Long Di would certainly ask a question that wouldn’t let Uncle Tian Lu down. He readied himself and asked this esteemed master of his, “Does your second defining treasure make me a sadomasochist, by any chance? Now I won’t say no to it, but are there any side effects I should know about?”

“…”

****

“Master, did you hear me?”

“Amitabha.”

“Did you become a monk again?”

“I am enlightened and have thus freed myself from the seven emotions and six desires. You cannot move me.” Uncle Tian Lu had a serene smile on his face. It seemed as if even his tooth was chanting Amitabha as well.

“It’s very hard to see you as a distinguished monk when you’re beating the living daylight out of a piece of metal.”

“This Mortal Ore is an extension of myself. My tempering of it represents a tempering of the self. I don’t have any more of the ore, but I can temper you in the literal sense to garner the same effect.”

“That is some evil intentions you’re harbouring there, Mr. monk.”

“I only have good intentions, dear benefactor.” Uncle Tian Lu would have truly passed for a monk were it not for the few strands of hair that he possessed and the smell of alcohol that could still be smelt on him.

“Is a monk still a monk if he practises the art of sadomasochism?”

‘Devil child!’

“Puh!” Uncle Tian Lu nearly lost himself once more, almost coughing out in shock. “Little demon, do you hate me!?”

“I respect master greatly?”

“Why are you asking that!? Should you not know!?”

“This is a forging art?” asked Long Di, seemingly out of nowhere.

Uncle Tian Lu was about to erupt in rage. This disciple of his was too unscrupulous! However, he quickly suppressed his emotions and proceeded to answer his questions.

“Yes,” he sounded defeated at this point. Long Di was too devious. “It is called Breaking Mundane Forging Heaven. I have passed on the entire technique to you. It is up to you to practice whenever you can as you will be able to build and craft your own items instead of having to buy them all the time.”

“Isn’t that what I have you for?” Long Di asked.

Uncle Tian Lu shook his head. “Our agreement is an exception to the rules. However, it is the inherent pride of each Hellfire Forge Clan disciple to forge and use his own tools. Besides, the Foundation Forge Body Tempering Art goes hand in hand with this forging technique. If you tried to use one without the other, you would just be inviting destruction.”

Long Di shot Uncle Tian Lu a side glance, “Don’t you think you should have led with that?”

Uncle Tian Lu shrugged indifferently, “To us Hellfire Forge clansmen, forging is the same as our lives, so it doesn’t matter if I told you first or second.”

“You didn’t seem to be all that interested when I saw you the first time,” said Long Di.

“I was as good as a walking corpse before. Go along now.” Uncle Tian Lu waved him off, sending him on his way. “Don’t forget to take the kids with you. If you’re able to help them reach greater heights, please do.”

Long Di turned to leave but asked one more question that was on his mind, “Were you the one who interfered in the fight between me and that old demon before?”

Cling! Clang! Clink!

Uncle Tian Lu remained silent in the face of Long Di’s question, not intending to answer the latter.

When Long Di saw this, he didn’t reveal any look of displeasure, not that he could. He simply bowed in Uncle Tian Lu’s direction and left the room.

“For your benefit, it’s best if you didn’t know,” Uncle Tian Lu whispered to himself.

…

When Long DI left the stairway, he once more took a deep breath of fresh air. Down there was always so stuffy.

“Oh yeah, I better collect that thing before I forget,” Long Di said to himself.

He rushed towards the battlefield that was scarred by the fight he had with Tai Ren. He came upon an enormous pit, and without hesitation, jumped down.

When he landed, he saw the Destiny Scale standing there, as imposing and awe-inspiring as ever.

Long Di already had a connection with the Destiny Scale, so after placing his hand on it, it quickly disappeared and reappeared above his spiritual sea.

After collecting the Destiny Scale, he could feel the changes to the tribulation lightning within his body.

He thought to himself, ‘I hope you wake up soon and stop treating me like a discount gas station. I feel cheap with you using me for my body… oh well.’

Not thinking that there was anything wrong with what he said, he went on his way. His other objective was to collect the disciples, the additional straggler, and then he would leave.

He wanted to attend the auction that was going to take place in Blackstone City but decided against it.

