Chapter 45 Leaving Huashan
"Lanzhou City?"
Lin Yi's eyes lit up and he was filled with enthusiasm.
He was well aware of what kind of place this was without having Yu Zecheng to explain.
In fact, this place was a site for the younger generation from both the demonic cults and righteous sects to gather experience.
All the disciples sent here were the elite disciples of various sects.
Who was considered elite?
They were people like Lin Yi, having acquired internal arts at the age of 16 to become a third-rate expert.
After 4 months in upper courtyard, Lin Yi knew that people as young as him was extremely rare in upper courtyard.
Many major sects even sent their core disciples.
Each and every one of them were great talents and highly valued by the upper echelon in their sects. They became core disciples from very early on and had been apprenticed to first-rate experts and even peak experts. These masters provided them with constant guidance and the martial arts they learnt were all superior.
At this point of time, a Huashan core disciple would be a third-rate expert just like Lin Yi. However, they would have learnt several superior sword arts and their internal art would likely be the superior internal art Hunyuan Skill.
Compared to that, Lin Yi was indeed slightly inferior.
Of course, if one compared their battle ability, the highly experienced Lin Yi would be akin to an old demon, and it would be the kind of old demon who had lived for thousands of years. While these core disciples would be more like fresh young demons.
The righteous sects sent their elite disciples, but the demonic sects also sent disciples who were not inferior in any way.
This place was just like a battlefield for the future peak existences from both the righteous sects and demonic cults.
To be sent to such a place, how could Lin Yi not be excited about it?
He could not help but sigh. To think that Sect Master has such a discerning eye to be able to tell that I'm a true genius!
He was already starting to think, if he killed a demonic cult genius, how much battle experience would he earn?
It should be at least 8,000, if not 10,000.
Not to mention the reputation reward of at least 5,000!
Lin Yi nearly drooled at the thought of the potential rewards and he became even more restless.
If he managed to slay 8 or 10 of those demonic cult geniuses, he no longer needed to worry about raising the level of his internal art.
He had been reluctant to spend the several ten thousand battle experience points left from 4 months ago, choosing to slowly train his martial arts manually instead.
It wasn't because he was a miser, it was because of the viciousness of Jianghu.
The era of chaos was approaching and various devils, both big and small, were going to appear in Jianghu.
By saving these battle experience, he could use them as a lifesaver.
"Senior Brother Yu, I will set off immediately. Don't worry, I won't disappoint you!" Without listening to Yu Zecheng's nagging, Lin Yi made a quick reply then turned and ran.
"Remember to collect some weapons from the Manor of Weapons before you go. Also, go to the stable at the foot of the mountain to collect a fine steed." Yu Zecheng hurriedly reminded.
"I know that!" Lin Yi waved his right hand and disappeared from Yu Zecheng's field of vision.
"This Junior Brother Lin is so excited from leaving Huashan." Yu Zecheng shook his head and laughed.
Xiaoliu added from the side: "Junior Brother Lin has been stifled to death in Huashan since not a single person from upper courtyard is willing to accept his challenge. While he still doesn't have the ability or right to challenge core disciples yet. As for lower courtyard, there's no longer any challenge left there. He hasn't fought anyone for 4 long months, so when he heard that he's going to Lanzhou City where he can meet many other similar young talents and even demonic cult geniuses he would certainly be worked up.
"With his personality as a challenge maniac, he must be planning how he can challenge all of them right?"
Yu Zecheng nodded his head. Once he thought of how Lin Yi had spent this past 4 months, he smiled and said: "He's indeed stifled to death!"
"I wonder what kind of commotion he's going to cause in Lanzhou City this time?"
......
Leaving the Hall of Internal Affairs, Lin Yi returned to his residence and swiftly packed his luggage. He grabbed several pieces of clothing and some money distributed by Huashan. Wrapping his luggage into a bundle, he fashioned it into a backpack using some cloth and carried it on his back.
Without a shred of reluctance, he went straight for the armory.
