Wild Dogs

"Is Grandmaster Qingyang looking for me?"

Yang Fan looked at Senior Brother Chen with confusion.

If it's about alchemy, Patriarch Qingyang can just come to this alchemy hall; there's no need to go to his cave.

However, he was just a disciple and knew not to ask questions he shouldn't, so he obediently followed Senior Brother Chen to Qingyang Zhenren's cave.

Although Master Qingyang is an elder of the Pill Hall, his cave dwelling is not here, but on Zilu Peak.

Yang Fan stood on Senior Brother Chen's flying sword and flew quickly to the foot of Zi Luo Peak. Then the two of them walked up the mountain.

"Senior brother, why don't we just fly there?"

Yang Fan asked Senior Brother Chen in surprise.

"You don't understand, do you? This is Zilu Peak, and all the elders' cave dwellings are located here."

"Once we get here, we must be extremely careful, or we'll be reprimanded by the other elders..."

Senior Brother Chen told him about the things he should pay attention to here.

Yang Fan listened and nodded.

He then couldn't help but lower his voice.

"Senior brother, why did our grandmaster summon me here...?"

Senior Brother Chen shook his head.

"I don't know about that, but when I came out I saw that Master was smiling, so it must be a good thing."

I hope so.

Yang Fan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Senior Brother Wang's death made him somewhat frightened, fearing that something similar might happen to him.

Soon the two arrived at the cave dwelling of Master Qingyang. The entrance to Master Qingyang's cave dwelling was a huge rock, probably weighing several thousand kilograms.

"Grandmaster, Yang Fan has been brought here."

Senior Brother Chen bowed respectfully towards the inside.

"Alright, you may leave now. Yang Fan, come in!"

"Boom!"

A boulder flew up, and Qingyang Zhenren's cave opened wide. Yang Fan glanced at his departing Senior Brother Chen, took a deep breath, and went inside.

"Boom!"

The huge rock at the entrance of the cave fell back down, sealing the cave once again.

Yang Fan didn't dare to look up and hurriedly bowed his head in greeting.

"Disciple greets Grandmaster..."

"No need for formalities, come and greet your Grandmaster Uncle Xuanyang!"

Grandmaster Uncle Xuanyang?

Yang Fan hurriedly looked up and saw an old Taoist priest in a red robe sitting opposite Master Qingyang.

The old Taoist had a neat short haircut, and his eyebrows looked like they had been burned, completely different from the kind of immortal he had imagined.

"Greetings, Grandmaster Uncle Xuanyang."

Yang Fan didn't know what was going on, so he could only obediently perform the ritual.

"Qingyang, is this the disciple you mentioned who's skilled at manipulating flames? His cultivation seems rather mediocre..."

Xuan Yang, the old Taoist priest, looked Yang Fan over and was somewhat dissatisfied.

"I say, junior brother, this kid has mixed spiritual roots of the five elements and doesn't have any cultivation techniques, so he's just an ordinary person."

"But his fire-starting skills are indeed quite good; he'd be a top expert even in the Pill Hall. If you don't believe me, I'll have him demonstrate for you."

As he spoke, Qingyang exhaled a breath of spiritual energy, which immediately transformed into flames and burned fiercely.

"Kid, show me what you've got, or you'll embarrass me."

Yang Fan dared not delay and hurriedly stepped forward to try to control the flames.

Although he was unclear about the current situation, all he could do now was try to control the flames.

These old Taoist priests care most about their reputation.

If he loses face, the old Taoist Qingyang might slap him to death.

Fortunately, Yang Fan was already proficient in fire control, so manipulating these flames was a piece of cake for him.

"Okay, not bad."

After observing for a while, the old Taoist Xuan Yang nodded, quite satisfied.

"Then I'll take him. I'll borrow him for a few days. Your Pill Hall should be fine with that, right?"

borrow?

Yang Fan was jolted awake. Was he about to leave the Pill Hall?