First, that Zhen Paohui and his clan would probably locate him without too much hassle due to their influence, and he wanted to avoid that. He had no proof of this; it was just common trope stuff. Second, at its base, Blackstone City was primarily a mortal city and the items there were not things he had to definitely get his hands on or anything.

Still, he didn’t want to have Yaomu Shou just wait there when he made plans with her a month prior, so he planned to have one of the elders pass on a message for him.

He quickly located the disciples. It wasn’t that hard for him. All he needed to do was to spread out his spiritual force, and he was able to sense their familiar aura.

They weren’t far, either, so it made it easier for him to navigate. He came upon one of the many houses that were in the village.

He knocked on the door and waited outside patiently. Despite what you think of him, he still had manners.

“Come in.” A voice instructed.

Opening the door, he saw the disciples standing before their respective masters. They all had tears streaming down their faces. It appeared as if they were advised of their eventual departure with Long Di and that sadness was now showing itself.

Shen Ling, who had no particular master, and the Nymph stood to the side to give the disciples and their master some space. The only one was absent as the third elder, but he had no direct disciples, so that was okay.

“Long Di,” Shen Ling approached Long Di with a smile.

Ever since she started cultivating the Abyss Scripture, her personality had experienced a shift. She was no longer so shy and hesitant. She was more outgoing compared to before, and her current temperament only served to increase her beauty.

She appreciated Long Di greatly for allowing her to cultivate this technique. It was as if it allowed her to find her true self somehow.

Long Di nodded to acknowledge her greeting. He also had a goal to figure out Shen Ling’s origin, but that needed to be put on the back burner for now. He then turned his attention to the elders, and when they saw him focusing his gaze on them, they all released a sigh.

How embarrassing was it for them to hand over their disciples to an eleven-year-old child so he could protect them? Their uselessness in this regard made them want to beat themselves up for their lack of help.

They loved their direct disciple as if they were their own flesh and blood. After all, with the people in the village, they were wanderers to begin with. They regularly came in groups and, seeing how the elders didn’t drive them away, they eventually settled here.

Feng Yu, Tie Lang and Jia Yan all came in different groups. Apparently, they were orphans who lost their mortal parents after misfortune struck their old villages.

There were three things that could destroy a village built out in the forests. They were sickness, beasts, and bandits. It was a mixture of these that upended the children's lives. They were forced to wander with the few survivors in a group.

Eventually, they stumbled onto this place of ruins where the elders resided. Seeing that there was a place with decent land and that beasts didn’t dare to get close for some reason, they took to this place as if it was their salvation.

Soon enough, houses were erected here, and it became the village that it was now. It was actually Uncle Tian Lu who advised the elders of their potential and advised them to take them in as disciples.

After spending so much time together and deepening their bond as disciple and master, it didn’t matter who or what triggered their meeting. Their care for each other grew as they did. Such was the relationship between disciple and master, the closeness even exceeded that of blood relatives.

After all, you couldn’t choose who your family was, but a master usually could choose his disciple; and to willingly pass down one’s entire life’s knowledge and understanding in hopes that their disciple would even surpass them. What was that if not love?

After a few words of encouragement, they told their disciples to listen to Long Di. The latter appeared to have common sense, and his strength at such a young age spoke volumes of his intellect.

All the disciples came over to Long Di. Tie Lang in particular was bawling his eyes out. It seemed he loved to cry, since this wasn’t the first time.

Long Di only tapped him on the shoulder as a gesture of comfort and told them to wait outside for him.

“Is there something you want from us?” the second elder asked since Long Di obviously wanted to be alone with them.

“It’s nothing serious,” Long Di advised. “I just made a promise with someone by the name of the Yaomu Shou, and would appreciate it if you could let her know that I won’t be able to accompany her for the auction in Blackstone City.”

The three elders’ eyes widened in shock when they heard this. “Y-Yaomu? D-Did you say Yaomu!?”

“Yeah?” Long Di was puzzled by their reaction. Was she famous?

“Was her skin dark blue? Did she have a tail? Did she also have fangs!?” the first elder asked in quick succession.

“Yes, yes, and I didn’t stare into her mouth so I didn’t notice.” Long Di answered calmly. “Can you do it or not?”

They all sucked in a deep breath and said at the same time, “No! Not even if you kill us!”