Sealing it might incur the dissatisfaction of some people."

Su Yu indifferently said, "That won't be an issue. I'm here to forge a weapon, but I'm not here for the weapon. I only care about the process. All the visitors during the period the spring is sealed can register their names. I will pick a random person among them and give them my completed weapon. If that person is lucky enough, it might even be a peak profound weapon. Nobody will object to that."

"One weapon will be given out for free for each day the spring is sealed. I will also thank the mayor with one peak profound cultural weapon if the mayor is willing to help."

The old man replied in astonishment, "Young friend...with how generous you are, consider this done. If words of this spread, there will probably be thousands or even more people registering for the draw. In fact, even this old man is tempted to try."

Su Yu laughed, "If I can really cleanse my heart and calm my mind, I might be able to step into the earth grade. A few weapons are nothing compared to an advancement. Of course, I will probably be forging some relatively simple weapons for this breakthrough. Furthermore, martial weapons are much easier to forge. Since martial weapons are much more murderous in nature, forging those weapons will also be a lot more helpful in cleansing my heart."

The old man said, "That won't be an issue. When would you need the spring?"

"Tomorrow. Let's start in the morning." Su Yu said, "After I'm done here, I will be traveling elsewhere. I have been traveling non-stop for so many days because of this matter."

"Sure. I'll visit the mayor immediately. If you want, you can come with me. The mayor will agree. This is a small matter. If you can complete your breakthrough in the Heart Calming City, it will be a major event. The prefect himself will come over to congratulate you."

"The earth grade might be a tad bit too hard. I'm not there yet." Su Yu said, "If I could enter the Cloudbreach Realm, there might be some hope. Otherwise, it would be very unlikely. The difficulty is too high."

"True." The old man nodded and sighed, "It is really very difficult. In fact, it's already very impressive of you to reach the peak profound grade at the Skysoar Realm. Forget the nonsense I spoke earlier."

After a short chat, the two set off for the mayor's residence together. At this moment, the status of weaponsmiths was fully displayed. He only needed to say that he had a friend here. That friend of his was of a relatively high status.

A peak profound weaponsmith would be a big deal everywhere. Before this, Zhao Li was only a peak profound weaponsmith yet he enjoyed a high status. That was not only because he was the son of the fourth principal. And things were the same in Great Jin.

After entering the mayor's residence, Su Yu found that the mayor was actually quite strong. He was a Mountainsea. This was because the Heart Calming Spring was too precious for Great Jin. Thus, a powerful expert was appointed the mayor here. Generally, only massive first-rate cities would receive Mountainsea mayors. But strictly speaking, the Heart Calming City was only a small city.

The mayor agreed without any hesitation after hearing Su Yu's offer. He instantly gave out the order to seal the Heart Calming Spring starting tomorrow. The seal would only be removed after Cui Lang was done forging there.

He did not need to worry that they would lose customers doing this. Instead, they would gain even more customers. One only needed to register their name for a chance to receive a peak profound weapon. Who would say no to that? As for waiting a day or two for the weapon, that was nothing.

After this incident, more weaponsmiths might try doing the same thing. After a few times, their city might even turn into a holy land of weaponsmithing. Of course, the mayor himself knew that was probably wishful thinking on his part.

Nevertheless, having a single peak profound weaponsmith like Cui Lang coming here just to forge some weapons was enough to increase the fame of the city. The mayor didn't even need to think twice before agreeing. As for the general's order to prevent anyone coming from Great Xia Army from using the spring...well, that had nothing to do with this mayor. The mayor did not need to care about the general.

He was a mayor. He answered directly to the prefect instead of the military. Furthermore, Cui Lang wasn't even a citizen of Great Xia. He was a genius from Great Ming.