The Nine Cauldrons

Chapter 35: Inner Strength Expert

Teng Qingshan formally became Teng Jia Village’s new hunting squadron leader. Normally, the hunting squadron would enter the mountain once every two days, on average. However, due to five people dying and four people becoming handicapped this time, the hunting squadron had to recruit more members. Thus, for six days, they did not enter the mountain to hunt.

Within the clan, the clan chief held the highest position. Next to it was the Spear Arts Master and the hunting squadron leader.

Not yet ten years old and he had already become the hunting squadron leader, Teng Qingshan had realized the goal of many youngsters from Teng Jia Village. Numerous clansmen would praise Teng Qingshan; already so outstanding at such a young age, when he became an adult, how much more exceptional would he be?

“Hu!” “Hu!”

The cold wind whistled in the air; the sky was even more frigid. There was only a month until the next yearly sacrifice.

“He!” “Ha!”

Sounds of laborious shouts rang through the air. The Teng Jia Village’s training field contained many youths who were training by rolling stones, lifting stone weights, kicking wooden barrels while simultaneously talking nonchalantly and laughing with each other.

“Brother Qingshan and the others slaughtered a tiger the other day! A tiger! Its claws were nearly as thick as my thigh!” A youth whose hair was tied in a plait smacked a sandbag while talking with his nearby companions. The youth next to him clicked his tongue and sighed, “Brother Qingshan is more than awesome. He already is the hunting squadron’s leader! If I were to become even a hunting squadron member in my lifetime, then, “Tsk,tsk.” This youth’s face was filled with hope.

It was at this time…

The earth trembled slightly.

“It’s the sound of horse hoofs!” Many people on the training field turned their heads and looked at the gate. They saw ten distant silhouettes mounted on fine steeds rapidly rushing over.

“Stop!” One of the Teng Jia Village’s guards yelled.

“Hmph.” A cold snort sounded. It oddly sounded as if thunder had pierced everyone’s ears.

“Xiu!” A flash of cold light streaked across the gate, and the cast iron bolt across the gate unexpectedly ruptured. The entire gate immediately opened with a loud bang. The ten horsemen barged through without reducing their speed and immediately rushed into the training field. Many frightened Teng Jia villagers ran to the sides in an attempt to evade the intruders.

“Lu”

The 10 horses suddenly stopped, and their hooves kicked high into the air.

“Is this the Teng Jia Village?” A representative of the group yelled. His voice was extremely loud; the clansmen on the field felt their ears ring.

A perspiring youth who was just training took a step forward and said in a clear voice, “This is the Teng Jia Village. May I ask why you people have come?” Some of the Teng Village’s clansmen had already left to inform the clan leader. The others did not act blindly without thinking.

One must know that the cast iron bolt of the gate was a foot thick and two feet wide, yet it was severed in a second. This sort of strength, who would dare oppose it?

“Get your village Chief to quickly come over here!” the representative coldly yelled.

Teng Yunlong quickly hurried over. Looking from afar, Teng Yunlong’s heart was filled with alarm. He was able to see the representative’s light gold complexion and the black fox fur coat on his body. His mount was completely scarlet and was about eight meters tall: “This top notch fox fur coat is worth at least two hundred taels of silver. Moreover, that completely red steed of his is clearly a Scarlet Flame Horse! Its value is one to two thousands taels of silver!”

Looking at the other followers, the accompanying horsemen all had an azurite cape on top of a light green armor. The fine horses under them were slightly inferior to that of the leader’s but were clearly still incredible steeds: “These are Youzhou horses that are valued at two hundred taels of silver! They also have standard armor! Even a big family like the White Horse Gang would only begrudgingly purchase armor and horses like these! Where are these people from?”

After hearing clansmen say that the opposition could cleave the door bolt with one sword strike and seeing their attire, Teng Yunlong had a premonition of who they were.

“My lords, this old servant is the Teng Jia Village’s Chief, Teng Yunlong. What affair brings you esteemed lords here?” Teng Yunlong bowed.

“I have heard that you can forge a Frost Jade Saber.” The leader arrogantly glanced at Teng Yunlong before coldly speaking.

“That is correct.” Teng Yunlong did not deny this.

“That’s good. I have an important business transaction for you!” stated the leader in a resounding voice.

“My lord, you must be tired from your journey. Why don’t you rest a bit first before we slowly talk about business?” Teng Yunlong faintly smiled. The leader’s face exposed a slight smile before indifferently nodding his head and saying, “That’s fine; lead the way to your place.” Immediately, the group of ten horsemen headed towards the chief’s house.

The hunting squadron members were talking and laughing. Amongst them, there were four people carrying a large black bear’s corpse.

“Qingshan, that spear of yours today was as fast as lightning. When you easily blocked the bear’s attack, you also impaled its skull.” The clansmen were all extremely happy. During the past few days of hunting, they were already extremely respectful towards Teng Qingshan. The first reason was Teng Qingshan’s keen sense of hearing. If an animal made the slightest noise, it would not be able to hide.

The second reason was Teng Qingshan’s extremely proficient Spear Arts. No matter what sort of prey it was, it was incapable of blocking his spear.

