As mentioned earlier, Azure Billow City housed five workshops belonging to the Xu Clan, each producing a substantial quantity of weapons on a daily basis. However, a series of events unfolded in the past few days. The Xu Clan experienced a significant setback when their master blacksmiths were lured away, leaving the apprentices’ refining methods below the desired standards. As a result, the Xu Clan’s weapons encountered issues, and it would take a considerable amount of time to bring their refining techniques back up to par.
All the weapons that were collected and gathered in the main hall the day before were defective products.
Liu Wuxue headed to the nearest workshop, and he would reach there in the time it took to burn a stick of incense. His ears suddenly twitched, and a smirk rose on his lips. “It looks like someone is courting death. Now, I’m curious who’s following me.”
He bypassed the main road and turned into a side street before entering an empty alleyway. As he stepped into the alley, a foul stench reached his nostrils, indicating that many individuals used it to resolve their bowels.
Coming to a halt, Liu Wuxie found himself confronted by six figures who blocked the alley's exit. He observed that they wore masks, and only their eyes were visible. They wielded weapons, and murderous intent burst out of their eyes, filling the entire alleyway. Liu Wuxie smirked. “Did you guys finally decide to show yourselves after tailing me for so long?”
A man walked into the alley to resolve his business, but the scene frightened him, causing him to flee without pulling up his pants.
“Today is your death day. So why aren’t you going down on your knees and begging for mercy?” The man in the middle spoke. The group slowly moved forward and formed a small circle around Liu Wuxie, blocking his escape. Moreover, the six were strong, with one person in the fifth level and five in the sixth level of the Houtian Realm.
“Zhou Tong, I spared your life in the Treasure Pill Pavilion, but you’re persistent. What you’re doing now is no different from digging your own grave.” Liu Wuxie’s eyes landed on the man on the far right, making him back away in fear.
Zhou Tong had no idea how his identity was exposed, but he ripped his mask off since it was pointless to keep his disguise. After leaving the Treasure Pill Pavilion yesterday, he spent all his savings to hire five assassins to wait for an opportunity outside the Xu Clan. His face twisted, and he said, “You slapped me in the Treasure Pill Pavilion and got me fired. Today is your death day!”
His future would be harsh without the Treasure Pill Pavilion backing him up. He picked up gambling over the years and owed a huge debt. But as he was a supervisor in the Treasure Pill Pavilion, his creditors didn’t dare to do anything to him.
But without the Treasure Pill Pavilion backing him up, it wouldn’t take long for those creditors to come knocking on his door. At that time, he would lose everything, including his concubines.
“You think you people can kill me?” Liu Wuxie wore a devilish smile. Even the Quasi-Xiantian Realm expert couldn’t kill him, let alone a few Houtian Realm nobodies.
“Don’t waste your saliva and kill him!” The five killers were skilled in their moves, and it was obvious they had done this before. They didn’t waste their time talking because they knew the situation could get out of their control if they weren’t careful.
They swung their blades down at Liu Wuxie’s face, suppressing the surrounding air with their forward motion, causing the air to explode. This was a simple attacking formation corresponding to the five elemental positions.
Zhou Tong didn’t join in and retreated to the side with a hint of madness in his eyes.
“Bunch of scrubs!” Liu Wuxie strode the Seven Dipper Steps and left behind afterimages. He disappeared on the spot, dodging the five incoming attacks.
No one expected Liu Wuxie to execute such an exquisite movement technique. His movement was like a phantom without any signs, suddenly appearing outside the circle with his palm striking down like a blade.
His attack cleanly snapped the neck of a black-clothed man in front of him. But he didn’t stop there and avoided another wave of attack with a tap of his right foot on the ground. He was like a dragonfly, skimming over the water's surface. His every movement looked natural and unpredictable, and no one knew where he would appear next.
After losing one man in a single exchange, the remaining four killers’ faces changed, and they quickened their attacks.
“All your blade techniques are too weak. Let me show you guys what an actual blade technique is!” With a rotation in mid-air, Liu Wuxie grabbed a blade from the ground and drew a beautiful arc, slicing through the air with his ruthless attack.
When he slashed his blade, the energy from his blade sprayed around and froze the four killers charging at him before they could react.
“His blade is fast!” The leader's mask fell off, his eyes radiating with fear. He had never seen such a terrifying person before. Blood dripped down the necks of these remaining four assassins, but they didn’t die immediately.
After Liu Wuxie was done, he ignored the four and slowly walked toward Zhou Tong. This naturally frightened Zhou Tong into retreating, but there was a high wall behind him, with no way to escape.