With the wealth of experience he already possessed in Jianghu, there was no need for Yu Zecheng to remind him what he needed to prepare for the journey.
Other than some medicine and money, the next most important thing was weapons.
Being the Manor of Weapons in Huashan headquarters, it was truly worthy of being called a manor.
A huge building which entirely belonged to the Manor of Weapons was filled with all kinds of weaponry.
Sabers, swords, whips, hammers, fist gloves, bows and arrow...
18 types of weapons, it contained all of them.
And they were all of high quality.
The weapons in Jianghu were also categorized into grades.
The lowest grade weapons were iron grade, made crudely from iron.
The next grade was bronze grade, made using steel.
Above that was silver grade, these weapons were extremely well made and highly polished.
Beyond that was gold grade, this was the unique weapons category, and each weapon in this category was quite famous. For example, the Gentleman's Sword used by Sect Master, and the highly famed Dragon Saber, Heaven Sword. These were all unique weapons.
Lastly, it was the legendary weapons. Legendary weapons were as rare as peerless martial arts, and maybe even rarer. Even the sect masters of major sects may not even possess one. This type of weapons were all the stuff of legends. For example, the two legendary swords Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, and the Yuchang Sword...
As an upper courtyard disciple, Lin Yi obviously couldn't take unique weapons, not to mention legendary weapons. The entire Huashan didn't even possess a single legendary weapon. He had to settle for silver grade weapons.
Upon entering the Manor of Weapons, he displayed his token and stated his intentions. Then he directly asked someone to bring him to where the silver grade weapons were kept. Once there, he selected one of the high quality swords.
The name of the sword was very common: Qingfeng Sword.
But the attack stat was incredible, exceeding a hundred points. This was sufficient to easily nullify the defense of a third-rate expert.
Lin Yi's defense stat was only 30. If he used internal strength for defense, it would only increase to 90 points. The Qingfeng Sword with over 100 points of attack would easily pierce his body. Moreover, the attack stat from weapons stacked with his own attack stat.
Only those who had practised defensive martial arts would be able to defend against Qingfeng Sword.
But even if a sword with 100 attack was unable to break the defense, with the addition of the attacker's own attack stat, it was sufficient to cause a concussive effect on opponents who practised defensive martial arts.
It was just like using a blunt blade. Even if the blade was incapable of causing a cut, the force applied to the blade was capable of causing internal injuries from the impact of striking.
After choosing his sword, Lin Yi went to the defense storeroom next. He picked a piece of soft armor from among those that covered the whole body.
Soft armor defense was inferior to normal armor made from metal, but due to the lighter weight, it did not affect movement when worn.
Also, it was considered excellent already, possessing 100 points of defense.
That was sufficient to defend against a majority of the silent sneak attacks.
Sneak attacks could not be carried out with full force.
Wearing the soft armor with 100 defense points, he could now defend against fatal strikes and not die so easily in one hit.
With Qingfeng Sword in hand, soft armor on his body, Lin Yi came to the last weapon he wanted.
Bow and arrow.
In his previous life, besides creating Falling Sword Style and thus becoming a God-ranked player, there was also another skill which allowed him to dominate Jianghu for a long period of time.
It was archery!
A superior archery skill was very rare. In the game, Lin Yi experienced countless hardships, nearly stopping at nothing, before finally obtaining a superior archery skill.
Before that, he was already well-known for his archery.
His archery was the only skill that wasn't learnt through the game system.
It was trained from constant practice, firing hundreds of thousands and even millions of arrows.
Towards archery, he had a great amount of experience and knowledge.
This was why the first skill that he used after crossing over was archery.
Even if he had forgotten all the martial arts he once had, he wouldn't forget his archery.
The might of his archery may be inferior to superior sword arts, but it was far superior to Huashan Sword Art.
Not to mention, the huge advantage of attacking from a long range when using archery.
His archery was capable of producing an effect similar to superior martial arts.
He entered the bow storeroom.
