Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

In the circle of refiners, the Xie family of West Rock was a major family with a history of hundreds of years. Naturally, it had its own booth in the Edge Sharpeners’ Meeting, where quite a few new flying swords and shields were exhibited.

After only three days since the Edge Sharpener’s Meeting began, a lot of sects had come to negotiate or consult. One of them even placed a large order of a thousand super flying swords. It was indeed a great sign for the business.

Xie Qianhe was 59 years old and one of the top experts in refining in the Xie family. However, he did not work in the family business; he served as the deputy director of the technical department of the Silver Heart School, one of the three crystal suit centers.

Right now, Xie Qianhe’s face was gloomy, and he was in the worst mood.

Pa!

In the hotel where the Xie family was staying, he slapped a table and glared at his daughter, frowning hard. ”What? You want Sand Scorpion to be your master?”

”Yes!”

Xie Anan raised her head high and stared back at her father, whom she had always revered. She summoned her courage and said, ”Father, I want to be Sand Scorpion’s true disciple and study the arts of refining from him!”

Looking at his daughter in disbelief, Xie Qianhe blurted out, ”Anan, ’master’ and ’teacher’ are very different. In modern society, a Cultivator can have thousands of teachers. You pay tuition fees, and they teach. Fair deal with no arrears. The relationship is done as soon as the course is over.

”But ’master’ is a whole different conception!

”If Sand Scorpion really becomes your master and you his true disciple, you will have to inherit his ideology and methodology completely. Your refining skills will be seriously affected by him, and it will be quite troublesome if you want to look for a different master in the future.”

”I know.”

Xie Anan nodded solemnly as she said, ”I know it is not a joke to be a true disciple. That’s why I want to ask you to propose the request for me. It will be the best if grandpa can talk to Master Sand as the leader of the Xie family, if that’s possible.”

Xie Qianhe found it amusing. ”Anan, what’s wrong with you? I don’t have any bias against the Iron Plateau natives, and I can’t thank Sand Scorpion enough for saving your life. But isn’t he the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau? Does he know anything about refining?”

”Master Sand is quite adept at refining!” Xie Anan’s eyes were shining when she talked about Li Yao’s skills in refining. She raised her head and said, ”Master Xue Yuanxin of the Ares Laboratory holds Master Sand in very high regard. Besides, Master Sand has produced the Combat Ability Detector and the Aurora Chain Gun. My own progress over the recent half year is based on his enlightenment, too!”

Xie Qianhe coughed and looked at his wife next to him.

Dong Hanxiang, Xie Anan’s mother, was from a noble family of refining. She hugged her daughter and said with a smile, ”Anan, Master Sand Scorpion is your life-saver. It’s natural that you pay attention to him more and admire or even worship him.

”As the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, he definitely has things that are worth respecting.

”However, when it comes to the arts of refining…

”You are too young to know the clandestine rules in the circle of refiners.

”Yes, rumor has it that Master Sand is actually an expert in refining, and Master Xue Yuanxin spoke very highly of him. Besides, he is the patent owner of the Combat Ability Detector and part of the Aurora Chain Gun.

”Hehe. Such news can only fool outsiders. Most people in our circle are rather suspicious about it.

”It has happened before that some rich guys who didn’t know the first thing about refining spent a fortune on acquiring other people’s patents and claiming them as their own achievements.

”You also know that your master Sand Scorpion’s Glorious Sunlight Group has a large refining center under its name. Then, who can tell whether the patents in his hand were developed by himself or by the employees of the refining center?

”As for the remark of Master Xue Yuanxin, it’s even simpler. Praising each other when a project succeeds is quite normal. Master Xue’s Ares Laboratory and the Glorious Sunlight Group have been cooperating neatly. It was only natural that Master Xue complimented him on the occasion. You wouldn’t expect Master Xue to accusing him of being a pretentious rookie, would you?”

Unconvinced, Xie Anan craned her neck and said, ”But—”

Dong Hanxiang pressed her shoulder and continued. ”Yes, we’ve all seen your rapid progress in person. But according to you, Master Sand Scorpion only taught you some of the most rudimental training methods. There is nothing extraordinary about them.

”On the contrary, your father and I think that his training methods are too cruel and violent. Only a dummy like you could’ve persisted for so long. We didn’t know it in the beginning, or we definitely would’ve told you to drop it.

”Such cruel training will naturally increase your capability right now, but it will do your future growth no good in the long term.”

Seeing her daughter’s awful face, Dong Hanxiang hurried to add, ”I’m not saying that Master Sand doesn’t know anything about refining. I do believe that he has many secret arts that can be traced back to Iron Plateau. Some of them may be new to you, and that’s why you were hooked.