"Yang Fan, the Sword Forging Valley is going to forge a large batch of weapons recently, and they need a few fire workers. Go and help them out. Remember not to embarrass me."

Master Qingyang sized up Yang Fan and gave him instructions.

Sword Forging Valley?

Yang Fan was bewildered, but his heart was suddenly filled with excitement.

The Sword Tomb is located in the Sword Forging Valley. This trip to the Sword Forging Valley might allow us to enter it.

That way, at least we can get by this month.

Thinking of this, Yang Fan nodded hurriedly.

"Rest assured, Master, this disciple will certainly strive to do my best!"

After such a long time, Yang Fan finally had the opportunity to enter the Sword Forging Valley.

"Yes, as long as you put your heart into it, Sword Forging Valley will not treat you unfairly!"

The old Taoist Xuan Yang patted Yang Fan on the shoulder with a smile.

Master Qingyang gave some more instructions and then asked Master Xuanyang to take Yang Fan away.

"Hold on tight, don't fall."

Standing on the flying sword, Master Xuanyang gave Yang Fan some instructions.

"Yes, sir, you'll be careful."

The flying sword carried Yang Fan away into the distance.

After flying over the main peaks of Qingyun Temple, the flying sword continued to travel far away, flying for more than half an hour before slowly descending.

Ahead were several hills, and at the foot of the hills was a large cluster of wooden houses.

The flying sword slowly descended, and immediately several disciples dressed in yellow robes ran over.

"Greetings, Grandmaster Xuan Yang."

Xuan Yang waved his hand casually, then pointed at Yang Fan.

"This kid is a training student I tricked from the Pill Hall. He's pretty good at controlling fire. Arrange for him to tend the fire so as not to delay the weapon forging."

"Yes, Grandmaster, the Weapon Forging Hall is in dire need of someone to tend the fire."

The disciples were overjoyed.

After Xuan Yang rode away on his sword, the disciples sized up Yang Fan.

"Are you a disciple of the Pill Hall, wearing that white robe?"

"Greetings, fellow disciples. I am the alchemy apprentice of Grandmaster Qingyang, and cannot be considered a disciple of the Alchemy Hall."

"Oh, it's alright. We need someone to tend the fire here. Since you're a Dan Tong, you should have good control over flames. Come with us to the Forging Hall and take a look."

As they spoke, the group led Yang Fan toward the Weapon Forging Valley.

As he moved forward, Yang Fan looked around.

The entire Forging Valley was bustling with activity, as many servants in gray robes could be seen carrying various materials and hurrying into the valley.

Besides these gray-robed servants, many Qi Refining stage disciples also flew overhead, as if they were overseeing the work.

It seems that Master Xuanyang was right; the Weapon Forging Valley is indeed going to forge a large number of weapons.

However, these were not Yang Fan's main concerns; what he truly cared about was the Sword Tomb.

The old Daoist Beiming told him to find a wooden sword in the Sword Tomb. Before dealing with the Gu worms on his body, Yang Fan had no choice but to obediently go and find one.

After searching around, Yang Fan couldn't find the sword tomb, which puzzled him.

"Junior brother, what are you looking for?"

One of the disciples noticed Yang Fan looking around and asked him something out of curiosity.

"Oh, I've heard that there's a sword mound in the Valley of Weapons Forging, but I wonder where it is..."

"Oh, the Sword Tomb. That thing is in the center of Sword Forging Valley. Just walk a little further ahead and you'll see it."

Following the group, Yang Fan circled around several hilltops, and suddenly the view ahead opened up.

Ahead was a huge valley, several miles in size, filled with all sorts of furnaces.

Puffs of smoke drifted out from these stoves.

The entire valley seemed to be shrouded in a layer of smoke.

No wonder Sword Forging Valley is so far from Qingyun Temple, yet it's almost as shrouded in smoke as Poison Valley.

However, the stoves in front of him did not attract Yang Fan's attention.

His gaze was fixed on the center of the valley.

There stood a tall tomb, its surroundings shimmering with precious light.

That's clearly the Sword Tomb!