There was very few silver grade bows in here. Since nearly everyone in Huashan used swords and not bows, not many bows were made.
If not for the fact that Huashan was a major sect, one might not even find a single silver grade bow.
Among the few bows available, Lin Yi's eyes fell on one of them.
Holding it in his hand, his eyes lit up.
System notification:
Longmang Bow (Gold) : Attack +200, Made using the tendons of Longmang snakes from the swamps of Nanjiang, as well as violet hardwood, incredibly powerful.
It was a unique weapon!
What a waste to leave it collecting dust!
Lin Yi sighed and wiped the dust off Longmang Bow, revealing a noble-looking violet bow.
He would never have thought that there would be someone in Huashan who didn't recognize a unique bow and leaving it here to collect dust, eventually allowing him to obtain a treasure with no effort.
"Since you have fallen into my hands, I will definitely let you resurface in Jianghu and reclaim your former glory!"
Lin Yi's eyes were full of gentleness and he softly caressed the bow in the way one would caress a lover.
There was only 3 arrows in the quiver, which Lin Yi tied to his back.
With Qingfeng Sword in hand, soft armor on his body, and Longmang Bow on his back, Lin Yi walked out of the Manor of Weapons with wide steps.
......
Arriving at lower courtyard, Lin Yi wanted to bid farewell to Han Bai, Yu Hai and Jiang Xiaoyu.
Walking on the large pavement, Lin Yi was recognized by the disciples, and many of them gasped in surprise.
4 months had passed, but Lin Yi's legend was still going strong in lower courtyard.
The girls covered their mouths while screaming, and pointed at Lin Yi's back, their faces revealing a shy blush.
As he passed by the site where the girls trained and saw the girls diligently practising Huashan Sword Art with a focused expression, Lin Yi smiled. Some of the girls encountered difficulties in practising sword art, sometimes frowning, sometimes holding their chin, blinking their large eyes and looking cute and playful.
Lin Yi felt familiar and relaxed at the scene, as if he was back at home.
One of the girls spotted Lin Yi while frowning over a problem and her eyes lit up.
Under the teasing and laughter of her companions, she approached Lin Yi with bouncy steps.
"Senior Brother Lin Yi, could you explain the sword art to me?" The girl blinked her large eyes and asked timidly, eyes filled with hope.
"Alright, show me your practice once." Lin Yi nodded without hesitation. Although he wanted to leave Huashan as soon as possible, but under the hopeful gaze of the girl, he could not bear to refuse.
The girl cried out in great joy and was slighted surprised. She didn't think that Senior Brother Lin Yi would really agree to her request. She hurriedly displayed the sword art, and her flexible body coupled with graceful steps made the sword art look very beautiful, resembling a sword dance. When she finished, she gave a pitiful look at Lin Yi.
After taking a moment to think about what he was going to say, Lin Yi could not bear to hurt the girl's fragile soul, so he tactfully said: "Your sword art looks as beautiful as a sword dance, leaving those who saw it wanting more."
The girl was very happy and her eyes glittered upon hearing that.
"But..." Once Lin Yi uttered a but, the girl's expression instantly turned gloomy.
"Sword arts are used for killing, not for watching. You should hide your killing intentions in the sword dance, and lower your opponents' guard by mesmerizing them with the beautiful sword dance, before delivering a fatal strike. Let me gift you with a phrase, killing intentions are hidden in beautiful things." Lin Yi advised. The girl nodded her head repeatedly, her large eyes filled with radiance once again.
After a round of advice to the girl, she thanked him profusely and excitedly went back to her companions, much to their envy.
However, Lin Yi's heart was very heavy. He looked at the azure sky, seemingly spotting thick dark clouds approaching from far.
Hopefully I can help this beautiful and cute girl to survive the coming era of chaos!
"I still need to continue working hard to attain the position of chief disciple, so that I can protect everything that is beautiful and dear to me!" Lin Yi looked at the youngsters in lower courtyard training hard and occasionally laughing, and said to himself.