How could they not be happy with such a leader?

“This black bear cannot be considered too big,” Teng Qingshan laughed, “Didn’t you say that one of the clan’s elders had seen a Zhang(TL: 3.5 meters) tall bear that could break a large tree with one slap?” Although this black bear had the strength of a thousand Jin imbued in one slap, its speed was far from the Wolf King’s. Thus, Teng Qingshan only needed one spear strike to kill it.

“We’ve returned home,” Teng Qingshan laughed.

Looking at the village from far away, Teng Qingshan’s expression changed because the village’s gate was wide open. Teng Jia Village’s gate was normally closed. Even returning clansmen would use a little side door to enter. The large gate would only open if a large group of people and horses like the hunting squadron were to return.

“Not good; move faster!” Teng Qingshan yelled.

The members of the hunting squadron were alarmed and rushed towards the village.

Teng Qingshan glanced around. He saw that the door bolt had unexpectedly been cleaved in two; the incision was extremely clean making Teng Qingshan’s pupils contract: “What a sharp weapon, extremely strong strength too! This person was able to sever the cast iron bolt instantly. I can only achieve this if I used all of my inner strength and a top quality weapon.”

“Brother Qingshan!”

“Qingshan!”

Many people on the training field came over. Normally, youngsters would call Teng Qingshan “Brother Qingshan” even if Teng Qingshan was younger than them by a few years. This was because of Teng Qingshan’s special status, many youngsters considered Teng Qingshan as an older brother and worshiped him.

All the adults considered Teng Qingshan as one of the people in charge within the clan.

“What happened?” Teng Qingshan subsequently asked.

“Qingshan,” a sturdy male said, “It was a group of cavalry; they were all riding powerful horses! Their cavalry leader used only one strike to break the iron bolt. However, they said that they wanted to do business with our Teng Jia Village. Right now, those people have already been brought by the clan Chief to his place.”

Teng Qingshan heaved a sigh of relief.

“That’s good. You guys stay here, I will go take a look.” Teng Qingshan clutched the Damacus Steel Spear, and proceeded to walk towards his maternal grandfather’s, Teng Yunlong’s, residence.

From afar, Qingshan caught sight of horses and people dressed in armor. The green armored warriors were standing outside of his maternal grandfather’s residence.These horsemen all had strict gazes and each one’s strength was clearly not weak: “Look at their figure and eyes! They are definitely military! But, I don’t know where these troops are from.”

One would would be considered a Third Rated Warrior if he or she was able to lift a 500 Jin boulder.

Having the strength to lift a 2000 Jin boulder would place one as a Second Rated Warrior.

“Brat, move to the side!” one of the cavalrymen ordered.

The few people discussing inside the courtyard seemed to hear the commotion and looked outside. Teng Yunlong proceeded to say, “That is my grandson, let him enter.”

The cavalryman coldly glanced at Teng Yunlong. Teng Qingshan smiled as he entered the courtyard and was not the slightest bit angry.

“Father, Grandfather.” Teng Qingshan appeared in the courtyard. There were only two people from Teng Jia Village: his maternal grandfather, Teng Yunlong and his father, Teng Yongfan. Teng Qingshan’s eyes swept over the currently seated large man. The man attired in a black fox fur coat also looked back. Teng Qingshan felt that the opposition’s gaze was as sharp as a knife.

Teng Qingshan hid his surprise: “An expert.”

“Teng Yongfan!” the cavalry leader stared at Teng Yongfan, “You are your clan’s number one blacksmith, so tell me, do you agree to do this business?”

“The time is a bit too short!” Teng Yongfan’s eyebrows creased and he said, “The art of refining a Frost Jade Saber is our Teng Jia Village’s consummate skill. Every Frost Jade Saber requires earnest precision without the slightest carelessness. Moreover, my lord, would like a total of 182 blades. Furthermore, you would like the goods to be delivered by the end of the year. This…”

“Hm? So you do not agree?” The leader’s complexion changed.

“Hu!” An incorporeal energy blasted out from the leader’s body and the adjacent wooden bench instantly ruptured. Densely packed holes appeared on the ground.

Teng Yongfan and Teng Yunlong’s faces changed.

“What powerful inner strength ,” Teng Qingshan silently thought in his heart, “Able to blast it out from his body into the air and shoot it into the ground. This leader’s inner strength should be much stronger than mine.” Teng Qingshan understood that, although the Internal Martial Arts method could refine the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into inner strength, its primary focus was still on the reformation of the body.

Moreover, the various secret books in this world that were specialized in refining inner strength were much faster than the Internal Martial Art’s process.

“My lord, please do not be angry,” Teng Yunlong laughed and said, “Refining 182 Frost Jade Sabers in a month is a problem. However, we will continue to forge them through the day and night. We will definitely be done before the new year.”

The leader’s face revealed a trace of a satisfied smile: “Very good.”

“I do not know if the forging equipment will be provided by senior, or…” Teng Yunlong said.

“You will provide the materials yourselves!” The leader nonchalantly said, “As for the price, we will naturally not treat you unfairly.”