”However, such secret arts are merely tricks after all. They are not the real methods to practice refining.

”We don’t object that you ask him questions or even study several techniques after him.

”However, is it really a rational decision to be his true disciple?”

Xie Anan’s eyes bulged, and tears were swirling in them. She bit her lips and said, ”Mom, Dad, why can’t you believe me?”

Dong Hanxiang looked at her husband and coughed. She said, ”It’s not that we don’t believe you. In—in fact, you father has already found the perfect master for you!”

”What?” Xie Anan was dumbfounded.

Xie Qianhe smiled. ”I was going to tell you later as a surprised, but it doesn’t hurt if you find out now.

”You know Master Huangpu Bo in the Silver Heart School I work in? He is an elder of the Huangpu family, a noble family of refining that has existed for a thousand years. He is a renowned expert in the circle of refiners.

”Over the past year, I’ve been working on the same project with Master Huangpu, and I have a good relationship with him. He told me that he was planning to recruit one last disciple now that he had grown too old.

”Not long ago, I showed your performance in the family competition to Master Shiyi. He was quite amazed by your hand speed and asked about you a lot.

”It was definitely a pleasant surprise. Everybody knows that Master Huangpu’s eight true disciples are all big shots today.

”If you become the last disciple of Master Huangpu, won’t it be much better than being the disciple of Sand Scorpion?”

Xie Anan gasped and stepped back in disbelief. She stuttered, ”Ma—Master Huangpu is willing to recruit me as his disciple?”

Xie Anan had heard the thunderous name of Huangpu Bo multiple times before. The expert was equally renowned as Master Xue Yuanxin in the circle of refiners.

Xie Anan felt that her head was dizzy, and it was hard to keep steady.

Xie Qianhe was very satisfied about his daughter’s reaction. He nodded and said, ”Master Huangpu did not make any promises, of course. He only said that he would like to meet you during the Edge Sharpeners’ Meeting. But in my opinion, since your hand speed is 15% faster than two months ago, there won’t be any problem as long as you perform normally when Master Huangpu interviews you.”

Xie Anan opened her mouth but failed to come up with anything. Then, she seemed to have made up her mind. Her eyes shining like a star, she slowly shook her head and said, ”Dad, Master Huangpu thought highly of me because of my hand speed. But my hand speed is actually Master Sand’s work. I still want to study after Master Sand and pass on his arts of refining.”

”You—”

Xie Qianhe’s eyebrow stood up. He had no idea why his daughter, who had been mild and obedient all the time, was so stubborn that day. He raised his voice and bellowed, ”That is Master Huangpu! Other people would not have such an opportunity even if they begged him for three days and three nights. Why do you not know what is good for you, my child?”

”Dad, I’m well aware of Master Huangpu’s fame in the circle of refiners and how immeasurable his skills are. I also know that his eight disciples are all well-known experts.”

Flushed, Xie Anan spoke faster and clearer, although she stammered in the beginning, ”However, I also know that Master Huangpu’s eight disciples are all talented geniuses!

”Dad, I know myself very well. Although nobody has ever told me, I’m very clear that I have no talent in refining, and I am just an unattractive dummy.

”Even if I become Master Huangpu’s true disciple today, I have no confidence that I can grasp his refining skills.

”Maybe, only Master Sand’s training methods are suitable for a dummy such as myself.

”Believe it or not, Mom, Dad, although Master Sand’s methods are physically painful, there was nothing but peace and satisfaction in my mind, because I could clearly feel that I was making progress, and I found the fun in the arts of refining!”

The air seemed to have frozen in the small room.

Xie Qianhe was dumbfounded, not expecting his daughter to come up with such rebuttals.

Dazed for a long time, he suddenly rose up and stormed out. Before he left the room, he bawled, ”This is too important a decision to be made by yourself. When your grandpa learned of the matter, he was overjoyed. He has already started making arrangements!

”Anyways, you will meet Master Huangpu with me tomorrow!”

”Old Xie! Old Xie!”

Seeing that the father and the daughter were at an impasse, Dong Hanxiang stomped on the ground anxiously. She comforted her daughter, ”Anan, don’t be scared. Your father is as bad-tempered as decades ago.

”But since when did you become so stubborn, too?

”Let’s not rush into anything yet. We’ll talk about it later. Anyway, just go to meet Master Huangpu first tomorrow, alright?

”Old Xie? Old Xie!”

Dong Hanxiang chased after her husband.