“A-Aren’t you a piece of garbage? How are you so strong?!” Zhou Tong panicked. It was rumored that the Xu Clan’s son-in-law was a piece of garbage who couldn’t cultivate. But Liu Wuxie’s earlier attack was breathtaking, slaying five opponents in the sixth level of the Houtian Realm before they could blink.
“Do you really wish to know?” Liu Wuxie suddenly leaned forth with a harmless smile. He was almost face-to-face with Zhou Tong, who nodded instinctively. He was pretty curious how a piece of garbage suddenly became so powerful.
“Why should I tell you?” Liu Wuxie’s eyes turned cold, and he stabbed a blade into Zhou Tong’s lower abdomen, causing blood to gush out.
With that, Zhou Tong breathed his last with resentment. This was because Liu Wuxie deceived him with his gentle smile. But a blade stabbed through his body before he realized it.
The blade tip stabbed into the wall, preventing Zhou Tong’s corpse from falling. His death was only noticed when the next person who came to relieve himself screamed upon seeing the bodies on the ground, alarming many passersby.
Liu Wuxie had no mercy for those who sought his death. He soon arrived at a workshop with a sign that read ‘Xu Clan’s Weaponry Workshop’. The sales area was more than a thousand square meters, and the workshop usually had a lot of customers. But today, it was oddly quiet and deserted, with few people around.
The defective products must have affected Xu Clan’s business, making the weapons they produced lose their reputation. The Xu Clan made their living by forging and selling weapons, so they would be in trouble if they lost their business in this industry.
As Liu Wuxie entered the main hall, he saw many weapons on the walls on both sides. There were swords and blades that were common, and brushes, darts, and pipes that were rare. The walls showed all the weapons that the Xu Clan could forge.
There weren’t many customers, so the servants were napping at the table.
“Young Master, what brings you here?” A young man stepped forth and welcomed Liu Wuxie warmly without any hint of contempt in his eyes. His friendly greeting made Liu Wuxie feel a bit uneasy. After all, the Xu Clan’s servants would usually look at him with disgust, as if they saw a heap of trash.
“I need to forge a blade. Is one of our furnaces available?” Liu Wuxie scanned all the blades on display, but none suited his style. He preferred fast blades that were thin. The weight and the curve were especially important.
“We didn’t have any business in the past two days, and the blacksmiths are resting. We do have over a dozen spare furnaces, but the young master can just pick a weapon from the display if you need one.”
The young man who spoke to Liu Wuxie was Hu Shi, a blacksmith apprentice. His father worked for the Xu Clan. Thus, he was also loyal to them.
Liu Wuxie learned about Hu Shi’s background from their conversation. He shook his head at the suggestion. The blades on the display were sharp, and most were heavy. Though there were two thin blades, they were too light for him.
“Hu Shi, you should just nap instead of wasting your breath on that trash.” The servants and the shopkeeper opened their eyes. The shopkeeper who spoke was Dong Changliang. He had worked for the Xu Clan for over a decade, so he was very familiar with Liu Wuxie.
The other servants snickered with scorn in their eyes. But Liu Wuxie was expressionless, unaffected by the mockery around him.
“Young Master, please ignore them. They have foul mouths.” Hu Shi felt awkward. He thought they shouldn’t treat Liu Wuxie since they worked for the Xu Clan. Hu Shi and his father had nothing when they arrived at Azure Billow City, and the Xu Clan took them in. So they were only grateful to the Xu Clan.
Liu Wuxie nodded, forming a good impression of Hu Shi. He thought Hu Shi was a promising person with potential.
“Take me inside. I want to forge a weapon, and you can help me.” Liu Wuxie walked towards the forging chamber. Hu Shi had to follow Liu Wuxie, causing a wave of mockery behind them.
In the past, Xu Yilin had forced Liu Wuxie to stay in the workshop, wanting him to learn the art of forging. But as a result, the refining chamber was almost destroyed, and Liu Wuxie had never entered the workshop since then.
“Shopkeeper Dong, should we stop him? We’ll be in trouble if anything happens,” a few servants came over and whispered.
“Leave him be. He won’t last long here,” Dong Changliang said and continued to doze off. If the business kept going , the Xu Clan could only last a month at most before shutting down their workshops.
“Young Master, what kind of weapon do you want to forge? Let me do it for you.”
Hu Shi ignited the furnace. The coal burning in the furnace wasn’t ordinary charcoal but a particular black ore with a high ignition point that could easily dissolve the most rigid iron. After lighting up the furnace, he ran to the front to stand before the furnace. He might be an apprentice, but he could forge common weapons, though his works were a bit rough.
“Hu Shi, do you wish to become a master blacksmith?” Liu Wuxie turned to ask Hu Shi after choosing a few pieces of meteorite iron of excellent grades and putting them on the desk.